Sports

SAO PAULO — The southern city of Curitiba is expected to remain in the World Cup despite construction delays on its stadium, Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said Wednesday.

During a visit to the city, he expressed confidence that local organisers will be able to show FIFA that the stadium will be ready in time to hold its four matches scheduled for football’s showcase event in June.

FIFA has said a decision on whether to drop Curitiba from the tournament will be made February 18.

“The expectations are the best possible,” Rebelo said. “There has been progress made on the pitch, on the number of workers and on equipment. This gives us more confidence that things have improved.”

Brazil promised to finish all 12 World Cup stadiums by the end of last year as wanted by FIFA, but five remain under construction with four months until the tournament opens June 12.

Having Curitiba dropped from the tournament would be an embarrassment to Brazil and a disaster to FIFA, which has already sold more than one million tickets for matches.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said last week in the governing body’s weekly magazine that any changes now “would be an admission of failure for Brazil, but also for FIFA”, especially considering the 12 host cities were announced nearly five years ago.

“This should have been ample time in which to complete the infrastructure,” Blatter said. “FIFA can draw attention to omissions. However, responsibility rests with the local organising committee.”

Blatter added that he was “staying relaxed” because delays are common in preparations for every World Cup and Olympics.

“At the end of the day everything ran smoothly for the most part,” he said. “All will be well.”

Curitiba’s stadium, Arena da Baixada, is being built by the Brazilian football club Atletico Paranaense. It is scheduled to host Iran-Nigeria on June 16, Australia-Spain on June 23, Algeria-Russia on June 26 and Honduras-Ecuador on June 30.

BARCELONA –– Real Madrid will be without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo when they take on Villarreal on Saturday but will expect the return of their record-signing Gareth Bale to ease the blow.

Competition is fierce at the top of the La Liga table with Atletico Madrid now leading the way on 57 points while Real are three behind, and below Barcelona on goal difference, after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao where Ronaldo received a red card and subsequently a three-match ban.

Real secured a 3-0 victory in the first leg of the King’s Cup semifinal over Atletico at the Bernabeu on Wednesday but Bale did not play.

That was despite coach Carlo Ancelotti saying ahead of the game that the Welshman had recovered from a calf injury and was ready to play.

“He is fine but we decided to leave him out as a precaution,” Ancelotti told a news conference after the match. “He has not suffered another injury. I decided to give him a rest.

“On Saturday if we don’t have Cristiano then to have Bale fresh will be good for us.”

Bale, 24, has had an injury-plagued first season at the Bernabeu following his 100 million euro transfer from Tottenham Hotspur and five separate injuries have limited his participation.

Atletico suffered their first defeat in all competitions since they lost to Espanyol in mid-October after a commanding performance from Real.

“It was our best game of the season,” said Ancelotti. “Our football is more comfortable now and we are more solid. A lot has changed and the players are working well together.”

It is a different story for Barcelona who surrendered the leadership after they went down 3-2 at home to Valencia last weekend. They now have won only one of their last four league games.

They responded with a 2-0 victory in the first leg of the cup at the Nou Camp against Real Sociedad but they looked far from their best.

Barca now have a tough away game against Sevilla on Sunday.

Defender Dani Alves also hit out at the fans as fewer than 39,000 were present in the 98,000 capacity stadium.

“Sometimes it is like we are playing away from home,” Alves told reporters.

“People here are very pessimistic, those who have not come are not such big cules [fans] as they say. If they don’t believe in the team then maybe it is best they don’t come.”

Atletico aim to bounce back against Almeria after their cup disappointment.

“We are a team used to winning so it is not normal that we lose and concede three goals. They were more efficient and were just victors. We will try and turn the game around at the Calderon,” said fullback Juanfran Torres.

“The team is in good shape though and we will now be stronger for this starting against Almeria, where we will look to win at a difficult ground.”

AMMAN – Jordan qualified for the 2015  Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup on Tuesday after a 3-1 win over Singapore in an away match at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.

Thaer Bawab opened the scoring for Jordan just one minute before the end of the first half. 

As Singapore defender Baihakki Khaizan was sent-off in stoppage time of the first half, Ahmad Hayel added a second in the 51st minute. 

Hayel also was sent off in the second half of the match by Chinese referee Tan Hai for rough play. 

Singapore managed to reduce the deficit in the 84th minute by Khairul Amri through a penalty,  but Jordan’s substitute Yousef Rawashdeh netted in stoppage time. 

Unbeaten Jordan secured qualification from Group A alongside Oman with a game to spare against Syria on March 5 in Amman. 

“When Singapore scored the penalty, it put my players under a lot of stress,” Jordan coach Hossam Hassan was quoted by the AFC website as saying. 

“But we kept our composure to score again and achieved what we had wanted to do, to qualify for the finals,” Hassan added. 

Jordan held Oman 0-0 in Muscat, as the return leg matches started. In Round 1, Jordan held Oman 0-0, tied Syria 1-1 and defeated Singapore 4-0. 

The Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers include 20 teams playing in five groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team will qualify to the tournament. The draw for the finals will be held on
March 26.

Twelve teams have already qualified automatically to the finals set for January 9, 2015: They include Asian Cup 2011 champions Japan, third-placed South Korea, hosts and runners-up Australia, AFC Challenge Cup 2012 winners North Korea.  The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup champs will get a direct berth, and three more qualifiers will be decided from the current competing groups. 

