Sports

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain are beginning a new era following the departure of Kylian Mbappe and the reigning French champions have so far kept a low profile as they prepare for life without the superstar forward.

Mbappe moved to Real Madrid when his contract expired in June, ending a prolific seven-year association with the Qatar-owned club in which he struck a remarkable 256 goals to become their all-time top scorer.

The France captain therefore leaves an enormous void, so big that PSG appear to have decided there is no one player who could possibly fill it adequately.

Coach Luis Enrique takes his team to Normandy to face Le Havre on Friday on the opening night of the new Ligue 1 campaign without any glitzy new signing having arrived to directly replace Mbappe.

PSG have nevertheless spent money in Europe’s summer transfer window, and they may still move for a top-class striker before the deadline at the end of the month.

Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, who previously starred in Ligue 1 for Lille, has been linked with a move to the French capital, although it is unclear whether he would fit in with Luis Enrique’s preferred style of football.

For now, though, PSG’s efforts in the transfer market have been focused elsewhere, with an estimated 125 million euros ($132.2m) invested on three players.

Nineteen-year-old Portuguese midfield prodigy Joao Neves, who appeared for his country at Euro 2024, has arrived from Benfica for 59.9 million euros, a fee which could rise by 10 million euros when bonuses are factored in.

The defence has been strengthened with the recruitment of Ecuador centre-back Willian Pacho, 22, from Eintracht Frankfurt for up to 45 million euros.

PSG’s first summer signing was the Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, 25, from Krasnodar in his homeland for a reported 20 million euros. He will provide competition for first-choice custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Irreplaceable 

Meanwhile, Mbappe apart, the Parisians have kept hold of the spine of their team from last season and have also incorporated teenage Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Moscardo after signing him from Corinthians in January but allowing him to stay there on loan for six more months.

French international wingers Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola will be expected to build on impressive performances last season, while the hope is that Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos — scorers of 23 goals between them in the last campaign — will step up to help fans forget Mbappe.

The days of signing veteran stars like Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos are a thing of the past, and captain Marquinhos, 30, is likely to be the oldest member of the starting line-up this season.

The only really glamorous name to pose with a PSG shirt alongside President Nasser Al Khelaifi this summer has been NBA star Kevin Durant, who has invested in the club.

“He is obviously a different player and we can’t replace him with one single player. Forget it. There is no substitute for Kylian Mbappe,” Luis Enrique admitted in May, just after his team finished the season by defeating Lyon in the French Cup final to complete a domestic double.

“We will need to replace him with the team as a whole, and with maybe four, five or six new signings.”

PSG’s transfer business is surely not over yet, but for now they will ease themselves back into the season.

It is not just in the market that PSG have kept a low profile, for they have also had a quiet pre-season.

There has been no energy-sapping summer tour to the United States or Asia, with Luis Enrique instead keeping his squad at their training base outside Paris.

They have played just two friendly matches, drawing away to Austrian champions Sturm Graz and RB Leipzig in Germany.

Luis Enrique perhaps saw little point in playing too many games given so many of his players returned to training late after being involved at Euro 2024, the Copa America or the Olympics.

The aim will be to get his side in peak condition by the time the Champions League begins in September, by which time a new attacking option may have been added.


PARIS — Rangers exited the Champions League after losing 2-0 to Dynamo Kyiv in the second leg of the third qualifying round on Tuesday, while Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce were knocked out by Lille.

Hosts Rangers paid the price for a harsh second yellow card issued to defender Jefte as Dynamo struck twice in the final 10 minutes through substitutes Oleksandr Pikhalonok and Nazar Voloshyn.

Rangers coach Philippe Clement blasted the referee's decision that left his team with 10 men.

"It's hard for my team. They don't deserve this after these two games versus Dynamo Kyiv. One person with one decision made a really big change for us," Clement told BBC Scotland.

"It's the second time in my career of over 30 years that something unjust has happened. We can only accept it and move forward towards the league and the Europa League."

Clement, who is looking to overhaul his squad in an attempt to challenge Celtic, said the defeat would have serious ramifications for the club's finances.

"Financially, it's a big difference for the club. It will make a difference for the transfers coming in also. I don't expect this rebuild to be done in a few weeks' time."

