P 8 | FOOTBALL P 24 | BOXING RED-HOT ARABI GLOVES AND GLORY! Gianfranco Zola-coached Al Arabi continue The 18th Amateur World Championships, their winning streak in the Qatar Stars to be held in Doha from October 5 to 15, League by slamming four past Qatar SC. promise to be the most exciting ever. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEmBER 30, 2015 | Vol X | No.35 | QR 2.00 www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com Follow us on DSP graphics/Joice Michael graphics/Joice DSP The criminal proceedings opened by Swiss authorities push FIFA President Sepp Blatter further towards Who holds the edge while his UEFA all counterpart Michel Platini too finds himself in trouble for accepting a ‘disloyal aces? payment’. PAGES 4-5 UK ...................................... £1 UAE ...............................Dh 5 Europe ............................. €2 Yemen..................75 Riyals P 22 | ATHLETICS P 20 | POSTER Oman ...............200 Baisas Sudan ...................1 Pound Bahrain ..................200 Fils KSA .......................... 2 Riyals Egypt .............................LE 2 Jordan ....................500 Fils Lebanon ..........3,000 Livre Iraq .................................... $1 Balla and his plans ROBERT Kuwait ....................250 Fils Palestine ......................... $1 EXCLUSIVE Morocco ......................Dh 6 Syria .............................LS 20 INTERVIEW for the new season LEWANDOWSKI www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com | WEDNESDAY, SEptEmbEr 30, 2015 3 OPINION » The writer can be contacted at: Editor-in-Chief Dr Ahmed Al Mohannadi [email protected] Managing Editor Kumar Ravi Senior Editor/Writer Aswin Abraham Senior Sports Writer N Ganesh Sports Writers Sajith B Warrier Aju George Chris Mohammad Amin-ul Islam Sarath Pookkat IOC should consider popular Photographers Mohan Vinod Divakaran Fadi Al Assaad Mohammed Dabboos sports for Olympic inclusion A K BijuRaj Graphic Designers Abhilash Chacko HE Olympics, especially Summer Games, has the nod for inclusion of baseball/softball, for ALL Gopakumar K grown very big and it’s a humongous task men and women respectively, is indeed a big boost Joice Michael Tto organise it. For almost two decades, the for these sports, which’ve a huge following in the Technical support Shaheen Mohammed International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been Americas and also in the Far East, including Japan. Abdul Naser M exploring ways to reduce its size in order to make it Addition of surfing and skateboarding, which’re more manageable and, in the early 2000s, it decided increasingly becoming popular among the youth, to cap the number of sports to 28. too can be welcomed, but I’m surprised at the As part of Olympic Agenda ’20, the IOC also set a suggestion to include sport climbing, ahead of SPORTS, p.O. box: 24598, Doha, Qatar tel: +974 44138065, Fax: +974 44138597 cap on the number of athletes (10,500) and events the more popular squash, which was one of the www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com (310). the design of the Games has been an evolving three disciplines in the running until wrestling was Editorial: tel: +974 44138522, Fax: +974 44138593 one, but often it was the bigwigs who decided on reinstated two years ago. e-mail: [email protected] it. However, for the first time, as part of its reforms, Squash has made huge strides, positioning itself Marketing & advertising: tel: +974 44138566 the IOC gave the 2020 tokyo Games Organising as a truly global sport with its major events being e-mail: [email protected] Committee an opportunity to propose five additional broadcast in over 100 countries and player earnings ONE Distribution: tel: +974 44138535/36, Fax: +974 44138597 e-mail: [email protected] sports for inclusion. rising by more than 20 per cent this year alone. Its the tokyo organisers last monday recommended inclusion in an Olympic Games to be staged in Asia the inclusion of baseball/softball, karate, skateboard, would have been perfectly justifiable. www.twitter.com/dohastadiumplus sport climbing and surfing ahead of bowling, squash I still hope the IOC would’ve a rethink on this and www.facebook.com/dohastadiumplusqatar and wushu, which were part of a shortlist of eight. deliver justice to a sport, which has been knocking at the final decision will be made by the IOC during the Olympic doors for the past 12 years. STADIUM www.flickr.com/photos/dohastadiumplusqatar next year’s Olympics at rio de Janeiro. tokyo officials said the new disciplines would serve as a driving force to further promote the Publishers: ASpIrE printing, publishing and Distribution Olympic movement, with a focus on youth appeal, Printed at ASpIrE printing press and add value to the Games by engaging the local Dr Ahmed Al Mohannadi population as well as new audiences worldwide. Editor-in-Chief © Stories and photographs appearing in this publication may not be reproduced without the permission of ASpIrE printing, publishing and Distribution. INSIDE P 14 | FOOTBALL P 23 | ATHLETICS P 30 | MOTORSPORT City’s pain is Haroun plots comeback