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54 maltatoday SUNDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2017 Sport BOXING FOOTBALL OLYMPICS Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao could clash his summer A MIR Khan and Manny Pacqui- ao are in talks over a potential fight this summer. However, it is understood each fighter is continuing to explore other options, and that nego- tiations are far from at an ad- vanced stage. Khan, 30, wrote on Twitter: "Currently negotiating with Manny. Coming soon. Watch this space." The 38-year-old Pacquiao add- ed: "My team and I are in nego- tiations with Amir Khan for our next fight. Further announce- ment coming soon." A fight against Pacquiao is one Khan has long sought and would prove lucrative, but he has felt misled in the past when his pur- suit of a fight against either the Filipino or Floyd May weather has come to little. As the mandatory challenger to the WBC welterweight title being contested by champion Danny Garcia and Keith Thur- man next weekend, Khan is aware he remains in contention to face the winner. He is also yet to rule out ex- ploring a rematch with Lamont Peterson, to whom he lost con- troversially in December 2011, or an easier match-up after his last ended in a heav y knockout defeat by Mexico's Saul Alvarez. The likelihood of Pacquiao fighting Australia's Jeff Horn - his favoured opponent earlier this year - appears increasingly unlikely, but has also not been entirely ruled out. There were reports earlier this week that a verbal agreement was in place for Pacquiao-Khan to take place in either Bolton or Manchester in May. The United Arab Emirates, as opposed to Las Vegas or any- where in the UK, would instead be the likely location, though negotiations have not pro- gressed to the point of agreeing where any potential fight should take place. Pacquiao's promoter Bob Ar- um, who earlier this week de- scribed talks of a fight between the two as "complete bull****", has since told ESPN: "Manny is trying to get a fight done in the United Arab Emirates. "The people there favour him fighting Amir Khan. "Whether it will happen or not I just don't know because they have to come up with a large amount of money. "Manny seems to believe they will come up with the money. I have some reservations whether it will happen or not. If the mon- ey comes up I will aid and abet the fight happening." Pacquiao continues to be trained by Freddie Roach but Khan left the American in Sep- tember 2012 and is now under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter. Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan AS Roma strike deal with city officials on new stadium AS Roma have struck a deal with city officials over building a new stadium in the Italian capital, opening the way for a project meant to boost the Serie A soccer club's revenue. The 52,500-seat Stadio Della Roma, to be built in the city's south-west, was originally set to open in the current season but has faced years of delays as the club waited for approval. The agreement, reached late on Friday, marks a welcome victory for Rome's beleaguered mayor, Virginia Raggi, and the anti-es- tablishment 5-Star Movement, whose leadership of the city has been plagued by party infighting, resignations and scandals since winning municipal elections last year. After inheriting the project from her predecessor, Raggi has been pushing for its design to be changed, including for big parts of a business park planned next to the stadium to be reduced, and for it to be more environmentally sustainable. "We have always said that we were in favour of making the sta- dium happen but only within the law and for the good of our city. We have succeeded," Raggi said on her Facebook page, adding the hashtag #UnoStadioFattoBene (#AStadiumDoneWell). "We have avoided the monster project inherited from the previ- ous administration... a new sta- dium will be built, but one that is modern, environmentally friend- ly, technologically advanced and, above all, one that respects much more the environment and the territory." AS Roma's pursuit of the pro- ject follows the example of Serie A leaders Juventus, who became the first top Italian club to own their own ground, having built a 41,000-seat stadium in 2011, instead of relying on the Stadio delle Alpi which they had to share with Torino. Such purpose-built, modern facilities could help Italy in any future bid to host either a World Cup or European Championship. The new stadium will also help Roma to raise revenue. The club currently alternate with cross- city rivals Lazio in borrowing the publicly-owned Stadio Olimpico for their games. "This is somewhat of an historic day not only for Roma, bringing our dream of having a modern in- frastructure one step closer, but also for the city as a whole," the club's managing director Mauro Baldissoni said after concluding the talks. Public ownership of stadiums is common in Italy but leaves clubs unable to modernise their facili- ties and make money from me- ga-stores and restaurants, as do clubs such as Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Having their own stadium could also give Ro- ma more control over those at- tending their games. LA 2024 'disappointed' Budapest to withdraw Games bid LA 2024 officials were "disappoint- ed" to learn this week that Buda- pest will pull out of the running for the 2024 summer Games and said on Friday the International Olym- pic Committee (IOC) must select a host city that redefines sustain- ability. Hungary's government said this week it would withdraw Buda- pest's bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, citing a lack of political and national unity behind the applica- tion that it blamed on the opposi- tion. "All of us at LA 2024 are disap- pointed in this news," LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said in a statement. "We have the highest respect for Budapest 2024's pioneering ap- proach to designing and promot- ing their bid, and we look forward to continued friendship with our Hungarian colleagues." Budapest, which was up against powerhouses Los Angeles and Par- is, was considered a long-shot can- didate and its prospects dimmed further after a political group claimed to have more than enough public support to force a referen- dum on the issue. The Hungarian government's de- cision marked the latest blow to the Olympic bid process with Boston, Hamburg and Rome having previ- ously pulled out of a race that has now been left with just two cities. Bidding for the 2024 summer Games has entered its final stage, with the International Olympic Committee scheduled to choose between Los Angeles and Paris in September. According to Wasserman, the Los Angeles bid has 88 percent public support and offers an innovative, low-risk and truly sustainable solu- tion to help secure the future of the Olympic Movement in 2024 and beyond. "The world is entering an era of unprecedented change. This is the 'new reality' for the Olympic Move- ment and it calls for new thinking," said Wasserman. Casey Wasserman, chair of the LA2024 candidature committee