Sports

AMMAN – Having the opportunity to expose Asian football to the world through international and important tournaments is really important because it can show the skill and passion the continent has for the game, a former Australian footballer told The Jordan Times. 

Lucas Neill, one of the 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum participants, said having the opportunity to expose Asia to the world through football is very exciting. 

“Bringing the world to our region is a great honour, but with that comes responsibility, a responsibility to justify all the positives countries in this region have to offer and use the exposure to demonstrate football is a game for everyone, everywhere and this part of the world shares the same enthusiasm for the game like any other,” he told The Jordan Times.

Neill is a former Australian professional footballer who spent almost 15 years of his career playing in England. He represented Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and also the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. 

 He described Jordan’s hosting of the forum for the second time in Asia as “vital”.

“It is vital for the progression of the game in Asia to have this important event so leaders of industry and the Asian football community come together and feed off each other to drive the game in this continent,” he added. 

The former Australian player said the passion for the game is immense and events like Soccerex help channel that energy into a positive future for Asian football.

“It is therefore fitting that the forum is being held in Jordan, backyard of one of Asian football’s great leaders, HRH Prince Ali, who is a true reflection of the passion that exists in this continent for our great game,” he added. 

He said having leaders and captains of industry in one room gives the football community the chance to improve and learn from the best in the business. 

“The rest of the world is always looking to improve and Asia must also keep improving. Asia is the biggest continent in the world, to compete is not enough, we must become a leader of the game and by sharing knowledge and helping each other in regular events such as this is a great way to help achieve our goals,” he added. 

He noted that having renowned foreign players playing in Asia is not the only solution to make the game in Asia more popular and attractive to the whole world. 

“Choosing strong foreign players who bring a high level of experience, technical ability and professionalism doesn’t always work. It is important that the local players learn something from the foreign players,” he added. 

Neill said what is more important for the football associations in Asia is to focus time and money on “organic development”.

“Improving local coaches, grass-roots programmes will have a far greater impact for the future success of a league. Increasing the amount of children playing the game deepens the talent pool and by improving the level of coaching to help that talent, this naturally improves the level of performance in the domestic league which in turn benefits the national team,” he added. 

Neill said a high performing domestic league is what attracts foreigners to play there and in turn that gives fans a competitive league to be proud of.

AMMAN – The 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum at the Dead Sea brings together international football leaders, figures, clubs and federations for a two-day convention starting on Sunday.

The two-day event in the world’s biggest football market — Asia — provides a platform for networking and knowledge exchange between East and West.

The forum will kick off with a 1-2-1 interview with HRH Prince Ali — head of the Jordan Football Association, FIFA vice president representing Asia, chairman of the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), president of the West Asian Football Federation, Asian Football Confederation executive committee member, and FIFA presidential candidate, one of three candidates challenging incumbent FIFA President Sepp Blatter who is seeking re-election for a fifth four-year term. 

A number of issues are on the agenda of the two-day forum, including the development of local leagues, women’s football, and infrastructure. 

The organising committee of the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan will also deliver one of the sessions on the first day of the forum, presenting details about the latest updates regarding the Kingdom’s preparations for the global tournament. 

Important issues including how stadia and infrastructure impact match day experience will also be discussed on the forum’s first day. 

During the session, speakers will look at aspects such as technology, safety and security for tournaments including the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and will analyse the requirements for delivering the perfect fan experience.

Obstacles and negative aspects that stand in the way of the development of football will be focused on, mainly the allegations of match fixing and corruption. 

Participants will look at the scale of these problems in Asia and what is being done to tackle the issues.

Ways and important elements of establishing a successful league including building attendances, sponsorship and broadcast deals will also be highlighted during the forum’s second day. 

The programme will feature former players Ossie Ardiles, Peter Reid, Lucas Neill and Gaizka Mendieta sharing their experiences of “Playing, Coaching and Scouting in Asia”.

Legendary Argentine footballer Diego Maradona will close the forum with a rare personal insight into his amazing career, including winning the FIFA World Cup with Argentina and the “Hand of God” goal against England in 1986. He will also be sharing his Asian coaching experience from the time he spent as manager of the Dubai based Al Wasl FC. 

