admin
The UAE national triathlon team will begin its campaign in the Asian Junior Triathlon Cup, which will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, bringing together a number of promising athletes from across Asia.The UAE
admin
Three-time Stanley Cup champion and longtime Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews officially announced his retirement Friday after 16 seasons.Toews, 38, who sat out two seasons before returning to play all 82 games for his hometown Winnipeg Jets in 2025-26, ends his decorated career with 912 points (383 goals, 529 assists) in 1,149 games."While his playing career has come to a close, Jonathan's place in Blackhawks history -- in hockey history -- will be talked about for as long as this game as played," Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. "Jonathan, on behalf of all of us here at the Chicago Blackhawks, our fans and the city of Chicago you gave so much to: congratulations on an extraordinary journey and a truly remarkable career. Thank you. Seriously."Toews was named the youngest captain in NHL history at the time at 20 years and 79 days on July 18, 2008. Under the leadership of "Captain Serious" and teammates Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, Chicago claimed the Stanley Cup in 2009-10, 2012-13 and 2014-15.Toews won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the first of those three titles. He also won the Selke Trophy in 2012-13 and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2014-15.Toews missed the entire 2020-21 season while dealing with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, and was out from Feb. 21 to April 1, 2023 with the effects of long COVID-19.He returned to play for the Jets and contributed 11 goals and 18 assists while playing every game for the first time since the 2018-19 season."Tazer, congratulations on a remarkable hockey career," the Jets posted on X. "Your love for the game, and your passion for this city has forever left a mark on our community."Drafted with the No. 3 overall pick by Chicago in 2006, Toews also recorded 119 points (45 goals, 74 assists) in 137 career postseason games. He ranks sixth in goals (372) and points (883) in Blackhawks history.Toews won two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada in 2010 and 2014.
admin
George Aivazoglou, the NBA's managing director for Europe and the Middle East. The NBA's proposed new European league would distribute hundreds of millions of dollars per year to its franchises, George Aivazoglou, one of the league's senior executives, told AFP.The NBA project, which is due to be launched in 2027 in partnership with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), has come under intense scrutiny with respect to its financial viability.Franchises would need to stump up between "500 million and one billion" dollars to take part, and in return they would become "partners" in the NBA Europe project, said Aivazoglou, the NBA's managing director for Europe and the Middle East.Almost all top level European basketball sides are losing money, although the NBA model envisages franchises -- many newly created ones -- set up in major cities such as London, Paris, Berlin and Madrid.These are cities where the sporting environment, largely dominated by football, is already saturated. 'RECORD INTEREST'NBA commissioner Adam Silver said two weeks ago that they had received "record interest" from potential franchises, whose bids to join the new league are due at the end of the month.As well as FIBA, the NBA has been in discussions with EuroLeague Basketball, which organises the continent's top basketball competition -- the equivalent of football's Champions League -- which was first held in 1958.The NBA is pitching its proposed new league as a huge money-spinner for potential investors -- despite their mammoth initial outlay."The partner becomes a shareholder. There is asset value there," said Aivazoglou."This is the NBA's league in Europe and this will be an asset that is worth in the tens of billions of dollars."So you're buying into that, obviously buying into a share of the NBA brand, which as we know will be a significant accelerator of how we create value in the ecosystem."He said that the franchises would benefit from the NBA's "digital direct consumer technology, our broadcast operations, our commercial capabilities". 12 PERMANENT FRANCHISESThe plan is to create a competition with 12 permanent franchises with four more teams needing to qualify to take part.All of those teams would benefit from "very significant central distributions from the league -- we're talking on aggregate in the hundreds of millions per year", said Aivazoglou.Divided between 16 teams, that translates as tens of millions each.An inside source at Qatar Sports Investment, the owners of the Paris Saint-Germain football team who have been approached by the NBA over creating a franchise, told AFP in January that the initial investment required to join was exorbitant and prohibitive.The NBA has pledged, though, to invest three billion dollars into the project to help cover initial losses."We're building a league for the next 100 years," insisted Aivazoglou.Once the bidding process ends on June 29, the NBA "will move forward with next steps that could include announcements from there". Related Story
admin
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) on Friday opened a new bridge in Dubai Harbour, one of the most prominent waterfronts featuring the largest yacht marinas in the Middle East.RTA affirmed that the new bridge
admin
* Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrates local sports wins* Insists sports should be available to working people* He says World Cup matches will air on hundreds of screens in New York* Mamdani understands power of sport, says expert New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to put World Cup matches on hundreds of kiosks across the five boroughs, as the city's leader who ran on a platform of affordability says he wants to make sports more accessible to average fans.A selection of matches will air on the 55-inch LinkNYC digital screens that are scattered on street corners throughout the city and usually display ads or public service announcements.Mamdani negotiated with the NBA to put two games of the NBA Finals on the displays this month, a move intended to allow New Yorkers without access to broadcast TV or streaming to watch their beloved Knicks break a 53-year title drought."Whatever infrastructure we have, we should be using it to make it easier to be a part of the game," Mamdani told Reuters on Thursday."We are going to be broadcasting a few games to hundreds of kiosks across the five boroughs. And it is going to be an opportunity for New Yorkers to really lose themselves in the World Cup, much of the way that we've all lost ourselves in this incredible run from the Knicks."Politico previously reported that plans for screening the games were quietly underway.World Cup games have proven more expensive than ever to attend, as the United States co-hosts the tournament with Canada and Mexico. Dynamic ticket pricing put the games out of reach for many fans, with the get-in price for games in New