Sports

ZURICH — Sepp Blatter’s shock resignation as FIFA president, hours before it emerged he was under investigation by US authorities, prompted widespread calls for root-and-branch reforms at football’s world governing body on Wednesday.

The Swiss national, who has led FIFA for 17 years, is being investigated by US prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a person who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters late on Tuesday. An FBI spokesman declined comment.

News of Blatter’s investigation was earlier reported by The New York Times and ABC News. Blatter has not been charged with any wrongdoing. FIFA did not respond to a request for comment on Blatter being under investigation.

Blatter, 79, announced his decision to step down at a news conference in Zurich on Tuesday, six days after police raided a hotel in the city and arrested several FIFA officials — and just four days after he was re-elected to a fifth term as president.

“FIFA needs profound restructuring,” he said. “I decided to stand again to be elected because I was convinced it was the best option for football. Although the members of FIFA gave me a new mandate, this mandate does not seem to be supported by everyone in the world.”

He said an election to choose a new president would be held as soon as possible, though a FIFA official said it would probably not take place until at least December. Blatter will remain in his position until a successor is chosen.

His daughter, Corinne Blatter-Andenmatten, told a Swiss newspaper her father’s decision to stand down was not tied to recent corruption allegations. “His decision has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the allegations going around,” she told daily Blick.

Now time for reforms

European sports officials said Blatter’s resignation, with FIFA mired in the worst crisis in its 111-year history, was an important step, but that the organisation needed deeper changes.

“Beyond the people, structural reforms must be undertaken,” said French Sports State Secretary Thierry Braillard.

New Zealand Football (NZF) CEO Andy Martin said football must now rebuild its tattered reputation.

“This has lifted a cloud and taken away a lot of the concerns of stakeholders and their association with the sport,” he told Reuters. “We now want a strong collaborative leader who can bring the football world together and can bring out the change that the game has been crying out for.”

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which has been a staunch ally of Blatter, said it was monitoring the situation and would discuss internally the “best way forward for both FIFA and world football”.

AFC member the Philippines Football Federation said it was surprised by Blatter’s decision, but noted this “offers a big opportunity to continue and intensify the reforms that have been started. Indeed, deliberate focus on more governance reform and transparency is now called for”. 

Qatar fears

FIFA was stunned last week by the announcement of a US investigation into alleged widespread financial wrongdoing stretching back more than two decades. Swiss authorities also launched their own criminal probe into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

As Blatter signalled his exit, English Football Association chairman Greg Dyke raised the possibility that the controversial vote that awarded Qatar the 2022 tournament could be re-run. “If I was the Qatari organisers I wouldn’t sleep very well tonight,” he told British media.

Qatar Football Association President Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani hit back, indicating the small Gulf state will not give up hosting football’s showpiece event without a fight. “We would urge Mr Dyke to let the legal process take its course and concentrate on delivering his promise to build an England team capable of winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,” he said.

New faces, fresh start

Among the potential candidates to lead FIFA, European football federation chief Michel Platini, a French former international player, said Blatter had made “a difficult decision, a brave decision, and the right decision”.

HRH Prince Ali, who withdrew from last week’s presidential election after winning 73 votes to Blatter’s 133 in the first round, stopped short of confirming he would run again. Asked if there should be a fresh start at FIFA, he told Britain’s Channel 4 News: “I’m willing to help.”

Several other candidates may emerge ahead of the election for a new president.

AMMAN — Jordan took the runner-up spot after it beat Syria 80-69 at the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) Championship which ended in Amman late Tuesday.

The Kingdom clinched one of three qualifying slots to the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China after it beat Iraq 86-71, lost to Lebanon 92-74 and beat Palestine 92-76.

Lebanon took top spot but it was the qualification of Palestine for the first time ever that was historic following its 70-62 win over Iraq. 

Hosts China and 2014 FIBA Asia Cup champions Iran automatically qualified for the event in September which qualifies the winner to represent Asia at the 2016 Summer Olympics basketball tournament.

