Belarus qualifying for European soccer event forces UEFA to find third co-host nation
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA changed the hosting plan for its 2026 European Championship for indoor soccer on Friday because Russia's military ally Belarus has qualified for the finals tournament.
Co-hosts Latvia and Lithuania 'prohibit the organization of matches involving Belarusian teams on their domestic territories,' said UEFA, which added Slovenia as a third host for the 16-team futsal event.
Slovenia, the home nation of UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, will now organize more than half of the four-yearly tournament that opens on Jan. 20 and includes Ukraine.
UEFA said Belarus will be drawn to play in one of the two groups moved to Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, which also will stage two quarterfinals, both semifinals and the final.
One group will be played in each of Riga, Latvia's capital, and Kaunas in Lithuania.
'Each city will also host one quarterfinal, reaffirming their central roles in the tournament,' UEFA said, giving no details of how Ukraine will be separated from Belarus in the draw.
Russian teams have been
banned from international competitions
by UEFA and FIFA since the full military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. UEFA's move in 2023 to reintegrate Russian under-17s teams was
stopped by a backlash from Ukraine
and other member federations.
National and club teams from Belarus have continued to play, though must host 'home' games in neutral countries with no fans in the stadium.
Belarus will start qualifying for the men's 2026 World Cup in September in a group with Denmark, Scotland and Greece. Belarus is playing home games in Hungary.
The previous futsal Euros played in the Netherlands saw one of the last soccer matches between teams from Russia and Ukraine, in the quarterfinals on Feb. 4, 2022. Russia won 3-2.
___
AP soccer:
https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
36 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Cavaliers acquiring Lonzo Ball from the Bulls for Isaac Okoro, AP sources say
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to acquire guard Lonzo Ball from the Chicago Bulls for forward Isaac Okoro according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because the trade can not be finalized until the start of the new league year on July 6. Ball averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 35 games this past season after missing the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns because of a left knee injury. The 27-year old Ball underwent a meniscus and cartilage transplant in his left knee in March 2023 after two surgeries failed to fix an injury he suffered during his first season in Chicago in 2021-22. Ball, the second overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 draft, missed the last two months of the season because of a sprained right wrist. He has one year remaining on his contract with a team option for the 2026-27 season. Cleveland has a need at point guard with Ty Jerome becoming an unrestricted free agent and Darius Garland likely to miss the start of the regular season after undergoing surgery on his left big toe earlier this month. The Cavaliers had the second-best record in the NBA at 64-18 but were eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Indiana Pacers in five games. Okoro averaged 6.1 points and 2.4 rebounds this past season and is a strong defender who can also shoot well from the perimeter. However, he found his playing time begin to decrease over the season. He averaged 14.2 minutes in the playoffs after logging 19.1 minutes per game in the regular season. Okoro has two years remaining on his contract. ___ AP NBA:
Hamilton Spectator
37 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
US soccer great Tobin Heath hoping Club World Cup spurs more growth for game at home
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tobin Heath might know something about what makes soccer resonate within the U.S. Her resume, in part: She won NCAA titles in college at North Carolina, then went on to win two Olympic gold medals with the U.S. women's national team and two World Cup titles as well, all of that coming after she was inspired by the 1999 Women's World Cup. And so far, she thinks the Club World Cup could have a similar effect. Heath — who is working as part of FIFA's technical study group for the tournament, alongside the likes of former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger, former German star and U.S. men's national coach Jurgen Klinsmann and others — said Saturday that a match she attended earlier this month between Bayern Munich and Boca Juniors, with a full and jammed stadium in South Florida playing host to that matchup, shows what could be possible in this country. 'As an American, it was one of the coolest experiences of my life to witness that passion and energy,' Heath — during a FIFA briefing with the technical group — said. 