Arabie saoudite : la Fédération condamne les chants visant Neves sur …

La polémique prend de l’ampleur en Arabie saoudite. Au lendemain de la rencontre entre Al-Taawoun et Al-Hilal, la Fédération saoudienne de football et la Saudi Pro League ont condamné des chants de supporters visant Ruben Neves et faisant référence au décès de son ancien coéquipier et ami, Diogo Jota. Des faits jugés « inacceptables » par les instances, alors que le milieu portugais et plusieurs personnalités du football ont vivement réagi.

Ruben Neves directement visé

Les chants entendus dans les tribunes ont pris pour cible Ruben Neves en faisant référence à la disparition de Diogo Jota, décédé tragiquement à seulement 28 ans en juillet 2025. Une provocation particulièrement douloureuse pour le joueur d’Al-Hilal, qui avait partagé le vestiaire avec l’attaquant portugais et entretenait une relation très proche avec lui. fishroad-app.com

Après la rencontre, Neves n’a pas caché sa colère face à cet épisode. « J’espère simplement qu’ils n’iront pas prier après ce qu’ils ont fait », a notamment déclaré l’international portugais. Ses propos témoignent de la gravité de l’incident, qui a rapidement suscité de nombreuses réactions.

Cristiano Ronaldo et Al-Hilal réagissent

Cristiano Ronaldo a également pris la parole pour dénoncer les chants visant son compatriote. De son côté, Al-Hilal a adopté une position ferme, exprimant son « rejet catégorique » de tout comportement de cette nature, notamment lorsqu’il vise les joueurs, leurs familles ou cherche à les atteindre personnellement.

Le club a également annoncé avoir saisi la Fédération saoudienne de football afin de « préserver les droits du club et de ses joueurs ». Face à la polémique, les instances nationales ont à leur tour condamné ces comportements, qualifiés de « pratiques inacceptables ».

Reste désormais à savoir quelles sanctions seront prises à la suite de cet incident.

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Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry between the Springboks and All Blacks was even greater than advertised.

This was no contrived marketing sell. You cannot manufacture 105 years of history, 114 Tests, including Baltimore, and the emotional pull of the two most successful rugby nations in the sport.

Springboks & All Blacks

The All Blacks came to South Africa for seven matches, including three Tests, and for a month the country was consumed by black, green and gold. New Zealand was just as absorbed. The build-up was huge and the tour exceeded it.

We learned that the All Blacks are more loved in South Africa than ever. They remain the Springboks greatest rivals, but also their greatest rugby friends.

Among supporters it was as much a Friendship Tour as a Rivalry Tour. Among the players, respect never became pretence. Nobody embodied this more powerfully than captains Siya Kolisi and Ardie Savea. They competed fiercely, spoke warmly and showed that rivalry does not need bitterness to have meaning.

The All Blacks back play was unrivalled and breathtaking. South Africans were treated to attacking rugby not seen here since the glory years of New Zealand’s Super Rugby dominance.

They played with width, timing, skill and instinct. Give New Zealand space and rhythm and no team in the world punishes an opponent quite like them.

The Springboks offered the counterpoint. Their scrum, lineout and maul again showed why they have won successive World Cups, successive Rugby Championships and 42 of their last 49 Tests, pre Baltimore.

New Zealand’s backs thrilled and South Africa’s set piece thrilled in a very different way. The contrasts in style defined the intensity and intrigue.

The series reminded us why these two nations belong together and why there is a place in the modern calendar for a proper tour every four years. The Springboks go to New Zealand in 2030 and the All Blacks return in 2034.

The lure is greater than the romanced British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa every 12 years. This is not a composite team arriving on reputation and nostalgia of an archived amateur era. This is the greatest against the greatest and the sport’s most successful against the most successful.

The concept worked and the execution, mostly, worked. But success cannot mask the mistakes.

Ticket pricing was a misjudgement. Test prices should have been significantly different from prices for the four tour matches. This became a series for corporates and the rich while too many ordinary South Africans watched from a distance.

That was wrong.

A national rugby occasion cannot be celebrated as inclusive when the price excludes those who give the Springbok identity its voice, colour, soul and meaning.

Government and SA Rugby could have done more to ensure the tour belonged to every South African, not only the financially fortunate. Protecting a government-gazetted event matters, but so does selling its meaning through the media and making it accessible to the population whose passion gives it value.

The schedule was flawed. All four South African URC teams were in pre-season, which immediately compromised the tour matches.

Then came the allocation: the Sharks in Durban on a Tuesday, the Lions on a Tuesday, the Stormers on a Friday and the Bulls on a Saturday.

