BUCHAREST: One million tickets for Euro 2020 will go on sale to supporters in December, UEFA confirmed on Saturday ahead of the draw for the tournament in Bucharest.
While the format of the tournament, with 12 cities across the continent hosting matches, has come in for criticism, UEFA reported “very strong demand” for tickets when they first went on sale in June and July this year.
A total of 19.3 million requests were made for the 1.5 million tickets on sale during that period, out of a total of three million.
The latest wave of tickets will go on sale to supporters of the 20 teams who have already qualified from Wednesday, December 4 at 1300 GMT up until December 18 for a competition that will begin in Rome on June 12 and conclude with the final in London on July 12.
In between, matches will be played from Bilbao and Dublin to Saint Petersburg and to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
“We said that this Euro will have a different flavor, a European flavor, and we want to take this festival all over Europe,” UEFA’s deputy general secretary, Giorgio Marchetti, said at a press conference.
“That is why we are not afraid and the big success of ticket sales earlier this year demonstrates that people have a real appetite and real desire for this tournament.”
The cheapest tickets will cost €30 ($33) for games in Baku, Bucharest and Budapest, and €50 elsewhere.
Meanwhile, UEFA expressed hope that the tournament will not be marred by incidents of racism such as those during England’s win in Bulgaria in qualifying in October.
“In our experience the Euro has been always a very festive event, at least within the stadiums, so we are confident this atmosphere will take priority over stupid and sometimes criminal things which from time to time happen in football,” said Marchetti.
If needed, UEFA will stick to their so-called three-step procedure to help officials deal with racist incidents in stadiums.
The procedure first involves announcements being made within stadiums asking supporters to stop any racist behavior. If that fails, referees can suspend games and take players off the pitch, before abandoning matches as a last resort.
UEFA to put one million Euro 2020 tickets on sale in December
UEFA to put one million Euro 2020 tickets on sale in December
- UEFA reported ‘very strong demand’ for tickets when they first went on sale in June and July this year
- The cheapest tickets will cost €30 for games in Baku, Bucharest and Budapest, and €50 elsewhere
5 talking points from Saudi Arabia’s Gulf Cup exit
- Herve Renard’s team departed the regional tournament in Kuwait after a 2-1 loss to Oman in the semifinal
LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s quest to win the Gulf Cup for the first time since 2004 ended at the semifinal stage on Tuesday as they lost 2-1 to Oman. Here are five things we learned from the eight-team tournament.
Disappointing exit dampens New Year cheer
Booking a place in the final would have been a perfect way to end the year but it was not to be. Herve Renard returned in October to take over from Roberto Mancini after the Italian’s troubled 18 months in charge.
There is still a slight air of gloom around the Green Falcons. World Cup qualification is going badly and the Gulf Cup was a chance for the Frenchman to get to grips with the task in 2025.
With the Saudi Pro League taking a break, he took his best team to Kuwait. Apart from a second-half spell against Iraq that brought a 3-1 win, there was not much to write home about.
The opening game loss to Bahrain was deserved; it took an injury-time goal to beat Yemen; and then came the loss to an Oman team that played two-thirds of the game with 10 men.
That defeat was hugely disappointing. There was a lack of creativity going forward and issues at the back to ensure that 2024, an underwhelming year for the national team, ended without a bang. It could have been worse but it could have been a lot better.
Renard still to rediscover his mojo
They say in football that you should never go back. While Renard’s return was largely hailed, there were some who pointed out that after the famous World Cup win against Argentina in Qatar, the team’s results until he left in March 2023 had not been great.
What is known as the “new coach bounce” that often results from a change at the helm has not materialized — and perhaps it does not apply anyway when a manager returns after just 18 months away.
There did not seem to be much in-game management from Renard or ability to make a change that would make a difference. In his first spell Renard was clearly able to get the best out of his players but that has yet to be seen this time around.
He has not been back in the hot seat for very long, but there needs to be improvements, and quickly.
Al-Hamdan and Al-Bulaihi among the positives and negatives
One thing that can be said is that at least Saudi Arabia rediscovered where the net was. With just three goals in six World Cup qualifiers from September to November and none from the strikers, concerns were growing. In four games, the team managed nine goals. What will be more encouraging for Renard is that forwards got on the score sheet.
Abdullah Al-Hamdan has not been getting much playing time for Al-Hilal but impressed and netted three times, showing some fine striking instincts along the way, and obviously had a point to prove in coming off the bench against Iraq to score twice.
At the back however, Renard will be concerned about another Al-Hilal player. Ali Al-Bulaihi has been a mainstay for Saudi Arabia for years but was out of sorts and made mistakes, especially against Oman, that proved to be costly.
It could be asked if he should have been benched for the semifinal. The center-back has shone for his club against some of the biggest attacking names in world football so Renard will be hoping that his form is just a blip.
Injuries played a part
Injuries are part and parcel of the beautiful game but Saudi Arabia had more than their fair share in Kuwait, meaning that bad luck hampered attempts to take the trophy back to Riyadh.