Over 850 delegates are expected to take part in the forum, hosted in conjunction with the AFDP, at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre. A total of 85 national federation representatives, and 60 clubs and league representatives will also attend the event. 

Senior figures from European clubs like Manchester City FC, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Malaga, Olympiacos, Feyenoord and Galatasary will participate in the forum.

Since the first event in 1996, Soccerex has led the way in bringing the football business community together. In nearly two decades, it has worked in 13 countries across five continents providing learning and networking opportunities to nearly 50,000 industry figures.

The Dead Sea Soccerex Asian Forum will be its 38th event.

AMMAN — While Wihdat have secured their 14th Jordan Professional League title, the battle at the other end of the standings has two weeks left.

The 21st week of the 63rd League kicks off Thursday with Faisali, Manshieh, Baqaa and Shabab Urdun all one point apart and trying to avoid joining Ittihad Ramtha into Division 1.

Wihdat were last held 2-2 by Jazira and will next play That Ras who beat Hussein Irbid 6-1. Ramtha moved up to second after a 1-0 win over Faisali. They will next play third-placed Jazira in the fight for the runner-up spot.

Ahli held former champs Shabab Urdun 0-0 and will next play Baqaa who held Sarih 0-0. Faisali are now 8th and next play Sarih, Manshieh are 9th and next take on Hussein Irbid, while Shabab Urdun next go up against Ittihad Ramtha.

That Ras striker Motaz Salhani took the top scorer spot with 11 goals from Ramtha’s Rakan Khalidi who has nine.

Wihdat have now won two titles in the 2014/15 season after they beat Baqaa to snatch the 32nd Super Cup. The Jordan Cup semis are now starting May 18 as Faisali play Wihdat and Ramtha face That Ras. 

Last season, Wihdat won the League for the 13th time. They beat Baqaa to win the Jordan Cup while Shabab Urdun defeated That Ras to win the 31st Super Cup. The Jordan Football Association Shield was not held.

Standings 

AMMAN — Wihdat and Jazira have boosted their qualifying chances after scoring impressive wins in Stage 5 of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Wihdat repeated their win and eliminated hosts Salam Zgharta in Tripoli 3-0 after an earlier 5-1 win over their Lebanese hosts in the home game.

Their upcoming match against Oman’s Nahda will be decisive as they now top Group A after Syria’s Wihda and Oman’s Nahda were held 0-0. Wihdat, who earlier this week secured the Jordan Professional League for the 14th time, had earlier held Syria’s Wihda 1-1 after losing 1-0 in Leg 1. They also beat Nahda 3-0.

On the other hand, Jazira remained atop Group B after they scored their second win of the competition over Palestine’s Wadi Ness 2-0 as Iraq’s Shurta and Bahrain’s Hidd were held 1-1.

Jazira will next play Shurta in their final Round 1 game and have a tough two weeks ahead as they struggle with Ramtha for 2nd place in the Jordan Professional League. As the team picked up steam in the event, they scored their first win over Hidd 1-0, ending a streak of draws earlier in the event when they were held by Hidd, Shurta and Wadi Ness by a score of 1-1 respectively. 

Wihdat have never won the AFC Cup in the past seven times they competed.

Jazira are taking part for the first time after two-time AFC Cup champs and League runner-up Faisali declined to take part this season.

Earlier this season, Wihdat exited the AFC Champions League losing 1-0 to ACL and AFC Cup holders Kuwait’s Qadissieh, 

The AFC cup has grouped 32 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16. Last season, first time AFC Cup competitors and Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1. They were also eliminated by Bahrain’s Hidd in their preliminary round of the AFC Champions League.

Standings

Group A

Group B

AMMAN — The second round of the Speed Test Championship “The Kumho Speed Test” kicks off on Friday with the participation of 41 drivers from Jordan and Palestine at the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan racetrack.

The event celebrates Labour Day with driver Mohammed Taayseer defending his first round win against Jordanian and eleven strong Palestinian drivers in addition to veteran drivers such as Ala khalifeh, Asem Aref, Khatsheek Shadian and Sami Fleifel. 

