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MW 7 June 2017

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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 7 JUNE 2017 23 Sport FOOTBALL Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Rather cloudy with isolated showers possibly thundery at first, becoming fine VISIBILITY: Good except in showers WIND: North Northwest force 3 to 4 locally force 4 to 5 backing Northwest force 4 locally force 5 SEA: Moderate becoming moderate to rough A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. SUNNY 28 º C / 19 º C UV INDEX: 2 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Across 1. Nonsense (9) 8. Inquired (5) 9. Surplus (5) 10. Rural (6) 12. Not tamed (4) 14. Separate article (4) 15. Account book (6) 17. Humped ruminant (5) 18. Misplaces (5) 20. Astronaut (9) Down 2. Annoy (3) 3. Villain (6) 4. Skin eruption (4) 5. Gazing (7) 6. Wig (9) 7. Most tender (9) 11. Cooking vessel (7) 13. Person employed in a bank (US) (6) 16. Mountains (4) 19. Transgression (3) Bc7+ Rd6 (or d6) Neg6# European leagues want fewer automatic spots in Champions League FEWER top clubs should get automatic spots in the lucrative group stage of the Champions League, the umbrella organisation representing Europe's domestic leagues (EPFL) said on Tues- day. EPFL chairman Lars-Christer Ols- son said he wanted more teams from the biggest leagues to play their way through the qualifying competition instead. European football body UEFA last year announced that it would give more slots to teams from the four biggest leagues, effectively England, Spain, Germany and Italy, while cut- ting those allocated to sides from smaller countries. Those changes will come into ef- fect for the 2018-21 cycle but Olsson told reporters he was already looking ahead to 2021-24 when he was hop- ing to persuade UEFA to do an about- turn. "There is a common view among the leagues that there should be less clubs directly qualified (for the group stage) because qualification for the Cham- pions League should mean more and give more opportunities for more teams to qualify," he said. The Swede added that the format to be introduced next year would "wid- en the gap between the rich ones and those who have less". Olsson was speaking after EPFL reached an agreement with UEFA which would guarantee it a part in future decision-making on matters like competition structure and match scheduling. Olsson said that UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, elected last year, is "obviously looking for a bigger in- clusion of stakeholders than in the past and we have a totally different climate now". He said both parties had agreed about the dangers of a handful of clubs dominating European competition. "We have agreed that we are both going to work to develop and enhance the competitive balance, including in domestic competitions," he said. "We are convinced that keeping competi- tive balance is necessary to keep the interest of the fans and make competi- tions more interesting." Olsson said that there was no chance of Champions League knockout stage matches being played on Saturday nights instead of midweek, which French media reports said last week had been proposed by some clubs. "As far as I can understand, the in- ternational club matches should be played in midweek apart form the fi- nal."

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