Category: Sports

Baghdad The Secretary-General of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Association, “Jassem Al-Rumaihi”, arrived in Basra this morning, to attend the events of the Gulf Cup 25 draw, which will take place next Tuesday.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Mexico City, Argentina captain Lionel Messi has said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who have played together for a long time.

Messi said Brazil, Germany, France, England and Spain are always labelled favourites to win but the 35 year old forward feels France and Brazil are the best two teams going into the Nov. 20-Dec. 18 tournament, Reuters reported.

“We always say the same great teams … but, if I have to choose, Brazil and France are the two great candidates to win the World Cup,” Messi told DIRECTV Sports.

“They’ve had the same group of players for a long time, working well. France, aside from the last Euros when they were eliminated in the last 16 and did badly, they have some impressive players.

“They have a clear idea and the same coach Didier Deschamps. Brazil is a bit the same, under Tite.”

Messi did not mention Argentina, who are unbeaten in 35 matches, among the favourites even though Lionel Scaloni’s side won the Copa America last year by beating Brazil in the final.

But Argentina have been recently hampered by injuries to key players Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria.

Scaloni described club football’s fixture congestion in October as terrible but urged his players not to hold back to avoid the risk of injury ahead of the World Cup.

“We are in quite a difficult stage. The players are playing a lot of games,” Scaloni told AFAestudio.

“There can be problems as there are injuries and suspensions. It’s part of being an elite player and a national team player.

“I worry, but there is little you can do. I believe that the player has to go out on the pitch to play and not think about what’s coming, it can be detrimental. Let them play naturally.”

Argentina face the United Arab Emirates in November in their final warm-up match before heading to the World Cup where they play their opening Group C game against Saudi Arabia on Nov. 22. Mexico and Poland are the other teams in the group.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Baghdad The Popular Mobilization Committiss congratulated the head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, Muayad Al-Lami, on his winning for the position of President of the Federation of Arab Journalists for the second time.

The Commission’s Information Directorate said: “At a time when we wish Al-Lami success in his mission, we hope that this position will enhance the status of Iraq and the Iraqi press on the Arab and international levels.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Manama, Bahraini Noura Sultan rose to the tops the women’s competition in the second Abdullah bin Nass Bowling Championship, organized by the Bahrain Bowling Federation.

The Arab Champion, Noura Sultan, was able to take the top spot by earning 1873 points, surpassing the champion Nadia Aqeel, who fell to second place with 1820 points, while the Filipino Jazzin Plata came in third place with 1790 points, and Saudi Mariam Al-Dosari in the position. The fourth with 1755 points, and Saudi Arabia’s fifth flashlight with 1735 points.

Among the men’s competitions, the player Ahmed Farid continued to lead the rankings after he scored 2205 points, followed by Ahmed Al-Khaja with 2180 points, and Saudi Abdullah Al-Dulaijan with 2147 points.

The player Issa Taqi ranked fourth with 2142 points, while Kuwaiti player Mohammed Khaled Salem came in the fifth with 2141 points.

Kuwaiti Osama Al-Amiri also maintained the top spot in the Over-50 Veterans Competition with 2048 points, followed by Muhammad Asad second with 2035 points, Muhammad Al-Shawush third with 2017 points, Youssef Al-Ali fourth with 2007 points and His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad Bin Sultan Al Saud Fifthly with 1990 points.

Within the youth category competitions, Saudi Ahmed Abu Al-Rish held the first place with 2112 points, behind him was his compatriot Abdul Aziz Al-Tamimi second with 2090 points, Omani Musab Al-Adawi third with 2078 points, Saudi Abdullah Majid fourth with 2072 points, and his compatriot Bandar Al Yabih fifth with 2054 points.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Baghdad The Iraqi national under-19 youth football team qualified for the Asian finals, despite losing to Australia by one goal, in the match that took place in Kuwait in the eighth group competitions.

With this result, Australia topped the group with nine points from three victories, followed by Iraq with six points, to qualify together for the finals.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Dubai, During their participation at GITEX 2022 in Dubai, a number of Bahraini tech companies and entrepreneurs succeeded in establishing valuable partnerships with regional and international companies by signing a number of partnership deals. These partnerships will pave the way for their growth and development, enhancing their ability to expand outside Bahrain. The businesses reiterated that the support from the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) for their participation in the exhibition was a key driver of success through the facilitation of networking opportunities, creation of fruitful connections, and knowledge transfer opportunities.

The business owners highlighted the benefits of their participation, including access to new opportunities that will enable them to develop and update business models based on the latest technological advancements that were showcased during the exhibition as well as networking and meeting opportunities with both customers and potential investors.

