Sports

When the second round draw for Asian World Cup qualifying takes place in Kuala Lumpur next week, fans, players and officials in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will be praying for one outcome.

“The people here want Japan because most of the youth out here are fans of Kagawa because he played for Manchester United,” Bhutan Football Federation official Phutsho Wangdi told Reuters.

“Japan would be the first choice and especially our players too. They said if we play them, its like a dream come true for them because they are their heroes. We grew up watching them.”

There is another reason to want Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda and the rest of the record four-times Asian champion’s squad to play at the picturesque Changlimithang Stadium — money.

The world’s worst side at 209th in the FIFA rankings, Bhutan received no funding from the government and played only two matches in two years.

Those matches, though, were against Sri Lanka in the first round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which resulted in a miraculous 3-1 aggregate win on their tournament debut. Only their fourth and fifth victories ever.

They now await Tuesday’s draw where 40 teams, including Asian champions Australia and Japan, will be drawn into groups of five guaranteeing eight matches.

“If we get Australia or Japan or maybe South Korea, we will get the TV guys coming from there and we will make some money,” said Wangdi, who oversees marketing at the federation.

“If Japan comes here we are going to make a hell of a lot of money,” he laughed.

The jovial spirit is flowing through Bhutanese football since last month’s stunning 1-0 win in Colombo and nervy 2-1 success in Thimphu, where around 20,000 people packed into the high altitude stadium with many more outside the gates willing their side to victory.

Football rivals Archery for popularity in Bhutan, a Buddhist nation wedged in the Himalayas between India and China, but local fans look to English teams for their fill.

The Sri Lanka results have changed things, though.

The local league, which features seven clubs, used to get only 100 fans but over 6,000 have turned up after Wangdi and his team ramped up promotional efforts in a country where television was banned until the late 1990s.

The government have now provided funding and the Changlimithang Stadium is being renovated ahead of the four home World Cup qualifiers.

“It’s a huge achievement for Bhutan and I think the football is really picking up a furious pace right now,” he said.

Expectations of a young team made of students and workers — their captain is a fulltime pilot for the national carrier — remain in check, however. Only striker Chencho Gyeltshen plays outside of the country in Thailand.

“We know we can never make it through to the World Cup but we want to face some of the big Asian names, like Japan, Australia, South Korea. This is a one-time opportunity for our team and the people of Bhutan,” Wangdi said.

“Even if we face a team like Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore they are pretty much far more advanced than our boys.”

But before Tuesday’s draw in the Malaysian capital comes another important date in the calendar, the release of the updated FIFA rankings on Thursday.

Bhutan are expected to rise to a record position of 163rd. Wangdi is just looking forward to avoiding the name calling.

“The most hurtful was the basement boys. The numbers don’t really matter, we know our strengths, we can beat India or Bangladesh also. Its just that we don’t get enough matches.”

LONDON — Toyota’s Anthony Davidson starts the defence of his world endurance title at Silverstone this weekend with Le Mans on his mind.

The 24 Hours at the Circuit de la Sarthe in western France on June 13-14 is the jewel of the championship, a classic test that has mauled many a driver over the years and that every sportscar racer wants to win.

“We had a big fight on our hands last year all the way through [the championship],” the 35-year-old Briton told Reuters in an interview ahead of Sunday’s Six Hours of Silverstone season-opener.

“We didn’t win Le Mans — that was our main target for the season and we didn’t achieve that. So that remains the same for this year.

“I think it’s going to be hard to defend the championship and possibly even harder to win Le Mans. But it should be a great fight.”

Davidson won last year’s endurance championship with Switzerland’s Sebastien Buemi but finished only third at Le Mans after a heavy crash on a wet track early on in the race with Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel.

In the 2013 race, Davidson finished second while in 2012 he had a massive crash that saw the car take off at the Mulsanne corner and left the Briton in hospital with two broken vertebrae.

The experience has in no way dimmed the former Formula One driver’s enthusiasm or determination.

“I feel personally as a driver I have tamed it,” he said.

“I feel I know how to win that race. I’ve led it a couple of times outright and it’s looked like I’ve been on my way to winning it.

