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A variety of sports in Bahrain are popular and widespread. Association football is the most popular sport in the country. [1] Other traditionally-popular sports include basketball, volleyball and handball. Sports such as horse racing, mixed martial arts and rugby union have gained popularity over the past few decades.
Bahrain has its own top-tier domestic professional football league, the Bahraini Premier League. It features 10 football clubs that play a two-round robin set, with each team playing a total of 18 fixtures. [2] The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup.
The league uses a promotion and relegation system with the Bahraini Classification League, Bahrain's second-tier football league. The season usually starts in September and concludes in May, as in other football leagues. The first season was held in 1952. Although games are played on a home and away basis, almost all games are played at the Bahrain National Stadium.
The bottom placed club is relegated with the team finishing second bottom entering a relegation/promotion playoff match. The most successful club in the league's history is Al-Muharraq SC. The current reigning champion of the 2011-2012 football season is Riffa club. [3]
| Club | Number of Championships |
|---|---|
| Muharraq Club | 32 |
| Bahrain Riffa Club (includes West Riffa) | 10 |
| Bahrain Club | 5 |
| Al-Ahli | 5 |
| Arabi Club | 1 |
| Al Hala | 1 |
| Al-Nasr | 1 |
| East Riffa Club | 1 |
Motorsport is one of the most popular sports in Bahrain. Bahrain has a Formula One race-track, the Bahrain International Circuit, which hosted the inaugural Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on 4 April 2004, the first in an Arab country. The race was won by Scuderia Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher. After hosting the third round of the championship in 2005, Bahrain hosted the opening Grand Prix of the 2006 season on 12 March of that year. Both the 2005 and 2006 races were won by Fernando Alonso of Renault. The 2007 event took place on 13, 14 April and 15. [4]
The 2011 edition of the race was cancelled due to civil unrest. [5] However, the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix went ahead despite concerns of the safety of the teams and the ongoing protests in the country. [6] Sebastian Vettel won the race. The race's opponents described the decision to hold the race despite ongoing protests and violence [7] as one of the most controversial Grand Prix in the sport's history. [8] [9] [10]
In 2014, the event was held under lights for the first time, making it the second full night race on the F1 calendar after the Singapore Grand Prix (the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a day-night race). [11]
The circuit also hosts the annual 8 Hours of Bahrain as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
In 2006, Bahrain also hosted its inaugural Australian V8 Supercar event dubbed the "Desert 400". The circuit also features a full-length drag strip where the Bahrain Drag Racing Club has organised invitational events featuring some of Europe's top drag racing teams to try to raise the profile of the sport in the Middle East. [12]
Mixed martial arts is legalized in Bahrain. Bahrain MMA Federation (BMMAF) has been set up under the patronage of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. [13] The development of MMA in the nation is convened through KHK MMA, which owns Brave Combat Federation which is the largest Mixed Martial Arts promotion in the Middle East. [14] Bahrain hosted Amateur World Championships in 2017, 2018, and 2019 in association with International Mixed Martial Arts Federation. Bahrain will be the first Asian and Arab country to host the amateur MMA championship. [15]
Team Bahrain is also the number one ranked MMA team in the world, as well as having the pound-for-pound number one amateur fighter in the world, two-time Super Heavyweight world champion Pasha Kharkhachaev [16]
BRAVE Combat Federation was established on 23 September 2016 by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. [17] The organization based in Bahrain has showcased 70 events to date, [18] in 27 different countries around the world, including five of its shows taking place in the Kingdom itself.
Since its inception, the promotion has been known for empowering the sport throughout the world, [19] mixing local fighters with international stars in all the territories it lands, as well as collaborating with local federations and organizations towards the empowerment of the sport at a local level.
Equestrian sports are one of the most popular sports in the country. [20] Horse riding is governed by the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (BREEF) which was founded in 2003, having replaced the previous governing body, the Bahrain Equestrian Association. [21] The BREEF is headquartered in the town of Awali, south of the capital Manama. [21] The first ever Endurance racing started on 7 October 2004 with the grand event, of a distance of 120 km, being held on 7 December that year. [21] In 2005, the 'World Championship for Juniors and Young Riders' race was held in Bahrain, attracting international riders and attention. [21]
Bahrain has been a member of the International Equestrian Federation since 1985, a member of the Asian Equestrian Association since 1989 and a member of the Pan-Arab Equestrian Federation since 1990. [21]
The kingdom is home to multiple training stables. [22] [23] [24]
The official sport of show jumping has its origins in Bahrain dating back to 1976. The sport was first played by the modern pentathlon team of the Bahrain Defense Force. [21] In the year 1986, the Safria Team was established for representing the Kingdom of Bahrain in both the military and civil show jumping championships abroad. [21]
Bahrain has a professional basketball league, featuring 11 club teams. The top four teams of the league, at the end of the season, move on to the 'Golden Square', where the top seeds play the fourth seeds and the second take on the third in separate best-of-three series. The best-of-five championship series follows.
