عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

IOC: France Conditionally Confirmed as 2030 Winter Games Hosts

Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
TT
TT

IOC: France Conditionally Confirmed as 2030 Winter Games Hosts

Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

France was conditionally picked as the host of the 2030 Winter Games on Wednesday and must now deliver key financial guarantees in a timeline to be set by the International Olympic Committee, the IOC said.
The French Alps bid was the preferred choice since June but due to elections and a current caretaker government had been unable to deliver the necessary state and regional financial guarantees in time.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to the IOC session prior to the vote on Wednesday in a bid to ease any concerns and show his support for the candidacy.
"I confirm the full commitment of the French nation, and assure you that I will ask the next prime minister to include not only this guarantee but also an Olympic Law in the priorities of the new government," he said.
"Seven years ago we made the same commitment (for the Paris 2024 Summer Games), and we delivered. We will do the same,” Reuters quoted Macron as saying.
The IOC said it had received a number of assurances regarding the outstanding guarantees that include the state's Olympic delivery guarantee and the financial guarantees of the two regions involved -- the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur regions.
However, it said it would not sign the host city contract, which has already been signed by France, until those guarantees were delivered.
The IOC decision means France will host the Winter Games six years after the Summer Olympics in Paris, which start on Friday.
France previously staged the Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Tsitsipas' Munich Switch Backfires as Rankings Slide Continues

Argentinia's Francisco Cerundolo reacts after a fall as he plays against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 64 tennis match on Court Rainier III at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, south-eastern France on April 6, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
Argentinia's Francisco Cerundolo reacts after a fall as he plays against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 64 tennis match on Court Rainier III at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, south-eastern France on April 6, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
TT
TT

Tsitsipas' Munich Switch Backfires as Rankings Slide Continues

Argentinia's Francisco Cerundolo reacts after a fall as he plays against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 64 tennis match on Court Rainier III at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, south-eastern France on April 6, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
Argentinia's Francisco Cerundolo reacts after a fall as he plays against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas during the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament round of 64 tennis match on Court Rainier III at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, south-eastern France on April 6, 2026. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)

Stefanos Tsitsipas walked off the court in Munich on Wednesday after another first-round defeat that highlighted how far the former world number three has drifted from the sport's elite amid injury problems and inconsistent form.

Resuming at 2-2 in the deciding set against Fabian Marozsan after play was suspended on Tuesday due to darkness, the 27-year-old Greek crashed out 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in a defeat that will see his ranking slide into the 70s, his lowest in eight years.

Tsitsipas, who decided to play in Munich this year instead of his usual tour stop in Barcelona, knows that the more his ranking slides the tougher his opponents will be in the early stages of tournaments.

"I'm aware that I ⁠might need to ⁠play good players in earlier rounds at different tournaments this year," he told Tennis TV ahead of the ATP 500 tournament.

"It's not an easy thing to get to play them early, but I also accept the challenge and I accept my current position and state, that these things need to happen in order for me to get back to where ⁠I belong."

Tsitsipas showed plenty of potential when he broke through eight years ago but since reaching the finals of the French Open in 2021 and Australian Open in 2023 he has struggled to deliver a sustained run of form.

A niggling back injury derailed the second half of his 2025 campaign and while he began this year saying his goal was just to feel competitive again, his only decent run came in Doha where he reached the quarter-finals.

Questions have been asked about his professionalism, with Goran Ivanisevic, who coached him in 2025, saying after the Greek's first-round exit ⁠at Wimbledon last ⁠year that he had not seen a more "unprepared player" in his life, Reuters reported.

Before Munich, Tsitsipas said he would consider playing more ATP 250 tournaments to regain his rhythm. The Geneva Open is the only tournament at that level ahead of Roland Garros, which begins on May 24.

"I'm a player that needs matches, I'm a player that needs to play a lot of sets to feel my game better, and this is something I might need to do in the next couple of weeks," he added.

"I'm expecting to play a lot of tournaments, I want to get a lot of tournaments under my belt, but of course be careful where I choose my tournaments and when I get to play."

Sports

David Beckham: Inter Miami Not Rushing to Replace Head Coach

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham attends a training session at the MLS soccer team's training facility, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Arjoon)
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham attends a training session at the MLS soccer team's training facility, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Arjoon)
TT
TT

David Beckham: Inter Miami Not Rushing to Replace Head Coach

Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham attends a training session at the MLS soccer team's training facility, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Arjoon)
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham attends a training session at the MLS soccer team's training facility, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris Arjoon)

Co-owner David Beckham said Inter Miami have to "let things settle down" before hiring a head coach after the sudden, early-season departure of Javier Mascherano on Tuesday.

Mascherano stepped down due to what he called personal reasons in a statement, with ESPN reporting that he made the decision over the weekend after a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls.

Sporting director Guillermo Hoyos took over as interim manager for the Herons (3-1-3, 12 points), who return to action on ⁠Saturday against the ⁠Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colo.

Beckham said on CBS Sports that losing Mascherano at this time was "a difficult one." Mascherano, 41, was hired as the club's coach on Nov. 26, 2024. He guided the Lionel Messi-led squad to an MLS ⁠Cup title in 2025.

"He came off the back of last season by winning our first championship," Reuters quoted Beckham as saying. "He's an amazing person, a great coach, the players loved him, but obviously, these things happen in football clubs and we have to move on. We have to find a new coach at some point. But at the moment, we have to let things settle down. But, like ⁠I said, ⁠with owning a team, there are always challenges."

Mascherano replaced Gerardo "Tata" Martino. Inter Miami also reached the Leagues Cup final and CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal last year.

This was the first club coaching job for Mascherano, who began coaching Argentina's youth national teams in 2021. His squads reached the Round of 16 at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina and the quarterfinals of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Inter Miami's chief soccer officer Alberto Marrero will assume sporting director duties for Hoyos.

Sports

Iran Participating in World Cup, FIFA President Confirms

FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends an economic conference in Washington. Kent NISHIMURA / AFP
FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends an economic conference in Washington. Kent NISHIMURA / AFP
TT
TT

Iran Participating in World Cup, FIFA President Confirms

FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends an economic conference in Washington. Kent NISHIMURA / AFP
FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends an economic conference in Washington. Kent NISHIMURA / AFP

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will "for sure" participate in the 2026 World Cup despite the Middle East war.

"Iran is coming for sure. We hope that by then the situation will be a peaceful situation, that would definitely help," Infantino told an economic conference organized by broadcaster CNBC.

"But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play," he said of the team's upcoming matches scheduled in the United States in June.

Infantino had made similar comments in March, when he attended an Iran-Costa Rica friendly in Antalya, Türkiye, even though US President Donald Trump had previously suggested that Iranian players might not be "safe" in the United States, said AFP.

Iran is scheduled to play its three Group G matches in the United States -- two in Los Angeles, one in Seattle -- with their base for the tournament in Tucson, Arizona.

- 'Outside of politics' -

Iran's participation in the global tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico had been thrown into doubt by the conflict launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.

Iran raised the prospect of a "boycott" of the competition before asking FIFA to move its matches from the United States to Mexico, a request the world governing body rejected.

After several weeks of air strikes on Iran and Iranian reprisals against Israel and other countries in the region, a fragile truce came into effect on April 8.

But Tehran has sealed off the strategic Strait of Hormuz and since Monday Washington has imposed a blockade on ships coming from or heading to Iranian ports.

"Sports should be outside of politics," Infantino said on Wednesday.

"If there's nobody else that believes in building bridges and keeping them intact and together, we are doing the job," he said.

The World Cup, the first to feature 48 teams, starts on June 11.