“I feel like the team had the recipe to win it last year, we had the fastest car and on my car we had the reliability to win it. We would have won it at a canter, well over six laps, if we didn’t have the crash early on in the race due to the weather.”

A victory this year would be more than welcome, however it might come.

“If I am handed the victory this year... I would quite happily take it because it would make up for all the times when I did deserve to win it [and did not],” said Davidson, who now has the number one on his Toyota.

“To the average person on the street, to tell them that you won the 24 hours of Le Mans... sounds more impressive [than the championship].

“People know what the championship means. But for something to hang your hat on, of course Le Mans is an amazing achievement.”

So too is winning the world endurance title, a championship growing in stature in the motorsport world even if crowds — with the exception of the 250,000 thronging Le Mans — are comparatively small.

Toyota face a big battle this season against perennial Le Mans favourites and winners Audi as well as the Porsche works cars.

The eight round calendar includes six hour races at Spa-Francorchamps, the Nuerburgring, in Austin, Texas, at Japan’s Fuji circuit, Shanghai and Bahrain.

“In the second year of a stable set of regulations it seems that everyone has improved, we’ve all honed our cars as you’d expect,” said Davidson of the battle ahead.

“I think it’s probably going to be more of the same in terms of the level of competition.”

FIFA presidential candidate HRH Prince Ali believes the scandal-hit organisation will struggle to replace sponsors and be damaged financially if Sepp Blatter remains in charge.

Five of FIFA’s top 14 sponsors decided in recent months not to extend their deals, leaving a void ahead of the high-profile qualifying draw event for the 2018 World Cup in Russia in July.

None of the departing sponsors, including Sony and Emirates airline, spoke out publicly against world football’s governing body. But Prince Ali has used his FIFA campaign manifesto, which was launched on Monday, to express concerns that corruption allegations around FIFA are putting off commercial backers.

“The damage which is being exacted upon ‘Brand FIFA’ has financial implications,” the FIFA vice president said in the manifesto. “Sponsors have begun to vote with their feet. If drastic action is not taken urgently to restore the image of our governing body, we can expect revenues to reduce and, in turn, monies available to national associations to also go down.”

FIFA said in January it was in “advanced negotiations” with potential partners for the 2018 World Cup, but no information on new sponsors have been announced since then.

“We should have a situation where sponsors are not only willing to come back but we should have sponsors fighting to sponsor FIFA,” Prince Ali said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

“Obviously I would like to see [the sponsors] back but we also like to see other options as well. It is important to have an organisation that has a good reputation that sponsors feel totally confident in.”

FIFA revenue topped $2 billion last year, adding $91 million to its reserves, which now stand at $1.523 billion after the World Cup in Brazil.

“FIFA is riding on the success of the World Cup,” Prince Ali said from Cairo where he is campaigning at a Confederation of African Football (CAF) meeting. “We could gain so much more if there was more faith and more trust in how FIFA is run.”

Prince Ali echoed his rivals by offering to redistribute more of FIFA’s funds to the 209 national associations, but he also guaranteed to help fund national stadiums in countries without them.

Prince Ali is one of three candidates trying to stop Blatter being re-elected for a fifth, four-year term in May along with Dutch FA head Michael van Praag and former Portugal international Luis Figo.

While not disclosing how much support he has, Prince Ali said: “I think the majority of national associations certainly believe that it’s crucial to have a change at this time for the sake of FIFA and the future of football.”

The 79-year-old Blatter has not released a manifesto or offered any plans for FIFA if a reign which began in 1998 is extended through 2019.

The centrepiece of Figo’s manifesto was a proposal to expand the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, while Van Praag has suggested a 40-team competition in a bid to woo voters.

But Prince Ali said he would not make hasty pledges about expanding the World Cup just to win the vote of FIFA’s 209 national associations on May 29.

“My concern is [the World Cup] will be used by some to make promises that maybe they won’t even be able to deliver on in the future, but are using it for election purposes,” he said.

The 2026 World Cup is already on FIFA’s agenda, with a vote on the host being set recently for 2017. Prince Ali said he backs switching the competition between continents, which would boost an American bid as the CONCACAF region has not staged a World Cup since the US hosted the prestigious tournament in 1994.