Same as United’s gain Qatar’s Abdalelah Haroun, who set an Senna! Asian indoor 400m record earlier this year, Catch every pulse of action... Stay tuned www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com manchester United take is gearing up to return stronger in the new mercedes driver advantage of neighbours City’s season after undergoing an operation. Lewis Hamilton roars slip-up against tottenham to victory at the Japanese Hotspur to go top of the Grand prix to match the English premier League. P 26 | MOTORSPORT P 28 | BASKETBALL late Ayrton Senna’s tally of Cyprus Fiesta! Qatar in last eight 41 Formula One wins. Publishers: ASPIRE Printing, Publishing and Distribution P O Box: 24598, Doha, Qatar. Ace Qatari driver Nasser Saleh Gulf champions Qatar beat Marketing & advertising: Tel: +974 44138566 Al Attiyah reigns supreme in South Korea to enter the e-mail: [email protected] Cyprus for the fourth time to quarterfinal stage of Distribution: Tel: +974 44138535/36, Fax: +974 44138597 move closer to his 11th middle the biennial FIbA Asia e-mail: [email protected] East rally Championship crown. Championship in China. www.twitter.com/dohastadiumplus www.facebook.com/dohastadiumplusqatar www.flickr.com/photos/dohastadiumplusqatar www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com | WEDNESDAY, SEptEmbEr 30, 2015 3 OPINION » The writer can be contacted at: Editor-in-Chief Dr Ahmed Al Mohannadi [email protected] Managing Editor Kumar Ravi Senior Editor/Writer Aswin Abraham Senior Sports Writer N Ganesh Sports Writers Sajith B Warrier Aju George Chris Mohammad Amin-ul Islam Sarath Pookkat IOC should consider popular Photographers Mohan Vinod Divakaran Fadi Al Assaad Mohammed Dabboos sports for Olympic inclusion A K BijuRaj Graphic Designers Abhilash Chacko HE Olympics, especially Summer Games, has the nod for inclusion of baseball/softball, for Gopakumar K grown very big and it’s a humongous task men and women respectively, is indeed a big boost Joice Michael Tto organise it. For almost two decades, the for these sports, which’ve a huge following in the Technical support Shaheen Mohammed International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been Americas and also in the Far East, including Japan. Abdul Naser M exploring ways to reduce its size in order to make it Addition of surfing and skateboarding, which’re more manageable and, in the early 2000s, it decided increasingly becoming popular among the youth, to cap the number of sports to 28. too can be welcomed, but I’m surprised at the As part of Olympic Agenda ’20, the IOC also set a suggestion to include sport climbing, ahead of p.O. box: 24598, Doha, Qatar tel: +974 44138065, Fax: +974 44138597 cap on the number of athletes (10,500) and events the more popular squash, which was one of the www.dohastadiumplusqatar.com (310). the design of the Games has been an evolving three disciplines in the running until wrestling was Editorial: tel: +974 44138522, Fax: +974 44138593 one, but often it was the bigwigs who decided on reinstated two years ago. e-mail: [email protected] it. However, for the first time, as part of its reforms, Squash has made huge strides, positioning itself Marketing & advertising: tel: +974 44138566 the IOC gave the 2020 tokyo Games Organising as a truly global sport with its major events being e-mail: [email protected] Distribution: tel: +974 44138535/36, Fax: +974 44138597 Committee an opportunity to propose five additional broadcast in over 100 countries and player earnings e-mail: [email protected] sports for inclusion. rising by more than 20 per cent this year alone. Its the tokyo organisers last monday recommended inclusion in an Olympic Games to be staged in Asia the inclusion of baseball/softball, karate, skateboard, would have been perfectly justifiable. www.twitter.com/dohastadiumplus sport climbing and surfing ahead of bowling, squash I still hope the IOC would’ve a rethink on this and www.facebook.com/dohastadiumplusqatar and wushu, which were part of a shortlist of eight. deliver justice to a sport, which has been knocking at the final decision will be made by the IOC during the Olympic doors for the past 12 years. www.flickr.com/photos/dohastadiumplusqatar next year’s Olympics at rio de Janeiro. tokyo officials said the new disciplines would serve as a driving force to further promote the Publishers: ASpIrE printing, publishing and Distribution Olympic movement, with a focus on youth appeal, Printed at ASpIrE printing press and add value to the Games by engaging the local Dr Ahmed Al Mohannadi population as well as new audiences worldwide. Editor-in-Chief © Stories and photographs appearing in this publication may not be reproduced without the permission of ASpIrE printing, publishing and Distribution. INSIDE P 14 | FOOTBALL P 23 | ATHLETICS P 30 | MOTORSPORT City’s pain is Haroun plots comeback Same as United’s gain Qatar’s Abdalelah Haroun, who set an Senna! Asian indoor 400m record earlier this year, manchester United take is gearing up to return stronger in the new mercedes driver advantage of neighbours City’s season after undergoing an operation.