Latest news with #WorldCup2022
See - Sada Elbalad
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Kosei Fujita Wins 32 NJPW Best of the Super Jr.
Rana Atef Kosei Fujita has won the 2025 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, defeating YOH in the finals on June 1 at Tokyo's Ota City General Gymnasium. Fujita won A Block with ten points, defeating Clark Connors on the final night of block action and holding the tie breaker over Francesco Akira, Master Wato and Hiromu Takahashi. YOH won B Block with 12 points, winning on the final night against Taiji Ishimori and holding tie breakers over El Desperado and MAO. With this major victory, the rising star secures a shot at El Desperado's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, marking a major milestone in his NJPW career. read more Japan Stun Spain 2-1 to Qualify for World Cup Last 16 World Cup 2022: Get to Know Confirmed Line-ups of Japan and Spain Group E Decider Saudi Arabia Bid Farewell to World Cup after 2-1 Loss to Mexico Tunisia Achieve Historic Win over France but Fail to Qualify Tunisia to Clash against France in World Cup Sports Get to Know Squad of Group D Teams in World Cup Sports Al Ahly Gift EGP 70,000 to Players After Claiming Egyptian Super Cup Title Sports Bencharki Hits First 2 Goals with Al Jazira Since Leaving Zamalek Sports Arsenal Possible Line-up for Nottingham Forest News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan
See - Sada Elbalad
7 hours ago
- Sport
- See - Sada Elbalad
PSG Fans Pays Emotional Tribute Enrique's Late Daughter, Xana, after UEFA CL Victory
Rana Atef On Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain fans unveiled an emotional tribute to the team's coach, Luis Enrique's late daughter Xana, after the club's Champions League final victory over Inter Milan. "I don't need to win the Champions League to remember my daughter. My daughter is always with us." Beautiful words from PSG manager, Luis Enrique ❤️ — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 31, 2025 Xana died at the age of nine in 2019, a few months after she was diagnosed with of a rare form of bone cancer. Enrique made a tribute to his daughter in Munich as PSG celebrated their Champions League triumph. Luis Enrique ❤️❤️❤️ — Fran (@frabigol) May 31, 2025 He wore a black t-shirt that displayed a similar image of them planting a flag together. "I have an amazing photo of her planting a Barcelona flag into the turf," Enrique said earlier. "I want to be able to do the same with a PSG flag." 🔴✨ Luis Enrique ✨🔵 — ParisSG INFOS (@Paris_sginfos) May 31, 2025 'My daughter won't be there in the physical sense, but she will be there spiritually, and that's very important to me." In 2015, Xana celebrated with her father when he led Barcelona to the Champions League in 2015. Xana carried a huge Barcelona flag on the pitch in Berlin. Before the Champions League final, Enrique revealed he was motivated to repeat the celebrations and plant a Paris Saint-Germain flag, in their colours, on the pitch in Munich as a tribute to Xana. LUIS ENRIQUE Y XANA ESTA CHAMPIONS ES VUESTRA — madridblaugrana (@madridblaugrana) May 31, 2025 After PSG defeated Inter to win the Champions League for the first time, the PSG fans recreated that image by unveiling a huge banner of Enrique and Xana planting the PSG flag. He commented on the tribute: 'Lovely from the fans, and for my family,' adding: 'But I don't need to win a Champions League to remember my daughter. She's always present, with us.' read more Japan Stun Spain 2-1 to Qualify for World Cup Last 16 World Cup 2022: Get to Know Confirmed Line-ups of Japan and Spain Group E Decider Saudi Arabia Bid Farewell to World Cup after 2-1 Loss to Mexico Tunisia Achieve Historic Win over France but Fail to Qualify Tunisia to Clash against France in World Cup Sports Get to Know Squad of Group D Teams in World Cup Sports Al Ahly Gift EGP 70,000 to Players After Claiming Egyptian Super Cup Title Sports Bencharki Hits First 2 Goals with Al Jazira Since Leaving Zamalek Sports Arsenal Possible Line-up for Nottingham Forest News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
He spent three horrific years in a Doha jail, now Abdullah Ibhais wants justice from Qatar and Fifa
