LONDON (REUTERS) - Tottenham Hotspur's Europa Conference League game at home to Stade Rennais on Thursday (Dec 9) will not go ahead as planned, Uefa has announced, after a Covid-19 outbreak at the Premier League club. Spurs said on Wednesday the match had been called off after manager Antonio Conte confirmed that there had been 13 positive cases at the club - eight players and five members of staff. Later on Wednesday, Rennes criticised the decision, saying it was taken unilaterally by Tottenham and that they reserved the right to appeal to Uefa. "Uefa can confirm that the Uefa Europa Conference League group stage match, Tottenham Hotspur versus Stade Rennais FC, which was due to be played on Dec 9 in London, will not be taking place as scheduled," the governing body said in a statement. It is currently unclear whether other Spurs games will be affected. They are due to play at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Sunday, away to Leicester City on Dec 16 and at home to Liverpool on Dec 19. Vitesse Arnhem, level with Tottenham in Europa Conference League Group G on seven points from five games, were due to host Mura on Thursday at the same time (4am on Friday, Singapore time) as the Spurs-Rennes match. The Dutch side said in a statement that they had asked Uefa to postpone their clash as well as they were concerned about the fairness of the matches taking place separately. Vitesse and Spurs are vying with each other to finish second and secure a spot in a playoff round before the last 16. Rennes have already reached the last 16 as Group G winners on 11 points after five matches. Spurs are above Vitesse on goal difference, with Slovenian side Mura out of contention on three. "Vitesse has not (yet) received an official message from Uefa about the consequences of the cancellation in London for Vitesse versus NS Mura," Vitesse said in a statement. "If Tottenham Hotspur versus Stade Rennais FC is moved to a later date that will be a significant disadvantage for Vitesse from a sporting point of view because both teams are highly dependent on each other's result. "...Vitesse has also asked... Uefa... a number of questions and indicated that it is prepared to explore concrete solutions with the aim of creating an equal and fair playing field for all teams in the group." Uefa said on Thursday the match would go ahead as scheduled. More on this topic Related Story Football: Spurs game against Rennes called off due to Covid-19 Related Story Football: Leicester without seven players for Napoli game Related Stories: Related Story HK researchers develop steel that kills 99% of Covid-19 virus within hours Related Story Will I lose fully vaccinated status if I don't get third Sinovac, Sinopharm dose? Related Story Trump's blood oxygen level in Covid-19 bout was dangerously low, former aide says in book Related Story Omicron's spread across hotel hall in Hong Kong highlights transmission worry Related Story Top Covid-19 expert hints at how China may return to 'normality' Related Story South Korea's Covid-19 rules put some vaccinated foreigners in limbo Related Story Inside South Africa's effort to halt dangerous Covid-19 mutations Related Story Lessons from travelling in a Covid-19-stricken world Related Story The week that Covid-19 sucker punched the world Related Story Pfizer or Moderna booster - which is more effective? Here's what an MOH study shows
LONDON (AFP) - Football competitions can decide to make the originally temporary five-substitutes rule permanent, the sport's rule-making body IFAB recommended on Wednesday (Oct 27). "FAP-TAP (football and technical advisory panels) today recommended that competitions should be able to decide on increasing the number of substitutes according to the needs of their football environment," read an IFAB statement. The decision to permanently amend football's laws came at a virtual Fifa-chaired IFAB meeting following requests from different confederations, associations and leagues. The option of using five replacements was introduced in May 2020 to alleviate the strain on players as the coronavirus pandemic upended sporting calendars and congested fixture lists, raising fears for player welfare. Only three substitutes were previously allowed, but coaches argued the more onerous physical demands on players competing in condensed competition formats or time periods justified the change. Earlier this year, IFAB's board of directors extended the temporary amendment to football's laws allowing domestic and international competitions to use five substitutes to Dec 31, 2022. Teams can make five substitutes in Uefa competitions like the Champions League, but England's Premier League rejected the innovation being reintroduced last season. Critics had said making the change permanent would disproportionately benefit wealthier clubs with larger squads.
