Category: Sports

Berlin, Spain secured a perfect record in the group stage of the UEFA Euro 2024, currently being held in Germany, by defeating Albania 1-0 in their third and final match of Group B on Monday. The only goal of the match was scored by Ferran Torres in the 13th minute. Having already secured their place at the top of Group B after winning their first two matches, Spain finishes the group stage with 9 points. In contrast, Albania ends their campaign with just one point, thus exiting the tournament. Spain will face the third-placed team from Group A, D, E, or F in the Round of 16 on Sunday. Source: Qatar News Agency

Berlin Together - Host Germany tied with Switzerland 1-1 in the first group of Euro 2024, with a stoppage-time goal scored by Niklas Bolkrug after Dan Andoya scored for Switzerland in the 28th minute. Thus, Germany achieved first place on its soil, while Switzerland qualified for the next stage from second place. Meanwhile, Hungary beat Scotland 0-1 with a goal scored by Kevin Casuput in the 100th minute, knocking them out of the tournament. The qualification of Hungary to the round of 16, which ranked third with 3 points, will be determined at the end of the round based on the results of the other teams that will finish in third place on their home soil. Source: Maan News Agency

Doha: The Qatar Stars League (QSL) and Ooredoo signed a contract to sponsor the league championship, according to which the official name will be 'Ooredoo Stars League' in the new season (2024-2025). This agreement was announced at a Press conference on Tuesday, in the presence of President of Qatar Football Association and QSL Jassim bin Rashid Al Buenain and HE CEO of Ooredoo Qatar Sheikh Ali bin Jabor Al-Thani, along with a lineup of officials from both entities and representatives of media outlets. The press conference also revealed the new Ooredoo Stars League logo, along with the new official ball for QSL's tournaments, including the Ooredoo Stars League 2024-2025 season which will be among the first leagues to use it, presented by adidas and equipped with the latest technology. On the occasion, the President of Qatar Football Association and QSL expressed his pleasure for the signing of this agreement and extended his sincere thanks and appreciation to Ooredoo for continuing their co-operation and s upport for QSL and Qatar football. Al Buenain continued saying, "We're proud of this strategic partnership with one of the largest companies in the region and the world, the pioneer of communications in Qatar. We're proud of its many great successes and its role in supporting sports and athletes." He added that this step comes in line with the vision to continue the development process for Qatar's professional football and the league championship at all organizational and technical levels. In turn, HE CEO of Ooredoo Qatar Sheikh Ali bin Jabor Al-Thani stated that the signing of this historic agreement with QSL represented an important step towards enhancing the Qatar National Vision in the field of sports. His Excellency added that Ooredoo's sponsorship of QSL signifies "our strong commitment to develop sports and support talents. It's an opportunity for us to contribute towards building a bright future for sports in general and football in particular". HE the CEO of Ooredoo Qatar said, "This partnership w ith QSL comes in line with our continuous efforts to achieve our goals and contribute to the development of sports, especially after the recent achievements in football. We look forward to working together to achieve new and distinguished successes, as our partnership with QSL extends for years." For his part, Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and Communication at QSL Hassan Rabiah Al Kuwari expressed his great pleasure at partnering with Ooredoo Qatar, praising its valued efforts and significant collaboration in the success of Qatari football tournaments. Al Kuwari noted that the partnership between both sides goes far back to many years ago, launching numerous fan initiatives and organizing several tournaments, notably the Ooredoo Cup, which was a great success and played a significant role in developing the tournament. QSL has set August 9th as the start date of the Ooredoo Stars League tournament in its 2024-2025 season, with training commencing on July 1, for all clubs. Source: Qatar News Agenc y

