Qatar Sport

DOHA: Al Shamal officially signed Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez yesterday, with the experienced winger joining the Qatar Stars League club for the ongoing season. Mahrez signed his contract in the presence of Al Shamal football department head Meshaal Al Ali after arriving in Doha last week to complete the move. The 35-year-old has joined Al Shamal’s training sessions as David Prats’ side prepare for their upcoming domestic and continental commitments, including the AFC Champions League. Al Shamal are fifth in the Qatar Stars League with eight points. They finished runners-up last season and are seeking to strengthen their squad following a cruciate ligament injury to Morocco international Mohamed Rabie Hrimat. Mahrez brings extensive experience from his spells at Leicester City, Manchester City and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli. He played a key role in Leicester’s historic Premier League title triumph in 2016 before joining Manchester City, where he won four Premier League titles and helped the club secure the UEFA Champions League in 2023. He moved to Al Ahli in 2023 and helped the Saudi club win the AFC Champions League Elite in 2025 and 2026. At the international level, Mahrez was a key member of Algeria’s squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2019. He has also represented his country at the 2014 and 2026 FIFA World Cups.

Rally

Paris: Rwanda will host Africa’s first Formula One Grand Prix since 1993 in “the early 2030s” after the circuit announced a decade-long deal with the country yesterday. The East African nation has been chasing a Grand Prix race for years, having already used football, basketball and other sports to enhance its image and attract investment. President Paul Kagame formally announced the bid when Rwanda hosted a gathering of the FIA in December 2024. The last time an F1 race was held in Africa was the 33rd South African Grand Prix, won by Alain Prost 33 years ago. The first African Grand Prix in Rwanda will take place “once a new purpose-built circuit in Bugesera, Rwanda, has been completed”, F1 said in a statement. “Today is a landmark moment for Formula One,” F1 president Stefano Domenicali added. “With Rwanda joining the calendar from the next decade, our sport will race in every inhabited continent, bringing the world championship closer than ever to fans around the globe. “Africa has always been part of Formula One’s future, and from the beginning we were determined to return in the right way, with the right partner, a long-term commitment and a clear vision for creating meaningful impact.” A landlocked country still widely associated with a horrific genocide in 1994, Rwanda has used sports to revamp its image, attract tourists and impress investors with its organisational efficiency. It has spent lavishly on football sponsorship deals with clubs including Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, partnered with the NBA to be the main hub of its African basketball league, and hosted last year’s cycling world championships. Today belongs to Africa Critics have called this “sports-washing” -- using glitzy events to distract from accusations of serious human rights abuses, including a brutal crackdown on any opposition or dissent. Others see that as Western hypocrisy, arguing that no one described this year’s World Cup in the United States as “sports-washing”, despite the country’s rights abuses. “Today belongs to Africa,” said Kagame. “For more than three decades, the world’s premier motorsport championship has raced without this continent, and that changes with this agreement.” The announcement will delight one of F1’s biggest stars, Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion has long called for an African stop on the F1 circuit, backing Rwanda’s plans in 2024 and calling the country “one of my favourite places”. South Africa had also been bidding to host an F1 race, and its sports minister emphasised last week that it should not be ruled out. “(Rwanda) have worked on it longer than (South Africa) and deserve it,” South Africa’s sports minister Gayton McKenzie posted on X last Thursday after the expected Rwanda deal was reported. “Remember though that one country, Italy, has had two F1s a year, and some react like a continent of 55 countries can only get one.” He predicted that “SA will get F1, even before 2030.”

Football

Rome: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said yesterday he has faith in officiating in Spain and in Europe despite his heavy criticisms of them this season. Mourinho refused to take part in his obligatory post-match press conference on Saturday after Real Madrid beat Villarreal 1-0 in La Liga, in protest a decision to rule out a goal scored by Vinicius Junior and then send off the Brazil international for hair-pulling. After a league derby defeat against Atletico Madrid, Mourinho brandished printed pictures of challenges in the game he thought the Rojiblancos should have been punished for. However ahead of today’s Champions League clash at Roma, Mourinho tried to avoid controversy. “I trust all the referees... whether it’s the league or Champions League, before the game I always have the best feelings about the referees,” Mourinho told reporters. “I have confidence and I hope everything goes well for all three teams (both sides and the officials) -- I don’t have any negative feelings.” Mourinho said he might expand more on the subject when back in the Spanish capital. “There are Italian media here that are more interested in the match than in that kind of thing,” added the veteran coach. “You’ll have me (speaking) again on Saturday, I think it’s best if we move on to something else.” Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, also speaking before the Roma clash, said the squad was not happy with calls that had gone against them. “I don’t want to speak about the referees... right now we have a lot of frustration with the decisions,” said Tchouameni. Mourinho, 63, led Roma between 2021-2024, winning the Conference League with the Italian side in 2022 and finishing runners-up in the Europa League the following year. Mourinho said Roma fans were “special people” and looked back fondly on his days in the city. “It’s not as if we won the Champions League... but we did win a European competition, we played a second European final in two years, and I think everything came together,” added Mourinho.