Taayseer clocked 1m33.970s, followed by Rami Kaghado (1m36.100s) and Jad Nabas (1m37.980s) in the first round.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO, told The Jordan Times that Jordan Motorsport expects a high level of competition.

“We are building a lot of hope on the second round’s participation which is considered impressive and strong. We have on one side the experienced and popular names and on the other side the young and enthusiastic drivers,” he said.

“And to make it more interesting we have eleven drivers from Palestine, and Team Porsche who will bring more excitement to the event that is why we encourage fans to join the celebration and come and watch,” he added.

Team Porsche consists of Imad Hanania, Ziad Masanat, Salem Haddad and Refat Al Masri.

Naseef focused on the four women drivers taking part in the event.

Four women drivers will join the event: Marina Habaybeh, Manal Khateeb, Yasmeen Majed and Lujeen Nsairat.

“We are really happy that this round will have four women drivers joining the big names in the Speed Championship. The four women will inspire other women in joining future events and I am sure there are many who want to participate but lack the right support,” he said.

Naseef highlighted the support by Kia Jordan which supported two women drivers in this event calling it a move forward in auto sports in Jordan.

“We thank Kia Jordan for this gesture and support for women here and we hope that more companies will walk on the same path Kia Jordan took. We also waived the fees for participation in a step to encourage them,” he added.

AMMAN — Irbid governorate on May 15 will witness its first marathon organised by Run Jordan.

Lina Kurd, Run Jordan deputy general manager, told The Jordan Times that the event will be the catapult for other events covering other governorates.

“We are looking at the Irbid Marathon as the starting point for similar events in other governorates. Amman has always been the main city for marathons and maybe it is time to shift to other governorates with the same enthusiasm we see here in Amman,” she said.

The event will be held under the patronage of HRH Prince Firas, chairman of the board of run Jordan — the sole entity dedicated to bringing together different marathon events and races under one umbrella.

“HRH Prince Firas has always called for more sports activities in governorates and this will be the beginning. Irbid Marathon is open to everyone and will consist of two races: 10km and 5km, and both events will start from Al Hassan Youth City,” Kurd said. 

According to Kurd, the 5km race will be introduced for the first time in a Run Jordan event.

“We have decided to have one event for the 5km marathon to encourage more people to join the event. We have seen that marathons are becoming more popular and hopefully this trend will continue when we move to other governorates in the Kingdom,” she said.

“We have received very positive response and cooperation from everyone, especially Hasan Assaf, governor of Irbid, and Hussein Bani Hani, mayor of Irbid, who attended our meeting and promised to allocate all resources to make sure that the event is a success,” she added.

Run Jordan is engaging schools in the revolution against unhealthy lifestyle through organising sport events such as marathons.

“We believe that the future belongs to the society who embraces sports and a healthy lifestyle and this is what we are trying to achieve — a society focused on healthy living,” Kurd said.

“And we also need to remember that it is not only health issues but also tourism as marathons helps in promoting touristic sites around the Kingdom,” she added. 

CHICAGO — Michael Carter-Williams made 22 points and eight assists, and Khris Middleton scored 21 points as Milwaukee Bucks avoided elimination again with a 94-88 victory over Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of their first-round NBA play-off series Monday.

With a 3-2 lead, Bulls will try to close it out again Thursday at Milwaukee. No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA postseason series.

In other play-offs, Brooklyn Nets beat Atlanta Hawks 120-115 in overtime to level their series and Portland Trail Blazers avoided elimination with a 99-92 victory over Memphis Grizzlies.

The Bucks regrouped after a nine-point lead dwindled to three, and they hung on again after a seven-point lead shrunk to four with just over a minute remaining.

Carter-Williams hit 10 of 15 shots while outplaying Derrick Rose. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 11 points and reserve OJ Mayo added 10 for Bucks.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago but Rose and Jimmy Butler struggled.

Rose was 5 of 20 from the field and missed all seven 3-point attempts. He committed six of his team’s 13 turnovers. Butler scored 20 points but shot 5 of 21.

