Austrian team Salzburg heading to the Club World Cup after Arsenal eliminated from Champions League

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Austrian team Salzburg heading to the Club World Cup after Arsenal eliminated from Champions League

2024-04-18 06:17 Last Updated At：06:21

MUNICH (AP) — Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid — and Salzburg.

The Austrian team is going to next year's Club World Cup in the United States. Salzburg secured the last of 12 spots for European clubs thanks to Bayern Munich completing a 3-2 aggregate win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Arsenal could have qualified for the revamped tournament, to be held every four years, only if it won this season's Champions League. Teams can qualify for Club World Cup spots either by having won the Champions League since 2021 or via a ranking system of their Champions League performances over four seasons.

Salzburg profited from a rule that only two teams per country can qualify unless a country had three different Champions League winners in the last four years. It meant that Arsenal needed to win this year's competition to join 2021 winner Chelsea and last year's winner City, the other two qualified English clubs. Among other European teams which miss out are Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Milan. Also missing will be Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.

Steady but unspectacular results were enough for Salzburg. It qualified for the Champions League group stage in each of the last four seasons but only reached the round of 16 once, losing 8-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in 2022. In total, Salzburg played 26 Champions League games over the last four seasons, winning only six of them.

“It’s wonderful that our Salzburg Way has led us all the way to the FIFA Club World Cup and that we will get the chance in summer 2025 to compete with the best club teams in the world from recent years,” Salzburg general manager Stephan Reiter said. “We don’t know any of the details of the tournament, but we know already that it will be a huge challenge.”

UEFA's own ranking system for European competitions — different from the FIFA system used for the Club World Cup — lists Salzburg as the 40th-strongest team in Europe, between Croatian team Dinamo Zagreb and Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.

In the lineup from Europe are the past three Champions League winners — Chelsea, Real Madrid and City — plus high-ranked Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Porto, Dortmund, Benfica, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and now Salzburg.

Three Brazilian teams — Flamengo, Palmeiras and Fluminense — have qualified as Copa Libertadores winners since 2021. Argentina’s storied rivals River Plate and Boca Juniors are likely to qualify as high-ranked teams in South America’s quota of six entries.

Seattle Sounders and Mexican teams Leon and Monterrey will be joined by another team from the CONCACAF region. The Champions Cup final is on June 2. Another U.S. team should qualify as part of a Club World Cup tradition to include the host nation’s champion.

In Asia, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan are in. Al Ahly of Egypt and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco have qualified from Africa and Auckland City of New Zealand will represent Oceania.

The last of the continental finals in 2024 is South America’s Copa Libertadores on Nov. 30.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Protesters take over Columbia University's Hamilton Hall in escalation of anti-war demonstrations

2024-04-30 16:04 Last Updated At：16:20

NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on the campus. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall.

“An autonomous group reclaimed Hind’s Hall, previously known as ”Hamilton Hall,” in honor of Hind Rajab, a martyr murdered at the hands of the genocidal Israeli state at the age of six years old,” CU Apartheid Divest posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, early Tuesday.

The student radio station, WKCR-FM, broadcasted a play-by-play of the hall’s takeover – which occurred nearly 12 hours after Monday’s 2 p.m. deadline for the protesters to leave an encampment of around 120 tents or face suspension. Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment early Tuesday.

In the X post, protestors said they planned to remain at the hall until the university conceded to the CUAD's three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

Universities across the U.S. are grappling with how to clear out encampments as commencement ceremonies approach, with some continuing negotiations and others turning to force and ultimatums that have resulted in clashes with police. Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah and Virginia, while Columbia said hours before the takeover of Hamilton Hall that it had started suspending students.

Demonstrators are sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll, and the number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000 as the final days of class wrap up. The outcry is forcing colleges to reckon with their financial ties to Israel, as well as their support for free speech. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

At the University of Texas at Austin, an attorney said at least 40 demonstrators were arrested Monday. The confrontation was an escalation on the 53,000-student campus in the state's capital, where more than 50 protesters were arrested last week.

Later Monday, dozens of officers in riot gear at the University of Utah sought to break up an encampment outside the university president’s office that went up in the afternoon. Police dragged students off by their hands and feet, snapping the poles holding up tents and zip-tying those who refused to disperse. Seventeen people were arrested. The university says it’s against code to camp overnight on school property and that the students were given several warnings to disperse before police were called in.

The plight of students who have been arrested has become a central part of protests, with the students and a growing number of faculty demanding amnesty for protesters. At issue is whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students through their adult lives.

The Texas protest and others — including in Canada and Europe — grew out of Columbia's early demonstrations that have continued. On Monday, student activists defied the 2 p.m. deadline to leave the encampment. Instead, hundreds of protesters remained. A handful of counter-demonstrators waved Israeli flags, and one held a sign reading, “Where are the anti-Hamas chants?”

While the university didn’t call police to roust the demonstrators, school spokesperson Ben Chang said suspensions had started but could provide few details. Protest organizers said they were not aware of any suspensions as of Monday evening.

Columbia’s handling of the demonstrations also has prompted federal complaints.

A class-action lawsuit on behalf of Jewish students alleges a breach of contract by Columbia, claiming the university failed to maintain a safe learning environment, despite policies and promises. It also challenges the move away from in-person classes and seeks quick court action requiring Columbia to provide security for the students.

Meanwhile, a legal group representing pro-Palestinian students is urging the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office to investigate Columbia’s compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for how they have been treated.

A university spokesperson declined to comment on the complaints.

In a rare case, Northwestern University said it reached an agreement with students and faculty who represent the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago. It allows peaceful demonstrations through the June 1 end of spring classes and in exchange, requires removal of all tents except one for aid, and restricts the demonstration area to allow only students, faculty and staff unless the university approves otherwise.

At the University of Southern California, organizers of a large encampment sat down with university President Carol Folt for about 90 minutes on Monday. Folt declined to discuss details but said she heard the concerns of protesters and talks would continue Tuesday.

USC sparked a controversy April 15 when officials refused to allow the valedictorian, who has publicly supported Palestinians, to make a commencement speech, citing nonspecific security concerns for their rare decision. Administrators then scrapped the keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu, who is an alumnus, and declined to award any honorary degrees.

The backlash, as well as Columbia's demonstrations, inspired the encampment and protests on campus last week week where 90 people were arrested by police in riot gear. The university has canceled its main graduation event.

Administrators elsewhere tried to salvage their commencements and several have ordered the clearing of encampments in recent days. When those efforts have failed, officials threatened discipline, including suspension, and possible arrest.

But students dug in their heels at other high-profile universities, with standoffs continuing at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale and others. Police in riot gear at Virginia Commonwealth University sought to break up an encampment there late Monday and clashed with protesters.

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas, and Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Stefanie Dazio, Christopher Weber, Carolyn Thompson, David Collins, Makiya Seminera and Corey Williams.