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UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE: ST PATRICK ATHLETIC EDGING TOWARDS QUALIFICATIO AFTER 2-1 WIN AT RICHMOND PARK

St Patrick’s Athletic have put themselves in a commanding position in their Europa Conference League tie against Vaduz with a 2-1 win at Richmond Park.

Jake Mulraney scored twice in the first 17 minutes to give Stephen Kenny’s side the advantage in the first half.

The Liechtenstein side pulled a goal back, before Joe Redmond restored the two goal advantage in the 77th minute.

By contrast, Shelbourne’s second round qualifier with Zurich looks to be over after this evening’s first leg.

Damien Duff’s side were beaten 3-0 in Switzerland, having conceded inside 28 seconds.

Shelbourne will need a miracle ahead of the second leg in Tolka Park.

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UEFA BEGINS INVESTIGATION INTO MORATA AND RODRI OVER EURO 2024 CELEBRATIONS

Uefa has started disciplinary proceedings against Spanish players Alvaro Morata and Rodri over their behaviour during a Euro 2024 presentation in Madrid this month, European soccer’s governing body confirmed on Tuesday.

The players sang ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ on July 15th, the day after they won the European Championship with a 2-1 victory over England in Berlin, during a public celebration in the Spanish capital.

Alvaro Morata wears the captain armband for Rodri at the 2024 Euros in Germany

Gibraltar is a British territory located at the southern tip of Spain.

Gibraltar’s Football Association filed a formal complaint to Uefa about the chant, and Uefa appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to evaluate whether it violated regulations.

The charges against Rodri and Morata include violating the basic rules of decent conduct, general principles of conduct, using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and bringing the sport of football into disrepute.

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RUSSIAN FOOTBALL UNION TO APPEAL AGAINST BAN IMPOSED BY FIFA AND UEFA

The Russian Football Union will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban on its national teams and clubs from international competitions.

FIFA and UEFA, the governing bodies of the world and European games respectively, announced on Monday that Russian teams would be excluded from their events “until further notice” following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

This means that Russia are banned from participating in this month’s men’s World Cup qualifying play-offs and UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 this summer. Spartak Moscow have also been removed from the Europa League.

The RFU announced on Thursday it will challenge this ruling in a single lawsuit against FIFA and UEFA.

A statement read: “The RFU will demand the restoration of all men’s and women’s national teams of Russia in all types of football in the tournaments in which they took part (including in the qualifying round of the World Cup in Qatar), as well as compensation for damage.

“In order to ensure the possibility of the participation of Russian teams in the next scheduled matches, the RFU will insist on an expedited procedure for considering the case.

“If FIFA and UEFA refuse such a procedure, a requirement will be put forward for the introduction of interim measures in the form of suspension of FIFA and UEFA decisions, as well as competitions in which Russian teams were supposed to participate.

“The RFU believes that FIFA and UEFA did not have a legal basis when deciding on the removal of Russian teams. It violated the fundamental rights of the RFU as a member of FIFA and UEFA, including the right to take part in competitions.

“In addition, the decision to withdraw the national team from qualification for the 2022 World Cup was made under pressure from direct rivals in the play-offs, which violated the principle of sports and the rules of fair play.

“The Russian Football Union was also not given the right to present its position, which violated the fundamental right to defence. In addition, when making decisions, FIFA and UEFA did not take into account other possible options for action, except for the complete exclusion of participants from the competition from Russia.”

Poland, Russia’s first opponents in the World Cup qualifying play-offs, along with Sweden and the Czech Republic, had all refused to play against Russia. A number of other countries had also said they would boycott matches against Russia in the current circumstances.

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PLAYERS AREN’T ROBOTS, WE NEED REST – COURTOIS BLAST FIFA, UEFA

Belgium and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has launched a scathing criticism of UEFA and FIFA for scheduling more and more matches at the expense of player welfare.

Courtois hit out at the growing football calendar after his side’s 2-1 defeat by Italy in the UEFA Nations’ League third-place play-off on Sunday, labelling the match, in which both teams rotated their squads, a “money game”.