In other groups, Iran and Kuwait have qualified from Group B; Saudi Arabia from Group C; Bahrain and Qatar from Group D; and the UAE and Uzbekistan from Group E.

ZURICH –– The potentially radical use of video replay in football will be studied by FIFA’s rules-making panel next month.

Extra technological help for referees is on the agenda despite long being ruled out by FIFA President Sepp Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini.

The preliminary talks scheduled for March 1 can kick off a process which could yet confirm Platini’s prediction that approving goal-line technology in 2012 would lead to using video for other decisions, such as penalty kicks and offsides.

FIFA said no decision will be made by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) group.

Platini’s UEFA has sought to stall high-tech aids by promoting his idea of putting extra assistants behind each goal to advise referees on penalty-area incidents.

The IFAB panel will also look at the use of so-called “sin bins” in amateur football and the “triple punishment” of awarding a penalty kick, showing a red card and suspending a player for some offences.

IFAB could make a clear ruling to crack down on players revealing personal messages on their undershirts, especially during goal celebrations.

Mario Balotelli famously revealed a T-shirt with ‘Why Always Me?’ written on it after scoring for his then-club Manchester City against crosstown rival Manchester United in 2011.

The current laws of football prohibit a player revealing political slogans or advertising on an undershirt, and a proposed new wording would ban any kind of personal text or image.

“Players must not reveal undergarments that show political, religious, personal slogans, statements or images, or advertising other than the manufacturer logo,” the IFAB panel suggests.

IFAB should also confirm that female Islamic players should get formal permission to wear headscarves in matches after trials begun in 2012 to prove their safety.

“After a two-year pilot, there is no indication as to why the wearing of head covers should be prohibited,” the panel agenda stated.

In addition, the amended law should be extended to include men to avoid discrimination.

The IFAB panel is having its first annual meeting since being granted legally independent status from FIFA, and freedom to create two advisory groups of football and technical experts.

The main panel includes the four British national associations, which have one vote each, and FIFA, which has four votes. Law changes are approved when a 6-2 majority is reached, and typically take effect when the next season starts.

AMMAN — Jordan plays an away match against Singapore on Tuesday in its return leg of Group A Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers.

The national team could have secured its qualification to the Asian Cup on the weekend but was held 0-0 with Oman in Muscat.

The Kingdom is now second in Group A after it held Oman 0-0, tied Syria 1-1 and defeated Singapore 4-0 in Round 1. Jordan is steadily on course to book the second qualifying spot from the group with its final qualifier against Syria set for  March 5 in Amman. 

“We had a short time between the two matches in addition to the time difference in Singapore. The schedule has been to our disadvantage,” Jordan’s head coach Hossam Hassan was quoted by the local media as saying ahead of the match.

Hassan expressed his dissatisfaction at having to train on another stadium than that designated for the match set for 1:30pm Amman time. The coach might have to grapple with a slight injury to Uday Zahran who might join the injury list in addition to Hatem Aqel and Adnan Addous.

The lineup was incomplete during the training agenda as three players joined from the U22 team, while three vital players Abdullah Theeb, Khalil Bani Atiya and Shadi Abu Hashash were not released by their Saudi clubs. 

The Asian Cup 2015 qualifiers include 25 teams playing in five groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team will qualify to the tournament. The draw for the finals will be held on March 26.

Twelve teams have already qualified automatically to the finals set for January 9, 2015: They include Asian Cup 2011 champions Japan, third-placed South Korea, hosts and runners-up Australia, AFC Challenge Cup 2012 winners North Korea.  The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup champs will get a direct berth, and three more qualifiers will be decided from the current competing groups. 

Oman has already clinched the first qualifying berth from the group. In other groups, Iran and Kuwait have qualified from Group B; Saudi Arabia from Group C; Bahrain and Qatar from Group D; and the UAE and Uzbekistan from Group E.

Jordan is looking to be in the Asian finals for the third time since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972. 

Jordan is now 72nd in the  latest FIFA rankings and seventh among Asian Football confederation teams led by Iran who held on the top Asian spot at 34th.

BARCELONA — Finland has received a wild card into the World Cup of Basketball, along with traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) says the quartet completes a 24-nation line-up at the August 30 — September 14 tournament hosted by Spain. The draw will be held Monday for the four-yearly event previously called the world championship. After 15 countries sought wild cards, FIBA’s ruling board chose four based on sporting, economic and governance qualities. Brazil, Greece and Turkey are all ranked in the top 10 and Finland is No. 39. China, Qatar and Russia were among losing applicants. FIBA says its board also cleared Senegal to fulfil its World Cup entry after being barred following age cheating violations at youth tournaments.

CAPE TOWN — Libya lifted its first international football title by beating favourite and West African power Ghana on penalties in the final of the African Nations Championship on Saturday. Libya’s penalty kings, coached by former Spain boss Javier Clemente, won 4-3 in sudden death in the shootout after it was 0-0 through 90 minutes and extra time at Cape Town Stadium. Libya also won penalty shootouts in the quarter-finals and semifinals in South Africa. The African Nations Championship is the continent’s lower-level tournament for home-based players, but that mattered little for the Libyans, whose best football achievement was watched by FIFA President Sepp Blatter at the former World Cup stadium. Goalkeeper Mohamed Abdaula saved the first two Ghanaian penalties to help the North Africans clinch victory in a tournament they were initially meant to host but had to give up to South Africa because of unrest at home. Ghana’s penalty pain continued having been knocked out in shootouts in the semifinals at last year’s African Cup and the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.