CAIRO: Egypt were virtually ousted from the Handball World Championship after slumping to an embarrassing 18-31 loss to Spain on Wednesday. Spain were clearly superior throughout the match. They took advantage of Egypt’s recurring blunders to ease to victory. France and Spain went through from Group A while Germany and Tunisia will be vying with …

CAIRO: Ahly boss Manuel Jose is likely to turn to Sherif Abdul-Fadil as a replacement for suspended sweeper Hossam Ghaly in the upcoming league match against MCDR. Abdul-Fadil, a natural center-half or right-back, moved to the sweeper position in Ahly’s pre-match practice on Thursday morning. After making his comeback last month, Jose implied that he …

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Switzerland’s supreme court ordered Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary on Wednesday to pay FIFA 12,000 Swiss francs ($12,500) in legal costs over his failed appeal against a ban for breaking his contract. The Swiss Federal Tribunal said El Hadary must also pay court costs of 10,000 Swiss francs, in addition to $796,500 compensation …

CAIRO: Ismaili-bound striker Alex Asamoah is relishing the prospect of joining the coastal club after being told that Dervishes style of play resembles that of Barcelona. The Asante Kotoko ace, who was also targeted by Zamalek, chose Ismaili over the Cairo giants following some advice by fellow Ghanaians in the Egyptian Premier League. “I was …

Wasla Contact Center entered into a joint venture with Atelka, a Canadian telecommunications and contact center management company, to provide Business Process Outsourcing services to clients and consumers in Egypt, Canada and Saudi Arabia. “By sharing and leveraging on both companies’ infrastructures and expertise in the information technology, this agreement will give us a unique …

CAIRO: Title holders Egypt have fired a 17-goal warning to South Africa ahead of a crucial 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier during March. The Pharaohs won the first Nile Basin Cup tournament with a 3-1 win over Uganda Monday after hitting the net 14 times in four matches en route to the Cairo climax. Striker …

PARIS: An embarrassed France is scrambling to protect its position as the dominant Western influence in the Maghreb after a last-minute ditching of the iron-fisted Tunisian ruler it backed for 23 years. Paris was caught off guard by the speed with which a build-up of protests brought down Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, an ally for …

CAIRO: Ahly’s Algerian starlet Amir Sayoud is willing to channel his frustration into hard work, following a private talk with manager Manuel Jose. Sayoud was among a handful of names to miss out on Ahly’s preliminary Champions League squad, casting doubts around his future with the Cairo club. However, it seems that the 20-year-old still …

CAIRO: Ahmed Hassan’s exclusion from Ahly’s provisional Champions League squad is by no means an indication for his exit, but Francis Doe could is one player who could be soon offload, says the club’s transfer guru Adli Al-Qaeyi. Egypt skipper Hassan, who runs out of contract by the end of the season, has been surprisingly …

LONDON: The World Series squash finals may be cancelled after wind stopped play before Nick Matthew, the world champion from England, and Amr Shabana, the four times former world champion from Egypt, could get on court for their showdown. A temporary court at the famous Queen’s club in Kensington was torn open by overnight gales …

CAIRO: Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray didn’t rule out the possibility of having Mido back at the Riverside but stressed that Boro could only offer the Egyptian striker a cut-price deal. Mido surprisingly returned to the English minnows a couple of days ago after terminating his contract with Ajax Amsterdam due to lack of first-team opportunities. …

CAIRO: Merreikh boss Hossam Al-Badri accused an anonymous person of tarnishing his image while he was in charge of Ahly, saying one of his then assistants turned the Cairo club’s fans against him. Al-Badri resigned as the Red Devils manager after November’s 3-1 league defeat at Ismaili, citing ‘unbearable pressure’ from the supporters as a …

BARCELONA: Argentine star Lionel Messi on Thursday dismissed talk that defeating his Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi in the race for the Ballon d’Or had strained his relationship with the Spanish pair. "I don’t care what people say. I have the respect and the recognition of my team mates. All my colleagues congratulated me …

DOHA: Syria coach Tita Valeriu is confident his surprise-package team can secure a quarter-final spot at the Asian Cup for the first time despite being beaten by Japan. The Syrians face Jordan in their must-win final Group B game on Monday. "We actually played all attacking football and we were looking for the three points," …

LONDON: Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam on Friday ruled out shifting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter or staging tournament matches around the Gulf region. Bin Hammam told Sky News in an interview that he was "unimpressed" by suggestions from FIFA President Sepp Blatter that the tournament could be moved to a …

