Brazil drops World Cup bid

Australia and New Zealand’s bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup received a huge boost after Brazil withdrew from the running, leaving just three remaining contenders. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said the decision was down to ‘‘a combination of factors’’, but that the financial problems accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic rendered the country unable to commit to signing Fifa’S relevant guarantees. The CBF will instead support Colombia, with the only other candidates being Japan and the joint AustraliaNew Zealand bid. Fifa is due to announce the winner on June 25, with hopes in Australia and New Zealand rising because of how well both nations have handled the pandemic and the fact that no senior men’s or women’s Fifa tournament has been held in Oceania.

This one will hurt the Breakers. Tall Blacks forward Isaac Fotu has agreed to join Umana Reyer Venezia for another season in Italy’s Seria A league. European basketball websites have announced Reyer’s signing of the 26-year-old Kiwi for the 2020-21 season which will come as a blow to New Zealand’s Auckland-based Australian NBL club which had been hoping to entice the 2.03m big man home for the upcoming campaign. However, Fotu has decided to remain in Italy for a second straight season, after he played the coronavirusshortened 2019-20 campaign for Treviso where he averaged 14.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Serie A league. Fotu has been working out at the Breakers facility since it reopened after the Covid-19 shutdown and the Kiwi club had made it clear it had a spot open for him on their roster for next season if he wanted it.