15 FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2019 sports

HH Shaikh Khalid arrives in Bangkok Pochettino open to change in to attend the MMA event football concussion rules TDT | Manama H Shaikh Khalid bin HHamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy President of the Su- Jan Vertonghen was controversially allowed to return to the pitch despite suffering a serious-looking preme Council for Youth head injury in the Champions League semi-final loss to Ajax and Sports and President of Bahrain Olympic Commit- AFP | London tee arrived in Thailand - ital Bangkok to attend the auricio Pochettino BETTER 2nd Asian Amateur MMA said he was open to Championship which began a change in football’s yesterday . M KNOW concussion protocols as Tot- Organised by the IMMAF, tenham Hotspur wait for an up- the event will feature sev- date on the health of defender eral Bahraini MMA fighters. Jan Vertonghen, who suffered a Tottenham’s participa- The Championship head injury against Ajax. will feature 79 fighters, Vertonghen saw a neurolo- tion in next season’s among whom are 16 from gist yesterday after a clash of Champions League will the Kingdom of Bahrain, heads with team-mate Toby Al- be guaranteed if they namely Ibrahim Darweesh, derweireld during Tottenham’s beat Bournemouth Isa Al Dowi, Mohammed Champions League defeat by in their penultimate Al Moamari, Mansoor Mo- Ajax this week. game hammadov, Ali Yaqoob, Mo- The 32-year-old Belgium in- of the season hammed Arsof, Abdulmanaf ternational had to be helped Mohammedov, Isa Al Omai- from the pitch during Tuesday’s ri, Shamil Jumpatov, Yousif 1-0 semi-final, first-leg defeat af- Sayyar, Mohammed Abbas, ter initially being allowed to play need another doctor.” Murad Jusinov, Abdulrah- on following lengthy treatment. Brain injury charity Headway man Al Hassan, Ramadan Tottenham issued a statement called for football’s authorities Jetanov, Mohammed Haji, on their website on Wednesday to introduce “temporary con- Shamil Ghaziev and Basha saying Vertonghen had under- cussion substitutions” to allow Kharasheef. gone further assessment and medical staff to make proper Welcoming HH Shaikh tests had been clear. assessments of injured players. Khalid upon his arrival in But the north London club’s Tottenham’s participation Thailand was Bahrain’s handling of the injury has in next season’s Champions Ambassador to Thailand been criticised and Spurs boss League will be guaranteed if Ahmed Abdullah Al Hajeri Pochettino said he was prepared they beat Bournemouth in their and several members of the to accept changes in protocols Tottenham Hotspur’s Argentinian head coach (2R) helps Tottenham Hotspur’s Belgian defender Jan penultimate Premier League Bahraini diplomatic mission for head injuries. Vertonghen (C) as he leaves the pitch injured game of the season. in Thailand. “Today was his appointment was more relaxed and felt better. not guess now. We hope it is not portant thing was going to be Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and with the specialist and we still Now we need to see the report a big issue and he is available the health of the player. Manchester United have all haven’t seen the report,” he told from the specialist. soon.” “It is not important, the game, dropped points in recent weeks reporters at his pre-match press “We don’t know (if he can face The Argentinian added: “Al- the semi-final of the Champions and all four remain in conten- Leicester boss conference yesterday before to- Bournemouth), we need to wait. ways in that situation I am open, League, the score, the priority tion to finish in the top four morrow’s trip to Bournemouth. That is going to be a decision more than open, to improve the is the player. I don’t know if we behind Manchester City and Rodgers needs no “After the game was good, he from the medical staff. We can- decisions. I think the most im- need to change the rules, if we Liverpool. extra incentive to beat Man City Hegerberg not included BOC hails Jiu Jitsu team’s achievement Reuters | London eicester City manager in Norway’s squad for LBrendan Rodgers says he has no extra motivation to do his former club Liver- Women’s World Cup pool a favour in the Premier Reuters | London federation because of frustra- League title race when his tions with the state of women’s side face Manchester City allon d’Or winner Ada He- game in Norway. on Monday. Bgerberg, who has chosen Coach Martin Sjogren said Liverpool can return to not to play for Norway since in February that it was unlikely the top of the table if they 2017, has been left out of their Hegerberg would feature in beat Newcastle United on squad for the Women’s World the tournament, which runs Saturday but will only be Cup in France. from June 7 to July 7. in pole position to clinch The Olympique Lyonnais “We tried to solve it, we had the league title on May 12 striker has not featured for meetings, but she decided not if Rodgers’ Leicester can Norway since they were to play,” Sjogren said. claim a point or better at knocked out of the Women’s “As a coach, you need to fo- the Etihad Stadium. European Championship in cus on the players who want to Yet Rodgers, who went 2017 without scoring a goal. be a part of the team and Ada Bahrain Olympic Committee secretary general at his meeting with members of the Bahrain national jiu jitsu team agonisingly close to winning The 23-year-old Hegerberg, doesn’t.” the league with Liverpool in who became the inaugural Hegerberg’s sister, Paris St TDT | Manama hammed Abu Idris (69kg) and athletes took 7 medals in total, 2013-14, is only focused on winner of the women’s Ballon Germain midfielder Andrine, Nejid Algosaibi (77kg) took one which reflects the well-planned his job at Leicester. d’Or award last December, has is also absent from the 23-man ahrain Olympic Commit- gold medal apiece for Bahrain, strategy of the association in “I am employed by Leices- taken a stand against her home squad. Btee (BOC) secretary general while Sogra Mubarak (70kg) preparing its teams,” said Al ter. My focus is on Leicester Mohammed Al Nusuf has ex- captured the bronze. Nusuf. City. There’s no comparison tended his congratulations to At his meeting with the “I also must refer to the de- really,” Rodgers told a news members of Bahrain’s national visiting delegation members termination and high spirit of conference yesterday. jiu jitsu team, after their recent and Bahrain Martial Arts Fed- our athletes to keep our nation’s “It’s exciting to be in - success at the Abu Dhabi World eration president Ahmed Al flag high in different sporting volved but my thoughts are Professional Jiu-Jitsu Champi- Khayyat, Al Nusuf congratu- events. We hope that such solely with Leicester and onship held recently in the UAE lated the team on this achieve- achievements would motivate doing what we can to get capital between April 23 and 26. ment, which reflects the de - the players to keep their top a result. The nationals made the na- veloped level of the Bahraini form and compete on a higher “Liverpool back then was tion proud, taking home clinch- athletes in martial arts sports. level”. at a different stage. We had ing four medals in total (3 gold, “We have been overwhelmed The BOC secretary general young players, loan play- 1 bronze), after a fiercely-con- with the team’s recent results expressed confidence in this ers. We went from eighth to tested battle with some of the in Abu Dhabi, which followed team to continue their success- second in a couple of years region’s best martial arts ath- an impressive appearance at ful run at regional and interna- so it’s a different dynam- letes. the South Asian Open Cham- tional competition, and wished ic. We deserved to finish Olympique Lyonnais’ Ada Hegerberg during a press conference (file photo) Seena Monfaradi (52kg), Mo- pionship in India, where our the team progress. second.”