“It is the world game and there should be rotation,” said Prince Ali, who is also open to countries from different continents co-hosting a World Cup.

Prince Ali is troubled by the fact FIFA sold the American television rights to the 2026 tournament to Fox without inviting other bids to avert possible legal action from the broadcaster over switching the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from June-July to November-December.

“There needs to be a proper tendering process and my big concern is that decisions have been made by people who probably won’t be part of the organisation by 2026,” he said. “And we aren’t talking about small money.”

Prince Ali, who didn’t use his royal title in the manifesto, highlighted FIFA’s need to be more transparent nine times in the document, including publishing the minutes of executive committee meetings.

Asked if those meetings should also be streamed online, Prince Ali responded: “That’s definitely an interesting concept.”

African allegiance

Every one of Africa’s 54 member countries will vote for Blatter in next month’s FIFA presidential election, the continent’s football boss said on Tuesday, referring to the 79-year-old Swiss as “dear Sepp”.

In front of Blatter’s three challengers, Issa Hayatou, president of the CAF, promised unanimous support in his speech to open CAF’s annual congress in Cairo.

“Africa is comfortable having you. Africa stays with you,” Hayatou said, according to a transcript of his comments provided by CAF.

Blatter was also present, and made a speech to the African football leaders in his role as FIFA president.

Although the individual countries don’t have to follow Hayatou’s directive, Africa is expected to be a strong base of support for Blatter.

With 54 of the 209 FIFA member countries eligible to vote in the presidential election in Zurich on May 29, Africa is the largest of the six continental confederations.

The praise Blatter received in Egypt contrasted to his uncomfortable reception at the UEFA congress last month, when his presidency was criticised by the three candidates standing against him, and some European officials.

Hayatou, a FIFA vice president and now an ally of Blatter after failing to unseat him in 2002, made an apparent reference to that UEFA congress on Tuesday.

“Dear Sepp,” he said. “I want to reiterate that here in Africa you are never on some strange or hostile territory. You shall always be at home here, on this continent.”

In his speech, Blatter reflected on Africa’s achievements during his time as FIFA president, including the continent’s first World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

His three challengers won’t be addressing CAF delegates like they did at UEFA’s congress. CAF said they were attending merely as “observers”.

Blatter said Cameroon’s Hayatou, who has led CAF for 27 years despite allegations of corruption and an official reprimand by the IOC, was a “pillar” of African football, according to CAF. 

Long-term tenure 

A vote to remove an age limit on CAF officials to allow Issa Hayatou to continue his long-term tenure as president of African football’s governing body was unanimously passed on Tuesday.

All 54 countries at the organisation’s congress in Cairo voted in favour of a proposal to change the statutes which previously stopped officials serving past the age of 70.

It was proposed that because FIFA does not have age limits, CAF should bring its rules in line with those of world football’s governing body.

The change comes at an opportune moment for Hayatou, who is now 68 but would not have been able to stand for another term in office in 2017 unless the rule was scrapped.

His current mandate ends in 2017 and he is seeking four more years until at least 2021, when he turns 75.

The rule change follows success in recent years in adapting the statutes to limit potential opponents to Hayatou’s rule.

CAF previously brought in a rule that candidates for its presidency can only come from the ranks of its own executive committee, a tight-knit club closely controlled by Hayatou. FIFA does not have the same restriction.

Hayatou, a former athletics official, is the longest serving senior member in FIFA structures, where he acts as vice president, and has had few serious challengers for power in Africa since first winning election in 1988.

LONDON — Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his first five-goal haul in Real Madrid’s 9-1 hammering of Granada while title-chasing Bayern Munich and Chelsea won again in Germany and England.

Spain 

Cristiano Ronaldo hit his quickest hat-trick on the way to netting five in Real Madrid’s 9-1 drubbing of Granada but there was no change at the top as leaders Barcelona secured a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo.

Portugal captain Ronaldo struck three times in eight minutes in the first half and added two headers after the break to help fire Real to their biggest victory in almost half a century.

Ronaldo’s five goals took his tally in La Liga this season to 36, four ahead of Barca forward Lionel Messi, who was unable to get on the scoresheet at Celta, where Jeremy Mathieu headed the winner in the 73rd minute.