“We are not robots. It’s just more and more games and less rest for us and nobody cares about us. When will we get a rest? Never,” Courtois said.

The football calendar has been squeezed in the last 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Champions League and many of the continent’s top leagues taking place in shorter spaces of time but with the same amount of matches.

The European Championship and Copa America were both held at the end of the gruelling season and there is to be no let up in the near future.

Next year’s World Cup takes place between November and December — in the middle of the club season — while the Nations League finals will be held in June 2023.

FIFA, meanwhile, wishes to hold an expanded Club World Cup and its head of Global Football Development, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, has outlined proposals for a biennial World Cup.

“Next year we have a World Cup in November, we have to play maybe until the latter stages of June again. We will get injured,” added Courtois.

“So in the end top players will get injured and injured and injured. It’s something that should be much better and much more taken care of.”

UEFA has opposed the plan for more frequent World Cups and the proposed European Super League, but Courtois said the European organising body was not interested in player welfare either as they too keep adding to the fixture calendar.

“They are against Super League but they just do the same, they put extra games. They made an extra trophy, (Europa Conference League). It is always the same,” added the Belgian.

“They can be angry about other teams wanting a Super League but they don’t care about the players, they just care about their pockets.”

UEFA did not immediately respond to comments from Courtois.

The Nations League was launched in 2018 with the aim of offering more competitive matches for the continent’s teams instead of international friendlies.

The Europa Conference League, which began this season, was created to increase the number of teams of UEFA member nations playing into the later stages of European competition.

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GERMANY UNVEILS LOGO FOR UEFA EURO 2024

Germany has unveiled the logo for soccer’s 2024 European Championship during a ceremony with a light show in the stadium that will hold the final.

Some guests and media were invited to Berlin’s Olympiastadion for the UEFA launch, though no fans were present on a damp evening in the German capital on Tuesday.

The logo features an outline of the Henri Delaunay Cup – the bulbous tournament trophy – set on a coloured oval outline that resembles the Olympiastadion’s roof.

It features colours from the flags of UEFA’s 55 member nations, set in 24 slices around the trophy to represent the 24 teams that will ultimately qualify for the tournament in Germany.
Organisers said the brand will promote a tournament where diversity is celebrated, and everyone should feel welcome. The tournament’s slogan “United by Football. Vereint im Herzen Europas” – or “United at the Heart of Europe” – is meant to convey a message of togetherness and inclusion.

Also read: A controversial move by FIFA

Logos for each of the 10 host cities – Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart – were also presented with each featuring a famous local landmark. Berlin’s, for example, features the Brandenburg Gate.

“From now on, the tournament has a brand identity which reflects the ambition we have together with the host association and host cities,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said. The tournament is due to be played in June and July 2024 with the match schedule to be confirmed next year.

Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006, with the final held in the refurbished Olympiasstadion. The stadium was originally built for the 1936 Olympic Games hosted by Nazi Germany. West Germany also hosted the World Cup in 1974 and the European Championship in 1988.

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UEFA DROPS SUPER LEAGUE LEGAL TUSSLE WITH REBEL CLUBS

UEFA has dropped its legal case against Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid over their roles in initiating the controversial European Super League (ESL) project, which has threatened to dramatically upend the football landscape.

European football’s governing body announced on Monday night that “in the matter related to a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework in connection with the so called ‘Super League,’ the UEFA Appeals Body has declared today the proceedings null and void, as if the proceedings had never been opened.”

The moves comes after a Spanish court ruled that UEFA should not punish the three clubs that remain committed to the doomed project.

UEFA added that the other nine clubs involved in the attempted breakaway – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Inter Milan – will not need to pay the fines imposed on them for trying to set up the Super League.

Earlier in the day, Liverpool denied any suggestion that their U.S. owners were privately sympathetic to the breakaway league.

“Our involvement in the proposed ESL plans has been discontinued. We are absolutely committed to following that through and there should be no ambiguity to suggest otherwise. We are acting on the best legal advice and approach to appropriately end our involvement,” read a statement.