In addition to the league, a basketball cup, the Zain Bahrain Basketball Cup, is available where the top two teams at the end will then battle for the Cup in a[best-of-three finale. The winner of the cup will represent Bahrain in the Asian Clubs Basketball Championships. [25]
Both the league and cup is sponsored by Zain. [26]
The overall league champions will be given the chance of representing Bahrain in the Arab Club Basketball Championship, held in the following year. [27]
Professional Cricket is governed by the Bahrain Cricket Association. [28] The sport is largely popular amongst South Asian expatriates in the country. [29] Bahrain has a national cricket team which first international appearance was at the ACC Trophy in 2004, where they failed to progress beyond the first round. They took part in the tournament again in August 2006, putting in a much better performance to finish in 6th place. Earlier in the year they won the ACC Middle East Cup, beating Afghanistan in the final. [30]
In 2018, franchise based T20 cricket was introduced for the first time in Bahrain. [31] Six teams were featured in the first edition of the event. The teams were SRam MRam Falcons, Kalaam Knight-Riders, Intex Lions, Bahrain Super Giants, Four Square Challengers and Awan Warriors. [32]
Bahrain's debut in the ICC World Cricket League was in 2009 when they won the 2009 Global Division Seven tournament and hence advancing to Division Six. [33] They had another strong tournament in Division Six, coming runners up and gaining back to back promotions in the process. In 2010 they competed in Division Five in Nepal. [33] In November 2009 Bahrain played in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup. They finished bottom of Group B, losing all five of their matches on the process. In the eleventh placed playoff Bahrain defeated China by 93 runs to finish the tournament in eleventh place.
The country also has its own cricket league, with 48 teams and over 750 cricketers playing in the Bahrain Cricket League. [34] The league was founded in 1981 under the name "Junior Cricket League" and initially had 4 teams. By 2010, this had risen to 46. [35]
Rugby sevens and full rugby union are played in Bahrain, with the Bahrainis having their own national sevens team. Bahrain's Rugby Football Club was first founded in 1970, as a branch of the local British Club. It has its own rugby league. [36] Bahrain also has its own national sevens rugby team.
At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, runner Maryam Yusuf Jamal became Bahrain's first Olympic medalist when she won a bronze in the women's 1,500m race. Jamal is the first female athlete from a Persian Gulf nation to win an Olympic medal. Bahrain hosts a variety of Olympic-level sports centers: Northern City Athletics, Durrat Al Bahrain Aquatics, Tree of Life Fencing, Marasi Al Bahrain Beach Volleyball, Bahrain Bay Cycling, Bahrain International Circuit Badminton, and King Fahd Causeway football Stadium. The host cities are: Manama, Muharraq, Isa Town, Riffa, Sitra, King Fahd Causeway (Bahraini Side), Durrat Al Bahrain, and Diyar Al Muharraq . [37]
Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
This article is about the sports in the Republic of San Marino.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports, and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities.
Sports in Brazil are those that are widely practiced and popular in the country, as well as others which originated there or have some cultural significance. Brazilians are heavily involved in sports. Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. Other than football, sports like volleyball, mixed martial arts, basketball, tennis, and motor sports, especially Formula One, enjoy high levels of popularity. Great players like Neymar have devoted their life to sports and became a celebrity.
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Al-Najma Club SC is a Bahraini multi-sports club based in Manama. The club has departments of football, handball, volleyball and basketball. The club's football section competes in the Bahraini Premier League.
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BRAVE Combat Federation is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Bahrain. The organization was established on 23 September 2016 by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. BRAVE Combat Federation features mixed martial artists from more than 80 nations located in five continents. BRAVE Combat Federation events are aired though multiple media partners including El Rey Network, Combate, Myx TV, S+A ESPN 5 and Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation. BRAVE Combat Federation produced six pay-per-view events apart from announcing events in Abu Dhabi and Brazil.
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