China will reportedly bid for the 2030 World Cup and the official announcement will come in May, with the visit of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the FIFA Legends on Tour. It has "long been speculated" that China would bid for the '30 edition of the tournament. The "impending return" of the FIFA president to the country "adds weight to the speculation." A source said that the '30 bid "would likely be a test run ahead of China bidding for and expecting to win the right to host" the 2034 World Cup. One "potential spanner in the works" is Shanghai’s rumored bid to host the Summer Olympics in '32 (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 11/14).
Ireland is "in line to tour New Zealand" for a three-test rugby series in '22. It will be Ireland’s "first trek there in a decade." The Irish and New Zealand rugby unions are in negotiations to finalize an agreement on the tour, but it is expected that the three-match test series will "go ahead" (IRISH TIMES, 11/14).
Liverpool's Anfield will host Super League's Magic Weekend in '19, ending a four-year stay at Newcastle United's St. James' Park. The event "takes an entire round of regular-season competitive fixtures" featuring all six games "on the road" to a neutral venue. All 12 teams will head to Merseyside over the weekend of May 25-26 (BBC, 11/13).
The StarSeries i-League for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive "is making some format changes for its seventh season," which will boast the competition's largest prize pool to date of $500,000. Previous seasons for the league run by StarLadder and ImbaTV held a prize pool of $300,000. This season, the qualification system for the league’s finals "have been tweaked to include 12 directly invited teams." Three of the remaining spots in the 16-team season will be determined through regional qualifiers in North America, Europe and Asia (THE ESPORTS OBSERVER, 11/14).
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