First Palestinian Olympic boxer fights hurdles before history

A picture taken on June 22, 2024 shows Palestinian lightweight boxer Waseem Abu Sal during a training session at a gym in Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank, as part of his preparations after qualifying for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic games. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 02 July 2024
Follow

First Palestinian Olympic boxer fights hurdles before history

  • Abu Sal will take on his first Olympic fight on July 28 after an unusual training routine with his remote coach Ahmad Harara, 32, who is held back by Israeli travel restrictions

BEITUNIA, Palestinian Territories: Every morning Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal checks texts from his Cairo-based coach — a Gazan who cannot travel to him in the occupied West Bank — to see his daily Olympics training schedule as he prepares to make history.
The 20-year-old will be the first Palestinian boxer to participate in the Olympics after he bagged a wildcard spot and now dreams of delivering the first-ever medal for the Palestinians when he competes in Paris.
“This has been my dream since I was 10 years old,” he told AFP the day after receiving the invitation last week.
“Every day I went to sleep and woke up thinking about how I could reach the Olympics.”
Abu Sal will take on his first Olympic fight on July 28 after an unusual training routine with his remote coach Ahmad Harara, 32, who is held back by Israeli travel restrictions.
“I only see him when I travel” for international competitions, Waseem Abu Sal told AFP at his gym in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
“He writes my training schedule every day, and I train in the morning, and again in the evening with coach Nader Jayousi.”
Harara said he could not see his star fighter because of “the occupation barriers between the West Bank and Gaza” as an ID holder of the latter territory.
“Since then, I have been overseeing Wassem’s training remotely,” Harara said.
The Palestine Olympic Committee has been represented on the International Olympic Committee since 1995 despite a lack of statehood.
Though Abu Sal did not make it through the Olympic qualifying rounds, he received a wildcard spot in a system that ensures representation for all countries at the Games.
The political reality of the West Bank — dotted by Israeli army checkpoints that restrict movement — means Abu Sal is fighting hurdles even before he makes history.
“Athletes from the West Bank can’t easily come to us,” he said.
His usual sparring partner in Ramallah outweighs him by several weight classes — 71 kilograms to Abu Sal’s 57 kg.
Another partner closer to him in weight is based in Jerusalem, on the other side of Israel’s security barrier, making regular training difficult.
“This makes it hard to hold tournaments, leading to less competition in the country,” he said.
Traveling abroad to train or compete comes with its own difficulties.
“Many countries deny visas to those with Palestinian passports, causing us to miss out on tournaments while waiting for visas,” he said.
When Abu Sal flies for Paris in July, he will do so from the Jordanian capital of Amman, which he will travel to from Ramallah by road, as he usually does when going abroad for competitions.
Nader Jayousi, head of the Palestinian Olympic delegation that will send seven athletes to Paris this year, is a mentor to Abu Sal.
At the official’s Ramallah gym, Waseem trains alongside other promising young boxers under his watchful eye.
As the Olympic prospect spars, a mix of rap and traditional Palestinian songs fills the gym.
“It’s a proud moment, not just for me, but for Palestine as the first-ever Palestinian boxer will represent Palestine at the Olympics,” Jayousi said.
He echoed Abu Sal’s concerns about restrictions.
“We don’t have that big number of very good boxers that I can make Waseem train with,” he said.
“That’s a big challenge for us because iron sharpens iron.”
One of the biggest challenges to his Olympic preparation has been the war in Gaza, which started after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel that left 1,195 people dead, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,718 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Among them were athletes or relatives of athletes, according to Palestinian officials.
Jayousi points to the cases of a coach killed in an air strike, a Gaza boxer who lost an uncle, and another whose eye was lost to shrapnel.
The devastating conflict and casualty updates knocked the mental health of Abu Sal and his teammates, said Jayousi.
“This has affected our boxers big time, because we were every day getting news about athletes we are losing.”
Traveling between the West Bank cities has also become more dangerous due to an uptick in checkpoints, army presence, and settler violence.
Since October 7, Palestinian officials say at least 553 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army or settlers who live in settlements the UN considers illegal under international law.
But as the Olympics near, Abu Sal’s resolve has only been strengthened to “train, eat, and sleep” after receiving the ticket to fight for gold.
“It was like life had come back to me,” he said.