Ukrainians Dynamo advanced 3-1 on aggregate and head into a play-off tie against Salzburg, who edged FC Twente 5-4 after a 3-3 draw in the return leg in The Netherlands.

Jonathan David's penalty secured Lille a place in the next round as the French club snatched a 3-2 aggregate victory in Turkey, marking a disappointing start to Mourinho's time in charge of Fenerbahce.

Fenerbahce lost the first leg 2-1 last week and appeared to be going out until Bafode Diakite's late own goal sent the match to extra time.

Lille substitute Aissa Mandi was sent off on his debut for a reckless challenge on Irfan Can Kahveci, but the visitors were awarded a penalty for a handball by Jayden Oosterwolde and David made no mistake from the spot.

Cenk Tosun then headed against the bar as Lille held on. Their reward is a meeting with Slavia Prague, who were 4-1 aggregate winners over Union Saint-Gilloise.

Slovan Bratislava, who entered in the first qualifying round, overcame APOEL Nicosia 2-0 over two legs.

They will take on Midtjylland for a place in the new-look, 36-team tournament after the Danish champions beat Hungary's Ferencvaros 3-1 on aggregate.

Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt eased through with a 4-1 win over Poland's Jagiellonia Bialystok, completing a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

Sweden's Malmo won a thrilling tie with PAOK, striking late in Greece to force extra time and then winning the second leg 4-3 to prevail 6-5 overall.

Sparta Prague beat Romanians FCSB 4-3 on aggregate, while Qarabag stunned Ludogorets with four goals in extra time to pull off a remarkable 7-2 win in Bulgaria.

Switzerland international Kwadwo Duah netted twice on the night to put Ludogorets 4-2 ahead in the tie, but the visitors from Azerbaijan scored six times without reply to run away with an 8-4 aggregate success.


PARIS — LeBron James's USA won a fifth straight Olympic men's basketball crown on Saturday while on the track Jakob Ingebrigtsen claimed the 5,000m after his disappointment at 1,500m.

The US edged Brazil 1-0 in the women's football final at the Parc des Princes thanks to Mallory Swanson's winner. The Americans claimed the gold medal for a record-extending fifth time.

The USA's dream team of NBA superstars held off France 98-87 to take their tally of men's Olympic basketball golds to 17.

In a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics final, the US again proved too much for France's sensational NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and his teammates.

For Kevin Durant it was a record fourth Olympic gold. James earned his third and Stephen Curry claimed his first in his maiden Olympic appearance, contributing eight three-pointers to the effort.

Ingebrigtsen's gold, finally 

As the track and field programme wrapped up, Ingebrigtsen bounced back from his unaccustomed fourth place in the 1500m earlier in the week.

He made tactical errors in that race but in the 5,000m on Saturday, the Norwegian overcame the team tactics from his Ethiopian rivals to cross the line in 13min 13.66sec for gold with Kenya's Ronald Kwemoi taking silver.

Ingebrigtsen said: "It's just an amazing feeling. The contrast in sports is unique: when you succeed, and sometimes you have a bad experience. It's amazing to have this."

In a lightning fast men's 800m, Emmanuel Wanyonyi held off world champion Marco Arop of Canada. It was the fifth Olympics in a row that a Kenyan has won the event.

Wanyonyi, 20, clocked a personal best of 1min 41.19sec for victory, making him the third fastest man in history, and Arop took silver just one-hundredth of a second behind in a North American record.

Pre-race favourite Djamel Sedjati of Algeria claimed bronze with 1:41.50, and shrugged off a raid by anti-doping investigators on the Olympic Village room of his coach earlier this week.

"Nothing (important) happened. These are things that athletes can face," Sedjati said after Saturday's race.

In a rare athletics gold for New Zealand, Hamish Kerr won the men's high jump after a dramatic jump-off with American Shelby McEwen after both cleared 2.36 metres.

Masai Russell of the United States snatched victory in the women's 100m hurdles, edging out France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela who clinched the host nation's first athletics medal of the Games.

The dominant Americans finished the track and field programme with 14 golds, topped off by wins for both their 4x400m relay teams. Kenya were a distant second with four golds.