On this occasion, Ms. Maha Mofeez, Acting Chief Executive of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) stated: “we are proud of the achievements of the Bahraini companies participating in GITEX this year, which include several partnerships and agreements that will enhance their businesses and help them expand to new markets. This further highlights Tamkeen’s objectives of empowering the local startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem, which in turn facilitates the growth of a number of economic sectors, including the high-potential ICT sector.”

Bahraini entrepreneurs participated in a number of competitions in GITEX this year, where the PLAYBOOK team reached first place at the Supernova Challenge in the category of “Fast Female Founder Award”, which is a testament to its innovative and unique business model. PLAYBOOK is a platform that aims to accelerate the career growth of women to reach leadership positions by providing digital training programs led by influential and successful women. PLAYBOOK was founded by three women under the leadership of its CEO, Wafa AlObaidat.

The following Bahraini companies also established partnership agreements that include:

The gaming company D11 signed a partnership agreement with an Emirati telecommunications company to launch their platform over the next few weeks. In addition to an agreement with a leading digital payments solutions provider to facilitate online payments in the gaming/eSports platform across European and Egyptian markets.

VirtuThinko signed a number of agreements with technology companies from several countries. Through these agreements, they will provide innovative tech solutions that will serve the local and regional markets. They also secured a regional agreement with the Boston-based company HYCU that specializes in multi-cloud data protection.

Atyaf eSolutions, the regional leader in digital transformation services announced a partnership agreement with Codebase Technologies, a world-leading provider of Open API Banking solutions. Through this partnership they will work on developing a marketplace enablement platform, Dinarii which is targeted at financial institutions, FinTechs, and merchants that are looking to launch and manage their banking marketplace ecosystems.

Atyaf eSolutions also announced a new collaboration with Logy Limited3 to develop methods of experiential learning based on the Metaverse and virtual reality. Through this collaboration Atyaf will provide educational curricula that will allow quick and more immersive learning, enhancing knowledge retention. Atyaf also collaborated with the Abu Dhabi-based National Security Institute to provide better training through virtual reality.

Nutribox signed a memorandum of understanding with 100Percent Nourishment to provide Nutribox subscribers across the MENA region with healthy ingredients they can shop for as part of their wellness and nutrition. The company also secured 30% of its pre-seed funding round from investors in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Parcel, a leading logistics provider in Bahrain signed a partnership agreement with CodeBrew through their headquarter in Dubai to enhance their route optimization systems and increase the level of service they provide to their clients as well as expand outside Bahrain to regional markets

Bahraini startup 7amdaan.io signed a collaboration agreement with the French company VIVOKA to integrate a high-performing, secure embedded/offline voice assistant in their robots.

The gaming company IGP was launched during GITEX by Bahraini entrepreneur, Abdulla Taqi. The company focuses on developing different card games based on the games usually played in the majlis, and which cater to the local culture and the Islamic traditions of Bahrain and the GCC. Abdulla Taqi, the CEO of the company, highlighted that launching the company during the exhibition provided exposure and paved the way for him to establish partnerships and secure investors.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Dammam, The Saudi National Team was reassured to qualify for the finals of Asia Juniors U17 Soccer Championship 2023 after having eliminated its staunch rival India 2-1 at a final match within G5 held at Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam on Sunday.

In the second match, which took place at Saud bin Juluwe Stadium in Dammam twin city of Al-Khober, Myanmar crushed The Maldives seven love.

Accordingly, Saudi Arabia topped G5 with full mark of 12 points from four matches while India, which collected nine points from four matches, is to wait until the top six national teams of the ten groups of the tournament, were determined.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Dammam, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between October 18 and 23, 2022, is scheduled to host International Handball Federation’s (IHF) Super Globe 2022 for the third consecutive time in Dammam under the organization of the Ministry of Sports and in coordination with the Saudi Arabian Handball Federation, as part of the Quality of Life Program, where this tournament is considered the biggest in terms of participating teams amounting to 12 clubs since the launch of the tournament in 1997.

On the occasion, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said: “We are happy again to host the biggest tournaments at the level of clubs of the handball with the participation of continental champions for the third consecutive time, which is an extension of tournaments and events that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosts with direct support from our wise leadership and keenness and follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to reach the targets of Saudi Vision 2030.”

The tournament, to be hosted at the ministry’s hall in Dammam, will see the participation of 12 teams representing the seven continents of the world, the first of which will be the representatives of the Kingdom Mudar and Khalij teams, along with Barcelona as European champions and most decorated team with five times, German team Magdeburg that is the defending champion, Kuwait: Champion of the Asian continent, Egypt’s Al-Ahli team that is the champions of Africa, Brazilian Taubaté that is champion of South and Central America, Ministrus that is champion of the North American and Caribbean Champion”, Sydney University of Australia that is Oceania’s champions, Poland’s Kielce that is IHF’s candidate No. 1, Portuguese Benfica that is IHF’s candidate No. 2 and Tunisia’s Tarajji, Arab champions.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s candidate Adel Al-Zahrani has won the post of first deputy president of the Asian Sports Press Association and the membership of the executive board of the International Sports Press Association.

