Sports

AMMAN — Olympian Lawrence Fanous says Rio experience has persuaded him to push back retirement plans, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) News Service.

When professional athletes hit the age of 30, it normally serves as a reminder, if one was needed, that the body clock is ticking and life after sport needs to be considered serious.

Fanous was no exception. The British-based triathlete turned 31 while he was preparing to represent Jordan in Rio de Janeiro and was thinking about calling it a day in two years after the Asian Games.

But his Rio de Janeiro experience is twisting his arm.

Fanous made history as the first Jordanian triathlete to compete in an Olympic, and only the second Arab, and while he admits his race “wasn’t one of my best” as he finished 46th, he has already started to reconsider his next goals.

“Before Rio I was thinking about targeting a medal in the Asian Games in 2018 and then probably retire from international competition,” said Fanous, who is in Amman this week helping to plan the next phase of triathlon development for the Kingdom.

“I admit that I need to sit down and decide what’s next and I may still even retire on a high if I secure a medal there, but the whole Rio experience has made Tokyo more of an option now.

“I can only describe the Olympics as an incredible experience. I really want more of it and to have a better race next time as Rio wasn’t one of my best so I want to make up for it.”

Fanous, who was born in Amman but moved to England, aged five, said that his Olympic dream started as an eight-year-old swimmer but he started to get serious around eight to ten years ago as he developed into a full-time triathlete, based out of Loughborough.

“It was a very tough two-year qualifying period for Rio with a lot of ups and downs but it was all very much worthwhile in the end.

“There is no limit to age as you tend to get stronger as you get older for triathlon so that isn’t a factor. The silver medallist in London for example was aged 32.”

It has been a long and hardworking slog for Lawrence to reach the sport’s summit. He has been competing longer as a triathlete than the sport has been officially recognised in Jordan since 2005, and he is now key to its next phase of development here.

He hopes that by competing at the very top of the sport will encourage more people to take it up and, in turn, a new generation of champions will appear.

“Triathlon is a very rewarding sport,” he said. “I have been doing it for 15 years and yet I still get the same buzz when I cross a finish line. It consists of swimming, cycling and running which are three of the best ways to keep fit so doing all three is hugely rewarding. Even if you are unable to do one because of an injury you can still do the other two to keep fit.”

Lawrence’s decision to turn pro wasn’t taken lightly and he is indebted to his family, sponsors, Jordan Triathlon and the JOC for their support.

“You don’t go into a sport expecting to be a professional athlete, especially triathlon as it is not the highest paid sport. You go into it to enjoy it. But there comes a time when you have to decide how you want to live and this was what I wanted. They call it ‘living the dream’ to be a professional athlete and that was what I wanted so that was what I strived to do.”

He says that he was honoured to have been in the same delegation as Ahmad Abu Ghaush, who took gold in the taekwondo, but admits he is not sure if he could handle the fame that has followed that historic first Olympic medal for the Kingdom.

So, as Lawrence decides his next competitive move, he is focussed on the short term and a November event in Jordan.

Coming to Aqaba on November 18 is a triathlon for both elite and amateur participants being organised by Jordan Triathlon.

“I urge everyone thinking about it, to give it a try,” he said. “It will be a good event and all levels of ability are encouraged to enter.”

AMMAN — Jordan’s national football team returned home on Monday after playing Bahrain in its third friendly as part of their training agenda for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers kicking off in March 2017.

The match which was held in Manama, ended 0-0 and came after a 1-1 draw with Lebanon. It was the third friendly after the team regrouped last month, with Jordan losing 3-2 to Qatar in the first of 7 friendlies.

The national team was represented by a relatively new line-up without pros playing aboard as the coaching staff tried to give younger team members competitive experience.

“I’m happy with the performance of our line-up. We are striving to build a new team, and giving new players competitive experience needs time,” coach Abdullah Abu Zameh was quoted as saying on the Jordan Football Association website.

Jordan was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup. After putting behind elimination from 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Abu Zam’eh, has recalled mainly younger players including Olympic team players.

