FIFA FALLOUT …
After the sound and entirely expected fury then, expect more sound and more fury. The anger that Fifa provoked with its announcement that the Qatar 2022 World Cup would be held in November-December will resurface this coming week when the decision is expected to be ratified and the specific dates confirmed in Zurich on Thursday and Friday. They are unlikely to please anyone except Fifa and Qatar. The Association of European Professional Leagues has already declared it will fight the decision, and its sister organisation, the European Club Association, led by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, is to demand compensation. Expect this, like the entire sorry Qatar saga to run and run.
TOUR DECLARATION …
An announcement of an altogether more edifying kind on Tuesday when the Tour of Britain reveals its full route at tourofbritain.co.uk. The race will take place from 6-13 September, across eight stages and 1,400km. The details will include all the stages, the location of the summit finish and the layout of the final stage, which runs through central London.
BIG ROUND FOR RORY …
Somewhat out of touch in his last two tournaments, Rory McIlroy will be hoping for a pre-Masters lift at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that begins on Thursday (Sky Sports 4, 6pm). McIlroy missed the cut at the Honda Classic and then tied for ninth, continuing to struggle with his swing, at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. There, such was his frustration that on the Friday he threw his three-iron into the lake after pulling his second shot on the eighth. That his good humour remained was evidenced when the course’s owner, Donald Trump, had a diver retrieve the errant club and return it, to which McIlroy queried, “Is it dry?” Before offering to auction it for charity. But with this, the last event he plays before the Masters, he knows he needs a lift at Bay Hill. It Is however the first time he has played the competition although Palmer, has long wanted McIlroy to take part, joking in 2012 that if he didn’t play he “may have a broken arm and he won’t have to worry about where he plays next”. The four-times Masters winner is confident however that McIrloy can win at Augusta, having recently described him as a “godsend to the game of golf”. A decent show will boost his chances, after which he will take his father and two friends for practice rounds at Augusta in his two weeks off before the tournament,
EUROPEAN SHOWDOWN …
After an extraordinary 2-1 victory over Barcelona, the women of Bristol Academy go into a Champions League quarter-final with FFC Frankfurt on Saturday (Eurosport 2, 5.30pm). Nicola Watts scored the penalty that put the club through to the biggest match in their history and what will be doubtless be a tough scrap especially for Wales’s new captain, Sophie Ingle, and the defence as Frankfurt have scored 15 goals in the knockout stages already. Glasgow City play Paris in their quarter-final next Sunday and the second legs are on 28-29 March.
UNDER-20s RUGBY FACE-OFF …
With England and France winning their fourth-round games on Friday, they go into their final match (Friday, Sky Sports 5, 7.30pm) of the U20s Six Nation on six points each at the top, with the title at stake and little to choose between them. England were winners of the last two junior World Cups but France are Six Nations champions, beating England 21-15 last year. A tight contest at the Community Stadium is in the offing for the side that brought George Ford, Jonny May and Joe Marler through to the full England squad.
