The next Olympics to be awarded, a little more than a year from now, will be the 2022 Winter Games. Rather than going to the strongest bid, the games may end up going to the last city standing—a long list of potential hosts have given up on their Olympic dreams because the whole thing is one huge, useless waste of money. Yesterday, Krakow, Poland, officially withdrew its bid for the games, a day after a citywide referendum where 70 percent of voters came out against hosting the Olympics. "Krakow is closing its efforts to be the host of the 2022 Winter Games due to the low support for the idea among the residents," said mayor Jacek Majchrowski. In January, another of the six original finalists pulled out, when Stockholm, Sweden's ruling political party declined to fund the games. They cited the pointlessness of paying hundreds of millions for facilities that would be used for two weeks and then rarely again, a story common to almost all Olympic hosts. "Arranging a Winter Olympics would mean a big investment in new sports facilities, for example for the bobsleigh and luge," the Moderate party said in a statement. "There isn't any need for that type of that kind of facility after an Olympics." In November, voters in Munich, Germany, rejected a proposed Olympic bid. "The vote is not a signal against the sport," said one lawmaker, "but against the non-transparency and the greed for profit of the IOC." Last March, a joint bid from Davos/St. Moritz, Switzerland, fell apart after being rejected by a public referendum. Of the four remaining finalists, two are in rough shape. The Oslo, Norway, bid is falling apart. It was supported by a razor-thin margin in a September referendum, but public opposition has only grown since then. And on Sunday, the junior member of the government coalition voted against funding any Olympics. For them to go on, it would require an unprecedented alliance between the ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour party. The Lviv, Ukraine, bid seems dead in the water with the turmoil and war in the country. "Currently our dream is on hold," said the bid's chief. There are only two healthy bids: Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing, China. One's an oil-rich state ruled by a president-for-life, and the other's, well, China. That's no coincidence. With the Sochi games raising the bar to an absurd $51 billion, hosting the Olympics no longer looks like a winning proposition. The failed and aborted 2022 candidacies all have one thing in common: When actual citizens are allowed to have a say, they say they don't want the Olympics.
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The Italian Football Federation announced on Thursday that manager Roberto Donadoni would be relieved of his duties, to be replaced by former manager Marcello Lippi.
Lippi, who resigned after leading the Azzurri to glory in the 2006 World Cup, takes over a squad that was knocked out on penalties in the quarter-finals of a less-than-impressive Euro 2008 campaign.
Donadoni had been criticized for his choice of players during the tournament and met with federation president Giancarlo Abete to discuss the move.
Lippi will sign a contract that will run through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and his first match will be a friendly with Austria in August. Qualifying for the World Cup starts on September 6.
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Captain Iker Casillas says Spain will take to the field against Germany in Sunday s Euro 2008 final with only one objective in mind to end their 44-year title famine.
We have the chance to break this horrible statistic for Spain, we haven t won an international title for a long time (since Euro 64).
We went close 24 years ago (when losing in the 1984 final to France) but didn t succeed. Now we re in this final and winning it is important, he said here Saturday.
The Real Madrid keeper, speaking at the pre-match press conference at the Ernst Happel stadium, says he ll be dreaming of lifting the trophy on Sunday night.
To dream is free! But only one captain can lift the Cup, let s hope that s me.
Casillas put Spain s impressive run to their da…
Central Coast Mariners will host Macarthur in a home A-League elimination-final next weekend after beating Western United 2-0 following Brisbane Roar s defeat to Sydney FC.
Brisbane were beaten 2-0 by second-placed Sydney in their final match of the regular season at Moreton Daily Stadium on Saturday.
Goals from Kosta Barbarouses and Harry Van der Saag opened the door for the Mariners to move above the Roar and take third place, an opportunity they grabbed with both hands.
Jack Clisby struck in the first half and Marco Urena sealed the victory in stoppage time at Central Coast Stadium.
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Next Saturday. Mark it in your calendar.
: Tickets for the Elimination Finals and Semi-Final will be available to Club Members from Monday, June…
Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe is delighted to make England s Euro 2012 squad despite not being a regular starter for his club this season.