In New York, Deron Williams rebounded from two dismal games with 35 points as the Nets evened their series against Hawks at two games each.

Nets, just 38-44 in the regular season, won the second straight in the series and moved two victories from becoming the sixth No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 — only the fourth since the first round became best-of-seven.

Bojan Bogdanovic made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:25 left in overtime but Nets never would have gotten there without Williams, whose 16 points in the fourth quarter were two fewer than he had total in the first three games of the series.

Brook Lopez had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets.

Jeff Teague had 20 points and 11 assists, and DeMarre Carroll added 20 points and nine rebounds for Hawks, who host Game 5 on Wednesday.

Kyle Korver had 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the NBA’s leading 3-point shooter during the regular season missed three straight from behind the arc in the final seconds with Hawks trailing by three.

Portland’s Damian Lillard scored 32 points as Trail Blazers rallied to deny Grizzlies their first-ever play-off sweep after Memphis led by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Game 5 is Wednesday in Memphis.

The winner of the series goes on to face the Golden State Warriors in the second round.

Marc Gasol led Grizzlies with 21 points.

CJ McCollum added 18 points for Blazers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to Grizzlies — including all four regular-season meetings.

LONDON — Bayern Munich wrapped up another Bundesliga title after months of inevitability while Barcelona stayed ahead in Spain following a win at city rivals Espanyol and Chelsea’s derby stalemate at Arsenal put them close to glory.

Spain 

Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form and Lionel Messi netted his 36th La Liga goal of the season as 10-man Barcelona won a one-sided derby at Espanyol 2-0.

Real Madrid stayed two points behind leaders Barca with five to play after Javier Hernandez scored twice to help Carlo Ancelotti’s men come from behind and beat Celta Vigo 4-2 away.

Antoine Griezmann’s double inspired third-placed Atletico Madrid to beat Elche 3-0.

England 

Chelsea were indebted to a magnificent performance from captain John Terry in the 0-0 draw at Arsenal that edged them closer to the Premier League title.

Chelsea have 77 points with five games left and third-placed Arsenal are on 67. Last season’s champions Manchester City also have 67 but have played a game more.

Fourth-placed Manchester United stayed on 65 after a 3-0 humbling at Everton, giving hope to Liverpool and others that the final Champions League qualifying spot might still be up for grabs.

Leicester City’s great escape continued as they rose out of the drop zone following a fourth straight win, a 1-0 victory at bottom side Burnley. 

Germany 

Bayern Munich were crowned German champions for the 25th time after second-placed VfL Wolfsburg lost 1-0 at Borussia Moenchengladbach, meaning Pep Guardiola’s side have an unassailable 15-point lead with four matches left.

Bayern beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 thanks to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s goal and their triumph was sealed with Wolfsburg’s last-gasp defeat. Third-placed Gladbach are four points behind Wolfsburg.

At the other end of the table, struggling Hamburg SV notched their first win in 10 games with a 3-2 victory over Augsburg to give themselves a lifeline and move up to the relegation play-off spot. 

Italy 

Juventus stayed on course for a fourth successive Serie A title despite losing 2-1 at Torino, their first defeat against their smaller neighbours for 20 years.

Matteo Darmian and Fabio Quagliarella scored either side of halftime for Torino after an Andrea Pirlo free kick had given Juventus the lead.

With six games to play, Juventus, on 73 points, are 14 clear of Lazio who could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Chievo. AS Roma are a further point back in third, the Champions League play-off spot, after losing 2-1 at Inter Milan.

France

Olympique Lyonnais stayed top of Ligue 1 after their 4-2 win at Stade de Reims but Paris St Germain, who demolished Lille 6-1 thanks to Ezequiel Lavezzi’s hat trick, are behind only on goal difference and have a game in hand.

Lyon were once again helped by league top scorer Alexandre Lacazette, who scored his 26th goal of the season to help put his team on 68 points from 34 games.

Monaco are third, six points off the pace, in the Champions League play-off spot after beating RC Lens 3-0 away and they lead fourth-placed St Etienne by two points, Les Verts having beaten Montpellier 1-0 at home. 