Atlético Madrid: No approach made to keeper Jan Oblak from Saudi Arabia: report

Updated 04 July 2024
Follow

Atlético Madrid: No approach made to keeper Jan Oblak from Saudi Arabia: report

RIYADH: There has been no approach for Atlético Madrid first team keeper Jan Oblak from Saudi Arabia, the club told Arriyadiyah.

Transfer rumors indicated that the Slovenian shotstopper was interested in an offer from Al-Nassr.

But the Spanish club rubbished those claims telling Arab News’ sister publication that there had been no negotiations from Al-Nassr or the recruitment program in Saudi Arabia to sign the keeper.

Juan José García, Atlético Madrid spokesperson, told Arriyadiyah that the goalkeeper is very important to the   club, and that there are currently no negotiations for his departure.

Oblak helped his country to qualify for the Round of 16 of the Euros, and saved an important penalty from the Al-Nassr and Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, leaving the footballing legend in tears. Portugal won the game on penalties and will face France in the quarterfinals.


Ronaldo vs. Mbappe: Clash of generations at Euro 2024 has just been given some extra spice

Updated 04 July 2024
Follow

Ronaldo vs. Mbappe: Clash of generations at Euro 2024 has just been given some extra spice

  • Ronaldo heads into Friday’s game having failed to score in eight straight matches at major tournaments
  • Mbappe scored a hat trick in the World Cup final and has been logging Ronaldo-esque scoring numbers in the first part of his career

HAMBURG: Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Kylian Mbappe.

A clash of soccer icons. A clash of generations.

They’ll go head to head when Portugal play France in the Euro 2024 quarterfinals on Friday, and this heavyweight meeting might have got just that little bit bigger.

“It is, without doubt, my last European Championship,” the 39-year-old Ronaldo said after his tearful, emotionally charged performance in Portugal’s penalty-shootout victory over Slovenia in the last 16.

That may have just confirmed what many were presuming anyway.

Still, there’s now a definitive specter of finality to Ronaldo’s long, headline-grabbing Euros adventure that could be brought to an end by Mbappe, the heir apparent to Ronaldo and Lionel Messi after their long-time dominance of the sport.

Mbappe grew up with pictures of Ronaldo on his bedroom wall.

A photo is inevitably doing the rounds on social media of what is apparently their first ever meeting, at Real Madrid’s training ground at Valdebebas in 2012 when a 13-year-old Mbappe stood beside Ronaldo after a visit to the Spanish club where his sporting hero was the star player.

In 2020, Mbappe posted on Twitter, now X, that Ronaldo was his “idol.”

And only a few months ago, Ronaldo reacted to Mbappe clinching a highly anticipated move to Madrid by writing on Instagram: “Excited to see you light up the Bernabeu.”

That Mbappe can now end Ronaldo’s European Championship career — who knows, it might even be his last ever major tournament — adds an intriguing subplot to a match that will be watched around the world.

“Let’s go, let’s go to war,” Ronaldo said of the match against France, whom he considers as the top contender at Euro 2024 along with Spain.

He said he was driven to tears against Slovenia not at the prospect of elimination but because his main motivation these days is “making people happy” and he had a penalty saved in extra time.

“I’m moved by all that football means — by the enthusiasm I have for the game, the enthusiasm for seeing my supporters, my family, the affection people have for me.

“It’s not about leaving the world of football. What else is there for me to do or win?”

Ronaldo heads into Friday’s game having failed to score in eight straight matches at major tournaments — Portugal’s last four at the 2022 World Cup and its four games at Euro 2024 — and with growing concerns about whether he deserves what appears to be a guaranteed spot in the team under Roberto Martinez.

Things haven’t been straightforward for Mbappe, either, at Euro 2024.

He sustained a broken nose in France’s group opener against Austria and has since been wearing a vision-limiting protective facemask during games. Mbappe has scored one goal and that was from the penalty spot against Poland — it’s the only goal scored by a France player at these Euros.

“He will have to get used to it,” France coach Didier Deschamps said of Mbappé and his mask, “because, to protect (his nose), he will have to wear it for a few weeks — or even a few months.”

Few would have predicted the top scorer at the last World Cup (Mbappe) and the record scorer in men’s international soccer (Ronaldo) to have just one goal between them heading into the quarterfinals.

But no one will be surprised if they come alive in Hamburg, with the pressure on and the occasion so big.

