apex slot casino

apex slot casino NoneThe is a first-of-its-kind tournament that, in FIFA’s dreams, is precisely what its name suggests. It’s a 32-team extravaganza modeled after soccer’s actual , with one key difference: top professional clubs, such as Real Madrid — rather than national teams, such as Spain — are the contestants. It is scheduled to begin June 15, 2025, in the United States. And when it does, , it will be “innovative, inclusive, groundbreaking and truly global.” It represents a novel concept in sports, where the vast majority of pro teams compete exclusively within national or continental borders; the Club World Cup, on the other hand, will feature multinational pro teams — soccer’s equivalent of the New York Knicks or Kansas City Chiefs — from Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It is, in theory, a true world championship. But it’s . Its launch has been dogged by organizational missteps, financial battles, player workload concerns and resistance from the European soccer establishment. The resistance has been so fierce that, until recently, some insiders questioned whether the 2025 tournament would even happen at all. Now, though, puzzle pieces are squirming into place. have been chosen. A has been signed. The at 1 p.m. ET, is near. The Club World Cup is happening. And the following is an attempt to explain it, beginning with the basics, then the complexities. The Club World Cup opens June 15, 2025, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It concludes July 13 with the in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The full schedule — dates, locations, matchups, kickoff times — should be released soon after Thursday’s draw. The 12 U.S. venues set to host games are: • Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta • Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina • TQL Stadium in Cincinnati • The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California • Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida • GEODIS Park in Nashville • MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey • Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida • Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida • Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia • Lumen Field in Seattle • Audi Field in Washington Which stadium are you looking forward to visiting? 🏟️ — FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) Most are on or near the U.S. east coast because of its proximity to Europe, which will send 12 teams, and which boasts coveted media markets. East-coast games will minimize travel (for teams and fans) and inconvenient time differences (for TV viewers). FIFA also made this decision in coordination with CONCACAF, soccer’s North and Central American governing body, which will stage its continental championship, the Gold Cup, simultaneously and . The 32 clubs set to participate are ... Manchester City (England), Chelsea (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Bayern Munich (Germany), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), PSG (France), Benfica (Portugal), Porto (Portugal), RB Salzburg (Austria) Inter Miami (U.S.), Seattle Sounders (U.S.), Monterrey (Mexico), Pachuca (Mexico), León (Mexico) Flamengo (Brazil), Palmeiras (Brazil), Fluminense (Brazil), Botafogo (Brazil), River Plate (Argentina), Boca Juniors (Argentina) Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Ulsan (South Korea), Urawa Reds (Japan), Al Ain (UAE) Al Ahly (Egypt), Wydad (Morocco), Espérance (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) Auckland City (New Zealand) In 2023, the Club World Cup’s 32 berths to Europe (12), South America (6), CONCACAF (4), Africa (4), Asia (4), Oceania (1) and the host nation (1). To earn those berths, there were — one simple, one complicated. The simple path was via continental championships. Every club that won the UEFA Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, or the Asian and African equivalents between 2021 and 2024 qualified automatically. Beyond those champions, slots were filled by a , but with a caveat: only the top two clubs from any given country could qualify via rankings. So, even though Liverpool ranked eighth in Europe, the Reds missed out because Man City and Chelsea won the Champions League in 2023 and 2021. Barcelona, meanwhile, ranked two spots behind Atlético Madrid — because Barca underperformed in the Champions League over the last four seasons. Salzburg ranked 18th, but snuck in because others from Spain, Italy and Germany also ran up against the two-per-country cap. In South America, four different Brazilian clubs swept the Libertadores titles. Argentine giants Boca and River claimed the two additional seats at the table. In Africa, Al Ahly won three of four Champions League titles, so Espérance and Mamelodi Sundowns joined them and Wydad in the field. In CONCACAF, things were straightforward, with four distinct winners ... except for the “host nation slot.” FIFA never said how a team could claim that slot — until October when FIFA president Gianni Infantino appeared in South Florida, unannounced on the final day of the MLS regular season, to . It’s Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. You can watch a live stream on , or . (As of Wednesday morning, there were no plans to broadcast it on cable or over-the-air TV in the U.S.) Much like a , but with . The 32 teams have been , in part based on rankings, in part based on geography: Manchester City (Europe), Real Madrid (Europe), Bayern Munich (Europe), PSG (Europe), Flamengo (South America), Palmeiras (South America), River Plate (South America), Fluminense (South America) Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Porto, Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Juventus, RB Salzburg (all Europe) Al Hilal (Asia), Ulsan (Asia), Al Ahly (Africa), Wydad (Africa), Monterrey (CONCACAF), León (CONCACAF), Boca Juniors (South America), Botafogo (South America) Urawa Reds (Asia), Al Ain (Asia), Espérance (Africa), Mamelodi Sundowns (Africa), Pachuca (CONCACAF), Seattle Sounders (CONCACAF), Auckland City (Oceania), Inter Miami (CONCACAF) The pots are set for the draw! 