FOOTBALL: No time to breathe – Tuchel explains difference between managing Chelsea, PSG

 

Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel, has explained the difference between managing the Blues and his former club, Paris Saint-Germain.

Tuchel said there is no time to breathe when managing in the Premier League than in the Ligue 1, adding that life in England is proving to be brutal.

Recall that Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard at Chelsea last January after he was sacked by PSG last December.

“To go from Ligue 1 to the Premier League? It’s brutal, honestly. Very brutal,” Tuchel told L’Equipe ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid on Wednesday.

“In France, we played the same number of matches, two cups, and there are also 20 teams in the Championship. But the intensity and challenge of the Championship are really very different here. It’s a completely different level.

“It’s pretty ruthless, it keeps you on your own, and it makes you get up early in the morning. There is simply no time to breathe. There is not too much time to sit down, to be relaxed or comfortable.

“And that’s a good thing, it sharpens your mentality and mind. That’s what I find impressive in this club.

“Everyone is on the front line. Players are aware of these challenges and requirements. They are up to the task of recovering, in their approach to their work, during the time they spend here at the club.

“Everyone at the club is aware of what it takes to be in shape. That’s why it’s impressive.

“We arrive at every game with the knowledge and deep conviction that we are perfectly prepared for this and that we can perform at the highest level and adapt.”

FOOTBALL : UCL How Man City will approach PSG clash at Etihad – Guardiola

 

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has said that his team will approach their UEFA Champions League, UCL, semi-final second-leg tie against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday at Etihad with a small advantage.

Guardiola explained that Man City players would play to win the game against PSG at home.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach said this on Monday during his pre-match press conference ahead of Man City’s clash with PSG.

Guardiola’s men had won the French Ligue 1 champions 2-1 in the first-leg in Paris last week.

“What we’ve to do is win tomorrow and after we see what happens,” Guardiola said.

“Now we arrive in a good moment. I said to the guys don’t think too much to win the game.

“The same message we’ve done for the last six or seven months is the same message for tomorrow.

“We approach the game with a small advantage and we’ve to play to win the game. This is what we’ll do.”

FOOTBALL : Messi close to breaking Diego Maradona’s record

Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, is closing in on the late Argentina legend, Diego Maradona’s record of 59 career freekicks after scoring in a brace in his side’s LaLiga 3-2 win over Valencia on Sunday.

Messi’s freekick against Valencia over the weekend was his 50th in a Barcelona shirt.

The Argentina captain found the net against Jasper Cillessen in the second half at Mestalla.

In doing so, Messi brought his total freekick tally to 56, with club and country.

That’s only three off Maradona’s Argentina record of 59 career freekicks.

Messi has already overtaken Manuel Pelegrina’s 45 and Daniel Passarella’s 43 in terms of countrymen’s freekick totals.

Messi will now hope to continue his impressive display when Barcelona tackle Atletico Madrid on May 8.

 

WORLD CUP : Canada futsal team opens World Cup qualifying at CONCACAF tourney in Guatemala City

 

Delayed by a year due to the pandemic, Canada finally gets its chance Tuesday to kick off qualifying for the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

The Canadian men open against Haiti in a CONCACAF Futsal Championship that is down to 13 teams with the withdrawal of French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe. The tournament, which runs through Sunday in Guatemala City, will determine the four representatives from North and Central America and the Caribbean at this September's World Cup in Lithuania.

Canada, under head coach Kyt Selaidopoulos, has been drawn in Group C with reigning CONCACAF champion Costa Rica and Haiti. The top two in each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals with the final four booking their ticket to Lithuania.

All games are being played at the Domo Polideportivo, which hosted the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

The Canadian team met in Chicago, stopping in Houston before arriving in Guatemala City a week ago.

"We're basically in a bubble," said Selaidopoulos. "We go from the bus to the hotel to our rooms and to our meeting room … There's no movement outside or anything. Just when we take the bus to the facility."

The indoor futsal game is five-a-side with two 20-minute halves. The clock stops whenever the ball goes out of play or there is a break in play. Each team starts with one goalkeeper and four outfield players on the pitch, with unlimited substitutions.

It is a high-energy physical game, with space at a premium and close control of the ball an asset. There are elements of both basketball and hockey, with players looking to get in the way of opponents like a basketball screen and teams pulling their goalkeeper for an extra attacker.

Canada came close to making the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, denied by a 7-4 loss to Cuba in its final group game at the CONCACAF qualifier. The Canadians lost to Costa Rica 3-2 and beat Curacao 7-4 before falling to Cuba.

"We came close but it's a learning process," Selaidopoulos said. "We learn from it and now we're a little bit better prepared to face challenges."

Canada ended up finishing sixth in CONCACAF in 2016. It placed seventh in 2012, its only other participation.

Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama and Guatemala represented CONCACAF at the 2016 World Cup.

Canada has not qualified for the Futsal World Cup since the inaugural event in 1989 in the Netherlands, where it failed to advance from the first round after beating Japan and losing to Argentina and Belgium.

Brazil has dominated the world futsal scene, winning five of the eight FIFA World Cups. Spain has won twice and finished runner-up to Brazil three times. Argentina is the defending champion.

Ian Bennett, named MVP of the Major Arena Soccer League this season, provides some veteran leadership to the Canadian squad. The 37-year-old is a longtime member of the Milwaukee Wave. But he switched to the Florida Tropics when Milwaukee elected not to take part in the MASL season.

"Ian is a big attribute to our team. He's one of the oldest and he understands that this is probably his last chance to get to a World Cup so he's focused and he's ready to go," Selaidopoulos said.

Jason (Jayzinho) Quezada is a renowned street footballer, a magician with the ball.

"We're adding something different into the mix," said Selaidopoulos. "And hopefully it pays off."

The roster also includes former Canadian futsal player of the year winners Nazim Belguendouz and Luis Rocha, who is an alternate on the squad.

Mo Farsi, last year's top futsal player, opted to focus on his Canadian Premier League career with Cavalry FC. Farsi was named the CPL's Best Canadian U-21 Player in 2020.

Selaidopoulos' squad has had to come together virtually over the last year. He says that is not an issue given the connections on the team.

There are seven returning players from the 2016 CONCACAF Championship including the Brazilian-born Freddy Moojen. The 38-year-old won the Golden Boot at the 2016 qualifier with five goals in three games.

Haiti, Canada's first opponent, should not present many surprises given some of its roster comes from Montreal-based players with Haitian bloodlines.

 

Costa Rica is a three-time CONCACAF champion, including the last two tournaments. The Costa Ricans are coming off 7-1 and 8-2 warmup wins over Trinidad and Tobago.

On the plus side, Canada tied and beat Costa Rica (2-2 and 2-1) when the two sides met in early 2020. On the minus side, Canada has not played since.

Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Solomon Islands, Spain and Venezuela have already qualified for the 2021 World Cup along with host Lithuania.

Asia's qualifier was also called off due to COVID-19. The Asian confederation has nominated Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan with playoffs later this month featuring Iraq versus Thailand and Lebanon versus Vietnam to determine the region's last two spots.

The 43-year-old Selaidopoulos has served as head coach of the Canadian futsal team since 2016. He represented Canada in futsal from 2003 to 2012 and at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2006.

In March, the Montreal native was named an assistant coach at the CPL's Forge FC. He declined to say if he would coach Canada if it made it to the World Cup.

CONCACAF Futsal Championship

Group A: Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Dominican Republic.

Group B: Panama, Mexico and Suriname.

Group C: Costa Rica, Canada and Haiti.

Group D: Cuba, United States, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Canada Roster (x- denotes alternates)

Goalkeepers: Joshua Lemos, Milwaukee Wave (U.S.); Louis-Philippe Simard, Spartiates Sports Club.

Defenders: Daniel Chamale, Milwaukee Wave (U.S.); Bila Dicko-Raynauld, Sporting Quebec FC; Eduardo Jauregui, Toronto Idolo Futsal; Maxime Leconte, Spartiates Sports Club; Nazim Belguendouz, Spartiates Sports Club.

Midfielders: Ian Bennett, Milwaukee Wave (U.S.); Nico Gonzales, Calgary Villains; x-Safwan Mlah, Sporting Montreal; Robert Renaud, Milwaukee Wave (U.S.); x-Luis Rocha, Toronto Idolo Futsal; Marco Rodriguez, Toronto Idolo Futsal.

Target: Damian Graham, Toronto Idolo Futsal; Frederico Moojen, Dallas Sidekicks; Jason Quezada, Miami.

UEFA Zone FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 qualifying draw made

 

The UEFA draw for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 was made this week and 51 teams will be involved in fighting for 11 tickets to the tournament that will take place in Australia and New-Zealand.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be the first Women’s World Cup with 32 teams and the confederation allocations are as follows:

• AFC 6 slots
• CAF 4 slots
• CONCACAF 4 slots
• CONMEBOL 3 slots
• OFC 1 slot
• UEF: 11 slots
• Intercontinental play-offs 3 slots

A 10-team tournament will be held in Australia and New Zealand to decide the last three finalists.

• AFC 2
• CAF 2
• CONCACAF 2
• CONMEBOL 2
• OFC 1
• UEFA 1

The teams will be split into three groups, two of three teams and one of four, with seeding decided by FIFA ranking.

All three groups will be played as separate knockout competitions, with the winner of each qualifying for the finals.

