Alcaraz Hoping to Learn from Nadal at Paris Games

16 June 2024, United Kingdom, London: Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz attends a press conference on day two of the cinch Championships at The Queen's Club, London. (dpa)
16 June 2024, United Kingdom, London: Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz attends a press conference on day two of the cinch Championships at The Queen's Club, London. (dpa)
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Alcaraz Hoping to Learn from Nadal at Paris Games

16 June 2024, United Kingdom, London: Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz attends a press conference on day two of the cinch Championships at The Queen's Club, London. (dpa)
16 June 2024, United Kingdom, London: Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz attends a press conference on day two of the cinch Championships at The Queen's Club, London. (dpa)

World number two Carlos Alcaraz said he is looking forward to learning from 22-times Grand Slam champion Rafa Nadal when they pair up in the doubles at the Paris Olympics.

Three-times Grand Slam champion Alcaraz, 21, will return to Roland Garros for the singles and doubles at the Games after being crowned French Open champion there earlier this month.

Nadal won Olympic singles gold in 2008 and a doubles gold in 2016. The 38-year-old will be playing at the Games for a third time.

"I didn't expect to play doubles at the Olympic Games with Rafa," Alcaraz told reporters on Monday. "It is a unique moment for me but of course I am very happy about it. Let's see how it's going to be but it's going to be a great time.

"Honestly, I feel he is going to teach me how to deal with everything. I am the young guy who needs to grow up as a player, to grow up as a person as well.

"Of course it's going to be my first Olympic Games. Everything is new for me, so I hope to learn a lot from him."

Nadal is skipping Wimbledon in July in order to prepare for the Olympics while Alcaraz returns to action at the Queen's Club Championships in London later on Tuesday before starting his title defense at Wimbledon next month.

The Olympic tennis tournament runs from July 27 to Aug. 4.



FIFA Opts Not to Suspend Israel but Will Investigate Palestinian Claims of Discrimination

(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters  on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
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FIFA Opts Not to Suspend Israel but Will Investigate Palestinian Claims of Discrimination

(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters  on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
(FILES) A sign of FIFA is seen at the football's World governing body headquarters on December 17, 2015 in Zurich. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

FIFA stopped short of suspending the Israeli soccer federation on Thursday, but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian soccer officials.
A senior FIFA panel overseeing governance will separately investigate “the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine,” soccer’s governing body said after a meeting of its ruling Council.
The Palestinian soccer federation has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli soccer body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.
The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged FIFA to suspend Israel’s membership at a meeting in May.
The request to FIFA's congress in May also cited “international law violations" in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the soccer body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.
FIFA delayed making a decision in May until after a legal review scheduled for July, then pushed back the issue two more times until the meeting Thursday.
“The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
The latest process follows a pattern — under Infantino and his predecessor Sepp Blatter — of Palestinian requests for FIFA to uphold its legal statutes and the question then being steered toward ad hoc panels and other committees.
FIFA gave no timetable Thursday for the investigations it has not requested.