Al-Zahrani won the majority of votes during the elections that were held in Rome in the presence of representatives of more than 100 member states at the Asian and International Sports Press Associations.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Phnom Penh, Saudi Arabia will host the Asian Winter Games in 2029, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced.

Trojena in Neom region, north west Saudi Arabia, was awarded the hosting rights after a detailed presentation to the 41st OCA General Assembly in Cambodia on Tuesday.

It will be the first country in West Asia to host the Asian Winter Games, which began in 1986 and have been organised by Japan on four occasions, China twice and South Korea and Kazakhstan once each, OCA said in a statement.

“The General Assembly made some very important decisions, and it is a pleasant surprise that Saudi Arabia will be the host of the next Asian Winter Games in 2029,” said the OCA Acting President, Raja Randhir Singh, in summing up the meeting.

The President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, said: “This is a great victory for the Saudi nation and the people of the Gulf countries due to the generous support offered to the Saudi sports sector.

“This achievement also shed light on the enormous potential and the outstanding infrastructure of Saudi Arabia to host and organise international-level sports competitions and Games successfully.”

HH Prince Fahad bin Jalawi, SOPC Vice President, added that Trojena 2029 illustrated the keen interest of the Saudi leadership in the sports movement in the Kingdom.

“We are sparing no effort to push Saudi sports forward alongside the most advanced countries in the world,” he said.

The Asian Winter Games 2029 joined two more multi-sport events on the OCA calendar to be hosted by Saudi Arabia: The Asian Games in Riyadh in 2034 and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2025, also in Riyadh, the OCA statement added.

The General Assembly was attended by almost 400 delegates from the Asian and international Olympic sports movement and heard presentations from the next four host cities of the Asian Games, as well as the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games to be held in Thailand in November 2023.

The chairs of 16 OCA committees gave their annual reports, as did the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity funding arm and the Association of National Olympic Committees.

The General Assembly approved the proposals put forward by the OCA Executive Board the previous day, including the establishment of a regional education office in Riyadh and an investment and marketing sub-office in Singapore.

The Asian Games future strategy was also discussed as the OCA looks to control the size and scale of its showpiece event.

The Deputy Secretary General of Kuwait Olympic Committee, Ali Al-Marri, put forward three proposals that were approved by the General Assembly: that Kuwait be allowed to host the next OCA General Assembly in 2023; that Kuwait desires to remain the home of the OCA “forever” after being located there since 1981; and that the Secretary General of the KOC, OCA Director General and FINA President, Husain Al-Musallam, be nominated as the next President of the OCA if the current President, Shaikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, is not cleared of charges in the Swiss court in November.

Referring to Al Musallam, Deputy Secretary General Al-Marri said: “He is one of the people who built OCA, step by step, brick by brick.”

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Riyadh, Ministers of Justice in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries today held their 32nd meeting at the headquarters of the General Secretariat here the meeting was chaired by Dr.Shaikh Walid bin Mohammed Al Samaani, Minister of Justice and President of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the current session, and in the presence of Abdullah bin Sultan Al Nuaimi, Minister of Justice of the United Arab Emirates,. Nawaf bin Mohammed Al Maawda, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammad Al Saidi, Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Masoud bin Mohammed Al Ameri, Minister of Justice of the State of Qatar, Jamal bin Hadil Al Jalawi, Minister of Justice and Minister of State for Integrity Promotion Affairs of the State of Kuwait, and the participation of Dr. Nayef Falah M. Al Hajraf, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

During the meeting, the Minister of Justice and President of the Supreme Judicial Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia delivered a speech in which he welcomed the Ministers of Justice in the GCC countries and the participating members.

In his speech, Shaikh Dr Al Samaani addressed the topics on the agenda, foremost of which is the extradition agreement of accused and convicted persons between the GCC countries, the draft agreement development for the implementation of sentences, and judicial representations and announcements in the GCC countries, as well as the draft unified regulation (law) to combat extremism, racism, hatred and discrimination, obstacles to registering lawyers in the GCC countries.

Shaikh Dr Al Samaani also addressed the matters of drawing out the legislative principles contained in the laws (regulations), the allocations of the judges of the GCC economic judicial body, and the meeting of the committee of directors and heads of training, legal and judicial centres and institutes in the GCC countries, in addition to other subjects of common interest between the Ministries of Justice in the GCC countries.

