News

The Netherlands team hope that this week's start of the World Cup qualifiers in Europe will highlight the plight of migrant workers in Qatar and help to improve their working conditions. "A lot of attention is now focused on whether we should go there if we qualify," coach Frank de Boer told news conference on the eve of his team's opening Group G match against Turkey in Istanbul, amid growing controversy at home over Qatar's hosting of the 2022 finals. "It is right

LONDON: World number three Simona Halep said she is more interested in silverware than her ranking and will focus on the Grand Slams and the Olympics as she looks to add to her trophy cabinet this year after a chaotic 2020 rattled by COVID-19. The 29-year-old Romanian is among a women's field stocked with top talent at the Miami Open, Halep's first tournament in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, after she dropped out of the U.S. Open in August

LONDON: Stefanos Tsitsipas is keeping expectations low heading into the Miami Open but said the absence of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the tournament gives players like him a better chance for success. The 22-year-old Greek, who is ranked fifth, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last month and the final of the Mexican Open on Saturday, in a solid start to what he hopes will be his breakthrough year. "It is an opportunity, I won't lie," he told

PUNE, India: Debutant Prasidh Krishna and fellow seamer Shardul Thakur combined to derail England's chase and bowl India to a 66-run victory in the one-day series opener in Pune on Tuesday (Mar 23). Shikhar Dhawan made 98 but it was the blistering unbroken century-plus partnership between KL Rahul and debutant Krunal Pandya which helped India to a strong 317-5. Jonny Bairstow led England's robust reply with an incendiary 94 before the wheels came off their chase and the tourists folded for 251 in

LONDON: Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies is the stand-out talent in a Canada squad that takes its first steps on the long road to the 2022 Qatar World Cup this week with CONCACAF region qualifying games against Bermuda and Cayman Islands. Assembling a team during the COVID-19 pandemic may have proven a bigger challenge than the one 73rd-ranked Canada will face on the pitch on Thursday when they play 169th-ranked Bermuda and on Sunday against 193rd-ranked Cayman Islands. Both matches will be played in

LONDON: Lewis Hamilton will be fired up for a fight with Max Verstappen this season, but Formula 1's most successful driver may be in no rush to commit to 2022, according to 1996 world champion Damon Hill. Mercedes driver Hamilton can win a record eighth world championship having equalled Ferrari great Michael Schumacher's seven. The 36-year-old Briton is also set to become the first driver to win 100 grands prix, his tally now on 95, but his latest contract runs only to the

Manchester City will install over 5,000 rail seats at the Etihad Stadium, the Premier League club said, a move that will allow spectators to stand safely during matches next season. The seats, which are designed to lock into a folded position and give fans space to stand, would be installed over the summer in the lower tier of the South Stand, City said. Standing at grounds in the top two tiers is banned but clubs have looked to find a middle ground, with

On the sidelines of this week’s Milipol Qatar summit, the President of Huawei Middle East reaffirmed the company’s commitment to supporting the realization of the Qatar National Vision 2030 through its contribution to the country’s growing digital economy and major events like the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The executive praised the country’s strong progress on digital transformation under the Qatar Smart Program (TASMU) whilst empowering cross-sector collaboration, data sharing, and encouraging innovation across the country’s digital ecosystem. When it comes

After a long winter break and five days of official testing, the time has finally come to suit and boot up for racing. Are you ready? First we saw the liveries, then we saw the class of 2021 head out for testing. Now, at the floodlit oasis of Losail International Circuit, it’s time to get suited and booted for another season of stunning competition. Rarely is anything predictable in this era of MotoGP™, but there is at least one certainty everyone can agree

Sevilla grabbed a dramatic last-second equalizer in Saturday's La Liga clash against Valladolid -- and the goal came from the unlikeliest of sources. Losing 1-0 and desperate to try and salvage at least a point from the match, Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine 'Bono' Bounou ran the length of the pitch to join the attack for his team's final corner of the game. After a mix up in the Valladolid defense, the ball found its way to Bono eight yards from goal and the Moroccan