The national team will regroup for friendlies and camps until the start of the Asian qualifiers from which group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + one slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.

Jordan is now 79th in the latest FIFA rankings and is now 9th in Asia behind Iran, South Korea, Japan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and China. 

The squad last played at the King’s Cup, an international football tournament organised in Thailand where it lost to the hosts in the final. 

In past Asian Cup editions, Jordan reached the championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972: the pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004. In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals. 

MONZA, Italy — On top of the podium after winning the Italian Grand Prix (GP), Nico Rosberg grabbed the microphone and launched into Italy's theme song from its 2006 World Cup football victory, encouraging the fans below to sing along to the White Stripes anthem.

Oh, oh-OH-oh oh OHH OHH.

Talk about playing to the crowd.

"This race is unbelievable," Rosberg said before his rendition of "Seven Nation Army".

"I feel that part of me is Italian in a way, because I have a lot of friends here and I grew up with the culture."

The crowd in Monza is known for invading the track at the checkered flag and after 11 years in Formula One — and many more as the son of F1 champion Keke Rosberg — the multinational Mercedes driver wanted to thoroughly enjoy his first victory at the "Temple of Speed".

"You're the best in the world," Rosberg told the crowd in Italian after the sing-along. "Thank you".

Rosberg also proved best Sunday, winning virtually unchallenged after teammate Lewis Hamilton wasted pole position with a poor start.

Hamilton got off the line at the same time as the other cars but immediately fell behind, dropping to sixth before the first corner.

Rosberg, who started second, took the early lead and cruised to his seventh win of the season, second straight this year and first of his career at Monza, which has hosted more F1 racing than any other track.

"It was all down to the start," Rosberg said. "I had an awesome start and that made the win. So it was all there."

Rosberg also cut Hamilton's championship lead to two points with seven races remaining.

"The race is on with Lewis," Rosberg said. "It's always going to be a great battle and I look forward to what's to come."

Hamilton climbed his way back to finish second.

"It's hard to overtake here," Hamilton said. "That's the best I could do with such a loss at the start.

Hamilton attributed his problem at the start to an "inconsistent clutch".

"My procedure was done just as I was supposed to," Hamilton said. "We just had an over-production of torque and the wheels were spinning from the get-go."

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crossed third and fourth, respectively.

Rosberg celebrated with a series of fist pumps when he got out of his car, playfully jabbing at a TV camera. Then he jumped into a group of his team members who hoisted him into the air.

Already fastest in qualifying, Mercedes' single pit-stop strategy proved better than Ferrari's two-stop plan.

It was the 21st win of Rosberg's career.

After his disastrous start, Hamilton quickly charged up the field, passing Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull and overtaking Valtteri Bottas' Williams on the main straight.

Hamilton then went ahead of the Ferraris after their second pit stops.

Pushing hard to catch Rosberg in the final laps, Hamilton's wheels locked up at the first chicane and he bounced across the speed bumps, costing him more than a second.

Rosberg's winning margin over Hamilton was 15 seconds, with Vettel 20 seconds behind and Raikkonen 27 seconds back.

"I think we had good pace but it was sort of expected that they would be quicker than us in race pace," said Vettel, who got the loudest cheers on the podium. "At the end the answer was really clear."

Ricciardo finished fifth and Bottas crossed sixth.

Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.

On a hazy late summer day, red-clad Ferrari fans lined the entire track, with banners dedicated to current and former drivers.

"Michael, All our thoughts for you and your family," read one banner dedicated to seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, who remains in secluded recovery from serious head injuries he suffered in a skiing accident in December 2013.

"You cannot describe the passion, you can only live it," read another banner.

During the singing of the national anthem, fighter jets flew over the main straight, colouring the sky in the green, white and red of the Italian flag.

Soon after the start, Jolyon Palmer in a Renault and Felipe Nasr in a Sauber made contact, sending both cars back to the pits with damage. Palmer retired, while Nasr came back out briefly to serve a 10-second penalty for causing the accident.

