DHAHRAN: Ali Aldajani never thought that one day he would become well-known in his country as “the rugby guy.”
As president of the Saudi Arabian Rugby Federation the 29-year-old has fond memories of his early years in the game and pride in how much the sport means to him today.
Growing up in the Kingdom, Aldajani was always an athlete. He played football, tennis, basketball, and took part in track and field events. When he moved to Canada at the age of 14, he decided to delve into a contact sport. Since his school did not have an American football team, he decided to try rugby.
After four months of training, he started to lose interest in the game — until he played his first match.
After that, he was hooked on the sport and the community behind it. He dropped his other sports to focus on rugby and when he returned to the Kingdom after finishing school, decided to stick with it.
He told Arab News: “When I came back in 2019, at the time, I was playing with Bahrain rugby, semi-professionally, and I heard that the Saudi rugby committee had been dissolved.
“I was approached by someone who works with the Olympic committee about taking on the role as president, and, at the time, I was 26. I really wasn’t sure what I was able to do or what I could do, but I just knew that I liked the sport so decided to give it a try,” he said.
Expats and Saudis have been playing rugby in private compounds after work since the 1970s. Aldajani said the majority of them were businessmen, lawyers, and other professionals.
“If you look at Saudi Arabia’s position in any sport within the Gulf Cooperation Council, we have probably the biggest ratio of nationals to non-nationals. When you look at other countries like the UAE and Kuwait, a lot of those teams, most of the population is based on expats,” he added.
Rugby union was introduced in the Kingdom by British expats in the mid-20th century. In 2010, the Kingdom enjoyed its first ever international win in a rugby competition. Initially, it was a mix of expat and Saudi players. In 2012, a national team — which was made up of only Saudi players — entered the West Asia 7s competition in the UAE and finished third overall. And in 2014, the country participated in the Asian Games in South Korea.
Aldajani’s SARF board is made up mostly of Saudis but with individuals who have had international experience.
Amal Al-Grafi is the chief executive officer, Dr. Hadeel Ramadan Bakhsh heads the women’s rugby committee, and Lojain Alharbi chairs the finance committee. The communications, grassroots sports, player welfare, and coaching and officiating committees and led by Sami Amin, Mansour Aldehaiman, Waleed Yousef, and Khalid Al-Mansour, respectively, while Patrick Raupach is board adviser and head of the competitions committee.
While the majority of players are men, great efforts are being made to encourage women and girls to take up the sport.
Aldajani said: “Women’s rugby is a very big focus for us, starting with kids in middle and high school — there are some clubs here that are specifically for kids under the age of eight, between the ages of two and four, and up to 12. So those are going pretty strong.
“Our strategy as a federation was to select a few schools that had a blend of Saudi and expat kids, the reason being that the expat kids, or their parents, will most likely have been exposed to the sport back home. So, convincing them to play would be a lot less difficult.
“And because they are meant to sell tickets, now the kids want to participate with their friends, and they know it gets them excited. It’s also something new,” he added.
The federation’s training and education committee concentrates on developing individuals and players to become either match officials, first aiders, or coaches for kids, adults, and even professionals.
Aldajani pointed out that the tight-knit nature of the rugby community ensured that many ex-players ended up getting involved in coaching or helping out in other ways.
“You have a population of players that are engaged beyond retirement age. We focus on playing fifteens and sevens. Sevens is a very fast-paced game involving a lot of sprinting. Most people retire about 28 or 29 but some go on until they are 34. But by the age of 35, the bones start to ache, and break,” he said.
Major positives of the game, he noted, were its inclusivity and culture built on honor, integrity, respect, discipline, and teamwork.
According to Guinness World Records, the oldest international rugby union player was UK-born Colin Stanley who played for Saudi Arabia against Jordan in 2017, aged 58.
Expats in the Kingdom will always be key members of any side, but more Saudis are becoming keen to join in.
“We have the sustainability model where we can always rely on Saudis to keep joining. And what we’re really trying to focus on is using our current infrastructure with expats and embedding it with Saudis.
“The coronavirus pandemic was tough because a lot of us got laid off. For us, as a population and as a sport that relied on our players, we suffered a lot because we lost maybe a quarter to a fifth of our player base. It takes a toll on everything,” Aldajani added.
