Tomorrow, Thursday, the Saudi women's national football team will face its Indonesian counterpart, in the second round of qualifiers for the Asian Cup, held in Singapore.
The “Green Junior Girls” is looking for its first victory in the qualifiers, after stumbling in the last round against its Singaporean counterpart with a goal to no return.
The Saudi national team will conclude its qualifying campaign against the Bahrain national team, next Sunday.
“Al-Akhdar” had participated in its preparatory camp in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, with the participation of 24 players, including 3 female goalkeepers, 7 players in the defense line, 8 in the midfield, and 6 in the attack line, and they are: Dana Al-Binali, Talia Katbi, Maryam Al-Tayyar, Joan Al-Nassar, Diala Srouji, Rital Hakami, Hawraa Jalal, Joud Al-Amoudi, Arwa Al-Rasheed, Remas Ahmed, and Heba Abdul Rahman. Sarah Al-Madani, Dima Ahmed, Hala Al-Shadoukhi, Rima Abdel Aziz, Ghala Saleh, Ghadi Al-Otaibi, Siwar Amr, Kenzi Alaa, Hoor Al-Farid, Dana Al-Dahyan, Sadeem Al-Suhaimi, Saadia Muhammad, and Zainab Reda.
Gary Lineker, the former England national team captain, said today (Wednesday) that Manchester City must acknowledge its violation of the English Premier League’s financial rules and accept the resulting penalties, stressing that he will not rule out stripping the club of the titles it won during the period in question.
An independent committee had convicted Manchester City of all charges related to violating the English Premier League’s financial rules over nine seasons between 2009-2010 and 2017-2018, in addition to three out of four charges related to failure to cooperate with investigations.
The English Premier League confirms that City used “sham” sponsorship contracts as part of arrangements aimed at inflating revenues and reducing costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion) over the course of about a decade, a period during which the club achieved a number of titles. The club appealed the decision, maintaining its innocence.
Lineker, the former Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona striker, said that the case cast a shadow over the club and English football in general, but he believed that Manchester City's admission of responsibility and acceptance of the punishment might help turn the page.
He told reporters, on the sidelines of the Leaders Week sports industry conference at Stamford Bridge: “It is clear that the situation appears very bad for Manchester City. “It is unfortunate for the club, and unfortunate for football as well.”
He added: “I would like to see Manchester City admit their mistake and simply say: Yes, we made a mistake.”
He continued: “Then he says: For the sake of football, we will accept the decision, and we will accept any penalty imposed on us, and then we will move forward.” I think that would alleviate the situation and save the club some face, although I do not see this scenario as likely.”
Lineker expressed his sympathy for the club, saying: “I sympathize with the fans of Manchester City and its players, because they are the ones who will be affected the most.”
When asked whether City should be stripped of the Premier League titles they won during the period in question, he said: “I would not be surprised if it ended up being that way. But the question is: who will pay the price in the end? Players and fans.
The appeal session is scheduled to be held behind closed doors, while it is still unclear whether the penalties will be announced before the appeal is heard or whether they will enter into force immediately.
Manchester City leads the English Premier League table with 15 points from five matches, and is preparing to face Liverpool on Sunday, seeking to achieve its sixth victory in a row.
The authorities in South Korea intend to reduce the system of exemption from military service granted to elite athletes, following a wave of popular criticism targeting football players who celebrated their exemption after winning gold in the Asian Games that were recently held in Japan, according to what they announced on Wednesday.
Physically able males are usually required to perform military service in South Korea for between 18 months and two years before turning 28.
But the government grants an exemption from this service to winners of the gold medal in the Asian Games or any Olympic medal, so that athletes are content to undergo a few weeks of basic military training.
After the national football team was crowned champion of the Asian Games last week, criticism focused on team captain Lee Gi-hyuk, who said in an interview after the match: “I will not go to the army.”
The controversy was also intensified by a video clip of Park Seung-soo, a youth team player for Newcastle United, England, in which he appeared wearing a military demobilization cap tilted to one side while he was giving the military salute with a smile.
Sports Minister Chae Hui-yong told lawmakers during a parliamentary oversight session on Wednesday: “I think there is broad public consensus on the need to make the system fairer and subject it to more stringent standards.”
He added: “We have no choice but to move towards reducing it.”
He pointed out that the relevant government agencies will work together to develop “comprehensive procedures” in this regard, without revealing additional details.
In a separate session, Defense Minister Kang Chin-chul said his ministry's goal was to "gradually reduce the exemption until it is completely abolished."
The two players apologized in light of the controversy, and Lee, a 26-year-old defender who plays in the local league, described his statements as “unconsidered.”
Military exemptions are a sensitive issue in South Korea, and athletes usually avoid talking about it publicly.
Former English Tottenham star Son Heung-min was one of the most prominent previous cases of obtaining an exemption after leading his country to win gold in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
When Son was asked about the exemption after the final, he said: “Instead of thinking about that, we came here to win this tournament.”
