A Chinese bid to host the 2026 World Cup would be reliant on the failure of the four Asian countries angling to be selected as the venue for the previous tournament, regional soccer chief Mohammed Bin Hammam said.
Wei Di, the head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), returned from South Africa last week and said he was keen to bring international soccer’s showpiece event to the world’s most populous country for the first time.
South Korea, Australia, Qatar and Japan have, however, already expressed their intention to bid for 2022 and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Bin Hammam said his priority was the success of one of those.
NOT ELIGIBLE
“Naturally if any one of these countries wins, then Asia will not be eligible to bid for the 2026 World Cup,” the Qatari told Chinese media on a visit to Beijing on Tuesday.
“I and AFC are supporting the chances of these four countries in 2022. We don’t want to jeopardize their chances,” he said. “If we cannot make it for 2022, then we can work towards the 2026 World Cup.”
Having constructed several spectacular new stadiums to host the 2007 women’s World Cup and the soccer tournament at the 2008 Olympics, China has shown it has the means to organize a World Cup.
As well as the four Asian bids for 2022, however, the huge corruption scandal at the CFA and the current parlous state of the national team (78th in FIFA’s world rankings) would be obstacles to a bid from China.
FEASIBILITY
“We are considering 2026,” Wei, who took over at the CFA in January after his predecessor was arrested for corruption, told the reporters. “We are in a position to host it and we are studying the feasibility. But I never said I don’t want other Asian countries not to win it in 2022.”
The 2014 World Cup will take place in Brazil, while the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments will be decided on Dec. 2.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
RSS