SHANGHAI: Argentine striker Carlos Tevez arrived Thursday to a rousing welcome from hundreds of fans in Shanghai, where he will join local side Shenhua in a deal that reportedly makes him the world’s top-earning footballer.
Tevez, 32, is the highest-profile foreign player lured to China’s free-spending domestic leagues in a recent gold rush that has triggered a backlash from Chinese authorities worried that clubs were recklessly overspending on foreign stars.
Police at Shanghai’s main international airport bundled the smiling Tevez through a crowd of blue-clad Shenhua fans who thronged the arrival hall, bursting into chants of “Carlos! Carlos!” when he emerged. He was whisked away without making any comment.
Tevez’s arrival from Argentine club Boca Juniors comes two weeks after that of Brazilian star Oscar, who joined cross-town Shanghai rivals SIPG under a $63 million deal from Chelsea that smashed the Asian transfer fee record.
Tevez, a goal-scoring dynamo throughout his career for such heavyweights as Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus, came on a relatively paltry transfer fee of 10.5 million euros, according to deal-tracking website transfermarkt.com.
But Argentine media said he will make around 38 million euros per year under his two-year Chinese contract, out-earning even megastars like compatriot Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tevez and Oscar joined a slew of record-breaking transfers to the Chinese Super League over the past year, which also brought in Brazilians Hulk, Alex Teixeira, and Ramires, and Colombia’s Jackson Martinez.
Tevez, however, is arguably the top foreign player ever to join a Chinese side, perhaps rivalled only by former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast, who played for Shenhua in 2012.
But Tevez may be the last big-name import for some time.
On January 6, the sports ministry warned it would take action against teams that spend “irrationally,” expressing fears that clubs could become insolvent.
The lavish sums have also spurred calls for money to be instead channelled toward raising the disappointing level of Chinese football.
The national team of China, the world’s most populous country with 1.3 billion people, is ranked just 81st in the world, one notch below Saint Kitts and Nevis, population 50,000.
This week, the Chinese Football Association cut the number of foreign players that top-flight teams could field from four to no more than three per match once the 2017 season kicks off in March.
Teams also will be required to field at least two under-23 Chinese players to help develop young domestic footballers.
The abrupt change caught some teams off-guard.
Shu Yuhui, the chairman of Super League side Tianjin Quanjian, told state media this week the clampdown scuppered his team’s plans to buy Chelsea’s Spanish striker Diego Costa and other Europe-based stars.
Since the sports ministry’s edict, only one major foreign signing has taken place: Tianjin TEDA snagged Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel for about 8.5 million euros, according to transfermarktweb.com.
Shenhua finished fourth in the Super League last season, earning a berth in the forthcoming Asian Champions League competition.
“I hope Tevez can bring more glory to Shenhua,” said Yan Xiang, a fan who joined the throng at the airport.
“I’m not asking for us to win (the Asian Champions League), it would just be good to get into the top eight. That’s my hope for Shenhua,” he said.
Another recent arrival at Shenhua who has fueled fan hopes is incoming head coach Gustavo Poyet, a former Uruguay international and midfielder for Real Zaragoza, Chelsea and Tottenham who was hired in November.
Money man Tevez touches down in Shanghai
Money man Tevez touches down in Shanghai
Workshops mark opening of International Camel Racing Federation general assembly
- Day opened with workshop on Olympic values — “Excellence, Friendship, Respect”
OLYMPIA, Greece: The fourth General Assembly of the International Camel Racing Federation began on Sunday in Olympia, Greece, with a series of workshops and meetings dedicated to advancing the global development of camel racing.
The day opened with a workshop on Olympic values — “Excellence, Friendship, Respect” — highlighting their role in promoting sportsmanship and international collaboration.
Participants discussed integrating these principles into the federation’s future strategies to enhance the sport's growth.
A second workshop focused on the federation’s global strategy, addressing sustainability and strengthening cooperation among member countries. Delegates examined current challenges and outlined plans to achieve the federation’s goals.
Alongside these workshops, representatives from continental federations in Asia, Africa, and Europe held meetings to address regional issues and improve coordination between member nations.
The assembly, running until Tuesday, will aim to establish strategies that promote camel racing as a cultural and sporting heritage worldwide.