Now that Abdullah Ibhais sits happily in Oslo, enjoying the cool air, he can calmly reflect on the moment he realised his life was changing. The former 2022 World Cup worker – described by Amnesty as a Qatar whistleblower – had been going through the state's legal process following his November 2021 arrest, and was at that point optimistic there had just been some misunderstanding. Ibhais describes how, in the middle of the process, one Qatari official came out with the following. 'You think you can fight the state?' Ibhais couldn't do anything but laugh in shock. 'At that moment I realised how deep the issue was.' The Jordanian national was finally released on 11 March 2025, having served his full sentence. In July 2024, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions declared he had been a victim of arbitrary detention and urged Qatari authorities to immediately release him. Human rights groups like FairSquare believe his case serves as a prism for the story of that entire World Cup. Ibhais wasn't just a worker in the preparations for the most watched sporting event in the world, he was a media manager. His case consequently involves the long and controversial build-up, the migrant workers, the media coverage, how Qatar spins and how Qatar works. Ibhais' version is that he went to investigate workers rights' complaints, stood up for them by advising the Supreme Committee to acknowledge their role, before he was the subject of a malicious prosecution. FairSquare say Ibhais provided plenty of evidence for his case. The version from within Qatar points to Ibhais' April 2021 conviction for 'bribery', 'violation of the integrity of tenders and profits' and 'intentional damage to public funds'. Ibhais' conviction was upheld on appeal, although his sentence was reduced from five years to three say there was almost no evidence for this, other than Ibhais' own confession, which he retracted and said was coerced. The human rights body says his allegation of coercion is highly credible. The UN working group's finding that he was a victim of arbitrary detention is also highly significant, especially in light of Fifa 's refusal to comment when contacted by The Independent. He now wants to go further than just fighting the state. He wants to try and sue both Qatar's Supreme Committee and Fifa, for negligence. 'They couldn't even follow their own guidelines,' Ibhais says of Fifa. 'I'll try every possible avenue, either in Switzerland, the US or any country where they have jurisdiction or bilateral agreements with Fifa.' Fifa did previously repeat the line 'any person deserves a trial that is fair and where due process is observed and respected', but FairSquare describe this as meaningless. The Independent covered Ibhais' case during the 2022 World Cup, and speaks to him now in the Norwegian capital, the night before he does a series of events at the Oslo Freedom Forum. It is the first time Ibhais has left Jordan, as well as his wife and two young children, since he was deported from Doha after his release. The timing is apt, given this is five days before Saturday's Champions League final in Munich, where Qatar could enjoy their next great sporting moment. . The discussion turns to Qatar's previous great sporting moment: the hosting of that World Cup. Ibhais says he couldn't even watch it. Such obstinacy took concerted effort, given that the prison guards apparently rolled huge TVs into the mess hall for all 29 days, with prisoners not allowed to change the channel from BeIN Sport. 'During the World Cup was the worst,' Ibhais says. 'It felt like total defeat. 'OK, it's hard to be cut away from your family, but the feeling of injustice was the hardest thing to cope with. They got what they wanted, here it was, you're there, no one cares and there's nothing you can do. Life goes on, yours doesn't.' It is shortly into telling this story that Ibhais offers what he feels is a crucial caveat. 'I accept I am biased.' How could he not be, given his experience? Ibhais was eventually detained at a prison that was closest to the Khalifa International Stadium, which hosted England's opening 6-2 win over Iran. He later alleged he was 'physically assaulted by the prison guards', before being subjected to 'complete darkness in solitary confinement… with temperatures near freezing as the prison's central air-conditioning was used as a torture device' so that he couldn't sleep for 96 hours. 'That was all true,' Ibhais says, 'because they were so worried I was going to do something before the World Cup. They felt like teaching me a lesson.' Ibhais adds that the conditions in the prison were completely unhygienic. He hasn't actually gone to a doctor since his release, something a little surprising given that he chose to see a therapist before he was even arrested. 'I was having panic attacks because I realised what I was part of, and I couldn't live with it,' Ibhais says. 'That realisation was worse than prison. It is shocking. Prison, I expected. This, I didn't.' It's at this moment that Ibhais feels a point needs to be stressed. Throughout the entire 2022 World Cup cycle, Qatar's persistent narrative was that a young state was going through a journey of development, especially as regards the issue of migrant workers. The plea was for understanding, amid reference to necessarily gradual reforms. Ibhais knows this well, since his job was to push that narrative. 'They couldn't care less,' he says. 