Renard had to deal with injuries to, among others, Saleh Al-Shehri, Firas Al-Buraikan, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Abdullah Al-Khaibari and Abdulelah Al-Malki.
Such absences can hit hard and also meant that, at times, there were players operating out of position. And then star player Salem Al-Dawsari was recovering from an injury in the build up to the tournament. Yet, these should not be used as excuses too much, as there should be enough talent in the country to overcome Bahrain and Oman.
The ultimate result will be seen later in the year
While a first trophy for over two decades would have been welcome, the real focus is on the resumption of World Cup qualification in March. These were four competitive games for Renard to get his teeth into, as well as the training sessions and preparation that the tournament gave.
World Cup qualification rivals China and Australia would have loved to have had the same opportunities to stay sharp. Indonesia have been playing in Southeast Asia’s regional tournament but most of their strongest players were unable to appear.
It means that, apart from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia have had a great opportunity to get some real games under their belt.
The results were mixed and the performances were mostly disappointing. But the prize that everyone wants is a place at the 2026 World Cup and if the Gulf Cup helps the team get to North America then it will have been a worthwhile 10 days in Kuwait.
37th Italian Super Cup kicks off in Riyadh
- Serie A champions Inter Milan take on Atalanta and AC Milan tackle Juventus in bid to make Sunday’s final
RIYADH: The 37th edition of the Italian Super Cup kicks off here today with Serie A champions Inter Milan taking on Atalanta, the Coppa Italia runner-up.
Hosted by Saudi Arabia for the fifth time, the tournament takes place at Al-Awwal Park Stadium until Jan. 6. The Ministry of Sports is the organizer of the event.
AC Milan, second in the Serie A last year, take on Juventus, the Coppa Italia champions on Friday, with the final on Sunday.
The event aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Quality of Life program and the country’s plan to continue hosting major global sporting events.
It reflects the Ministry of Sports’ commitment to achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Knicks roll to ninth straight NBA win, Ivey hurt in Pistons victory
- The Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 105-96 but saw guard Jaden Ivey go down with what looked like a serious leg injury
- Toronto Raptors, buoyed by the return of Immanuel Quickley, halted their 11-game losing streak with a 130-113 home victory over the Brooklyn Nets
LOS ANGELES: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 31 points and Josh Hart delivered his second straight triple-double to propel the New York Knicks to their ninth straight NBA victory on Wednesday, 119-103 over the Utah Jazz.
With leading scorer Jalen Brunson sidelined with tightness in his right calf and Miles McBride also absent, Towns and Hart picked up the slack.
Towns added 21 rebounds and Hart scored 15 points with 14 rebounds and 12 assists and Mikal Bridges chipped in 27 points.
“Over the course of a season, whether it’s injury, illness, foul trouble — you need everybody,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said of the team’s ability to keep the surge going despite being short-handed.
“As a team, if you prioritize winning and doing what’s best for the group, that’s what makes it enjoyable,” he said. “You have everyone committed to each other. When you do that, good things come from that.”
Collin Sexton and Jordan Clark scored 25 points apiece for Utah, but the Jazz suffered a fifth straight defeat.
In Detroit, the Pistons beat the Orlando Magic 105-96 but saw guard Jaden Ivey go down with what looked like a serious leg injury early in the fourth quarter.
Ivey collided with Magic guard Cole Anthony as they scrambled for a loose ball, Ivey collapsing to the court and holding his lower left leg.
He was eventually stretchered from the court.
“To see something like that — it’s devastating for the whole group,” teammate Tobias Harris told NBA Network after the game. “Obviously, it’s a big win for us, but after the game it’s just the group coming together in prayer.”
Ivey was enjoying an outstanding night, scoring 22 points to lead the way as all five Pistons starters scored in double figures.
Cade Cunningham scored 19 points with eight rebounds and nine assists. Jalen Duren scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Harris scored 17 points for the Pistons, who never trailed.
The Toronto Raptors, buoyed by the return of Immanuel Quickley, halted their 11-game losing streak with a 130-113 home victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Scottie Barns scored 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Quickly — who missed 22 games with a torn elbow ligament — added 21 points and 15 assists to help Toronto bounce back from a demoralizing 54-point loss to the Celtics in Boston on New Year’s Eve.
Cameron Johnson scored 24 points to pace the Nets and D’Angelo Russell, newly arrived in a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers, added 22 off the bench.
In Washington, Jordan Poole returned from a two-game injury absence and scored 30 points to propel the Wizards to a 125-107 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Poole connected on 10 of his 21 attempts from the field and drilled six of Washington’s 17 three-pointers.
Justin Champagnie added 15 points and seven Wizards players scored in double figures in an encouraging performance for a team that notched just its sixth win of the season.
Chicago’s Zach LaVine led all scorers with 32 points, but the Bulls were hampered by 20 turnovers leading to 33 Wizards points.
The Miami Heat, fueled by 32 points from Tyler Herro along with 23 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists from Bam Adebayo, led wire-to-wire in a 119-108 victory over the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
Trey Murphy III scored 34 points to lead the Pelicans, who were playing with heavy hearts after at least 15 people were killed when a US army veteran drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year revelers in New Orleans early Wednesday in an attack authorities are investigating as an act of terrorism.
