Italy, Poland Or Portugal Likely To Host UEFA Nations League Finals

UEFA said that the inaugural Nations League Finals are "likely to be hosted by Italy, Poland or Portugal after the three countries expressed interest in staging the event" in June '19, according to Christian Radnedge of REUTERS. The three federations are all from Group Three of League A, the top division of the four-tier tournament which UEFA introduced to replace int'l friendlies. The trio were the only UEFA member associations to respond by the deadline for "expressing an interest in bidding" (REUTERS, 3/9). 

BID WITHDRAW: The BBC's Andrew Jackson Oryada reported the Rwanda FA confirmed it has "officially withdrawn its bid" to host the 2019 U17 World Cup. Rwanda FA President Vincent Nzamwita said that its preparations for the event "were not up to speed." He said, "We had so many things that were not ready or prepared and decided it was only good that we withdraw. We however remain ambitious to bid again in the near future" (BBC, 3/9).