May 30, 2021 Relieving rule Teams at the World Cup in Qatar will be able to use five substitutes per match after football’s law-making body, IFAB, extended the right until the 7 end of 2022, AFP reported. Sports

Iranians after four Olympic karate quotas at Paris event

volleyballworld.com Iran’s Amirhossein Esfandiar (red) is in action against Russia’s Igor Kobzar at the Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, Italy, on May 29, 2021. New-look Iran comes short against Russia at VNL Sports Desk for Alekno’s youngsters, coming out victorious 25-20 and TASNIM 25-17 in the next two sets to win the game. Iran’s Amir Mehdizadeh (L) will take part in the -67kg contests at the Olympic qualification tournament in Paris, France. ran suffered a second successive defeat at the 2021 Vol- Maxim Mikhaylov took the center stage for Russia with 22 leyball Nations League (VNL), going down to a four-set points, while Denis Bogdan chipped in 13. Sports Desk Top three of each category will sealed four places for the global Iloss against Russia in the Italian resort of Rimini on Sat- Kazemi impressed in the Iranian outfit with 18 points, fol- be handed a berth at the Games in showpiece in the Japanese capital urday. lowed by Esfandiar, who finished on 14. Four Iranians will be looking to se- July. through world rankings. Following a first-day straight-set defeat against Japan, The final day of Week 1 of the preliminary round sees cure a place at the karate competitions Amir Mehdizadeh will compete at Bahman Asgari (-75kg) and Saj- Russian head coach Vladimir Alekno introduced a new- Iran take on the Netherlands today, before all teams go into a of the Tokyo Olympics when partici- the men’s -67kg weight class, with jad Ganjzadeh (+75kg) will repre- look starting lineup for the match against his countrymen in three-day break ahead of the second week of the competition. pating at the qualification tournament Rozita Alipour chasing a women’s sent the country in the men’s kumite Meysam Salehi, Saber Kazemi, Amirhossein Esfandiar, Ali Each team will play 15 matches in a round robin format, in Paris next month. -61kg top-three finish. competitions, while Hamideh Ab- Shafiei, Mohammad-Taher Vadi, and Masoud Gholami. before top four of the 16-team table proceed to the VNL Fi- Nearly 500 athletes from 97 coun- Fatemeh Sadeqi and Abolfazl bas-Ali (+61kg) and Sara Bahman- Iran, which played without captain Saeid Marouf for a sec- nals to battle for the ultimate prize. tries will take part at the three-day Sharjerdi will also be after a couple yar (-55kg) will hope to make his- ond game running, bounced back from a first-set 17-25 de- having finished 10th at the inaugural VNL event in competition in the French capital of quotas for the country at the kata tory by becoming the first Iranian feat to win the second 25-20. 2018, Iran advanced to the Final Six a year later, finishing from June 11, Mehr News Agency re- competitions. women to clinch an Olympic karate However, the defending champion proved too powerful fifth. ported. Iranian karatekas have already medal.

Tatum stars Double bronzes, as Celtics take 2-1 lead over Nets

Jayson Tatum scored a playoff career- tributing seven assists, BBC Sport re- redeem myself and do anything I can to final spots for Iran high 50 points as his Boston Celtics ported. win,” said Tatum. side beat the visiting Brooklyn Nets He is the first Celtics player to score James Harden led Brooklyn with 41 125-119 to take a 2-1 NBA Eastern a post-season 50 since Isaiah Thomas points, including seven three-pointers, Conference playoff series lead. in the 2017 Eastern Conference semi- while Kevin Durant added 39. at Asian boxing meet Tatum threw five three-pointers and final. Former Boston player Kyrie Irving hit 13 of 15 free throws, as well as con- “I had a tough two games so I tried to was booed in what was his first ap- Sports Desk pearance in front of Celt- ics fans since leaving in Two gold medals will be up for grabs for 2019. Iran on the final day of the Asian Elite Box- Elsewhere, Trae Young ing Championships in Dubai, the UAE, scored 21 points and added while Seyyed Shahin Mousavi and Pouria 14 assists as the Atlanta Amiri finished their campaigns with a cou- Hawks took a 2-1 series ple of bronze medals. lead over the New York On Friday, lightweight boxer Daniyal Knicks with a 105-94 win. Shahbakhsh beat Indian Varinder Singh The Los Angeles Clip- for a place in the men’s 60kg final against pers rallied from an early Erdenebat Tsendbaatar of Mongolia. deficit to beat the Dallas Meysam Qeshlaqi will also be after a Mavericks 118-108, record- gold, after defeating Erkin Adylbek Uulu of ing their first win of the Kyrgyzstan in a men’s 81kg semifinal, and best-of-seven series with will face Uzbekistani Dilshodbek Ruzme- the Mavericks now holding tov – a world silver medalist in 2019 – in the a 2-1 lead. final. Kawhi Leonard scored Both finals will take place on Monday. GETTY IMAGES 36 points for the Clippers, Additionally, Mousavi fell to a men’s Meysam Qeshlaqi (red) will fight for an 81kg gold at Asian Elite Boxing Championships including 13 of 17 from the 75kg last-four defeat against Kazakhstan’s in Dubai, UAE. floor and eight rebounds, Abilkhan Amankul – a 2017 world silver while Luka Doncic top- medalist – by a unanimous decision and finished third. scored for the Mavericks settled for a joint-third spot alongside Eumir Marcial of the The Kazakh boxer will take on Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir ADAM GLANZMAN/GETTY IMAGES with 44 points, although Philippines. Jalolov in the final. Jayson Tatum (0) of the Celtics drives to the basket during a victory over Nets at NBA Eastern he missed six of 13 free Amiri, meanwhile, came short against Kamshybek Kunka- Jalolov overcame Kuwait’s Abdulrahman al-Anzi in the Conference playoff series at TD Garden, Boston, MA, US, on May 28, 2021. throws. bayev, also from Kazakhstan, in a men’s +91kg semifinal and other semifinal bout.

UEFA chief Ceferin favors Champions League Final Four format

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin re- reported. ed. We liked the ‘Final 8’ last year in Por- “On the one hand, it can be a fantastic vealed he is in favor of a Final Four format But the final phase of the competition re- tugal.” event with a football week complemented for the Champions League as it could gen- mains a knockout stage from the round of 16 Due to months-long interruptions in play by other events like concerts. But we lose erate revenue and considerable excitement onward, with a final hosted each year by a because of the COVID-19 pandemic in matches, especially at home, for the clubs,” over an entire week each year. different city. 2020, UEFA had to reschedule the competi- said Ceferin. European soccer’s governing body last “I’m in favor of a ‘Final 4’ in the Champi- tion and scheduled the final phase in Portu- By playing the semifinals in one location, month made some changes to its top conti- ons League. It could be great and effective in gal. teams involved would lose out on revenues nental club competition by approving a new terms of revenue if done right. But everyone “But a ‘Final 8’ is over two weeks and had they featured in two legs. format from the 2024-25 season with 36 has to give their point of view,” Ceferin told that’s too much. For a ‘Final 4’, after 2024, UEFA last month had to fend off an at- clubs and teams set to play four more match- French newspaper L’Equipe. there are advantages and disadvantages,” tempt by 12 top European clubs to form a es compared to the current format, Reuters “We are discussing it, but it is not decid- added Ceferin. breakaway European Super League. AFP