Sports

DOHA: The next edition of the Asian Cup will be held in Qatar from Jan. 12 to Feb. 10 in 2024, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed on Wednesday.     The quadrennial continental championship was awarded to China in 2019 but the world’s most populous country relinquished the rights this year as it pursued a zero-COVID policy. Qatar, which …

Happy Birthday Babe is trending on Twitter and the reason is hilarious. Cricketer Shahid Afridi posted pictures from his son-in-law, Shaheen Shah Afridi’s birthday celebrations in which the former is seen posing with Shaheen and in another photo, he’s making Shaheen eat cake — all normal birthday things. What netizens zoomed in on were the balloons behind them that read …

HISOR (Tajikistan): The spotlight was on Adeel Rizki, Pakistan’s head coach whose credentials did not fulfil the requirements but still on the bench for the national women’s team’s opening Group ‘E’ match against the Philippines in the first round of qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics here at the Hisor Central Stadium on Wednesday. There had been no clarification by …

Six months out from the likely start of the Cricket World Cup in India, the match schedule for the tournament is still under wraps as geopolitics cloud the buildup to the showpiece event. The delay is in stark contrast to the 2019 event, when the dates and venues for the tournament in England and Wales were announced more than a …

Pakistan and Italy on Tuesday reached an agreement under which funds amounting to Rs500 million would be spent to ensure better healthcare facilities for children and women under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The agreement was signed by Co-Director PIDSA Pakistan Islam Zaib, Co-Director PIDSA (Pakistan Italy Debt Swap Agreement) Italy Pietro Del Sette and BISP Director General Naveed …

BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez warned his team on Tuesday that their Copa del Rey semi-final opponents Real Madrid would be coming to wage a “footballing war” at Camp Nou. The Catalans hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg and have beaten their rivals in each of the last three Clasicos. “It doesn’t mean anything that we have won …

PARIS: Lionel Messi is “much more likely” to leave Paris St-Germain at the end of the season than sign a new deal, a source close to the club told AFP on Tuesday. “The dynamics have completely changed with PSG less pushing to renew (his contract),” the source said, adding that there was “no deal, no exit yet. But exit is much more …

KARACHI: It’s a road Pakistan have never been on; one on which reaching the next destination would be an extraordinary achievement. On Wednesday, the national women’s football team makes its maiden appearance at the Olympic qualifying tournament and the first-round preliminaries for next year’s Paris Games will see it face opponents from Central, Southeast and East Asia for the first …

LAHORE: Status quo will resume when Pakistan host New Zealand in five Twenty20 Internationals and as many one-dayers with Babar Azam set to return as the national side’s captain for the tour starting April 14. Babar was among the senior players rested for what turned out to be Pakistan’s 2-1 loss in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan under Shadab …

LONDON: Chelsea interim coach Bruno Saltor said the players would be “sad” after the Premier League club sacked manager Graham Potter as he prepared the team to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Potter was dismissed on Sunday, after a 2-0 home defeat against Aston Villa the previous day. Big-spending Chelsea, who hired the Englishman to replace Thomas Tuchel in September, have …