History has been made in Saudi Arabia. On Friday, women in the country were, for the first time, allowed to attend a soccer match.
Wearing scarves and waving flags, female football fans watched Al-Ahli versus Al-Batin at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah, a city in the west of the country.
The female football fans had to enter the stadium through designated turnstiles for women and families, and watched the match in sections made available specifically for women not accompanied by a male family member.
Unaccompanied adult women are now permitted to enter stadiums in the three major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
It’s been reported that the rest of the country’s football grounds will be ready for female fans by the beginning of next season. Stadiums will also have separate cafe and prayer rooms for women.
Court controversy in Melbourne
Elsewhere, the row that threatens to overshadow the Australian Open tennis tournament has taken a further twist.
Following previous uproar over former champion Margaret Court’s controversial comments on homosexuality, US tennis legend Billie Jean King has joined calls for the Margaret Court Arena at Aussie Open venue Melbourne Park to be renamed.
King, who won 12 grand slam singles titles and faced 11-time Australian Open champion Court in the 1969 Aussie Open final, told reporters in Melbourne the name of the court should be reconsidered.
“I was fine until she said lately so many derogatory things about my community. I’m a gay woman … that really went deep in my heart and soul,” said former world No. 1 King.
Bird looks to build on flying start
After a helter-skelter two races in Hong Kong, Formula E returns for round three of the 2017-18 Formula E championship in Marrakech on Saturday. Hurrah, say we.
Britain’s DS Virgin Racing racer Sam Bird tops the drivers’ standings following two impressive performances (1st and 5th) at the Central Harborfront Circuit.
“Who would have expected us to dominate the first race like we did?” Bird, who came to visit us on his birthday, told CNN’s World Sport.
“To get some good numbers on the board takes a bit of pressure off … hopefully we can back up the Hong Kong results with another great one in Marrakech and then Santiago and Punta del Este.”
Read our full interview with Bird here
Surf’s up!
A round of applause for Levi Silver, please. He’s more at home riding mountainous waves, but Siver lugged his gear uphill and became the first person to windsurf down an actual mountain.
The 37-year-old took his board and sail to Rishiri Island in Hokkaido and filmed his unprecedented descent.
It was a project that had been five years in the making and took 20 days to shoot. Luckily, we have some footage.
“The idea for this project stemmed from the vision that we could transfer the elements of windsurfing onto a mountain and create the same exhilarating experience the surfer gets on the water,” said Silver.
The NBA hits London
Celebrities and stars from the sporting world turned out in their droves as the NBA treated London to US basketball’s full razzmatazz Thursday.
Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, Olympic cycling champion Sir Bradley Wiggins and stars from Premier League teams such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Crystal Palace watched as the Boston Celtics overhauled a 22-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-103 at the O2 Arena.
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