Sports

AMMAN — The U-16 West Asian Basketball Championship for Boys was tough on the host team as Jordan lost to Lebanon, Iraq and Iran, with Syria missing the event. 

Jordan lost all Leg 1 matches, making their task of taking one of the top two qualifying spots impossible.

With a short preparation period, injuries and absences plaguing the team, Jordan lost all Leg 2 matches going down 78-56 to Iraq, 97-50 to Iran before losing their last match 101-91 to Lebanon, who joined group leaders Iraq to the U-16 championship in Myanmar in September.

On the last day of the event, Iraq came from behind after losing all three quarters against Iran to tie 64-64 and win 87-82 in double overtime.

Different age groups have been back on the west Asian and Asian scenes with the hope of rebuilding all national teams and bringing back the zeal of competition to the country’s second most popular game.

Last year, Jordan hosted the 22nd FIBA Asia U-18 Championship for Women with China beating Japan in Level 1 to win the title for the 14th time. The top three teams from the FIBA Asia U-18 Championship represent FIBA Asia at the FIBA U-19 World Championship for Women in Russia in July 2015.

Playing in Level 2, Jordan’s sole win came over Kyrgyzstan 62-52 after they lost to Hong Kong 55-45, Malaysia 89-42, Kazakhstan 59-45 and Sri Lanka 54-24. 

Despite finishing 5th in Level 2, Jordan Basketball Federation officials viewed the event as “a platform to jump back and advance the game on the local and regional levels”. 

It was in 2013 and after nearly a 20-year break, that Jordan returned to the Asian women’s competitions when the U-16 women’s team played at the 3rd FIBA Asia U-16 Championship for Women in Sri Lanka, where they finished 5th in Level 2.

With the women’s game having little prominence locally, the national team had not competed on the Asian scene since 1995 when Jordan became the first Arab team to play at the Asian Basketball Confederation Women’s Championship in Japan and the U-18 team played at FIBA Asia U-18 Championship in 1996 in Thailand where they finished 8th.

The men’s basketball team reached the World Championship in 2010 after the junior team qualified 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 game locally and less competitive advantage on the regional and international scene.

DEAD SEA — It is a very exciting time for Asian football now and indeed for Jordan due to the great talent both the Kingdom and the continent have, a British football expert said on Monday. 

In an interview with The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the Soccerex Asian Forum, David Dein, former Arsenal and FA vice chairman and founding member of English Premier League (EPL), said with the huge Asia population it can have a lot of talent in years to come. 

“Over the last few weeks, I had chats with HRH Prince Ali who is very ambitious and loves football very much. He is passionate about the game and spoke about how Jordanian football can improve and Asian football is developing dramatically very quickly,” he said.

He noted that the future of Asia is very bright and it is a matter of time for an Asian country to progress significantly in the World Cup.

Dein took part in the first session titled “Establishing a League” on the second day of the forum. He  presented details about the successful elements of the EPL and how other leagues can benefit from its example. 

He stressed on the importance of having intense media coverage to expose the league and make it more successful. 

“The media coverage is immense in England and in newspapers everyday there are stories related to the league,” he said, adding that the EPL attracts two billion viewers from around the world.

He recalled that last season, a total of 1,052 goals were scored and average attendance was nearly 37,000 with about 96 per cent capacity.

He said during his session that if any country manages to make its league exciting and a best one, it can attract the interest of television and would result in commercial success that would enable people to get names on shirts and sell sponsorship for stadiums.

He told The Jordan Times that because of the excitement of the game, the stadiums are always full in England. 

“If you have an exciting product, people will come to watch it and that is what you are going to create and it really starts with better facilities and better coaches and then you raise the game,” he concluded.

DEAD SEA — The old way of playing football is much more exciting and better than the current football style, legendary Argentinian player Diego Maradona said on Monday.

During his session at the 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum at the Dead Sea, Maradona said he prefers the way football was during his time as a player.

“Whenever a player touches another player the referee calls for a foul. In my time, if a player kicked me I did not get a foul,” he told a huge crowd of attendees through an interpreter.

Maradona also talked about his childhood and how he used to enjoy playing football and that his passion for the sport enhanced his performance.

Maradona, who was interviewed by a presenter, did not talk about this year’s FIFA presidential election but in March announced his support for HRH Prince Ali’s bid.

At the time, Maradona said he has been following the reforms introduced by Prince Ali to football in the region, and expressed his desire to support the prince in leading change in FIFA, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The football legend said he would travel to several countries to support Prince Ali in his campaign, Petra reported.

Maradona closed the two-day forum, which was held in Jordan for the second time.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie described this year’s forum as “successful”.

“Soccerex has grown by 30 to 40 per cent this year in Jordan and our third year will also be in Jordan and it has been a great success this year. We got great names, not to mention the opening by Prince Ali,” he told The Jordan Times in an interview.