The women's marathon will be the last athletics event on Sunday.

Earlier, Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola broke the Olympic record to win the men's marathon as reigning champion Eliud Kipchoge dropped out before the end.

In scenes captured by an AFP reporter, two-time Olympic champion Kipchoge turned to fans and handed over his shoes, bib and socks to supporters, receiving a rapturous reception.

In the boxing ring, Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting won her final, ensuring that the two fighters at the centre of a major gender controversy both take home gold.

A day after Algeria's Imane Khelif clinched the 66kg title, Lin claimed the 57kg crown with a unanimous points decision win over Poland's Julia Szeremeta at Roland Garros.

Lin and Khelif have been under intense scrutiny for much of the past two weeks in a furore that has drawn fire from the likes of Donald Trump and Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling.

Chinese domination 

China underlined their total domination of Olympic diving by winning their eighth gold out of eight events, as Cao Yuan triumphed in the men's 10m platform.

The Chinese also swept the board in the table tennis for the sixth time in Olympic history, with China's women overpowering Japan in the team event.

New Zealand's Lydia Ko upgraded to a gold in the women's golf, completing her set of Olympic golf medals during a tense final round, with Germany's Esther Henseleit finishing two shots behind.

The former world number one won silver at the 2016 Rio Games and bronze in Tokyo.

Away from the sport, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said he would not see a third term, declaring "new times are calling for new leaders".

AMMAN — The 2024 Paris Olympic Games ended on Sunday, after two weeks of competition which included many new stories of determination and perseverance in addition to upsets and disappointments with athletes from countries around the globe.

Jordan’s delegation returns home with a silver medal by taekwondo’s Zaid Mustafa and now await the start of the Paralympic Games for better achievements.

Sports fans were anxiously awaiting the start of the taekwondo competition at the Games, with four qualifiers representing Jordan headed by two time qualifier and Tokyo Games silver medalist Saleh Sharabati and two-time Olympic qualifier Juliana Al Sadeq competing alongside first time qualifiers Mustafa and Rama Abul Rub.

This time, the veterans disappointed and it was Mustafa who put Jordan on the medals table when he won a silver in the under 68kg as Sharabati exited in the Round of 16 , while Al Sadeq moved to the quarterfinals but could not advance further. Rama Abul Rub was the last to play and exited the quarters.

Since first participating at the 1980 Olympics, taekwondo has so far earned Jordan three out of four Olympic medals ever won starting only in 2016 and 2020. At the 2016 Rio Games, then 20-year old Ahmad Abu Ghaush, the youngest competitor in taekwondo’s 68kg weight class, became the first taekwondo athlete in the Arab world to win gold and Jordan’s first ever Olympic medal. The Tokyo 2020 Games saw Saleh Sharabati win a silver in taekwondo, while Abdul Rahman Masatfeh clinched bronze as karate made its Olympic debut.

Earlier, there were three bronze medals at the 1988 Seoul Games by Samer Kamal and Ihsan Abu Sheikha, and at the 1992 Barcelona Games by Ammar Fahed. However, taekwondo was still considered an “exhibition sport” at the time.

In addition to the 4 qualifiers in taekwondo, Jordan’s delegation included five other qualifiers who were eliminated: three boxers (Hussein and Ziyad Ishaish, Obada Al Kasbeh), gymnast Ahmad Abu Saoud, and table tennis player Zaid Abu Yamen. The latter two were eliminated in the preliminary rounds while boxer Ziyad Ishaish lost in the quarterfinals while his two teammates three-time Olympic qualifiers, his sibling, Hussein Ishaish in addition to Obada Al Kasbeh were out in the Round of 16.

The delegation also included three wild card participants swimmer Amr Wirr and Karen Bilbeisi, who were eliminated in the preliminary rounds and marathon runner Muath Khawaldeh who ended the race at 65th.

The Paris Games marked Jordan’s 12th time at the Olympics. The 2024 Olympics featured 329 events in 32 sports, and the next Games is set for Los Angeles, the US in 2028.

AMMAN — Zaid Mustafa of the national taekwondo team has clinched the silver medal in the men's under-68 kg category at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

On Thursday evening, HRH Prince Feisal bin Hussein, president of the Jordan Olympic Committee and member of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, presented Mustafa with his medal.

