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GOING, Austria -- FIFA President Sepp Blatter said Brazil might have been the wrong choice as host of the 2014 World Cup if the tournament is affected by social protests like those as at the Confederations Cup last month. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets during the warm-up tournament in June, demanding better public services and expressing their anger over the costs to stage the World Cup. "If this happens again we have to question whether we made the wrong decision awarding the hosting rights," Blatter told German press agency DPA on Wednesday. FIFA spoke with the Brazilian government after the Confederations Cup, and Blatter said hell discuss the issue again with Brazil President Dilma Rousseff in September. "We didnt do a political debriefing, but we did emphasize the fact of this social unrest being there for the entire duration of the Confederations Cup," he said. "The government is now aware that next year the World Cup shouldnt be disturbed. "To me, these protests were like alarm bells for the government, the senate, the parliament. They should work on it so that this is not going to happen again. Though protests, if peaceful, are part of democracy and therefore have to be accepted ... we are convinced the government, and especially the president, will find the words and the actions to prevent a repeat. They have a year to do so." Blatter was speaking at the start of a two-day conference on sports, media and economy set up by German great Franz Beckenbauer in Austria. FIFA later verified the comments were accurate. The Confederations Cup, which was won by Brazil, angered citizens who are upset with the billions of dollars spent on the tournaments while they endure underfunded schools and hospitals. Protesters aired a wide spectrum of grievances, including the high cost of hosting the 2016 Rio Olympics. The protests were originally organized by university students before spreading across the country, including tournament host cities Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte. "Its not we who have to learn lessons from the protests in Brazil -- politics in Brazil have to do that," said Blatter, adding that "FIFA cannot be held responsible" for social discrepancy in the country. Without FIFAs executive committee having to vote, Brazil won the right to host the tournament in October 2007. That was six months after the only other candidate, Colombia, withdrew its bid. "The decision for Brazil was the best decision we could make. It was the correct decision, we stick to this decision," Blatter said. Blatter said the success of next years tournament will be instrumental in his decision whether to stand for president for a fifth time in 2015, adding that not all of the governing bodys tasks have been fulfilled yet. "First we have to complete the reforms, which are three-quarters done. Ill then have to deliver the World Cup ... the way the world looks now, Ill say yes or no (to standing again) at the next congress in Sao Paulo in 2014," he said. "FIFA should be taken over by someone who can take over a FIFA which is not just financially healthy, which it is now, but which also has credibility." . PETERSBURG, Fla. . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. Rob Nelson of ESPN Stats & Information revisits the worst bad beats from the weekends gambling action.Note: Closing lines are courtesy of Westgate Les Vegas SuperBook and pick percentages are via Wunderdog Sports.FridayNorthwestern State Demons at Baylor BearsClosing line: Baylor -50.5Baylor was the only ranked team favored by 50 points or more this weekend, and 71 percent of the bets were on the Bears to cover.Baylor scored on each of its first nine possessions and led 55-0 early in the third quarter. At that point, Northwestern State not only couldnt stop the Bears, but had been unable to muster any sort of offense. With 11 minutes and 13 seconds left in the third quarter, the Demons had twice as many offensive drives that ended with negative yardage (4) than they had first downs (2).But Northwestern State was able to find the end zone late in third quarter when Brooks Haack punched it in from 3 yards out. Combine that score with Baylor being held scoreless in the final 26 minutes, and the underdog ended up covering. The Bears finished the second half with their fewest yards (105) and first downs (5) after halftime in a game since 2010.Final score:?Baylor 55, Northwestern State 7 (Northwestern State covers)SaturdayGeorgia Bulldogs vs North Carolina Tar HeelsClosing line: Georgia -3.5SEC favorites went 3-7 against the spread this weekend, but it could have been worse if it werent for Georgias late rally.The Bulldogs -- favored by more than a field goal -- trailed by 10 with just over 16 minutes to play. They closed the third quarter with an Isaiah McKenzie 17-yard touchdown catch and added a safety two plays later. Georgia took a two-point lead on William Hams 29-yard field goal with 5:27 left in the fourth, but the 41 percent of bettors who took North Carolina were still covering. Less than two minutes later, Nick Chubb broke the game open with a 55-yard touchdown run that put the Bulldogs up by nine and, unfortunately for Tar Heel backers, that margin would hold. Georgia ended up scoring the final 19 poiints of the game.ddddddddddddinal score:?Georgia 33, North Carolina 24 (Georgia covers)Fresno State Bulldogs at Nebraska CornhuskersClosing line:?Nebraska -29.5In a day full of upsets, Fresno State tried to pull a shocker of its own. Two Power 5 teams lost as four-touchdown favorites on Saturday (Mississippi State and Washington State), but Nebraska -- favored by 29.5 -- would have been the largest favorite to go down.The Cornhuskers allowed the Bulldogs to score the final 10 points of the first half, and took a slim 14-10 lead into halftime. The 43 percent who took Fresno State to cover the big spread had to be feeling pretty good, but what followed was a 30 minutes to forget for those folks. Nebraska outscored the Bulldogs 29-0 in the second half, including a 22-0 edge in the fourth quarter.The 29-point advantage for the Cornhuskers after halftime marked their best second-half scoring differential in a game since September 2007.Final score: Nebraska 43, Fresno State 10 (Nebraska covers)Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Arizona State Sun DevilsClosing line:?Arizona State -27This marked the last game to kick off Saturday night -- aka, the last chance for bettors to improve/salvage their day. It turned out to be an exciting finish in regard to the spread, unless you were one of the mere 16 percent who took Northern Arizona +27.Halfway through the third quarter, Arizona State led 10-6 before scoring the next 16 points to go up 20. But when Northern Arizonas Elijah Marks?scored on an?87-yard touchdown catch to make it 26-13 with 10:39 left, the Lumberjacks looked prime to cover. The Sun Devils however, would score the final 18 points of the game, including a spread-covering 12-yard touchdown run by Nick Ralston with 2:46 left.Arizona States 24 fourth-quarter points were tied for its most in a game in 15 seasons.Final score:?Arizona State 44, Northern Arizona 13 (Arizona State covers) ' ' '
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