Despite its tough image, Aldajani said rugby was one of the safest sports he had ever played. But while he was keen to see it expand in schools and beyond, he wanted players to be smart, and prioritize their education.
“Professional athletes have such a short window where they can be really good, and sometimes they’re really good but never make it through. They finish, and perhaps do not work for years, but when they come to needing a job, they find they have no skills.
“Maybe, in a way, my parents really emphasized that. School comes first. I’ve seen a lot of my friends that didn’t do that, and it hasn’t worked out as well for them as it has for me. So, I hope in a way that rugby does not take over a person’s life,” he added.
Variations of the game can be played with less physical contact.
“Touch rugby caters to all ages, all sizes — we have guys that are 350 pounds and play with us, up to guys that are maybe 110 pounds and fly around. It is a sport that can be played co-ed, male and female. It’s really fun,” Aldajani said.
Participation is not for everyone, but rugby is a popular spectator sport. The Rugby World Cup, taking place in France next year, is the third-largest sporting event in the world. Closer to home, rugby is played throughout the Kingdom.
Saudi ‘rugby guy’ raising profile of sport in Kingdom
https://arab.news/97v9b
Saudi ‘rugby guy’ raising profile of sport in Kingdom
- President of Saudi Arabian Rugby Federation Ali Aldajani passing on love of game to new generation of Saudis, expats
- Rugby played in Kingdom for almost 50 years, now being developed from grass roots to professional level
Swiatek not expecting WADA appeal over doping scandal
- Pole tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine in an out-of-competition sample in August when she was ranked number one
The 23-year-old Pole tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in an out-of-competition sample in August when she was ranked number one.
However, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted that the violation was not intentional and she escaped with a one-month sanction that saw her miss three tournaments in Asia and lose her top ranking.
News of the saga only emerged in late November and she will play her first tournament since then at the mixed-teams United Cup in Sydney ahead of the Australian Open next month.
Swiatek said that, while the incident had been “mentally tough,” the public response had been generally positive, allaying fears that she would be ostracized.
“I think people, most of them, are understanding,” said the five-time Grand Slam champion.
“And the ones who read the documents and are aware of how the system works, they know that I had no fault and I had no influence on what was going on.
“I try to just go on with my life and focus on different things, focus on preparing for the season and on tennis, because this is the best thing you can do after a case like that,” she said.
Her case is similar to that of Italian men’s world number one Jannik Sinner.
He was exonerated by the ITIA for twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March. But WADA appealed against the decision in September and he is awaiting the outcome.
Swiatek said she does not anticipate WADA will follow the same path with her.
“I gave every possible evidence and there is not much, honestly, more to do,” she said.
“There is no point to do an appeal in our opinion.
“But, you know, I guess overall, this whole process was pretty abstract sometimes and hard to understand from a point of view where you don’t think about the law and everything.
“But honestly, this is about the law and the wording and this kind of stuff. So I’m not expecting an appeal, but I have kind of no influence on what’s going to happen.
“But I can say from the processes that I went through and how they treated me from the beginning, that it seemed fair for me,” she said.
“I managed to give the source (of the contamination) pretty quickly. That’s why the case closed, pretty quickly.”
Thunder run streak to 9 games as Shai ties career high with 45 points
- In a Florida showdown, Tyler Herro sank a jump shot with 0.1 of a second remaining to give the Miami Heat an 89-88 NBA thriller triumph over the host Orlando Magic
WASHINGTON: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander matched his career high with 45 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Indiana Pacers 120-114 on Thursday, stretching their NBA win streak to nine games.
The 26-year-old Canadian guard made 15-of-22 shots from the floor, 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and all 11 of his free throws while adding seven rebounds, eight assists, two blocked shots and a steal in a maestro performance.
“It’s the extra plays that put you over the edge,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have a group of guys that are hungry to do whatever it takes to win and that’s why we win.”
Jalen Williams added 20 points and Isaiah Hartenstein contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Thunder in his 11th double-double of the season.
The Western Conference-leading Thunder are 24-5 and on a roll despite a loss in the NBA Cup final to Milwaukee that didn’t count against them in the regular season.
“The main thing is it’s genuine,” said Hartenstein. “We’re not coming in trying to fake something. We really all support each other.
“We’re not trying to put something on for the TV or for the world to see. We’re really supporting each other and I think that’s what makes it special.”
