Category: Sports

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has announced the launch of the first-ever Intercontinental Cup starting from September 22.

The event will feature five teams, with the final scheduled to be played on December 18 in Doha.

The first match of the event will take place between Al Ain (Winners of the 2023–24 AFC Champions League) and Auckland City (Winners of the 2024 OFC Champions League) on September 22.

The winner of this match will face Al Alhy (Winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League) on October 29. On December 11, the CONMEBOL champion (Winners of the 2024 Copa Libertadores) will face Pachuca (Winners of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup).

The winner of the match number two and three will head to head in playoffs on December 14 in Doha, while the winner of this match will face Real Madrid on December 18.

The event name is derived from the previous Intercontinental Cup, which was last played in 2004 between teams from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and CONMEBOL.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued an advertisement seeking a high-performance coach for the red ball cricket team.

According to Geo, the High Performance Coach will assist the Head Coach in game planning and will also work closely with the Head Coach in pre- and post-tournament preparations to enhance performance.

As per PCB, five years of experience and minimum level 2 coaches are eligible to apply. Aspirants can submit applications till October 7.
During the recent series against Bangladesh, Tim Nelson took over as high-performance coach, brought in by Red Ball coach Jason Gillespie from South Australia.

Tim will probably be the Red Ball high-performance coach, while the advertisement is a necessary step in making regular appointments.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has announced the schedule for the Men’s T20 Emerging Asia Cup 2024.

The Emerging Asia Cup between teams of Asian countries will start on October 18 in Oman, with eight teams participating in the event.

The Asian event features Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, host Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Asian Cricket Council has divided the Emerging Asia Cup teams into two groups; in Group A, Sri Lanka A, Bangladesh A, Afghanistan A, and Hong Kong teams have been placed.

Group B consists of teams including Pakistan, India, UAE and Oman; the group match between Pakistan and India is scheduled for October 19.

In the event, the Pakistan A team will play matches against Oman on October 21 and UAE on October 23.

The semi-finals of the ACC Emerging Asia Cup will be held on October 25, while the final will be played on October 27.

Pakistan is the defending champion of the emerging Asia Cup.

Afghanistan outclassed South Africa in the second One Day International (ODI) in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, winning the three-match series with a lead of 2-0.

Rehmanullah Gurbaz played a brilliant innings of 105 runs, which included 10 fours and three sixes. It was the 22-year-old’s seventh ODI century, making him the first Afghan player to reach the milestone. Thanks to Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s brilliant century and Azmatullah Omarzai’s aggressive 86 runs, Afghanistan scored 311 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

2 days after winning the first match of the series by 6 wickets, the Afghan team bowled out the Proteas to 134 runs, in which Rashid Khan took five wickets for 19 runs and broke the back of the Proteas’ batting line. Rashid Khan was supported by fellow spinner Nangialai Kharoti, who took 4 wickets for 26 runs.

Gurbaz and Riyaz Hasan scored 88 runs in the first wicket partnership; after Riyaz Hasan was dismissed, Rahmat Shah formed a partnership of 101 runs with Garbaz, Azmatullah Umarzai unbeaten 86 runs off 50 balls. Played an innings which included 6 sixes.

The visiting African team scored 103 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, including captain Temba Bavuma’s 38 off 47 balls, but South Africa lost their last seven wickets for just 31 runs.

Despite suffering a hamstring injury while batting, Rashid Khan took five wickets for 19 runs in 9 overs, while left-arm spinner Nangelia Kharote took four wickets for 26 runs.

South Africa has defeated Pakistan by eight wickets in the third Women’s T20 World Cup match, winning the three-match series two to one.

In the match played in Multan, Pakistan Women scored 153 runs for five wickets while playing first; Sidra Amin scored 37, Muniba Ali 33, and Fatima Sana scored 27 runs.

In response, the South African women’s team achieved the target of 154 runs for two wickets in the 19th over. On behalf of South Africa, captain Woolwardt scored 45 runs, Anike scored 46 runs, and Aniri Dirksen scored 44 runs.

