Category: Sports

Director General of the Cyprus Sports Organisation Mary Charalambous - Papamiltiades participated in the Meeting of EU directors-general for sport that took place in Stokholm 15 and 16 of June in the framework of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The main issues on the agenda included the ratification of the Macolin International Convention against the manipulation of sports competitions, the challenges of doping physical activity and health promotion and social inclusion in sport.

According to a press release, in her intervention, she referred to Cyprus' steps regarding the Macolin Convention and doping in recreational sports. She also spoke about physical activity programmes in Cyprus such as the Sports for All Program and the European Sports Week as well as sports programs of the Ministry of Health and Local Administrations. She pointed out that the CSO is in contact with the Ministry of Health in order to promote the prescription of exercise through the General Health System, as a measure to ensure the health of citizens.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Friday with Turkish Super Lig champions Galatasaray Sports Club's president Dursun Ozbek at Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul.

'President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the executives, coaching staff and players of Galatasaray Sports Club, who won the Spor Toto Super Lig, 2022-2023 championship at Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul,' the Turkish presidency tweeted.

Galatasaray finished the 2022 - 23 season with 88 points, eight points ahead of second-place Fenerbahce.

The Lions won their 23rd Turkish Super Lig title.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Türkiye's football team takes on Latvia in Riga on Friday in a crucial Euro 2024 qualifier. And they need to get their campaign back on track after losing to Croatia and Wales. From Latvia, Lance Santos reports on a must-win game for the visitors.

Source: TRTworld.com

The total prize money on offer at Wimbledon, tennis' oldest Grand Slam championship, has increased to a record £44.7 million ($56.52 million) this year. "The prize money on offer for tennis events this year (not including per diems) is an 11.2% increase on 2022 and a 17.1% increase on the pre-pandemic Championships in 2019," The All England Club said on Wimbledon.com. "The Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles champions and runners-up will receive £2,350,000 and £1,175,000 respectively," it added. The club also said the Qualifying Competition prize money fund received a 14.5% increase from last year and Main Draw Singles players losing in the first round will receive £55,000, a 10% increase from 2022. Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina were crowned singles champions in men's and women's singles respectively last year. The Wimbledon 2023 main draw gets underway on July 3, with the tennis event coming to an end with the men's singles final on July 16.

Source: Anadolu Agency

This year’s UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul was the second hosted by Türkiye following the famous 2005 final.

The 2005 Champions League final played between Liverpool and Milan at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium saw the miraculous comeback of Liverpool, which led to the event being named the “Miracle of Istanbul”. It is also considered one of the greatest finals in the history of the tournament.

Due to the Covid-19 postponements, the long awaited 2023 final was played between Manchester City and Milan on 10th of June in Istanbul.

Here’s why Istanbul presents a lively hub for football fans from all over the world and for any future bids to European tournaments in 2028 and 2032.

The security checks and management of the final event

A contingent of 15,000 security officers were deployed for the latest Champions League match.

Governor of Istanbul, Davut Gul, said, “there have been three to four months of preparations. All measures, especially regarding security, have been taken.”

During the event, UEFA’s security team worked seamlessly with host authorities, there were no strikes or public transport issues recorded in contrast to the 2022 Champions League final in Paris. The welcoming attitude of the Turkish police towards the fans was also noted.

According to the President of Türkiye Football Federation, Mehmet Büyükeksi, “we absolutely would like to win the bid because we see that our country is capable of organising such large-scale events successfully.”

Capacity of Atatürk Olympic Stadium

The stadium has a capacity of 72,000 seats and was recently renovated. With its modern facilities, fresh and contemporary outlook, the stadium has 134 entrances and 148 exit gates, which, in the case of emergency, allow spectators to evacuate within 7.5 minutes.

The Turkish Football Federation plans to rebuild and increase the capacity of the stadium for the next bids.

Transport networks

Istanbul’s transport network was well tested in the final match of 2023.

A dedicated metro line, with three connecting trains cut commuting time for the fans and provided the fastest and most direct route to the stadium.

On the day of the match, a free transport programme was in place. There were also free shuttle buses to help the fans move between the airports, city center and fan zones.

Istanbul Airport, ranked top-10 globally for its handling of international passengers, provided broad-based facilities to teams and fans as needed. To ease the arrival of fans, extra scheduled and non-scheduled flights and charter planes were accommodated from Italy and the UK.

Touristic spots and events organised for the fans

The ministry and the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency organised various events for the fans, through the platform of “Go Türkiye.”

Ahead of the match, fans enjoyed a four-day long “Champions Festival” at Yenikapi Event Space, in which different teams competed in 15-minute matches as part of the entertainment programme for football fans. Turkish football legends, Hamit Altintop, Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin, Semih Senturk and Okan Buruk also participated in the event.

Tom Nicholson, arriving in Istanbul for the final, said, "the event seems great. We just landed this morning (Thursday), so we’ve just come for a walk now. The people seem friendly. The weather seems nice."

A concert to express solidarity with the victims of February 6 earthquakes was the concluding event of the Champions Festival.

Gabriel Dodson, coming from the US, said, "the event's great. Everything's been perfect so far. I got here pretty easily. Everything's organised."

Before kick off fans had the chance to go around Taksim Square to see a giant model of the UEFA Champions League trophy that was put on display for the photo shoot on Thursday.

