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AMMAN — The national U-22 football team plays Myanmar on Wednesday with eyes set on advancing to Round 2 in the inaugural Asian Football Confederation U-22 Championship currently under way in Muscat, Oman.

Jordan held South Korea 1-1 in the opening Group A match before beating hosts Oman 1-0.

The Kingdom now only needs one point from today’s match while Oman takes on South Korea in the other match. South Korea leads Group A after they beat Myanmar 3-0 while Oman beat Myanmar 4-0.

Local Arabic dailies quoted head coach Islam Diyabat conveying FIFA Vice President and Jordan Football Association President HRH Prince Ali’s appreciation to the squad after their impressive performance against South Korea.

AMMAN — Applied Science University (ASU) lead the Premier Basketball League as Leg 2 kicks off on Wednesday.

Looking back at Leg 1, Jalil and Nashama Urdun seem destined to be one of the relegated teams while Orthodoxi, who won the title two seasons ago, are not in the top four.

Orthodoxi will play for the title with no import players on line-up this season.

They managed to beat only the two bottom-placed teams and will play Kulieh in the first match on Wednesday. Friday will see ASU play Jalil and Ittihad play Nashama. Riyadi, who are playing in Dubai International Tournament, will have their first match against Kulieh on January 21.

Observers note that a gap in competitive levels of clubs and lack of fans have cast a negative impact on the second most popular game in Jordan.

Jordan Basketball Federation League Commissioner Mudar Majdoub told The Jordan Times that many aspect needed to be revised, noting that clubs had agreed not to hold the Jordan Cup nor enlist import players until new criteria is put in place.

“Player transfer rules and contracts were not revised or changed. But clubs unanimously agreed to play this season with the status quo,” Majdoub said, adding that each club was given the right to sign up six players from the transfer list which included players on the national team and those who played professionally abroad.

Majdoub said game experience is expected to help younger players have a chance for a better performance in the upcoming round.

In 2012 season, ASU won the league for the third time, Ittihad schools were runner-up as Riyadi took third place and Kulieh fourth. Former champs Orthodoxi pulled out of the event, citing result and technicalities that allowed Kulieh to advance to Round 2.

Last season saw cup holders Riyadi Aramex beat ASU to win the 10th Jordan Basketball Cup. 

LONDON — Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is adamant Eden Hazard will not be leaving Stamford Bridge any time soon but believes the playmaker's fellow Belgian international Kevin De Bruyne could move in the January transfer window.

The Londoners have received bids from two clubs for winger De Bruyne who has been out of favour this season.

"He's a player we've had a couple of offers for," Mourinho told reporters on Friday, without naming the interested teams.

"One of them is coming to a level where we believe it can be a good situation for the player and the club. We know he's a fantastic young player with lots of potential," he added on the eve of Saturday's Premier League visit to Hull City.

"I would be happy to keep him and develop him but we also have to analyse the player's profile, the player's personality and he wants so much to go that maybe it's a good option," said Mourinho.

"It's a very good deal for the club from a financial point of view. The club bought him a couple of years ago for a small fee and now we have the possibility to sell him for a very positive amount."

VfL Wolfsburg's sporting director Klaus Allofs said on Friday that De Bruyne, 22, who Chelsea loaned to Werder Bremen last season, was keen to join his Bundesliga club in January.

"The ball is in Chelsea's camp now," Allofs added.

Mourinho said Hazard would not be leaving despite media reports of interest from Paris St. Germain.

Crazy value

"I am not worried because if his value was around 40 million pounds [$65.85 million] when Chelsea bought him and two years later he is twice or three times better than he was when we bought him, I think his value in the market is a crazy value," he said.

"On top of that he's not a player Chelsea are interested in selling anyway."

Mourinho also said the club had not received any bids for Juan Mata, who has been in and out of the side this season, or Michael Essien who has rarely featured since returning from a loan spell at Real Madrid.

The Portuguese refused to comment on reports of his renewed interest in Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

The Stamford Bridge club had two bids for England international Rooney rejected in the close season.

Mourinho shook his head and said he was not prepared to talk about the player ahead of third-placed Chelsea's home game with Manchester United on January 19.