Last year, Jordan won the WABA title for the second time in the absence of both the Lebanese and senior Iranian teams and represented the West Asia zone at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, where China, as well as defending FIBA Asia Championship titleholders Iran had automatically qualified. The Cup (previously known as Stankovich Cup) is held every two years. Qatar was a champ in 2004, Jordan in 2008, Lebanon in 2010 and Iran in 2012 and 2014.

Jordan first won the West Asia title in 2002. In the 2011 qualifiers, Jordan finished second behind Iran and qualified to the 26th FIBA Asia Championship where, for the first time in the country’s history, Jordan reached the final but lost the chance to qualify to the 2012 Olympic Games by losing the final 70-69 to China. Jordan then played at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) for Men but lost to Puerto Rico and Greece and was eliminated. The OQT gave Asia’s second and third teams a chance to qualify to the London Games basketball event. 

Although the men’s basketball team reached the World Championship in 2010 — and it was the only Jordanian team to actually reach a world championship in a team sport alongside the junior team in 1995 — official support for Jordan’s second most popular game is seen as below par by most observers, leading to a decline in the sport locally and less competitive advantage on the international scene.

LEEDS, England — New Zealand maintained its two-year unbeaten run in Test series on Tuesday, dismissing England for 255 on the fifth day to win the second Test by 199 runs at Headingley and draw the series 1-1.

The Black Caps’ first Test victory in England this century — and ninth ever in 101 Tests — gave them something to show for their inventive and adventurous approach over the past two weeks that is earning the team many admirers in Test cricket.

England won a thrilling first Test at Lord’s.

Resuming at 44-0 and requiring a world-record run chase of 455 to win, England lost four wickets for 15 runs in the first hour and was rocking on 152-5 at lunch.

Alastair Cook was holding the innings together but the England captain’s departure for 56 — by which time he’d become the youngest player ever to reach 9,000 career Test runs — exposed the tail.

The end came just less than an hour into the final session — and after 78.5 overs in the day — when Mark Craig trapped Jos Buttler lbw for a team-high 73, sparking Kiwi celebrations that were briefly cut short while England reviewed. It ended up being plumb.

Kane Williamson, a part-time spinner, was an unlikely star for the Black Caps with figures of 3-15.

New Zealand is now unbeaten in seven Test series stretching back to its 2013 tour of England, justifying captain Brendon McCullum’s bold style of play that saw the team score more than 1,500 runs over the two Tests.

England heads into the Ashes series with many questions hanging over the team, although boosted by the return to form of Cook. There were few other positives to take from Headingley, however.

England batsman Joe Root said the team would go “all guns blazing” on Tuesday for the remaining runs needed to win the Test. That didn’t prove to be the case.

The English crawled along at the start of the day, scoring 14 runs in the first 11 overs and it soon became clear a draw was all the team was playing for. However, wickets soon began to tumble under a cloudy sky.

Defending on the back foot, Adam Lyth edged left-arm paceman Trent Boult to wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi without adding to his overnight 24. In came Gary Ballance (6), who lasted 26 balls before Boult arrowed in a delivery that glanced off the batsman’s pads and cleaned out the stumps.

Ballance has been bowled three times this series, in which he has averaged 9 runs.

Ian Bell (1) is another player short of form before the Ashes and he departed by nicking Craig to Williamson at leg slip after 10 balls. Since his century against West Indies at North Sound, Bell has scored 55 in eight innings, averaging 6.88.

Craig removed Root for a duck two balls later but it owed more to the amazing reflexes of Tom Latham at short leg. Root middled a shot that hit Latham in the chest, yet the New Zealand fielder still managed to cling onto the ball. Root looked stunned as the Kiwis celebrated.

Ballance, Bell and Root departed in the space of 19 balls, and Ben Stokes (29) chopped at Williamson in the spinner’s first over for Ronchi to take a sharp catch.

As the wind picked up, England desperately required another stoic rearguard action from Cook but he was trapped lbw playing late at Williamson. Cook returned to the pavilion on exactly 9,000 runs.

Afforded the luxury of surrounding the bat and having intimidating field placings, New Zealand removed Moeen Ali for 2 and Stuart Broad for 23 before tea.

