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Uefa: Euros host nation ‘must respect human rights’

The host nation of Euro 2024 must meet certain criteria relating to the respect of human rights, European football's governing body Uefa said on Monday as they prepare to choose between the candidacies of Germany and Turkey.

Uefa: Euros host nation 'must respect human rights'
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin. Photo: Markku Ulander/Lehtikuva/AFP
The countries are the only two to have submitted declarations of interest in hosting the competition and Uefa will decide between the two in September 2018.
   
“For the first time ever, these bid requirements contain specific criteria relating to the respect of human rights,” Nyon-based Uefa said in a statement.
   
The criteria are based on the United Nations' Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other UN conventions.
   
Criteria regarding compliance and anticorruption measures have also been included as requirements.
   
“The protection of human rights and labour rights is of the utmost importance for Uefa,” said president Aleksander Ceferin.
   
“From now on, bidding nations will have to adhere strictly to these articles in the framework of the organization of all our tournaments and finals.”
   
After Euro 2016, the first 24-team tournament held in France and won by Portugal, Euro 2020 will be held in 13 different cities around Europe, with the semifinals and final to be played at Wembley in London.
   
If Turkey succeeds in its bid for 2024, it will be the biggest sporting event ever held in the country. It has already failed in three previous bids to host the Euros.
   
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently claimed a narrow victory in a referendum on expanding his powers.
   
Opponents claim it will lead to one-man rule while the government says it will ensure political stability for a country that has experienced multiple unstable coalitions.
   
Around 47,000 people have been arrested in Turkey under a nine-month state of emergency in place since a failed military coup in July 2016.

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SPORT

IN PICTURES: Runners take on Swiss glacier race despite melt

Hundreds of runners braved a lung-busting ascent into the Alps in Switzerland's Glacier 3000 Run on Saturday, albeit on a shortened course due to summer heatwaves melting the ice.

IN PICTURES: Runners take on Swiss glacier race despite melt

The event’s 14th edition was back without limitations after being cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 and run in 2021 with restrictions imposed due to the pandemic.

The race is normally run over 26.2 kilometres but was contested on a slightly modified 25.2km course this year due to the glacier melting, with the last pass over its surface shortened.

Runners make their way under a ski lift  on the glacier run in Switzerland

Runners make their way under a ski lift during the last kilometres of the Glacier 3000 run. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini / AFP)

“The accelerated melting of the top layer of the glacier has created a camber and a soft layer which the runner sinks into,” said race director Oliver Hermann.

“Rather than intervening to flatten the track, we preferred to deviate the course.”

Runners on last stretch of Switzerland's glacier run

On the final stretch of this year’s shortened course. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini / AFP)

The finish line is 1,886 metres higher than the start, at nearly 3,000 metres up in the mountains by the Scex Rouge peak.

READ ALSO: Heatwaves close off classic Swiss and Italian Alpine hiking routes

The route begins in the jet-set ski resort town of Gstaad, at 1,050 metres above sea level.

It passes through forests, green mountain pastures before heading into rocky lunar-like landscapes and taking in the Tsanfleuron Glacier.

The course follows the Saane river upstream for 15 km before climbing up 1,800 metres over the remaining 10 km to the finish line — at an altitude of 2,936 metres.

A couple hold their hands while walking on the melting Tsanfleuron Glacier above Les Diablerets

A couple hold hands while walking on the melting Tsanfleuron Glacier above Les Diablerets, where the Glacier 3000 Run took place on August 6th. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini / AFP)

Some 311 men and 98 women completed the individual course, while 50 two-person teams also took part.

READ ALSO: Why Switzerland’s glaciers are melting faster than usual this summer

The first man to finish was Kenyan competitor Geoffrey Ndungu in two hours and 17 minutes. He had finished in second place last year.

He was followed by compatriot Abraham Ebenyo Ekwam in 2:21 and then Switzerland’s Jonathan Schmid in 2:23.

Victoria Kreuzer was the first woman to finish, in 2:46, ahead of Nicole Schindler and Pascale Rebsamen — a Swiss clean sweep.

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