Daniil Kyvat's Toro Rosso and Pascal Wehrlein's Manor also ran into trouble and retired midway through the race.

Next up is the Singapore GP in two weeks.

AMMAN — While Jordan continues to celebrate the achievements of Ahmad Abu Ghaush in winning the Kingdom’s first ever medal at an Olympic Games last month, our attention turns to the Rio Paralympic Games which get under way on Wednesday, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The Kingdom has sent 10 athletes to the event which will also take place in Rio de Janeiro where Abu Ghaush took his historic gold in the taekwondo -68kg category.

But winning medals is nothing new to our Paralympians who travel to South America in confident form.

HRH Prince Raad Bin Zaid, Jordan Paralympics Committee president, thanked Jordan Olympic Committee President HRH Prince Feisal for his support to the delegation and added: “We have worked very hard over the last four years for this huge event and we are looking to make an impact.”

But glory would signify an upturn in fortune after a disappointing London 2012 where the delegation returned home empty handed.

“We have prepared extremely well for Rio and our athletes are in the best form they can possibly be in,” said experienced former world champion powerlifter Mutaz Al Juneidi.

“What Ahmad did can only inspire us to try our best for Jordan,” said former world record holder Juneidi. “He has given us all such a boost that we all now want to win.”

Jordan has won eight Paralympic medals since first participating in 1984, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Paralympic Games since, with the exception of the 1992 summer games.

The first medal, a silver, was won by Imad Gharbawi in the 1996 Atlanta games. In 2000, the country took its first gold medal when Maha Bargouthi won the women’s singles table tennis competition.

Two more medals were won at the 2004 Paralympics, a silver in shot put by Jamil Elshebli and a bronze in table tennis by the three-member women’s table tennis team of Maha Bargouthi, Kheta Abuawad and Fatmeh Al Azzam.

In the 2008 Beijing games Jordanian Paralympians won four more medals, two silvers in athletics (Jamil Elshabli) and powerlifting (Omar Qarada), and two bronze medals in powerlifting (Juneidi) and table tennis by the same women’s team of 2004.

For Rio there is a good mix of experienced Paralympians and new talent looking to make their mark.

In table tennis, the experienced Barghouthi, Abu Awad and Osamah Abu Jame’ will all be in with a chance of honours while Belal Yousef competes in the athletics.

A strong powerlifting team will consist of Abdel Karim Khattab, Haidarah Al Kawamleh, Juneidi, Jamil Al Shebli, Tharwat Al Hajjaj and Qaradeh.

The athletes will be supported by a strong technical backroom staff which includes table tennis coach Haroun Al Shaltouni, athletics coach Ahmad Mashhour and powerlifting coach Adel Weshah.

Also supporting will be Ali Al Hadidi (chef de mission), Dawoud Shehadeh (coordinator), Jaser Nweiran (technical manager), Ahmad Heyasat (physiotherapist) and Rasha Al Khayyat (secretary).

The Paralympic Games take place from September 7-18.

AMMAN — The women’s U-16 national football team plays Guam on Monday in its final match in Group A qualifiers for the 2017 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Women’s Championship.

The squad is hoping to score their sole win of the event after they lost the chance to play for an advanced position for the sole qualifying berth from the group. Jordan went down 2-1 to Thailand then lost 2-0 to Laos and 4-2 to Myanmar.

Thailand retained the group lead with an unbeaten run. In addition to Jordan, they beat Laos 5-2 and Guam 4-0. Laos are second after they beat Jordan in addition to Myanmar 5-2 and Guam 14-1, while Myanmar beat Guam 11-0.

The final day will see Myanmar play Thailand with both team playing for the sole qualifying berth from the group. The qualifiers have brought together 24 teams playing in four groups with the top team from each group advancing to the championship. Last edition’s top four — North Korea, Japan, China and Thailand — have qualified.

Japan has won three of the past six editions of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship. Jordan’s U-16 team did not qualify to the 2015 AFC U-16 Women’s Championship after qualifying in 2013.