🔐 — FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) The draw begins with Pot 1. The first team picked goes into Group A, Position 1; the next team picked goes into Group B, Position 1; and so on. After all eight groups are filled with a Pot 1 team, a similar procedure empties Pot 2, then Pot 3, and finally Pot 4 — but subject to the following “ ”: Man City and Real Madrid, as the top two teams, must go to groups whose winners will stay on opposite sides of the knockout bracket. (One side is Group A, C, E and G; the other is B, D, F and H.) Bayern Munich and PSG, as seeds Nos. 3 and 4, will also be sent to opposite sides. And they’ll be placed to ensure that none of the four European superpowers could meet before the semifinals if they all win their groups. (The same exact principles apply to Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 from South America.) The top four teams from Pot 2 — Chelsea, Dortmund, Inter and Porto — must be placed in groups with a South American team from Pot 1. The rest of Pot 2 — Atléti, Benfica, Juve and Salzburg — will be paired with a fellow European club from Pot 1. Teams from the same country can’t be in the same group — meaning Atlético Madrid can’t draw Real Madrid. Beyond the four pairings of European teams, no two clubs from the same continent can be grouped together. Inter Miami will get Position 4 in Group A, and Seattle will get Position 4 in Group B, so that they can play the opening games of the tournament (against teams from Pot 3). The Club World Cup will run just like past men’s World Cups, with the 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. The top two in each group will advance to the Round of 16. From there, single-elimination games will decide a champion. For roughly two decades, FIFA ran another tournament also called the Club World Cup. That, though, was a shorter seven-team tournament played annually in the winter, and contested by only the most recent champion of each continent (plus one club from the host country). That tournament has now morphed into the “FIFA Intercontinental Cup.” The 32-team quadrennial summer tournament that will launch in 2025, and that you’re reading about now, is distinct, and unconnected to the seven-team annual version — other than the “Club World Cup” name. The European giants, . Their betting odds and relative standing could change between December and June, but for now the favorites are Manchester City (+320), Real Madrid (+360), Bayern Munich (+600), Chelsea (+700), Inter Milan (+950) and PSG (+1000). That’s the million-dollar question of the Club World Cup. With intercontinental club competitions so scarce, not a soul knows for sure how clubs from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, MLS, East Asia, North Africa and elsewhere will measure up to the likes of Bayern, PSG and Porto. The assumption — based on rosters and salaries — is that the European teams are superior. But betting markets are somewhat skeptical, and suggest the gap might be thinner than Westerners realize. , Palmeiras is +1900 to win the title — same as Dortmund and Juve. Al Hilal and Flamengo are +2500 — same as Porto and Benfica. There are grounded in analytics that attempt to rank clubs across borders and seas. Most lead to a middle-ground conclusion: the Man Cities, Real Madrids and Bayerns of the world stand confidently atop the sport, but not all European teams do. Upsets will be possible. , which include over 13,000 clubs, rate the 32 Club World Cup contestants as follows: Inter Milan (2, 98.9) Manchester City (3, 98.4) Real Madrid (5, 97.4) Bayern Munich (8, 95.7) PSG (9, 95.7) Chelsea (12, 94.5) Juventus (13, 94.2) Atlético Madrid (14, 93.6) Borussia Dortmund (20, 92.4) Benfica (21, 92.4) Porto (26, 91.3) Al Hilal (30, 90.7) Botafogo (55, 87.9) Palmeiras (58, 87.4) Flamengo (68, 86.4) River Plate (99, 84.8) Al Ahly (106, 84.5) Inter Miami (113, 84.2) Seattle Sounders (143, 83.2) Monterrey (144, 83.2) RB Salzburg (150, 83.0) Boca Juniors (160, 82.5) Fluminense (166, 82.5) Mamelodi Sundowns (220, 80.8) Espérance (324, 78.8) Ulsan (361, 78.4) Pachuca (375, 78.2) Urawa Reds (389, 77.9) León (400, 77.8) Wydad (565, 75.8) Al Ain (678, 74.7) Auckland City (4082, 59.0) Probably. In fact, FIFA’s published state that all participating clubs must “field their strongest team throughout the competition.” But there are questions around how “strongest team” would be defined, and how that rule would be enforced. And there is context. A select few of the biggest clubs, such as Real Madrid, don’t seem all that enthusiastic about participating. They will have to be incentivized to come and try to win. How? With tens of millions of dollars in prize money and appearance fees. Sort of — to the extent that all of modern sport is about money. The Club World Cup is FIFA’s attempt to monetize soccer’s biggest clubs and players — which double as the sport’s most marketable brands. Currently, the vast majority of club soccer games, and therefore revenues — from broadcast rights, sponsorships and more — are controlled by domestic leagues, such as the English Premier League; and by continental confederations, namely UEFA, which runs the hugely profitable Champions League. FIFA, meanwhile, makes billions off the World Cup, a quadrennial showpiece for national teams. But because the Champions League is an annual bonanza, UEFA’s revenues are far greater. Those revenues trickle down to European clubs and national soccer federations, which use the money to recruit or produce players — and consolidate their supremacy. So, FIFA created the Club World Cup, which, for the first time, could allow the global governing body to profit off those same clubs — and share some small percentage of the spoils with 200-plus national soccer federations around the world, rather than solely the European ones. FIFA argues that this would be a . Critics argue it's a “cash grab”; part of a personal battle between Infantino and UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin; and a ploy to reinforce