Andrew Nembhard led the host Pacers (15-16) with 23 points. Indiana took a 61-53 half-time lead before the Thunder struck in the second half and closed the game on a 17-7 run for the victory.
“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But that’s what good teams do, play through situations and because we did that we got the W.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who set his career high of 45 points last month in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, sank a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma City a 114-109 edge with 59 seconds remaining and sank six free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the triumph.
His crucial 3-pointer came after extra work on his outside shooting and confidence to keep firing after a miss.
“It feels good, but that’s what the work is about,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It went in because I took the shot.
“In the past, I probably would have gotten discouraged missing one and not shooting it, but I would like to think I’ve grown a bit, enough to trust in my work, take a shot, stay true to it and it paid off tonight because of that.
“But it’s about continuing to push forward. I’m going to miss some and I’m going to make some. You’ve always got to stay shooting.”
In a Florida showdown, Tyler Herro sank a jump shot with 0.1 of a second remaining to give the Miami Heat an 89-88 NBA thriller triumph over the host Orlando Magic.
Herro scored 20 points to lead the Heat, whose president Pat Riley said hours earlier that the team has no plans to trade All-Star forward Jimmy Butler.
At Washington, the NBA-worst Wizards improved to 5-23 by beating Charlotte 113-110 as Jordan Poole scored 25 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer for Washington with 8.1 seconds remaining.
Host Atlanta got 30 points and 15 rebounds from Jalen Johnson and 27 points and 13 assists from Trae Young in a 141-133 triumph over Chicago. Zach LaVine had 37 points in a losing cause.
The Houston Rockets, led by 30 points from Jalen Green and 27 off the bench by Cam Whitmore, beat host New Orleans 128-111.
With stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard out due to illness, the Milwaukee Bucks lost at home to Brooklyn 111-105 as Cameron Johnson led the Nets with 29 points.
Zach Edey had 21 points and 16 rebounds and Jaren Jackson added 21 points and 11 rebounds to spark the Memphis Grizzlies over visiting Toronto 155-126.
Two killed in treacherous Sydney-Hobart yacht race
- Both crew members were struck on the head by booms as the yachts raced southwards along the New South Wales coast, police said
- So far 17 yachts have pulled out from the initial fleet of 104 that left Sydney Harbor on Boxing Day
SYDNEY: Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the treacherous Sydney to Hobart bluewater classic, officials said Friday, as a string of yachts limped out of a race fleet battered by powerful winds.
Both crew members — a 55-year-old man on Flying Fish Arctos and a 65-year-old man on Bowline — were struck on the head by booms as the yachts raced southwards along the New South Wales coast, police said.
Other crew tried to revive the two Australians but were unsuccessful. They were the first fatalities in the race since 1998.
Police believe crews on both boats were changing sails when the booms swung, said New South Wales marine area command superintendent Joseph McNulty.
“The hull moves, the sails are moving, the booms are moving. It’s a technical change of sail at sea. So that may have contributed to the deaths of those people today,” he told reporters.
“Both those crews are doing it pretty tough at the moment. They are shaken up by what they’ve seen and what they’ve had to do.”
So far 17 yachts — including race record holder Comanche — have pulled out from the initial fleet of 104 that left Sydney Harbor on Boxing Day, organizers said.
Several were dismasted or suffered damaged mainsails.
The lead boats experienced winds overnight of 25 to 30 knots — near gale force, said David Jacobs, vice commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
“So they’re traveling extremely fast,” he told reporters.
“The sea was not unusually large from the information I have received,” he said.
The deaths would hit the racing community hard, Jacobs said.
“On a boat itself they train together, live together, cook together, they do everything together. It would be devastating, as we are devastated,” he said.
He promised an investigation by the yacht club to help improve safety in the event but said the race would go on.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a statement saying it was “heartbreaking that two lives have been lost at what should have been a time of joy.”
Gale-force winds and high seas had been forecast for the 628-nautical mile event, which ends in the Tasmanian state capital Hobart after the fleet tackles the notorious Bass Strait.
But this was not an “extreme” forecast, Jacobs said.
“These fleets can handle those winds easily. They are ocean racers, they are used to the winds,” he said.
In a night of drama, one man was swept overboard from the yacht Porco Rosso and carried more than a kilometer (more than half a mile) away before being rescued by his crew, Jacobs said.