'Forget about how they address the whole issue. Listen to how many Qataris talk to their own workers. It is depressing, the way they yell at them, the way they more or less think of these men and women as slaves. 'Even the most progressive, when they're angry, there's zero respect. Maybe they'll apologise later.' Ibhais says this even extended to prison, where detained Qataris essentially 'hired south Asians to clean for them'. He agrees with the analysis that all reforms were 'superficial'. 'They think they are right and moral, just because they are rich. It took me so long to understand they are bad people. I really believed for so long. Even when they actually detained me, even when they forced me to sign a confession that was already printed – even after all of this – I still believed they can't be so bad. 'I was under the impression mid-level officials decided this, and the trial couldn't be swayed.' It's why he says that one sentence from an official – 'You think you can fight the state?' – suddenly made everything so clear. Against that, there nevertheless remains so much mystery to the case, from the motivations to how high it went. Ibhais believes the reason he was detained cuts to the very nature of the state. 'It was the concept of whistleblowing. It was not what I exactly said,' he explains. 'They didn't like that someone can challenge the way they are doing things. 'They are positioning themselves as leaders of change, and all that trust lies with the Supreme Committee. So if you tolerate such behaviour and the Supreme Committee is discredited, you discredit everything. And if you're paying $250bn for this reputational campaign…' Tellingly, Ibhais was mostly housed with 'state security prisoners' and political dissidents. 'They have so many layers of classification but the most important is 'state security' and people they want to isolate from the world.' One question brings a reference to 'people they're afraid of', to which Ibhais interjects. 'They're not afraid of anyone. It's people they want to silence.' He says those first six months were 'extremely hard'. 'I basically lost my life. Feeling helpless and away from my family was devastating. Then I thought 'this might take a long time', so I had to find a way to deal with this.' Ibhais started writing to anyone he could think of, from Amnesty to media. That started to bring some peace of mind, aided by the knowledge his wife could still work in Doha, so their two children – now aged six and eight – could be looked after. He says 'this was part of the deal with the public prosecutor when I signed the confession'. 'Thank God we managed. Of course, all our savings evaporated. I always had hope someone, somewhere, would recognise what was done.' He didn't find that recognition at Fifa, which is one major reason he wants to take action. Despite supplying Fifa with all of his material, Ibhais says he was essentially 'ghosted'. That was just over a year before the World Cup, and Ibhais believes that Qatar felt he was 'low enough that people would forget'. 'There's a hierarchy. There are original Qataris, then from Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, then the westerners, then other Arabic people, then you have Bangladeshis, Indians… I am in the middle. That's why they thought it would be easy to make an example of me.' Ibhais says his treatment greatly eased once the tournament ended. He was even allowed to speak to his family for 15 minutes every week. When he was eventually free with them in March, it was 'like coming back to life'. 'I still feel I am in that moment. It still feels great.' *** There is another element to Ibhais' story. As a World Cup media manager, Ibhais had to deal with journalists like those at The Independent. He outlines how such a state handled such criticism, but also how it influenced him. 'I believed you were being racist,' Ibhais reveals. 'I believed that the US, the UK and Australia were just pissed off because they lost to Qatar.' If that sounds familiar to anyone who has followed the public discussions on 2022, what follows will be even more familiar. 'The whole media strategy that unfortunately I was part of is called 'drop by drop' – feeding a counter-message. We start by letting you say whatever you want, then plant the seeds of doubt. 'What if it's this? Or maybe this…?' 'Have you checked yourself?' 'How about you come and see for yourself?' 'So a journalist like you would say whatever he wants, but if you add a quote from us, we are part of the conversation. 'If someone critical gets an interview, it's only with top people highly trained with key messaging. 'At the same time, we generate as much positive content as possible. So, your content will appear, but also ours, and then we work on the search-engine optimisation to gradually rise step by step. 'We called it 'flip the pyramid'. And because English-speaking media were so critical, we bypassed them for other languages.' Ibhais smiles. 