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Oh, how things have changed in the space of 12 months. It was a year ago this week that the Wellington Phoenix made a statement in front of 15,000 fans at Eden Park by bouncing back from their worst loss of the season in Perth to beat Melbourne City and start a run of four wins on the trot. But just as they were hitting their stride and beginning to dream of playoff glory, the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic became clear and the A-League was placed on pause for four months. When it resumed for a sprint to the finish in July and August, the Phoenix were living out of Sydney hotels away from friends and family, and were a shadow of their former selves as they failed to build on a record third-place finish and were sent packing in the first round of the playoffs.
The event is expected to bring $23 million of benefits to the city, and the council held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday to discuss a report on “contract risk management” about it. The council would not release details of the report, its agenda saying details needed to remain confidential to allow the opportunity to complete sound risk management of the World Cup contracts. However, it is understood the meeting was to discuss an exit clause in the hosting contract, which gives the council an out. It is understood Football New Zealand has asked the council to take out the clause. If it did, this would effectively mean the council would end up writing a blank cheque for the costs associated with hosting games. Councillors were not prepared to do this and voted to keep the clause in.
Monday, 18 January 2021
Auckland City have pulled out of the rescheduled 2020 FIFA Club World Cup due to coronavirus restrictions in place in their home country.
FIFA said discussions had been held with New Zealand Football and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in a bid to find a way for Auckland to compete in Qatar next month.
But the worldwide governing body conceded it was not possible to reach a solution because of quarantine measures required by the New Zealand authorities.
Auckland, who were nominated as OFC’s representative for the FIFA Club World Cup, were scheduled to meet Qatari club Al-Duhail SC on February 1 after the qualification tournament was scrapped due to the coronavirus pandemic.
LONDON: The 2021 AFC Champions League group stage is set to start in April, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in line, if necessary, to play host to multiple games as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) looks for ways to safely complete its flagship tournament in the middle of a global pandemic.
It will be the second successive year that the tournament has been affected by the coronavirus. With the experience gained in 2020 when Qatar stepped in to host the remainder of the group and knockout stage after the competition was postponed earlier in the year, the AFC is confident that all will go smoothly.