“Famous clubs are taking part in this year’s forum including Milan and Arsenal. This year 40 football associations and 60 clubs are taking part,” he added.

Revie said all sessions were informative and beneficial for all regions, including Asia.

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

Over 850 delegates took  part in the forum, hosted in conjunction with the Asian Football Development Project, at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre. A total of 85 national federation representatives, and 60 clubs and league representatives also attended the event. 

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.

AMMAN — Unlike team sports where an athlete might dodge behind teammates to eventually emerge victorious, in individual sports contestants solely rely on their physical and mental preparedness, spirit and stamina. 

Two Jordanian long-distance runners, Salameh Al Aqra and Mohammad Al Sweity, proudly raised the Jordanian flag during various local and international races.

Both of them are renowned ultra-marathon runners popular in Morocco and Europe for their achievements and they travelled the globe to represent the Kingdom, where they are not well-known.

They have recently returned from yet another Marathon des Sables (MDS), the toughest footrace in the world, which consists of six extremely difficult stages taking place in the spectacular landscape of the Moroccan desert, with a total distance of 250km.

“It was my tenth participation at MDS where I won second place more than half a dozen times. I finally won the first place in 2012,” Al Aqra said. 

This time Al Aqra was in the fifth place among 1,400 runners from all over the world who dared to take the challenge of the high-profile race. The Jordanian blamed the result on an injury, but he was luckier than Al Sweity, who had a health condition after the forth stage of the race and had to quit.

“When I ran for the first time at MDS in 2006 I got lost and ended up 60 km away from the finish line,” continued Al Aqra. “At one point I was at the 330th place, almost reaching the Algerian border, but I pushed myself and crossed the line at the 33^rd place.”

Nevertheless, the initial setback as well as the second places he continuously won did not discourage Al Aqra to continue with the objective of winning the race.

“In 2012, I completed six stages in an overall time of 19 hours and 59 minutes, which is still the record of this race. No one managed to finish the race in less than 20 hours,” Al Aqra noted.

Sweiti started to seriously compete in races in the late 1990s, at the Desert Cup which is a 170km race between Petra and Wadi Rum.

“The more long distances I managed to conquer, the more addicted to running I became,” Al Sweity said.
“For Al Aqra and myself, the police force opened channels for us to compete at various levels. We first took part in police and military competitions and gradually realised that our results were good enough for the major stage,” Al Sweity added. 
His best results at MDS are 10th place in 2011 and 11th place in 2012. 
“MDS attracts professional and amateur runners from all over the world. In the past years, not more than 900 competitors participated but this year the number reached 1400 runners, “ he said.

“In other words, the race is becoming more demanding and the challenge grows with the increasing number of professional athletes,” Al Sweity said.

The runners have a busy schedule ahead as they will participate in the Otscher Ultra-Marathon in Austria on June 13 and June 14.

“I’ve been running continuously for 35 years,” said Al Aqra,“ and I’d like to convey some of my experience and knowledge to up-and-coming runners who would carry the torch and promote Jordan and its sports abroad.”

DEAD SEA — What is fuelling match fixing is not simply spontaneous crime by players, referees or administrators, it is actually the hundreds of millions of dollars gambled on football every week in Southeast Asia where the money comes for criminals to fix matches, Chris Eaton, the executive director of sport integrity at the International Centre for Sport Security, told The Jordan Times.

During an interview on the sidelines of the Soccerex Asian Forum at the Dead Sea, Eaton said the reality is that fixing has become far too routine at the lower level of football in Southeast Asia, and Asia generally, particularly in the qualifying rounds, in international friendlies and the U-17 and U-19 matches.

“They become too routine, it needs a lot of attention from everybody in football not just the administrators, clubs, players or referees. All parts of football have to be alert to the fact that if nothing is done very soon, football is in a very grave state of credibility,” he added.

Eaton took part in integrity in Asian football session during the forum, highlighting the danger of this kind of trend against the beauty of football. 

“Match fixing in Asia is quite high but I would not say it is the highest and that is not because Asia is the cleanest,” he told The Jordan Times.

Eaton noted that over the last 10 years, most fans have lost confidence in the integrity of Asian football and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is taking the right steps to correct the perception of fans and have them believe that Asian football can be trusted.

“I think restoring the confidence of Asian fans and international fans in Asian football is a prime role of the AFC leadership and I think they recognise that,” he added.

He said in football there is no single body controlling the football administration. FIFA is not in control of all football and confederations are also not in control of all football.

“Football needs to join up in this fight against criminals who are taking advantage of football because of the massive gambling around the world,” he added.

He said it is very good to see organisations like Soccerex taking an interest in helping football find the right design to correct itself and look after itself.