Al-Ittihad win to pull away at top of SPL table
- Second half goals from Fabinho and Houssem Aouar means that Al-Ittihad have 30 points from 11 games
JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad beat Al-Fateh 2-0 on Sunday to move two points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League to complete what has been a perfect weekend for the Jeddah giants with title rivals with Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr both losing.
Second half goals from Fabinho and Houssem Aouar means that Al-Ittihad have 30 points from 11 games, two clear of Al-Hilal in second and eight ahead of Al-Nassr in third.
It was a hard-fought game against the bottom team but the Tigers thought they had taken the lead after 16 minutes as Saleh Al-Shehri fired home when a corner found its way to the far post but the ball was adjudged to have bounced off Fabinho’s hand.
There were not many other clear chances. Al-Fateh may have started the day at the very foot of the league but knew that a victory would take them out of the bottom three while a point would be welcome.
Al-Ittihad redoubled their attacking efforts after the break but there were so many white shirts in and around the penalty area but three minutes before the hour Fabinho showed his class. Mario Mitaj passed from the left of the area and the former Liverpool midfielder reacted quickly to steer the ball inside the near post with the goalkeeper caught wrong-footed.
Steven Bergwin almost sealed the win with 17 minutes remaining as he sprinted free of the defence but Peter Szappanos got a hand to the shot to keep Al-Fateh in the game.
There was nothing he could do as Aouar struck in the last minute, sweeping home a fine cross from Abdulrahman Al-Oboud.
Earlier in the day, Ettifaq drew 0-0 at Al-Riyadh, a result that does not relieve the pressure on coach Steven Gerrard who has seen the team now go eight games without a win.
Continental Europe and Great Britain & Ireland teams announced for 2025 Team Cup
- Six Ryder Cup players confirmed; 11 players to make debuts in event taking place in Abu Dhabi
DUBAI: The first 18 competitors for the 2025 Continental Europe and Great Britain & Ireland Team Cup sides have been announced by European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, with an exciting mix of Ryder Cup stars and some of the DP World Tour’s brightest talent scheduled to compete at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort from Jan 10-12, 2025.
After consulting with respective Team Cup captains Francesco Molinari, of Continental Europe, and Justin Rose, of Great Britain & Ireland, Donald has confirmed the first nine competitors in each side for next year’s matchplay contest, who between them have won 70 DP World Tour victories, with six representatives from recent Ryder Cups.
Molinari will lead Continental Europe in their defence of the Team Cup, which they won in 2023 after defeating Great Britain & Ireland 14½-10½ in the three-day matchplay contest. The teams will compete in one session of fourballs on the Friday, two sessions of foursomes on the Saturday and one session of singles on Sunday, with every player taking part in each session.
Each side will have three Ryder Cup players, with three-time Ryder Cup player Molinari joined by Nicolai Hojgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen, and six-time Ryder Cup star Rose teeing it up alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton.
Olesen, who represented Europe at the 2018 Ryder Cup, was one of the four automatic qualifiers for Molinari’s side, with fellow Scandinavians Rasmus Hojgaard and Niklas Norgaard and Italian Matteo Manassero also earning an automatic place in the Continental European team.
Rasmus had been selected to compete in the 2023 edition of the match play contest but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Since his return to competitive action he has won his fourth and fifth DP World Tour titles, becoming the first Dane to win Made in HimmerLand last year and he then held off the challenge of Rory McIlroy to win the Amgen Irish Open two months ago.
Norgaard claimed his maiden victory at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, while Manassero made a welcome return to the winner’s circle this year, claiming his first DP World Tour title for nearly 11 years at the Jonsson Workwear Open.
Rounding out the Continental European side are the French pair of Matthieu Pavon, who this year became the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour in more than 100 years, and Antoine Rozner, who played in 2023 and recently earned dual membership on the PGA Tour, and the Danish duo of Ryder Cup player Nicolai Hojgaard and Challenge Tour No. 1 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
Nicolai was called up to replace his brother in the Continental Europe side for the 2023 edition of the Team Cup and then went on to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone, near Rome.
Both Fleetwood and Hatton, who also competed in the 2023 edition of the event, automatically qualified for the Great Britain & Ireland side alongside Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner Paul Waring and five-time DP World Tour winner Matt Wallace.