'I put that in place… and then suffered from it for a long time.' So what does Ibhais think about Saturday, and Qatar's PSG potentially becoming European champions? 'At this point, I don't care. Qatar is much more powerful. If I can hold them accountable for what they did to me, it will end there. It's a big fight and there's a lot going on in the world, Ukraine, Gaza… who cares about [Gianni] Infantino?' The final mention is instructive, as it indicates where much of his anger lies. 'Fifa should take most of the blame. They knew what they were getting into, but stood by it. Fifa's policies open the door for any future hosts to do the same as Qatar. They got away with it, and saw how all the negative attention in the world will not be able to touch them.' Ibhais hopes that can change through legal action, but his own story now has a positive note, at least. He can hug his family, just as he dreamed of in that Doha cell.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Abdullah Ibhais Speaks Out: 'FIFA And Qatar Got Away With It'
Abdullah Ibhais with a member of his family. He has spent more than three years in a Qatari prison. Abdullah Ibhais did not watch a single match of the 2022 World Cup. In a previous life, the tournament would have been the high point of his professional career, but languishing in a Qatari jail, Ibhais could not bear witnessing the four-week football extravaganza playing out in the Gulf nation. 'There was a television, a public one they brought out before the World Cup, a huge one,' Ibhais said in a telephone interview from Oslo. 'It was the single lowest moment. It felt like defeat. The Qataris had simply won. They got away with it and got their moment under the spotlight. Everyone looked the other way to see the beautiful game, regardless of the ugly truth behind it.' During his more than three-year imprisonment, Ibhais experienced many low points. He recounts: 'When I was on hunger strike, a guard took away the salt and he said that, 'my directions are not to save your life, you can die if you want. I only have one concern, one duty, and that is to silence you'.' In November 2021, Ibhais, then deputy communications director for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar's local organizing committee, was arrested over accusations of fraud involving a tender. He had, however, raised concerns about the treatment of workers, who had been working on the construction of the Al-Bayt Stadium and the Education City Stadium, two World Cup venues, and whose wages had not been paid for two months. Hassan Al Thawadi, the general secretary of the Supreme Committee, ordered that the story be spun. Ibhais always maintained his innocence. In March 2025, he was reunited with his family in Amman, Jordan, where he lives. He says he intends to sue his former employer, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, as well as FIFA. He explained: 'I will try to hold them accountable for what they did to me, of course, but I will also try to hold them accountable for their own guidelines. They say that they protect whistleblowers. They say that they care about human rights. They say that they defend human rights. They should be held accountable to their own guidelines and promises.' In 2022, Qatar staged the first World Cup in the Middle East, a tournament overshadowed by the plight of the migrant workers. Ibhais says that at first he was a 'devoted' employee, who believed Western media coverage of the Qatar World Cup was biased. But after witnessing the conditions of migrant workers firsthand his view changed. He explains: 'I was part of a propaganda machine that was only aimed at promoting Qatar, boosting its reputation in the international community. There was a huge campaign to promote Qatar as a beacon of progressive thinking and change in the region without having anyone questioning it.' 'I was part of a machine that was only focused on PR - not actual change because the first thing that came to their mind was how the media would react to this fact. They fired the workers immediately, not caring about how they would manage, not caring about rectifying their situation, not caring about them at all.' Ibhais, in part, blames Al Thawadi for his ordeal. He shared a letter sent by Al Thawadi to the Department of Combating Economic and Electronic Crimes authorizing Khalid Al Kubaisi to lodge a complaint against him. The high-ranking official was one of the public faces of the Qatar World Cup, alongside Nasser Al Khater, the tournament's CEO. In an interview with Piers Morgan, Al Thawadi estimated that 400-500 migrant workers had died due to work related to the World Cup, a number far higher than previously cited by organizers. Ibhais also criticizes the International Labour Organization (ILO) and FIFA for ignoring his plight. The ILO, a UN agency, worked with the Qatari government to improve conditions for workers but has been accused of whitewashing labor abuses after accepting $25 million of Qatari funding for its Doha-based office. He says: 'The ILO completely refused to acknowledge any of my correspondence. They never replied.' 