Craig took a fine catch from Tim Southee to get rid of Mark Wood for 17 and Buttler was last to go.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Striker Judivan scored twice as Brazil beat Nigeria 4-2 on Monday in a thrilling start to its FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign.

The lead changed hands twice during the first half, and the teams went to halftime locked at 2-2 before Judivan clinched the match with his second goal eight minutes from full time thanks to a rare Nigerian defensive blunder.

Brazil’s win gave the five-time champions an early advantage in Group E, but they were overtaken later Monday by Hungary, which beat North Korea 5-1.

Hany Mukhtar scored a hat-trick as Germany took early control of Group F with an 8-1 win over outclassed Oceania champion Fiji. Honduras beat Uzbekistan 4-3 in the group’s second match.

The clash between Brazil and Nigeria at New Plymouth was forecast to be one of the best of the group rounds and lived up to that billing as the teams went blow for blow. There were flowing attacking moves, brilliant displays of individual skill and great goals which lifted the tone of a tournament that has been relatively low key to date.

“We had expected to face a really good side in Nigeria and we weren’t mistaken on that front,” Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said. “We started very well, but then the opposition gradually got on top and prevented us from playing our game.

“We shored things up in the middle of the park again in the second half and then looked to exploit the wings, which paid dividends,” Micale added.

Judivan was a hugely influential figure, not only for his goals, but for his tenacity and playmaking ability. He featured prominently in a move in the fourth minute that also saw Joao Pedro and Gabriel Jesus combine for the opening goal.

An early strike from Nigeria hit the post but they equalised after only 11 mintues when Musa Yahaya sent a superb pass to Success Isaac, who rounded the keeper before slotting the ball into an open goal.

Nigeria took the lead in the 28th minute from a slick breakaway, at the end of which Yahaya cut inside a defender and drove the ball into the goal from the edge of the box.

After scoring Brazil’s opening goal, Gabriel Jesus became the provider of the second, back-heeling the ball through the legs of Onyinye Ndidi and into the path of Judivan, who scored with a low shot.

The tempo flagged a little at the start of the second half before Boschilia put Brazil ahead 3-2 just before the hour mark. Judivan then made the game safe with the final goal after an error by goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo.

Nigeria coach Manu Garba called his team’s loss a “huge disappointment”.

“We carved out the better chances in the first half and we should have led at the break,” Garba said. “The first 45 minutes reflected what we’re capable of.

“We simply made two mistakes that cost us dearly in the second period,” he added. “All in all we played our part in a really great match and I’d like to congratulate Brazil on their victory. They’re a very good team.”

Mukhtar scored in the 34th, 40th and 89th minutes as Germany overwhelmed Fiji, racing to a 6-0 lead at halftime.

Fiji defended stoutly until the 18th minute when Niklas Stark scored the first of his two goals.

Marc Stendera scored two minutes later from the penalty spot after a hand ball and goals flowed freely until halftime with Grischa Proemel scoring in the 23rd minute, Stark completing his double in the 27th, then Mukhtar scoring twice before the break.

Fiji had a moment of celebration in its first match at an U-20 World Cup when Iosefo Verevou scored with a header just after halftime.

Marvin Stefaniak scored in the 68th minute and Mukhtar completed his hat-trick with a penalty a minute before full time.

Hungary’s Bence Mervo scored the second hat-trick of the day in his team’s win over North Korea. Mervo scored in the 17th, 49th and 82nd minute, while Zsolt Kalmar and David Forgacs also scored.

Bryan Rochez’ second goal in the second minute of stoppage time clinched Honduras’ opening win over Uzbekistan. 

Rochez’ late strike put Honduras ahead 4-2, but Zabikhillo Urinboev pulled the margin back by scoring seconds before the final whistle.

MUGELLO, Italy — Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo dominated the Italian Grand Prix to close the gap on championship-leading team mate Valentino Rossi to six points with his third MotoGP victory in a row on Sunday.

Ducati’s Andrea Iannone was second, a career best after starting on pole position for the first time, while veteran great Rossi delighted his home crowd by climbing from eighth place on the grid to the podium.

Rossi now has 118 points to Lorenzo’s 112.

Spain’s double world champion Marc Marquez crashed his Honda six laps from the finish after climbing from 13th, his worst ever qualifying performance, to second in the space of two laps.

