Sport - Gulf Insider

1 week ago

Bahrain: BIC To Host 2025/2026 Season Finale Of National Race Day

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), ‘The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East’, hosts the seventh and concluding round of National Race Day in Sakhir, featuring an exciting evening with two of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s most competitive circuit racing championships. Taking place on BIC’s 2.55-kilometre Inner Track are the 2025/2026 season finales of the Bahrain Touring Car Challenge (BTCC) and the Bahrain Motorcycle Championship (BMC). The action will be held under the circuit’s floodlights from 4pm to 11pm, offering a thrilling night racing experience full of excitement and suspense. Tickets cost BD2 for adults and BD1 for children. They can be purchased online at bahraingp.com, through the BIC Hotline on +973-17450000, or at the gate. Spectators will be able to watch the races from BIC’s Beyon Grandstand, which offers excellent views of key sections of the circuit, including the start and finish lines. The event is being organised by BIC in cooperation with the Bahrain Motor Federation, the Circuit Racing Commission, and the Bahrain Motorcycle Commission. BTCC action gets underway with practice at 5.30pm, followed by qualifying at 6.45pm, before two 15-lap races, with the first starting at 8pm and the second taking place at 10pm as the finale to […]

2 weeks ago

Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund To Stop Funding LIV Golf After 2026 Season

LIV Golf is preparing to inform players and staff that its main financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will stop funding the league after the 2026 season, according to Golfweek. The announcement—expected midweek—would open the door for CEO Scott O’Neil to pursue new investment to keep the tour running. Since launching in 2022 as a challenger to the PGA Tour, the circuit has reportedly burned through more than $5 billion while failing to gain meaningful U.S. viewership. Broadcast deals with The CW Network and later Fox did little to improve ratings. Uncertainty around funding has been building. In April, O’Neil acknowledged the league is only financed through this season, saying future survival depends on securing new backers—even as he publicly maintained LIV is in its best position yet. Golfweek writes that the timing aligns with a broader shift by PIF, led by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, toward prioritizing domestic projects over global spending. LIV did manage to lure big names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Jon Rahm with lucrative deals. Still, its team-based, no-cut format struggled to resonate broadly, despite pockets of success overseas and moments like Anthony Kim’s brief resurgence. Efforts to align with the PGA Tour—including […]

2 weeks ago

$43,000 Front-Row Seats: How Soccer Fans Are Being Priced Out Of World Cup

First-round match ticket: $280 to $43,000. Stadium daily parking pass: $150 to $600. Public transportation to venues: $100 or more in some cities. In-person 2026 FIFA World Cup experience: Priceless, or somewhere between a mortgage payment and a year or two of college, depending on who you ask. Americans and international soccer fans alike suffered serious sticker shock over the cost of attending the biggest sporting event on the globe this summer, and that’s before calculating airfare and accommodations. This year’s event features 48 teams and 104 matches in 16 host cities across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. So far, FIFA’s dynamic pricing system for more than 1 million tickets has even the die-hard fanatics questioning whether this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is worth taking on months—or years—of debt. Out of Reach Joyanne Howell of Toronto tried to plan a vacation with her son around the 2026 World Cup. She hoped to see the opening match in Mexico on June 11, and then catch a group play match in Monterrey featuring Portugal, Morocco, Japan, or South Africa. The trip would have exceeded $15,000, with event tickets the largest expense. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to attend the World Cup,” […]

3 weeks ago

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) To Host Track Activities

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) will host a series of motorsport events on April 24 and 25, including National Race Day (NRD), Track Experiences, and Open Track Night. Racing begins on Friday with NRD, featuring round six of the Bahrain Touring Car Challenge (BTCC) and round four of the Bahrain Motorcycle Championship (BMC), from 4pm to 10:30pm on the Inner Track. Ali Almansoori leads the BTCC standings with 200 points, followed by Ahmed Banjaid with 133 points and James Taylor with 115 points. BIC invited spectators to attend the event at the Beyon Grandstand, which offers views of key sections of the circuit, including the start and finish line. Activities continue on Saturday with Track Experiences from 8am to 3pm on the Inner Track, offering participants the opportunity to drive performance vehicles under professional supervision. The programme includes the Renault Clio Cup, Radical SR1, and Radical SR3 experiences. Open Track Night will take place on Saturday from 6pm to 9pm, allowing participants to drive their own cars and motorbikes on the Grand Prix track in a controlled environment that promotes safe driving.