The Stormers and Bulls were always the safer crowd bets. The Saturday opportunities should have gone to the Sharks and Lions. A grand concept still requires practical thinking.

These are learnings, not reasons to diminish what unfolded. The tour succeeded because the rivalry is real, the rugby was compelling and the human connection between the nations is genuine.

South Africa lived it for a month. New Zealand, judging by the intensity of its media coverage, lived it just as fully. It was relentless, emotional and memorable.

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry proved that traditional tours still have a place, provided there is an acceptance that heritage cannot belong only to those who can afford the ticket.

The All Blacks left more admired than when they arrived and the Springboks reinforced why they are back to back world champions.

The tour was a triumph. Next time, it must be a triumph for everyone.

Mark Keohane Keo Uncut Sunday Times Rugby Column

African Collaborations Group (ACG), the leading strategic project origination and collaboration platform focused on the industrialisation of sport in Africa through the origination of bankable sport and entertainment district ecosystems, today announced the appointment of Aïcha Diop to its Advisory Board.

Ms Diop is a seasoned international executive with more than 18 years of experience across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America, combining strategic leadership, operational execution and high-level expertise in marketing, brand development and audience growth. She is currently a consultant in brand marketing for sports organisations and athletes, with extensive experience in operations and event management.

She held senior positions at NBA Africa and the Basketball Africa League (BAL), where she was part of the team that launched the BAL — the first professional sports league operated by the NBA outside of North America. In her roles, she led multi-market initiatives, coordinated cross-functional teams across the continent, and contributed to the growth and visibility of the league through the design and execution of major brand campaigns and audience-development programmes.

Earlier in her career, Ms Diop held senior positions at IBM, where she managed regional initiatives across multiple African markets, aligning strategy with execution and supporting business growth. She also worked at Flash Entertainment, specialising in concerts, cultural and sport venues and events, where she was involved in the delivery of major international sport and entertainment events, including Formula 1, UFC, athletics, tennis, football competitions, and major concerts, giving her direct experience of the operational realities of high-profile events staged in African and international markets.

Ms Diop holds a Master’s degree in Sport & Lifestyle Management from Rome Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Her appointment to the ACG Advisory Board brings to the platform a rare depth of expertise in brand marketing, audience development and the commercial activation of continental sport properties, together with hands-on experience of launching and scaling major sport organisations in Africa — capabilities directly relevant to originating and structuring large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across the African continent, where the commercial and brand dimension of district ecosystems is decisive for their financial sustainability.

“Aïcha Diop brings to our Advisory Board a genuinely distinctive combination of continental sport marketing expertise and hands-on experience of building major sport organisations from the ground up in Africa. Her role in the launch of the Basketball Africa League — the first professional NBA-operated league outside North America — is precisely the type of institution-building experience ACG needs as we originate bankable sport and entertainment district ecosystems across the African continent. Her presence on our Advisory Board is a genuine strategic asset,” said Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder and Executive Chairman of ACG.

The ACG Advisory Board provides strategic guidance as ACG originates and structures large-scale sport and entertainment district projects across the continent, aligning governments, development finance institutions (DFIs), investors, sport bodies and infrastructure partners to support the development of financially sustainable, mixed-use district ecosystems.

Africa’s sport economy is projected to reach $20 billion by 2035, yet the continent continues to lack the integrated district ecosystems required to support large-scale development. ACG addresses this gap by originating bankable sport and entertainment district projects, moving beyond single-venue development models towards mixed-use, revenue-generating and financially sustainable district ecosystems.

Through its collaborative model, ACG convenes governments, PPP authorities and regulators, development finance institutions, private investors, developers, designers and engineers, legal and transaction advisors, operators, sport federations and leagues, event promoters, media and broadcast partners, academic institutions and host communities, creating structured pathways from concept to feasibility, bankability and delivery.

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Suzuki Griquas staged a stirring second-half comeback to successfully defend their Carling Currie Cup Premier Division title with a hard-fought 23-16 victory over the Airlink Pumas in a tense final at Suzuki Stadium in Kimberley on Saturday.

The defending champions trailed 10-13 at halftime, but showed composure and championship character after the break, adding 13 second-half points via the boot of George Whitehead and a decisive late try by replacement hooker Janco Uys.

Whitehead, playing his 150th match for Griquas, was again central to the hosts’ success. The experienced flyhalf finished with two conversions and three penalty goals, keeping the scoreboard moving at crucial stages as they completed a historic back-to-back triumph.

The result capped another memorable campaign for the Northern Cape side, who absorbed long periods of pressure, stayed patient in possession, and struck the decisive blow in the final stages to deny a committed Pumas outfit.