Wallace will be making his second appearance in this event after recently winning his fifth DP World Tour title at the Omega European Masters. He also became a PGA Tour winner in 2023, claiming the Corales Puntacana Championship. While Waring became the DP World Tour’s most recent first-time Rolex Series winner after carding a career-low round of 61 and setting a new low 36-hole score to par in Abu Dhabi.
Joining them on Rose’s side will be Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, who earned dual membership on the PGA Tour for 2025 after another strong season, two-time DP World Tour winner Jordan Smith of England, his compatriots Laurie Canter, who earned a maiden title at the European Open, and Aaron Rai, who is the most recent English winner on the PGA Tour after claiming the Wyndham Championship in August.
The final member of each side will be selected after the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the third event of the 2025 Race to Dubai, which concludes on Sunday, Dec. 8.
Donald, who will captain Europe for a second time at Bethpage Black next September, said: “Fran, Justin and I are really excited by the two teams which will assemble at the Team Cup in January. There’s a great mix of youth and experience on both sides and there will certainly be a competitive atmosphere at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.
“This event provided valuable insight for a number of players who eventually made it to Marco Simone, with six of the 20 competitors in 2023 going on to play in the Ryder Cup, three of those making their debut appearances, and we’re excited to see who can make their mark next year as they try to earn a place in my side for New York City.”
Molinari, the 2018 Open champion and three-time Ryder Cup player, said: “It may be a new-look Continental European side but I’m really excited to lead these players at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort as we bid to defend the Team Cup next year.
“There is a fantastic blend of players who have hit the ground running at the start of their careers and those with a lot of experience on their side, and most of them have played in team competitions in the past as amateurs, which will have given them a great insight into these environments.”
Rose, who won the US Open in 2013 and will captain the Great Britain & Ireland side for the first time, said: “Having two Ryder Cup teammates in Tommy and Tyrrell in the team will be invaluable, but I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of the team step up to this new arena. Having also played in 2023, I’m sure Matt and Jordan will be keen to go out there and win the cup so it’ll be great to watch them in action again.
“Most of my team have also had the opportunity to represent either Great Britain & Ireland or England and Ireland separately in the past, so they have a lot of experience to draw on from their amateur days. They are all proven winners on tour, but I think Europe as a whole is going to benefit massively from next year’s Team Cup as we look towards the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.”
Zimbabwe stuns new-look Pakistan in rain-affected first one-day international
- Pakistan limped to 60-6 in 21 overs before rain denied further play, giving Zimbabwe 80-run win
- The hosts now have a 1-0 lead against Pakistan in the ODI series ahead of three T20 matches
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe: All-rounder Sikandar Raza inspired Zimbabwe to a stunning 80-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in the rain-affected first one-day international against a new-look Pakistan white-ball team on Sunday.
Raza made a crucial 39 runs and lifted Zimbabwe from a precarious 125-7 to 205 all out by sharing a 62-run eighth wicket stand with number nine batter Richard Ngarava, who top-scored with 48.
Under overcast conditions, Raza picked up two wickets in one over as Pakistan limped to 60-6 in 21 overs before it rained and denied further play as Zimbabwe took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Pakistan’s second-string new ball bowlers – debutant Aamer Jamal and Mohammad Hasnain – couldn’t make an impact on Zimbabwe’s openers after the visitors had rested frontline pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah for the white-ball series in Zimbabwe.
Pakistan also rested its ace batter Babar Azam for the first time in an ODI since 2019 as it experimented with its bench strength ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy.
Tadiwanashe Marumani (29) flicked Jamal to square leg for a six and Joylord Gumbie (15) hit three fours against the seamers as they combined in a better than run-a-ball opening stand of 40 runs against a wayward Pakistan pace attack.
Gumbie got run out in a mix-up with Marumani in the sixth over before Pakistan came back hard through its spinners and struck at regular intervals. One of the three Pakistan debutants – left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram took 3-24 and vice-captain Salman Ali Agha claimed 3-42 as Zimbabwe slipped to 125-7 in the 26th over.