4 weeks ago

LIV Golf CEO Denies “Speculation” That Saudi Arabia On Cusp Of Severing Ties

Amid reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund might be on the verge of pulling its funding for the league, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil told staff in an email overnight that its season will go on “as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” The email, which was obtained by ESPN, didn’t directly address reports that PIF might stop investing in the breakaway circuit after spending more than $5 billion since its inception in 2022, or whether the league will continue competitions beyond this season. “I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil wrote in the email. “While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.” LIV Golf is scheduled to play its sixth tournament of the season starting Thursday at Club de Golf Chapultepec near Mexico City. Its first tournament in the U.S. is scheduled for May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. As Middle East Eye reported […]

2 months ago

UAE’s Chess Prodigy Safin Aims to Become Youngest World Champion

Years ago, India’s chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju spoke in an interview about his dream of becoming the youngest world champion. He turned that vision into reality in 2024 by defeating China’s Ding Liren and claiming the title at just 18. So when UAE-based young talent Safin Safarullakhan shares a similar ambition, it may sound lofty — but given his progress and determination, he appears to be on a promising path. “I want to be the youngest world champion and the youngest grandmaster,” the 11-year-old said when asked about his goals. Currently, the record for the youngest Grandmaster in history is held by Abhimanyu Mishra, who surpassed Sergey Karjakin’s long-standing mark by more than two months. Safin recently became the youngest chess player in the region to earn the prestigious FIDE Master (FM) title. On his way to this milestone, he achieved an impressive feat by defeating two Grandmasters — Evgeniy Podolchenko and Handszar Odeev — at the IM-3 RR 102 Putnik Tournament in Serbia. “I’m very happy with my result. I want to keep improving my level and reach the top,” Safin said. Brightest sporting prospect According to the latest FIDE ratings, Safin is ranked fifth in the world and third in Asia […]

2 months ago

Five Iran Women Soccer Players Defect In Australia, Trump Urges Immediate Asylum

The ongoing Iran war is a rare modern conflict where warring powers can in an unprecedented manner (generally-speaking in terms of the modern age) address each other directly over social media. For example Iranian top official accounts are busy trying to troll Washington in defiance, even as the US bombs fall. “9 days into Operation Epic Mistake, oil prices have doubled while all commodities are skyrocketing. We know the U.S. is plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock. Iran is fully prepared. And we, too, have many surprises in store,” Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X Monday. But President Trump on the same day had his own card to play, highlighting the plight of the Iranian National Women’s Soccer team, which appears stuck in increasingly sensitive and possibly dangerous situation after playing in Australia. Trump wrote: “Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed. Don’t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t.” Stretching back days, and weeks – even before the start of Operation Epic […]

3 months ago

Bahrain Scrabble Champion Enters World Top 30 Rankings

“Scrabble is my life; everything else is just a game.” For Mohammed Irfan Siddiqui, a Bahraini player who recently climbed to World No. 30 in the latest WESPA global rankings, the phrase reflects reality rather than rhetoric. The 20-year Scrabble veteran recently secured second place at the prestigious KSSA Indian Open 2026, one of the world’s most competitive scrabble tournaments, emerging ahead of more than 100 top international players. Irfan, known for his strategic and analytical skills, has represented Bahrain on stages from India to the UK. His recent runner-up finish is one of the country’s biggest Scrabble achievements. Misconception “One common misconception is that Scrabble is just about having a strong vocabulary,” he says. In reality, it’s about probability analysis, board strategy, risk management and mental endurance”. Now World No. 30, he hopes to break into the global top 10 and is calling for more local support to help Bahraini players compete internationally and grow the game at home.

