As for the sports events calendar for January, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that this time we have changed the format of the information and distributed the events not by sport, but by the countries where they will take place. It seems to us that this will be more convenient for you.
And one more thing. The list of tournaments and championships below does not include two international leagues - the basketball (NBA) and hockey (NHL). Their matches are held at venues in two countries - Canada and the USA. But the schedule is so packed that there is no point in presenting it alongside. The flow of information is too big.
AUSTRIA In the Alps, in Flachau, the next men's Alpine Skiing World Cup stage will take place on January 3 and 4. Twenty days later, male skiers will return to Austria for the next World Cup stage. This time their camp will be set up in Kitzbühel from January 23 to 25. But the guys are not going to leave Austria: they will move to Schladming and on January 27 continue the fight for the World Cup. Then the men will give way to the women. On January 31, female skiers will hold their World Cup stage in Ennstal (until February 1).
ENGLAND On January 7, the 20th round of the Premier League football championship will take place. The central match of midweek, without any doubt, will be the duel between Roman Abramovich's London 'Chelsea' and 'Liverpool'. The Ukrainian Oleh Luzhny's 'Wolverhampton' will host 'Blackburn' at home.
The next football day is January 10. In our opinion, the most interesting matches could be 'Liverpool' - 'Aston Villa' and 'Manchester United' - 'Newcastle'.
It will not be easy for the veteran of Ukrainian football Oleh Luzhny and his 'Wolverhampton' in the 22nd round of the English football championship (January 17-18). The guest of 'The Wolves' will be the country's champion 'Manchester United'. Among the other pairs, one can single out the confrontation between 'Aston Villa' and 'Arsenal', as well as 'Tottenham' and 'Liverpool'.
The main event of the 23rd round of the English football championship, without any doubt, will be the meeting of two clubs from Liverpool - 'Liverpool' and 'Everton'. Against the background of the so-called Merseyside derby, the other matches will fade into the shadows. We can only note the away trip of Oleh Luzhny's 'Wolverhampton' to meet 'Portsmouth', for which Russian Alexey Smertin plays.
GERMANY On January 14, the best biathletes will gather in the town of Ruhpolding, who, as part of the fifth stage of the World Cup, will take another step toward the podium. The stage will end on January 18, and by that time the athletes will have time to race in the sprint, pursuit, and relay.
In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, on January 31, the next men's Alpine Skiing World Cup stage will begin, which will finish the very next day.
On the last day of January, by the way, the German football championship also resumes. In the 18th round, our Andriy Voronin's 'Cologne' will host 'Borussia' Mönchengladbach at home, while Viktor Skrypnyk's Bremen 'Werder' will play against 'Hansa'. Let us remind you that the Bremen team finished the first half of the season as leaders.
HOLLAND The European Speed Skating Championship will take place in Heerenveen from January 9 to 11. And a week later in Holland, the European Short Track Speed Skating Championship will begin. From January 16 to 18, short track will occupy Zoetermeer.
SPAIN On the first weekend of January, the matches of the 18th round of the Spanish football championship will take place. Special attention, perhaps, should be drawn to the meeting of two Galician clubs - 'Celta' from Vigo and 'Deportivo' from La Coruña.
The 19th round of the country's football championship will take place on January 10 and 11. The central match will be in San Sebastián: the vice-champion of Spain ('Real Sociedad') will meet the champion of Spain ('Real'). The matches in Barcelona ('Barcelona' - 'Zaragoza'), Palma de Mallorca ('Mallorca' - 'Celta') and Madrid ('Atlético' - 'Athletic') should also interest fans.
The next round of the Spanish football championship (January 17-18) offers fans the meeting of 'Barcelona' and 'Athletic'. In the same period, 'Atlético' will play against 'Sevilla', and 'Betis' against 'Real'.
A week later, the game 'Athletic' - 'Deportivo', as well as the match 'Sevilla' - 'Barcelona', can be classified as central matches of the 21st round of the Spanish championship.
ITALY The first round of the Italian football championship in 2004 is scheduled for January 6 and 7. The central match of the round will take place in Rome: 'Roma' will host our Andriy Shevchenko's 'Milan'. In the next round (January 10-11), Shevchenko and Co. will face a less serious opponent - 'Reggina'. And the strongest pair in the round is 'Parma' - 'Inter'.
Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the next women's Alpine Skiing World Cup stage starting January 16. The stage will finish on January 17.
On the same day, the matches of the 17th round of the Italian football championship will begin. This weekend in Serie A, no interesting duels are expected. Andriy Shevchenko's 'Milan' will play away against 'Brescia', where the famous Roberto Baggio still plays. In addition, this team includes Albanian forward Igli Tare - one of the leading players of the future opponent of the Ukrainian national team in the qualifying cycle for the 2006 World Cup.
From January 21 to 25, the sixth stage of the Biathlon World Cup will take place in Antholz. At this stage, biathletes will compete in the individual race, sprint, and mass start.
On the day of the last start in Antholz (January 25), male and female skiers will begin their competitions in Moena-Cavalese, who will hold the next World Cup stage in one day.
On the same day, the matches of the 18th round of the Italian football championship will finish, from which it is again difficult to choose a central one. 'Milan' will play at home against 'Ancona'.
CHINA On January 24, a speed skating World Cup stage will begin in Harbin, which will also finish the same day.
RUSSIA On the third day of the new year, an exciting gala show will take place in Moscow, during which the recipients of the honorary 'Strelets' award will be honored - it is annually presented to the best football players and coaches.
On January 7, clubs from various countries will gather in Chekhov, Moscow Region, where one of Europe's strongest handball teams, Chekhovskiye Medvedi, plays, for a representative international tournament. It will end on January 12.
In addition, throughout January, matches of the Russian championship in ice hockey, bandy, and basketball (among men's and women's teams) will take place. In these disciplines, the Russian championship is considered one of the strongest in Europe (and in bandy, even in the world).
SLOVENIA The fourth stage of the Biathlon World Cup will be held in the town of Pokljuka. As part of this stage, from January 7 to 11, spectators will see a sprint, a pursuit race, and a mass start race. On January 22, the European Men's Handball Championship will begin in Slovenia, lasting until February 1. On January 24, female alpine skiers competing for the World Cup will gather in Maribor for the next World Cup stage (until January 25).
TURKEY January is the football month in Turkey. In January, football clubs from various European countries usually flock to this country for preparatory work. As a result, there is an abundance of international friendly matches, many of which are interesting.
FINLAND At the turn of the year, the Land of a Thousand Lakes will host a showcase of the world's best young hockey players, in which, by the way, the Ukrainian national team will also participate. The world championship starts in the last days of December and will last until January 4, 2004.
FRANCE The country's football championship has taken a break, and fans in the early days of 2004 will have to make do with the matches of the 1/16 finals of the French Cup, scheduled for January 3 and 4.
On January 4, female alpine skiers competing for the World Cup will start in Megève as part of the next stage, which will end on January 5. Male alpine skiers will continue their World Cup battle in Chamonix from January 10 to 11.
The main day of the 20th round of the French football championship will be Saturday, January 10. In this round, Marseille, the opponent of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Cup, will play away against Auxerre. In addition, it is worth noting the matches between Monaco and Lyon, Lens and Nantes, as well as Paris Saint-Germain and Lille.
Marseille, for which Russian forward Dmitry Sychev plays, will host strong Lens at home in the next round of the French football championship (January 16-17). The other pairs do not deserve special attention.
On January 24, the Junior World Biathlon Championship will begin in Haute-Maurienne. The younger generation will compete in an individual race, sprint, pursuit race, and relay. The championship will end on January 31.
On January 31, the matches of the 22nd round of the French championship will take place. The attention of Ukrainian fans will be focused on Marseille, with which our Dnipro will cross swords in the UEFA Cup on February 26 and March 3. Alain Perrin's team will play away against Sochaux. The central match of the round will be the game between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.
CZECH REPUBLIC On January 17, the World Cup cross-country skiing stage will begin in Nové Město, which, as tradition dictates, will last two days - until January 18.
SWITZERLAND Over two days - January 17 and 18 - the men's alpine skiers will determine the strongest in Wengen at this stage of the World Cup competition.
SWEDEN On January 6, the city of Falun will become the center of world skiing for one day. The next World Cup stage will take place here.
ESTONIA On January 10, the next World Cup cross-country skiing stage will take place in Otepää, which will end on January 11.