Marquez is now fifth overall with 69 points.

“Three in a row. I think a few times in MotoGP I made three in a row but now the goal is to make four,” said Lorenzo, who took the lead on the opening lap and stayed there to the chequered flag.

“It’s going to be difficult but we’re going to try.”

Iannone appeared to make a slight jump start but gained no advantage, with Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso leading Lorenzo into the first corner while Marquez roared up to fourth.

Two laps later and Marquez was on Lorenzo’s tail but hopes of a great battle faded as the older Spaniard pulled away and the champion was reeled in by the chasing Ducatis.

“As always I tried to put my pace. Today the pace was a little bit slow but I could keep it high to give me the chance to go away,” said Lorenzo, on the podium for the 88th time in his career.

Behind him Rossi, the 36-year-old nine times world champion in all categories, was making his move after dropping to 10th at the start.

Marquez’s crash opened the door to the Italian and he slotted into third place to chase Iannone to the flag.

“It was a very difficult race,” said Rossi, as a sea of fans invaded the track, climbing fences and flooding the pit straight.

“But at the end to stand here on the podium in Mugello in front of all the crowd is anyway a great result.”

The next race, round seven of the championship, is in Barcelona on June 14.

In Moto3, Miguel Oliveira became the first Portuguese rider to win a grand prix while Spain’s Tito Rabat took the Moto2 race for his first victory of the season.

LONDON/ZURICH — Britain said Europe should consider boycotting future World Cups if Sepp Blatter doesn’t quit as head of football’s governing body over a corruption scandal, while Swiss authorities denied they would soon question the newly re-elected FIFA president.

The Swiss-born FIFA chief complained on Sunday he had been shown “zero respect” in recent days, revealing how he had rejected advice from one of his main critics, the head of the European governing body, to quit at last week’s FIFA congress.

John Whittingdale, the British government minister with overall responsibility for sport, renewed calls for Blatter to step aside on Sunday, saying all options should be considered when it came to pressuring him to resign, including boycotting the World Cup — something that could split the sport and be calamitous for the tournament.

Blatter, 79, won a vote on Friday to serve a fifth term as FIFA president even though the US Department of Justice has charged nine football officials with corruption and Swiss authorities are conducting their own criminal investigation.

He has played down the impact of the scandal on one of the world’s most powerful sports bodies, which takes in billions of dollars in revenue from TV marketing rights and sponsorships.

Blatter is not accused of any wrongdoing personally and has implied that the United States timed news of the charges to try to scupper his re-election.

Asked how he had coped with the criticism in the past few days, he told the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick: “Let me put it this way: I’ve been shown zero respect.”

Blatter’s future could yet depend on the reaction of FIFA’s major sponsors and stakeholders such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, who have been dismayed by the arrests and US prosecutors announcing indictments of officials and companies.

Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper reported Swiss prosecutors would question Blatter, who has led FIFA for nearly 20 years, as part of a criminal investigation into votes to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

A spokesperson for Switzerland’s attorney general dismissed the possibility of immediately calling in Blatter as “nonsense”.

However, he added: “If need be, he will be questioned in the future.”

Russia and Qatar deny wrongdoing in their bids.

The Sunday Times reported Blatter would be the last of 10 FIFA officials to be questioned. Michel Platini, the president of the European governing body UEFA, and Vitaly Mutko, the Russian sports minister, would also be interviewed, it said.

Britain stepped up the pressure on Sunday.

“Last week, some of the game’s most respected figures raised the prospect of world football turning its back on FIFA,” Whittingdale, who is Britain’s secretary of state for culture media and sport, wrote in the Sunday Times.

“Michel Platini has talked of European nations boycotting future World Cups if Blatter refuses to stand down. No options should be ruled out,” he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Greg Dyke, the chairman of England’s Football Association, have urged Blatter to quit. 

Dyke said it would be “ridiculous” for England to boycott the next World Cup in 2018 in protest because it would not have an impact. “It’s got to be done by enough nations to have an impact, if it’s done,” Dyke told BBC TV’s Andrew Marr show.

