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Diffusion of football teams and hordes of fans will travel across the world for matches on three continents as a result of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, raising concerns about the impact on the environment.

An announcement on the 2030 and 2034 World Cups will be made on Wednesday, with expectations of a dramatic expansion of geographic footprint — and with that planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions.

While Saudi Arabia is the lone candidate for 2034, Morocco, Spain and Portugal have formed a joint bid for the 2030 tournament, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay each also set to host a match.

Guillaume Gouze, of the Centre of Sports Law and Economics at the University of Limoges, said FIFA has a “moral responsibility” to integrate climate concerns into its tournament plans.

Instead, he said, it had proposed World Cups that are an “ecological aberration”.

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‘ Crazy Idea ‘

In general attempts at “sportswashing” in sport are harder than they once were, according to Benja Faecks of the NGO Carbon Market Watch, which evaluates climate promises of major events, with academics and campaigners holding organizations to account.

However, she claimed that the location of the 2030 World Cup was “unfortunate.”

Teams and possibly hundreds of thousands of their devoted fans must travel by air when an event is spread over locations that are located thousands of kilometers apart.

The three matches in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay are to mark the 100th anniversary of the event, which was born in Montevideo.

According to David Gogishvili, a researcher at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, FIFA is eager to promote access to football in various parts of the world.

However, he continued, “it is a crazy idea in terms of the impact this choice will have on the planet.”

FIFA has already expanded participation in the competition, which will see 48 teams take part in the 2026 edition — held in Mexico, the United States and Canada — compared to 32 in 2022.

This “is almost worse than the Cup on three continents”, says Aurelien Francois, who teaches sports management at the University of Rouen in France.

More teams means more fans wanting to visit the venues, more capacity needed in the hotel and catering sector, and more waste, among other issues.

FIFA states that the tournament will be played in a footprint of neighboring nations with extensive and well-developed transport links and infrastructure, with the exception of the games in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

Saudi Aramco, an oil and gas conglomerate, also became a major sponsor earlier this year in a contentious agreement that will continue until 2027.

More than 100 female professional footballers from 24 different countries wrote in an open letter in October that the agreement should be canceled because of human rights and environmental concerns.

Fan Zones&nbsp,

According to researchers, simply reducing the geographic footprint is insufficient.

While the 2022 World Cup was held in a “compact” site in Qatar, it was necessary to build new air-conditioned stadiums that were rarely reused.

According to Gogishvili, a policy that, in line with a rule from the International Olympic Committee, would prohibit awarding the World Cup to a city where everything has yet to be constructed.

Another way to reduce air travel is to encourage train travel and reserve a large portion of stadium tickets for fans who travel within a few hundred kilometers.

Gouze, like other experts interviewed by AFP, supports creating more fan zones in soccer-loving cities for “a collective experience” that recreates the stadium atmosphere in front of a big screen.

FIFA would need to accept the impact on the World Cup’s economic viability, though.

Soccer supporters reflect the overall population, so a growing proportion of people are more environmentally conscious than they were a few years ago, according to Ronan Evain of Hamburg-based Football Supporters Europe.

He said that while co-hosting is not a problem in and of itself, citing the example of the 2002 Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea, the 2030 tournament poses “too many questions” for fans.

Fans who want to follow their teams around the world have financial concerns as well as the environmental costs.

But die-hard supporters will not let the long-haul flight put them off, said Antoine Miche, director of Football Ecologie France.

“Passion can make you do things that don’t make sense”, he added.

Brown Ideye, the 2013 Super Eagles AFCON champion, has agreed to join Enyimba until the end of the current season for an undisclosed fee.

Ideye will appear for the People’s Elephant, according to former Super Eagles forward and sporting director Ifeanyi Ekwueme.

He agreed to play for us after several weeks of discussions with us. Enyimba expressed his delight at having a legendary player at our club.

“Ideye will remain with us until the end of the season,” says the team’s coach, “and we think he will help us strengthen our attack as we compete in both the continent and the league.”

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Ideye hasn’t played for a club since leaving Al Yarmouk in 2022, but he is now gearing up for a top flight career in Nigeria under the leadership of Kano Pillars, a team that used to play for the Super Eagles. Ahmed Musa and Abdullahi Shehu are two of the former Super Eagles’ current players.

Ideye will also make his domestic debut 17 years after he left Ocean Boys in 2007 with the move.

In 2006, the 36-year-old won both a league and cup championship and Ocean Boys.

In October, he was about to leave Rivers United, the former league champion, for the first time.

The English champions are in the unusual position of pondering qualification for the Champions League’s knockout stages ahead of a challenging trip to the Italian giants Juventus due to Manchester City’s malaise.

The worst run of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career was caused by an injury crisis and a loss of form for some of their biggest stars, who have won just once in their previous nine games.

Despite a 4-1 humbling by Sporting Lisbon and an embarrassing collapse from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord, they are still in a position to qualify from the new league-phase format.

They sit 17th in the 36-team table, with a top-24 finish enough to secure a place in the playoff round at the least.

However, they appear to have slim chances of making it to the top eight because a January home game against Club Brugge will require a further challenging trip to Paris Saint-Germain.

City’s Premier League title defense is seemingly in ruins, so City needs to prepare for the Champions League.

After an unprecedented four consecutive English top-flight titles, the champions, in fourth place, trail Liverpool by eight points and Arne Slot’s men also have a game in hand.

During Guardiola’s six titles successes in the last seven years, City have frequently excelled at winning at home straight.

The music around the Etihad is different this time, with significant injuries to come from an aging squad.

“The season starts difficult, it will be difficult all season”, said Guardiola after his side’s latest stumble in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“We have to survive the season, every game, try to take points, to try to win games and go forward”.

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City squad: “not enough”

Rodri, who was the recipient of the Ballon d’Or, is the biggest disappointment and hasn’t returned since September with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The big names have missed significant amounts of the campaign so far include John Stones, Nathan Ake, Mateo Kovacic, and Oscar Bobb, while Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, and Phil Foden are also on the list.

Midfielder Bernardo Silva remarked, “If the squad is this short, it’s always very difficult for all the players to play three days after three days.”

“With a squad of 20 players, if you only have 13 available, it is not good enough”.

With only 12 games left until the end of the league season on January 29 in the first 50 days between the Juventus game and the city’s final game, they have little time to heal.

The doctors and physios are performing incredible things this season like no other time in my opinion, but we have few players available to rotate, according to Guardiola. “This season will be this,” he predicted.

Don’t feel sorry, accept the challenge, and you might find that our behavior will be more positive than it was in previous seasons when we won the titles.

If their medical room is full, and they return to their best form during the decisive springtime period, the hopes are that City will still be Champions League contenders.

Almost certainly, qualification will only be secured by one win out of their final three games.

With Juventus currently languishing in sixth place in serie A and struggling with a four-game winless streak, all three of their future opponents are below them in the table.

City need to look back just two years for inspiration. After consuming silverware for so long, Guardiola was questioned by his team’s defeats to Brentford, Southampton, Manchester United, Tottenham in the winter months of the 2022/23 campaign.

A few months later, they lifted the treble, including the club’s only Champions League to date.

Referee chiefs called his position “untenable” over a video that disparaged former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, and on Monday Premier League official David Coote was fired.

Coote, 42, was suspended last month after the video emerged on social media in which he branded Klopp “arrogant” and used offensive language.

David Coote’s employment with PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) has been terminated with immediate effect, according to a statement from PGMOL.

“David Coote’s actions were determined to be grave violations of the terms of his employment contract, and his position was determined to be untenable.

We are still concerned about David Coote’s welfare, and we continue to support him.

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The video appeared to be referring to a 1-1 victory Coote officiated match between Liverpool and Burnley in July 2020.

After the game, Klopp criticized Coote, claiming that the referee had handled Burnley challenges with too much indulgence.

Following the alleged snorting of a white powder during Euro 2024, Coote is also the subject of UEFA disciplinary proceedings.

The Football Association is looking into further allegations that Coote discussed betting on a fan to receive a yellow card before an encounter in England’s second-tier championship.

His final Premier League appearance was on November 9 when Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 2-0.

On Sunday, Safety Babes and Tojemarine were announced as Ardova Handball Premier League 2024 champions.