Jordan’s squad seems to have had a tough task with the line-up missing players who are on the U-17 team line-up currently preparing for the Women’s World Cup kicking off September 30, 2016, in the Kingdom.

Jordan’s U-19 women’s national team is also reading for Asian Group A qualifiers for the 2017 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship. The qualifiers set for October 29 will see Jordan play alongside Australia, Singapore and Lebanon and the Northern Mariana Islands. The top team from each group moves to the championship in 2017. The women’s senior national team has also regrouped to start preparations for qualifiers for the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship starting in April 2017.

AMMAN — Riyadi-Aramex U-16 team have concluded a good competition, where they scored big wins at the 2nd Dubai International Basketball Tournament. Riyadi won three matches beating UAE’s Wasl 47-26, Shabab 41-40 and Germany’s Bayern Munich 38-29 and they came back from 20 points down to lose by 4 points to Egypt’s Ahli.

Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade won the title of the tournament which included the UAE’s Nasr and Ahli. Last year, Spain’s Barcelona won the title. Last season, Riyadi won the Jordan Basketball League crown to clinch the title which had eluded them for 20 years.

Riyadi beat titleholders Orthodoxi 4-0 in the best-of-seven play-offs. The last time they had won the league was nearly 20 years ago in 1997 by then Jazira-Aramex team (whose players later on formed Riyadi’s line-up).

LONDON — Records tumbled in the transfer window as Premier League spending totalled £1.165 billion ($1.54 billion),  financial analyst Deloitte's Sports Business Group said on Thursday.

The outlay represents a 34 per cent rise on the previous highest in all windows of £870 million set 12 months ago and means the overall spend by clubs in 2016-17 already represents a record for a single Premier League season.

"This is the fourth consecutive year the summer transfer spending record... has been broken," said Business Group partner Dan Jones in a statement.

"At the start of the 2013-14 season the summer transfer spending record stood at £500 million and the fact this record has more than doubled since then is a clear indicator of the financial growth of the league."

Manchester United broke the world record when they re-signed France midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus for a fee of £89 million, eclipsing the previous highest of 100 million euros (£84.20 million) paid by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale in 2013.

Manchester City were one of 13 Premier League clubs who surpassed their own transfer records when they paid £47.5 million to sign Everton defender John Stones.

"For those clubs traditionally at the upper end of the table who have been investing most significantly, their commercial revenue growth has also been a critical enabler of the increases in spending," Jones said.

Champions Leicester City's 30 million euros swoop for striker Islam Slimani from Sporting Lisbon was one of the biggest moves on a hectic deadline day on Wednesday.

"We also saw a record level of Premier League summer deadline day spending this window," said Jones, "with 155 million pounds spent in the final 24 hours".

Chelsea also splashed out around £34 million to bring  Paris St Germain defender David Luiz back for a second spell at Stamford Bridge and Tottenham Hotspur spent £30 million to sign midfielder Moussa Sissoko from Newcastle United.

The combined outlay of the two Manchester clubs made up 42 per cent of the league's spending in the window, according to Spreadex.com.

MONZA, Italy — Formula One is braced for the next episode of the Max Verstappen show as Red Bull’s teen sensation heads for Ferrari’s home circuit only days after making the Italian team’s drivers see red.

While triple world champion Lewis Hamilton is aiming for his 50th Grand Prix win on Sunday, to become the first since Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s to win three years in a row at Monza, Verstappen will be the talk of the town.

“I told him not to tell anyone where he is staying in Monza because there might be a few angry fans,” team boss Christian Horner joked after a controversial Belgian Grand Prix last weekend.

The 18-year-old tangled with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel at the start before aggressively defending against the former later in the race and then refusing to accept any criticism.

“I think they should be ashamed to cause a crash like that with their amount of experience and then complain about me,” the unrepentant Dutchman said.

“Vettel can come and talk to me [at Monza], but I think he first has to realise what he did in turn one.”

Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion for Ferrari, warned afterwards that Verstappen’s late block that forced the Finn to brake on the straight at Spa could have triggered a big accident.

Monza is even faster, with the turbo hybrid cars hitting 360km per hour on the straight, and Sunday’s race promises another battle between Ferrari and Red Bull to be best of the rest behind leaders Mercedes.

Elbows out

While Verstappen has thrilled fans, with the youngster busy rewriting the record books after winning in Spain and starting on the front row in Belgium, there are those who feel limits need to be set.

“He comes in here, no fear and no respect,” said Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff in Spa. “He puts the elbow out and it reminds me of the great ones. It reminds me of Lewis and it reminds me of Ayrton Senna.

“And you can clearly see that some guys around are starting to think twice how to overtake him... I just fear that it might end up in the wall heavily one day. For me it is refreshing but dangerous.”

Wolff will be hoping his drivers are safely out in front, with Hamilton seeking to extend his nine-point lead over Nico Rosberg in the last European race of the season.

The Briton took a hit at Spa, starting at the back after taking engine penalties, but still finished third behind his teammate and now has a plentiful supply of fresh power units to last him the rest of the campaign.

“The speed, the history, the atmosphere... it’s just so iconic in every way,” he said of the “Pista Magica” outside Milan.

“Standing on that amazing podium, looking out over a sea of fans on the straight, has to be up there as of the most incredible experiences a sportsman can have,” he said.,

“I had a perfect weekend on track there last year. If I can repeat that it would be amazing... It’s game on for me now with the penalties out of the way and fresh engines ready to use. I can’t wait to get back out there.”

COPENHAGEN — Top officials of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other sporting bodies would be banned from being members of anti-doping agencies under new proposals for tackling drugs in sports.

Leaders of 17 anti-doping organisations met in Copenhagen this week to consider ways of fixing a “global anti-doping effort that has been deeply damaged” and to “ensure that the disturbing events of recent years are not repeated”.

Among the group’s aims was to remove the “fundamental conflict of interest that exists when anti-doping decisions are controlled by sports organisations” — a shot at the current ties between the World Anti-Doping Agency  (WADA) and IOC.

The president of WADA is Craig Reedie, a senior IOC member from Britain whose dual role has come under scrutiny during the scandal over state-sponsored doping in Russia. Reedie served as an IOC vice president and member of the policymaking executive board until his term expired during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He is now a regular IOC member

The Copenhagen summit proposed a rule that would forbid officers, directors, employees and all decision makers of anti-doping bodies from also holding a top position in any international federation or “major event organisation”.

The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations said the proposal would “prevent the inherent conflict of interest that exists when a sports organisation is tasked with both promoting and policing itself”.

The IOC set up WADA in 2009 and provides 50 per cent of the agency’s funding, with national governments covering the other half.

IOC President Thomas Bach has proposed making the anti-doping system independent from sports organisations and called for the creation of an independent agency to carry out global drug testing. The IOC has scheduled a meeting for October 8 to consider ways of improving the international system.

The exposure of widespread doping in Russia has led to a crisis in confidence in the entire global anti-doping fight. IOC members blamed WADA for not acting early enough to deal with evidence of Russian doping, while the IOC was accused of being soft on Russia by not banning the country entirely from the Rio Games.

The anti-doping leaders meeting in Denmark represented countries that included the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Britain.

They said WADA should be strengthened and given the independence and authority to impose sanctions for “large scale subversions of the anti-doping system”, such as the state-backed system in Russia. WADA currently has had no power to impose sanctions against a sport or a country, leaving that to the IOC and other bodies.

“WADA must have authority and capacity to investigate and to impose proportional sanctions and consequences for all instances of code non-compliance,” the officials in Copenhagen said in their final statement.

They also expressed “unequivocal support” for the completion of the investigation into Russian doping by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren. His report detailed manipulation of drug samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, as well as cover-ups of doping tests across dozens of summer and winter sports.

The leaders called for “increased protection and support” for whistle-blowers, including Yulia Stepanova and her husband, Vitaly, who helped expose the doping culture in their homeland.

