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Novak Djokovic said Monday he would step away completely from the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), the advocacy group he co-founded, citing concerns over transparency and governance within the organisation. Djokovic, who launched the PTPA alongside Vasek Pospisil in 2020 with the aim of strengthening player representation within the sport, said in a post on X that his latest move was also driven by how his voice and image had been represented. “I am proud of the vision that Vasek and I shared when founding the PTPA, giving players a stronger, independent voice,” Djokovic said. “But it has become clear that my values and approach are no longer aligned with the current direction of the organisation.” The Serbian said he would focus on tennis, his family and contributing to the sport in ways that reflect his principles and integrity. “I wish the players and those involved the best as they move forward, but for me, this chapter is now closed,” he added. The PTPA said in a statement late on Sunday that players had created the body to secure a stronger and more transparent voice in professional tennis and it was open to addressing any issues. “Players created the PTPA to secure a stronger, more transparent voice in professional tennis. The PTPA is governed by players and operates with open communication, collaborative decisions, and regular engagement. We always welcome the opportunity to address issues with any player, and remain available to do so. “As part of its mission, the PTPA initiated litigation against the tours and Grand Slams to advance reforms related to governance, transparency, and player rights. As a result, we have been targets of a coordinated defamation and witness intimidation campaign through the spreading of inaccurate and misleading narratives intended to discredit the PTPA, its staff, and its work. A federal court has already ruled this type of harassment improper and ordered it to cease. “We are working closely with legal counsel, law enforcement and players to evaluate all available options to address the spread of misinformation. These attacks from non-player third parties will not distract us from our mission: pursuing meaningful reforms for all players.” The PTPA in March launched legal action against tennis’s governing bodies, including the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation and International Tennis Integrity Agency, accusing them of anti-competitive practices. Organisers of the four Grand Slam events were added to the case in September in the lawsuit, which also accused the various governing bodies of failing to safeguard player welfare.Djokovic, a 24-times Grand Slam champion, said at the time that he did not agree with all elements of the lawsuit, while both the ATP and WTA strongly rejected the allegations. The PTPA said in November that it was close to a deal with Tennis Australia, which is gearing up for the Australian Open that begins in Melbourne on January 18 and kicks off the new Grand Slam season. Related Story Source link
Liam Rosenior is a little-known English coach who looks certain to be thrust into a fierce spotlight as Chelsea’s new manager. If Rosenior becomes the latest coach on the Chelsea carousel to replace the departed Enzo Maresca, he will have benefited from the Blues’ owners’ multi-club model to earn promotion from Ligue 1’s Strasbourg to the upper echelons of the Premier League. And while he may never have coached in the Premier League, he comes with a glowing reference from former Manchester United and England great Wayne Rooney. After a short spell in charge of Brighton’s under-23s, Rosenior, 41, began his senior coaching career in 2019 at Derby County, first under Philiip Cocu and then as assistant to Rooney. “He’s taken chances, and hopefully that pays off because I think Liam is as good a coach as I’ve ever worked with,” Rooney said on his BBC podcast. “He was incredible in his coaching ability,” added Rooney, highlighting Rosenior’s attention to detail. Rosenior briefly replaced Rooney on an interim basis in 2022 and later that year took over as manager of Hull City in the Championship. After just over 18 months in charge, he was sacked and in July 2024 was appointed by Strasbourg, the French club who are owned by Chelsea’s parent company BlueCo, That link appears to be the main reason the west Londoners are considering Rosenior, given his relative dearth of top-flight experience. Strasbourg are currently seventh in Ligue 1. But according to Rooney, “he’s done his apprenticeship… so he’ll have no doubts in his mind that he’s capable of doing that job.” He would become only the fourth English manager in the current Premier League. In an interview with AFP last year, Rosenior spelled out his coaching philosophy. “For me, regardless of style of play, tactics, systems, how fit your team is, I think football is played by people,” he said. “People have emotions and are complex. They have good days and bad. My job is actually to get the best out of people.” Related Story Source link