In the two three-team groups, the seeded team will go straight to the final (after playing a friendly against Australia or New Zealand) and meet the winner of a semi-final between the other two nations.

The nine FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying groups are

Group A: Sweden, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Georgia

Group B: Spain, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary, Faroe Islands

Group C: Netherlands, Iceland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus

Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group E: Denmark, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Malta, Montenegro

Group F: Norway, Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia

Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Lithuania

Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria

Group I: France, Wales, Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Estonia

The Republic Of Ireland have a tough draw in group A with Sweden and Finland and should look to qualify via the play-off route.

Scotland in Group B will have to overcome Spain to qualify directly and might have to go via the play-offs.

England and Northern Ireland are in Group D with England favourites to win the Group but Northern Ireland could upset Austria to make the play-offs and get one of the tickets to the finals.

Wales will play France and that will not be easy, either, and they will look to go through the play-offs, too, as there is still a gap between the top sides and Wales.

The UEFA qualifying format will be as follows:

The winners of the nine qualifying groups will progress directly to the finals with the runners-up taking part in the UEFA play-offs in October 2022.

In the play-offs, the three best runners-up will be seeded directly to round 2 of the play-offs.

The six remaining runners-up will contest three single-leg play-offs in Round 1.

The three winners from Round 1, and the three teams seeded directly to Round 2, will then compete in single-leg play-offs determined by a draw.

The two play-off winners with the highest ranking (based on results in the qualifying group stage and Round 2 play-offs) will qualify for the finals.

The remaining play-off winner will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

It means teams will have three shots at qualifying for the World Cup. One by winning their group. Two by winning one of the two UEFA play-off places. Three by winning one of the inter-continental play-off places.

FIFA World Cup draws closer, migrant labour concerns in Qatar persist

 

As the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar draws near, concerns continue to be raised over the country's labour practices.

In March, a number of countries playing in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers staged protests against the Qatari authorities over the death of over 6,500 migrant workers between 2010 and January 2021, a figure revealed in February 2021 by an investigation by The Guardian newspaper.

Germany and Norway were involved in the protests during the international qualifying matches, and they were joined by the Netherlands as noted on the tweet below:

The Netherlands have joined Norway in protesting Qatar's human rights record before their World Cup qualifiers  pic.twitter.com/TFXLxlyy7q

— Goal (@goal) March 27, 2021

In 2010, Qatar was awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and as early as 2012, red flags were raised over the huge influx of migrant workers to the country which employs them through the controversial kafala system.

The kafala is a labour system that requires migrant unskilled laborers to have an in-country sponsor who’s nominally their employer and is responsible for their visa and legal status. The system applies to most construction and domestic workers in the Gulf region, including Qatar.

Under the kafala system, employers enjoy almost total power over the movement of the workers, including their ability to reside in Qatar, change jobs, and leave the country. Workers under kafala are often afraid to report abuses for fear of retaliation. The system has been criticized by human rights organizations as it creates easy opportunities for employers to exploit and abuse these workers.

A 2012 report by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) funded by MacArthur Foundation said:

Qatar is planning to invest more than $250 billion to build 12 stadiums, 70,000 hotel rooms, and a network of road and rail links. The investment is expected to trigger rapid economic development in Qatar, a nation already enriched by oil and gas reserves, as well as the highest per capita income in the world. The human and business risks associated with Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup—the “Mega-Sporting Effect”—stem from the influx of an estimated 500,000 to 1 million foreign workers who will be called upon to build the infrastructure for the event. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report 2012 warned that these migrant workers could face abuses related to recruitment, wages, working, and housing conditions in Qatar.

According to the 2012 report by Human Rights Watch referred above, Qatar has the highest ratio of migrants to citizens in the world, with only 225,000 citizens in a population of 1.7 million. That notwithstanding, the country perpetuates some of the most restrictive sponsorship laws in the Persian Gulf region and has witnessed several cases of exploitation and abuse at their workplaces. From the same report, there were accounts of forced labour and human trafficking.

In November 2013, FIFA appealed for “economic and political leaders to join the football community in contributing to ensure that the International Labour Organization's (ILO) core labour standards are introduced quickly, consistently and on a sustained basis in Qatar.”

The majority of the migrant workers in Qatar come from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. An estimated 506,000 of these work in construction, currently geared towards hosting the 2022 World Cup. A report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) released in 2014, titled “The Case against Qatar,” notes:

Frequent contacts with Qatar authorities since late 2011 have shown no political will or progress towards Qatar implementing labour-related commitments of the Qatar National Vision 2030 to reform kafala and ratify a further 14 ILO conventions.

