Latest news with #KenFerris
The Star
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-Football returns to war-torn Sudan as elite clubs go back home
(Reuters) -League football has returned to war-torn Sudan for the first time in more than two years with a one-month competition being organised for eight clubs to determine the country's champions. Sudan has been in the grip of conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, with more than 150,000 people killed and about 12 million uprooted, creating the largest displacement crisis in the world. Among them have been the country's biggest clubs Al Hilal and Al Merrikh, who between them have won all but four of the championships since the league was created in 1965. Last season, the pair were invited to play in the league in Mauritania, on the other side of the continent, where they could remain active and moved their club structures to the West African country, where Al Hilal emerged as champions. But they are both back in Sudan to take part in a tournament to decide which clubs will compete in continental club competition for the 2025/26 season. Al Hilal were quarter-finalists in this year's African Champions League despite having to host their home games on neutral territory. They were also weekend winners against Al Merghani Kassala in the first round of the Sudanese Elite Championship, which is being played at Ad-Damer, some 430km from the capital Khartoum, which has been badly damaged by the civil war. Matches in the tournament are also being hosted in Atbara, which is 320km north of Khartoum. There will be seven rounds of fixtures, and Al Merrikh also got off to a winning start over the weekend by beating Ahly Madani 1-0. Their derby against Al Hilal is set for the last day of competition on 22 July. The other clubs competing are Zamalek, Umm Rawaba, Al Amal Atbara, Hay Al Wadi Nyala and Merrikh Al Abyad, who will all each play each other once. Sudan's national team, who will compete in the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco at the end of the year and are also chasing a first-ever World Cup appearance next year, have not played a home match since March 2023. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)
The Star
05-06-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-Jordan qualify for World Cup for first time
(Reuters) -Jordan have qualified for the World Cup for the first time at the 11th attempt after South Korea's 2-0 win over Iraq confirmed the west Asian nation's progress to the finals. Ali Olwan scored a hat-trick in Jordan's 3-0 win over Oman earlier on Thursday before South Korea's win in Basra confirmed the country's progress to the 2026 finals in North America. (Editing by Ken Ferris)
Mint
19-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Tennis-U.S. Open venue to undergo $800 mln transformation
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - The site of the U.S. Open will undergo an $800 million transformation, the USTA said on Monday, with a "top-to-bottom" modernisation of the famed Arthur Ashe Stadium and a new player performance center planned for the sprawling Queens campus. Work at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will be completed by the 2027 U.S. Open, with construction taking place in phases to avoid any interruption of the 2025 or 2026 editions of the tournament. The project will be entirely self-funded by the USTA, without the use of any public funds or taxpayer money, the sport's national governing body said, calling it the largest single investment in U.S. Open history. "This project enables us to maintain the greatest stage in tennis - Arthur Ashe Stadium - which was constructed more than 25 years ago, and modernise it in a way that will set it up for the next 25 years," USTA CEO and Executive Director Lew Sherr said in a statement. "It also provides us the opportunity to give the players that compete in that stadium an unparalleled space that will enable them to perform at their best and enjoy a higher level of luxury and comfort while they are off the court." The Arthur Ashe Stadium upgrades include the addition of a new "grand entrance" to the facility, 2,000 new seats to the courtside level bowl and two new luxury suite levels. The stadium, by far the largest tennis facility in the world by capacity, will also have upgraded concourses, dining and retail shops. A two-story, $250 million player performance center will include expanded indoor and outdoor fitness and warm-up areas, improved indoor player dining facilities and redesigned locker rooms that promise a "spa-like experience". The renovations are a far cry from the days when players could expect a keg of beer in the men's locker room to be the best amenity on offer, four-times winner John McEnroe told reporters at a Manhattan event. "Back in our day, we'd be like 'What the hell is this?'," said 66-year-old McEnroe, a native New Yorker and the last man to win a major with a wooden racket. "To see the level that USTA is going to for the U.S. Open ... I know the players are going to be absolutely thrilled to see this." The announcement comes seven years after the USTA completed a five-year, $600 million renovation project at the grounds. The more than 14,000-capacity Louis Armstrong Stadium opened in 2018 to replace the 1978 stadium of the same name, boasting a retractable roof. The U.S. Open welcomed more than one million fans, a record, in 2024. The tournament's main draw was expanded to last 15 days in 2025, with the added day allowing main draw access for another 70,000 attendees or more, organisers said. (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)