England

Chelsea were stunned by a Charlie Adam wonder goal but recovered to beat Stoke City 2-1 and extend their Premier League lead to seven points.

Adam’s 60-metre monster shot cancelled out Eden Hazard’s penalty but Loic Remy netted the winner to leave Chelsea on 70 points from 30 games with Arsenal on 63 having played a game more and Manchester United on 62.

Arsenal crushed Liverpool 4-1 at the Emirates to leave Liverpool’s top-four hopes hanging by a thread.

United beat Aston Villa 3-1 with Ander Herrera scoring twice, either side of a Wayne Rooney special. Manchester City can return to second place if they win at Crystal Palace on Monday. 

Germany 

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich shook off a string of injury absences to snatch a 1-0 victory at Borussia Dortmund with Robert Lewandowski scoring the winner on his league return to the Signal Iduna Park.

Without Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery and David Alaba, Bayern relinquished possession but shut out the hosts to remain 10 points clear of VfL Wolfsburg, who beat bottom side VfB Stuttgart 3-1.

Borussia Moenchengladbach stayed a further seven points back in third after coming from a goal down to crush Hoffenheim 4-1 away with Patrick Herrmann scoring twice.

Italy 

Miralem Pjanic’s goal gave second-placed AS Roma a 1-0 win over Napoli in Serie A, their first home victory for more than four months, and in-form Lazio in third eased to a 3-1 victory over lowly Cagliari.

Carlos Tevez scored a thunderous free kick to help leaders Juventus beat Empoli 2-0 to stay 14 points clear at the top.

France

Paris St Germain retained their Ligue 1 lead after beating bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille 3-2 at the Velodrome.

Andre-Pierre Gignac scored both OM’s goals but PSG, who had equalised through Blaise Matuidi, wrapped it up after the break with a strike by Marquinhos and Jeremy Morel’s own goal.

French champions PSG have 62 points with seven games left, one point ahead of Olympique Lyonnais who beat En Avant Guingamp 3-1 away on Saturday. OM are third on 57 points.

Netherlands 

Substitute Gevero Markiet snatched a late equaliser for Utrecht as they held second-placed Ajax Amsterdam to a 1-1 draw in the Dutch league that left PSV Eindhoven with a 10-point lead at the top.

PSV, 5-0 away winners against Twente Enschede, need to win two of their remaining five games to claim a first league title since 2008.

Portugal

Leaders Benfica won 3-1 at home to Nacional while Sporting, in a distant third, were held 1-1 at Pacos de Ferreira.

Second-placed Porto, six points behind Benfica, host Estoril on Monday. 

Greece 

Olympiakos Piraeus are four points away from winning a 42nd domestic title despite suffering a surprise 3-1 defeat at PAS Giannina.

Olympiakos hold an eight-point lead over second-placed Panathinaikos, who threw away a two-goal lead in a 2-2 home draw with Asteras Tripolis.

Five people were taken to hospital after a group attacked a television crew ahead of a match in Greece’s second tier in the latest wave of violence that hit football in the country.

AMMAN — Teams are scrambling to gain some points as the 63rd Jordan Professional League’s Week 16 ended and Week 17 kicked off on Monday.

After a near month-long break, Jordan’s top football teams resumed matches which saw leaders Wihdat suffer their second defeat, but kept a slim 3 point margin over Ramtha.

Wihdat lost 1-0 to Manshieh, as Ramtha also lost 3-0 to Hussein. Jazira did not make use of the top two team’s results to jump to second and remained 3rd after they were held 1-1 by Shabab Urdun.

Sarih beat Ittihad Ramtha 1-0 to move to 4th as former Jordan Cup champs That Ras dropped to 5th after a 1-1 draw with Ahli. Faisali remained 8th after tying Baqaa 0-0.

Faisali still trail at the lower end of the standings for the first time ever since the League kicked off in 1944. Baqaa, a usual top five finisher, are now 9th after only three wins, while former champs Shabab Urdun have also disappointed fans in 10th place

Ramtha’s Rakan Khalidi, whose injury forced him to miss many League matches, leads the scorers with eight goals while Wihdat’s Mahmoud Zaatara has seven.