Infantino’s political power — because the presidents of the 200-plus national soccer federations sharing the spoils double as FIFA’s electorate. UEFA and the top European leagues, meanwhile, have and Infantino’s plan, because they want to keep all Real Madrid- or Manchester City-related revenue to themselves. The players and their unions are. FIFPRO Europe, a branch of the global players’ union, has called the Club World Cup a “tipping point” in the broader context of soccer’s ever-congested calendar. They’ve against FIFA, which “unilaterally set” the calendar, with space carved out for the Club World Cup. They that, especially with the new tournament extending seasons by a month, players’ bodies and brains are becoming overworked and overwhelmed. The leagues, on the other hand, say they’re concerned about workload; but really, they want to protect their market share. They already organize dozens of games per club every year; the Club World Cup will merely add a few games for a small handful of teams once every four years. The leagues want to preserve their primacy on the calendar. Their problem is that FIFA controls both the Club World Cup and the calendar. So they, too, have and attacked “FIFA’s conflict of interest.” They’ve argued to the European Commission that FIFA is abusing its position as both a commercially minded organizer and regulator of soccer. Their case, which many experts believe has merit, could muddy the future of this new tournament. The vast majority of the 32 do — and hundreds of others worldwide would love to. (Mainstream European media have largely ignored non-European perspectives.) A noisy minority, however, want to they’re well compensated. Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti explained the dynamic in this past June — albeit with words he later walked back: "One single Real Madrid game is worth €20 million, and FIFA wants to give us that amount for the entire competition. ... Just like us, other clubs will refuse the invitation." Real Madrid and the rest of the clubs have since said they’re committed to the tournament. But behind the scenes, sources have told Yahoo Sports, they’re demanding hefty sums of cash. The last month that some want “significant eight-figure [appearance] fees in addition to prize money.” The question, then, for FIFA, has been: Where’s that money coming from? FIFA, anticipating immense interest in the Club World Cup, initially budgeted billions of dollars in revenue. But broadcasters and sponsors — the two main sources of potential income — were lukewarm. Negotiations with Apple collapsed. At the start of December, no television partners had been announced; and sponsors had only just begun to appear. FIFA, by all accounts, will fall short of its target, leading — and how much it will be able to pay the participating clubs. Part of the answer came Wednesday, when FIFA announced that DAZN, a struggling sports streaming platform, would broadcast all 63 Club World Cup games to viewers around the world for free. But the finances of that deal — and of the Club World Cup more broadly — remain murky. How much DAZN is paying for the tournament, , and whether the rights will be sublicensed to major TV networks in some countries is all unclear. Two people familiar with the deal told Yahoo Sports that, in its entirety, it’s worth around $1 billion. But in their press releases, FIFA and DAZN called the 2025 Club World Cup broadcast rights “the start of a broader partnership.” It’s unclear what portion of the roughly $1 billion is for the Club World Cup, and what portion might be for other rights that are part of a more extensive package. (Spokesmen for FIFA and DAZN both declined to comment on the speculation about potential Saudi involvement.) For now, in the U.S., the answer is no — DAZN, a platform that very few U.S. sports fans use, will be the exclusive broadcaster, and the only place to watch games. FIFA, though, mentioned in its news release “the possibility of sublicensing to local free-to-air linear broadcast networks.” This means that, for example, Fox could pay FIFA and/or DAZN to broadcast some of all of the 63 games. If there is no such sublicensing, the DAZN deal will be disastrous for the visibility of the tournament in the U.S. Nope. , you can “ ” in tickets, but FIFA has not said when or how you’ll be able to buy them. It could be. In many ways, it should be. But with budgets reportedly slashed, and planning far behind schedule, most insiders expect the 2025 edition to be a mixed bag of vibrancy, mishaps, full stadiums and duds. Even a mixed bag, though — in the absence of boycotts or legal interventions — should be enough to get the Club World Cup off the ground, and in position for success in 2029 and beyond.JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s attorney general has ordered police to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife on suspicion of harassing political opponents and witnesses in the Israeli leader’s corruption trial. The Israeli Justice Ministry made the announcement in a terse message late Thursday, saying the investigation would focus on the findings of a recent report by the “Uvda” investigative program into Sara Netanyahu. The program uncovered a trove of WhatsApp messages in which Mrs. Netanyahu appears to instruct a former aid to organize protests against political opponents and to intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness in the trial. The announcement did not mention Mrs. Netanyahu by name, and the Justice Ministry declined further comment. But in a video released earlier Thursday, Netanyahu listed what he said were the many kind and charitable acts by his wife and blasted the Uvda report as “lies.” It was the latest in a long line of legal troubles for the Netanyahus — highlighted by the prime minister's ongoing corruption trial . Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of cases alleging he exchanged favors with powerful media moguls and wealthy associates. Netanyahu denies the charges and says he is the victim of a “witch hunt” by overzealous prosecutors, police and the media.

