FIFA puts U.S. Cup bid on hold
North America’s request for a fasttrack approval of its offer to host the 2026 World Cup was delayed Tuesday, with FIFA’s ruling council deciding to wait until August to allow rival bids to be considered.
FIFA also agreed to select a new judge and prosecutor to oversee corruption cases in world soccer, moving to replace top ethics officials HansJoachim Eckert of Germany and Swiss prosecutor Cornel Borbely.
Last month the soccer federations of the U.S., Mexico and Canada announced their intentions to jointly stage the 2026 tournament, which is expanding to 48 teams. The plans call for 60 games to be played in the U.S. and 10 each in Mexico and Canada.
According to Reuters, the three countries were seeking “in principle” backing for their bid and an exclusive window to put together details before seeking final ratification in 2018. A source with knowledge of the FIFA meeting in Manama, Bahrain, told Reuters that request met with resistance from some council members who argued more time was needed to consider alternative bids.
Though no rival bid has been formally announced, media reports have suggested Morocco could join the race. Yet no matter which countries try to counter the U.S.-led bid, Asian confederation leader Sheikh Salman, speaking in a public meeting Tuesday, said the North American offer “will be the favorite.”
Meanwhile, the FIFA council’s decision not to nominate Borbely and Eckert for another term led the pair to issue a statement calling the move the de facto “end of FIFA’s reform efforts.”
Several dozen football officials, mainly from Latin America, were indicted in the United States in 2015 on corruption-related charges, sparking the worst crisis in FIFA’s history. Among the officials banned from the sport were former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and secretary general Jerome Valcke.
Eckert and Borbely had expressed a desire to continue the work beyond the end of their current mandates, which run until Thursday’s FIFA Congress.
Colombian investigator Maris Claudia Rojas has been nominated as the new head of the investigatory chamber with Vassilios Skouris of Greece, a former president of the European Court of Justice, nominated to head the adjudicatory chamber.
Dani Alves inspired Juventus to a 2-1 win over Monaco in Turin, Italy, to send the Italian club to its second Champions League final in three years.
Alves set up Mario Mandzukic’s opener in the 33rd minute and got on the scoresheet himself on the stroke of halftime with an impressive volley as Juventus earned a 4-1 victory on aggregate.
The Buffalo Bills hired Brandon Beane to fill their general manager vacancy in another indication of rookie head coach Sean McDermott’s growing influence over team decisions.
The 40-year-old Beane has spent his entire 19-season NFL career working up the Carolina Panthers’ ranks, including the past two as the team’s assistant GM. In Carolina, Beane had ties to McDermott, who was hired by the Bills in January after working six seasons as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator.
Top-ranked Andy Murray of Scotland made his debut at the Madrid Open with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 win over wild card Marius Copil of Romania in the second round. American Ryan Harrison had 15 aces to defeat Australian Bernard Tomic 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
In the women’s draw, third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania defeated Italian Roberta Vinci 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
George Irvine, who coached nearly 200 games for the Indiana Pacers in the 1980s before working in the front office, has died after battling cancer. He was 69. Irvine had been living near his hometown of Seattle, where he was a standout player for the University of Washington.
Irvine was drafted by his hometown Seattle Supersonics in the 1970 NBA draft but wound up playing all 325 games of his pro career in the ABA.
Oregon State center Cheikh N’diaye and forward Tres Tinkle have been granted medical hardships by the Pac-12 Conference.
N’diaye played nine games before a left shoulder injury sidelined him the rest of the season. Tinkle, son of coach Wayne Tinkle, suffered a broken right wrist in the sixth game of the season. He was averaging 20.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. N’diaye will be a redshirt senior and Tinkle a redshirt sophomore next season.