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Tusk: Poland Will Seek to Host Olympics in 2040 or 2044

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Beach Volleyball - Men's Preliminary Phase - Pool C - Poland vs France (Bryl/Losiak vs Bassereau/Lyneel) - Eiffel Tower Stadium, Paris, France - August 01, 2024. The Eiffel Tower and the Olympic rings are illuminated at the end of the game. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Beach Volleyball - Men's Preliminary Phase - Pool C - Poland vs France (Bryl/Losiak vs Bassereau/Lyneel) - Eiffel Tower Stadium, Paris, France - August 01, 2024. The Eiffel Tower and the Olympic rings are illuminated at the end of the game. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo
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Tusk: Poland Will Seek to Host Olympics in 2040 or 2044

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Beach Volleyball - Men's Preliminary Phase - Pool C - Poland vs France (Bryl/Losiak vs Bassereau/Lyneel) - Eiffel Tower Stadium, Paris, France - August 01, 2024. The Eiffel Tower and the Olympic rings are illuminated at the end of the game. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Beach Volleyball - Men's Preliminary Phase - Pool C - Poland vs France (Bryl/Losiak vs Bassereau/Lyneel) - Eiffel Tower Stadium, Paris, France - August 01, 2024. The Eiffel Tower and the Olympic rings are illuminated at the end of the game. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo

Poland will seek to host the Olympic Games in 2040 or 2044, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday.
Tusk said it was not yet clear whether the goal was realistic for Poland. However, according to Reuters, he said he believed he could do a lot to make it happen.
"Taking into account the preliminary decisions and declaration of the International Olympic Committee, we can talk about 2040 or 2044," Tusk told reporters at a news conference on modernizing soccer stadiums.
Poland with Ukraine co-hosted Euro football tournament in 2012 and last summer hosted the multi-sports European Games, but has never hosted the Olympic Games.
The previous Polish government had said it would bid to hold the Olympics in summer 2036.
Los Angeles will host the 2028 summer Games and Brisbane, Australia, is preparing to stage the 2032 Olympics.
Egypt has also said it will bid to host 2036 and 2040 summer Olympics.
Potential host nations' willingness to take on the Olympic Games was in doubt after questions about scandals, costs and legacy. Tokyo's 2020 Games were largely spectator-less because of COVID.
But the Games that ended earlier this month in Paris have been credited with rejuvenating the Olympic brand.

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Sports

Fan Group Urges FIFA to Halt World Cup Ticket Sales over 'Extortionate' Prices

A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson
A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson
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Fan Group Urges FIFA to Halt World Cup Ticket Sales over 'Extortionate' Prices

A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson
A sign promoting the World Cup in 2026 is shown at a newly opened metro stop at Los Angeles International Airport on December 5th, in Los Angeles, California, US August 22, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson

Football Supporters Europe (FSE) has called on FIFA to immediately halt sales of national team allocations for next year's World Cup, accusing football's governing body of imposing "extortionate" ticket prices that risk shutting ordinary fans out of the tournament.

In a statement on Thursday, the European fan umbrella group said prices for tickets allocated to Participating Member Associations (PMAs) – typically distributed via official supporters' clubs or loyalty schemes – had reached "astronomical" levels, Reuters reported.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FSE said based on price tables quietly circulated to national associations, a supporter following their team from the first group match through to the final via the PMA route would pay at least $6,900, almost five times the equivalent cost at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

FSE said national team supporters were being asked to pay the full amount in early 2026 in order to secure the right to buy tickets all the way to the final.

Adding to fans' frustration, FSE said the lowest price category – Category 4 – would not be made available to the most loyal supporters through their associations, with FIFA reserving those tickets for general public sales and subjecting them to dynamic pricing.

The group called that decision a "monumental betrayal" of World Cup tradition and of the contribution of traveling supporters to the tournament's atmosphere.

"For the prices that have been put up by FIFA, we're a bit stunned," FSE Executive Director Ronan Evain told Reuters.

"This is a handful of people who are trying to make as much money as possible from the tournament. And we believe this approach is putting the very nature of the tournament at risk."

