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NEOM Named Main Partner of Spanish Super Cup

The logo of the Red Sea Development Company (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The logo of the Red Sea Development Company (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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NEOM Named Main Partner of Spanish Super Cup

The logo of the Red Sea Development Company (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The logo of the Red Sea Development Company (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Sport announced Wednesday that NEOM has been named as the main partner of the Spanish Super Cup, while the Red Sea Development Company will be the main tournament sponsor.

The event will take place in Riyadh during the period between January 12 and 16.

The four teams competing in the event are Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao according to the golden square system.

The knockout matches will be held on Jan 12 and 13, and the final match will take place on Jan 16.

The Kingdom first hosted the event in Jeddah. Real Madrid won the first staging of the competition in January 2020, which ended with Los Blancos winning on penalties in the final against city rivals Atletico.

Riyadh’s hosting of the Spanish Super Cup comes as part of the initiative to establish and host international sporting events, which fall under the "Quality of Life" program of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

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Coffee Lovers Find Grounds for Complaint at Australian Open

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)
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Coffee Lovers Find Grounds for Complaint at Australian Open

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2025 General view of people buying coffee outside the courts. (Reuters)

Melbourne prides itself on serving up the world's best coffee, but finding a hot brew at the Australian Open has proved a challenge for some of the tens of thousands of fans attending this year's Grand Slam tennis tournament.

Organizers have worked hard over the last decade to improve options for refreshment and an array of outlets at the Melbourne Park precinct.

Yet long queues face fans looking to indulge their passion for the city's favorite beverage at the 15 coffee stores Tennis Australia says dot the 40-hectare (99-acre) site.

"We need more coffee places open," said Katherine Wright, who has been coming to the tournament for the five years as she lined up for a hot drink near the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday.

"We are big coffee drinkers, especially Melburnians."

The Australian Open attracts more than 90,000 fans a day early on in the tournament, when ground passes are relatively cheap, offering the chance to watch main draw action on the outer courts.

Liz, another Melburnian, said she stood in line for half an hour for a cup of coffee on Sunday, when rain halted play for six hours on the outer courts.

"This is a well-established global event," she added. "You actually need to be providing better service to the consumer."

Melbourne imports about 30 tons of coffee beans a day, the Australian Science Education Research Association says, representing a surge of nearly eightfold over the past decade that is sufficient to brew 3 million cups of coffee.

For Malgorzata Halaba, a fan who came from Poland on Sunday for her second Australian Open, finding one of those 3 million cups was a must.

"It seems it took me a day and a half, and several kilometers of walking around the grounds, to find coffee," she said. "And jet-lagged as I am, coffee is a lifesaver."