'FIFA's head of human rights, Andreas Graf, replied after Adidas endorsed me. He asked me to provide documentation through the whistleblowing system. I did provide all the documentation he asked for and all I got was a letter through the whistleblower system saying that they will continue to monitor this with the Qatari government and make sure that I get a fair trial.' According to the United Nations, Ibhais never received a fair trial. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) found that his detention falls under three categories of arbitrary detention: detention lacking any legal basis; detention resulting from the exercise of peaceful expression of opinion, and non-observance of the international norms relating to the right to a fair trial. The UN body highlights that 'the only inculpatory piece of evidence presented at the trial was his coerced confession, extracted without the presence of an attorney.' Ibhais calls the trial 'a charade.' He recalls a series of incidents that show how his legal rights were violated: a printed confession, lack of access to a defense lawyer, threats of being disappeared, accusations of espionage and threats of a life sentence. While Zurich and the world have moved on from Qatar, Ibhais is trying to rebuild his life. FIFA awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia - a country where kafala, the infamous labor system that ties workers to employers, still applies. NGOs called the 'independent assessment' of the human rights policies by Saudi bidders 'flawed.' Ibhais sees history repeating itself. He rejects FIFA's and Qatar's claims that the kafala system was abolished. He says: 'It is absolutely false because - even after changing the law, you still cannot change jobs without getting your resignation approved by your employer. Qatari authorities have loosened the rules a little bit, but they still control the labor market. It didn't become Sweden or Norway or Switzerland. No, on the contrary, after the World Cup, they are reverting back to what it was before.' Looking ahead to the 2034 World Cup, he concludes: 'FIFA has a lot to think about when it comes to its human rights responsibility, and the fact that they actually are in control of something that holds value beyond its commercial value to them. The World Cup holds value in terms of its role and bringing change and promoting equality and human rights.' The State of Qatar, FIFA and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy did not respond to questions.
See - Sada Elbalad
4 days ago
- Sport
- See - Sada Elbalad
Salah Discusses Retirement, Saudi Move in Latest Interview
Rana Atef On Tuesday, Mohamed Salah said that he can play until he is 40 years old and is still in talks about a possible future move to the Saudi Pro League. Speaking to ON Sports, Salah said: "I will stop playing when I have that feeling. "If you ask me for my opinion, I think I can play until the age of 39 or 40 but if I felt before that I wanted to stop, I would quit. I have achieved a lot of things. "My contract was up at Liverpool and I would have gone to Saudi but we finalized the deal with Liverpool." Salah wins Premier League player of season award due to his impressive performance with the Reds leading them to the English Premier League title. He scored 186 Premier League goals for Liverpool and Chelsea and sits fifth on the all-time list - one goal behind former Newcastle and Manchester United striker Andrew Cole. The Egypt international has indicated he could still play in the Middle East after his contract with Liverpool expires in 2027. "I still have a good relationship with them and I always stay in contact with them. Yes, we were talking to each other," he added, with reference to clubs in Saudi. "I don't know what is going to happen but I am happy here in Liverpool and I am staying here for the next two years. Then I will see what I will do next." read more Japan Stun Spain 2-1 to Qualify for World Cup Last 16 World Cup 2022: Get to Know Confirmed Line-ups of Japan and Spain Group E Decider Saudi Arabia Bid Farewell to World Cup after 2-1 Loss to Mexico Tunisia Achieve Historic Win over France but Fail to Qualify Tunisia to Clash against France in World Cup Sports Get to Know Squad of Group D Teams in World Cup Sports Al Ahly Gift EGP 70,000 to Players After Claiming Egyptian Super Cup Title Sports Bencharki Hits First 2 Goals with Al Jazira Since Leaving Zamalek Sports Arsenal Possible Line-up for Nottingham Forest News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies
