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sports Diamars 8 December 2020

Italy has hard qualifying path after missing last World Cup

(AP) - After missing out Italy, though, ended up in a Spain, Georgia and Greece,
on the 2018 World Cup, five-team group, like World who don’t recognize the for-
Italy has been handed a Cup-holder France, which mer province which declared
challenging path to the is in Group D with Ukraine, independence from Serbia
2022 tournament in Qatar. Finland, Bosnia and Herze- in 2008. Spain’s refusal to
govina, and Kazakhstan. respect the flag and anthem
The four-time world cham- However, Germany faces of Kosovo last year forced
pion was drawn in a qualify- five opponents in Group J, UEFA to move qualifying
ing group on Monday with but only North Macedonia games in soccer’s Under-17
Switzerland, which has made qualified for the European European Championship.
it to the last three World Championship next year, un- Sweden, which is the only
Cups and was the highest- like Romania, Iceland, Arme- team in the group to acknowl-
ranked team outside of the nia and Liechtenstein. edge Kosovo’s independence, event in the host nation with ranked Nations League group
top seeds. Italy’s failure in will also face Spain at the de- all the coaches, the draw was winners who did finish in the
the 2018 playoffs cost FIFA The Netherlands, another layed European Champion- conducted in a studio in Zur- top two of their World Cup
around $100 million in lost powerhouse to miss out on ship in June. ich without any audience due qualifying group.
television revenue. the 2018 World Cup, is in England, which last failed to the pandemic. Playoffs will be three brack-
Northern Ireland, Bulgar- Group G with Turkey, Nor- qualify for a World Cup in The 10 group runners-up ets of four teams in March
ia and Lithuania were also way, Montenegro, Latvia and 1994, is in Group I with Po- will enter the playoffs, joined 2022, each playing single-
drawn in Group C, with only Gibraltar. land, Hungary, Albania, An- by two teams from the Na- game semifinals and finals to
the first-placed team qualify- Group B is politically charged dorra, San Marino. tions League groups. Those fill the last three places in Eu-
ing automatically. as Kosovo was drawn with Rather than the usual glitzy two will be the two highest- rope’s 13-nation quota.

German soccer set for more even TV money split amid pandemic

(AP) — German soccer tions based on factors such as
will share its TV revenue past league positions, youth
more evenly in the com- development, and marketing
ing seasons amid warnings studies of audience interest.
that the coronavirus pan- The shift follows criticism
demic is straining clubs’ from smaller Bundesliga
finances. clubs that the TV revenue
split in recent years has made
The German Football it harder for them to chal-
League, which oversees the lenge bigger teams whose
top two men’s divisions, past successes can mean a
said it will put an extra 75 long-term boost to earning
million euros ($91 million) power.
per season from German-
language TV revenues into a International revenue of an
pot which is split evenly be- estimated 180 million euros
tween the clubs for the 2021- ($219 million) next season
22 and 2022-23 seasons. That will also be split slightly more
makes up 53% of the Ger- evenly than before. The in-
man-language revenue of ap- ternational revenue split has
proximately 1.1 billion euros a heavier tilt toward the big-
($1.34 billion) a season. gest teams than the domestic ert warned that clubs contin- German stadiums after a trial bers rose. Seifert urged clubs
The remaining 47% will be rights. ue to be under financial pres- period this season was ended to reduce their wage budgets
divided in varying propor- League CEO Christian Seif- sure. Fans are barred from when coronavirus case num- where possible.

Kobe reaches quarters in first Asian Champions League

na had one team in the last Oscar came closest for board and players, I give my
eight when it defeated FC Shanghai with a free kick that thanks for sharing so many
Tokyo 1-0, Brazilian mid- flew went narrowly wide. years of work and dedication.
fielder Alan Carvalho break- “This was a great win for us I depart leaving friends.”
ing the deadlock on the hour. but we know that there is a Suwon couldn’t find an
The draw is on Tuesday for long way for us to go,” Ni- equalizer against Yokohama
the two East Asia quarterfi- shi said. “Shanghai is a strong for nearly an hour, until Kim
nals on Thursday in the Qa- opponent but now we have Tae-hwan canceled out Erik
tar bubble. The winner of the to quickly focus on the next Lima’s first-half opener. Yo-
eventual semifinal faces West round.” kohama collapsed and con-
Asia zone winner Persepolis Shanghai left out star striker ceded goals to Kim Min-woo
of Iran in the final on Dec. Hulk, who was signed in and a 50-meter lob from Han
19. 2016 for a reported $60 mil- Suk-jong three minutes from
Andres Iniesta, a four-time lion, and the Brazilian con- the end.
UEFA Champions League firmed he was leaving China A late goal by Ado Onaiwu
winner with Barcelona, after the playoff. flattered Yokohama.
opened the scoring for Kobe “Today is a day ... to say good- Suwon’s victory came a day
(AP)- Vissel Kobe reached Bluewings joined fellow after 31 minutes. His shot bye to Shanghai SIPG, a club after Ulsan Horangi beat
the quarterfinals in its South Korean side Ulsan from inside the area went where I was welcomed with Melbourne Victory 3-0 with
Asian Champions League Horangi in the quarters after through the legs of Shanghai great affection,” Hulk wrote all the goals in the second
debut after beating Shang- coming from behind to down goalkeeper Wei Chen. on social media. “After more half. Two strikes by Norwe-
hai SIPG 2-0 on Monday. Yokohama F. Marinos of Ja- Daigo Nishi doubled the lead than four years I am very gian striker Bjorn Johnsen
pan 3-2 in the last 16. five minutes after halftime grateful to the fans who re- bookended Won Du-jae’s
Also, Suwon Samsung Beijing Guoan ensured Chi- from close range. ceived me very well. To the score.