Sport-All roads lead to Paris in 2024

LONDON : All sporting roads lead to Paris next year with the first post-COVID Olympic Games looming large on the horizon but the two-week extravaganza will merely be the centrepiece for another 12 months of compelling theatre.

Four continental soccer tournaments beginning with the Asian Cup in Qatar and Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast in January, will mean little respite for players and fans.

Germany will stage the European Championship in June and July with the hosts running out of a time to put together a team capable of reviving past glories. At the same time, the Copa America takes place in the United States in what will be regarded as a rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia will enhance its status as a global sporting hub in February when Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury meet in Riyadh to decide the undisputed heavyweight boxing title - a clash in which the hype will reach stratospheric proportions.

As further proof, if any were needed, of Gulf states' appetite for staging major events, swimmers and divers will get an early chance to put down markers for Paris when the Aquatics World Championships takes place in Qatar in February - the first time it has been held in the region.

After a miniscule break, the tennis season resumes days after Christmas and the Australian Open will welcome Spanish great Rafa Nadal who is returning to Grand Slam action in what will probably be his farewell year.

NFL's Super Bowl will dominate the U.S. sporting narrative in the build-up to the February showpiece in Nevada and in Australia, 2024 kicks off in traditional fashion with a cricket test series against Pakistan.

The sporting conveyor belt, it seems, gets more and more loaded each year - but once every four years