MMOTOGPOTOGP | Page 4 RRUGBYUGBY | Page 6 Ducati face Hansen backs moment of truth loose forwards against Marquez to fi re for All in Austria Blacks Friday, August 9, 2019 CRICKET Dhul-Hijja 8, 1440 AH South Africa’s Amla GULF TIMES retires from all forms of the game SPORT Page 7 FOOTBALL Qatar beat Hong Kong in Asian Nine Qatari offi cials appointed to AFC committees U23 volleyball QNA By Sports Reporter Aziz Jeham al-Kuwari as mem- Naypyidaw, Myanmar Doha ber of the Medical Committee, and Ahmed Khalil al-Abbasi, Executive Director of Opera- atar volleyball team he Asian Football Con- tions of National Teams and yesterday secured federation (AFC) has Executive Director of Competi- Qits first win in the approved admission of tions at Qatar Stars League, for third edition of the Asian nine Qatari offi cials to membership of the Competi- U23 Volleyball Champion- Tvarious committees for the next tions Committee. ship, after beating Hong four years (2019-2023). Fahd Thani, Director of the Kong 3-1 in Naypyidaw, The AFC approved the joining Development Department of Myanmar. of Hani Taleb Ballan to be vice- QFA, has been included as As many as 16 teams are chairman of the referees com- member of the Technical Com- participating in the cham- mittee, and Abdulrahman al- mittee, and Mohamed Khalid pionship, which concludes Qahtani, a member of the QFA Fakhro, Head of International on Sunday. Executive Committee, to join the Relations of QFA, is the new With this victory, the Qatari AFC’s committee. member of the AFC Develop- team managed to secure Salman al-Ansari was chosen ment Committee. its first win in the champi- as vice-chairman of the Ap- The nine Qatari offi cials now onship. peals Committee, QFA secre- joining AFC working commit- At the start of the cham- tary general Mansour Mohamed tees under the QFA leadership pionship, the Qatari team al-Ansari for the membership of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin lost to the hosting country of the Finance Committee, Ahmed al-Thani is a positive move Myanmar 1-3. Marketing and Communica- for Asian football as a whole. The Qatari team is sched- tions director Khalid Mubarak The nine Qatar offi cials are uled to play against New al-Kuwari as member of the highly qualifi ed and with vast Zealand next for position AFC Marketing Committee, management experience in foot- Qatar Football Association (QFA) Board member Hani Ballan has been QFA secretary general Mansour Mohamed al-Ansari is now a Finance 13 to 16. Aspetar chief executive Abdul ball and sports in general. appointed as vice-chairman of the Referees Committee. Committee member. FOCUS Tottenham, Arsenal splash cash on EPL deadline day After club record signing of Ndombele, Lo Celso joins Spurs on loan from Real Betis, while Sessegnon joins from Fulham AFP London ottenham made the headlines on a busy fi - nal day of the Premier League transfer window Twith deals for Giovani lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, while Ar- senal strengthened their defence with the signing of Kieran Tier- ney. Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku’s prolonged trans- fer to Inter Milan was also com- pleted after the clubs reportedly agreed on a deal that could rise to 80mn euros (£74mn, $90mn). Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been under pressure from manager Mauricio Pochettino to build on the progress made on and off the fi eld as Tottenham moved into a new 62,000-capacity sta- dium and reached the Champions League fi nal last season. After the club record signing of French international midfi elder Tanguy Ndombele, the signings of Lo Celso and Sessegnon add some much-needed depth to a Spurs squad that had previously gone 18 months without a new recruit. Arsenal strengthened their defence with the signing of Kieran Tierney. (Reuters) Argentine international mid- fi elder Lo Celso has joined on a worked out for him,” admitted Pal- season-long loan deal from Real ace manager Roy Hodgson. Betis with an option to make the Brighton bolstered their mid- transfer permanent next summer. Ryan Sessegnon will add depth to a Spurs squad that had gone 18 months without a new recruit. (Reuters) fi eld options with the loan sign- England under-21 internation- ing of Australian international al Sessegnon joins from Fulham miss out on Champions League Chelsea’s David Luiz. key additions in teenagers Sepp Aaron Mooy. in a £25mn deal that could rise football for a third straight year. The Gunners could recoup that van den Berg and Harvey Elliott Former England international to £30mn in performance related The Londoners long-standing deadline day spent after report- and back-up goalkeeper Adrian Andy Carroll returned to New- add-ons