The Airlink Pumas made the stronger statement before the interval and went into the break three points ahead after an absorbing first 40 minutes in which both teams created clear scoring opportunities, although handling errors at decisive moments prevented either side from taking firm control.

Suzuki Griquas opened the scoring in the eighth minute through a Whitehead penalty goal, before the Pumas hit back with the first try of the final. Darren Adonis finished well on the right wing after Jay-Cee Nel’s intercept sparked the counter-attack, and Clinton Swart added the conversion in his 50th appearance to give the visitors a 7-3 lead.

The hosts responded in the 22nd minute when inside centre Mnombo Zwelendaba reacted quickest to scoop up a loose ball and score Griquas’ first try. Whitehead converted to edge the Kimberley side back in front at 10-7, but Swart kept the Pumas in touch with a penalty goal three minutes later to level the scores.

Swart’s second penalty goal edged the visitors into a 13-10 advantage. The closing stages then produced drama at both ends, with Sako Makata losing possession over the line after a strong and patient Griquas lineout build-up before JJ Scheepers was denied at the other end by committed Griquas defence as the ball was dislodged over the tryline.

The titanic battle continued after the restart, with both sides refusing to give ground in a bruising and increasingly tactical second half. Griquas threatened first after the break when Makata made a telling break, but the Pumas showed heart and defensive steel to hold the hosts out near their line, absorb the pressure, and force a relieving scrum.

Whitehead struck first in the second half, landing a penalty goal in the 57th minute after the Pumas were penalised for offside to level the match at 13-13. With the contest still in the balance, Whitehead and Swart traded penalty goals as the teams remained locked at 16-16 entering the closing stages.

The defining moment arrived five minutes from time when Uys powered over for Griquas’ second try from a strong lineout maul. Whitehead added the conversion, giving the home side a 23-16 lead that they protected through the final minutes to seal another famous Currie Cup triumph in Kimberley – sweet joy after losing to the Pumas at the same ground in the 2022 championship decider.

Scorers:

Suzuki Griquas 23 (10) – Tries: Mnombo Zwelendaba, Janco Uys. Conversions: George Whitehead (2). Penalty goals: Whitehead (3).

Airlink Pumas 16 (13) – Try: Darren Adonis. Conversion: Clinton Swart. Penalty goals: Swart (3).

SOURCE: SA RUGBY

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As the Springboks celebrated an impressive 3-1 series win over the All Blacks in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, scrumhalf Morné van den Berg reflected on the hard work the team had to do after losing the opening Test.

The All Blacks built some good momentum ahead of the Test series, beating three of SA’s URC franchises in the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls, before stunning the hosts 33-16 in the opening Test at Ellis Park.

A few days later a much-changed All Blacks side were given a run for their money in their final tour franchise match against the Lions, sneaking a 41-35 win.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors as the Boks hit back with a 33-26 win in Cape Town and 29-24 win in Soweto, to take a 2-1 series lead into the finale in Baltimore, with them then producing their best performance to seal the trophy thanks to an impressive 43-28 result.

Krappie, as he is affectionately known, didn’t feature in the opening Test, before playing twice off the bench and then started in the USA, explained that the team had to go back to their DNA after the disappointing opening loss.

“Obviously, 1-0 down (after Ellis Park), we had to dig deep. It’s a special group we have here and it is special to play for this team. I think just like, obviously, going back to our DNA, sticking to and backing our game model, and not falling into a trap (against them was important),” said Van den Berg.

“We just backed our game and how we want to play, and forced that onto them. New Zealand were unbelievable at times, and we had to work hard. I think in the crucial moments we got the better of them.”

Tight calls

He explained how some calls went their way, like when he was lucky not to be yellow carded for an off the ball tackle on his opposite number, Cam Roigard, after the TMO spotted the New Zealander in an offside position at the ruck before Van den Berg’s offence.

“I think, obviously, one of those decisions where Cam broke through and he was offside. One of those split (second) decisions that went our way, I think, did a bit of a momentum shift,” said Van den Berg.

“I think also the set-piece did very well to get us that dominance, get us over the advantage line and get us in the right areas at the right times.”

Before this series Van den Berg had only played six games for the Boks and never against the All Blacks, but he ended up playing three times against their biggest rivals, after an injury to Grant Williams opened the door for him.

His impressive 37-minute cameo in Soweto in particular earned him his start in the important final game in the USA, and he responded with a fantastic man-of-the-match performance.

“It was my first start against the All Blacks, and I just have massive admiration for their skill and their ability to move the ball. It’s incredible. So to have felt that for the first time (was good). They’re a proper rugby team,” admitted Van den Berg.