Despite playing back-up to Emanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart for the majority of the campaign, the diminutive striker plundered an impressive 11 Premier League goals in just 11 starts.
The 29-year-old said his impressive goalscoring record this season is due to extra training that he put in last pre-season, on the recommendation of good friend and former Arsenal striker Ian Wright.
I m delighted because I knew last summer I had a massive season coming up, Defoe told Tottenham s official website.
I worked hard on my fitness to be as sharp as possible and I think that work has paid off.
Defoe was a …
Augsburg defender Philipp Max is honoured to be linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund.
The 25-year-old has been touted as a possible target for title challengers Dortmund, who are believed to be in the market for a new left-back.
Max, under contract with Augsburg until 2022, admits he may have to move away from the WWK Arena to further his career.
Asked specifically about the links with BVB, Max told Sport1: Not just my name was mentioned in this context, but also 10 other players.
One deserved card for Philipp !
— FC Augsburg English (@FCA_World)
I am very far from saying that there is anything to report. But BVB is a very big club and I m honoured, of course.
In my first season at Augsburg I played in the Europa Lea…
Reported Manchester City target Aymeric Laporte is available to face Eibar on Friday, Athletic Bilbao coach Jose Angel Ziganda has confirmed.
Laporte has been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League leaders, who are expected to meet his €65million release clause and break their transfer record to complete a move.
But Ziganda indicated Laporte remains available for selection despite ongoing rumours about his future lying away from Athletic.
I count on Aymeric for tomorrow, Ziganda told reporters on Thursday. Without the injured players we will do our last training and we will give the call-up.
We have to face this kind of news, but the important thing is the match of tomorrow.
Aymeric is available to train he is calm.
Lapo…
Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has called for an improvement in concentration ahead of Friday s international friendly against Zambia.
The Asian champions came from behind to beat Costa Rica 3-1 at Raymond James Stadium in Florida on Monday.
After trailing 1-0 at the half-time break, Japan recorded their fourth consecutive win thanks to goals from midfield trio Yasuhito Endo, Shinji Kagawa and Yoichiro Kakitani.
Zaccheroni is under no illusion Japan and especially their strikers must be more clinical in front of goal if they are to make an impact at the FIFA World Cup, where they will face Colombia, Greece and Ivory Coast in Group C.
Speaking ahead of Friday s return to Raymond James Stadium for Japan s final warm-up match before their World Cup opener against Iv…
Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller says he is not using last season s Champions League failure as motivation to win this season.
Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller says he is not using last season s Champions League failure as motivation to win this season.
Chelsea beat the Bavarians in a penalty shoot-out at their own stadium, the Allianz Arena, in the 2011/12 European final.
Jupp Heynckes men face Arsenal in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday in the first leg away from home, but Mueller said last season s loss was not a primary motivator.
I do not care for revenge, the Germany international told Kicker. I just want to win this thing, as quickly as possible.
Therefore, our goal this year again is to get to the final again. We are in…
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The Premier League is back once again this weekend as continue on through the always-crazy month of December. There are so many teams up and down the top flight who are in desperate need of some points on the board now that we re in the midst of the busy winter schedule, mainly because momentum can be such a vital piece of the puzzle during this time of the year. Today, we re going to be taking a look at what could be a thrilling encounter: Leeds United vs West Ham United.
Leeds
The Marcelo Bielsa era is still going strong in Yorkshire and while there have been a few bumps in the road, they re still giving off the impression of a team that could force their way into the top half of the table. They ve stood toe …
Marcos Llorente s development at Atletico Madrid does not come as a surprise to Zinedine Zidane, whose Real Madrid players will have to be wary of his potential impact in Saturday s derby.
Madrid host neighbours and LaLiga leaders Atletico at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano with Diego Simeone s men holding a one-point advantage over Real Sociedad at the top of the table.
The defending champions are five points further back having already lost three games in 2020-21.
Key to Atletico s unbeaten start has been the form of Llorente, who has four goals and two assists in the league. He has featured in every game, making six starts.
Llorente also scored a goal and registered an assist as Atletico came through the Champions League group stage and enjoyed an impressiv…