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Saudi Arabia Joins Unified Floorball Team in 2025 Winter World Games

Saudi flag (AAWSAT AR)
Saudi flag (AAWSAT AR)
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Saudi Arabia Joins Unified Floorball Team in 2025 Winter World Games

Saudi flag (AAWSAT AR)
Saudi flag (AAWSAT AR)

The draw for the participation of countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games, to be held in Torino, Italy on March 8, 2025, took place in Dubai on Wednesday.
The regional president of Special Olympics International, Engineer Ayman Abdel Wahab, and members of the regional presidency were present during the draw, SPA said on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia was selected to participate in the "Unified Floorball" team, in which players with intellectual disabilities and their peers without disabilities participate in the same team.
The draw was completed for the rest of the sports that the Olympics will showcase, including cross-country skiing, speed skating, snow running, dance sports, figure skating, and the team sport of floorball.
During the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, Saudi Arabia sent a delegation of 11 participants, including eight players who competed in snow running and speed skating.
They were among 289 participants from 16 countries, including the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Palestine, Qatar, Iran, and Oman. The Kingdom participated in four sports: floor hockey, speed skating, cross-country skiing, and snow running, among the seven sports held by the Olympics. The region also participated in the Youth Conference through a player and an escort.

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PSG Coach Faces Crucial Month in Fight for Champions League Survival

Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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PSG Coach Faces Crucial Month in Fight for Champions League Survival

Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Players of PSG celebrate their 3-0 victory over FC Salzburg at the end of a Champions League opening phase soccer match in Salzburg, Austria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

January could be a crucial month in determining Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique's future at the club.
While runaway league leader PSG is unbeaten in domestic competition heading into Sunday's Trophée des Champions (the French super cup) against Monaco, it is a far different story in the Champions League.
Three defeats in the new-look group format have left PSG in a perilous position, and the ambitious Qatari-backed club faces the threat of elimination.
With only two games remaining PSG is in a dismal 25th place out of 36 teams, with the bottom 12 all going out.
PSG next faces 2023 champion Manchester City at home on Jan. 22 before traveling to play German club Stuttgart the following week.
Those would already be tough games, but they are made even more difficult given the fact that City and Stuttgart are similarly in danger and need victories. City is one point ahead of PSG with eight points and Stuttgart is level on seven.
Stuttgart's penultimate game is against Slovan Bratislava — which has lost all six matches so far and conceded 21 goals — and so victory there would put it ahead of PSG going into the final round, if Enrique's side fails to beat City.
City is struggling to defend its Premier League title and European success could prove coach Pep Guardiola's salvation, so the PSG game is massive for the club.
Defeat may prove costly for Enrique, who is PSG's eighth manager since Qatari investors QSI bought the club in 2011. In that time, Carlo Ancelotti is the only coach not to be sacked, leaving for Real Madrid in 2013.
The hire-and-fire approach is unlikely to spare Enrique if he suffers the crushing humiliation of being knocked out of the new giant group-stage format of the Champions League — where eight sides qualify directly and 16 reach the knockout phase playoffs.
Modest Lille and tournament newcomers Brest are both in the top eight while 2004 runner-up Monaco is 16th, leaving PSG last among the French clubs.
Whatever PSG achieves in France — with the Ligue 1 and French Cup double a possibility — Enrique will be judged on what happens in Europe's elite competition.