Connect with us

CLUB WORLD CUP

Napoli’s elimination from Champions League gives Juventus 2025 Club World Club slot

blank

Published

on

Napoli’s elimination from Champions League gives Juventus 2025 Club World Club slot

Banned by UEFA from European competitions this season for breaking financial rules, Juventus still qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup on Tuesday when Napoli went out of the Champions League.

Barcelona beat Napoli 3-1 in the second leg of the round of 16 to seal a 4-2 win on aggregate score that ensured Juventus advanced through a European ranking system to the revamped FIFA event.

Juventus is the 21st team to qualify for the inaugural 32-team edition of the Club World Cup that will be played in the United States in June-July 2025 by the continental champions from 2021 through 2024 plus other high-ranked teams from those competitions.

Juventus advanced one day after its former player Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr fell out of contention after being eliminated in the Asian Champions League quarterfinals.

Barcelona is still not sure to be among Europe’s 12 entries because it trails Spanish rival Atletico Madrid in the European rankings.

Advertisement

Champions League winners in the four-year period — Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City so far — will be joined by eight or nine teams finishing highest in a table counting all results in the competition. Countries also are limited to two entries unless they have more than two winners of the continental title.

Inter Milan, which reached the Champions League final last season, already secured its Club World Cup place by ranking and Napoli’s exit Tuesday ensured Juventus cannot be overtaken as the second-best Italian team.

Juventus reached the Champions League round of 16 twice in the four-year span and also played in the group stage last season. It is currently No. 14 in the European ranking table though behind three teams from each of England, Germany and Spain which will reach their quota.

UEFA imposed a one-season ban on Juventus from its competitions in July in the fallout from a false accounting case that also saw the team deducted points in Serie A.

Juventus also was fined 10 million euros ($11 million) by UEFA though should more than recoup that in Club World Cup prize money paid by FIFA next year. The June 15-July 13 tournament has the established World Cup format of eight four-team groups then a 16-team knockout bracket.

Advertisement

Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Borussia Dortmund and Benfica also have qualified, and will be joined by either Atletico or Barcelona. Other teams still in contention include Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven and Salzburg.

Three Brazilian teams — Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminense — have qualified, plus Seattle Sounders, and Mexican teams Leon and Monterrey. Another U.S. team will qualify as part of a Club World Cup tradition to include the host nation’s champion.

In Asia, Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan are in. Ahly of Egypt and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco have qualified from Africa and Auckland City of New Zealand will represent Oceania.

The last of the continental finals in 2024 is South America’s Copa Libertadores on Nov. 30.

-AP

Advertisement

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

CLUB WORLD CUP

Referees’ body cameras will provide fans with unprecedented views of on-field action, says FIFA

blank

Published

on

blank

FIFA unveiled its team of 117 match officials, opens new tab on Monday for the inaugural Club World Cup and said referees would wear body cameras and enforce stricter goalkeeper time-wasting rules at the tournament to be staged across the United States.

The FIFA Referees Committee appointed the officials from 41 member associations – 35 referees, 58 assistant referees and 24 video match officials – for the June 14 to July 13 event.

Body cameras will provide fans with unprecedented views of on-field action, FIFA said, while goalkeepers who hold the ball beyond eight seconds will now see opponents awarded corner kicks rather than indirect free kicks.

“We think that it is a good chance to offer the viewers a new experience, in terms of images taken from a perspective, from an angle of vision, which was never offered before,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.

“It also has a purpose in terms of referee coaching because, of course, having the possibility to see what the referee sees is important in the debriefing.”

Advertisement

Collina highlighted the historic nature of the appointments for the expanded tournament featuring 32 teams from all six FIFA confederations and spanning 12 stadiums in 11 U.S. host cities.

“The selected referees are among those who have the privilege to be part of this for the first time, so I’m sure that all the match officials will be thrilled,” he said.

“We are coming from high-standard performances delivered during the last FIFA tournaments. So the bar is higher and when you set the bar higher it’s more difficult to keep the standard. But we are working very hard and ‘Team One’ will make a solid contribution to the success of this exciting competition.”

Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Advertisement
Continue Reading

CLUB WORLD CUP

Referees to wear body cameras at Club World Cup

blank

Published

on

blank

The expanded Club World Cup holding in the US has brought another innovation to football.

Referees at the championship holding from June 14 to July 13 will be equipped with body cameras and will implement a new rule to combat goalkeeper time-wasting.

Game directors will wear “body cameras as part of an experimental phase, the tests having been approved by IFAB ,” the body that oversees the rules of the game, the International Football Federation explained in a statement.

“We believe this is a good opportunity to offer viewers a new experience, with images taken from a perspective that has never been offered before,” explained FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina.

Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Advertisement
Continue Reading

CLUB WORLD CUP

Rule against goalkeeper time-wasting tactics debuts at Club World Cup in June

blank

Published

on

blank

The change in football rules that allows goalkeepers to be punished with corner kicks will be implemented at the Club World Cup holding in June in the US.

The revelation was made by FIFA Referees Committee chairman Pierluigi Collina after the announcement that referees will wear body cameras.

This initiative is “both innovative for broadcasters and for referee training,” added the Italian, “because it is important to be able to put yourself in the referee’s shoes during the debriefing, to evaluate how the referee made his decisions, his point of view, etc. “

The competition will implement the new rule approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) on March 1, aimed at reducing time wastage by goalkeepers.

“If they hold the ball for more than eight seconds, the referee will award a corner. Previously, an indirect free kick could be awarded after six seconds.

Advertisement

Seminars for referees have been held recently. The one for UEFA referees was held at FIFA headquarters from March 31 to April 4. Another seminar was held in Dubai for referees from the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), and OFC (Oceania) from February 2 to 4, and a third for referees from CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF (Central America and the Caribbean) took place in Buenos Aires from February 24 to 28.

“We need to see the game and the goals, not the refereeing,” said refereeing director Massimo Busacca. “The referee is the protagonist who should not be noticed during the match. A good referee doesn’t need to be seen or known. But he must be prepared. “

Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Continue Reading

Most Viewed