AlUla to Host Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation Endurance Cup on Saturday

 Over 200 male and female riders will compete in the main race and accompanying events, covering a distance of 120 kilometers. - SPA
Over 200 male and female riders will compete in the main race and accompanying events, covering a distance of 120 kilometers. - SPA
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AlUla to Host Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation Endurance Cup on Saturday

 Over 200 male and female riders will compete in the main race and accompanying events, covering a distance of 120 kilometers. - SPA
Over 200 male and female riders will compete in the main race and accompanying events, covering a distance of 120 kilometers. - SPA

AlUla is set to host the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation Endurance Cup on Saturday at AlFursan Equestrian Village fields.

Over 200 male and female riders will compete in the main race and accompanying events, covering a distance of 120 kilometers.
The organizing committee, a collaboration between the Royal Commission for AlUla and the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation, has scheduled a veterinary examination for the participating horses today. The race will commence tomorrow, offering a total prize pool of SAR1.5 million, SPA reported.
This marks the fourth endurance race hosted by AlUla in the 2024-2025 season. AlUla will conclude its endurance racing season with the prestigious Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup in February 2025, widely recognized as the world's most expensive endurance race.



Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game Without Incident in Hungary

28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
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Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game Without Incident in Hungary

28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa

Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv's game against Besiktas in the Europa League was played without incident before empty stands in Hungary on Thursday, with the stadium closed to fans over security concerns following attacks on Israeli supporters in Amsterdam this month.
Maccabi won the game 3-1 on a cold and rainy evening in Debrecen, Hungary's second-largest city. Groups of police patrolled outside the stadium but security levels did not appear overwhelming in the city of around 200,000 residents, The Associated Press reported.
After the match, Maccabi coach Zarko Lazetic said playing in front of an empty stadium without fans is always a struggle for the team.
“We play football because of the fans, to give them some pleasure, some excite(ment) and to be together,” he said.
Israel’s soccer teams play domestic games at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But European soccer body UEFA has ruled that the war in Gaza means Israel cannot host international games.
The Thursday match was Maccabi’s first in Europe since its fans were assaulted in the Netherlands on Nov. 7 in attacks that were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Israel and across Europe.
Before that match in Amsterdam, a large crowd of Israeli fans chanted anti-Arab slogans, and later, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them, according to the city's mayor.
Five people were treated in hospitals and police detained dozens of people.
Even before the Amsterdam attacks, the European soccer body UEFA announced that Thursday’s Europa League match, originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul, would be moved to a neutral venue “following a decision by the Turkish authorities.”
Hungary, which has hosted several home games for Israel’s national team since the war in Gaza began, agreed to host the game.