“But I repeat, the main people that have to do something are the governments of the world, not only football,” he added.

DEAD SEA — The 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum started at the Dead Sea on Sunday with the participation of leading and high-profile football figures from all over the globe.

The forum began 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.

The Prince presented details about the successful achievement done by the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP).

He also mentioned the reason behind his decision to take part in this year’s FIFA presidency elections.

“It was a discussion that I’ve been having with colleagues of football both within FIFA and within our executive committee as well as with national associations as well as other key stakeholders including sponsors. We decided that as wonderful as football is and as popular as it is around the world unfortunately the reputation of FIFA is not there at all, so therefore a change needs to happen, whether it is myself or someone else,” he said.

He stressed on the importance of having FIFA dedicate a percentage of its budget for the support of football.

“We have a good budget, but I think that we have to put much more of the percentage back into the game. Take UEFA as an example you have to have at least 80 per cent of the budget going back into football and I think that is the way it should be in FIFA as well,” he added. 

The organising committee of the 2016 Women’s U-17 World Cup in Jordan also presented details about the latest preparations for the event and the importance of hosting such a tournament.

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

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 taking 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 are also attending the event. 

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.

AMMAN — Mohammed Tayseer on Friday was crowned champion of the second round of the Speed Test Championship “Kumho Speed Test” after beating 73 drivers from Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan at the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan.

Tayseer is heading the championship points list after two wins.

Tayseer clocked best time of 1m34.95s in his Mitsubishi EVO 6, followed by Salem Taimeh (1m37.64s) in his BMW and Jad Nabas (1m39.49s) in his Toyota.

Lebanon’s Alen Nofal settled in the fourth place with 1m39.63s in his Renault and Atef Awad came in fifth place with 1m39.82s in his Subaru.

Meanwhile, Yasmeen Majed won the best women Cup and Imad Hanaia won the best Porsche Team driver.

Tayseer expressed his happiness after the event thanking the pressure from his opponents for his win.

“It was a tough round and if it was not for the pressure of my opponents I would not have focused more and won the event. I had really stubborn opponents and we all fought well for the victory. I am happy to see more than 70 drivers in the event who have the best skills and experience,” he said.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO, stressed on the number of women drivers who took part in the event.

“We had nine women drivers in the event and this is a record number and we are really excited that this participation did really happen. We thank all those who worked on this support especially KIA Jordan which supported two female drivers with two cars,” he said.

“We are working on encouraging more female drivers to join this sports and so far I think we have succeeded a bit but we still have more work to do,” he added.

For the women, Majed came first, followed by Marina Habaybeh, in second place, and Manal Khateeb in third place.

AMMAN – Asia is no longer a place for old age professional footballers to end their careers, but a place for opportunities, where footballers gain more experience, a former leading Spanish footballer told The Jordan Times. 

Gaizka Mendieta said that Asia has become a challenge for coaches and players.

“It is becoming a place for opportunities to gain experience, to become a better player and to make a career whether you are a player or a coach. The challenges are clear, Asia has to raise the level of football in a way to help it make an impact internationally,” he added. 

Mendieta will join a number of former players during the 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum that will be held at the Dead Sea May 3-4, sharing his experiences in his module titled “Playing, Coaching and Scouting in Asia”.

Mendieta played 40 matches with the Spanish national team, appearing in one FIFA World Cup and one UEFA European Championship.

The Spanish player described the Soccerex forum as “important”. 

“I think it is an incredible opportunity to have all these people from the world of football in one place like the Asia Forum, sharing knowledge and experiences. It helps to improve and develop football in the world and in this case in Asia,” Mendieta said.

Mendieta believes it is really important for Jordan to host such an event as it will help promote the country among the world of football.

“This will obviously help and allow the host country to let the world know through all the participating legends and experts what the possibilities this country is working on to  make football bigger and better. That will rise the interest of players, coaches and media worldwide to come and experience it by themselves,” he added. 

Mendieta, who joined Valencia in the UEFA Champions League two times against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, said football has changed compared to his time.

“Football has changed a little bit, I think it is more physical and teams are more equal therefore more competitive. Also players are playing more games per season making it more demanding physically and mentally,” he added.

Commenting on the possibility of having an Asian Champions League as attractive as UEFA Champions League, the Spanish footballer said it will take time for Asia to have this happen in the future by bringing renowned players and coaches to the continent. 

“I think it takes time because the history of the clubs in Europe is massive compared to the ones in Asia but by bringing coaches, players, experts and professionals to work in these countries it would help Asian clubs compete better at the international level,” he added.

Mendieta said he thinks media, forums and summits will also give football fans the opportunity to watch more football from anywhere in the world as well as to know more about football in every part of the world, including Asia.

“A lot of the Asian football is already being broadcast in Europe and that means interest is growing,” he added.

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.