Mbappe, remember, scored a hat trick in the World Cup final and has been logging Ronaldo-esque scoring numbers in the first part of his career. He’s already on 48 goals for France at the age of 25, and is also on 48 goals in the Champions League from 73 appearances.

He is chasing down Ronaldo’s scoring records at both international (130) and Champions League (140) level and will likely only succeed by showing the same undimmed passion and desire as the player he used to copy as a kid.

As their countries’ respective captains, they’ll shake hands and embrace before kickoff. You can bet they’ll do the same after the match.

By that time, one of them will be on his way home.

For Mbappe, there will surely be more European Championships down the road.

For Ronaldo, this could be the end of the road.


Confident Kroos says Germany-Spain clash ‘won’t be my last game’

Updated 03 July 2024
Follow

Confident Kroos says Germany-Spain clash ‘won’t be my last game’

  • “I don’t think tomorrow will be my last game. I think we’ll see each other again — and I look forward to it,” Kroos said
  • “If I didn’t see the chance of achieving it with the team, I wouldn’t have done it“

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany: Retiring Germany veteran Toni Kroos said he was confident Friday’s blockbuster Euro 2024 quarter-final against Spain would not be the last game of his career.
Kroos announced in May he would hang up his boots after the Euros on home soil, meaning this week’s match in Stuttgart could be his final game.
Real Madrid teammate Joselu said this week he wanted to “send Kroos into retirement” but the 34-year-old midfielder had his sights set on the July 14 Euros final in Berlin.
“We will still be in the tournament for a while,” Kroos told reporters on Wednesday at Germany’s base camp in the Bavarian village of Herzogenaurach.
“I don’t think tomorrow will be my last game. I think we’ll see each other again — and I look forward to it,” he added.
The 2014 World Cup winner stepped down from the national team in 2021 but agreed to return in March.
“The idea of returning was tied to the goal of winning the Euros,” Kroos said.
“If I didn’t see the chance of achieving it with the team, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Kroos said he “did not fear” life after football, saying “this day will come for every player.”
“Thank god I could make the decision myself, rather than anyone pushing me or making me feel that it might be better to do it earlier.
“I am aware that whatever comes along, or what hobbies I might try and take up, there will never be anything I am as good at as playing football.”
The six-time Champions League winner made his debut for Bayern Munich in 2007, the same year 16-year-old Spain winger Lamine Yamal was born.
“That doesn’t make me feel much younger,” Kroos said, calling Yamal “the best or at least the most dangerous player” for club side Barcelona this season.


Murray teams up with Raducanu in Wimbledon British dream team

Updated 03 July 2024
Follow

Murray teams up with Raducanu in Wimbledon British dream team

  • The pair were Wednesday granted a wild card just a day after Murray, 37, pulled out of the singles
  • The two-time Wimbledon singles champion will also play men’s doubles with his brother Jamie at the All England Club

LONDON: Andy Murray is teaming up with Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon in an eye-catching all-British mixed doubles pairing as part of his emotional farewell to the tournament.
The pair were Wednesday granted a wild card just a day after Murray, 37, pulled out of the singles due to his failure to regain full fitness following a back operation.
The two-time Wimbledon singles champion will also play men’s doubles with his brother Jamie at the All England Club, launching their campaign on Center Court on Thursday.
The mixed doubles event starts the following day.
Murray played mixed doubles with Serena Williams in 2019, making it to the third round, but it will be a Grand Slam debut in doubles for Raducanu.
The Scot, who has been ravaged by injuries in recent years, was asked after practice on Wednesday how the new doubles pairing had come about.
“Yesterday I was chatting to my team, they were discussing mixed and then last night I messaged her coach and just said, ‘Look, do you think this is something that maybe she’d be up for doing?’” he said.
Raducanu was quick to accept the proposal from the former world number one.
“Thankfully I got quite a quick reply,” said Murray. “It was quite late yesterday evening when I sent the message, it would have been after nine, so I was a bit worried she might be in bed, but I got a quick reply. She said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it’.”
Speaking earlier this week, Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, said teaming up with Murray at Wimbledon was “a childhood dream.”
Murray, now ranked 113th in the world, said despite his new partner’s inexperience, she would be well-suited to the format.
“She’s obviously unbelievably competitive and likes playing in the big stadiums and stuff with crowds so I expect she’ll deal with that really well,” he said.
He added: “She’s a brilliant returner and great ball striker so I’d imagine she’ll deal with returning guys’ serves well. And, when she’s getting into exchanges at the back of the court, she’ll be really good.”
The British pair face a tough opening contest against Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai.
El Salvador’s Arevalo last month won the men’s doubles title for the second time at the French Open while China’s Zhang is also a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion.
Raducanu eased into the third round of the Wimbledon singles with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Elize Mertens on Wednesday.


