عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Ronaldo's Hotel Official Denies Housing Morocco Quake Victims

File photo of a Pestana CR7 Hotel - REUTERS/Pedro Nunes
File photo of a Pestana CR7 Hotel - REUTERS/Pedro Nunes
TT
TT

Ronaldo's Hotel Official Denies Housing Morocco Quake Victims

File photo of a Pestana CR7 Hotel - REUTERS/Pedro Nunes
File photo of a Pestana CR7 Hotel - REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

The Pestana CR7 Marrakech hotel, a joint venture between Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and the Pestana Hotel Group, has not been turned into a shelter for victims of the Morocco earthquake despite contrary reports spreading online, a spokesperson for the hotel group has said.

“A Marrakesh hotel owned by Cristiano Ronaldo is offering shelter to victims of the earthquake in Morocco” reads one such post on Facebook with 27,000 reactions and 737 shares.

Since the CR7 Marrakech hotel “was not affected by the earthquake, it has received many guests who were staying in other hotels in different areas of the city, and were seeking new accommodation,” the Pestana Hotel Group said in an email to Reuters.

“It’s not accurate to say that the hotel is a shelter or is hosting refugees.”

The hotel’s website showed rooms available for booking on Sept. 14.

Pestana CR7 Lifestyle Hotels is a brand partnership agreed between Pestana Hotel Group chairman and owner Dionisio Pestana and Ronaldo in July 2016. The brand launched its Marrakech venture in 2018.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck 72 km southwest of Marrakech, Morocco, late on Sept. 8, 2023. Reuters reported that the earthquake was the deadliest in Morocco since 1960.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Leclerc Qualifies on Pole for Azerbaijan GP

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
TT
TT

Leclerc Qualifies on Pole for Azerbaijan GP

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco in action during a Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Charles Leclerc qualified on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Max Verstappen was sixth and Lando Norris only 17th on Saturday in a session that could have a big impact on the Formula 1 title race.
Ferrari's Leclerc, who won the last race in Italy, was fastest by .321 seconds from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. was third. Pole marked a dramatic turnaround for Leclerc, who crashed in the first practice session Friday.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend because (of) the crash in FP1, which didn’t make me lose confidence. I knew that the pace was there," Leclerc said. "But you’ve got to build back up to speed.”
Leclerc is on pole in Baku for the fourth year running, but he has yet to win the race, The Associated Press reported.
Norris was on what seemed to be a lap fast enough to progress from the first part of qualifying as one of the top 15. But he had to slow for a yellow flag that was apparently for Esteban Ocon's slow-moving Alpine. Norris' time from his first lap missed the 15th-place cutoff by .137 of a second.
“There was nothing I could do” about the yellow flag, Norris said. “Frustrating, but now we look ahead to tomorrow and see where we can maximize the result.”
Norris is second in the standings, 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining.
McLaren confirmed before the race weekend that it would favor Norris over Piastri to help his title challenge, with Norris suggesting the Australian would be asked to make way for him on track in some situations.
That almost certainly won't happen Sunday with 15 places separating the teammates in qualifying. Piastri is aiming to fight for a second career win.
“Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow,” he said.
Defending champion Verstappen, who hasn't won any of the last six races, seemed better in Baku but was sixth and said he'd clipped a curb at “the worst time it could have happened.” Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was fourth, beating Verstappen in qualifying for the first time all year.
Verstappen said the Red Bull was improved from the Italian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth, but questioned whether the team's attempts to refine the setup ahead of qualifying made things worse.
"On a street circuit you need to be comfortable and confident to be able to attack corners and it is harder to do this when the car is a bit more unpredictable," he said.
George Russell was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton seventh and Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin.
There was a bizarre incident in the final part of qualifying when Williams' Alex Albon stopped on his way out of the pits to remove a large piece of cooling equipment that the team left in his air intake. Albon qualified 10th and was facing an investigation from the stewards after the session.
Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto, in only his second F1 race weekend, was ninth in the best qualifying result for an Argentine driver in 42 years.
British teen Oliver Bearman, standing in at Haas for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, was 11th after recovering from a crash in the third practice Saturday morning.