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Injured Neymar Set to Miss Start of Next Saudi Season 

Neymar. (AP)
Neymar. (AP)
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Injured Neymar Set to Miss Start of Next Saudi Season 

Neymar. (AP)
Neymar. (AP)

Neymar is set to miss the start of the next Saudi Pro League season as he recovers from a serious knee injury, Al Hilal's coach said Tuesday.

The Brazilian attacker suffered the injury in October and missed much of the current campaign, but Al Hilal still won the league for a record-extending 19th time earlier this month.

The Saudi league traditionally starts in August and the former Barcelona and PSG star will also miss next month's Copa America.

"All I know now is that the time given to Neymar to recover and with similar injuries it is approximately from 10 to 11 months," Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus told reporters in Riyadh.

"If we calculate mathematically, he will not be ready at the beginning of pre-season training," added Jesus, whose champions have two games left in the current league campaign.

The 32-year-old Neymar had surgery in Brazil in November for a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus damage.

He was stretchered off in tears during Brazil's 2-0 loss to Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier in October after colliding with an opponent.

Neymar was ringside to see Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury to win boxing's first undisputed world heavyweight championship in 25 years in Riyadh on Sunday.

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South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
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South Korea Expresses Regret after Its Athletes Introduced as North Korea at Opening Ceremony

Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)
Athletes of South Korea travel by boat along the Seine river during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP)

South Korea expressed regret that its delegation of athletes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organizers the mistake will not happen again.

As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine, the announcer introduced them as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" - the official name of North Korea - in French and English.

The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.

South Korea's vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, had requested a meeting with International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach, the ministry said in a statement.

"We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games when the athletes of the Republic of Korea were entering," it said.

South Korea's National Olympic Committee immediately referred the incident to the Games' organizers and requested that the error will not be repeated.

South Korea's delegation includes 143 athletes competing in 21 events. North Korea, which is returning to the Games for the first time since Rio 2016, has sent 16 athletes.