Jose Mourinho said Tottenham's dressing room is divided by "selfish" players and agents who have their own relationships with the press. Mourinho was speaking after a vital win in the chase for a top-four Premier League finish. Spurs responded to an embarrassing Europa League exit at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday, courtesy of goals from Carlos Vinicius and Harry Kane. Captain Hugo Lloris had criticised the underlying culture at the club in a stinging

Finn Allen has been called up for the first time as part of New Zealand's 13-man T20 International (T20I) squad to take on Bangladesh in the three-game series, starting this Sunday at Seddon Park in Hamilton. The 21-year-old opener was the stand-out player of this season's Dream11 Super Smash, amassing a league-leading 512 runs at an average of 56 and an incredible strike-rate of 193 - featuring a table-topping 56 fours and 25 sixes. The former New Zealand Under-19 representative is one of

Rahkeem Cornwall blasted a maiden Test half-century and dominated an eighth-wicket partnership of 90 with Joshua da Silva to lift the West Indies to 268 for eight in their first innings, a lead of 99 runs, at the close of the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Monday. Outstanding seam bowling by Suranga Lakmal, who claimed his fourth five-wicket innings haul in 64 Tests, had restricted the home side to 171

The six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has been ruled out of the season opener Qatar Grand Prix, the organising committee said on Monday, as he continues to recover from the surgery. Marquez got himself fractured in his right arm on July 19 2020 when he fell in the first Grand Prix of the previous season, an injury that needs three bouts of surgery. The last surgery he underwent was in the month of December. He came back to the training sessions at the

Steven Gerrard said he was surprised by England coach Gareth Southgate's decision to drop Trent Alexander-Arnold from the squad for their World Cup qualifiers and described the Liverpool defender as the "best English right back in the country". Steven Gerrard said he was surprised by England coach Gareth Southgate's decision to drop Trent Alexander-Arnold from the squad for their World Cup qualifiers and described the Liverpool defender as the "best English right back in the country". Alexander-Arnold was left out of Southgate's 26-man

Liverpool's Premier League title defence has fizzled out in 2021 but they are still in the Champions League and face Real Madrid in the quarter-final with a potential semi-final match-up with Chelsea to follow Mohamed Salah is confident Liverpool's season is going to get better after a disastrous run between January and March derailed their Premier League title defence. Jurgen Klopp's side were top of the table at Christmas but a run of just three wins and eight defeats in 14 league matches

Marcus Rashford has travelled to England HQ despite foot injury; he missed training on Monday and will be assessed by FA doctors; Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham also arrived on Monday after German authorities reviewed their coronavirus risk regulations Marcus Rashford joined up with the England squad on Monday despite missing Manchester United's FA Cup quarter-final defeat at Leicester due to a foot injury. United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after Sunday's game that the club's medics were in discussion with their counterparts at

Lionel Messi broke the club's appearance record on Sunday as the Argentine featured in his 768th game for the Catalan giants. Messi celebrated in style, working his now famous magic in Barcelona's 6-1 victory over Real Sociedad, as he superseded the landmark set by former teammate and club legend Xavi Hernandez, who appeared 767 times for the club. Barcelonaa's official Twitter account dubbed the Argentine an "otherworldly player" and called his record-breaking appearance figure a "stratospheric number." Messi's eighth assist of the season

Cristiano Ronaldo will stay at Juventus beyond this season, the club's managing director Fabio Paratici said after a 1-0 defeat to Benevento. Ronaldo, who joined the Italian side on a four-year deal for a reported $117 million transfer fee in 2018, is the top scorer in Serie A so far this season with 23 goals. He also recently scored the 770th goal of his career to move ahead of Pele's tally of goals scored in official matches. "He's the best in the world

Al Wakra’s Omar Ali scores the first goal giving a lead dominating Al Sailiya by 3-0 in the first semifinal of 2020-21 tournament of the Ooredoo Cup that was held at the Al Sadd Stadium on Saturday. Al Wakra’s Omar Ali, who scored the first goal in the game in 26th minute gave his side the much needed lead, followed by Mohamed Benyettou, who scored the 41st minute doubling the advantage with a spot kick in the first half and again Omar Ali