There were a number of cases documented in the ITUC report which offered more proof of the incidents of harassment, discrimination, and safety of workers compromised

One of the cases is told by construction worker Jago (name anonymized for safety reasons), aged 34, from the Philippines:

I came to Doha through the recruitment agency Mayon International to earn enough money to send my children to school and to build my own house in the Philippines. I arrived in Qatar in October 2011 and immediately had to hand in my passport. I am highly qualified and trained in architectural drawing software AutoCAD and therefore expected to work in architectural design. My contract stipulated that I would be paid US$ 330 per month and that I would be provided with accommodation and a food allowance. On arrival in Qatar I found out that I would work as a construction worker in a residential construction for 60 hours per week and that I would be paid US$ 261 per month. In the beginning I received food but that stopped soon. When I take one day off from work, two days pay is deducted from my salary. This is also the case when I am sick. One of my concerns is safety at work. My employer does not provide any boots or other safety equipment, not even a uniform. I have been lucky so far not to have suffered an injury at work, but I have seen many colleagues who did. This is especially worrying me because my employer didn’t give me a medical card, and I can’t afford to go to hospital on my current salary. I am fed up with the situation and don’t see why I should suffer these conditions. I handed my resignation in, but my employer just ripped the letter up and threw it into the bin. He also told me I wouldn’t get my passport back.

The report also noted the fatal incidents that have occurred in previous major sporting activities, between the award of the event to the kick-off. In the World Cup in Russia, five workers were reported to have died, while in the World Cup in Brazil seven workers have reportedly died. So far, Qatar holds the highest fatalities at 6,500 even before the tournament kicks off. 

The causes of death have been workplace accidents, traffic accidents as well as natural deaths, and suicides. Working conditions and the extreme heat arising during the summertime are also some of the other causes of the high number of deaths in Qatar.

A February 2021 article appearing in The Guardian indicated that migrants from India had the highest number of deaths, with 2,711 dead, while Nepal had 1,641, Bangladesh had 1,018 with the figures indicative of the period 2010 to 2020.

Countries including Bangladesh and Pakistan rely on the migrant workers’ remittances for their fragile domestic economies. This means that migrants’ home nations will often do little to advocate workers’ rights abroad. A complex mix of recruitment agencies from the home country, to little or no consular protection and the kafala system custodians, make the working conditions untenable, The Guardian notes.

The Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) responsible for the delivery of infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup issued the following statement:

We have always been transparent about the health and safety of workers on projects directly related to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Since construction began in 2014, there have been three work-related fatalities and 35 non-work related deaths. The SC has investigated each case, learning lessons to avoid any repeat in the future. The SC has disclosed each incident through public statements and or Annual Workers’ Welfare Progress Reports.

In summary, it is worthy to note that it will take more than hosting the World Cup event to improve Qatar's labour conditions and solve migrant workers’ concerns. Dr. Sebastian Son, a researcher and expert on the Arab Gulf states at the Centre for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient (CARPO) Institute in Bonn told Qantara.de, a project run Deutsche Welle:

It is going to take more than criticism of Qatar to break this vicious cycle. What is needed is a constructive and inclusive dialogue that pools together the efforts of international organisations such as the ILO, all the Gulf states, as well as civil society actors in labour-sending countries and Europe. In recent years, many Gulf states have demonstrated an increased willingness to enter into such an exchange, as evinced by the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (…).

Both the Gulf states and the international community must do more to acknowledge their responsibility – not just on their home turf, but also in the migrants’ countries of origin. A greater effort should also be made to integrate diaspora community representatives into such dialogue. After all, it is their rights that require transnational protection.

WORLD CUP : North Korea to skip World Cup qualifiers over COVID-19 concerns

 

North Korea has notified authorities that its team plans to skip next month's World Cup qualifiers hosted by South Korea due to COVID-19 fears, the South's football association said on Monday (May 3).

North Korea's football association (PRKFA) sent a letter on Friday to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declaring that its team would not participate in the second round of qualifiers, Korea Football Association (KFA) spokesman Lee Jae-chul said.

The AFC is asking North Korea to reconsider the decision, he added.

Matches across Asia in the second round of qualifying for next year's World Cup in Qatar have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with all but three games due to be played in March postponed until June.

The AFC announced on Apr 12 that rather than having the typical home-and-away format, each group of five nations would play in one host country.

South Korea was named as host for H Group, which includes the two Koreas as well as Turkmenistan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka.

North and South Korea, still technically at war as their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, last played each other in a 0-0 draw at a virtually empty stadium in Pyongyang in October, 2019. It was the first match between the teams on North Korean soil in 30 years.

It was not broadcast after the North refused to screen it live, and the KFA later filed a complaint with the AFC because fans and media were not allowed to attend.

North Korea's decision to skip the World Cup qualifiers came nearly a month after it announced it would not take part in the Tokyo Olympics due to coronavirus concerns.