RRUGBYUGBY | Page 4 NNBABA | Page 5 Australia’s Warriors Castle shatters and Rockets rugby union roll on as glass ceiling Celtics crash Wednesday, December 13, 2017 CRICKET Rabia I 25, 1439 AH New Zealand wrap GULF TIMES up West Indies series with 2-0 victory SPORT Page 3 Sheikh Joaan participates in Olympic Refugee Foundation board meeting resident of the Qatar Olympic The Members of the Foundation Committee, HE Sheikh Joaan Board were formally introduced dur- bin Hamad al-Thani, has at- ing the meeting and represent a group Ptended the inaugural Board of individuals who share the belief in meeting of the Olympic Refuge Foun- the power of sport to make the world a dation following its offi cial launch in better place and who have concretely September at the International Olym- demonstrated it through their inter- pic Committee (IOC) Session in Lima, est and experience. In addition to HE which also saw the Qatar Olympic Sheikh Joaan, they include: Filippo Committee confi rmed as a founding Grandi, High Commissioner of UN- donating partner. HCR; Zaiqing Yu, IOC Vice President; Playing sport in a safe environ- Dr Chungwon Choue, President of ment is not a right granted to every- World Taekwondo and the Taekwondo one around the world, especially for Humanitarian Federation; and Yiech the 65 million or so people who have Pur Biel, member of the fi rst Refugee been forced to leave their homes by Olympic Team at the Olympic Games war, famine and other natural disas- Rio 2016. ters, and who are now living in refugee During the meeting, IOC Honor- camps. ary President Jacques Rogge was ap- Working in co-operation with the pointed as Honorary Member of the UNHCR, the Foundation, which is Foundation. The former Special En- Chaired by IOC President Thomas voy of the UN Secretary-General for Bach, will support projects across the Youth Refugees and Sport has advo- world, to create safe, basic and ac- cated tirelessly around the world the cessible sports facilities and develop benefi ts that sport can bring to young sporting activities for vulnerable peo- refugees and supported the direct im- ple. Projects, which will use sport as a plementation of sports programmes pathway to social, physical and emo- in Jordan, Ethiopia, Colombia and tional well-being, will take a commu- Rwanda. nity-based approach. The creation of the Foundation is During the Foundation’s fi rst- a major initiative which stems from ever Board meeting, the operational the strong and longstanding engage- framework and scope of activities ment of the IOC in social development were approved, allowing the Founda- through sport. This engagement has tion to go forward with the creation of materialised, in particular, through the fi rst safe spaces. Starting in early the partnership between the IOC and 2018, the Foundation, in close collab- the UNHCR, which dates back 1994. oration with the UN Refugee Agency QOC president HE Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani (third from right) with IOC president Thomas Bach (fourth from right) and other board members of the Olympic Through this co-operation, sport pro- (UNHCR) and with the relevant in- Refugee Foundation. grammes have been implemented in ternational partners and local au- various camps and refugee communi- thorities on the ground, will start the partners, governmental institutions increase the understanding of sport ympic Refuge Foundation will cre- Olympic Movement’s considerable ties around the world, addressing the implementation of programmes and and private donors. as a positive factor for protecting and ate tools, policies and resources that network in order to advocate for the needs for basic sport equipment, and allocating grants through the gener- The Olympic Refuge Foundation supporting vulnerable people. Based will contribute to deliver eff ective adoption of policies related to the po- the rehabilitation of sport facilities, in ous donations of Olympic Movement is providing a unique opportunity to on knowledge and evidence, the Ol- programmes. It will also leverage the tential of sport as an agent for change. close to 50 countries. CRICKET FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT Gayle Neymar in blasts 18 Zidane delighted Brazil, to sixes as miss PSG Rangpur Cup tie triumph to call on ‘world’s best’ Ronaldo AFP Real Madrid to take on Al Jazira in Club World Cup semi-final today Paris Reuters Dhaka Reuters arch-rivals and record winners Bar- aris Saint-Germain will again Abu Dhabi celona on three victories. Madrid be without Neymar for their trail Barca by eight points at the top League Cup tie at Strasbourg