The women’s teams of Pakistan and South Africa will reach Lahore today by a special plane, after which the South African women’s cricket team will leave for Dubai tomorrow.

Pakistan Women’s team will leave for Dubai on Monday for the ICCT Twenty World Cup.

A delegation of the International Cricket Council (ICC) has expressed satisfaction with the arrangements for the Champions Trophy scheduled to be played next year in Pakistan after visiting the country.

The five-member ICC delegation has expressed complete satisfaction with the arrangements for the Champions Trophy scheduled next year after visiting Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi stadiums.

Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi met the ICC delegation (including Senior Manager of Events Sarah Edgar, Security Manager David Musker, and other representatives) to discuss preparations for the mega event. The delegation visited the three stadiums.

On this occasion, Chairman PCB assured the ICC delegation that upgrade work will be completed before the mega event and fool-proof security arrangements would be made for all the teams.

He said, “Organizing the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan is an honour. As big as this tournament is, we are finalizing the arrangements accordingly. Players of all teams will enjoy cricket in a peaceful and safe environment. With the upgrade, the stadiums will have international standard facilities, and the fans will enjoy the cricket matches even more than before.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled in February of next year in Pakistan. This will be a 50-overs format with eight teams participating. All the teams have confirmed their participation except India.

According to Indian media, the team will visit if their government allows them to travel.

Pakistani mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Shahzaib Rind has made history by becoming Pakistan’s first Karate Combat World Champion.

Rind defeated Brazilian fighter Bruno Roberto De Assis in Singapore by a technical knockout in the third round.

The 26-year-old from Balochistan wrote on Instagram, “Alhamdulillah! I am proud to be the first world champion of martial arts in Pakistan. History has been made! It has been a long and challenging journey, but we did it.

“Thank you to everyone who believed in me and supported my path to success—it means the world to me. I am especially grateful to those who were part of this journey,” he added.

Shahzaib will fight World Karate Combat Lightweight Champion Luiz Victor Rocha in his next fight.

In the Champions One Day Cup, the Stallions defeated the rival Dolphins by a huge margin of 174 runs after a one-sided encounter.

The Stallions scored 271 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted overs, while Babar Azam scored a magnificent century.

Chasing a target of 272 runs, the Dolphins team was bowled out for just 97 runs. Sahibzada Farhan scored 32 runs, and Asif Ali managed to put up some resistance by scoring 21 runs.

For the Stallions, Mehran Mumtaz and Jahandad Khan took three wickets each, and Abrar Ahmed and Haris Rauf two wickets each.

Norwegian footballer Ole Sæter, who is also eligible to represent the Pakistan team, has reportedly rejected a huge monetary offer of €800,000 from Israeli club Maccabi Haifa FC.

The amount equals more than 24 crore Pakistani rupees

The 28-year-old footballer made it clear that he can not play for a country that is responsible for the loss of innocent lives, citing his principles and values ​​as the reason for this decision.

“Even if I were offered 500 million dollars, I would not join the Israeli club,” Sæter said in an interview with a Norwegian newspaper, asserting that no amount of money is more important than his values.

“Humanity is more important than such money,” he added.

In the past, he shared pictures of himself on social media wearing the Pakistani football team jersey.

Ole’s paternal grandfather is a Pakistani citizen, and based on this relationship, he is also eligible to represent the Pakistan football team as well.

Cricket Australia has banned former Sri Lankan cricketer and former Victoria Women’s team coach Dulip Samaraweera for 20 years for inappropriate behaviour towards a female cricketer.

Dulip has been accused of violating the code of conduct during his association with Cricket Victoria. The Sri Lankan will not be able to hold any position in Cricket Australia or state cricket.

Cricket Victoria’s CEO said in a statement, “Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria believe in providing a safe environment for all players and appreciate the bravery of a female cricketer who has been a victim of inappropriate behaviour to speak out.”

Dulip played seven Tests and five ODIs for Sri Lanka in the early 90s, joining Cricket Victoria’s women’s program in 2008 as batting coach.

He was appointed as the full-time coach of Victoria’s women’s team in May this year but resigned from the position a few days later.