on a six-year contract. interest in Tierney was fi nally edly agreeing a £35mn deal to sell over the course of the summer. castle on a free transfer from However, a sensational swoop given the green light when the Alex Iwobi to Everton. Outside the top six, Watford West Ham, while the Magpies for Paulo Dybala broke down payment structure of a £25-mil- Manchester City and Liverpool broke their transfer record to also secured Swedish defender with Juventus unwilling to let lion move was agreed with Celtic. are expected to battle for the Pre- bring in Senegal international Emil Krafth. the Argentine leave without an “I’ve lived my dream and I’ve mier League title once more, but Ismaïla Sarr for a reported 35mn Leicester are also set to use adequate replacement, having loved every single minute of it,” were not busy on deadline day. euros from Rennes. some of the £80mn they re- missed out on Lukaku. said Tierney of leaving his boy- City brought in veteran goal- Wilfried Zaha’s hopes of a ceived from Manchester United hood club. “Now I just feel was the keeper Scott Carson on loan from move from Crystal Palace were for Harry Maguire on Sampdoria ARSENAL BOLSTER DEFENCE right time to take a step on. I feel Derby as back-up to Ederson and snubbed as Everton could not midfi elder Dennis Praet for 20mn Arsenal were badly in need of this is a great opportunity for me.” Claudio Bravo after the signings match the London club’s asking euros. defensive recruits to shore up a Arsenal are also set to secure of Rodri, Angelino and Joao Can- price. And Burnley secured the serv- backline that conceded 51 Pre- some much-needed cover at celo earlier in the window. “It’s been well documented that ices of Danny Drinkwater on loan Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Inter Milan was mier League goals last season to centre-back in an £8mn deal for Liverpool made just three low- he wanted to leave, but it has not from Chelsea until January. also completed yesterday. (Reuters) Gulf Times 2 Friday, August 9, 2019 FOOTBALL PREMIER LEAGUE FOCUS Man City’s Liverpool bank on Sane to have surgery AFP stability over signings Manchester anchester City winger Leroy Sane will undergo surgery and faces a long spell Mon the sidelines after suff er- to end 30-year title wait ing cruciate ligament damage, the Premier League champions confi rmed yesterday. Sane, 23, was taken off clutching his knee ‘You should never do transfers because other clubs are doing transfers. That makes no sense’ during City’s Community Shield win over Liverpool last Sunday. AFP “Manchester City FC can Liverpool confi rm that Leroy Sane has damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee,” City issing out on the Pre- said in a statement. mier League title despite a “He has undergone test- record-breaking campaign ing throughout the week, with was eased by winning a sixth a specialist doctor travelling to MEuropean Cup for Liverpool last season, Manchester for further exami- but ending a 30-year wait to be crowned nations to understand the extent English champions is now more impor- of the injury. Leroy will have sur- tant than ever on Merseyside. gery in the coming week.” Jurgen Klopp’s men are expected to Reports in the German media strike fi rst blood in the title race when claim that Sane will be ruled out they kick off the Premier League sea- for several months, which could son against newly-promoted Norwich end interest in the German in- tonight under the lights of Anfi eld. ternational from Bayern Munich. However, unlike most of their competi- Bayern had identifi ed Sane as the tors who have delved into the arms race primary target in their search for for talent in another transfer window a long-term replacement for de- where Premier League clubs have spent parting club icons Arjen Robben over £1bn ($1.2bn), the European cham- and Franck Ribery. pions have been conspicuously quiet in Having been slow to move in the transfer market. the transfer window this year, Teenage talents Sepp van den Berg the German giants are under and Harvey Elliott have been snapped pressure to make a high-profi le up with an eye to the future, while signing. Earlier this week, star Spanish goalkeeper Adrian will replace striker Robert Lewandowski Simon Mignolet as back-up to Alisson publicly called on the club to Becker in three low-key arrivals. sign three new players. Klopp, though, believes the founda- The Sane transfer had looked tions are already in place for another tilt close to completion, with Kicker at the title after spending over £230mn reporting last week that terms in the past two years on the likes of Alis- had been agreed on a 100mn euro son, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.