The Sultanate of Oman welcomed Sunday the call for dialogue between all southern factions in Yemen, which will be held in Saudi Arabia. The Oman News Agency (ONA) said that the Omani Foreign Ministry expressed in a statement the Sultanate’s welcome of the call for dialogue between all southern components in the Republic of Yemen, hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in a way that contributes to achieving the desired consensus in the context of a comprehensive political solution in line with the legitimate aspirations of the Yemeni people. Related Story Source link
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their third goal against Benin in the Africa Cup of Nations match in Agadir, Monday. (Reuters) Captain Mohamed Salah scored after 124 minutes to clinch a 3-1 extra-time victory for Egypt over plucky minnows Benin in an Africa Cup of Nations last-16 thriller in Agadir Monday. Marwan Attia put the Pharaohs ahead in the second half and Jodel Dossou equalised for the Cheetahs, taking the match to an additional 30 minutes in the southern Moroccan coastal city. Yasser Ibrahim headed Egypt back in front in the first half of extra time, then Salah broke clear and beat goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou with a shot from outside the area for his 10th AFCON goal. Salah, whose goals have helped Liverpool win many trophies, is seeking a first AFCON winners’medal, having twice been a runner-up. Record seven-time champions Egypt stay in Agadir to face title-holders Ivory Coast or Burkina Faso on Saturday in the quarter-finals. Egypt changed 10 of the team that drew with Angola in their final group match seven days ago with only midfielder Ibrahim Adel retained. Many AFCON teams assured of qualification for the knockout stage with a match to spare followed the example of Egypt and fielded sides composed largely of reserves. Benin lacked captain and former Premier League striker Steve Mounie, who had not recovered from an undisclosed illness. Egypt had a great chance to go in front after only eight minutes through Omar Marmoush, the 26-year-old who joined Manchester City at the beginning of last year from Eintracht Frankfurt. He darted forward from the Egyptian half, gained possession and stayed ahead of two pursuing defenders only to be foiled by Dandjinou, who blocked the ball with his legs, then grasped it. When Egypt threatened again soon after, centre-back Yohan Roche rescued Benin, clearing the ball as it was trickling toward the net. A collision between Mohamed Hamdy and Rodolfo Aloko led to a long delay, which ended with the Egyptian being carried off the field. Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh took his place in midfield. While Egypt had more possession in the opening half, Benin held their own and it took a superb sliding tackle from Hamdy Fathy to halt a Benin counterattack. An incident deep in added time illustrated how wary Benin were of Salah. When the captain gained possession just outside the box, he was immediately surrounded by three opponents. Dandjinou rescued Benin 10 minutes into the second half when he bravely parried a close-range shot from Ramy Rabia after the ball ran loose to the defender following a corner. As the match passed the hour mark, it began to open up. A Salah attempt to chip the ball into the net was foiled by leaping Dandjinou. Then, a parry from 37-year-old Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy prevented substitute Dossou giving Benin a shock lead. Attia ended the goalless stalemate when Marmoush pushed the ball back to the midfielder and, from just outside the box, he side-footed it into the roof of the net. Benin refused to accept defeat, though, attacked constantly and levelled on 83 minutes through 33-year-old Dossou. El Shenawy did superbly to palm a Mohamed Tijani cross away from his goal, but the ball fell invitingly for Dossou, and he pushed it into the net. Egypt regained the lead seven minutes into extra time, and this time Attia was the creator. He crossed after a short corner and a looping Ibrahim header evaded Dandjinou and landed in the net. Salah then put the outcome beyond doubt with his third goal of the tournament. Related Story Source link
Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, and Spain have condemned recent Israeli legislation targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), including measures to cut water, electricity, and communications to its facilities.In a joint statement issued on Monday, the seven countries stated that measures undermine the mandate of the United Nations, violate international law, and contravene rulings of the International Court of Justice. They warned that such actions could lead to severe humanitarian consequences for Palestinian civilians and refugees.The seven states called on the Israeli occupation government to ensure the continued ability of accredited international non-governmental organizations to operate in the Gaza Strip, and to halt any moves to deregister them. They stressed that these organizations are an essential component of humanitarian service delivery, particularly health services, in Gaza and the West Bank.The statement noted that the work of the United Nations, especially UNRWA, in cooperation with humanitarian and non-governmental organizations, is vital to addressing the acute humanitarian crisis and providing life-saving assistance and basic services to civilians in Gaza, the occupied Palestinian territories, and surrounding areas.It also emphasized the importance of ensuring full and safe access for humanitarian aid, enabling the continued operations of the United Nations and its partners in accordance with international humanitarian law and international legal obligations, while underscoring that respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and for international humanitarian law is fundamental and indispensable.Earlier this January, the United Nations condemned a decision by the Israeli Knesset issued on December 29 to halt UNRWA's activities, stating that the law and its amendments contradict the agency's international legal status and must be immediately repealed. Source link
Paris Saint-Germain’s forward Ousmane Dembele (right) celebrates with teammate Desire Doue after scoring their second goal during the Ligue 1 match against Paris FC at the…
In North Darfur, drone strikes on 3 January reportedly caused civilian casualties in the villages of Al-Zurq and Ghurair, including strikes on a market and a…
Israeli occupation forces and settlers conducted 23,827 assaults on the Palestinians and their property in various governorates across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in 2025, a record upsurge in the number of assaults recorded in one year, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a report Monday.The report added that these attacks were distributed between 1,382 in the land and crops sector, 16,664 in the individuals sector, and 5,398 in the properties sector, with the occupation army carrying out 18,384 assaults, while the settlers carried out 4,723, and both parties together executed 720.The year 2025 had been heavily blood-soaked with maps and decisions as the occupation state didn’t stop at expanding settlement, but sought to expand the true meaning of control per se, as domination hadn’t been limited to land as a space, but went further to redefine geography, symbol, and the entire Palestinian existence, the Commission noted.The report added that the settler assaults have resulted in the slaying of 14 Palestinians since the beginning of the year, which explicitly caused 434 arson incidents against the property and gardens of the Palestinians.The occupation army and settlers conducted 892 assaults that were marked by uprooting, damaging, and poisoning as many as 35,273 trees, of them 26,988 olive trees, the report continued.It clarified that settler terrorism led to the displacement of 13 Palestinian Bedouin communities since the beginning of last year, consisting of 197 families including 1,090 individuals, from their places of residence to other locations.The occupation authorities carried out a total of 538 razings, resulting in the destruction of 1,400 facilities in an unprecedented upsurge, including 304 inhabited houses, 74 uninhabited houses, as well as 270 livelihood sources and 490 agricultural facilities, the report concluded, noting that the number of notifications delivered to Palestinians rose to 991.Regarding settlement expansion, the report noted that the occupation authorities last year seized an area of 5,572 dunums through 94 seizure orders for military purposes, 24 of which triggered the establishment of buffer zones around the settlements.The statistics showed that since the beginning of 2025, the occupation authorities’ planning committees studied a total of 265 master plans for the construction of 34,979 settlement units on an area of 33,448 dunums.The report outlined that 2025 marked an advanced stage in leveraging legal systems as a central tool to deepen the colonial scheme, with the Israeli occupation’s Knesset laying out a record number of draft legislation and legislative amendments.These moves, the report says, were explicitly intended to legitimize the colonial status quo, broaden the powers of settlers and their local councils, as well as consolidate the legal discrimination in managing lands, planning, and construction.This draft legislation included settling colonial outposts that had been enacted without previous government decisions, in addition to reinforcing the Israeli control over the West Bank territories through transferring additional civil discretion to the occupation’s institutions, the report highlighted.It stressed that the objective was to blunt the legal status of the Palestinian lands and their owners, such as the law to enable settlers to acquire land and property and to alter the names of Palestinian land to obsolete biblical