Turkiye summons German ambassador to protest criticism of Demiral’s goal celebration at Euro 2024

Updated 03 July 2024
Follow

Turkiye summons German ambassador to protest criticism of Demiral’s goal celebration at Euro 2024

  • Türkiye summoned the German ambassador on Wednesday to protest German interior minister Nancy Faeser’s condemnation of Demiral’s goal celebration
  • Faeser urged UEFA to punish the player for making the gesture

LEIPZIG, Germany: A controversial gesture made by Türkiye player Merih Demiral at soccer’s European Championship has ignited a diplomatic brouhaha between the country and host nation Germany.
Türkiye summoned the German ambassador on Wednesday to protest German interior minister Nancy Faeser’s condemnation of Demiral’s goal celebration the night before, when the player displayed a hand sign associated with an ultra-nationalist group.
Demiral scored both goals Tuesday in a 2-1 win over Austria to earn Türkiye’s place in the quarterfinals.
After scoring the second goal he made a sign with each hand that is used by Turkish nationalists and associated with the Turkish ultra-nationalist organization Ulku Ocaklari, which is more widely known as the Gray Wolves.
Faeser urged UEFA to punish the player for making the gesture.
“The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums. Using the soccer European Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable,” Faeser said on X.
Federal minister Cem Özdemir, a German politician of Turkish descent, said Demiral’s gesture is “extreme right” and “stands for terror, fascism.”
UEFA said it was investigating Demiral’s “alleged inappropriate behavior.” The soccer body did not outline when the case might conclude. Türkiye’s next game is against the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday.
The spokesman for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party, Omer Celik, said Faeser’s comments and UEFA’s investigation are “unacceptable.”
“It would be more appropriate for those looking for racism and fascism to focus on the recent election results in different European countries,” Celik wrote on X.
Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the investigation as a politically motivated reaction “to the use of a historical and cultural symbol” during the goal celebration.
A ministry statement said the gesture is not banned in Germany and noted that the German authority which safeguards the constitution had ruled in September 2023 that not everyone making the Gray Wolf sign could be classified as a far-right extremist.
“We consider that the reactions shown by the German authorities toward Mr. Demiral themselves contain xenophobia,” the ministry said.
After Tuesday’s game, Demiral said his gesture was an innocent expression of his national pride and that there was “no hidden message or anything of the sort.”
The player said he had the celebration in mind before scoring.
“It has to do with this Turkish identity, because I’m very proud to be a Turk. And I felt that to the fullest after the second goal. So that’s how I ended up doing that gesture. I’m very happy that I did that,” Demiral said. “I saw people in the stadium who were doing that sign. So that reminded me that I also had that in mind.”
Later, he was asked again about the gesture.
“How can I explain this?” he replied. “Of course we’re all Turkish. We’re all Turks in Turkiye. We’re very proud. I’m very proud as a person to be a Turk. So that’s what I did. That was the meaning of the gesture. It’s quite normal.”
Demiral said he hoped he’d get “more opportunities to do the same gesture again.”
Demiral was previously one of 16 Turkiye players reprimanded in 2019 for making military-style salutes at games at a time when the country was conducting a military offensive in Syria.
The Gray Wolves group was founded as the youth wing of Türkiye’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, which is currently in an alliance with Erdogan’s ruling party, the Justice and Development Party.
In the decades following its founding in the 1960s, the group was accused of involvement in politically motivated violence, mostly against leftist groups.
MHP leader Devlet Bahceli on Wednesday condemned UEFA’s investigation into Demiral’s gesture as “biased and wrong.”
“The Gray Wolf sign made by our son, Merih, after netting the ball is the Turkish nation’s message to the world,” Bahceli wrote on X. The nationalist leader urged calm, saying the Turkish team’s “struggle on the field should not go to waste.”
Germany’s federal domestic agency monitors the Gray Wolves group’s activities. Authorities estimate it has around 12,100 members in the country.
The group has been banned in France, while Austria has banned the use of the Gray Wolf salute.