"For the final, tickets are going up to about $4,000. You need fans, you need the life in the stands, you need the colour, you need the atmosphere. With these prices, none of this will happen," he said.

For the first time at a World Cup, FSE said, there will be no consistent prices across all group-stage games, with FIFA instead introducing variable pricing based on opaque notions such as the "attractiveness" of a fixture.

That means fans of different teams could pay different amounts for the same category of ticket at the same stage, with little transparency on how prices are set.

Evain said the new structure would push many ordinary fans beyond what they can afford, particularly families.

"A lot of people that were hesitating in travelling to the U.S. are now saying they need to take an extraordinary financial risk, especially if you're a family," he said.

"We are in the region of $30,000 for a family of four. The vast majority of football fans can't afford this. Even in Europe."

FSE urged FIFA to pause PMA ticket sales and open consultations with member associations, supporters' groups and other stakeholders "until a solution that respects the tradition, universality and cultural significance of the World Cup is found."

Sports

French Player Folliot Suspended for 20 Years over Match-fixing

Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco
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French Player Folliot Suspended for 20 Years over Match-fixing

Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Paris 2024 Olympics - Tennis Training - Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. General view of tennis balls during training REUTERS/Claudia Greco

French player Quentin Folliot has been suspended for 20 years for committing 27 breaches of tennis's anti-corruption program, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) said on Thursday.

Folliot was a central figure in a network of players operating on behalf of a match-fixing syndicate, an ITIA investigation found, and is the sixth player to be sanctioned as a result.

Folliot's career-high ranking was 488th, according to the ATP, and he earned prize money of $60,047 in singles and doubles.

The Frenchman denied 30 charges relating to 11 matches between 2022 and 2024, eight of which he played in, and an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer, Amani Khalifa, upheld 27 of the charges in October.

Khalifa's written decision said the 26-year-old Folliot was "a vector for a wider criminal syndicate, actively recruiting other players and attempting to embed corruption more deeply into the professional tours".

Folliot, who was provisionally suspended in May 2024, has also been fined $70,000 and ordered to repay corrupt payments totaling more than $44,000, Reuters reported.

Time served under the provisional suspension was credited against his period of ineligibility meaning Folliot's ban will end on May 16 2044, subject to repayment of outstanding fines.

Sports

Morocco Pick Hakimi, Confident He Will be Ready for Cup of Nations

Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
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Morocco Pick Hakimi, Confident He Will be Ready for Cup of Nations

Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo

Hosts Morocco have included African Footballer of the Year Achraf Hakimi in their 26-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, confident he will recover from an ankle injury in time to play.

There had been concern about the full back's availability for the tournament, which kicks off on December 21, after suffering a severe sprain of his left ankle during Paris St Germain's 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last month, according to Reuters.

Coach Walid Regragui had already expressed optimism that Hakimi would be available to captain the team in the opening match against Comoros in Rabat.

"He's been working hard since his injury and doing what he has to do. He's a hard worker. He wants to be there from the first match," the Moroccan coach told French radio at the weekend.

Left out of the squad, but named as a reserve is Lille striker Hamza Igamane, who hurt his adductors playing against Olympique de Marseille last Friday.

Igamane has made a major impact in Ligue 1 and with the Morocco side and was expected to be a starter at the tournament for the hosts.

Morocco, who were semi-finalists at the last World Cup and are heavily fancied for home success, also take on Mali and Zambia in Group A.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Munir El Kajoui (Renaissance Berkane), El Mehdi Al Harrar (Raja Casablanca)

Defenders: Nayef Aguerd (Olympique de Marseille), Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal (Stade Rennais), Mohamed Chibi (Pyramids), Jawad El Yamiq (Al Najma), Achraf Hakimi (Paris St Germain), Adam Masina (Torino), Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Romain Saiss (Al Sadd), Anass Salah-Eddine (PSV Eindhoven)

Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Bayer Leverkusen), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid), Neil El Aynaoui (AS Roma), Bilal El Khannous (VfB Stuttgart), Azzedine Ounahi (Girona), Oussama Targhaline (Feyenoord)

Forwards: Ilias Akhomach (Villarreal), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiakos), Youssef En-Nesyri (Fenerbahce), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland).