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Richard Gasquet reaches Qatar Open final

Second-seeded Richard Gasquet overcame German qualifier Daniel Brands 7-5, 7-5 Friday to reach the Qatar Open final. The 10th-ranked Frenchman struggled early against the big-hitting German. Brands controlled the rallies with his forehand, often pushing Gasquet beyond the baseline. But as the first set went on, Gasquet ... Read More

Gulf Cup biennial football kicks off in Bahrain

Eight Arab football teams have arrived in Bahrain ahead for the 21st Gulf Cup biennial football tournament due to kick off on Jan.5 and will last for about two weeks. Teams from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, and Iraq arrived in the small island country of Bahrain that is the hosting Gulf Cup of Nations ... Read More

Egypt’s Ahly close to signing Ghana striker Opoku

Ghana striker Agyemang Opoku will be given a trial at Egypt’s al-Ahly Club in a step towards signing him in January, reported the club’s official website. “Ghana’s Opoku will undergo a trial at Ahly ahead of a likely transfer in January,” Ahly football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz told the club’s website Thursday as quoted by ... Read More

Return VIP status to Palestinian sports chief, FIFA asks Israel

FIFA is asking Israel to return VIP status to Palestinian football union President Jibril Rajoub, allowing him to enter Israel without security checks. The Zurich-based global football governing body said Wednesday that it asked the Israeli football association to help secure Rajoub’s “freedom of movement.” An Israeli ... Read More

Marseille soccer team sign Algerian Kadir

Algeria midfielder Foued Kadir has joined Olympique Marseille from Valenciennes, the League 1 club said on Wednesday. Marseille, third in the French league standings but level on 38 points with leaders Paris St Germain, did not disclose the fee or the length of the 29-year-old Kadir’s deal. A source close to the club said ... Read More

Ferrer advances to 2nd round at Qatar Open

Top-seeded David Ferrer rallied to defeat German qualifier Dustin Brown 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday. The fifth-ranked Spaniard struggled early against Brown’s serve and net play. With the first set even at 5, Brown hit a drop volley and then broke Ferrer when the Spaniard hit a shot into ... Read More

Brazilian Lucas unveiled by Paris St Germain in Qatar

Midfielder Lucas Moura was unveiled as Paris St Germain’s (PSG) latest signing on Tuesday (January 1) in Doha, Qatar. According to media reports Qatari-backed PSG paid a fee of 45 million euros ($59.3 million) for the exciting prospect in August, with an agreement that he would arrive in Read More

African Nations Cup hopefuls Algeria put faith in coach Halilhodzic

Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic has been told he will keep his job regardless of how his team does at the African Nations Cup finals, keeping a focus on qualifying for the next World Cup. Algeria have set an objective of reaching the semi-finals at the tournament in South Africa, which starts on Jan. 19, but said the ... Read More

Using goal-line technology is 'stupidity': Platini

Chairman of the Union of European Football Associations, Michel Platini, attended the opening ceremony of the seventh Dubai International Sports Conference on Friday and shared his thoughts about embedding technology into football games. On his first visit to Dubai, Platini told the press he disapproves of spending ... Read More

League season start in Egypt delayed again

The launch of the league in Egypt this season has been postponed for a third time, this time until Feb. 1, the Egyptian Football Association said on Sunday. The first round of matches will be played behind closed doors, a statement on the association's website said. It follows a weekend meeting between the ... Read More

Tunisia beats Iraq 2-1 to win first Nations Cup warm-up game

Tunisia began their preparations for next month’s African Nations Cup with a 2-1 win over Iraq in a warm-up international in Sharjah on Sunday. Issam Jemaa and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef scored second-half goals before Iraq converted a late penalty through Younes Mahmoud to reduce the Read More

Paris Saint-Germain trains in Qatar

French soccer Ligue 1 leaders, Paris Saint Germain (PSG), held an open training session in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Saturday (December 29) as the club trains during the season’s winter break. PSG are owned by the Qatari fund QSI, which purchased the team in June 2011 and has since spent more than 250 million euros in ... Read More

Iraq’s FA ends Maradona speculations by promoting Shakir

Iraq football association has promoted Hakeem Shakir to the head coach’s post, ending speculations of a possible appointment of Diego Maradona for the job. Shakir, 49, who guided Iraq to the final of this year’s AFC under-19 Championship in the United Arab Emirates, had been in temporary charge of the national side since ... Read More

Zamalek’s coach to resign over Egypt’s ongoing football stoppage

Continuous football stoppage in Egypt is forcing Zamalek’s coach Jorvan Vieira to hand in his resignation, a newspaper reported Saturday. “I will not stay at Zamalek, I’m leaving. I will return to Cairo on Saturday to put the finishing touches on my resignation,” Al-Ahram newspaper quoted the Brazilian tactician, as saying ... Read More

Injury forces Algeria’s Abdoun out of Nations Cup

Algeria midfielder Djamel Abdoun has been ruled out of next month’s African Nations Cup in South Africa because of injury, the country’s football federation said. The Olympiakos player, who was a member of the Algeria squad at the 2010 World Cup, suffered a thigh injury earlier this month and has been told he cannot play for ... Read More

Taarabt and Chamakh left out in Morocco’s African Nations squad

Morocco have left Queens Park Rangers forward Adel Taarabt out of their 24-man African Nations Cup squad for the finals which start in South Africa next month. The 23-year-old does not feature on the player list for the tournament, which runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10, published on the Royal Moroccan Football Federation ... Read More

Qataris praised as ‘savors of French football’

French businessman and Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas has praised the Qataris as "the saviours of French football." The Qatar Investment Authority bought PSG in April of 2011. Since then they have spent $315.12 million to sign players like striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden and Thiago Silva; formerly a Brazil ... Read More

Dubai’s 7th International Sports Conference to host global footballers

A group of high-profile football figures will be attending Dubai’s seventh International Sports Conference on Friday Dec. 28. The two-day event will host international football personalities, including Real Madrid’s coach José Mourinho, who will speak at the opening ceremony with the Argentine legend Diego Armando ... Read More

AC Milan’s El Shaarawy haircut angers Berlusconi

The weird hairstyle of AC Milan’s top scorer Stephan El Shaarawy angered the Italian club owner and the country's ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. The newspaper quoted the team’s hairdresser saying that Berlusconi tried to force El Shaarawy, who is of Egyptian decent, to ... Read More

QPR’s Taraabt not in Morocco’s African Nations Cup squad

Morocco have left Queens Park Rangers (QPR) forward Adel Taraabt out of their 24-man African Nations Cup squad for the finals which start in South Africa next month. The 23-year-old does not feature on the list of players for the tournament, which runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10, published on the Royal Moroccan Football ... Read More

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