jervoll yarinah leonel
Latarsha Dorrance
Jeddah: In collaboration with the Jeddah Swish Basketball Academy, the Saudi government has begun hosting the first ever women's basketball tournament in the country. The all-woman Saudi Basketball Tournament was held in conjunction with the Basketball Federation in Jeddah and Riyadh on January 22 and will end on March 3.
"The performance is not expected to be of any comparison to WNBA level, but still, it's just incredible to see these girls do what they do since they don't have existing face-to-face role models here that they can talk to and see when it comes to female sports," said Swish coach and CEO of the Jeddah Swish Academy, Mohannad Shobain.
Shobain opened the doors of his academy to make and female basketball players in 2017, following completion of his Master's from Cleveland University. He also plans to take the current crop of players to Europe this season to train them, according to a report by Arab News.
"I do see that there's a lot of skill, a lot of good talent, a lot of good potential. They just need the right training, the right equipment, and opportunity, such as this opportunity of playing in the Saudi Basketball Tournament to develop their game, gain experience, and influence others to love and start playing basketball," the Saudi Premier League champion and FIBA (International Basketball Federation) accredited coach said.
Dareen Sabban, 28, and Abrar Alghamri, 33, are two of the top-rated female basketball players in the Swish team, who both credited basketball for teaching them important life lessons and hoped that they could represent Saudi on an international sporting stage.
Sabban wishes to represent Saudi Arabia in basketball internationally and bring laurels to her country by winning championships and setting an example for future generations to take up the sport professionally. She was part of her university team at the first women's basketball tournament at Al-Johara for an event that was organized by the Ministry of Health and the General Sports Authority in 2021.
"We have taken the girls' team to Romania, Bucharest to play a three-on-three World Cup qualification tournament in 2019. We also took our boys team to Dubai once in 2018, and we've hosted the Saudi Kingdom Cup here in Jeddah in 2021," Shobain revealed.
Shobain said the Swish Academy provided impetus for female players who were "hungry" to learn to play, giving them programmes and training to grow and succeed. He is currently the only Saudi who is pursuing a FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate.
Sebastian Vettel. Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo. At least 3 legend - champion in 2 sports, F1 and Football / Soccer, already linkage, directly or indirectly, was received gigantic money from Saudi. Even Messi received not only from Saudi but also Qatar: Messi was playing to PSG, owned by Qatari. Messi is ambassador of Visit Saudi until today, and hours ago play for 2nd time to Inter Miami CF, a MLS Club.
Saudi has spent at least $6.3bn (4.9bn) in sports deals since early 2021, more than quadruple the previous amount spent over a six-year period, in what critics have labelled an effort to distract from its human rights record.
Saudi Arabia has deployed billions from its Public Investment Fund over the last two-and-a-half years, spending on sports at a scale that has completely changed professional golf and transformed the international transfer market for football.
Liverpool captain Jordan Brian Henderson is one of a handful of prominent male soccer players to have actively supported the LGBTQI+ community. But his move to Saudi Arabia leaves those in the community feeling let down. His move matters for a lot more reasons than hypocrisy. "Just at the moment where LGBTQI+ people may benefit from allyship, sport is rowing back and Henderson is just one encapsulation."
(Saudi Football / Soccer Player Farah Jefry maybe the most popular women athlete in the entire Middle East, and maybe 3rd Most Popular Muslim/Arab descent athlete women in the world after Tunisian - No. 2 in the world for Tennis Women Ons Jabeur and Austrian Football / Soccer player Sarah Zadrazil)
The $6.3bn investment is almost equivalent to the GDP of Montenegro or the island of Barbados. It dwarfs data compiled by Grant Liberty two years ago, estimating that Saudi Arabia spent $1.5bn in the period between 2014 and early 2021.
The purchase of Newcastle United in October 2021 by the PIF for $391m drew concerns from rights groups, notably Amnesty International, which criticised the club after leaked images showed changes to its away kit to match the colours of the Saudi national team.
The footballer Lionel Messi is reportedly paid an estimated $25m by the Saudi Arabian tourism authority for his promotion of the country, including posting about lavish trips on social media. He received an offer from Al Hilal of 350m but instead opted for the US MLS team Inter Miami CF.
The PIF has also made major investments that have upended golf, and now make Saudi Arabia perhaps the most influential force in the sport. In October 2021, the fund invested an estimated $2bn to create LIV golf, a major tournament.
In 2021, PIF invested in a $550m sponsorship of McLaren Group Ltd, a Bahraini-owned company based in Woking which is a major part of Formula One through its manufacture of racing cars. The $6.3bn figure, however, does not include the $40-45m which state-owned oil giant Aramco spends annually to sponsor Formula One, or other contracts signed prior to 2021 such as $65m to hold an annual Grand Prix in the kingdom. Saudi ARAMCO, the 6th biggest company on earth, until today sponsored F1 Aston Martin.
Shobain is the CEO of the Jeddah Swish Basketball Academy and one of the first Saudi coaches to train Saudi female basketball players. He is also a licensed coach from FIBA (International Basketball Federation), and is currently in the second year of pursuing his FIBA Europe Coaching Certificate, which will enable him to coach anywhere in the world.
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Saudi has spent at least $6.3bn (\u00A34.9bn) in sports deals since early 2021, more than quadruple the previous amount spent over a six-year period, in what critics have labelled an effort to distract from its human rights record.
Liverpool captain Jordan Brian Henderson is one of a handful of prominent male soccer players to have actively supported the LGBTQI+ community. But his move to Saudi Arabia leaves those in the community feeling let down. His move matters for a lot more reasons than hypocrisy. \\\"Just at the moment where LGBTQI+ people may benefit from allyship, sport is rowing back and Henderson is just one encapsulation.\\\"
Rights groups including Grant Liberty, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch term such spending \u201Csportswashing\u201D \u2013 bankrolling big-name sporting events in order to distract from a poor record on human rights.
\u201CPreviously, sports figures and brands had rejected offers to engage with Saudi Arabia due to its well-documented human rights abuses,\u201D said Grant Liberty. \u201CHowever, there has been a worrisome shift in moral stance, as lucrative deals are now being accepted despite the ongoing and deteriorating violations.\u201D
But the past two years have seen a shift in how the kingdom is regarded internationally. Joe Biden, who once promised to make Saudi Arabia a \u201Cpariah\u201D over the killing, travelled there last year, greeting the crown prince and de-facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, with a controversial fist bump.
Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund \u2013 one of the 10 largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with assets estimated at $700bn \u2013 as well as other state bodies including the tourism authority, all signed since 2021. The $6.3bn total figure is probably an underestimate of the true amount, as the PIF is notoriously opaque about its finances, and details of some deals are not made public.
Felix Jakens of Amnesty International said the choice \u201Cexposes the power of the Saudi dollar and the kingdom\u2019s determination to sportswash its brutal, blood-soaked human rights record\u201D.
A year later, the PIF stated its intention to spend $2.3bn on football sponsorships. This includes massive unspecified investments to buy majority stakes in four Saudi Arabian football teams. The four clubs have spent lavishly to attract players from around the world, particularly Al-Nassr, which signed star player Cristiano Ronaldo for a reported $200m annually, making him the world\u2019s highest paid athlete.
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