'It's something I never believed I could see in my own country. And the stadium was literally shaking. You could feel it, and the fans were absolutely incredible. So, I know the power of these home competitions. ... I know the power of these games in our country, to change the landscape of this game in our country.' The attendance for the games in the Club World Cup has varied widely ; some stadiums are jammed, some pretty much empty. With the tournament entering the knockout round and some strong matchups ahead — including Lionel Messi and Inter Miami taking on his former team, Paris Saint-Germain, on Sunday in Atlanta — there should be plenty of good crowds throughout the remainder of the event, as FIFA looks to build momentum toward the World Cup that's coming to North America next year. 'This is a fantastic dress rehearsal for us,' Heath said. Only one U.S.-based team made the knockout stage: Messi's Inter Miami, though some wonder if that's a club that will have a true pronounced effect on soccer in this country. Messi is the biggest name in the sport and has an enormous following everywhere, one that obviously existed long before he came to Miami two years ago. 'Messi has not the best data of this tournament, but he's certainly the most influential player of this tournament — because without him Inter Miami would never qualify,' Wenger said. The job of the technical study group is simple: watch all the matches, either live or on television (with the benefit of many screens and angles), assess style of play and determine what is making teams successful. The level of data collected from these matches is beyond deep; reports are more than 50 pages thick and measure everything from time it takes a team to recover possession after a giveaway to how hard players are sprinting at key times of a match. 'This tournament has blown me away,' Heath said. 'It's made me even more excited for the summer to come, and I couldn't be more proud of this country. It shows that football is deeply embedded and deeply personal to our country. I can't wait to see the growth.' ___ AP soccer:
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
US soccer great Tobin Heath hoping Club World Cup spurs more growth for game at home
Associated Press MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Tobin Heath might know something about what makes soccer resonate within the U.S. Her resume, in part: She won NCAA titles in college at North Carolina, then went on to win two Olympic gold medals with the U.S. women's national team and two World Cup titles as well, all of that coming after she was inspired by the 1999 Women's World Cup. And so far, she thinks the Club World Cup could have a similar effect. Heath — who is working as part of FIFA's technical study group for the tournament, alongside the likes of former Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger, former German star and U.S. men's national coach Jurgen Klinsmann and others — said Saturday that a match she attended earlier this month between Bayern Munich and Boca Juniors, with a full and jammed stadium in South Florida playing host to that matchup, shows what could be possible in this country. 'As an American, it was one of the coolest experiences of my life to witness that passion and energy,' Heath — during a FIFA briefing with the technical group — said. 'It's something I never believed I could see in my own country. And the stadium was literally shaking. You could feel it, and the fans were absolutely incredible. So, I know the power of these home competitions. ... I know the power of these games in our country, to change the landscape of this game in our country.' The attendance for the games in the Club World Cup has varied widely; some stadiums are jammed, some pretty much empty. With the tournament entering the knockout round and some strong matchups ahead — including Lionel Messi and Inter Miami taking on his former team, Paris Saint-Germain, on Sunday in Atlanta — there should be plenty of good crowds throughout the remainder of the event, as FIFA looks to build momentum toward the World Cup that's coming to North America next year. 'This is a fantastic dress rehearsal for us,' Heath said. Only one U.S.-based team made the knockout stage: Messi's Inter Miami, though some wonder if that's a club that will have a true pronounced effect on soccer in this country. Messi is the biggest name in the sport and has an enormous following everywhere, one that obviously existed long before he came to Miami two years ago. 'Messi has not the best data of this tournament, but he's certainly the most influential player of this tournament — because without him Inter Miami would never qualify," Wenger said. The job of the technical study group is simple: watch all the matches, either live or on television (with the benefit of many screens and angles), assess style of play and determine what is making teams successful. The level of data collected from these matches is beyond deep; reports are more than 50 pages thick and measure everything from time it takes a team to recover possession after a giveaway to how hard players are sprinting at key times of a match. 'This tournament has blown me away,' Heath said. 'It's made me even more excited for the summer to come, and I couldn't be more proud of this country. It shows that football is deeply embedded and deeply personal to our country. I can't wait to see the growth.' ___ AP soccer: recommended in this topic
