As part of the changes that are taking place in the official media sector, a positive development took place in the sports department of Al-Thowra daily newspaper. Mr. Khalid Al-Sowdy, a well-known young athlete and journalist has been appointed director of the sports department in Al-Thowra. The sports department in the past has suffered from looseness, ignorance, and financial shortages. However, this latest change leads many sports analyzers and journalists to be optimistic about the Al-Thowra's future. Part of the reason behind this is that Al-Sowdy is known for his strong stand on supporting sports, and has been behind solving all sorts of problems and obstacles that faced the development of sports in Yemen. He is also a person who knows exactly how to handle issues like the lack of expertise in sports, and the required steps to correct them.

Yemen Times also knows that this change will be a major milestone in the development of the sports department of Al-Thowra, and in supporting sports activities in Yemen through the official media. This is mainly due to the position of Al-Thowra as the most influential daily newspaper in Yemen, which will now deal with daily sports activities.
To hear more of the future ambitions of Al-Sowdy, and how he hopes to improve and revive the sports department of Al-Thowra, Yemen Times Editor Jamal Al-Awadhi filed the following interview with Mr. Khalid Al-Sowdy, Al-Thowra's new director of the sports department.

Excerpts:
Q: What is the role of the sports page in Al-Thowra?
A: The sports page of Al-Thowra is of great importance due to the fact that it is in the most important daily newspaper, and is read by a large number of young Yemenis. I remember the results of a survey that showed that 60% of Al-Thowra readers are anxious to read the sports page of the newspaper. I can also say that the sports page is very popular among our readers as the Yemen Times sports page is among its readers. Everyone knows that during the twenty years since its first issue, the sports page staff in Al-Thowra has always been keeping an eye on and reporting important sports events in Yemen. Since its first issue, thousands of sports columnists, reporters, and journalists have written in Al-Thowrah, some of whom are still writing and many of whom are now well known politicians. For all of them, the starting point was this sports page.

Q: What are your future ambitions in developing the sports page you are directing?
A: We are aiming to publish a weekly supplement of 4 pages that will include major local sports news and sports analysis. We also aim to give more space to sports reporters and columnists. In fact, we hope to have the chance of increasing the number of sports pages to two per issue.

Q: Have you made any changes to the sports page since you became director of the sports department?
A: You might have noticed that sports news has increased and now covers 3/4 of the sports page. The most important change to the page was the addition of a regular daily column titled " Today's Viewpoint." This special column is dedicated to articles coming from different sports writers analyzing and commenting on current sports conditions. Its aim is to focus on the problems of sports in Yemen and how to deal with them, and also to focus on new improvements and praise them. Many writers from different parts of the country and from different political backgrounds are contributing to this column with their genuine articles.

Q: What are the major obstacles to achieving your goals?
A: There are many obstacles, and mostly they are the financial and administrative problems facing not only sports departments, but all media sectors as well. This is due to the nonexistence of educated and qualified employees and modern equipment. One of the most important obstacles the sports page - and Al-Thowra in general- and is currently facing is that we are still using " antique" printing machines which may go off any time. Administrators at Al-Thowra's print house are planning to upgrade the whole printing system as soon as the resources are available.

Q: Any parting comments?
A: Here, at the sports department of Al-Thowra, there are many ambitions and hopes for the future. But at the same time, there are many problems and obstacles facing us. However, with determination and hard work we can always overcome our obstacles.

 

In the last match of the first half of the Excellent Football Tournament, Al-Ahli of Sanaa was able to defeat last year's (1997-1998) champion Al-Wahda of Sanaa 2/0. Although spectators were expecting a tense and exiting match, it turned out to be a disappointment. "An easy win. Al-Ahli seemed untouchable!" is what one Ahli supporter said. Spectators, who had hoped to see a strong match, left disappointed after watching an Ahli walkover. 

However, for Al-Ahli, a win is a win and 3 points are all it needed. After 13 weeks of hard work, it is ahead after the first half of the tournament with a 6-point lead over Al-Shaab of Ibb. Having 34 points, and scoring 25 goals to only 4 scored against them, Al-Ahli seems to be ready and motivated to begin the second half of the tournament in mid-March with strong hopes of obtaining the championship title. After the first half of the tournament Al-Ahli has proved that not only is it the strongest team on the attack, it has also proved to be the toughest on defense.

On the other hand, Al-Shaab of Ibb is still in second place with 28 points after defeating Al-Majd in the 13th week. Like Al-Wahda of Sanaa, Al-Shaab of Ibb was also defeated by Al-Ahli in the 12th week. But because it was able to defeat Al-Wahda of Sanaa in the 11th week, it managed to hold tight to its second position. However, the 6-point gap between them and Al-Ahli puts Al-Shaab in a must-win situation for most of the next half of the tournament if it wants to maintain its championship hopes. Al-Wahda of Sanaa is witnessing a sharp decline in its performance. No one would have imagined that last year's champion would go through such difficult times. Because of the many defeats it has recently sustained, Al-Wahda is now in danger of losing its third position to its closest rival, Al-Wahda of Aden. Many sports analyzers and experts think that if the current team administration continues, the team will further decline, and will lose much of its support among its spectators.

Having mentioned Al-Wahda of Aden, if there is one team that can be called the surprise team of the tournament, they are it. Indeed, after resolving all of its administrative problems, Al-Wahda of Aden is now witnessing one of its most competitive seasons of tournament play. It astonished football fans by winning two consecutive games; one with Al-Ittihad of Ibb in the 13th week, and the other against Al-Majd in the 12th week. Having gained a victory against Al-Ittihad of Ibb (the team that defeated the second ranked Al-Shaab of Ibb), one can appreciate how powerful Al-Wahda of Aden has become. This raises the possibility of Al-Wahda of Aden overtaking Al-Wahda of Sanaa in its position at third and becoming eligible to challenge for the 1998-1999 Excellent Football Tournament championship title.

For fifth spot holder, Al-Ittihad of Ibb the story is quite different. Its game with Al-Zuhra was supposed to be played in the same stadium in Sanaa where Al-Wahda of Sanaa and Al-Ahli were playing. However, because of the huge number of supporters of Al-Wahda and Al-Ahli and because of time limitations, the Yemeni Football Federation decided to postpone the match to the eight of March.

The representative of Abyan governorate, team Hassan was able to defeat Al-Hilal 2/0 in Hassan's field in Abyan. With this win, Hassan was able to take over the sixth place ranking of Shaab Al-Mukalla, and gain an overall 21 points in the rankings. On the other hand Shaab Al-Mukalla's loss drops it 2 spots in the rankings to the 8th position with 20 points. Al-Shula team was able to climb to the seventh spot on goal difference, with 20 points after its win over Al-Saqr of Taiz 4/0 in the 13th week of the tournament.

Al-Tilal team, which is currently suffering from disastrous administrative turmoil, was barely able to pull out a 1/0 victory over Taliya of Taiz. With this difficult win, Al-Tilal maintains its 9th position with 18 points.
All sports analyzers and reporters have admitted that Al-Ahli deserves its standings and lead. It is seen as the most powerful team in the tournament this year, and is expected to win the championship title. But yet again, anything can happen in a game, and there are still a lot of teams left in this one.

With these results, the first half of the tournament is over. The Yemeni Football Federation marked the 15 of March 99 as the starting day of the second half of the tournament. Football fans, teams, and coaches are now taking advantage of the 10-day break to refresh their energies, and study their experiences in the first half. For us, as readers, and sports analyzers, we also will have a 10-day break to go watch other sports news. It is a fact that football is the main sport in Yemen, but we will always keep you up to date with other important sports activities.