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QATAR BLAME SAUDI ARABIA FOR POOR IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ATTENDANCE
BY DUNCAN MACKAY.
Officials in Qatar have blamed the television schedule and the Saudi Arabia-led blockade for the poor attendances at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships.
The image of the event so far has been the sight of an almost empty Khalifa International Stadium as the world’s top athletes compete in the sport’s flagship event.
The Stadium normally holds 40,000 but that has been reduced to just 17,000 for these Championships, with most of the top tier of the seating covered up.
It is claimed that 11,800 turned up for the opening session on Friday and 11,300 for the following day which featured the men’s 100 metres final.
But most of the crowd, largely made of migrant workers, had left by the time Christian Coleman crossed the finishing line to claim the gold medal in a race that started at 10.15pm.
The situation was even worse for women’s 100m won by Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Qatari officials admit that less than 8,000 turned up with the majority departing long before the showpiece race at 11.20pm.
The challenge we face with a competition schedule that is geared to support global TV viewership, is that some finals are not starting until the late evening,” said a statement from Doha 2019.
“This impacts on the number of spectators remaining until the end of the session.
“We know it is a balance and we are pleased global viewers can tune in to watch the live action from Doha.”
Expatriate workers make up 88 per cent of the population in Qatar and many are from countries whose interest is not in the sprints, normally the blue riband event of these Championships.
“The pattern of the attendance so far follows the interests of the local community, with middle and long distance races pulling in the biggest crowds, rather than traditional sprint events, and we would like to thank all the fans that have supported these athletes,” Doha 2019 said.
Doha 2019 claimed it is “confident that our renewed efforts will encourage the local community to come and witness the stunning performance of the world’s best athletes”.
Making it appear even worse is that this event is being held two years after London staged the Championships, when a record 660,000 tickets were sold for the 10-day event.
When they were awarded these Championships in 2014, Qatar had claimed it was confident it would be able to fill the Stadium with supporters flying in from around the Middle East to attend.
Now officials are also blaming the current political situation in the Gulf for the lack of interest in the Championships.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt are among several countries who have severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed a blockade after they claimed Doha was supporting terrorism.
“Our vision was for a first World Championship in the Middle East,” Doha 2019 said.
“An IAAF World Athletics Championships that would welcome the world and connect to new fans.
“Despite facing unique challenges as hosts, in terms of the political blockade, that ambition remains.
“To date we have witnessed over 80 different nationalities in the Stadium, the vast majority enjoying athletics for the first time.
“The athletes competing at Khalifa International Stadium
and fans attending have all relished the experience.
With the marathon and race walks being held after midnight to avoid the searing Qatar heat and humidity, but athletes still collapsing as the conditions take their toll, it all adds to the impression of an event that is being held in the wrong location.
It is a theory Doha 2019 defends itself against.
“The controlled temperature conditions on the track have been ideal and fitting for world-class performances and will remain so,” organisers said.
“Whether it is understanding athlete performances in endurance events or stadium design, this Championship is benefitting world sport and important progress is being made.”
One person seemingly not bothered by the lack of people in the Stadium last night was Fraser-Pryce, winner of her fourth IAAF World Championships 100m title, 10 years after winning her first in front of a crowd of 40,000.
This time she was just happy her two-year-old son Zyon and husband Jason were there.
“Doha got the right to hold the event,” Fraser-Pryce said.
“You have to give and take.
“There might not have been many people in the Stadium but the two most important people to me were there.”
-insidethegames
UEFA appears poised for an emergency vote on suspending Israel from European competition next week, with national federations scrambling to position themselves amid mounting political pressure following calls for action.
The brewing crisis intensified this week when United Nations experts called for Israel’s suspension from international football amid the unfolding genocide in occupied Palestinian territory.
A source confirmed that Europe’s soccer body could potentially decide next week to vote on whether to suspend Israel from European competition.
Should UEFA vote to ban Israel, it would put the organisation on a collision course with the government of the United States — co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup — which is vehemently against such a motion.
“We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup,” a spokesperson for the U.S. state department told Sky News.
But even though UEFA has the power to suspend Israel or its clubs from their competitions, it may not be able to stop them from competing in World Cup qualifiers, which fall under the ambit of global soccer body FIFA.
The general secretaries of all UEFA national associations are meeting this week in Marbella, where Israel is not officially on the agenda, but officials expect UEFA to call an emergency vote next week.
