Source: BBC Sport
Security & Justice
Captured Hezbollah Operative May Have Been Israeli Double Agent, Report Suggests
The alleged senior Hezbollah operative abducted by Israeli special forces last week in Batroun may have been operating as a double agent, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Lebanon’s Probe into Israeli Raid Expected to Take Days as Security Officials Weigh Theories
Lebanese authorities are ramping up investigations into an Israeli commando raid last week in the northern coastal city of Batroun, during which Imad Amhaz, a Hezbollah official, was snatched.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Saturday 13 August 2022 11:17:12
World Cup 2022: Morocco Part Ways with Coach Vahid Halilhodzic Before Qatar Finals
Morocco have parted company with national team coach Vahid Halilhodzic just three months before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The country's football federation (FRMF) said the decision was taken because of disagreements on how to prepare the Atlas Lions for the finals.
"The two parties have agreed to part ways amicably," a statement from the FRMF said.
Halilhodzic, 69, took charge of the North Africans in August 2019.
He led the side to the quarter-finals of this year's Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon and then secured World Cup qualification in March following a 5-2 aggregate win over DR Congo.
The Bosnian's departure clears the path for the return of Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech to the Morocco squad, following a highly publicised spat involving the pair.
The 29-year-old quit international football in February and then turned down a call-up for March's World Cup play-off against DR Congo - but FMRF president Fouzi Lekjaa subsequently said the door was open for Ziyech to return.
Speculations about the future of the Halilhodzic had been rife in the local media after Lekjaa announced that Ziyech would be a part of the World Cup squad.
Morocco will face 2018 runners-up Croatia, Belgium and Canada in Group F at the World Cup finals in Qatar.
A third pre-World Cup exit
Halilhodzic's departure from the Morocco job marks the third time he has been fired by a country he helped qualify for the World Cup.
Ivory Coast and Japan both reached for the global showpiece under his charge - but he lost both jobs before the respective tournaments took place.
His dismissal by the Ivorians came after the Elephants fared poorly at the Nations Cup some six months before the 2010 World Cup, and he was replaced by Sven-Goran Eriksson.
The Japanese Football Association, meanwhile, cited "communication" problems and claimed Halilhodzic had lost the trust of his players when he was sacked two months before the 2018 tournament.
Former Nantes, Lille and Paris St-Germain manager Halilhodzic coached Algeria to the last 16 at the 2014 tournament in Brazil, where the North Africans lost 2-1 after extra time to eventual champions Germany.
Morocco will now seek to appoint a successor, with former international Walid Regragui, who led Wydad Casablanca to the African Champions League crown in May, among the candidates for the job.