3 months ago

Abu Dhabi to Host NextGen EuroLeague Season

Eight of Europe’s leading U18 basketball teams will be in action as the NextGen EuroLeague season will be hosted in Abu Dhabi from February 27 to March 1 at the state-of-the-art Space42 Arena. Defending continental champion U18 Zalgiris Kaunas and record-winning U18 Real Madrid headline the qualifying tournament, with the winner securing a place at the adidas NextGen Finals during the EuroLeague Final Four in Athens, Greece. The remaining teams competing in Abu Dhabi are U18 Aris Thessaloniki, U18 AS Monaco, U18 Dubai Basketball, U18 Next Gen Team Abu Dhabi, U18 London Lions and U18 Valencia Basket. U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana has already qualified for the Finals after winning the Ulm event, while the winners of the Bologna (March 13—15) and Belgrade (March 20—22) qualifiers will also advance to Athens. Two groups The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four, competing in a round-robin format within their groups. The top teams from each group will meet in the championship game on Sunday, March 1, while placement games will determine the final standings. Aris is competing in the tournament for the third season, with the Greek side taking seventh place at NextGen Munich last season with a 2—2 […]

3 months ago

Porsche Centre Bahrain Backs Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger for Third Year

For the third year running, the Bahrain Ministry of Interiors brought world-class tennis to the Kingdom as the ATP Challenger 125 returned to Manama. From 27 January to 1 February 2026, professional players from across the globe competed over six days of intense matches, chasing both ranking points and a total prize pool of USD 225,500. What began as a sponsorship has quietly grown into one of Bahrain’s most consistent sporting partnerships, with Porsche Centre Bahrain, part of Behbehani Brothers WLL, once again anchoring the event as its headline sponsor. The ATP Challenger 125 sits at the top of the Challenger Tour calendar, making it a proving ground for players with their sights set on Grand Slam glory. This year’s edition drew large crowds and international sports officials to the Public Security Officers Club, a sign of how firmly Bahrain has planted itself on the global tennis map. Tournament Results and Player Performance The final match featured Kyrian Jacquet from France and Luca Nardi from Italy. Jacquet won the championship title after a series of matches that tested his endurance and skill. Nardi had a strong performance throughout the week and finished as the runner-up. Both players showed the level […]

Search Here

Recent Posts

Iran Says It Has “No Trust” In US, Insists There Is “No Military Solution”

Great Global Energy Rewiring Accelerates: UAE To Double Crude Export Capacity Bypassing Hormuz Chaos

Watch: Trump Spars With ‘Treasonous’ NYT Reporter On Iran War Coverage

“Send Us A Tip”: U.S. Dangles $15 Million Reward For New Intel On Iran’s Drone Network

Search Here

Bahrain: BIC To Host 2025/2026 Season Finale Of National Race Day

Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund To Stop Funding LIV Golf After 2026 Season

$43,000 Front-Row Seats: How Soccer Fans Are Being Priced Out Of World Cup

Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) To Host Track Activities

LIV Golf CEO Denies “Speculation” That Saudi Arabia On Cusp Of Severing Ties

UAE’s Chess Prodigy Safin Aims to Become Youngest World Champion

Five Iran Women Soccer Players Defect In Australia, Trump Urges Immediate Asylum

Bahrain Scrabble Champion Enters World Top 30 Rankings

Abu Dhabi to Host NextGen EuroLeague Season

Porsche Centre Bahrain Backs Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger for Third Year

Recent Posts

Iran Says It Has “No Trust” In US, Insists There Is “No Military Solution”

Great Global Energy Rewiring Accelerates: UAE To Double Crude Export Capacity Bypassing Hormuz Chaos

Watch: Trump Spars With ‘Treasonous’ NYT Reporter On Iran War Coverage

“Send Us A Tip”: U.S. Dangles $15 Million Reward For New Intel On Iran’s Drone Network

India’s Trade Deficit Surges As Energy Import Prices Soar

Beijing Showcased Future War Machines While Trump Was In Town

Useful Links

Subscribe to our mailing list

Online Magazine