Arsenal Captain in Final Stages of Recovery from Injury after 2 Months Out

FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
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Arsenal Captain in Final Stages of Recovery from Injury after 2 Months Out

FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is in the final stages of his recovery from an ankle injury after nearly two months out, manager Mikel Arteta said Friday.
Arteta said Odegaard wouldn’t play against Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday but didn’t rule the midfielder out of the trip to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
“Now is the stage where he is going to do certain work with us. Let’s see how he deals with pain and if his movement is natural enough,” Arteta said.
“He’s physically now at the level required to compete. With the work rate and hours he has put in, I’d be surprised that the moment he starts training with us, he looks ready. Hopefully soon.”
Odegaard was injured playing for Norway in a Nations League group-stage match on Sept. 9 and Arsenal has missed his creativity and leadership. After collecting just one point from its last two games, Arsenal is in third place, five points behind leader Manchester City.
Arteta said left back Riccardo Calafiori would also miss the Newcastle game because of injury but fellow defender Gabriel will be in contention if he trains well on Friday.



Saudi Esports Federation President: We Seek to Establish the Kingdom as Global Hub for the Industry

Saudi Esports Federation President: We Seek to Establish the Kingdom as Global Hub for the Industry
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Saudi Esports Federation President: We Seek to Establish the Kingdom as Global Hub for the Industry

Saudi Esports Federation President: We Seek to Establish the Kingdom as Global Hub for the Industry

Saudi Esports Federation President Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz highlighted the strong connection between esports and traditional sports in terms of engagement, spectatorship, and participation.
Prince Faisal made these remarks during a plenary session titled "How Will Esports Create a New Global Olympic Arena" at the eighth Future Investment Initiative (FII8) conference, currently underway in Riyadh.
He also emphasized the importance of establishing key performance indicators to position Saudi Arabia as a global esports hub.
Prince Faisal stated: "We have a number of initiatives that contribute to facilitating dialogue between the public and private sectors and the growth of the businesses we seek. These include a company affiliated with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that leads our investments, a fund within the National Development Fund, and a federation that works with professional players in local competitions and competes in international competitions."

He emphasized the importance of establishing an esports authority to establish the national policy for esports.
The president of the Saudi Esports Federation discussed the growth of the esports sector and the integration of esports with artificial intelligence.