The stance was echoed by Liverpool’s arch-rivals Manchester United, who said: “Our position as announced previously has not changed – we shall not be participating in the European Super League. The process for dissolving the European Super League entity is impacted by ongoing litigation in Spain. We are not involved in that litigation and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment.”

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UEFA rejects Ajax’s Bob Marley tribute shirt

The Netherlands champion received wide praise and a rush of sales in the offseason for launching a black uniform with small red, yellow and green birds on the back of the shirt collar

Ajax must change its popular Bob Marley-themed shirts in Champions League games because the three little birds motif breaks equipment rules, UEFA said.

The Netherlands champion received wide praise and a rush of sales in the offseason for launching a black uniform with small red, yellow and green birds on the back of the shirt collar.

It’s a tribute to Ajax fans singing Marley’s “Three Little Birds” at games as their anthem.

UEFA said the club was told after submitting the design for approval one year ago it would not be approved to wear in games.

“The three birds being a tribute to Bob Marley’s song do not represent a team identification of Ajax as set out in Article 13 of the equipment regulations,” UEFA said in a statement on Tuesday, adding the manufacturer “was given the options about how the design could be adapted.”

Ajax decided its players will wear game shirts without the motif while selling a version to fans with the birds.

The team’s home uniform is iconic thick red and white vertical stripes.

Ajax’s Champions League campaign starts Wednesday at Sporting Lisbon. The group also includes Borussia Dortmund and Besiktas.

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UEFA PROBE ENGLAND OVER EURO 2020 FINAL CHAOS

UEFA has opened a formal investigation into the storming of Wembley Stadium by supporters at Sunday’s Euro 2020 final, in addition to charging the English Football Association with four separate offences relating to the conduct of fans.

England’s first appearance in a tournament showpiece for 55 years ended in defeat on penalties to Italy and was overshadowed by scenes of violence both inside and outside the ground. British police, who said 19 of its officers were injured, have so far arrested a total of 86 people. Some 53 of the arrests were at Wembley.

It is estimated that as many as 5,000 supporters gained access to the stadium without a match ticket. Sources told ESPN that ticket readers stopped working for a period and fans either “tailgated” their way in — quickly following behind those with legitimate tickets — or broke in through entrances designed for disabled supporters.

Videos circulated on social media of fights breaking out on the concourses while stewards were overwhelmed as hundreds of people arrived with tickets only to find someone already in their seats.

Despite England manager Gareth Southgate’s prematch plea to respect the Italian national anthem, loud boos were heard throughout, a pitch invader delayed the final few minutes of normal time and objects were launched at Italy players as they celebrated their penalty shootout success.

A statement released by UEFA on Tuesday afternoon listed four charges against the FA: “Invasion of the field of play by its supporters; Throwing of objects by its supporters; Disturbance caused by its supporters during the national anthem; Lighting of a firework by its supporters.”

The FA have launched their own investigation in conjunction with Metropolitan Police, but UEFA added: “Separately, and in accordance with Article 31(4) DR, a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation into events involving supporters which occurred inside and around the stadium.”

Fans began congregating outside Wembley around 12 hours before kick-off. The crowd steadily grew — estimated in some quarters to be as high as 250,000 people — with the mood turning increasingly violent as kick-off approached.

COVID-19 restrictions limited Wembley’s capacity from 90,000 to 65,000 and some fans sensed an opportunity to force their way in. One of the key questions to be answered moving forward will be why the outer perimeter was so close to the stadium. The outer barrier to most venues at European Championship tournaments and World Cups is often half a kilometre away or further from the venue itself. At Wembley, the outer perimeter ran tightly around the stadium, including at the base of the steps to access the outside of the upper levels.

Stewards and police were overwhelmed as hundreds broke through barriers and then ran inside. Eyewitnesses told ESPN that once inside, scores of fans were able to access the stadium without the necessary COVID-19 documentation — specifically, proof of a negative test within the last 48 hours — or a match ticket.