Netherlands 

Kolbeinn Sigthorsson struck late to earn Ajax Amsterdam a 1-1 draw at PEC Zwolle and ensure they will finish runners-up in the Dutch league this season.

It means last season’s champions, who have had to give up their crown to a dominant PSV Eindhoven in this campaign, will enter the qualifiers for the Champions League in the third round next season. 

Portugal

Benfica edged closer to successfully retaining their Portuguese league title after a cagey goalless draw in the top- of-the-table clash with arch rivals Porto ended in an angry exchange between the coaches.

With only four games left in the 34-match campaign, the draw at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz leaves the champions on 75 points, still three points clear of their old foes. 

Greece

PAOK Salonica failed in their bid to reclaim second spot in the Greek Super League after they were held to a 1-1 home draw by PAS Giannina.

Giorgos Georgiadis’s team, who are aiming to gather momentum ahead of the end-of-season playoffs for the second Champions League place, had been knocked down to third after Panathinaikos beat Skoda Xanthi 2-0.

Olympiakos, who lifted their 42nd league title last weekend, were made to work hard for a 2-2 draw at Panionios.

AMMAN — Wihdat play Salam Zgharta in Tripoli, Lebanon, while Jazira host Palestine’s Wadi Ness on Tuesday in Stage 4 of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup.

Wihdat are in second place, on goal difference, in Group A behind Syria’s Wihda and aim to capitalise on their 5-1 win over hosts in the home game to take the group lead.

The team is on a high note after securing the Jordan Professional League title this week for the 14th time.

“We aim to take the group lead and qualify in the event. We will play each match with that end results in mind,” Wihdat coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh was quoted as saying in the local media as the team prepared in Tripoli. 

“Despite our home game result, we are heading into the match fully respecting our opponents ability, and taking into consideration they are playing a home game.”

Wihdat last drew 1-1 with Wihda. In earlier matches, Wihdat lost 1-0 to Wihda in Leg 1 after they beat Oman’s Nahda 3-0 and Salam Zgharta 5-1. 

After exiting the AFC Champions League, losing 1-0 to ACL and AFC Cup titleholders Kuwait’s Qadissieh, Wihdat hope to advance in the AFC Cup this season. The League champs have never won the AFC Cup in the past seven times they competed.

Jazira are taking part for the first time after two-time AFC Cup champs and League runner-up Faisali declined to take part this season.

Jazira lead Group B after they scored their first group win over Bahrain’s Hidd 1-0. Earlier, they held Hidd 1-1 and drew with Iraq’s Shurta and Palestine’s Wadi Al Ness by the same score. 

Jazira have had an excellent season at home, and are now third in the League. Playing on the regional scene has added to their competitive experience and profile as they are among 32 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16.

Last year, first time AFC Cup competitors Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1. They were also eliminated by Bahrain’s Hidd in their preliminary round of the AFC Champions League.

The second-tier Asian club competition was won by Syria’s Jeish in its inaugural edition in 2004. Jordan’s Faisali won in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun in 2007.

Standings

AMMAN — Jordan retained their crown as the champions of the 2015 AFC U-14 Girls’ Regional Championship for the West Zone after defeating Palestine 5-1 in Manama on Saturday.

Jordan also beat hosts Bahrain 2-0, scored a crushing 20-0 victory over Iraq and held the UAE 1-1.

Jordan topped the table on goal difference with the UAE who had beat Palestine 7-0, Bahrain 3-1, and Palestine 7-1. Palestine came in third, Bahrain fourth and Iraq fifth. 

Leen Btoush (Jordan No. 9) was named the MVP of the tournament, after she was named MVP in four matches. Btoush was also the top goal scorer  of the championship with 12 goals, followed by Toorfah Ghafri of the UAE (9) and Rama Qadi of Jordan (8).

Jordan had won the event back-to-back with unbeaten streaks in Doha in 2013 and in Amman in 2014 .

Based on the Asian Football Confederation draw, Asian teams will play in four zones: the South and Central, ASEAN, East and West, which grouped Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and the UAE. The West Zone competition was played under the single round robin system.