Qatar soccer federation postpones all matches amid global tensions following the strikes on Iran
Doha (AP): The Qatar soccer federation postponed all tournaments and matches until further notice on Sunday amid global tensions following the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.
The QFA did not specifically mention the strikes when it announced the postponements on X, adding only that “new dates for the resumption of competitions will be announced in due course.”
There are disruptions at Qatar's Doha airport as the strikes on Iran affected flights across the Middle East and beyond. Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar closed their airspace on Saturday.
Iranian missiles could be seen being intercepted above Doha on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.
Earlier on Sunday, Asian soccer's governing body postponed continental club championship playoffs scheduled in the Middle East this week, saying AFC Champions League Elite Round of 16 games will be rescheduled.
Formula 1 season approachingThe Formula 1 season is scheduled to start next Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, and then has races in Bahrain on April 12 and Saudi Arabia the following week. The season ends with back-to-back races in Qatar (Nov. 29) and Abu Dhabi (Dec. 6).
With Doha and Dubai traditionally acting as major stopover hubs, teams reportedly had to change their routes to reach Australia.
The U.S. has large military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom, and three buildings were damaged in the capital, Manama.
British forces in Bahrain were within 200 metres of an Iranian missile strike, Britain's Defence Secretary, John Healey, said.
The 24-race F1 season was expected to start as planned.
Four years ago, Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot near the gleaming Saudi F1 track.
Youth basketball team stuck in Abu DhabiMonaco's under-18s basketball team is waiting inside an Abu Dhabi hotel until the airport reopens.
Monaco was taking part in a NextGen EuroLeague qualifying tournament in Abu Dhabi, which has now been canceled.
“EuroLeague got back to us to tell us that the airport is closed until 2 pm on Monday,” Monaco coach Mickaël Pivaud told sports daily L'Équipe. "We're pretty settled in at the hotel, but we can't leave. We went out for three seconds to get some fresh air earlier and it exploded right above us. We didn't hang around and quickly went back inside.”
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
