Nothing short of a marathon

World Cup teams and supporters face a marathon of travelling after organisers decided countries must play their group games in different venues around Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.

World Cup teams and supporters face a marathon of travelling after organisers decided countries must play their group games in different venues around Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.

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Rio de Janeiro was confirmed as the venue for the final and Sao Paulo was awarded the opening match featuring Brazil, even though it has barely started work on its Itaquerao stadium. Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte will stage the semi-finals and the capital Brasilia will get the third-place playoff after the match schedule was announced at a brief, televised ceremony at the headquarters of world governing body FIFA on Thursday.

The surprise was that organisers decided against basing teams in single venues, which means some must travel thousands of miles between matches in one of the world’s biggest countries.

Confederations Cup venues announced
Rio de Janeiro: FIFA has announced the venues of the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. The Confederations Cup, seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup, has its opening match in capital Brasilia.

Only five other cities will host the Cup games. They are Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Recife, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador.

Tevez inquiry gets underway
Manchester: Manchester City’s internal disciplinary hearing into striker Carlos Tevez was taking place on Friday, although a club official said it was “highly unlikely” a decision would be announced before the end of the day. He is being investigated following his alleged refusal to come off the bench during City’s Champions League match at Bayern Munich.