Para athletics int'l federation IPC Athletics announced that Berlin will stage the 2018 European Para Athletics Championships. Taking place at the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark -- a venue that has staged an annual IPC Athletics Grand Prix since '13 -- the event between Aug. 20-26, 2018 is set to attract more than 600 athletes from 40 countries. The championships will be organized by IPC Athletics, the National Paralympic Committee of Germany and Behinderten-und Rehabilitations-Sportband Berlin (IPC Athletics).
MIDDLE EAST F1 TESTS: Formula One's sole tire supplier Pirelli "wants pre-season testing to be carried out in the Middle East next February, rather than at the usual Spanish tracks, to be sure of better weather." Pirelli Motorsport Head Paul Hembery said, "We would prefer to go somewhere like Bahrain or Abu Dhabi." Pre-season testing, along with the launches of the new cars, "has been carried out at Spain's Barcelona, Valencia and Jerez tracks in recent years to help teams cut costs and make logistics easier" (REUTERS, 7/15).
EVENT BRIEFS ...
West Ham will begin its "new era at the Olympic Stadium with a Europa League third qualifying round tie against either Belarus club Shakhtyor Soligorsk or Slovenian side NK Domzale." West Ham was due to open the Olympic Stadium "with a prestige friendly" against Italian champion Juventus on Aug. 7. However, the club is now due to play its "first game at the 60,000-seater ground on July 28" in the first leg of its third qualifying round tie (REUTERS, 7/15).
The German Football League (DFL) Supercup game between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich has sold out a month before the match is set to kick off. Organizers have sold 81,360 tickets for the game at Dotmund's Signal Iduna Park on Aug. 14 (Bundesliga).
