World Cup
EUROPE’S PLAY-OFF PARTICIPANTS LEARN FATE
The match-ups to contest the final four European tickets to the 2018 FIFA World Russia have been decided, as the play-off ties featuring the group stage’s eight best second-placed sides were confirmed in Zurich on Tuesday.
Drawn by Spain legend Fernando Hierro at the Home of FIFA, the results mean Germany 2006 winners Italy will face Sweden, while Switzerland were paired with Northern Ireland, Croatia meet Greece and Denmark will take on Republic of Ireland.
The first and second legs will take place between 9-11 and 12-14 November respectively, with the winners clinching one of the last remaining World Cup tickets and joining the nine representatives from the continent already set for the finals.
“It was interesting to be the first team out,” Northern Ireland manager Micheal O’Neill said after the draw.
“We knew whatever team we got was going to be a very difficult game, and Switzerland have had a great qualifying campaign: nine wins, one defeat. We’ve only lost one competitive game in Belfast in four years, which was against Germany, so we intend to make it a very difficult night for Switzerland.
“Sweden coach, Jan Andersson similarly expects a tough challenge, having been drawn against the side that only finished second to a near-perfect Spain in Group I.
“We will start now and historically Italian football is good, with good individual players who have been to the world championships before, so they will have good experience,” he admitted. “They are a good team, but we will go for it.”
There is also set to be an intriguing reunion when Republic of Ireland take on Denmark. “I know Denmark and the manager Age Hareide, he and I used to play together, so it is going to be an interesting confrontation,” Martin O’Neill said of his opposite number.
But, having clinched a nail-biting win to qualify against Wales, he feels it will work in their advantage. “Momentum is very, very important, it was a great win for us – we won our last two games to get here into this position. I’m just concerned now about the next couple of weeks and our players not picking up injuries at club level.”
“I would view this as having a second opportunity and that I will be playing in a 180-minute final,” Hierro, who was capped 89 times for Spain, said during the ceremony. “They all know how important it is to make it to the World Cup in Russia. Good luck to them all.”
Growing line-up
Qualifying as hosts, Russia have since been joined by France, Portugal, Germany, Serbia, Poland, England, Spain, Belgium and Iceland, with 23 of the 32 nations now decided for next year’s festival of football.
On top of the four additional European places, the remaining five spots will be decided between 10-15 November, as three sides from Africa are yet to book their tickets, while the intercontinental play-offs will confirm the last two names in the hat for the Final Draw.
That will take place on 1 December in Moscow, where the eight groups will be decided, using pot allocations based on the October edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. Pot 1, which is already confirmed, will feature Russia, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland and France.
FIXTURES IN FULL (ALL TIMES LOCAL)
FIRST LEG:
Croatia-Greece (Thursday 9 November, 20.45)
Northern Ireland-Switzerland (Thursday 9 November, 19.45)
Sweden-Italy (Friday 10 November, 20.45)
Denmark-Republic of Ireland (Saturday 11 November, 20.45)
Second leg:
Greece-Croatia (Sunday 12 November, 21.45)
Switzerland-Northern Ireland (Sunday 12 November, 18.00)
Italy-Sweden (Monday 13 November 20.45)
Republic of Ireland-Denmark (Tuesday 14 November, 19.45)
The Trump administration will not require World Cup ticket holders from countries flagged for high rates of visa overstays to pay expensive bonds to enter the United States, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday.
The administration last year began requiring visitors from some countries to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to obtain tourist visas to the U.S., saying the steep deposit was needed to prevent visa overstays. Fifty countries are currently subject to the bond requirement, which was expanded this year.
Five of the 50 countries subject to the visa bonds qualified to participate in the World Cup: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.
Mora Namdar, the top official in the State Department’s consular affairs division, said the U.S. would waive the bond requirement for ticket-holding fans who had already registered through a special system to expedite their visa processing. Qualifying team members and staff can also have the bonds waived, Namdar said.
“We remain committed to strengthening U.S. national security priorities while facilitating legitimate travel for the upcoming World Cup tournament,” she said in a statement.
The Associated Press first reported the news.
The World Cup, one of the globe’s biggest sporting events, will be held in June and July this year across three countries – the United States, Canada and Mexico.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown has already cast a pall over the event and raised concerns about the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Last year, masked federal agents surged into U.S. cities to track down immigration offenders and detained some tourists at airports.
The advocacy group Human Rights Watch , in late April, called on FIFA to press the U.S. government to establish an “ICE Truce” for the World Cup, including a public guarantee to refrain from immigration enforcement operations at games and venues.
DHS said at the time that international visitors travelling for the games “have nothing to worry about” if they have legal immigration status.
The U.S. launched a system in January to make it easier for World Cup ticket holders to obtain expedited visas. In order to have the bond requirement waived, ticket holders from affected countries must have registered in that system, known as FIFA PASS, by April 15.
-Reuters
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New Jersey’s public rail system is further dropping its World Cup ticket price from an original $150 per round trip to $98, the rail system provider said on Wednesday.
This NJ TRANSIT cut followed a reduction to $105 earlier in May.
The prices for the trip, which outraged World Cup fans both in the New York City area and from overseas, sparked much political comment, from local officials to U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
Local officials had complained that FIFA was going to earn billions from the event, while New Jersey taxpayers would be footing a huge bill for security, disrupted services and other game-related impacts.
“We were able to reduce costs while protecting NJ Transit’s daily customers and commuters from bearing the financial burden,” NJ Transit Chair Priya Jain said.
The price drop was possible because of additional advertising revenue, the agency said.
The tournament, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, starts on June 11.
-Reuters
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The White House refuted reports that the United States denied visas for five members of Iraq’s national team ahead of next month’s World Cup.
The State Department sent a statement on Wednesday to Front Office Sports in response to online reports involving five players, including Luton Town forward Ali Al-Hamadi.
“Currently, there are no known issues affecting the Iraq National Team players, and they remain on track to compete in the World Cup,” the statement reads. “We maintain daily communication with FIFA and will continue to prioritise these players in accordance with the President’s Executive Order, ensuring an incredible and safe tournament.”
The Iraqi Football Association also quashed the rumours that had circulated on social media on Tuesday.
“The news is false, and the truth is that all the national team players have obtained entry visas to America,” it said, per the Iraqi news site The New Region, adding that the players are also in the process of getting Canadian visas.
Iraq is in a tough Group I for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America, along with France, Senegal and Norway. Iraq is scheduled to play games in Foxborough, Mass. (June 16 vs. Norway), Philadelphia (June 22 vs. France) and in Toronto (June 26 vs. Senegal).
-Reuters
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