The presidents of Argentina and Uruguay said that they are "still planning to go ahead with a bid to co-host the 2030 World Cup." Argentina President Mauricio Macri said that the South American neighbors "will work together to aspire to host the 2030 World Cup." The next World Cup is in '18 in Russia, followed by '22 in Qatar. North America "is the favorite" to host the '26 event, either by the U.S. alone, or in a bid with Mexico and Canada (AP, 10/25).
FINAL FOUR: Euroleague Basketball announced that the 2018 Final Four will take place at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. The decision marks the first time that Belgrade will host a Final Four. Kombank seats 18,400 for basketball, making it one of the largest Final Four venues ever (Euroleague).
MELBOURNE FIGHTS: Asia's largest MMA organization, ONE Championship, which has hit 118 countries and is broadcast "into billions of homes worldwide, has revealed plans to land in Melbourne." ONE Chair Chatri Sityodtong said, "We definitely plan to come to Melbourne or Sydney. We know Australia is MMA crazy, Australians love a good scrap and Australians really understand martial arts." Sityodtong anticipates ONE Championship will "arrive in the latter stages of next year as plans gather momentum" (HERALD SUN, 10/26).
EVENT BRIEFS ...
Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium reportedly "could be set to host a UFC event involving Irish fighter Conor McGregor." Irish radio station Newstalk reported on Friday that McGregor's camp is "keen for an event to take place in Europe" -- and quoted a spokesperson from Madrid as telling them the Spanish club would "be glad if we could make a UFC event [and] our stadium can hold more than 80,000 fans" with a potential stadium show taking place between May and July next year (ESPN.com, 10/26).
Victoria Police issued a "stern warning" to all Melbourne racegoers that bad behavior "will not be tolerated and on the spot fines will be handed out to anyone flouting the rules." With hundreds of thousands of fans set to descend on Flemington Racecourse over the next 10 days, "police will be out in full force and those deemed drunk in public will face immediate fines" of A$622 ($475) (HERALD SUN, 10/26).