names.Head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Mu’ayyad Shaaban, stressed that the current period requires an urgent national transition from risk description to building a comprehensive response to protect the Palestinian territory.This response, he noted, should be based on outright distribution of roles and integrated efforts between official institutions and the political and societal forces to restore the land’s status as the essence of the conflict.As such, Shaaban called for upgrading the popular resistance tools to ensure their continuity and effectiveness and be converted from seasonal and symbolic action into meaningful and organized ones.Shaaban emphasized the importance of building a national political and media rhetoric that redefines what is transpiring as a pure settlement colonization to replace the Palestinian territory.He concluded that all these measures fall under a consensus national vision to protect the Palestinian geography where the supreme national interest takes hold. Related Story Source link
Leaders Al Gharafa will be aiming for a swift return to winning ways as they face upbeat Umm Salal in the opening match of second leg of the Qatar Stars League (QSL) at the Al Khor Stadium today. Al Gharafa lost to Al Shahania in the previous round, which left them with 25 points. While they remain at the top of standings, they are aware that any further slip-up could complicate their position at the summit, making a strong response and early recovery crucial. “The upcoming match against Umm Salal is crucial. I am not happy with our previous-round performance against Al Shahania. However, I have witnessed a positive reaction from the players, demonstrated through their daily work and desire to put the past behind them, rediscover the team’s character and maintain its strength,” said Al Gharafa coach Pedro Martins. “We now have a very important match ahead of us and we are aiming for a strong response to secure a victory. All these factors make the match challenging, but I have confidence in my players’ ability to deliver a strong performance against Umm Salal,” said Martins.Umm Salal are riding high after their valuable victory over Al Ahli in the last round, a win that has given them a significant boost before this challenging encounter. Umm Salal are currently in 10th place with nine points and seek to continue their winning streak, improve their position in the standings and gradually move away from the relegation zone. The match is an important test for both teams at the start of the round, between Al Gharafa’s desire to confirm their right to the top spot and Umm Salal’s ambition to build on their recent victory and deliver a strong performance that reflects their gradual return to their usual level. Umm Salal head coach Patrice Carteron has described the match as both important and challenging. Speaking at a pre-match press conference, the French coach said the match would be difficult for both teams, with each pushing for victory and the three points. Carteron said Umm Salal are fully prepared for the match and expressed hope of building on their recent momentum following a win over Al Ahli in the previous round. He stressed that his team will be playing for victory as they look to improve their position in the league table. In the other match of the day, Al Sailiya and Al Rayyan will meet in a crucial match at the Grand Hamad Stadium of Al Arabi club. The kick-off is at 7.30pm. This encounter holds particular significance for both teams. Al Sailiya, under the tutelage of Mirghani al-Zain, aiming for a strong start to the second leg of competition. Meanwhile, Al Rayyan, under the guidance of their Portuguese coach Artur Jorge, will be looking to maintain their title challenge. “The first half of the season was fantastic for us, but we must continue working hard to maintain our position at the top of the league. Currently, we are in the top four of the league and leading the QSL Cup and the Gulf Champions League. In the second half, we must try to maintain the same desire and enthusiasm to achieve even more and reach our goals for this season,” Jorge said. “We have several new players who have joined the team this season. Al Rayyan is one of the biggest club in Qatar, and we must approach every match with the aim of winning. Our objective in the upcoming match is to secure the three points. We must also avoid the mistakes we made in the first half. We have a different opponent, and we must play with the same mentality and achieve victory to start the second half of the season with an important win.” Al Sailiya currently sit in 11th place, second to last, with eight points, while Al Rayyan occupy fourth place with 20 points. TODAY’S SCHEDULE Al Gharafa vs Umm SalalAl Khor Stadium, 5.30pmAl Rayyan vs Al SailiyaGrand Hamad Stadium, 7.30pm Related Story Source link
South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung (second left) and his wife Kim Hea Kyung (left) pose for a photo with China’s President Xi Jinping (second right)…