The Ministers of Justice in the GCC countries issued several recommendations to be submitted to the honourable Ministerial Council in its next session.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Riyadh, Saudi Crown Prince, Chairman of Board of Savvy Games Group, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, has today unveiled the Group’s strategy.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted HRH the Crown Prince as saying: “Savvy Games Group is one part of our ambitious strategy aiming to make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for the games and esports sector by 2030”.

“We are harnessing the untapped potential across the esports and games sector to diversify our economy, drive innovation in the sector and further scale the entertainment and esports competition offerings across the Kingdom”.

Fully owned by PIF, Savvy’s strategy is to drive growth by investing in the electronic games industry and esports with a unique long term investment horizon and long dated capital, creating more opportunities for participation and strengthening partnerships in the games industry, as well as improving the user experience.

The launch of the Savvy Games Group’s strategy will enable and support the recently announced national gaming and esports strategy, as Savvy will invest in several local and international programs and infrastructure in order to provide training, education and entrepreneurship opportunities, as well as attract international companies to Saudi Arabia through investments and partnerships that will contribute to providing skills, knowledge transfer and building capabilities in the whole ecosystem. It will also establish 250 games companies in the Kingdom, which will create 39,000 jobs, and raise the sector’s GDP contribution to SAR 50 billion by 2030.

Savvy’s investments will be based around four key pillars: enhancing returns, local impact, leaving a global footprint and expanding, leading to international games investing, generating sustainable returns and enabling creators across the entire value chain. Savvy will accelerate talent in the Kingdom and catalyze Saudi Arabia’s unique geographical location to build the dominant global hub for games and esports.

As a part of Savvy’s investment strategy, the group is set to invest SAR 142 billion across four programs each with specific objectives; SAR 50 billion has been earmarked for the acquisition and development of a leading game publisher to become a strategic development partner. SAR 70 billion will see Savvy make a series of minority stake investments in key companies that support Savvy’s game development agenda. SAR 2 billion in diversified investments in industry disruptors to grow early-stage games and esports companies. As well as SAR 20 billion invested into mature industry partners who add value and expertise to Savvy’s portfolio.

This strategy will be delivered by Savvy’s five independent subsidiaries specifically devoted to different sectors and this ecosystem development.

These five companies comprise Savvy’s esports arm, EFG, which was created following Savvy’s earlier acquisition of ESL and FACEIT groups. Together EFG already comprises a significant part of the world’s competitive gaming ecosystem. EFG combines ESL’s strength in building, broadcasting, and commercialising premium content with FACEIT’s capabilities as a best-in-class online platform.

Nine66 is building an ecosystem for game developers and studios to thrive through providing the suitable infrastructure, offering talent and participation opportunities, and providing financing and consultancy support. The company is also offering publishing services in the Middle East markets, which allows international developers to enter regional markets.

VOV company, specialized in building gaming and competition venues, aims at developing skills and providing a healthy environment for players by building a series of quality venues that consider the health and care for all players, in a step that is the first of its kind globally, by providing healthy food and a supportive social environment and motivation for players to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

VOV opened the first of its venues since May of this year, one of three planned venues that will open in the short-term, as it seeks to expand regionally and globally.

The company will also provide programs designed to provide training and guidance for young gamers who aspire to break into the competitive esports industry.

The Group also includes the first global game studio to be launched in Saudi Arabia, which in turn will offer a range of valuable games to global audiences. Specialized teams will be formed focusing on mid/core games and will seek to take advantage of acquisition opportunities available in the Kingdom and international markets to attract games and studios under Savvy Group’s umbrella.

The strategy also includes establishing Savvy Games Fund, investing in leading publishers and developers and facilitating their establishment of bases in the Kingdom.

Collectively these companies will create synergies across every part of the games and esports industry, growing the sector through targeted investments in developers and publishers, investing in technology innovation, content creator funding, as well developing world-class event and venue concepts.

About Savvy Games Group

Savvy Games Group (“Savvy”) is a games and esports company founded to drive the long-term growth and development of esports and the wider games industry worldwide. Savvy was set up and is 100% owned by PIF. As a global champion of this buoyant sector, Savvy aims to become a global leader in games and esports through deploying significant capital over long-term horizons.

Its investments will create opportunities for participation and progression in the sector, across gender, geography, means and ability. Savvy’s investments are intended to drive growth of the sector globally, making it a more supportive, exciting, and rewarding place for fans, players, developers, and technology innovators, and facilitating broader, more equitable access to this fast-growing, dynamic sector. Savvy’s CEO is Brian Ward, former head of worldwide studios at Activision Blizzard.

Source: Bahrain News Agency