“We’ve got to do it alongside other countries, other large footballing nations,” he said, saying it would be a “good idea” to pressure other footballing nations and sponsors to make sure any effort was concerted.

LONDON — Theo Walcott ended a frustrating season by scoring the first goal as Arsenal won a record 12th FA Cup title Saturday with a dominant 4-0 victory over Aston Villa in the final at Wembley Stadium.

Walcott, who missed most of 2014 with a knee injury sustained in an FA Cup game, volleyed home a shot in the 40th minute to put defending champion Arsenal ahead.

Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead with a fierce 22 metres shot that dipped in via the underside of the crossbar before Per Mertesacker scored with a header in the 62nd minute. Olivier Giroud completed the win in injury time.

“It was amazing,” Walcott said. “Any win is fantastic. The manner we did it today was great, we played great football and kept a clean sheet. We always knew if we kept a clean sheet we were going to score goals and win the game.”

After a nine-year trophy drought, Arsenal has now won the Cup two years in a row, overtaking Manchester United’s record of 11 titles.

The win also meant Arsene Wenger tied the record for Cup victories by a manager with six, level with Villa’s George Ramsay, who won his last title in 1920.

“It’s something I’m very proud of,” Wenger said. “If no one has done it [in modern times] it means it’s very difficult.”

This victory was a lot more comfortable than last year’s, when Arsenal had to come from two goals down to beat Hull 3-2 in extra time. Saturday’s result never looked in doubt as Arsenal dictated the game from the start and Villa — which had to fight against Premier League relegation until the penultimate round of the season — didn’t have a clear scoring chance in the entire game.

“They deserved to win the game, no arguments about that,” Villa manager Tim Sherwood said. “Today we couldn’t nullify their threat and we couldn’t manage to impose ourselves on them either.”

Arsenal, meanwhile, had created a handful of chances before Walcott finally scored.

Shay Given made a good one-handed save to deny Laurent Koscielny’s header in the 15th minute, Aaron Ramsey lifted a volley over the bar in the 20th minute and Walcott was denied from point-blank range by a diving clearance from Kieran Richardson in the 24th minute.

Walcott has struggled for playing time even since returning to full fitness, with just four Premier League starts this season. However, after scoring a hat trick in the last game of the league season, he was preferred up front to Giroud. His speed proved decisive after Nacho Monreal sent in a cross from the left that Sanchez met by the far post and headed back across the area. Walcott beat two defenders to the ball and volleyed home inside the near post, before racing with both arms outstretched to celebrate with the Arsenal supporters.

The Gunners kept pouring forward after the break, with Mesut Ozil dictating play in midfield. Sanchez’s goal was a pure solo effort, though, as he picked the ball up 32 metres from goal, drifted forward and unleashed a superb strike that dipped past Given in the net.

Prince William, an Aston Villa fan, shook hands with the players from both teams before the match, but even he had a disappointed look on his face by the time Mertesacker headed in the third.

After Walcott was taken off for Giroud to a standing ovation, the Frenchman was left unmarked to tap home a cross from fellow substitute Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain in injury time.

ZURICH — Emboldened by his fresh mandate to lead world football, Sepp Blatter made it clear there may be consequences for European leaders who tried to oust him from FIFA.

“I forgive everyone but I don’t forget,” Blatter told Swiss television channel RTS. “We cannot live without UEFA and UEFA cannot live without us.”

UEFA President Michel Platini, who helped Blatter first gain the presidency in 1998, led opposition against his former ally and has suggested European nations could consider boycotting FIFA — including the World Cup.

Blatter believes the Europeans are just bad losers after Platini’s candidate, HRH Prince Ali, was beaten in Friday’s election.

“It is hatred not only by one person at UEFA but by the organisation of UEFA that has not accepted that I have been president since 1998,” Blatter said in the television interview.

UEFA’s strategy for how to deal with Blatter may become clearer next week when the European body holds meetings in Berlin ahead of the Champions League final.

“There should be some kind of reaction,” said Dutch federation President Michael van Praag, who had been running for FIFA presidency before withdrawing last week to back Prince Ali.

But opposition to Blatter is not unanimous in Europe.