FIFA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment while UEFA declined to comment.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub said Israelis should not be allowed to participate in any matches, whether they are under UEFA or FIFA.
“Israel has violated the principles, values and FIFA’s statutes. Therefore, I believe that Israel should be sanctioned,” Rajoub told TV2.
“The sanctions should come from UEFA and FIFA.”
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Israel’s national team are set to face Norway and Italy, the top two teams in their World Cup qualifying group, next month.
“We don’t have any indications that we are facing such an act (UEFA suspension),” a spokesperson for the Israel Football Association told Reuters.
“We are focusing on our international matches against Norway and Italy.”
Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) is one of the member associations that have been the driving force behind calling for a meeting on the Israel situation. The NFF declined to comment.
Lise Klaveness, the president of the NFF and a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, has also been vocal about the crisis in Gaza ahead of her country’s home game against Israel on October 11.
“Neither we nor other organisations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time,” Klaveness said in a statement last month.
“We want to donate the proceeds (from the game) to a humanitarian organisation that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Dutch football federation (KNVB) said it knows nothing about a vote to suspend Israel.
“As soon as the football association receives a message about this, it will take a position,” the KNVB told Dutch outlet NOS.
Last week, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Israel should be banned from international sports competitions. However, officials from the Spanish FA (RFEF) have kept a low profile on the matter.
Israel maintains that its war is not against the population of Gaza but against the Hamas militant group whose fighters led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and precipitated the war.
The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 65,000 people, according to local health officials.
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A hat-trick from George Agha and a sublime free-kick goal from David Edeh ensured a comfortable start for five-time world champions Nigeria in the WAFU-B U17 Championship, as the Golden Eaglets routed Baby Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4 -1 in Yamoussoukro on Wednesday.
Agha converted from the spot three minutes into the game after Boluwatife Thompson was hacked inside the box.
Edeh displayed fantastic football artistry to score from a free-kick in the 5th minute of the encounter.
The Eaglets were in cruise control as Agha bagged his brace in the 14th minute. The charges of Manu Garba were very dominant with a three-goal advantage.
Warris Soumanou in goal for Benin Republic was caught napping and his error of judgement gave the Eaglets another goal after a beautiful exchange of passes and dribbles between Thompson and Edeh, which set up Agha for his hat-trick in the 32nd minute.
It was raining goals and it was the turn of the Beninoise in the 45th minute, as a low drive from Jeremy Zannou gave the Baby Cheetahs a consolation goal.
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Mohamed Salah’s dramatic stoppage-time penalty ensured Liverpool maintained their winning start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory at promoted side Burnley on Sunday.
With British record signing Alexander Isak forced to wait for his Liverpool debut having been left out the squad for the trip to Lancashire, the champions struggled to break down a dogged home side in the first half.
After a regroup at the break, the visitors upped the ante in the second half, with Dominik Szoboszlai finally forcing a fine save from Martin Dubravka in the Burnley goal.
Burnley were holding on for a well-earned point with ease, before the ball agonisingly struck substitute Hannibal Mejbri’s arm in the penalty area and Salah slotted the spot kick into the net in the 95th minute to break home hearts.
Liverpool are still to really get going this season, requiring a winner in the last 10 minutes of all four of their league victories so far. The goal that clinched an undeserved success at Turf Moor was certainly the most fortunate.
After one of the longest transfer sagas in Premier League history finally reached its expected conclusion, Liverpool supporters were forced to wait two weeks for their first glimpse of their 125-million-pound ($169.45-million) goal machine due to the international break.
While coach Arne Slot said this week that Isak would have to be utilised carefully due to his previous injuries and lack of action so far this season, the Swede was still expected to at least be on the bench at Turf Moor.
The wait goes on as, without their expensive new forward, Liverpool mustered just one shot on target in the first half, from left-back Andrew Robertson.
Burnley, who conceded the fewest goals in English football league history last term to earn them promotion, otherwise frustrated the champions with ease. Even Lesley Ugochukwu’s red card for two bookings in the 84th minute did not seem to fluster them.
Even without Isak, Liverpool still had much attacking talent on the Turf Moor pitch but they just could not find that killer pass.
Salah was especially below par but he made no mistake in the most pressurised moment after Hannibal had stuck up an arm to block Jeremie Frimpong’s cross
The champions’ impressive Premier League goalscoring streak stretches to 38 games nonetheless, their longest such run in the competition.
-Reuters
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