Weather is a critical factor in the race, first held in 1945, with winds and sea conditions often changing rapidly.
The overnight fatalities were the first in the race since 1998 when six men died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued after a deep depression exploded over the fleet in Bass Strait.
Comanche’s retirement left the door open for supermaxi rival LawConnect to win line honors for the second straight year.
Comanche, which surged over the finish line in one day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds to set a new mark in 2017, was leading when she retired.
LawConnect held a lead of more than 18 nautical miles by early Friday afternoon over its nearest rival Celestial.
Wild Oats, which has twice won the race — the last time in 2014 — was among this year’s casualties, with rigging damage.
Alive, last year’s overall winner of the Tattersall Cup, which takes into account boat size and other factors, was one of the first to pull out this year, retiring with engine issues.
Haaland penalty failure and Fernandes red card pile on woes for City and United in Premier League
- Liverpool rallied to a 3-1 win over Leicester in foggy conditions at Anfield and moved seven points clear atop the standings approaching the halfway point of the campaign
- Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Tottenham and are a big surprise in third place
LONDON: Erling Haaland’s failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes’ latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.
There were no such problems Thursday for Liverpool, who rallied to a 3-1 win over Leicester in foggy conditions at Anfield and moved seven points clear atop the standings approaching the halfway point of the campaign.
City dropped more points in their improbably poor run of form by drawing 1-1 at home to Everton, with Haaland having a spot kick saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 53rd minute.
The four-time defending champions have only won one of their last 13 games in all competitions and manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged he needs to spend in the January transfer window to reverse City’s slide.
“The transfer window in the winter is not easy, but even the players know that we have to add some new players,” said Guardiola, who has had to cope without a host of key players, including Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, through injury this season.
While City are languishing in seventh place, United are even further adrift in 14th place after a 2-0 loss at lowly Wolverhampton.
United played almost the entire second half with 10 men after Fernandes collected his second yellow card in the 47th minute. It was the United captain’s third sending-off of the season, though one was rescinded.
After seeing second-place Chelsea also drop points after conceding in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Fulham, Liverpool recovered from conceding in the sixth minute against Leicester to extend their lead. Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s goals.
Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Tottenham and are a big surprise in third place.
City pain
City secured only their fifth point in the league since the end of October but that will be scant consolation to Guardiola, whose beleaguered team squandered a winning position after going ahead through Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot in the 14th. Iliman Ndiaye equalized in the 36th.
Haaland’s penalty failure means the Norway international has only scored once in his last seven games. He headed in from the rebound after his spot kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Haaland, who last week admitted his form had not been good enough during a run that has seen City’s season unravel, held his head in his hands after his failure to score from the spot. He still has 18 goals in 25 appearances this season, but has not scored in a win for his club since the 1-0 victory against Southampton on Oct. 26.
“We shoot a lot in the 18-yard box, but unfortunately we could not get the results that we wanted,” Guardiola said.
City’s damaging run has seen them slip down the standings in the league and crash out of the English League Cup. Guardiola’s team is also in danger of missing out on qualifying in the Champions League — sitting just one point above the cut-off point with two games left.
Goal from a corner
Wolves’ first goal against United came direct from a corner, with Brazil striker Matheus Cunha seeing his kick curl over the head of goalkeeper Andre Onana and into the far corner in the 58th minute.
“I was shooting — we train to shoot,” Cunha said.
Such goals are rare, though United also conceded from a corner in its 4-3 loss to Tottenham in the English League Cup this month. Son Heung-min scored on that occasion.
Wolves added a second through Hwang Hee-chan in the ninth minute of stoppage time and have won two straight games since Vitor Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil as manager. Cunha has 10 goals this season.
Salah scores again
Salah moved three goals clear of second-place Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot, his 16th of the campaign completing Liverpool’s recovery after Gakpo curled in the equalizer in first-half stoppage time and Jones made it 2-1 in the 49th.
Salah has scored at least one goal in nine of his last 10 league matches, and has 19 goals in all competitions this season.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 20 matches in all competitions, the only defeat all season under new manager Arne Slot coming at home to Forest in the league in September.
“This year feels different,” Salah said of Liverpool’s title chances, “but the most important thing is we need to stay humble.”
Chelsea slump
Chelsea have dropped points in successive games, after drawing 0-0 at Everton last week.