The League’s long recess which served the U-23 and senior national teams agendas has come under much scrutiny from observers noting that it affected teams, player preparedness and strained club budgets further.

Wihdat won the first major competition of the 2014/15 football season after they beat Baqaa 2-0 in the 32nd Super Cup. The Jordan Cup semis will now be played after the League ends as Faisali play Wihdat and Ramtha face That Ras in the semis.

Last season, Wihdat won the League for the 13th time. They also beat Baqaa to win the Jordan Cup while Shabab Urdun beat That Ras to win the 31st Super Cup. The Federation Shield was not held.

AMMAN — The men’s national football team will need to start finalising its line-up and amend any gaps as the two-month countdown starts towards qualifiers doubling as part of the qualification for the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup.

The team just returned home after playing two friendlies in the past week, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia and 1-0 to Syria. 

The results of the two friendlies were vital in deciding the team’s position among Asian teams ahead of the upcoming draw in which 40 teams will be divided into eight tiers with the top eight heading the groups. Had Jordan scored two wins, it would have secured a top eight position and avoided playing heavyweight Asian teams in the first phase of the qualifiers.

After elimination from the Asian Cup earlier this year, interim head coach Ahmad Abdul Qader realises that he needs to put the competitive edge back on track. “We are fully aware of the team’s mistakes in the Syria match. The team’s inconsistency needs to be tackled,” noted the coach who previously led the U-19 team to Jordan’s best achievement of fourth place and qualification to the 2007 U-19 World Cup.

Abdul Qader added that the match against Saudi Arabia was far better despite the result. “We pinpointed a lot of tactical issues and we will proceed accordingly,” he underlined. 

Team star Hasan Abdul Fattah acknowledged the efforts of his teammates saying: “I’m convinced of our abilities despite the two defeats. We will not let our fans down.”

His sentiments were echoed by Hamza Dardour, who has been Jordan’s face saving scorer in recent matches. “Jordanian football will be back in competitive form. I’m fully confident of that.”

The Kingdom dropped four spots to 101st in the lastest FIFA World Rankings following elimination from the first round of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation Cup as Jordan failed to repeat its quarter-final qualification from 2004 and 2011.

SACRAMENTO, California — Sim Bhullar is used to people staring at him.

At 2.26-metres and 163kg, Bhullar’s big frame draws attention everywhere he goes. Even for him, though, the last few days have been unlike anything he has ever seen.

As the first NBA player of Indian descent, Bhullar has attracted a worldwide audience since signing a 10-day contract with the Sacramento Kings. He’s fully aware of the cultural significance and wants to make the most of the opportunity — for himself, his family and every kid in India with a basketball and a dream.

“It’s a big moment in the history of the NBA and the history of my country India,” Bhullar said before sitting on the bench during Sacramento’s 101-95 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. “I know my family’s going to be proud of me and everybody’s going to be proud of me and cheer me on the court.”

Bhullar is still waiting for that chance.

He had hopes to play few minutes behind All-Star centre DeMarcus Cousins and other veterans against the Pelicans, but the opportunity never came. Despite the game being televised in India and fans in Sacramento cheering his name, everybody hoping to see Bhullar play could only watch him on the bench.

Bhullar’s visibility has soared this week. At one point Thursday, he was trending on Twitter. He said he finished the day with about “20,000 mentions,” including from Indian celebrities.

“I got a phone call yesterday and the first thing the person said was, ‘How does it feel to be the most popular person on Earth?’” Bhullar said. “That’s what it feels like right now. All the e-mails are blowing up on my phone. I walked into the gym and my battery was at like 95 per cent and I left after my workout yesterday and it was like 5 per cent. My whole phone was just buzzing for that hour-and-a-half I was in the gym.”

Bhullar spent this season with the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League. He’s not expected to have a large role whenever he does play for the Kings this season, so he doesn’t feel any burden of expectations.

“I’m just enjoying it right now. I don’t feel any pressure at all. I know there’s a lot of people — probably a billion people — that will be watching the game. I’m just going to enjoy my time on the court and have fun right now,” Bhullar said beforehand.

