Steven Gerrard Signs Extension as Coach of Saudi Arabia's Al-Ettifaq

Gerrard's extension will keep the Liverpool great in charge until 2027. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Gerrard's extension will keep the Liverpool great in charge until 2027. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Steven Gerrard Signs Extension as Coach of Saudi Arabia's Al-Ettifaq

Gerrard's extension will keep the Liverpool great in charge until 2027. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Gerrard's extension will keep the Liverpool great in charge until 2027. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Steven Gerrard signed a two-year extension as coach of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ettifaq.

Gerrard's extension will keep the Liverpool great in charge until 2027 and comes amid a tough season for Al-Ettifaq, which is winless in its last eight games in the Saudi Pro League.

“We knew at the beginning this was a big job and a challenging job,” Gerrard said in the club's announcement late Friday. “We had to put in place new infrastructure like building a new training ground in phases and building a new stadium. But a lot has been achieved.”

The former Aston Villa manager said he's hopeful of January additions to help the team, which has scored just three goals during its winless slide and is eighth in the standings.

“I understand where we are in the league, but I am very confident we will improve,” he said.

Gerrard, who retired in 2016 after an 18-year playing career, joined Al-Ettifaq last summer on a two-year contract. He had a successful stint as manager of Scottish club Rangers but was fired at Villa in October 2022 after less than a year at the helm.



Sinner Gets April Date at Sports Court for Appeal Hearing in Doping Case

Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Sinner Gets April Date at Sports Court for Appeal Hearing in Doping Case

Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)
Jannik Sinner of Team Italy is pictured after beating Alex de Minaur of Team Australia during their semi-final singles match between Italy and Australia at the Davis Cup Finals at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena arena in Malaga, southern Spain, on November 23, 2024. (AFP)

Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner will go to sport's highest court in April for the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal that seeks to ban him from the sport for at least one year.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday it scheduled a closed-doors hearing on April 16-17 at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CAS gave no timetable for a verdict, though the parties could request a fast-track decision before the French Open starts May 25.

WADA is challenging a decision last year by the International Tennis Integrity Agency not to suspend Sinner for what it judged was accidental contamination by a banned anabolic steroid last March. Sinner's explanation — that trace amounts of Clostebol in his doping sample was due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his own finger — was accepted.

Sinner won the US Open in September after details of his case were revealed. It had been kept confidential since April because Sinner successfully appealed against being provisionally banned from playing.

The 23-year-old Italian has faced skepticism from other players, including Novak Djokovic, who have suggested he got preferential treatment from tennis authorities.

The repeated questioning about the case has followed Sinner to Melbourne this week where he is preparing to defend his Australian Open title.

WADA has asked CAS to ban Sinner for between one and two years.