The Blues gave up a lead earned by Cole Palmer in the 16th as Harry Wilson equalized in the 82nd and Rodrigo Muniz grabbed a late winner for Fulham, which won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 45 years.
Arsenal can now jump from fourth to second with a win against Ipswich on Friday.
Forest win again
Forest’s remarkable season shows little sign of slowing after Anthony Elanga’s winner against Tottenham at the City Ground. Forest are a point behind Chelsea.
Aston Villa was already a goal down to Newcastle after Anthony Gordon’s strike in the second minute when Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd. Alexander Isak and Joelinton added goals for the hosts in a 3-0 win.
West Ham had to cope with first-half injuries to defender Max Kilman and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but still won 1-0 at Southampton.
Troubled Man City held by lowly Everton, Chelsea title bid rocked
LONDON: Erling Haaland had a second-half penalty saved as crisis-torn Manchester City failed to end their dismal run with a 1-1 draw against lowly Everton, while title contenders Chelsea suffered a first home defeat against Fulham since 1979 on Thursday.
Champions City have just one victory in their last 13 games in all competitions as their Christmas schedule started in disappointing fashion.
Bernardo Silva put City in front early on before Iliman Ndiaye salvaged a point for Everton.
City are languishing in seventh place and sit five points adrift of the top four, with their astonishing decline showing no sign of ending.
City boss Pep Guardiola conceded ahead of the game that his troubled side are at risk of failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 15 years and their latest setback was another blow to that target.
“Of course we need results and we didn’t get it. The team played really good again in all departments and unfortunately could not win,” Guardiola said.
“We accept it. It is life. We did not expect it to not win games many times. But what do you have to do? Continue.”
Everton had kept five clean sheets in their last six games but were breached after just 14 minutes.
Jeremy Doku fed Silva and his effort across goal deflected off Jarrad Branthwaite and looped beyond the helpless Jordan Pickford.
Everton levelled when Manuel Akanji sliced an attempted clearance into the path of Ndiaye, who fired into the top corner for Everton’s first away goal in over two months.
Seven minutes into the second half, Haaland had the chance to end his longest goal drought at the Etihad but Pickford dived low to his right to make the save.
At Stamford Bridge, second-placed Chelsea were stunned by Fulham’s late fightback for a 2-1 win in a dramatic west London derby.
Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead after 16 minutes, the England forward drilling home from the edge of the area after weaving through the Fulham defense in dazzling style.
But Fulham levelled with eight minutes left when Antonee Robinson’s cross was headed down by Timothy Castagne and Harry Wilson nodded in from close range.
Chelsea were furious, claiming Alex Iwobi had fouled Pedro Neto in the build-up to the goal.
But there was worse to come for the Blues in stoppage-time when Rodrigo Muniz converted Sasa Lukic’s pass with a clinical strike.
Chelsea are four points behind leaders Liverpool, who have two games in hand and host Leicester later on Thursday.
Nottingham Forest climbed to third place after a 1-0 win against spluttering Tottenham at the City Ground.
Forest went ahead in the 28th minute when Anthony Elanga raced onto Morgan Gibbs-White’s pass and stroke a composed finish past Fraser Forster.
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo had just 17 games in charge of Tottenham before being sacked in 2021.
But Forest’s fourth successive win was sweet revenge for Nuno, whose former club had Djed Spence sent off in the closing moments for a second booking.
Tottenham are stuck in 11th place as the pressure mounts on boss Ange Postecoglou.
Newcastle swatted aside 10-man Aston Villa 3-0, moving up to fifth place after winning three consecutive league games for the first time since 2023.
Anthony Gordon struck with a superb curling strike after just two minutes at St. James’ Park.
Villa’s Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd minute for violent conduct after stamping on Newcastle’s Fabian Schar.
Alexander Isak made Newcastle’s numerical advantage count in the 59th minute as the Swedish striker tapped in his seventh goal in his last six appearances.
Joelinton wrapped up the points in stoppage-time with a curler from 18 yards.
Jarrod Bowen’s 59th-minute goal gave West Ham a 1-0 win at bottom of the table Southampton after the visitors saw Guido Rodriguez’s red card overturned by VAR.
It was a frustrating start for new Saints boss Ivan Juric, who has replaced the sacked Russell Martin.
Bournemouth and Crystal Palace shared a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium.
