Maiden National Para Beach Volleyball tourney from Sept 27 at Malpe
Udupi, September 25: Indian Paralympics Volleyball Federation President H. Chandrashekar said that the first Para Beach Volleyball Senior Standing National Championship would be conducted in association with the Federation at the Malpe Beach from September 27-29.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, he said that total 16 para beach volleyball teams would participate in the three days event which was organized for the first time in association with the Karnataka State Physically Disabled Volleyball Association.
Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Jharkhand and Delhi teams have confirmed their participation in the event. Two teams could play from each state, he said.
Normally beach volleyball team would have two players in each team. But in this event, each team would have three players and they would play both by sitting and standing. But in this event, the players would play by standing, he said.
Each team could have three men or two men and a woman. But because of the dress code in the beach volleyball, women in India would not prefer the match, he said.
Youth in the coastal area should evince interest in the tournament for which, a demonstration would be conducted at Malpe beach since morning on September 26 and interested youth could participate in it.
District Minister Dr. Jayamala would inaugurate the tournament at 10 am. MP Shobha Karandlaje, MLA K. Raghupathi Bhat, ZP President Dinakar Babu, DC Priyanka Mary Francis, CEO Shivananda Kapasi would be present. The valedictory programme would be held in the evening on September 29, he said.
The event would be conducted under the World Para Volleyball norms and Rs 1 lakh cash prize would be distributed to the winners. In the end of the event, Indian National Para Beach Volleyball team would be selected and it would participate in the world para beach volleyball tournament to be held in Goa in February 2019.
NICF Director Dr. Jagannathan, Federation marketing head Ranjith Martin, Shivakumar Shetty, Uday Kumar Shetty, CMC Commissioner Janardhan, District Youth Empowerment and Sports Officer Dr. Roshan Kumar Shetty and others were present.
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Iran's World Cup place in US put in doubt by Middle East war. FIFA has Iraq next in line
Geneva (AP): Iran's place at the men's World Cup in three months' time was put in doubt Monday amid an escalating Middle East conflict sparked by the soccer tournament's co-host the United States.
Iran is due to play its three group stage games in the U.S. — two in Inglewood, California, then in Seattle — from June 15-26. Cities in Canada and Mexico also will host some of the 104 games.
The U.S. and Israel have targeted Iran in coordinated attacks since Saturday that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens more senior officials.
It provoked an Iranian response that aimed missiles at U.S. allies including 2022 World Cup host Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which FIFA has picked to stage the 2034 edition.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” said Iran's top soccer official Mehdi Taj, a vice president of the Asian Football Confederation.
It is unclear if the state-backed Iranian soccer federation could refuse to send its team to the 48-nation tournament that starts June 11, or the U.S. government could effectively block the team.
FIFA has declined comment since Saturday, when secretary general Mattias Grafström said it would “monitor developments around all issues around the world.”
The White House's top official overseeing World Cup preparations, Andrew Guiliani, seemed unconcerned Saturday in a social media post.
“We'll deal with soccer games tomorrow,” Guiliani wrote about Iran, “tonight, we celebrate their opportunity for freedom.”
Here is a look at the issues in play:
Asian soccer power
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Iran has one of the best national teams in Asia and has qualified for six of the past eight World Cups.
It is No. 20 in the FIFA world rankings of 211 teams, and has not been lower than No. 24 since the last World Cup in Qatar.
Iran was among the second-seeded teams in the World Cup draw held in Washington, D.C. in December, minutes after U.S. President Donald Trump was presented with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.
Though Taj and other Iranian soccer officials were denied visas to enter the U.S., the draw outcome was favorable for Iran, especially in the expanded format where most third-place teams advance to the knockout rounds.
Iran starts against low-ranked New Zealand, then plays one of the weaker top-seeded nations, Belgium, and finishes against Egypt.
Iran is likely to be supported in stadiums by its diaspora in the U.S., though residents of the Middle East nation are subject to a ban on entering the country.
Trump's government has promised exemptions from its travels bans for athletes and coaches arriving for major sports events like the World Cup.
Politics around Iran inside World Cup stadiums is nothing new. Protests over domestic issues were aired by Iran fans at the last World Cup.
The FIFA rules
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FIFA's World Cup regulations envisage a team withdrawing, or being excluded, from the tournament though the legal language is vague to say the least.
In that scenario, according to Article 6.7, “FIFA shall decide on the matter at its sole discretion and take whatever action is deemed necessary.”
“FIFA may decide to replace the Participating Member Association in question with another association,” the rules say.
That legal framing seems to give FIFA president Gianni Infantino wide powers to shape any decision relating to Iran.
Just 18 months ago, the decision announced by Infantino to add Lionel Messi's team Inter Miami to the 2025 Club World Cup lineup appeared to have no basis in formal tournament rules.
Consequences of withdrawingShould Iran pull out of the World Cup — still hugely speculative — its soccer federation would forfeit at least $10.5 million.
FIFA pays $9 million in prize money to each of the 16 federations whose teams fail to advance from the group stage, and all 48 qualified teams get $1.5 million “to cover preparation costs.”
The Iranian federation also would face disciplinary fines from FIFA — at least 250,000 Swiss francs ($321,000) for withdrawing up to 30 days before the tournament, and at least 500,000 Swiss francs ($642,000) if the decision is in the last month before kickoff.
Iran would risk being excluded by FIFA from qualifying for the next World Cup in 2030 as well.
Next in line
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Iran was a fast World Cup qualifier last March, earning one of eight guaranteed places allocated to the Asian Football Confederation.
Should Iran pull out, the likely replacement from Asia should be Iraq or the United Arab Emirates.
Iraq and the UAE were effectively the ninth and 10th-ranked Asian teams through the various qualifying groups and advanced to a two-leg playoff last November.
Iraq won 3-2 on aggregate — eliminating the UAE — to advance to the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico and, on March 31, it is scheduled to play an elimination game against Bolivia or Suriname with a World Cup place at stake.
One possible element of uncertainty is the language of the World Cup tournament rules.
FIFA wrote that it can decide to replace a withdrawn team “with another association,” though without specifying the replacement must come from the same continental confederation.
