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Al Hilal Coach Says FIFA Club World Cup Format Unfair

Football - Club World Cup - Second Round - Al Hilal v Al Jazira - Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - February 6, 2022 Al Hilal coach Leonardo Jardim. (Reuters)
Football - Club World Cup - Second Round - Al Hilal v Al Jazira - Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - February 6, 2022 Al Hilal coach Leonardo Jardim. (Reuters)
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Al Hilal Coach Says FIFA Club World Cup Format Unfair

Football - Club World Cup - Second Round - Al Hilal v Al Jazira - Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - February 6, 2022 Al Hilal coach Leonardo Jardim. (Reuters)
Football - Club World Cup - Second Round - Al Hilal v Al Jazira - Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - February 6, 2022 Al Hilal coach Leonardo Jardim. (Reuters)

Al Hilal coach Leonardo Jardim has criticized the format of FIFA's Club World Cup on the eve of his side's semi-final clash with Chelsea, saying it is too weighted in favor of Europe's heavyweights.

The Saudi Arabian club beat Al Jazira 6-1 to set up the clash with the Champions League winners, whereas Chelsea were exempt to that stage, as is the case with all European representatives.

"I'd like to give a warning to FIFA because I find it unfair some teams have to play four matches in eight days and other teams, the best, have to play two matches with their teams rested," he told a new conference on Tuesday.

"There should be better care with the match schedule to recover so Asia and South America can have ambition to win this cup," Jardim, who was using a translator, added.

South American teams, like those from Europe, also get a buy through to the semi-finals, but Jardim's assertion that Asian clubs are disadvantaged by the schedule has some merit.

Only a handful of clubs outside of Europe and South America have reached the final of the competition.

TP Mazembe, of Democratic Republic of Congo, lost to Inter Milan in 2010, Morocco's Raja Casablanca lost to Bayern Munich in 2013, Kashima Antlers of Japan reached the 2016 final against Real Madrid and El-Ain from the United Arab Emirates were runners-up to Real Madrid in 2018.

Every final so far has featured a team from Europe or South America with the majority being contested between teams from those continents.

Chelsea will be huge favorites to beat Al Hilal while in the other semi-final it would be a major surprise if Brazil's Libertadores champions Palmeiras do not beat Egypt's Al Ahly.

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Olympic Triathlon Mixed Relay Gets Underway with Swims in the Seine Amid Water Quality Concerns 

Athletes jump into the water to compete in the swimming race in the Seine, during the mixed relay triathlon, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in central Paris, on August 5, 2024. (AFP)
Athletes jump into the water to compete in the swimming race in the Seine, during the mixed relay triathlon, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in central Paris, on August 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Olympic Triathlon Mixed Relay Gets Underway with Swims in the Seine Amid Water Quality Concerns 

Athletes jump into the water to compete in the swimming race in the Seine, during the mixed relay triathlon, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in central Paris, on August 5, 2024. (AFP)
Athletes jump into the water to compete in the swimming race in the Seine, during the mixed relay triathlon, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in central Paris, on August 5, 2024. (AFP)

Olympic triathletes plunged into the Seine River Monday morning as the mixed relay event got underway after days of uncertainty over water quality in the long-polluted Paris waterway.

The plan to hold the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events in the Seine was an ambitious one. Swimming in the river has, with some exceptions, been off-limits since 1923 because it has been too toxic.

Representatives from World Triathlon and the International Olympic Committee along with Paris Games organizers and regional and weather authorities met Sunday night to review water tests. The results indicated the water quality at the triathlon site had improved over the preceding hours and would be within the limits mandated by World Triathlon by Monday morning, they said in a statement.

The decision to allow the event to go forward with swims in the Seine came after Belgium’s Olympic committee announced Sunday that it would withdraw its team from the mixed relay triathlon after one of its competitors who swam in the river last week fell ill. It was not clear whether her illness had anything to do with her swim in the Seine.

Paris spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) on infrastructure improvements to clean up the river that flows through its center. That included the construction of a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and keep wastewater from flowing into the river, renovating sewer infrastructure and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.

Heavy rains that have fallen off and on during the Games have caused headaches for organizers as they result in elevated levels of fecal bacteria, including E. coli and enterococci, flowing into the river.

But organizers have continued to express confidence that warm temperatures and the sun’s ultraviolet rays would combine to kill enough of the germs ahead of each event set to include a swim in the Seine.

Athletes swam in the river for the men’s and women’s individual triathlons Wednesday, though the men’s race had been delayed by a day because of the water quality. Elevated bacteria levels in the waterway have caused cancellations of the swimming portion of training sessions for the relay event.

Daily water quality tests measure levels of fecal bacteria, including E. coli. World Triathlon’s water safety guidelines and a 2006 European Union directive assign qualitative values to a range of E. coli levels.

Under World Triathlon’s guidelines, E. coli levels up to 1,000 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters can be considered “good” and can allow competitions to go forward.

The triathlon mixed relay involves four-person teams made up of two men and two women, with each athlete swimming for 300 meters (yards), cycling for 6.8 kilometers (4.2 miles) and running for 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).