England have 50/50 chance of UK or Irish derby in Euro 2016 group

England will have a 50-50 chance of being drawn against Wales, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland in next month’s Euro 2016 draw.

Uefa has announced its seedings for the draw and Roy Hodgson’s England side will be among the top seeds, along with the hosts, France, and the holders, Spain.

Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic will all be among the six countries in the pot of bottom seeds, based on Uefa’s coefficients.

The draw will place the 24 finalists into six groups of four teams for next summer’s finals. The winners and runners-up in each group will qualify for the knockout phase as well as the four best third-place sides – meaning that only eight teams will be eliminated in the group phase.

Wales were among the top seeds for the 2018 World Cup qualifying draw in July but that was based on the Fifa rankings – Chris Coleman’s side are ranked much higher in that system than on Uefa’s coefficient.

The Euro 2016 seedings mean that England will also avoid the other top seeds, Belgium, Germany and Portugal, and the team to avoid among the second seeds is Italy.

The final two places will be decided on Tuesday, with the only the result of Ukraine’s play-off against Slovenia affecting the draw. If Ukraine win, they will go into Pot 2 and force the Czech Republic down one, while Slovenia would be added to Pot 4 if they win with Turkey promoted to Pot 3.

The draw takes place on 12 December in Paris. The finals will start on Friday 10 June, with the final taking place at Stade de France on Sunday 10 July.

Cristiano Ronaldo: I want to retire with 'dignity', not in USA, Qatar or Dubai

Cristiano Ronaldo said Friday that he wants to end his career “with dignity” and not playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai”. The Real Madrid and Portugal star, the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday in London, said Thursday in an interview on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show that he expected to play six or seven more seasons and hoped to finish his career at the highest level. The remarks ostensibly referenced the recent wave of top players who have finished their careers outside of Europe’s top leagues, among them MLS imports Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, along with Xavi, the lifelong Barcelona midfielder who signed with Qatari club Al Sadd in May. “That does not mean it’s bad play in the leagues of the United States, Qatar or Dubai, but I do not see myself there,” Ronaldo said. Ronaldo, who turns 31 in February, became Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer last month and has th...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

YOUNG people will not be able to get unemployment benefits until they turn 25 under reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government today. The coalition has unveiled wide-ranging welfare reforms in parliament today, including changes to the Newstart program. It hopes to stop people aged 22 to 24 getting Newstart or the Sickness allowance, and they will instead be shifted to the Youth Allowance payment. This will reduce the amount of money that they will be able to get, costing a single person living away from home about $90 a fortnight. They will also be required to study in order to qualify for the payments. “The key aim of this measure is to provide incentives for young unemployed people to obtain the relevant education and training to increase employability,” according to an explanatory memorandum for the bill. However, it says Youth Allowance does allow students to earn a higher amount of money from part-time or casual work than Newstart, before this begins imp...

Battle to keep guns from former Queensland policeman with PTSD

IT’S been almost 10 years since Ben Alexander Ephraim Dyball left the Queensland police under a cloud of trauma and allegations of bizarre behaviour. He’s had a tough time letting go of the past. That was apparent when officers from Warwick Police — where Mr Dyball was once stationed — raided his Elbow Valley property and allegedly found a stash of old police uniforms, official police notepads, gun holsters (including one of the concealable variety), handgun and rifle ammunition, several police identification cards, two pairs of police handcuffs and 450g of marijuana. A weapons licence Mr Dyball had previously declared stolen and a number of rifle bolts were also seized. The officers had waited until the 49-year-old was at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in Toowoomba appealing the suspension of his weapons licence, to exercise their search warrant. The Queensland Weapons Licensing Unit revoked Mr Dyball’s licence in September 2015 following a bizarr...

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