Falloon said the move was seen as a way of putting the wellbeing of mātātahi (young people) first. “In lockdown, New Zealanders reflected on the value of balance and importance of taking time out for people of all ages. “It’s easy to talk about the importance, but taking steps to promote balance and give kids a break from activity is another matter. We admire the Canterbury sports for stepping up and announcing what we believe is a first in the country.” Falloon said the organisation hoped the agreement would lead other sports around New Zealand to consider similar moves, meaning a healthier, more balanced calendar for young people.
Football Ferns 2019 World Cup
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
FIFA has confirmed that Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin and five Australian cities will host the 32-team tournament.
The original proposal had Eden Park, Waikato Stadium, Wellington Stadium, Christchurch Stadium and Dunedin Stadium hosting games along with Adelaide, Brisbane, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth and Sydney.
Launceston and Newcastle have also missed out.
While Christchurch stadium hosted games during the 2015 men s under-20 FIFA tournament, a multi-million dollar upgrade of the temporary ground was needed.
New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell said it just was not up to scratch. The standards for a tier one FIFA event, one of their biggest events, are very high and they re well aware that the stadium is temporary so in that regards it s a fairly cut and dried case.
In a newsletter emailed to players, CNC board chairwoman Anna Galvan said she did not know when the review would be completed, but reiterated the board was committed to the “exciting project”. The board’s unanimous decision to conduct a review was made so it could take into account the Covid-19 impact and “possible scenarios going forward”, Galvan said. The Netsal Sports Centre was designed to become a home for netball and futsal (a variation of indoor football) and would see netball end its 100-year association with Hagley Park. Christchurch City Council decided in June to buy the netball centre building, car park and courts and turn it into a multicultural centre – if a price could be agreed upon.
As we move into 2021, Southeast Europe’s concern about security and diversity of energy supply and over-reliance on Russia gas is now history, a senior energy expert has said, noting that after many years of inaction a number of new projects are coming on-stream bringing plenty of gas in the region.
“We move from a period of Russian gas flowing to the region and being distributed in the region to things happening,”
Julian Bowden, senior visiting research fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) in London, said during an online IENE conference moderated by New Europe on December 10.
“The region’s concern about security and diversity of supply is now history. That discussion now, that problem has come to an end. There is plenty of other gas available and it can reach the market and we’ve seen it in 2019-2020 and we’ll see it even more next year. There’s plenty of supply,” Bowden said.