Bhullar was born in Toronto to Indian-born parents and played AAU basketball with two recent No. 1 overall picks from Canada — Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. He spent two seasons at New Mexico State, twice winning Western Athletic Conference tournament MVP and leading the Aggies to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

Undrafted last year, Bhullar joined the Kings in training camp before signing with Reno. He’s averaging 10.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in the Bighorns’ fast-paced system, which he said has whipped him into better shape — along with his improved diet.

“I needed that to develop. I think my game’s really at its peak right now. I’m ready to go out there and show what I have,” Bhullar said.

Sacramento is intrigued by Bhullar’s size and heritage. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is the NBA’s first Indian-born owner and is trying to expand the league’s presence in his native country, which he calls the league’s “next frontier”.

The NBA opened its first office in India in Mumbai in October 2011. The league says that, according to the Basketball Federation of India, basketball is the second-fast growing sport in the cricket-crazed country (behind football) among boys and girls.

A notable NBA player with Indian roots would certainly help expand the league’s popularity in India and Bhullar believes he can be that guy.

The Kings consider Bhullar a project. The 22-year-old centre has worked on his conditioning and on keeping up with the pace of the professional game, which remains an issue, but he has shown spurts of being a valuable presence in the middle — particularly with all the space he occupies on defence.

He’s just the eighth player in the NBA to measure at least 2.26 metres and, according to Basketball Reference, has the heaviest listed weight in league history. While he’s thankful for all the attention, Bhullar hopes one day people can look past his size and heritage and appreciate his game just as much.

For now, he’s just hoping to live every basketball fan’s dream of playing in the NBA. Everything else, he said, will change in due time.

“I’m just enjoying the ride right now,” he said. “It’s a great feeling.”

AMMAN — Group B qualifiers for the 2016 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship in Qatar have finally been set for May 16-24 in the United Arab Emirates.

The AFC announced that Group B qualifying matches, which include Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan, will be held at Al Qattara Stadium in Al Ain.

The qualifiers had been set to take place at Lahore’s Punjab Stadium starting March 23 but were postponed due to security concerns. They were again set to start on April 2 but were indefinitely postponed prompting the Jordan Football Association (JFA) to restart the Jordan Professional League and local matches as the date was still not set.

The winners of Groups A, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J have been determined and along with the winners of Group B and five best second-placed teams from all groups will join hosts Qatar, with the 16-team competition also serving as Asia’s qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“We hope clubs understand the Jordan Football Association’s situation. We tried our best to be fair to the local agenda while giving the U-23 squad all means to be ready for the qualifiers,” JFA secretary General Fadi Zureiqat told the media after announcing the League’s resumption. 

In preparation for the U-23 Group B qualifiers, Jordan just concluded two training camps beating Bahrain 2-1 and Bseiteen Club 1-0. They also had a training camp in the UAE, where they lost to Iraq 2-1, and beat North Korea 3-1 and drew 2-2.

DEAD SEA — Jordan runner Mithqal Abbadi clocked 2h58m19s in the ultra marathon 50km on Friday to reign over 7,000 runners and seal another win at the 22nd edition of the Porto Dead Sea Ultra Marathon.

After the marathon Abbadi expressed his happiness saying that it was a well organised event.

“The feeling was great and I enjoyed the marathon due to the challenge represented by other professional runners. It is so great to see the Jordanian society participate in the marathon which means that many members of the society understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle through sports,” he said.

Jordanian runners ruled the 50km ultra marathon with Yousef Hasan (3h03m27s) coming second, followed by Motasem Akkawi (3h04m35s).

Lina Kurd, Run Jordan deputy general manager, told The Jordan Times that it was a very successful family-themed event.

“We as Run Jordan are satisfied with the outcome of the event. We can confidently say that it was successful and entertaining for all participants. It was great to see runners representing all age groups taking part in the event and making their mark and in a way promoting healthy lifestyle by running,” she said.

“The society is aware by engaging in various sport activities, including marathon, they are promoting and encouraging sports for a healthy living and fighting obesity. More than 7,000 runners from different countries and backgrounds carried a message of doing sport for a better life and we thank them for that and thank all sponsors and volunteers in addition to the media which is playing a big role in promoting our message,” Kurd added.

