Euro 2000 Officials Say Sites Will Be Ready

All stadiums that will stage matches in the next European Championship, in the summer of 2000, will be ready a year in advance, organizers said this week.

Belgium and the Netherlands will jointly host Euro 2000, staging 31 games over a 23-day span. It marks the first time two countries have shared a major soccer event and there had been concerns that some stadiums would not be renovated in time.

The tournament, second only to the World Cup in importance, will open in Brussels on June 10 and the final will be played in Rotterdam on July 2. The semifinals will be in Amsterdam and Brussels.

Games also will be played in the Belgian cities of Charleroi, Bruges and Liege, as well as the Dutch cities of Arnhem and Eindhoven.

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SPAIN: Two-time World Cup coach Javier Clemente, who last month resigned after six years in charge of Spain’s national team, has been named coach of Real Betis in Seville. The first-division club has struggled this season but has 11 international players on its roster, among them Brazil’s Denilson.

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SWEDEN: Former national team goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli of Sweden told a newspaper in Stockholm that he is quitting Major League Soccer’s Tampa Bay Mutiny and will not return to the league next season.

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BRAZIL: The Brazilian federation has been turned down by Denmark in its bid to stage a rematch of the teams’ France ’98 quarterfinal game in Nantes that was won by Brazil, 3-2.

Meanwhile, Brazilian and South American champion Vasco da Gama is preparing for its Toyota Cup final game against European champion Real Madrid of Spain in Tokyo for the world club championship, as well as for its two-game series against CONCACAF champion Washington D.C. United in Washington Nov. 14 and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Dec. 5.

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ENGLAND: After meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street, FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter said England’s hopes of staging the 2006 World Cup might take a back seat to South Africa’s.

“I repeated to the prime minister that if an African nation will meet all the conditions--stadia, systems of transport, telecommunications, security, hotels and so on--then it would be logical to give the 2006 World Cup to an African country,” Blatter said.

England, South Africa and Germany are the main contenders for the event, although Blatter said bids also are expected from Brazil, Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt.

The decision will be announced in March 2000.