PARIS (AFP) - European football's governing body Uefa has suspended legal action against Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona over their role in attempting to launch a breakaway European Super League. "The Uefa appeal Body has decided to stay the proceedings until further notice," Uefa said on Wednesday (June 9) without specifying their reasons. Real, Juventus and Barcelona held out when nine of the 12 original clubs backtracked and struck a deal with Uefa last month. The six English sides involved reached a financial settlement with the Premier League earlier on Wednesday worth a combined £22 million (S$40 million). Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham announced themselves among the founder members of the competition in April, but the project quickly collapsed after widespread opposition. They were joined by Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan when agreeing to forego 5 per cent of their revenue from Uefa competitions for one season and pay a combined €15 million (S$24 million) donation to support grassroots' and youth football in Europe. Uefa then announced it was opening formal disciplinary proceedings against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, "for a potential violation of Uefa's legal framework". More on this topic Related Story Football: Premier League Big Six reach settlement over Super League Related Story Football: Nine clubs sanctioned by Uefa over Super League project as three hold out
LAUSANNE (AFP) - Uefa meets on Friday (April 23) with revenge on some members' minds following the attempted Super League breakaway, while the fate of some Euro host cities is also on the agenda. In the space of 48 emotional hours, between Sunday evening and Tuesday evening, European football's governing body, aided by fans and politicians, quelled a mutiny by 12 English, Spanish and Italian clubs who presumed to form their own quasi-closed tournament which would have threatened Uefa's own Champions League and the federation's governance of the game. Nine clubs, including all six in England, subsequently withdrew and even if Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid, whose president Florentino Perez led the attempted secession, are still refusing formally to capitulate, their proposal no longer looks credible. Their setback showed money does not inevitably win in football and some want to make sure that the defeated big clubs fall as hard as possible. Danish executive committee member Jesper Moeller on Monday suggested throwing Manchester City, Chelsea and Real Madrid out of this year's Champions League semi-finals. That drastic measure seems unlikely to be approved. "There is relatively little chance that next week's matches will not be played," Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin told Slovenian television Pop TV. "The key thing is that the season has already started. If we cancelled the matches, television stations would have compensation demands." But while Ceferin said he wanted to "rebuild the unity" he did not rule out some form of payback. "I can't go into details, we are discussing it with our legal department," he said. Power redistribution Meanwhile, another Uefa member, Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish Liga, urged restraint. "Everyone wants to cut everyone's head off," he said on Thursday. "We have procedures. We don't need to rush into things." "The most important thing is these clubs have been sanctioned by their own fans. The sanction is the blow to their reputations." More on this topic Related Story Football: Barcelona's Laporta says Super League needed but wants dialogue with Uefa Related Story Football: European Super League fiasco leaves 'dirty dozen' facing punishment but Real chief defiant The fiasco has already redistributed power within Uefa. Andrea Agnelli, Juventus boss and one of the promoters of a Super League, has relinquished both the presidency of the European Club Association (ECA) and his seat on the Uefa executive committee. Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was rewarded for his loyalty when he filled the vacant Uefa position. Another executive committee member whose club refused to join the rebels, Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, took over the powerful ECA reins on Thursday. The two men are now the leading club representatives in decisions on the commercial management of the Champions League, which was radically reshaped on Monday. Uefa's executive committee approved a new format for the Champions League which had been proposed before news of the uprising broke. It will be introduced from 2024, with the number of clubs in the group stage increasing from 32 to 36. Euro host questions In the immediate future, Uefa has to finalise the organisation of the Euros, postponed from last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and due to start on June 11 in 12 cities, each in a different country. So far nine cities have agreed to Uefa's demand that fans be allowed at every match. The three holdouts, Bilbao, Dublin and Munich, have been threatened with losing their matches. The issue was on the agenda on Monday, but Uefa postponed a decision until Friday. More on this topic Related Story Football: Arteta reveals personal apology from Arsenal owners over Super League plot Related Story Football: Man City's Soriano sorry over Super League 'mistake' On Wednesday evening, however, the Basque organisers said that they had received a letter from Uefa saying Bilbao was being replaced. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said earlier in the month that Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the Basque region made it "impossible" to admit fans to the San Mames stadium. Basque officials said they are considering legal action to recover the 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) they had spent. The RFEF wants to keep Bilbao's four matches in Spain and has proposed Seville as an alternative, if the Andalusian regional authorities are more accommodating on spectators. More on this topic Related Story Football: European Super League shelved as more clubs withdraw Related Story Football: Rebel clubs face break-up fees for pulling plug on Super League, say sources The Irish government, concerned by the high numbers of Covid cases in the country, is not at all optimistic about hosting fans at matches in Dublin. "We just think June is too soon," Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told Today FM radio on Wednesday. Budapest, St Petersburg, Baku, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Rome and London have all promised crowds at between 25 per cent and 100 per cent of capacity. Munich has also not yet been able to guarantee that fans would be able to attend matches. More on this topic Related Story Football: Eight of 12 Euro 2020 host cities confirm matches with spectators Related Story Football: Italy to host Euro 2020 games with stadium at 25 per cent capacity
LONDON • The fate of the rescheduled Euro 2020 tournament will not be decided until March but Uefa is hoping that vaccination efforts will allow organisers to stick to their original plan for June's pan-European tournament. The 24-team, month-long showpiece, a major revenue generator for Europe's football governing body and national federations, was postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 edition, the brainchild of former Uefa president Michel Platini, was planned to be the first staged across Europe rather than a single nation or joint hosts. The host cities are Glasgow, Dublin, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, St Petersburg, Bucharest, Budapest and Baku, with the semi-finals and final set for London's Wembley. Uefa had hoped that a year-long wait would have allowed fans to be present at games but, with most matches continuing to be held behind closed doors currently, that prospect depends on an improvement in the virus situation. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin is hoping vaccination programmes, moving at different speeds across the various host countries, will be the key to sticking to the original plan. "Vaccination has started and I think we will be able to have full stands in the summer," he said in a recent interview with Serbian newspaper Informer. "For now, the plan is to play in all 12 countries. Of course, there are back-up options in case a country has a problem." But the Slovenian accepts that there may need to be some juggling of the hosting arrangement and perhaps different levels of stadium capacity use. "We are ready to organise competitions in 11, 10 or nine cities... and even only in one country, if necessary. However, I am 99.9 per cent sure that we will have the European Championship in all 12 cities, as planned," he said. Uefa confirmed it has been working on four operational scenarios - for full stadiums, 50-100 per cent capacity, 20-30 per cent capacity, and games behind closed doors. The host cities have been asked to come up with two to three plans out of those options and it is possible different approaches will be taken in each venue. "A decision on which scenario will be applied individually in each city during the tournament will be made on March 5, 2021," Uefa said in a statement. Given the broadcast deals in place for the tournament, Uefa has a strong commercial interest in the event taking place as planned. Even if the entire tournament had to be held without fans, it would still allow Uefa to meet its contractual requirements and avoid a major financial hit. One threat to the tournament would come if, like last year, domestic leagues had to stop due to the pandemic, pushing back the club competitions. So far, European leagues, with strict protocols in place for secure games without fans, have been able to continue playing, although plans for the return of fans have been affected by the recent third wave of Covid cases across Europe. REUTERS