Istanbul as a new hub for international football tournaments

Turkish people’s enthusiasm for the tournament, in addition to the charm of Istanbul, provided a lively environment for football lovers from all around the world.

Istanbul’s position between Europe and Asia, and its importance in linking Europe to the Middle East and Africa, presents a positive aspect not only for logistics but also for the expansion of the European football market.

Istanbul, by previously hosting the 2019 UEFA Super Cup final, and more recently the 2023 Champions League final has proved that the city can be entrusted with the management of large-scale sporting events.

Türkiye is dedicated and has proved itself for the next bids of Euro 2028, Euro 2032 and 2030 World Cup. Büyükeksi says, “we believe that Turkey’s 85 million population, the stadiums we built over the last years and our investments in infrastructure are essential.”

Source: TRTworld.com

Cyprus' National Tennis Team is aiming for a place in Division B of the Davis Cup during the Group III qualifying matches of the European Zone to be held between 14 and 17 June at Herodotou Tennis Academy in Meneou, Larnaca district.

In statements after the draw today in Larnaca, the city's Deputy Mayor Iason Iasonides expressed his satisfaction for the presence in the city of athletes from seven countries who arrived to take part in the Davis Cup, adding that Larnaca is a destination not only for culture but also for sport, since sport is culture.

For his part, Vice President of the Cyprus Tennis Federation and President of the Famagusta Tennis Club Rodion Panayiotou said that Herodotus Academy will host the Davis Cup World Cup matches for the second time in the last two years, adding that Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and San Marino will be competing for three tickets at the promotion play-offs, while the players who will take part in the games are Petros Chrysochos, Menelaos Efstathiou, Eleftherios Neos, Sergis Kyratzis and Stylianos Christodoulou.

Moreover, Federal Coach of the Cyprus Men's and Women's National Team Demetris Herodotou said that this is the second time in the last three years that this event is held in the country and the last time Cyprus had very good results and expressed the hope to get one of the top three places.

"The Group matches start tomorrow at 10.30 am and will last 4-5 hours and will last until Friday. Once the teams are ranked, the final matches will be held to determine which teams will be promoted to the B division and which will be relegated to the D division", he added.

Herodotou said he expects a good outcome as the national team is well prepared, adding that the team also participated in the Games of the Small States of Europe last month in Malta, winning one gold, three bronze and one silver medal.

It is noted that Group A of the Davies Cup includes Estonia, San Marino and Montenegro, while Group B includes Cyprus, North Macedonia, Malta and Moldova.

All teams from the two groups will compete against each other and will be ranked according to their total points on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, while the final and the third-place match will be held on Saturday.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus quit Fenerbahce's late Sunday after the Istanbul team won the 2023 Turkish Cup.

"... As of today, I am not the head coach of Fenerbahce. I told this to our president a few weeks ago," Jesus said in a post-game press conference to bid farewell to Fenerbahce, where he spent a year.

On Sunday evening, Fenerbahce won the Ziraat Turkish Cup after beating Medipol Basaksehir 2-0.

The 68-year-old stated that he has already made his choice, informing the Fenerbahce president to seek a new head coach for the next season.

He thanked Fenerbahce chair Ali Koc for giving the Portuguese national an opportunity to coach the Istanbul club and also thanked the fans for their support during the 2022-23 season.

"It was important to win the Turkish Cup both for Fenerbahce's history and my career," Jesus said.

Fenerbahce previously won the Turkish Cup in 2013, and the club experienced a trophy drought for nine years after winning the Turkish Super Lig in 2014 and a Turkish Super Cup in the same year.

He also thanked the Turkish people for their unity and solidarity after the major earthquakes hit the country in February.

More than 50,000 people were killed in two powerful earthquakes that struck southern Trkiye on Feb. 6.

The 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude quakes that were centered in Kahramanmaras province affected more than 13 million people across 11 provinces.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the strong tremors that struck in less than 10 hours.

"... There has been a big tragedy in this country. I have seen how wonderful the Turkish people are. Emotional people. I hope we will see each other again," he said.

Fenerbahce hired him in 2022, but the club lost the Turkish top-tier Super Lig title to archrivals Galatasaray in late May, and during the 2022-23 season, Jesus' men lost derbies against Galatasaray twice (3-0 each) and Besiktas once (4-2 at home), a disappointing performance for the Yellow Canaries.

Jesus previously guided Benfica to the Portuguese league titles three times in 2010, 2014 and 2015, and during his term at Benfica, the Portuguese powerhouse were the 2013 UEFA Europa League runners-up after losing the final against Chelsea 2-1 in Amsterdam.

He won Portuguese League Cups and Super Cups with Benfica and Sporting.

Jesus led Brazil's Flamengo to win the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Serie A titles in 2019 and finished the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup as runners-up.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Istanbul Airport broke a world air traffic record Saturday with 1,594 take-offs and landings, thanks to the UEFA Champions League final, according to Trkiye's Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Additional scheduled and charter flights had an important role in the record, it said

Finalists Inter and Manchester City fans, who came by plane, caused a crowd at the airport.

While the arrival of the fans with scheduled flights continued, many non-scheduled planes departed from Italy and the UK landed at Istanbul Airport.

Private jets also carried passengers from different countries to Istanbul.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Istanbul is just hours away from hosting the pinnacle of European club football. Manchester City are heavy favourites heading into the Champions League final against Inter Milan, but as Talha Duman explains, the Turkish megacity is no stranger to an upset.

Source: TRTworld.com