Sport

Russia, Belarus athletes may face Paris 2024 Olympic ban: IOC

Published

4 years ago

July 12, 2022

Athletes from Russia and Belarus may not be allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Games over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Craig Reedie said.

The IOC issued guidance to sports governing bodies in February to remove the two countries’ athletes from competition, Reuters reported. Belarus has been used as a staging ground for Russia’s invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.

“A decision is going to have to be taken on what happens to each of these two countries, and my guess is that the general feeling would be that they should not qualify,” former IOC vice-president Reedie told British media.

“Most people are struggling with how we could achieve some degree of representation, but at the moment, there is no clear way to do it. Therefore, you maintain the status quo.”

Athletes will miss qualification events for Paris as a result of the measures, and IOC President Thomas Bach said in May that Russia’s participation was unclear.

It has, however, not sanctioned or banned Russian members who sit on the IOC from taking part in Olympic meetings and has also not sanctioned the Russian Olympic Committee, Reuters reported.

Of the sports on the Olympic program, only cycling, tennis and judo have allowed Russians and Belarusians to continue to compete but Reedie said he doubted even athletes from those sports would be permitted to participate in qualifying events.

Reedie, former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), said it would be unrealistic to allow athletes to enter qualifying competitions once they have begun.

“It’s quite difficult halfway through to say, ‘All of you who have now qualified we’ve changed the rules’,” Reedie said.

“So there’s a real issue for the federations, who have a clear instruction which they’ve agreed to that they won’t invite Russians and Belarusians to take part in events.

“On the face of it, it’s unlikely that anybody would qualify other than those three sports which don’t do it that way. And will they be able to qualify (from those three sports)? I’m not sure.”

A Russian doping scandal, involving revelations of a state-backed system across many sports, following the Sochi 2014 Olympics led to Russian athletes competing as neutrals at the Games as part of IOC sanctions.

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Omar Zawak thrash Istiqlal Kabul 5-1 in ACL

Published

7 hours ago

November 10, 2026

Ariana News

Omar Zawak secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over Istiqlal Kabul in the 80th match of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League Roshan, delivering an impressive attacking performance.

The match was played in Kabul on Tuesday. Both teams struggled to find the back of the net in the first half, which ended goalless.

However, Omar Zawak stepped up their attacking efforts in the second half, scoring five goals to take control of the match. Istiqlal Kabul managed to score just once as Omar Zawak sealed a convincing 5-1 victory.

Omar Zawak will face Ariana Khost in their next match on November 12, while Istiqlal Kabul will take on Aino Mina Kandahar on the same day.

All matches of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League are broadcast live on Ariana Television.

Sport

First Test between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe ends in a draw

Published

1 day ago

November 9, 2026

Ariana News

Zimbabwe produced a remarkable batting display to secure a draw against Afghanistan in the first Test in Sharjah, with Craig Ervine and Wessly Madhevere scoring unbeaten centuries on the final day.

Resuming the fifth and final day at 164/3, Zimbabwe finished on 523/5 in their second innings, following their first-innings total of 504. This marked the first time in Test cricket history that a team has scored more than 500 runs in both innings of a match.

Craig Ervine remained unbeaten on 206, while Madhevere scored 100 not out, as the pair frustrated Afghanistan’s bowlers throughout the day.

Ervine, aged 41 years and 82 days, became the third-oldest player to score a double century in Test cricket.

Afghanistan had posted 514 in their first innings. Afghanistan needed early wickets to put pressure on the hosts, but Zimbabwe’s batters showed patience and discipline on a pitch offering little assistance to the bowlers.

Brian Bennett scored a half-century before Mohammad Saleem dismissed him, while debutant Antum Naqvi contributed 61 runs. Naqvi and Ervine shared a 140-run partnership before Abdul Malik broke the stand.

However, Madhevere joined Ervine and the pair put together an unbeaten 208-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the highest for that wicket in Zimbabwe’s Test history. Madhevere also registered his maiden Test century during the partnership.

The result leaves the two sides level heading into the second and final Test, which is scheduled to begin in Sharjah on November 13.

Sport

Portugal beat Afghanistan 2-0 in Dakar Youth Olympics futsal semi-finals

Published

1 day ago

November 9, 2026

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s Under-18 futsal team missed out on a place in the gold medal match at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Portugal in the semi-finals on Monday.

Portugal took the lead through Joao Carvalho, who capitalised on a goalkeeping error by Afghanistan’s Ahmad Esmaeili to score into an unguarded net from inside his own half.

Diego Ferreira doubled Portugal’s advantage before half-time, putting the European side firmly in control of the match.

Afghanistan pushed hard to get back into the game in the second half, creating several opportunities to reduce the deficit. However, they were unable to find the net, with Portugal goalkeeper Bernardo Borges making several important saves.

The victory sends Portugal into the gold medal match, while Afghanistan will now compete for the bronze medal at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.