CAIRO: Zamalek are in talks with second-division Olympic over the transfer of goalkeeper Mahmoud Abdul-Rahim ‘Gennesh’ to the Cairo club this winter. “I will travel to Alexandria to negotiate the move and I think we could reach a final agreement by next week,” Zamalek chairman Galal Ibrahim told FilGoal.com. According to widespread reports, Olympic are …

CAIRO: Free agent Mido surprisingly returned to Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park headquarters, where he will be training for a while. The Egyptian nomad, who turns 28 next month, has been without a club since terminating his contract with Ajax Amsterdam last week due to lack of first-team opportunities. Boro manager Tony Mowbray allowed Mido to train …

CAIRO: The African Football Confederation has fined Tunisian club Esperance $52,000 and suspended player Ayman Ben Amor for six matches following trouble at the African Champions League final in November. Esperance was also ordered to play two matches behind closed doors, while Amor was handed a $10,000 fine. Congolese club TP Mazembe, which won the …

CAIRO: Ahly striker Mohamed Fadl has once again sustained a hamstring injury to become a major doubt for the next league game with MCDR, the Cairo club said. The 30-year-old missed last month’s Cairo derby against Zamalek after aggravating the injury in a 1-1 draw with Arab Contractors. He is now expected to resume full …

CAIRO: Mohamed Abou-Trika’s public support of Shikabala could finally ease crowd pressure on the Zamalek star. In a short and rare telephone interview with Al-Hayat TV, Abou-Trika described Shikabala, 24, as one of the most skilled players in Egypt. "He will play a big role with the national team in the near future," said the …

ZURICH: World champion Spain still leads the FIFA rankings, and 2022 World Cup host Qatar was the biggest climber in the standings. Spain heads beaten finalist the Netherlands and Germany, then Brazil and Argentina fill out an unchanged top five. The only top-30 move sees Croatia rise one to No. 9 in a swap with …

CAIRO: Egypt coach Hassan Shehata has all of his men available for Tuesday’s Nile Basin tournament match with Brundi after Shikabala and Hossam Ghaly shook off respective injuries. Zamalek forward Shika missed last weekend’s 1-0 win over Uganda through a hamstring strain. Ahli’s holding midfielder Ghaly missed the Pharaohs’ previous two matches in the friendly …

CAIRO: Gaish gave their loanee Ayman Hefni permission to feature for his parent club MCDR against Ahly in the Egyptian Premier League. The rising star moved to Gaish from MCDR on a loan basis for a season and a half starting this month. However, the Military side allowed him to take part in MCDR’s match …

LONDON: Ramy Ashour hopes to have recovered well enough from injury to atone for the theft of his world title dream by Nick Matthew when the 2010 tour’s leading players begin the PSA World Series finals at Queens Club on Tuesday. The charismatic Egyptian called it the biggest disappointment of his career when forced to …

CAIRO: Kenyan club Ulinzi Stars will be without captain Stephen Ocholla when they play Zamalek in the African Champions League later in January. Ocholla has been injured in December, when Kenya played Ethiopia at the Cecafa Senior Challenge event. He suffered a thigh strain that was supposed to sideline him for up to four weeks, …

  CAIRO: Essam Al-Hadari is in contention to be selected for Egypt’s crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa, according to goalkeeping coach Ahmed Soliman. Al-Hadari, who recently joined Merreikh from Zamalek, will see his four-month ban come to an end by the start of the new season in Sudan next month. After …

COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s football association says Egypt has withdrawn an invitation to the Danish Under-21 team to train in Cairo, citing security concerns. Danish association spokesman Lars Behrendt says the Egyptian federation "could not guarantee" the Danes’ security in the midst of persistent anger among some Muslim groups over Danish newspapers’ publication of cartoons depicting Prophet …

EAST LONDON: Branden Grace holed a 9-iron approach at the 18th hole to get within a shot of Brandon Pieters for the Africa Open lead after Thursday’s partially completed first round. Grace’s eagle lifted him to 6-under 67, with Pieters’ early 66 holding up when play was halted with 24 players still on the course …

KAPALUA: Another PGA Tour season got under way at Kapalua with chatter about who and what was missing at the Tournament of Champions, only this time it didn’t involve Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. Significant this year was the absence of Geoff Ogivly, the first defending champion in 50 years to not play in this …

HONG KONG: Venus Williams lost to second-ranked Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday at the Hong Kong Classic exhibition tournament in her first match since the US Open. Williams was sidelined with a left knee injury for the last part of the 2010 season and is using the tournament as her only warm-up for the …