Prince Feisal congratulated Mustafa on his achievement, which was Jordan's first medal at the Paris Games, and praised his exceptional performance throughout the competition.

Mustafa's win adds to Jordan's growing Olympic legacy, adding to the Kingdom's previous gold, silver and bronze medals from the last three Olympiads.

AMMAN — Football is back in action as the 2024/25 competitions kicked off with Pro League on Thursday.

Following a season that saw many disruptions and postponements which cast a heavy load on clubs already reeling under financial burdens, only around six weeks separated the end of competitions amid calls from clubs to grant them more time to prepare, take time off and deal with player transfers.

However, with Round 3 of the World Cup qualifying coming up next month, the Jordan Football Association did not budge, with the national team having its own challenges of preparing the squad, headed by incoming coach Moroccan coach Jamal Sellamy, replacing compatriot Hussein Ammouta, who resigned, citing “personal circumstances”.

The 2023/2024 football season witnessed Hussein become the 9th team to win the League since it kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Ahli, Urdun and Homenetmen clubs competing. Faisali are 35-time record league champs while Wihdat won 17 times since first joining in 1980. Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times, ShababUrdun twice, Hussein, Amman and Urdun clubs once.

Last season, Hussein again changed the usual Faisali-Wihdat dominance of the title,  taking home the coveted Professional Football League title for the first time following an impressive season, which saw them lose only one match, although they had to wait to the last stage of the competition, to be able to move the trophy out of the capital to Irbid, like neighbors Ramtha,who won the 2021 season title for the third time in their history after 39 years.

PARIS — US sprinters laid down an Olympic relay gauntlet to their rivals on Thursday ahead of a possible Noah Lyles sprint double, while marathon swimmers took the plunge into the River Seine.

As the Paris Games builds to a crescendo this weekend, LeBron James leads his dream team of US superstars into a semifinal against a Serbia powered by Nikola Jokic, the NBA’s three-time most valuable player.

Before then, the American men and women both powered through their 4x100m relay heats to warn off any rivals aiming to challenge their dominance.

Stung by having to settle for 100m silver, Sha’Carri Richardson ran her anchor leg in an eye-popping 9.99sec to see the women home while the men could afford to leave out Lyles and still cruise to victory.

Lyles won 100m gold in a dramatic photo-finish at the weekend and will undoubtedly be part of the team for the final, but for now his priority is Thursday night’s 200m.

“I spent years working on the 100m, but the 200 is where it’s at. This is where I get to show my speed and endurance and my top-end speed,” said Lyles.

“This is where I get to show I’m stronger than everybody else.”

The American will face competition from team-mates Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton, as well as 21-year-old Botswanan Letsile Tebogo, who beat him in the semi-final.

 ‘Clear favourite’

In what could be the race of the Games, the two fastest women in history over the 400m hurdles clash on the lilac track of the Stade de France.

Reigning champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from the United States and Dutchwoman Femke Bol go head-to-head in a mouth-watering final.

“I am looking forward to racing Sydney. That will push us both. Sydney is the clear favourite, but I will be ready for it,” said Bol ahead of the race.

Bol already has one gold after running an extraordinary anchor leg to bring the Dutch to victory in the 4x400 mixed relay

But McLaughlin-Levrone is the world record holder and defending Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles. Bol is plotting revenge after finishing third in Tokyo.

In a packed athletics programme Thursday, three-time world champion Grant Holloway from the US hopes to go one better than the silver he won in the men’s 110m hurdles three years ago.

‘Do it for him’ 

Earlier Thursday, 24 women dived into the River Seine, which was deemed clean enough for competition, for the 10 kilometre swim through the heart of the city.

Sharon van Rouwendaal from the Netherlands won a gruelling battle against her competitors and a strong current in 2hr 3min 34sec, devoting her gold to the memory of her pet dog, Rio, who died in May.

“Swimming is my everything, but so was he... My father said: ‘Swim one more time and do it for him. And that’s what I did’,” she added.

Water quality in the Seine has been in the spotlight during the Olympics despite a 1.4 billion-euro ($1.5 billion) effort to improve sewerage and water treatment.

Organisers have been forced to scrap several training sessions and postpone the men’s individual triathlon after assessing the water to be too dirty to swim in.

‘Super positive’ 

As the basketball tournament approaches the business end, the US and Serbia face each other for the third time in as many weeks, after a pool match and a pre-Olympics warm-up.

The US have won both previous times by 26 points but coach Steve Kerr is taking nothing for granted, saying: “We can’t get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice.”

Hosts France, led by towering San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, play World Cup holders Germany in the first semi-final.

France were also in contention in the women’s golf tournament with Celine Boutier taking a three-shot lead into the second round.

But she dropped four shots in her second round, handing the lead to Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux who shot a superb six-under-par round to send her three shots clear on eight under.

In men’s hockey, world number one Netherlands take on world champions Germany, hoping to write the first chapter of a golden double, as the Dutch women face China for gold on Friday.

Former hockey powerhouse India clinched bronze with a nail-biting 2-1 win over Spain.

PARIS — Matthew Hudson-Smith will attempt to become Britain's first Olympic men's 400m champion in 100 years on Wednesday, while women's golf star Nelly Korda teed off in the defence of her title.

Victory would represent a huge achievement for Hudson-Smith who was at a personal low after being isolated in the United States during the Covid pandemic, racking up huge medical bills as he recovered from a torn hamstring and Achilles.

The 29-year-old has arrived in Paris in peak form, clocking a blistering 43.74sec at last month's London Diamond League -- the fastest time in the world this year.

Hudson-Smith qualified for the final by easing to victory in his semifinal on Tuesday.

However, one of his major threats is the man who beat him in the Commonwealth Games final, Zambia's Muzala Samukonga, an unpredictable runner who looked good in the heats.

Also on the track, Moroccan hero Soufiane El Bakkali will defend his 3000m steeplechase crown and bid to become only the third Arab to win double Olympic gold.

"Thanks to all the experience I have, I know how to manage pressure," said the two-time world champion, who eased through his heat in first place.

The women's pole vault and men's discus medals will be decided in the field events at the Stade de France.

Wednesday's first gold medal was won by Spain in the inaugural marathon race walk mixed relay, the duo of Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez timing 2hr 50 min 31 sec.

Ecuador — whose duet included men's 20km walk champion Brian Pintado -- finished second (2hr 51:22) with Australia third (2hr 51:38).

Korda heads golf field 

World number one Korda started her attempt to be the first double Olympic golf champion but will need to reverse a recent drop in form.

The American became the first LPGA Tour player to win six titles in a single season since 2013 in the space of just seven tournaments earlier this year, but then suffered three successive cuts.

"The game of golf is a funny game," Korda told reporters ahead of the first round.

"Sometimes you feel on top of the world and in a matter of a couple seconds, you just feel like you're on the bottom of the sea."

Japan's US Open champion Yuka Saso, two-time Olympic medallist Lydia Ko and home hope Celine Boutier are also among the medal favourites at Le Golf National.

Lin targeting boxing final 

In the boxing ring, Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Imane Khelif, after the pair were at the centre of a gender controversy, by reaching a gold-medal bout.

Algerian Khelif, who beat Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand in the semifinals of the 66kg division on Tuesday, is guaranteed at least silver in Paris.

The International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif and Lin from last year's world championships after failing gender eligibility tests.

The International Olympic Committee cleared the two experienced female boxers to compete and Lin faces Turkey's Esra Yildiz Kahraman in the semifinals of the women's 57kg event in the first fight of the evening at Roland Garros.

The team pursuit golds are up for grabs in the velodrome, with new world-record holders Australia going up against Britain in the men's final, while New Zealand were the fastest qualifiers for the women's first round.

The final day of skateboarding at the Place de la Concorde sees 51-year-old Briton Andrew Macdonald compete in the men's park, the day after 14-year-old Arisa Trew of Australia won the women's final.

China will be hoping for a late gold rush in weightlifting, which gets under way, to aid their battle at the top of the medals table with the United States.

Meanwhile, organisers gave the green light to a training session in the river Seine, a day after another one was cancelled due to pollution.

The open water swimming events, which run for 10 kilometres in a loop around the Seine, will be held on Thursday and Friday.