Meanwhile, Fakhri Fouad, CEO of Porto Dead Sea, said: “Porto Dead Sea is committed to the cause of Run Jordan and we are privileged to be contributing to it through this community outreach activity, it also emphasises our vision of creating a vibrant destination.”

A family oriented entertainment activity and fun programme accompanied the event held under the patronage of HH Prince Firas and organised by Run Jordan.

Deputising for the prince, HH Princess Dana Firas and Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji presented trophies and awards to winners at a special ceremony held at the Amman Tourist Beach.

Marathon results:

Male overall 50km

Mithqal Abbadi 2:58:19

Yousef Hasan 3:03:27

Motasem Akkawi 3:04:35

Female overall 50km

Hanoia Hasaballa 3:38:36

Chris Peeters 4:01:59

Debbie Tai 4:26:51

Male overall 21km

Raafat Zboun 1:05:39

Ayman Saradi 1:05:51

Bashar Irheil 1:07:39

Female Overall 21km

Safaa Nemer 1:26:12

Amanda Marie 1:27:15

Naheda Ali 1:32:04

Male wheelchair 21km

Ali Sawalmeh 0:50:58

Mohamamd Abu Hasouna 1:02:14

Raad Kasaema 1:22:51

Visual Impaired Male 21km

Suhail Nashash 1:22:20

Male Overall 10km

Defalla Matar 0:30:42

Fabian Downs 0:31:14

Abdulla Dahamsheh 0:31:33 M

Female Overall 10km

Sojood Khatba 0:38:32

Sabreye AL Maradate 0:40:47 

Hanan AL Maradate 0:43:25 

Male wheelchair 10km 

Mohammad Abu Hasoon 0:36:05 

Bilal Abu Mansi 0:41:49 

Ahmad  Mahasneh 0:53:56 

Visually impaired Male 10km

Nabeel Magableh 0:31:38 

Abdel Rauoof Khateeb 0:42:26 

Visually impaired Female 10km 

Jumana Zoaby 01:20:17 

Marwa Hamad 01:32:56 H

Male 21km age groups

(40-49) Mohammad Matary 01:20:13 

(50-59) Riyad Banat 01:36:52 

(60-69) Terry Cook 01:49:33 

Female 21km age groups

(40-49) Jasicka Pender 02:05:28

DEAD SEA — Lebanon’s Roger Feghali on Friday was crowned champion of the first round of the National Rally Championship.

Feghali and co-driver Joseph Matar in their Ford Fiesta RRC reigned over the 13 strong drivers after clocking 45m02s, followed by Jordan’s Khaled Juma and co-driver Imad Juma (55m17s), in their Mitsubishi Evo 7, and Amjad Sheikh and co-driver Abdullah Ebdah (58m 10s), in their Subaru N 14.

Only seven out of 13 cars reached the finish line in the event, organised by Jordan Motorsport, which was plagued by early retirements, and one accident by Basheer Azar and co-driver Mohammad Azarbeh at Al Moujeb stage.

Jordan’s four-time champion and veteran driver Marouf Abu Samra, Yazan Qatan and Suhail Abu Roos retired before the start due to mechanical problems. Jordan’s Ihab Shurafa and Lebanon’s Patrick Najm both retired in the first stage due to mechanical problems.

Feghali forced his way into controlling the rally from the start. He won the first stage in 4m55s, leaving Najm and Juma behind. This scene was repeated in the second and third stages. 

Balata 1 witnessed Najm’s withdrawal which gave a precious opportunity for Juma to move to second place.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO said that it was a tough challenge.

“Usually the first round is tough as drivers try to find harmony in dealing with the first challenge. It is unfortunate that we had to witness some early retirements but this is rallying and anything can happen,” he said.

“I believe all drivers did their best in their mission and the competition was high among drivers. We need more female drivers to participate in rallying and maybe this will happen in the second round,” he added.

Drivers had to cover a total distance of 221.47km with seven special stages.

Lebanese drivers are taking part in the event after the FIA, the governing body of motor sports worldwide, decision to divide the Middle East Rally Championship into zones.

The first zone consists of Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Jordan while the second consists of Dubai, Qatar and Oman.