Champions United are languishing in seventh place but Mourinho believes they will finish in the top four at the end of the season under new manager David Moyes.

"I don't think they have a problem," said the Chelsea manager. "In this moment they are not in the top four but they can be at the end of the season.

"I don't feel any problem for David. Better results will arrive and he will be for many years in the club and will reach good results."

Chelsea are one point behind Manchester City and two adrift of leaders Arsenal.

AMMAN — The national U-22 football team takes on South Korea on Saturday in the Group A match kicking off the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-22 Championship in Oman.

Jordan recently concluded a camp in Muscat where the team played two matches, losing 2-1 to China and tying the UAE 1-1.

The team was set to train with a complete line-up as of Thursday with seven players who were on national team duty at the 8th West Asian Championship in Qatar joining the squad while two others were not released by their Saudi clubs.

The Jordan Football Association’s website quoted head coach Islam Diyabat as saying: “We faced a tough time with many players missing the squad. However, we are in high spirits and everyone is working hard to achieve our sole aim. To be competitive in the inaugural Under-22 event.”

Diyabat underlined he had full confidence in the squad. “We are confident, positive and hope our resilience will help us play for an advance position.”

Coach Dayyan Saleh said Jordan needs to spare no effort to compete on the Asian level. “The match against China enabled us to get into the mood of the competition. We amended many gaps and now need to be focused and have a good defence,” he said.

In June 2012, Jordan was the first to qualify to the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship finals after leading Group D qualifiers with an unbeaten run, beating Uzbekistan 3-1, Nepal 3-0, Bangladesh 3-0 and Yemen 4-0.

Jordan will play alongside South Korea, Myanmar and Oman in Group A as the AFC draw put Jordan, Japan, North Korea and Saudi Arabia as heads of the four groups.

Group B will include North Korea, the UAE, Syria and Yemen, Group C will see Japan, Australia, Iran and Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, China and Iraq will compete in Group D.

The second edition in 2015 will qualify teams to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Kingdom reached the AFC U-19 Championship four times. In 2006, the team achieved the country’s biggest football sporting success when it finished fourth at the championship and qualified to the 2007 FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada.

AMMAN — Jordan's Riyadi-Aramex left for Dubai on Wednesday to play at the 25th Dubai International Basketball Tournament against some of the best regional clubs.

The seven competing clubs in the
January 9-18 event will play a Round Robin tournament, following which the top four teams will advance to the second round where the top two face-off and third and fourth teams will play in the semis.

In addition to Jordan's Riyadi, UAE national team, UAE's Ahli Dubai, Libya's Naser and Ahli, Egypt's national team and the AND1 team from the US will compete in the event.

Missing this year are Lebanese teams Riyadi and Hikmeh (Sagesse), who have been banned for four years by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) over technicalities and political bickering between the two clubs.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times prior to departure, Riyadi Secretary General Fadi Sabbah said the team was bent on making the best out of the tournament even though six front-line players were missing from Riyadi's line-up.

"The team has seven players from our U-19 line-up and they all need the necessary match experience," Sabbah said, explaining that even though many team stars were missing this season, the team fared well in last month's inaugural Abu Dhabi Championship.

Amer Seif, Faisal Kheir and Sany Sakakini are no longer in Jordan, and Isa Kamel retired, while Ali Zubi and Ahmad Duweiry were transferred.

"Not having import players playing the local league has made it more difficult to have a coherent line-up throughout the season, but players are working hard to be in top form," Sabbah added.

Aramex Dubai is the sponsor of the only Jordanian team at the event, which have boosted their line-up with naturalised player Rashim Wright, who was on the national team, as well as Jason McCoy and Dereck Rivera.

Riyadi first competed in Dubai in 1990. Jordan's Fastlink came in third in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Zain came in second in 2008 and 2009, and were eliminated from the quarters in 2010 when Applied Science University (ASU) also took part. No Jordanian teams took part in 2011.

In 2012, Riyadi won the exemplary team award, while Ali Jamal won best centre and import Alfa Bangura top scorer awards.

Last month, Riyadi-Aramex reached the quarters in the Abu Dhabi event, eventually losing to Tunisia's Club Africain 75-58. In matches deciding 5-8th places they lost to Bahrain's Muharraq 63-61.