However, Ngarava and Raza thwarted Pakistan’s spinners and pacers alike in a 69-ball stand to give the total respectability. Raza perished when he tried an expansive hit against Akram and was caught on the edge of the boundary while Ngarava was the last man to get dismissed after hitting five fours and a six when he chopped Hasnain back onto his stumps.
Fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani used the home conditions to perfection and snared the early wickets of Saim Ayub (11) and Abdullah Shafique (1), who both got caught behind inside the first three overs from the tall pacer.
Kamran Ghulam (17) and skipper Mohammad Rizwan (19 not out) couldn’t pace the chase before Pakistan lost four wickets in the space of 18 runs against the spinners. Ghulam tried to break the shackles but Sean Williams (2-12) got a thick edge and earned Marumani his third catch behind the wickets before Raza had two in three balls.
Raza pinned Salman plumb leg before wicket of his second ball and one ball later Haseebullah Khan was out for zero in his ODI debut when he played the wrong line and was clean bowled.
The three-match ODI series will be followed by three T20s with Bulawayo hosting all the matches.
Two-day Tata IPL mega auction begins in Jeddah
- Abadi Al-Johar Arena hosts the mega event, where squads of the 10 franchises will be finalized
- Arshdeep Singh becomes first player to go under the hammer in the IPL auction 2025, Rishabh Pant costliest buy in the IPL history
JEDDAH: With the stage set for the much-anticipated Indian Premier League mega auction, the bidding war began at the Abadi Al-Johar Arena in Jeddah on Sunday, where the squads of the 10 franchises will be finalized over two days from a pool of 574 players.
Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and chairman-elect of the apex cricket body, the International Cricket Council, arrived in the Red Sea city of Jeddah ahead of the TATA IPL 2025 auction.
“This marks Saudi Arabia’s first-ever international cricket event, set to take place on November 24-25, 2024,” the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation said in a statement to Arab News.
Shah was warmly received at the airport by Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud, chairman of SACF, along with Vice Chairman Nawaf Al-Otaibi and CEO Tariq Sagga.
A number of investors, franchise representatives and officials from the BCCI also arrived in Jeddah in preparation for the highly anticipated auction, which is a key event in the global cricket calendar.
“This historic event marks a new chapter for cricket in Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom continues to strengthen its position on the global sports stage, in line with its Vision 2030,” SACF said.
The IPL will enter its 18th season next year, and the Red Sea City is an important stop en route, where the squads of the ten franchises — Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Sunrisers Hyderabad — will be finalized at the mega auction.
After the news of the mega auction to be held at an overseas venue came out, the names of Dubai, London, Riyadh and Jeddah started doing the rounds before the Red Sea City was finalized by the BCCI for the marquee event.
The Abadi Al-Johar Arena, named after the famous Saudi singer, and which has seating capacity of 15,000, hosts the mega event, where the squads of the 10 franchises will be finalized.
Out of a stellar list of marquee players featuring in the TATA IPL auction, Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh raked in the money, becoming the first player to be sold in the Jeddah IPL auction. He received $2.13 million as Punjab Kings used their right-to-match card to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Star India player Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League as Lucknow Super Giants spent a mind-boggling $3.19 million on the wicketkeeper-batter.
The ten franchises are gunning to set their team for the next few years; on Day 1, however, only 84 top cricketers will go under the hammer. On Day 2, the 10 franchises will nominate a set of players who will be auctioned in an accelerated manner, followed by the last round, where the unsold players will be back for auction again.
Unlike regular auctions, the mega auction that takes place every three years is spread over two days instead of one. It is one of the most-followed events in cricket, as the ten IPL franchises build their squads for the next three years (2025-27).
As the Tata IPL auction, cricket’s most lucrative event, takes place in Jeddah, franchise representatives will spend more than $71 million across two days.
The Tata IPL 2025 mega auction will see plenty of twists, turns, unexpected signings and records broken, as the availability of Indian and international stars is greater than ever and all ten franchises are looking to rebuild their squads from the start.
A total of 12 marquee players, including Indian stars such as Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, have created a buzz within the cricket fraternity. Players have been shortlisted from an initial pool of 1,574 names.
These players will go under the hammer over the two-day mega auction in Jeddah. The list includes 208 overseas players, 12 uncapped overseas talents and 318 uncapped Indian players, according to the cricket reference book Wisden.
