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“Let us begin today’s bulletin with some news on The FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which could start one day earlier than scheduled with FIFA looking at a plan to let the host nation play Ecuador on Nov. 20, a person familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The person said a decision could be made within days by a committee comprised of FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the heads of the six continental soccer bodies. The proposal to create a 29-day tournament instead of the long-planned 28 has been favoured by Qatari officials and South American soccer body CONMEBOL, with talks also involving the Qatar and Ecuador soccer federations.”
“Real Madrid outplayed Eintracht Frankfurt by 2-0 on Wednesday to clinch the UEFA Super Cup for a record-equalling fifth time and started their season with a trophy.

David Alaba scored a goal in the first half and another one from Karim Benzema in the 65th that lifted him to second in Real’s all-time scoring list with 324 goals only behind Cristiano Ronaldo, wrapped up the title for the Spaniards.

Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid manager said, “Eintracht were very closed and we found it difficult to find our rhythm, but we did it well then. It’s difficult at the beginning of the season to be in top form but we now have won to start the season well.””
“Meanwhile,

Mark Parsons, the coach who took the defending champion Netherlands to the quarterfinals of the women’s European Championships, has left the job by mutual agreement with the Dutch soccer federation.

The Royal Netherlands Football Federation, known by its local acronym KNVB, announced Parsons’ departure on Wednesday. It called the team’s play and results at the tournament “disappointing.”

Parsons succeeded Sarina Wiegman, who led the Netherlands to the European title on home soil in 2017 and repeated the feat with England last month.

He had been in the job since May last year with a contract through the current World Cup qualifying campaign. Parsons joined the Dutch team from the Portland Thorns in the U.S. National Women’s Soccer League.”
“In what would come as a shock to Manchester United fans, Ryan Giggs, a man adored in the hallowed corridors of Old Trafford, was shaken off his pedestal when he was accused by his ex-girlfriend Kate Greville of assault and use of coercive behaviour.

On Monday, Giggs stood trial for the aforementioned charges, with the prosecutors claiming, “Giggs has a more sinister side to his character.” Greville told the court that Giggs promised her kids and demanded sex all the time while he was dating eight other women. She also said the former Wales coach had headbutted her and nearly split her lip open after she refused to give him her phone, according to The Sun.”
“The 48-year-old Giggs is accused of assaulting Kate Greville, 36, and causing actual bodily harm at his home in Worsley, Greater Manchester in November 2020. He is also charged with common assault of Greville’s younger sister during the same incident, as well as using controlling and coercive behaviour toward his former girlfriend between August 2017 and November 2020.

Giggs has denied all of the charges. He stood down as manager of the Wales national team in June, saying he didn’t want to jeopardize preparations for the World Cup later this year in Qatar.”
“Moving on,

Australia women’s cricket team outplayed India in the Commonwealth Games 2022 final as they fell short of just 9 runs on Sunday. After grabbing the gold medal at Birmingham, Australian skipper Meg Lanning decided to take an indefinite break.

The World’s number 2 T20I batter Lanning has cited personal reasons for the decision, with no return date set. She was to feature in The Hundred for the Trent Rockets after the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2022.

Lanning said in a statement, “After a busy couple of years, I’ve decided to take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself,” ”
“Meanwhile,

Kane Williamson played a brilliant knock of 47 runs and a dashing 33 from 15 balls by Jimmy Neesham propelled New Zealand to a 13-run win over the West Indies in the first of three Twenty20 cricket internationals.

Neesham smashed three fours from the last three balls and 23 runs from the last over of the innings as New Zealand scored 185-5 after being sent in to bat at Sabina Park on Wednesday.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner bagged 3-19 as New Zealand restricted the West Indies to 172-7 in 20 overs.”
“Lastly,

A batting-friendly pitch still proved too much trouble for Zimbabwe as Bangladesh got a 105-run consolation win in their third and final one-day international on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe had already clinched the series by winning the first two games but was bowled out for 151 at Harare Sports Club in 32.2 overs while chasing Bangladesh’s 256-9. Opener Anamul Haque made 76 from 71 balls for Bangladesh and No. 6 Afif Hossain was 85 not out from 81 to set up the visitors’ total.”