In Round 1, Riyadi lost to Egypt's Ahli
81-69, Morocco's AS Sale 106-52, Muharraq 76-63. AS Sale beat Club Africain 72-66 to win the title.

Similarly, ASU, the country's Premier Basketball League champs, were eliminated from the Wasl Club Championship in Dubai after finishing third in their group.

The league is now under way, with ASU — who won the league for the third time last year — leading while runner-up Ittihad Schools and Riyadi are in a tight race for 2nd and 3rd place.

Riyadi-Aramex beat ASU to retain the 10th Jordan Basketball Cup last year. 

Tournament record

1999                       Dubai ports

2000                       Hikmeh (Lebanon)

2002                       Hikmeh (Lebanon)

2003                       Champville (Lebanon)

2004                       Champville (Lebanon)

2005                       Riyadi (Lebanon)

2006                       Riyadi (Lebanon)

2007                       Mahram (Iran)

2008                       Riyadi (Lebanon)

2009                       Riyadi (Lebanon)

2010                       Mahram (Iran)

2011                       Ittihad Sakandari (Egypt)

2012                       Anibal Zahle (Lebanon)

2013                       Riyadi (Lebanon)

AMMAN — Jordan lost 2-0 to Qatar in the final match of the 8th West Asian Football Championship (WAFC), coming second after the host. After a scoreless first half, Jordan conceded two goals in the second half to lose the chance to be crowned west Asia champions. In the semis, Jordan beat Bahrain 1-0 as Qatar beat Kuwait 3-0 to qualify to the final. In the first round, Jordan beat Kuwait 2-1 and held Lebanon 0-0 in Group C. The event included nine teams with the top team from each group as well as the best second-placed team moving to the semis.

AMMAN — The Jordan Football Association (JFA) has named the men's Olympic team that will play in the Olympics qualifiers set for June.

The team has regrouped and will face Jazira on Thursday as part of its training agenda for the event.

The initial 32 players called up for duty will train five times a week and play a series of friendlies before naming a final line-up ahead of the training camps abroad.

Head coach Jamal Abu Abed told the JFA that the final line-up will be announced by the end of January.

"That does not mean that the line-up will not be open as players are recalled depending on their performance in the league. Only the best will represent Jordan regardless of name or club."

The coach named the line-up after the end of the U-20 league — which was won by Wihdat — in addition to careful scrutiny of the First Division League and the Pro League.

"We have a long journey ahead that needs focus and hard work," Abu Abed added.

So far, the squad had a training camp in Dubai where they beat the UAE 2-0 and lost 2-1. Jordan also beat Lebanon 2-1 and lost 1-0.

Locally the team held Wihdat 0-0 and lost 2-1, beat Faisali 4-1 before losing 3-1, lost 2-1 to Arabi and beat Shabab Urdun and Ittihad Zarqa 2-1.

Meanwhile, the national U-22 football team lost 2-1 to China and tied the UAE 1-1 as it concluded a training camp ahead of the inaugural Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-22 Championship in Muscat, slated for January 11-26.

The team held a camp in Bahrain, which was deemed successful despite missing seven players who are on national team duty now at the 8th West Asian Championship in Qatar.

In June 2012, Jordan was the first to qualify to the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship finals after leading Group D qualifiers with an unbeaten run, beating Uzbekistan 3-1, Nepal 3-0, Bangladesh 3-0 and Yemen 4-0.

Jordan will now play in Group A alongside South Korea, Myanmar and Oman starting January 11. The second edition in 2015 will qualify teams to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

There is a lot of focus on age divisions competing on the Asian scene and FIFA’s Executive Committee last month unanimously awarded Jordan as host for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2016.

In 2013, the U-19 team was eliminated from Group B AFC U-19 Championship 2014 qualifiers, where Jordan beat Afghanistan 2-1, held 0-0 with the Maldives, and lost to Yemen 2-1 and the UAE 2-0.

Meanwhile, the girls U-16 squad was eliminated from the AFC finals after qualifying for the first time. Similarly, the boys U-16 team was also eliminated from the AFC U-16 Cup 2014 qualifiers after finishing last in Group D.