India alleges widespread trafficking of international students through Canada to U.S.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola claimed he wanted to "harm himself" after visible scratches were spotted on his face. The Spaniard’s troubles grew on Tuesday evening as City’s winless run continued against Feyenoord. After five previous defeats, the Premier League champions looked set to secure victory as they raced into a 3-0 lead against the Dutch side. But they inexplicably collapsed within the final 15 minutes to draw. And speaking after the game, Guardiola appeared to have cut his nose, while he also had other marks all over his head. Asked by journalists the reason for the injuries, he suggested that it was a self-inflicted accident, but joked that he wanted to hurt himself. Guardiola said: “My finger, here [points to nose]. My nail. I want to harm myself.” A member of the assembled media attempted to console the Spaniard. Speaking as Guardiola left the press conference, they said: “It will be okay.” Things are not set to get any easier for City this weekend as they take on table-topping Liverpool at Anfield. And Guardiola has underlined his desire to get his side back on track ahead of the trip to Merseyside. He added: “Three episodes didn’t allow us to win, what we needed. For many, many reasons, not just for the terms of qualification and get the points to go through. Other reasons. “It’s what it is. So difficult to swallow right now. The game was good. We scored three, we could have scored more, we do everything but at the end, we give away especially the first one and after we are not stable enough to do it. What's going wrong with Man City? Share your thoughts in the comments below “It’s not about not running, no commitment, nothing like that but in football, you have to do it in certain moments. The second goal, the second post, touch the post. Improve, what can you do? So rest one or two days and prepare for Anfield.” Asked how he’s going to pick his players up, Guardiola replied: “We have to, I have to, it’s my job. We play a good game but of course we need to do it and we were not able to control the last minutes.” Should they lose to Arne Slot ’s side this weekend, City could already find themselves 11 points off the pace in the race for the Premier League title. Following the trip to Liverpool, City then host Nottingham Forest ahead of a trip to Crystal Palace . Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £240 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.Even blue states are embracing a tougher approach to crimeOpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed confidence Wednesday that Elon Musk would not use his proximity to Donald Trump to harm business rivals, calling such actions "profoundly un-American." Speaking at the New York Times DealBook conference, Altman addressed concerns about Musk's announced role heading a new Department of Government Efficiency in the incoming Donald Trump administration, and whether he might use it to favor his own companies. "I may turn out to be wrong, but I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing," Altman said. "It would be profoundly un-American to use political power to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses." Even if there are "lots of things not to like about him... it would go so deeply against the values I believe he holds very dear to himself that I'm not that worried about it." Musk, an OpenAI co-founder who later departed the company, is currently suing Altman's firm and Microsoft, claiming they shifted from the project's original nonprofit mission. He has since launched xAI, reportedly valued at $50 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable startups. Altman said that the court battle was "tremendously sad" and that he once saw Musk as "a mega hero." Musk became a close ally of Trump during his campaign, spending over $100 million to boost his presidential bid and joining him at rallies. Since the election victory, he has been a frequent presence in the Trump transition and was reportedly on the line when Google CEO Sundar Pichai called the president-elect to congratulate him on winning the election. The tycoon's businesses have deep connections with governments -- both in the United States and elsewhere -- and his new position has raised concerns about conflict of interest. During the interview, Altman also lowered expectations for the importance of OpenAI's models achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), a benchmark of human-level intelligence the company has long set as the goal for its technology. "My guess is we will hit AGI sooner than most people in the world think, and it will matter much less," he said. "A lot of the safety concerns that we and others expressed actually don't come at the AGI moment... AGI can get built. The world goes on mostly the same way," he said. arp/aha

Syria's leader says elections could take 4 years: Al Arabiya interviewFive new senators join Nevada legislature