Zurich, FIFA has launched a guide to help national federations deal with match-fixing. FIFA said on its official website Tuesday that football is not devoid of activities that undermine the integrity of matches and tournaments, and therefore one of the important roles of FIFA is to protect football from such risks, and it is the first of its strategic goals for the period between 2023 and 2027, which stipulates the necessity of working to prevent all forms or practices of corruption, doping and match-fixing, which would jeopardize the integrity of matches, tournaments, players, officials and national federations. The second and updated version of the Integrity Guide aims to help national federations and all actors strengthen their integrity initiatives. This guide was prepared by the FIFA Integrity Working Group. The guide also provides guidance on topics such as appointing an integrity officer, launching methodologies for reporting concerns and how to develop a relevant education program and media strategy. It also explains how and when to conduct an investigation and organize disciplinary meetings. This version differs from its predecessor in its focus on developing an integrity action plan with content on relevant educational initiatives at the local level, in addition to a new section related to adjudicating integrity violations, with a detailed explanation of the process to ensure appropriate legal decisions are made in disciplinary proceedings. It also includes a review of new cases. The guide has been presented during the FIFA Integrity Summit, which was held over two days in Singapore. Source: Qatar News Agency

Kuala Lumpur, The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and global sports equipment manufacturer Molten have unveiled on Tuesday the official match ball of the AFC Asian Qualifiers Road to 26, taking place from Sep. 2, 2024 to Nov. 18, 2025. Molten will supply the "AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to 26" model of their 5th generation Vantaggio for the highly anticipated decisive stages of the Confederation's FIFA World Cup qualifiers, which is set to feature the Continent's top 18 national teams, the AFC website reported. Molten has developed the high-quality ball using partially recycled materials, ensuring durability and sustainability while adhering to world class standards. Based on the logo of the AFC Asian Qualifiers, the design integrates the official colours to give the ball a dynamic and modern look that reflects the diversity and excitement of Asian football. The silver lines making up the base design, which are based on the rapid movement of players on the football pitch, were added to give the ball an energetic feel. Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The General Assembly of Qatar SC has elected HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Suhaim Al-Thani as the club's new president by acclamation, with Khaled Mohammed Al Kaabi as vice president for the 2024-2028 term. The election took place during the General Assembly meeting held on Monday, which achieved a quorum with the presence of founding members, active members, and representatives from the Ministry of Sports and Youth, where the election of HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Suhaim Al-Thani was officially approved. The assembly unanimously agreed to the proposal by HE Sheikh Suhaim bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, the former vice president of the club, to appoint HE Sheikh Hamad bin Suhaim Al-Thani, the former president of the club, as the honorary president in recognition of his contributions to the club. The General Assembly also discussed the president's report on the club's activities for the past year, plans for the upcoming season, and approved the budget for the new fiscal year. Additionally, va rious topics were discussed, including the development of youth teams to their best potential and the improvement of several sports within the club. Members of the General Assembly expressed their hopes for the club to achieve further success, building on the accomplishments of the previous season. The first football team notably reached the final of HH the Amir Cup in the 2023/2024 season, finishing as runners-up after a close match against Al Sadd, which ended 1-0. Last season, Qatar SC finished in eighth place in the EXPO Stars League with 25 points. Source: Qatar News Agency

Berlin, Defending champions Italy secured their place in the Round of 16 at the UEFA Euro 2024 following a dramatic 1-1 draw against Croatia in their final Group B match on Monday. Italy finished the group stage with four points, placing them second in the group behind Spain, who topped the group with a perfect record of nine points after defeating Albania 1-0 in the other group match. Croatia ended in third place with two points, while Albania finished last with one point. Croatia took the lead through veteran star Luka Modric in the 55th minute, but Italy equalized with a goal from Mattia Zaccagni in the eighth minute of stoppage time. Italy will face Switzerland in the next round. Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The Qatar Equestrian Federation and Modern Pentathlon is organizing a summer horse riding camp from July 1 to August 29 at the Federation's indoor arena. The Federation explained that the summer camp is open to both genders and different age groups. The camp is managed by the Federation's Future Riders school with the aim of providing an opportunity to learn horse riding during the summer vacation. Registration to join the camp is open daily. It includes daily training sessions from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM. The fees for registering for the summer camp range in three different categories. Source: Qatar News Agency