“All relevant organisations should do everything in their power to protect and ensure safety, security and sustainable future for Yulia and Vitaly and the other whistleblowers,” the statement said.

The IOC rejected Stepanova’s bid to compete in the Rio Games after the IAAF recommended the 800-metre runner be allowed to participate as a neutral athlete.

Stepanova and her husband have been living in the United States. She said recently that she fears for her safety and has switched residences after hackers breached a WADA database that records her whereabouts.

Bach said in Rio that the IOC was “not responsible for dangers to which Mrs. Stepanova may be exposed”.

Wayne Rooney will remain as England captain but his midfield experiment with the national team is over, with the Manchester United veteran set to revert to playing as a deep-lying forward under new coach Sam Allardyce.

“Wayne has been an excellent captain for England and the manner in which he has fulfilled the role made it an easy decision for me to ask him to continue,” Allardyce said Monday, having taken his time to settle on who should have the armband after being hired in July.

Rooney received the symbolically prestigious honour of captaining England on a permanent basis in 2014, taking over the role from Steven Gerrard. Rooney has played 115 times for England, putting him level with David Beckham as the country’s most-capped outfield player.

England plays Slovakia in its opening World Cup qualifier on Sunday, for what will be Allardyce’s first game in charge.

“Wayne’s record speaks for itself. He is the most senior member of the squad and he is hugely respected by his peers,” Allardyce said. “All of these factors point towards him being the right choice to lead the team.”

Rooney finished last season playing as a central midfielder for United under Louis van Gaal, and played there for England during its European Championship campaign that ended with an embarrassing last-16 loss to Iceland.

New United manager Jose Mourinho has returned Rooney to the No. 10 role behind the striker, and Allardyce also thinks that’s his best position.

“Wayne’s position has changed at Manchester United,” Allardyce said, “and that’s the sort of position I’d be looking for him to be playing in.”

The player most affected by that positional tweak is Ross Barkley, who was dropped on Sunday by Allardyce in his first squad announcement since replacing Roy Hodgson as England coach. Barkley plays in the same position as United captain Rooney at Everton, and has started the season in good form for his club with two goals in four games.

With Dele Alli included in England’s squad, it appears there was no room for another attacking playmaker.

“We have had to make some very difficult decisions, none more so than obviously I would think Ross Barkley,” Allardyce said. “But you have to make these decisions. The door will always be open for Ross, but at this moment I felt the squad I picked is the right one.”

Looking to put his own stamp on the national team, Allardyce has recalled winger Theo Walcott and also picked an uncapped wide player in Michail Antonio of West Ham. It would suggest Allardyce is looking to play with more width than England did under Hodgson.

Antonio’s rise to the national team is being compared to that of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, in that he started out in non-league football — with Tooting and Mitcham, a club in south London — rather than in an academy of a big club.

He had spells on loan at lowly clubs before joining Sheffield Wednesday and then Nottingham Forest. Antonio moved to West Ham last year and has impressed as a right-sided midfielder, especially in the air. He has scored eight headed goals since the start of last season — including one in each of his last two league games.

“His journey is something that deserves to be in this squad and me to have a look at as a potential player going forward,” Allardyce said. “It’s a bit similar to Jamie Vardy — it shows if you have got guts and determination and desire, how much it means.

“He goes forward, creates a career for himself and finally ends up in the Premier League and with us in this squad. I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

Marcus Rashford wasn’t included by Allardyce, despite going on as a substitute to score United’s injury-time winner against Hull in the Premier League on Saturday in his first appearance of the season. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has displaced 18-year-old Rashford up front at United.

Rashford will instead play for England under-21 this week to get some game time.

“Having international experience with the under-21 will be invaluable for us later down the line,” Allardyce said. “If he plays for Manchester United on a regular basis, he would certainly — if he is breaking into the Manchester United team — be in my squad.

“He made a massive impact last season, yes, but he’s only a young man, let’s not heap too much pressure on him just yet.”