رئيس الوزراء: نهائي عكس روح المنافسة الإيجابية

وصف معالي الشيخ محمد بن عبد الرحمن بن جاسم آل ثاني، رئيس مجلس الوزراء وزير الخارجية، نهائي كأس سمو الأمير لكرة القدم بين فريقي السد والغرافة الذي انتهى بفوز الفهود برباعية مقابل هدف بأنه «نهائي عكس روح المنافسة الإيجابية».
وقال معاليه في تغريدة عبر منصة «إكس»: «نهائي عكس روح المنافسة الإيجابية في بطولة كأس سمو الأمير. نبارك لنادي الغرافة فوزه ببطولة كأس سمو الأمير لموسم 2026، ولوصيفه نادي السد. شكراً للقائمين على هذه البطولة».

Doha: Yacine Brahimi starred with a brilliant hat-trick as Al Gharafa outclassed Al Sadd 4-1 to retain the prestigious Amir Cup title in front of 37,823 spectators at Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday. betsport24.es

Pedro Martins’ Al Gharafa first frustrated Al Sadd with a disciplined defensive display before taking control through Ferjani Sassi’s 21st-minute opener. Brahimi then struck his first goal six minutes later to put The Cheetahs firmly in command of the final.

The Algerian playmaker added his second in the 63rd minute to tighten Al Gharafa’s grip on the contest before Javairo Dilrosun gave Al Sadd a glimmer of hope with a late strike in the 88th minute.

However, any thoughts of a comeback were quickly extinguished as Brahimi completed his hat-trick in the opening minute of stoppage time, sparking wild celebrations among Al Gharafa players and their supporters as the final whistle confirmed a memorable triumph.

With back-to-back Amir Cup triumphs, Al Gharafa lifted the trophy for the ninth time, having claimed five titles under their former name, Al Ittihad. The victory also secured The Cheetahs a place in the AFC Champions League.

Roberto Mancini’s Al Sadd, who struggled to find their rhythm and looked below par in the final, finished the season with just one domestic trophy - the Qatar Stars League title.

Le Mans, France: Italian Francesco Bagnaia produced a brilliant lap to edge out Marc Marquez for pole position at the French Grand Prix on Saturday, as MotoGP championship leader Marco Bezzecchi qualified third.

Bagnaia posted a time of one minute and 29.634 seconds to beat his Ducati teammate Marc Marquez by 0.012 secs and secure his first pole since Malaysia last year.

"It's absolutely fantastic," said Bagnaia. "This season I've been struggling in qualifying, but since the start of the weekend, we've been working better and we've found something."

Two-time world champion Bagnaia has endured a tough start to the season, failing to finish two of the four races so far.

Aprilia's Bezzecchi completed the front row, just another 0.011 secs slower than Marc Marquez.

Bezzecchi's run of five consecutive MotoGP wins was ended last month by Alex Marquez in Spain.

Reigning champion Marc Marquez has also crashed out twice this campaign and is 44 points behind Bezzecchi in fifth in the riders' standings.

The 33-year-old, who ended a six-year wait for his seventh MotoGP world title last season, posted a track record in the first qualifying session after missing out on the top 10 in Friday's practice.

"I didn't understand why I was so fast in Q1," he said.

"What's a shame is that I can't seem to be consistent. I really need to work on understanding things in the coming weeks to improve and become more consistent.

"Being on the front row is still a great surprise."

Jorge Martin, who is 11 points behind Bezzecchi in second place in the championship, could only qualify in eighth spot.

The weekend's racing continues later Saturday with the sprint, before Sunday's main race.

Liverpool: Liverpool missed the chance to all but secure Champions League football next season after a 1-1 draw against a wounded Chelsea on Saturday.

The Blues had lost six consecutive Premier League games to fall out of contention for a top-five finish.

Ryan Gravenberch's sweet strike gave Liverpool the perfect start, but Chelsea hit back to salvage a point when Enzo Fernandez's free-kick evaded everyone in the middle to find the bottom corner.

Boos at full-time reflected the mood around Anfield after another lacklustre performance from the defending champions.

But they are inching closer to Champions League qualification with a seven-point lead over sixth-placed Bournemouth, who have just three games left to play.

Chelsea can no longer mathematically finish in the top five and remain in ninth.

But there were some shoots of recovery for interim boss Calum McFarlane to take into next weekend's FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Chelsea were humbled by a second-string Nottingham Forest at home on Monday and looked set for another long afternoon after conceding just six minutes in.

Rio Ngumoha picked out Gravenberch on the edge of the box and the Dutch international curled perfectly into the top corner.

Liverpool's forward line was decimated by injuries with Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike absent, while Alexander Isak was only fit enough for a place on the bench.

A lack of attacking impetus showed as Liverpool allowed the beleaguered Blues to gain a foothold in the game and slowly regain some confidence.

The visitors levelled 10 minutes before half-time when Fernandez's free-kick caught Giorgi Mamardashvili flat-footed and rolled in at the far post.

Chelsea thought they had turned the game around early in the second half when Cole Palmer slotted in.

But VAR intervened to rescue the Reds as Marc Cucurella had strayed marginally offside in the build-up.

Liverpool came closest to a winner in the closing stages as they twice hit the woodwork.

Dominik Szoboszlai's powerful drive came back off the base of the post.

Virgil van Dijk then rattled the crossbar with a towering header from Szoboszlai's corner.

Arne Slot is reportedly set to remain in charge of Liverpool next season despite a bitterly disappointing campaign thanks to the credit he amassed in winning the Premier League last year.

But the discontent among the Anfield crowd towards the Dutchman was shown in the fury at his decision to replace teenager Ngumoha and at full-time.

Doha: The Qatar Sports for All Federation, of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, will organize the third edition of the global half-marathon, "ONE RUN FOR ALL," on May 24 at the Lusail International Circuit, with the participation of more than 2,500 runners of all ages and categories, including men, women, children and senior citizens.

Speaking at a news conference, Executive Director of the Qatar Sports for All Federation, Abdullah Al Dosari, unveiled details of the race, which is being held in Qatar for the third time.

He said Doha was once again preparing to host one of the world's largest half-marathon events, staged simultaneously in more than 110 countries with the participation of over 200,000 runners worldwide, including 160,000 from Russia and 40,000 from other countries, among them Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, China, Brazil, Serbia, Cameroon and Armenia.

Al Dosari said the competition would feature six race categories, including the introduction of a 400-meter race for children and a 2.5-kilometer course aimed at expanding participation and encouraging families to take part alongside their children. The event will also include 1-kilometer, 5-kilometer, 10-kilometer and 21.1-kilometer races.

He added that the event would offer participants an enjoyable evening for running enthusiasts, noting that entertainment activities accompanying the race would begin at 4:30pm in the fan zone, while the races themselves would start at 9pm All races are scheduled to conclude by 10pm.

The executive director said race day would be a special occasion for participants, their families and friends, as in previous editions.