York/New Jersey and Miami approaching $1,000 in the run-up to the tournament.The 34-year-old Mamdani, a Democrat who bucked the political establishment and galvanized young voters last year, worked with the New York New Jersey Host Committee to secure 1,000 affordable tickets for New Yorkers to attend the tournament, priced at $50 apiece, with free round-trip bus transportation."If we allow sports to become a luxury commodity, we also allow it to become divorced from its roots as also an expression for working people, and not just something to participate in, but also something to be a part of," said Mamdani, who celebrated the Knicks' win at a tickertape parade in downtown Manhattan on Thursday."It's time to actually ensure that we don't leave any New Yorkers behind as we talk about sports, and we should talk about it in the same breath as we talk about the things that people also build their lives around."CHEAPER JERSEYSEarlier this month, the mayor's office launched a line of New York City-inspired soccer jerseys in celebration of the World Cup. The Brooklyn-made jerseys were sold at cost, according to GQ magazine, for around $50 apiece, compared to the $130 price tag for a USA jersey on offer at a World Cup stadium kiosk.A spokesperson for the mayor's office said the initial run of 1,500 jerseys sold out and that another batch was in the works.Mamdani attended the first World Cup game at the New York/New Jersey stadium wearing one of the jerseys and posted a photo of himself in the cheap seats with the caption: "1,000 New Yorkers won our lottery for affordable tickets to the World Cup. Today, we celebrated in the stands for the first NY/NJ game of the tournament. The beautiful game belongs to everyone.""We want these tournaments, we want these moments to be things that are also within reach for working people and not just something that they're trying to figure out how they can stream," said Mamdani, a longtime fan of English Premier League champions Arsenal.Mamdani's moves have not been supported by everyone. He found himself on the wrong side of James Dolan, owner of his beloved Knicks, earlier this month after Dolan blasted the mayor and local authorities over security measures outside Madison Square Garden for the NBA Finals. Dolan said the security zone around Madison Square Garden, where a watch party had initially been planned, had turned the streets into "a police state."But as New York's summer of sports moves forward at full speed, with six more World Cup games to be held in New York/New Jersey and the U.S. Open golf major kicking off on Thursday in nearby Southampton, experts say Mamdani's eye for a popular policy will resonate with many."Sports traditionally weren't regarded as something serious," said Lee Igel, a clinical professor at NYU's Tisch Institute for Global Sport. "So if you're in a political position or elected office and started talking about that, come on, it's the rent, right? It's the food on the table."Look, anywhere in the world, sports matter to people," said Igel, adding that Mamdani "understands the platform, the power of sport." Related Story
admin
Premier League champions Arsenal will begin their title defence at home to newly promoted Coventry City when the 2026-27 season kicks off on August 21.Coventry return to the top flight for the first time in 25 years and face a daunting test against Mikel Arteta's side, who ended a 22-year wait for the title last season.Hull City, promoted via the playoffs, host Manchester United in the first round of games, while fellow promoted club Ipswich Town take on Sunderland at home, according to fixtures released on Friday.Manchester City, starting the campaign without former coach Pep Guardiola, host Bournemouth, while Newcastle United take on Liverpool, now led by Andoni Iraola, at St. James' Park.Chelsea will be seen in action under new coach Xabi Alonso with a London derby away to Fulham, while the highly anticipated Manchester derby is scheduled for September 12.The campaign will conclude on May 30, 2027, with the Champions League final set for six days later.
admin
This combination of file photos shows Cape Verde's forward Ryan Mendes in Abidjan on January 29, 2024 (left); and Uruguay's midfielder Federico Valverde in Salvador on November 19, 2024. Uruguay and Cape Verde will meet
admin
Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul during the training of Argentina ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group J match against Algeria at Sporting Kansas City Training Centre on June 19, 2026 in Kansas
admin
Abu Dhabi Registration Authority (ADRA), the arm of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) responsible for developing and regulating the business sector, announced an initiative to support the growth of entrepreneurs and the
admin
World number one Aryna Sabalenka stormed back from the cusp of defeat to beat Czech Nikola Bartunkova and reach the last four of the WTA event in Berlin on Friday.Sabalenka won 2-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 in sweltering conditions in the German capital in the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event.'I was thinking 'wow, that's how it is to play against me',' a smiling Sabalenka said of her opponent's early dominance, adding: 'I thought it was her match for sure... I was just trying to stay in the game.'I think it was a lucky match. I somehow, miraculously, came back in that second set.'Bartunkova, the world number 62, stormed to take the first set and led 4-0 in the second as a visibly frustrated Sabalenka struggled on serve and could not pose any kind of danger with her return.With elimination looming, the Belarusian suddenly clicked into gear, winning five straight games before taking the second set in a tiebreak.The heat began to wear on both players in the third set, with Sabalenka breaking her opponent three times but suffering two breaks herself before taking the match in two hours and 23 minutes. WORLD NO.1 TO FACE PEGULASabalenka will face American world number four Jessica Pegula, who beat close friend and podcast co-host Madison Keys 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (10/8) earlier on Friday.In their first meeting since Pegula ended Keys' title defence at the Australian Open in January, both players each broke serve once in the opening set and forced a tiebreak, which Pegula won.Pegula, a 2024 champion on the Berlin grass, ran out to a 4-2 lead in the second but Keys fought back to once again set up a tiebreak.Pegula triumphed 10-8 in the tiebreak to take the match and extend her winning run to seven without defeat over fellow Americans this calendar year.On the other side of the draw, wildcard Alexandra Eala continued her giant-killing run by defeating world number eight Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final four.Eala, who upset world number two Elena Rybakina in the last 16 on Thursday and Queen's Club champion Donna Vekic in the first round, won in one hour and 23 minutes.The 21-year-old world number 35 is the first player from the Philippines to break into the top 50 and will take on eighth seed Linda Noskova, who defeated Spanish wildcard Paula Badosa 6-1, 6-3 earlier on Friday.
