The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and WTA announced on Monday a multi-year partnership that will support their shared ambition to grow women’s professional tennis and inspire more women and girls around the world to take up the game.

The partnership will also boost and develop initiatives that support players at all levels, said PIF in a statement.

“As a Global Partner of the WTA, PIF will become the first-ever naming partner of the WTA Rankings, the highest official rankings for women’s professional tennis players. The PIF WTA Rankings will track players' journeys, and PIF will work with the WTA to celebrate and support players' progress and their inspirational, unique stories,” it added.

In addition, as part of its commitment to inspire youth, PIF will work with the WTA to expand existing initiatives and develop new opportunities for young players, providing a significant boost to the game’s next generation of stars.

In February 2024, PIF announced its partnership with the ATP and became the official naming partner of the PIF ATP Rankings. PIF has now become the only global partner across both the WTA and ATP Tours. PIF has also partnered with combined WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid, in addition to the Beijing WTA 1000 and ATP 500 events.

The new partnership between the WTA and PIF follows the recent announcement that the season-ending WTA Finals will be hosted in Riyadh for the next three years, starting in 2024, and featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams in the race to the WTA Finals.

“The WTA partnership adds to PIF’s growing sponsorship portfolio, which focuses on investing in people, initiatives and partnerships; and embraces the brand’s four strategic pillars: inclusivity, sustainability, youth and technology. This partnership aligns with numerous other PIF initiatives that focus on women in sport,” stressed the statement.

Mohamed AlSayyad, Head of Corporate Brand at PIF, said: “Through our partnership with WTA, PIF will continue to be a catalyst for the growth of women’s sport. We look forward to working with the WTA to increase participation and inspire the next generation of talent.”

“Underpinned by PIF’s four strategic sponsorship pillars, this partnership aligns with our ambition to elevate the game and bring positive growth to the sport around the world,” he added.

Marina Storti, CEO of WTA Ventures, said: “We are delighted to welcome PIF as a Global Partner of the WTA and our first-ever official naming partner of the WTA Rankings.”

“Together, we look forward to sharing the journey of our talented players across the season, as we continue to grow the sport, creating more fans of tennis and inspiring more young people to take up the game,” she stated.

PIF’s program of sponsorships uncovers new potential, investing in people, initiatives and partnerships that drive positive impact on the global stage. PIF is a catalyst for transformation globally, uplifting and enhancing sport for players, fans, tournaments and stakeholders at every level.

The Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) concluded a visit to Athens, Greece, from May 7 to 10. The visit focused on exchanging expertise, exploring international best practices in community sports, and learning about popular sports facilities and effective techniques for promoting sports participation.oard of Directors, and Executive Director Shaima Saleh Al-Husseini, met with the Greek Minister of Education, Religious Af
The federation delegation, led by Prince Khalid bin Alwaleed bin Talal, Chairman of the Bfairs, and Sports, Jiannis Frutis, and the Secretary General for Sports Affairs, George Mavrotas.

Discussions covered governance, the role of sports in promoting mental health and quality of life, and the unveiling of the "Kouros" platform, a unique digital tool that tracks sports participation and performance data. This platform aids in data-driven decision-making and talent development across 63 federations. The Greek team also reviewed financial incentives for sports clubs and innovative community sports programs, SPA reported.
The delegation also met with the Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, and his team to discuss the importance of community sports policies and initiatives. The Greek side highlighted efforts to reduce car usage and encourage cycling and other means of transportation. Plans for international events, including the "Tour of Hellas," were discussed to activate cycling trails and promote cultural exchanges among community members.
On the last day of the visit, the SFA delegation toured the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, the Peace and Friendship Stadium, and the Athens Olympic Museum to explore and transfer international best practices to the Kingdom.

The capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, is set to host the first event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world's premier mixed martial arts organization, on June 22. The main fight will be between Australian Robert Whittaker and Russian Khamzat Chimaev, SPA reported.
Tickets for the event are available to the public through the webook platform.
Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker (26-7-0) is returning to the octagon to continue his winning streak in the highly anticipated matchup at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh against Khamzat Chimaev. Whittaker, a professional mixed martial artist since 2009, has left a significant mark on the sport, becoming the UFC middleweight champion at UFC 213. He most recently defeated Brazil's Paulo Costa at UFC 298.
Chimaev (13-0-0) is looking to maintain his undefeated record and continue his rise in the middleweight rankings as a rising star. He has achieved six wins by knockout, five by submission, and eight wins in the first round.
As part of the UFC's inaugural event in the Kingdom, fans will witness an exhilarating showdown in the octagon as Russia's Sergei Pavlovich (18-2) faces compatriot Alexander Volkov (37-10) in a clash of heavyweight titans.

The Saudi weightlifting team will participate in the World Youth Weightlifting Championship Under 17, which will be held in Lima, Peru, from May 22-26, 2024. The championship will be attended by 284 weightlifters, representing 51 countries.
The team's weightlifters set up a preparatory camp for 33 days in Morocco before heading to Peru to participate in the tournament.

Head of the Saudi mission, Mohamed Al-Harbi, stressed the keenness of the Saudi Arabian Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Federation to prepare the players physically and psychologically for the tournament, by establishing such camps.

The federation aims to prepare a promising generation that competes on continental, global and Olympic platforms.

The Saudi karate team concluded participation in the World Youth League Championship of the International Karate Federation, SPA reported.

The event featured the categories of U-14, juniors, youth, and Olympic, and was held in Acrona, Spain May 16 to 19.
The Saudi team won five medals, including gold, silver, and three bronze, across various categories in martial-arts competitions.

American Xander Schauffele birdied the final hole to win the PGA Championship by one shot over LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, to claim a long-awaited first major title.
Schauffele, playing his 28th career major, put the finishing touches on a wire-to-wire victory at Valhalla with a six-under-par 65 that left him at 21 under on the week. The win also moved Schauffele to a career-best second in the world rankings.
Needing a closing birdie for the win, Schauffele's tee shot at the 18th perched up on the edge of a fairway bunker and forced him to take a compromised stance inside the hazard for his second shot, which he left just in front of the green.
A stone-cold Schauffele then displayed nerves of steel as he chipped to six feet from where he slammed the door by draining the biggest birdie of his career for the lowest winning score to par at a major championship, according to Reuters.
"I really didn't want to go into a playoff against Bryson," Olympic champion Schauffele said. "I'm assuming we probably would have played 18. It would have been a lot of work. I just told myself, this is my opportunity, and just capture it."
DeChambeau carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to finish two shots ahead of Viktor Hovland (66), whose spirited effort to become the first Norwegian to win a major came undone at the final hole.

DeChambeau and Hovland were playing in the third-to-last pairing and set up pressure-packed 10-foot birdie putts on the final hole. DeChambeau drained his but Hovland's effort curled away and he went on to make bogey and finish third.
That left the outcome in the hands of Schauffele, who was playing the par-four 17th where he did well to save par after his tee shot caught a fairway bunker before sealing the deal at the 18th while DeChambeau watched it unfold on a nearby screen.
DeChambeau handled the defeat with the utmost class as the 2020 U.S. Open champion, who had been warming up in anticipation of going to a three-hole aggregate score playoff, took time to find Schauffele and congratulate him.
"It's cool to see him - not only he's just a great human being, but an unbelievable golfer, and it shows this week. Super happy for him," said DeChambeau.
"On my side of the coin, disappointing, but, whatever. I played well. Didn't strike it my best all week. Felt like I had my 'B' game pretty much."

Former Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said he plans to retreat into a private life following his departure from the Premier League club and has no immediate plans to return to management.
Klopp bade farewell to the Anfield faithful in a long address after Liverpool's 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday and led the crowd in a song for incoming manager Arne Slot, who has enormous shoes to fill, Reuters said.
Klopp, who famously introduced himself as "the normal one" in his first Liverpool press conference, was glad he is leaving the club in a good position after enjoying a trophy laden career.
"But look, it's not burning behind me and that gives me a good feeling," Klopp told reporters on Sunday in his last post-match press conference, adding that he will return to Anfield someday as a spectator.
The German will be packing his bags after a few emotional weeks in the city. In January, the 56-year-old announced he will leave at the end of the season after nine years at the helm due to draining energy levels.
"A private life must be planned and I didn't plan anything yet because I was here," Klopp said. "Probably Ulla (Sandrock, his wife) will update me where we go but I follow happily."
"I don't know exactly why nobody believes I probably will not be a manager again but I understand because obviously it seems to be a drug, because everybody comes back and everyone works until they are 70-something.
"Other people can do it in different ways, I have to be all-in, I have to be the spark, I have to be the energy, I have to be all these kind of things and I'm empty.
"You only have to look outside which clubs are obviously available. There will be opportunities, but I don't sit here and think, 'Maybe in a year's time I take that.'"