Russia, host of the 2018 World Cup, is fiercely loyal to Blatter. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram congratulating Blatter on his re-election and expressing confidence in his “experience, professionalism and high authority”.

France’s football federation also voted for Blatter, despite Frenchman Platini demanding the 79-year-old Swiss withdrew from the election.

As Blatter starts his fifth term, Europe’s governing body is in a quandary about how to exert influence in a political landscape where it is a minority voice despite being the sport’s financial and sporting heartland.

The consequences of UEFA walking out of FIFA would be so far-reaching it seems highly implausible.

UEFA nations would not just be missing from the World Cup, but the European club game could be completely cut off from the rest of the world.

“England won’t withdraw from anything on its own, let’s be absolutely certain on it,” Football Association chairman Greg Dyke said. “That would be ridiculous.”

Europe’s best hope is that Blatter has been wounded by his failure to secure a commanding mandate and might be further undermined if ongoing criminal cases against FIFA officials uncover wrongdoing close to the presidency.

Blatter did not win the two-thirds majority required in the first round of voting on Friday, but Prince Ali conceded defeat before a second round where a simple majority would have sufficed.

Platini said change is still crucial if FIFA “is to regain its credibility”.

The latest battering to FIFA’s credibility came when Swiss and US criminal probes into corruption were disclosed two days before the presidential vote, with several leading officials arrested in Zurich.

The corruption scandal prompted Platini on Thursday to appeal directly to Blatter to stand down. That request was unequivocally rejected and Platini has to work with Blatter for four more years.

The reaction from Blatter to Europe’s show of dissent could be to try to weaken its influence on FIFA’s ruling executive committee where eight of the 25 voting members are from the continent.

There is also a European place on FIFA’s executive committee vacant. Former Manchester United chief executive David Gill assumed the vice presidency guaranteed for Britain on Friday but carried out a threat to quit immediately after Blatter was re-elected.

“This action is not something I take lightly but the terribly damaging events of the last three days have convinced me it is not appropriate to be a member of the FIFA executive committee under the current leadership,” Gill said Saturday.

“My professional reputation is critical to me and I simply do not see how there will be change for the good of world football while Mr Blatter remains in post.”

AMMAN — Khaled Juma on Friday was crowned champion of the second round of the National Rally Championship “La Storia Museum Rally” with the participation of nine drivers.

With this win Juma heads the standings with 50 points after winning the first and second rounds.

Juma and co-driver Imad Juma clocked 42m55s in their Mitsubishi Evo 7, followed by Amjad Sheikh and co-driver Abdullah Abdah (44m33s) in their Subaru Impreza, and Ihab Shurafa and co-driver Rakan Khair (48m06s) in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.

Juma told The Jordan Times that it was a very challenging event.

“It was not easy, but I adopted a very good strategy that gave me a nine-stage win and it worked by putting more pressure on the other drivers and not looking behind me. The list of drivers was impressive but I managed to have around two minutes difference and in rallying this counts,” he said.

“I am happy that I am in the lead now and closer to the title but still the road needs more focus, but I am confident,” he added.

The rally was held around Madaba with a total distance of 186.89km including nine special stages with a total distance of 63.69km. Drivers covered Bahra (9.74km), Kroum (5.46km) and Ghernata (6.03km) three times each.

Meanwhile, Raed Habaybeh retired due to mechanical problems.

Veteran driver Barkev Shadian who teamed with Lina Hadidi as her co-driver finished in fifth place.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO, said that it was an exciting event.

“It was a very exciting event and Juma delivered what he promised. The rally had new stages and probably it did have an effect on some drivers but at the end everyone did their best,” he said.

The rally takes its name from the La Storia Museum Complex in Madaba which is a combination of folk, history and a handicrafts centre.

AMMAN — Wihdat and Jazira’s impressive run at Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup came to an end in the Round of 16 this season. Wihdat lost to AFC Cup titleholders Kuwait’s Qadissieh 1-0.

The same team beat them 1-0 earlier this season in the AFC Champions League.

Jazira, who participated in the event for the first time after two-time AFC Cup champs Faisali declined, lost to former AFC Cup champs Syria’s Jeish 1-0.

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.