Families of players from both teams were affected. A group of Italy’s entourage, including the wife of midfielder Jorginho, were moved en masse, while sources told ESPN that the family members of several England players were abused by fans who had forced their way into the arena.

The stairways were visibly overflowing with supporters. Andrea Mancini, the son of Italy head coach Roberto, said: “There was a mess with ticketless fans and my seat had been taken, so I had to watch the first half sitting in the stadium’s steps. I found another place in the second half. Perhaps it brought good luck.”

Last week the FA were fined €30,000 ($35,460) after a laser pointer was shone at Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel during what proved to be the deciding moment of their Euro 2020 semifinal.

The FA were also charged for fans booing during the Danish anthem and for the setting off of fireworks during the semifinal.

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UEFA ABOLISHES AWAY GOAL RULE IN ALL CLUB COMPETITIONS

UEFA announced on Thursday that the away goals rule will be abolished in European tournament knockout ties from the 2021-22 season.

The rule, which had been in place since 1965, was used to determine a winner when teams were level on aggregate after a two-legged match. The team that had scored more goals as the away side were awarded the victory. But from now, this will be replaced by extra time and penalties.

A UEFA statement read: “Following the recommendation of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee and the UEFA Women’s Football Committee, the UEFA Executive Committee has today approved a proposal to remove the so-called away goals rule from all UEFA club competitions (men, women and youth) as of the qualifying phases of the 2021/22 competitions.”

Commenting on the abolishment of the away goals rule, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “The away goals rule has been an intrinsic part of UEFA competitions since it was introduced in 1965. However, the question of its abolition has been debated at various UEFA meetings over the last few years. Although there was no unanimity of views, many coaches, fans and other football stakeholders have questioned its fairness and have expressed a preference for the rule to be abolished.

“The impact of the rule now runs counter to its original purpose as, in fact, it now dissuades home teams — especially in first legs — from attacking, because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage. There is also criticism of the unfairness, especially in extra time, of obliging the home team to score twice when the away team has scored.

It is fair to say that home advantage is nowadays no longer as significant as it once was. Taking into consideration the consistency across Europe in terms of styles of play, and many different factors which have led to a decline in home advantage, the UEFA Executive Committee has taken the correct decision in adopting the view that it is no longer appropriate for an away goal to carry more weight than one scored at home.”

Lyon, who had won the previous five editions of the women’s Champions League, were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals on away goals last season.

In the men’s Champions League, FC Porto and PSG benefited — eliminating Juventus and Bayern Munich — to reach the last eight and semifinals respectively.

Tottenham Hotspur progressed to the 2019 final after beating Manchester City and Ajax on away goals before they lost the final to Liverpool.

The rule change was not unanimous, Ceferin said, but was made after the rule’s “fairness” was questioned. The decision to scrap the away goals rule was taken by UEFA’s Executive Committee following the recommendation of its Club Competitions Committee and the Women’s Football Committee.

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MANUEL NEUER NOT TO FACE DISCIPLINARY ACTION OVER RAINBOW ARMBAND

Germany captain Manuel Neuer will not face any disciplinary action after wearing a rainbow armband during Euro 2020 games, UEFA has announced.

The Bayern Munich goalkeeper has donned the armband for matches against France and Portugal to show his support for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month, prompting the European governing body to investigate whether it could be viewed as a political statement.

But UEFA has concluded there is no case to answer, given the 35-year-old was “promoting a good cause”.

A UEFA spokesperson said: “UEFA looked into the armband worn by the player in question and, considering that it was promoting a good cause, i.e. diversity, the team will not face disciplinary proceedings.”

The German Football Association said it had received a letter from UEFA confirming the matter should be considered closed.

The DFB posted on Twitter on Sunday evening: “UEFA have today shared with the DFB that they have stopped the review of the rainbow captain’s armband worn by @Manuel_Neuer.

“In a letter, the armband has been assessed as a team symbol for diversity and thus for a ‘good cause’.”