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Sportshour: Chess Queen Hits Out at Saudi Regime

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Chess Queen Hits Out at Saudi Regime

06/01/2018 GMT

BBC World Service - Sportshour, Chess Queen Hits Out at Saudi Regime

Why double world chess champion boycotted tournament in Saudi Arabia

Why double world chess champion boycotted tournament in Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian Anna Muzychuk is a grandmaster of the sport but the two-time world champion lost her titles as she refused to take part in the World Chess Championship in Saudi Arabia because she did not want to play by someone else’s rules. She told Caroline Barker that she does not want to be treated like a secondary creature. It was the first time the tournament was held in Saudi Arabia which has already caused a stir with several players from Israel denied a visa to enter the country. Anna’s sister is also a professional chess player and she has also decided to pull out of the tournament as she shares the same views.

Every season, dozens of African-American basketball players pack up their sneakers to play the sport and live in Israel. In the last 40 years, more than 800 African-Americans have relocated to play in the Israeli Basketball Premier League. We speak to the author of the book, From Alley-Oop to Aliyah: African American Hoopsters in the Holy Land, David Goldstein who explores how identity, race and religion are all connected through the experience of playing basketball.

Christian Scotland-Williamson quit Rugby Union to pursue his lifelong ambition of playing in the NFL. The 24-year-old will touch down in America later this month as he sacrifices all to become a professional National Football League player. He will be working with NFL coaches in the hope of earning a place on a team roster for the 2018 season.

NFL team Cleveland Browns became only the second team in history to go the whole season without a win - that is 16 games without victory. Despite this, there will be a parade happening in Cleveland on Saturday. We speak to the organiser Chris McNeil who tells us why he has decided to put this parade together and what he is hoping the outcome will be. The Browns nearly went the whole of last season without a win in which a parade was also set to happen but the team won their penultimate game of the season. As a result, the parade was cancelled. Around 4,000 fans are expected to turn out for this parade in order to highlight that the fans are not happy with the way the club is run.

It is one of the most anticipated weekends of the football calendar - the third round of the FA Cup, the 137th edition of the oldest recognised football tournament in the world culminating with the final at Wembley in May. But when I say the word "Wembley" do you think of the iconic football stadium in London, or do you think of the tiny football club of the same name, who play in the ninth tier of the English game with an average attendance of 50? The FA claims that in non-English speaking countries there could be confusion. The European Courts agreed. So Wembley FC are being asked to remove the word "Wembley" from their official club logo. We hear from the Wembley FC Chairman Brian Gumm who tells Caroline his side of the story.

(Photo: Anna Muzychuk. Credit: Getty Images)

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