Xander Schauffele has 2 majors and still a long way from No. 1 in the world
- Even without the No. 1 player at The Sentry, Schauffele feels a lot further away than his No. 2 ranking might suggest
- The Sentry also starts a new structure on the PGA Tour in which only the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup keep their full cards
KAPALUA, Hawaii: Winning two majors only made Xander Schauffele that much more eager for the next one. The only downer about winning the claret jug at Royal Troon was knowing it would be more than eight months until the next one.
Also on his agenda is reaching No. 1 in the world.
That might take a little longer.
The PGA Tour embarks on a new season without Scottie Scheffler, who cut open his right hand on broken glass preparing Christmas dinner. Even without the No. 1 player at The Sentry, Schauffele feels a lot further away than his No. 2 ranking might suggest.
“It’s a wild time,” Schauffele said. “Winning two majors and being closer to the 30th-ranked player than the first ... hat’s off to Scottie. He’s a beast.”
Schauffele, of course, is no slouch. Both put together a season of remarkable consistency. Schauffele had 15 finishes in the top 10 out of his 21 starts in individual play on the PGA Tour. From May until the end of the season, he went 11 straight events no worse than 15th.
That included a birdie on the last hole to win the PGA Championship at Valhalla, and a command performance in the rain and wind of Royal Troon to win the British Open.
It was the latter that got the attention of Chris Kirk, the defending champion at Kapalua.
“You cannot accurately describe how horrible it is to play golf in that conditions,” Kirk said. “That was one where — obviously, I have a lot of confidence in myself, I believe in my game, I’m a top-50 player — I watched that and was like, ‘There’s no way in hell I could do that.’”
The difference in seasons was Scheffler converted more of those top 10s into titles — seven on the PGA Tour, Olympic gold, and the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, all of them boosting his lead at No. 1 to the largest gap since Tiger Woods in his peak years.
“It’s one of my goals that will just have to stay on the calendar for a few more years,” Schauffele said with an easy smile. “If I get there I’ll be very happy. But just based on looking at the numbers, yeah, it’s going to take some time and patience.”
Now he’s on island time, where no one is in a rush.
The 60-man field gets started on the mountainous Plantation Course at Kapalua, which is playing longer than ever with a steady dose of overnight rain.
The Sentry also starts a new structure on the PGA Tour in which only the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup keep their full cards, and the size of fields is shrinking to make sure those who have cards get into more tournaments.
This is the second year that a tournament once limited to only winners has been expanded to include anyone who finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup. Of the 60 players, 29 of them failed to win a tournament last year.
That includes Justin Thomas, who at least would appear to be on the upward trend. He missed out on the postseason in 2023 and made it back to the Tour Championship. It was a better year, but not enough for him to be picked for the Presidents Cup.
Consider that to be a big motivator this year with a Ryder Cup on the horizon. The first step is winning, which Thomas hasn’t done since the PGA Championship in 2022. Before that, he piled up 15 wins on the PGA Tour in a seven-year stretch.
“I truly felt like I was going to win multiple times every season pretty much, until I lost it a little bit,” Thomas said. “It’s just so hard to win out here. Naturally, the better player that you are, you can get away with more mistakes, but come the end of the week on Sunday, you have to win the golf tournament.
“I was fortunate where I was doing it quite often and I still feel like I’m fully capable and expect to do that more,” he said. “But I definitely felt like it should have happened regularly.”
Schauffele can appreciate the feeling. He also had gone two years without winning until he ended that drought in the best way possible — not one major, but two.
It starts with chances, and that has become his hallmark, much like it is for Scheffler. Schauffele comes into Kapalua with the longest active cut streak on the PGA Tour at 56 in a row, which will increase because there is no cut this week.
The record is 142 in a row by Woods. That might be even further away than his goal of replacing Scheffler at No. 1 in the world.
Seko Fofana joins French club Rennes after spell in Saudi Arabia
- In July 2023, he joined Al Nassr — where Cristiano Ronaldo plays — in the Saudi Pro League
- Rennes said Fofana signed a four-and-a-half year deal
RENNES, France: Ivory Coast midfielder Seko Fofana ended his brief spell in Saudi Arabia to sign a long-term contract with French club Rennes on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Fofana helped Lens to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, and Rennes hope he can provide a similar boost for the Brittany club.
Rennes said Fofana signed a four-and-a-half year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed. The team is in 12th place.
“There are some talented players at Rennes and I don't think the club is where it should be,” Fofana said in the team's announcement. “We're going to get the chance to play a series of games and show that the start of the season was below the club's potential. I hope we can turn things around very quick.”
Fofana scored 21 goals and provided 12 assists over 112 appearances for Lens.
In July 2023, he joined Al Nassr — where Cristiano Ronaldo plays — in the Saudi Pro League and then was loaned to Al-Ettifaq six months later.
Fofana previously played four seasons for Udinese in Serie A.
He has made 25 appearances for Ivory Coast and helped the team win the Africa Cup of Nations in February.