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By Associated Press

SAO PAULO: Brazil insisted that it won’t play its suspended World Cup qualifying match against Argentina next month, arguing Wednesday that the risks are too high ahead of the tournament in Qatar.

The qualifier nearly one year ago in Sao Paulo was stopped by local health officials after six minutes due to COVID-19 protocols regarding four Argentinian players.

FIFA fined the soccer bodies of both countries and demanded the match be played. Brazil’s confederation and Argentina’s federation took the case to the Court for Arbitration of Sport, which is expected to rule later in August. The game would be in September but FIFA has not set a date.

Brazil coach Tite does not want to play the match due to risks of injuries, suspensions and a potential boycott by the Argentinians, according to Brazilian confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues.

Brazilian media has reported the Selecao would rather play two friendlies in Europe.

“We will reach out to FIFA so this match is not played. I will make every effort to answer to the request of our coaching staff,” Rodrigues said in a statement. “Our priority is to win the World Cup in Qatar. If that match is not recommended by the coaching staff of the Selecao, we will work for it not to be played.”

Brazil and Argentina qualified regardless of that suspended encounter’s result.

In Qatar, Brazil is in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. Argentina is in Group C with Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

By Associated Press

GENEVA: Host nation Qatar is set to play in the opening game of its own World Cup tournament after all — and on a stand-alone day being added to the schedule barely 100 days before kickoff.

Soccer’s marquee tournament is now set start one day earlier than originally scheduled seven years ago in a move that would allow Qatar to play Ecuador on Nov. 20, a person familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the matter.

The proposal will be put before a committee comprised of FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the heads of the six continental soccer bodies, the person said. A decision is expected this week.

According to a letter sent by FIFA this week and seen by the AP, the governing body is asking for approval from the continental soccer bodies by Thursday.

Qatar should now get an exclusive Sunday slot for its opening ceremony and World Cup debut at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt Stadium.

The World Cup is currently scheduled to start on Nov. 21, a Monday, based on a FIFA decision in 2015 after it agreed to push back the tournament to avoid the extreme desert heat in June and July. FIFA also got agreement for a shorter, 28-day program to minimize disruption to domestic soccer, especially in Europe, which will shut down ahead of the World Cup.

Recent World Cup tradition gave 2014 host Brazil and 2018 host Russia exclusive opening days to play their first opponents. But the tighter schedule in Qatar called for four games daily for the entire group stage — 48 games in 12 days.

At the tournament draw in Doha on April 1, the Netherlands, Senegal and Ecuador landed in Group A with Qatar. The Dutch and Senegal were allocated the 1 p.m. local time start and Qatar was to play Ecuador in the third game with an evening kickoff six hours later.

The proposal to create a 29-day tournament instead of 28 has been favored by Qatari officials and South American soccer body CONMEBOL, with talks also involving the Qatar and Ecuador soccer federations, the person told the AP.

FIFA acknowledged in its letter that changing the date, after tickets have been sold, would affect some traveling fans. However, FIFA said “any risk is sufficiently outweighed by the value and benefits of the proposal” commercially.

A Qatar-Ecuador game involves only a few players who are with European clubs. Several on the likely Ecuador roster play for clubs in Spain, the United States and Mexico, where leagues stop play ahead of the Nov. 12-13 weekend.

The schedule switch would have been tougher to agree to if Qatar was scheduled to open against the Netherlands, which has key members playing until Nov. 13 with clubs in England and Italy.

Because of the proposal, FIFA is expected to push back the Netherlands-Senegal from the lunchtime start to the early evening slot that would be vacated by Qatar.

While an opening game on a Sunday evening in Qatar should play well with viewers in Asia and Europe, in the United States it puts the World Cup in direct competition with NFL games. The U.S. soccer team plays its World Cup opener against Wales as the late Monday game in Qatar.

The 2022 World Cup is the first in the tournament’s 92-year history to be played outside of the traditional northern hemisphere summer. The previous 21 editions were all played between late-May and the end of July.

The Nov. 21-Dec. 18 tournament schedule was agreed to so European clubs could play on the Nov. 12-13 weekend before releasing their players to the 32 World Cup teams. Changing opening day should not alter the tournament rule that players must report from their clubs to national teams no later than Nov. 14, FIFA said in its letter.