hris Gayle hit 18 sixes on his of La Liga and fi nished second to Ptoday, the club confi rmed. way to an unbeaten 146 off eal Madrid coach Zinedine Tottenham Hotspur in their Cham- Coach Unai Emery confirmed on 69 balls for Rangpur Riders Zidane said he was delight- pions League group, which proved Monday that the world’s most ex- against Dhaka Dynamites to ed to be able to call on the costly as they were paired with pensive player had been allowed to Ccreate Twenty20 cricket history in the “best player in the world” in free-spending Paris Saint-Germain return to his native Brazil to deal Bangladesh Premier League fi nal yes- RCristiano Ronaldo as his side gear up in a blockbuster last 16 tie on Mon- with a family matter. terday. to defend their Club World Cup title. day. However, traces of the Madrid Neymar had already missed the Gayle, who was dropped by Shakib Ronaldo won his fi fth Ballon d’Or, that swept aside the likes of Bayern 3-1 weekend win against Lille due to Al Hasan on 22, broke the record he for world player of the year, last week Munich, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, suspension, and Emery said on Mon- set when he smashed 17 sixes in an un- to draw level with his rival and Bar- Manchester United and Barcelona in day that he hoped the former Barce- beaten 175 for Royal Challengers Ban- celona forward Lionel Messi. the spring and summer were back as lona star would be back in “three or galore against Pune Warriors in the The debate about who is the great- Real hit fi ve past Sevilla before half- four days”. Indian Premier League’s 2013 fi nal. er player is a perennial feature of time in a 5-0 rout on Saturday. But PSG’s confirmed squad for the The 38-year-old Jamaican’s knock soccer punditry, but Zidane is con- Until then Madrid had lacked the last-16 tie in Strasbourg — where also took him past 11,000 runs in the vinced he has the world’s best at his same killer instinct as last season they lost 2-1 in the league 10 days shortest format of the game and made disposal. with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim ago — was missing Neymar as well him the fi rst player to score 20 centu- “I have the best in the world and Benzema scoring a combined total of as Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta, Adr- ries in T20 cricket. he is showing it in this shirt,” Zidane just six times in La Liga, while Gareth ien Rabiot and Layvin Kurzawa. They Gayle, who has now struck 819 sixes told a news conference in Abu Dhabi Real Madrid’s French coach Zinedine Zidane attends a press conference on Bale has made just one brief appear- have won the League Cup in each of in T20 cricket, last played a T20 inter- yesterday. “I am delighted to have the eve of their FIFA Club World Cup semi-final match against UAE’s ance as a substitute since September. the last four seasons. Amid specula- national for West Indies in September him, for me he is the best.” Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi yesterday. “We are improving in every sense,” tion as to the reasons behind Ney- and his last Test match was against Madrid face United Arab Emirates said Zidane after thrashing Sevilla. mar’s trip home, Brazilian website Bangladesh in 2014. league champions Al Jazira on their win this competition,” he said. “It rybody wants to have a great game “If you play well, you will create Globoesporte published social media His unbeaten 201-run partnership home soil in the semi-fi nal today, will not be easy, fi rst we have to get to and for that we will go out focused.” more chances. We created plenty of messages accompanied by photo- with New Zealand’s Brendan McCul- with the fi nal on Saturday. the fi nal. We’re only thinking about Madrid won the competition for chances.” graphs which suggest he could have lum steered Rangpur Riders to 206 for Although Madrid’s next La Liga winning the Club World Cup. the fi rst time in 2014 and again last Ronaldo scored twice at the week- been at the birthday party of his 1. match is a crucial Clasico clash “There are no easy games. We have year, when they beat Japanese side end to celebrate picking up his fi fth friend’s father and had also visited a In reply, Dhaka Dynamites were re- against Barcelona at the Santiago a semi fi nal against, a team that peo- Kashima Antlers 4-2 after extra time. Ballon d’Or in style and his return to dental clinic. stricted to 149 for 9, giving Rangpur Bernabeu on Dec. 23, Zidane said his ple say is easy, but we don’t think The Spanish champions can become form is timely, as Madrid face Barce- On Monday, Neymar published a Riders a massive 57-run victory.