Tojemarine won the men’s championship game 36-33 against Sokoto Rima Strikers at the NIS gymnasium in Surulere, Lagos, while Sokoto Rima Strikers held on for second place with 59 points.

Since the start of the handball league in Nigeria, Tojemarine became the first team from Lagos to win.

Tojemarine also won the title for the first time in the South-West region during the open era.

Niger United, the 2023 champions, defeated Corrections Boys 38-24 to finish third with 58 points, while Safety Shooters failed to reach the podium for the first time since 2019.

Confluence Stars and Sunshine Kings were placed in the lower division.

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Safety Babes defeated second-placed Defender Babes 36-32 to take the top spot in the table with 54 points, completing an unprecedented fourth straight win and a fifth overall title.

Safety Babes’ winning streak now includes 53 matches that date back to 2022, as a result of the victory.

The second division included COAS Babes and Bendel Dynamos.

The Chairman of Ardova Plc, Abdulwasiu Sowami, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to promoting youth development through sports.

“We are firmly committed to initiatives that empower and advance healthy lifestyles among our youth.” By supporting young people, he said, “We are cultivating national cohesion and grooming future leaders who will contribute to a better society.”

Samuel Ocheho, president of the Handball Federation of Nigeria, applauded Ardova Plc for working with the organization to bring glory to the nation.

“This year’s Ardova premier league has been a resounding success. Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed an extraordinary display of talent, discipline, and teamwork”, Ocheho said. The players and coaches did a fantastic job of entertaining us with thrilling games and unforgettable moments. They demonstrate how beautiful the sport is and how potent handball is in Nigeria.

Defender Babes ‘ Bolanle Abdulrasaq claimed the top scorer’s award with 151 goals

Enzo Maresca, the manager of Chelsea, does not want to put extra pressure on his young side, but it is becoming more evident that they are Premier League title hopefuls.

After holding Arsenal at Fulham, the Blues made an emphatic statement by winning 4-3 on Sunday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to move just four points clear of Liverpool’s leaders.

The outcome leaves Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou with bleak reading, his team currently sits eleventh in the standings just one point ahead of struggling United.

Three Premier League weekend talking points are examined by AFP Sport.

Chelsea – the real deal?

Just a few months into his Chelsea tenure at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca transformed a large squad into a potent fighting force.

He said last week that the Blues could continue to “dominate” English football, despite not having won silverware since winning the Champions League trophy in 2021.

After his team beat Spurs 2-0, the Italian declared, “We are happy that our fans are happy.”

They can dream, because they can think anything because the reality is that, as I’ve said before, “we are not ready to be there,” but we must keep improving every day.

However, after winning four straight titles in the top flight, Chelsea are now within striking distance of Liverpool.

For Tottenham, the result is another major blow — just two weeks after they blew Manchester City away 4-0 at the Etihad.

Ruben Amorim, who joined Manchester United last month, experienced a new manager’s bounce, but he won’t be under any illusions about the magnitude of his task right now.

The former Sporting Lisbon boss anticipated a “storm will come” and that it will arrive sooner than he had anticipated.

United went down 2-0 to high-flying Arsenal in midweek and on Saturday lost 3-2 at home to Nottingham Forest, paying for defensive lapses.

The 20-time champions are 13th in the table with 19 points, their lowest position after 15 league matches since the 1986/87 season.

Amorim has urged United’s players and supporters to trust the process, saying it will be a “long journey”.

The club confirmed the shock departure of sporting director Dan Ashworth just five months after he took the position, but there was more upheaval on Sunday.

With their next two weeks away fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester City, United could face a battle to maintain their dignity.

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Home sweet home

Jekyll and Hyde are a Brentford team; their performance at home is the best in the Premier League, but their absence is terrible.

At the Gtech Community Stadium, Thomas Frank’s men won their seventh home game of the season with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle, which was another draw.

The Bees had four or more goals in their previous five home games.

Only second-placed Chelsea have more than Brentford’s overall total of 31 goals this season.

“The number of goals we’ve scored in the league, I don’t think any of us understand how crazy good that is”, said Frank.

Despite having six defeats and one draw in their seven games, Brentford are ninth in the table with 23 points.

With many of the bigger clubs struggling for consistency, they could be pushing for a spot in Europe.