Manchester City won a record fourth straight Premier League title on Sunday by beating West Ham 3-1 in the final game of the season.
City is the first team to be crowned champion of English soccer’s top division four years in a row after holding off the challenge of second-place Arsenal, which beat Everton 2-1.
Two goals from Phil Foden in the first half set Pep Guardiola's team on course for its latest title. Mohammed Kudus pulled a goal back for West Ham with a stunning overhead kick, but Rodri restored City's advantage as it marched toward a sixth title in seven seasons.
Guardiola’s team needed to beat West Ham at Etihad Stadium to be certain of the title, having gone into the game two points clear at the top of the standings.
Foden helped ease any potential nerves among the home fans when firing City ahead with a brilliant goal inside two minutes.
Receiving a pass from Bernardo Silva, Foden side-stepped West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse and unleashed a left-foot shot outside the area that rocketed into the top corner. The goal was timed at just under 80 seconds.
Foden, England’s footballer of the year, added a second in the 18th minute when converting Jeremy Doku’s cross from close range.
Kudus produced a moment of magic in the 42nd with an acrobatic overhead kick that might have given Arsenal hope of an unlikely comeback.
But it didn’t take City long to extend its lead again after the break as Rodri fired low from the edge of the box that West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola could not keep out despite getting a hand to the ball.
City ended the season with 91 points — two more than Arsenal.

With 100 days until the Paralympics begin, Paris organizers are delivering a message from the athletes in a bid to boost ticket sales: I am not missing anything, except you.
The countdown campaign for the Aug 28-Sept. 8 Paralympic Games begins Monday. It features three Paralympic athletes, each of them alone in an empty stadium. The campaign slogan — “Il ne me manque rien, sauf vous” (I’m not missing anything, except you) — is a rallying call to get people to come along and watch them competing.
The French athletes featured in the campaign are Arnaud Assoumani, a long jump and triple jump specialist who won gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing; wheelchair tennis player Pauline Déroulède, and blind soccer player Gaël Rivière who was a European championship winner two years ago. He plays at club level for Bondy Cécifoot Club — in the same suburb where France star Kylian Mbappé grew up.
National broadcaster France Télévisions will show the campaign in a bid to raise awareness and — ultimately — boost sales. So far, 900,000 of the 2.8 million tickets have been sold, The Associated Press reported.
A total of 4,400 athletes will take part in the Paralympics. Tickets are available from 15 euros ($16) for track and field sessions at Stade de France, wheelchair tennis at Roland Garros, or blind soccer at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The finals cost from 25 ($27) euros and it's 45 euros ($49) to watch the closing ceremony.
Ticket sales could escalate once posters start appearing around Paris, with organizers aiming to raise awareness and increase fan engagement and solidarity.
There will be 651 posters dotted around the city, 972 on the subway and a further 2,520 on the sides of buses.
On Tuesday, four Paralympic athletes will walk up the famed steps at the Cannes Film Festival along with Paris 2024 Olympic head Tony Estanguet.
Of the tickets sold so far, organizers said 300,000 have been bought by the state and 150,000 by the International Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee.
Organizers haven't released details for the amount of tickets sold for the opening ceremony, which takes place along a section of the famed Champs-Élysées.
Paul McCartney has let the song “We All Stand Together” be used in a promotional film for the International Paralympic Committee.
The Paralympics will have a record 164 broadcasters worldwide covering 549 events across 22 sports.
The 12-day event follows the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in Paris.

The Board of Directors of the West Asian Regional Federation for Deaf Sports has held a meeting in the capital, Riyadh, headed by the President of the Federation, Dr. Saeed bin Mohammed Al-Qahtani.
The meeting was attended by the President of the Asian Pacific Federation for Deaf Sports, Muhammad Pargar, SPA reported.
During the meeting, it was decided that the Kingdom will host the West Asia Bowling Championship for the Deaf in 2025.

Among other issues, the renewal of the membership of the Board of Directors, pending the approval of the Federation’s General Assembly next meeting as well as the adoption of the Federation’s annual program during the coming period were also discussed.