Football’s Asian Cup, hosted by Saudi Arabia, could be moved back a year to 2028 following a series of attacks on the country by Yemen’s Houthis.

The continental tournament will be rescheduled “if we need to” but the organisers are in “no hurry” to make a decision, Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said on Thursday.

The 2027 Asian Cup is supposed to kick off on January 7 in the Saudi cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and al-Khobar.

The kingdom has in recent days come under sustained attack in a dramatic escalation from the Houthis.

“We can wait until the end of November,” Al Khalifa told reporters in Zurich on Wednesday about a decision on the fate of the Asian Cup.

“Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region, and it is a question of seeing what happens,” he added.

“If we need to make a decision then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to.

“But at the moment we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr saw their Asian Champions League match delayed  by an hour on Monday after Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence said it had intercepted a missile fired towards Riyadh.

Three matches in Saudi domestic football,  including one involving Al-Nassr, were postponed this week.

(Aljazeera)

All Island Schools Games Athletics Championships

by Reemus Fernando

‎The Under 18 boys’ shot put meet record will be under severe threat today, when the most talked-about thrower of the last All Island Schools Games Athletics Championships takes to the field on the opening day at Diyagama.

‎Mayon Rajasinghe, now competing for his third school in four years, has shown steady progress this season and appears to be peaking at the right time to attempt another record-breaking performance on the junior circuit.

‎Having recently set a new meet record of 17.31m at the Western Province Schools Games, Mayon will now try to surpass the All Island Schools Games Under 18 record of 17.15m.

‎The first two age-category records in the Games’ shot put event already bear his name. He set the current Under 14 record of 15.13m while representing Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa. Last year, while attending St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road, he shattered the Under 16 meet record with a throw of 18.57m using the 4kg shot. It is the furthest any Sri Lankan has thrown in the Under 16 category at any meet, from the Junior National Championships to the Sir John Tarbat Senior Championships to the Schools Games.

‎Yet the outstanding performance did not receive the recognition it deserved. His father, who also trains him, was adamant that the then 16-year-old deserved the meet’s Best Athlete title. The organisers disagreed, citing the differing weights of implements across age categories as their reason for setting the performance aside. No clear criteria had been announced before the meet, which made such disappointment all but inevitable. Senior Rajasinghe’s outburst after the presentation ceremony, and the social media backlash that followed, have had an effect: the Ministry of Education has now published criteria for selecting the meet’s best athlete. However, it remains doubtful whether the criteria in the competition manual can offer athletes in different age categories and disciplines an equal opportunity to have their performances assessed fairly.

‎This year Mayon represents Holy Cross College, Kalutara. He has picked up where he left off last year, breaking record after record, and is poised to make an impact once again.

‎The championship begins with a card of eight finals. Around 5,000 athletes in the Under 14, 16, 18 and 20 age categories, representing all nine provinces, will take part in the five-day event after qualifying through house, divisional, zonal and provincial competitions.