Page 31 - bon-dia-aruba-20210908

A31
sports Diaranson 8 september 2021

Portugal overcomes Ronaldo’s absence, beats Azerbaijan 3-0

(AP) — Portugal over-
came the absence of Cris-
tiano Ronaldo to comfort-
ably defeat Azerbaijan
3-0 and take the lead in
its World Cup qualifying
group on Tuesday.

Bernardo Silva, André Silva
and Diogo Jota scored a goal
each for visiting Portugal,
which moved three points
ahead of Serbia in Group A.
The Serbians can return to
the top when they visit Ire-
land later Tuesday.

Ronaldo was serving a sus-
pension for accumulation of men’s all-time top scorer in in the 26th minute by flick- close range five minutes later, It hosts Ireland in the next
yellow cards. He was released international soccer. He had ing the ball into the top cor- and Jota sealed the victory round in October.
from the squad after netting been tied with former Iranian ner with the outside of his with a header in the 75th.
his 110th and 111th goals in striker Ali Daei at 109 goals. left foot. André Silva, play- Winless Azerbaijan stayed in Serbia will next visit Luxem-
Portugal’s 2-1 win over Ire- Bernardo Silva opened the ing in Ronaldo’s position up last place in the group with bourg, which is also Portu-
land last week, becoming the scoring from inside the area front, added to the lead from one point from five matches. gal’s next opponent.

European clubs ‘united’ for tackling FIFA, UEFA politics

(AP) — After the Super places on the decision-mak- “We didn’t get approached Van der Sar suggested the
League crisis and ongo- ing executive board. by FIFA,” said al-Khelaifi, They will, however, play in new single-standings format
ing legal fight by three of though adding he met with the Champions League next also coming to the Europa
its creators, top European “They were sorry and apolo- its president Gianni Infan- week and Ajax CEO Edwin League and Europa Confer-
soccer clubs were praised gized for what they did,” said tino three days ago. Infantino van der Sar welcomed their ence League in 2024 will raise
Tuesday as a united family Nasser al-Khelaifi, who be- was in Qatar to visit a World “European history and pedi- revenues and quality of play.
by their new Qatari leader. came ECA chairman in April Cup project in the 2022 host gree.”
amid the failed breakaway to nation. FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY
A busy period for interna- rival the Champions League. “If we want to play and com-
tional soccer politics was They discussed the tricky pete in a strong competition, UEFA’s system of monitor-
kicked off by the European Al-Khelaifi, the president of issue of FIFA’s schedule of you need those clubs,” said ing clubs’ income and spend-
Club Association’s first meet- Paris Saint-Germain, helped games when clubs must re- Van der Sar, who played for ing since 2009 seemed flawed
ing since the turmoil in April doom the Super League by lease their players to nation- Juventus. “You want to beat even before the COVID-19
that threatened the status of his club refusing to sign up to al-team duty, though not the the best.” pandemic forced a deeper re-
the UEFA-run Champions the project. biennial World Cup which view.
League. would summon more than CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
He also leads Qatar-owned 1,100 players to the finals REFORMS An amended system based
Persistent FIFA vs. UEFA BeIN Media Group, a key tournament. on a luxury tax is now being
and clubs vs. national teams UEFA broadcasting cus- Before the Super League was worked on.
power struggles are expected tomer which has Champions At the news conference, Bay- revealed, those clubs were
in the months ahead. Quali- League rights in France and ern Munich lawyer Michael deeply involved in UEFA “The landscape must be open
fication for the 2022 World across Asia and North Africa. Gerlinger said Wenger’s aim talks to reform the Champi- for investments,” Anderlecht
Cup in Qatar is being de- for a December decision was ons League from 2024 and official Michael Verschueren
cided during the COVID-19 “It’s really important to be “challenging.” get more control of its com- said.
pandemic while FIFA pushes united here,” Al-Khelaifi said mercial strategy.
plans to play the tournament at a news conference after a Leverage for the clubs could A luxury tax system would
every two years against resis- two-day meeting of 160 ECA be in future talks over renew- Key changes include 10 guar- seem to benefit state-backed
tance from Europe. members, their first since ing the ECA-FIFA working anteed games — in the “Swiss clubs like Qatar’s PSG and
April. “To show the unity, agreement. It expires at the model” of a single standings Abu Dhabi’s Manchester City
Clubs want to be heard and that we are one family.” 2022 World Cup. table replacing the group — two clubs in the crosshairs
the ECA formally welcomed stage — and two entries in of financial fair play, yet who
back nine of 12 founders of Delegates reported little de- SUPER LEAGUE REBELS the expanded 36-team lineup beat UEFA’s lawyers in ap-
the ill-fated Super League bate and dissent at the mostly based on recent European re- peals at the Court of Arbitra-
as members. Three even got closed-doors sessions. Here The ECA board now has cords of teams who failed to tion for Sport.
are some of the issues in play: three officials from Super qualify on merit.
League clubs who were for- Since April, PSG signed star
BIENNIAL WORLD CUP given after renouncing it: Those changes are likely to players like Lionel Messi and
chief executives Alessandro stay despite being unpopular Sergio Ramos as free agents
FIFA is seeking support for Antonello from Inter Milan with the European Leagues when Super League clubs did
plans to stage World Cups ev- and Miguel Ángel Gil from group and fan representa- not, or could not, match their
ery two years instead of four. Atlético Madrid, plus Totten- tives, who helped UEFA re- salary demands.
ham chairman Daniel Levy. sist the Super League.
European clubs, who em- “Everything we do, we have
ploy most of the players that Super League rebels Real “We are aware that these two done within Financial Fair
global viewers want to see, Madrid, Barcelona and Ju- ‘coefficient spots’ … have Play as a club,” Al-Khelaifi
have not been shown formal ventus are excluded from the created discussion,” ECA said when pressed on how
proposals shaped by Arsène ECA while they pursue a case chief executive Charlie Mar- PSG could reject a 180 mil-
Wenger, now FIFA’s director against UEFA at the Euro- shall said. “But there is logic lion euros ($213 million) bid
of global development. pean Court of Justice in Lux- and rationale behind them.” last week from Madrid for
embourg. Kylian Mbappé.