Andrew Warshaw: Turkey’s risky mega-events bidding game could see it drop the ball and lose everything

Andrew Warshaw

Over breakfast at an Istanbul hotel a couple of weeks ago, I asked one of Turkey’s leading Olympic officials which was the more important: staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020 or hosting football’s European Championships the same year.

“What we want above all is to secure one big event,” Ali Kiremitciogly, a prominent member of Istanbul 2020, diplomatically replied, hedging his bets the best he could.

He knows full well that hosting both mega-events in the same summer would be out of the question.

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David Owen: Au revoir but not goodbye Auxerre

David Owen_small1

An era may be about to end in French football.

As I write this, AJ Auxerre sit 20th and last in Ligue 1, the French First Division.

There is still time for them to save themselves, but they are three points adrift, six points from safety and the days are getting longer.

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