Former England international Mark Chamberlain, the father of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, told Sky Sports News on Friday that he is likely to stay home rather than go to Poland and Ukraine, after both the British government and human rights organizations warned about the possibility of racist abuse in the co-host nations.

“It’s a major concern,” Chamberlain said, adding that he still hasn’t made a final decision on whether to travel to the tournament. “I think your safety is more important than a game of football. There are reports over the last couple of weeks of racist taunts and threats, it’s just prudent for myself to keep away from it.”

Last week, the family of fellow Arsenal winger Theo Walcott said it would stay home because of the same concerns.

The 18-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain was given his first England call-up by coach Roy Hodgson for the Euro 2012 squad after impressing with his speed and dribbling ability for Arsenal this season.

“It’s very disappointing,” Chamberlain said about maybe missing his son’s first major tournament. “Obviously there has been concerted efforts and campaigns to tackle racism, and in this country it seems to have gone well, but unfortunately in other parts of the world maybe not so well.”

Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott said “it was quite alarming to see the reports about the situation” in Poland and Ukraine.

“It’s a shame for some members of the squad that their families feel they can’t go and obviously it’s a situation that needs to be addressed,” Lescott said.

He added that his own family isn’t travelling to the tournament either, but for logistical reasons.

“It’s not the same as with Theo’s and Alex’s family,” he said.

Amnesty International is among the organizations who have expressed concern about racism in Poland, where England will have its base from their arrival on June 6.

“The harsh reality is that racism remains commonplace in Poland and there are numerous reports of xenophobia on the terraces and in the stands of Polish football grounds,” said Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK. “For any fan choosing to travel to the country they should be fully aware that their experience may well be far different from their experience here in the UK.”

Mark Pieth says FIFA should prevent financial abuses and other wrongdoings by creating whistleblowers’ hotline. It should also conduct integrity checks on senior officials and make their salaries public as part of reform efforts by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

The governing body is set to approve limited changes during Friday’s meeting. It will not decide on most proposals for reform until next year.

Blatter said Friday’s deliberations will restore “tranquility and stability” to FIFA. He added soccer’s governing authority will not be “cherry-picking” changes after a year of bribery scandals and allegations of mismanagement against senior officials.

These days, that would mean anything short of bringing home the title.

Having gone from perennial underachiever to the top of world football, Spain will be the team with the biggest target on its back at the European Championship.

“Our problem now is that we are not arriving to the final phase of the Euros like we did four years ago,” Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. “Then, the other teams knew us but we surprised people little by little until we deservedly won the tournament. Now, all the other national teams know how Spain plays and they are going to make it tough for us.”

And there’s no shortage of challengers hoping to knock the defending champions off their perch.

The Netherlands may again prove to be the biggest obstacle, bringing back most of the team that lost to Spain in extra time in the 2010 World Cup final. But the other usual suspects are credible contenders as well, with Germany, Italy, France, Portugal and England all bringing strong teams to Poland and Ukraine for the June 8-July 1 tournament.

And, since this is the Euros, no team can really be discounted off hand — as Greece showed in 2004 and Denmark did in 1992.

But until anyone proves otherwise, Spain is still the team to beat.

Having built a reputation as a country that always came up short in major tournaments, Spain finally managed to ride its attack-minded style of football all the way to the title at Euro 2008, then followed it up by winning the World Cup two years later.

This time they are without injured striker David Villa — who played a key role in both those title runs — but still have a wealth of talent led by Barcelona midfield duo Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta. If Fernando Torres can rediscover his scoring form, Spain has every chance of continuing its modern dynasty and becoming the first team to defend its European title.

“We believe we have a great generation of players,” Xavi said. “The whole world is keeping an eye on the team and there is a certain pressure, but a good one.”

That also means there’s less pressure on every other team, which they seem to view as a good thing as well.

One common theme in the pre-tournament talk is that many of the traditional powers are trying to set themselves up as underdogs.

“The Italy team is not going there as one of the favourites to win the European Championship,” said Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, whose team faces Spain, Ireland and Croatia in Group C. “But I like to say that Italians know how to surprise.”

France midfielder Samir Nasri was even more modest, saying his team may struggle even to advance from Group D, where it will face England, Sweden and co-host Ukraine. France is one of the biggest question marks of the tournament but is eager to make up for a disastrous 2010 World Cup, where it failed to win a game and imploded among infighting.

“We’re a young team lacking in experience, so we’re not favourite in the group,” Nasri said. “France hasn’t played well in an international competition since 2006.”

The Germans, at least, are willing to say they’re ready to take on Spain, which it lost to in the World Cup semifinals in South Africa.

“The Spaniards have a strong team, but we’ve gotten closer. We’ve gotten better,” Germany midfielder Mesut Oezil said. “Our goal is to win the title.”

To do that, Germany first has to get out of the toughest group of the tournament, having been drawn with the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark — all four of which are ranked in the top 10 by FIFA.

“We’re all aware how difficult our group is,” said Portugal coach Paul Bento, who will rely on Cristiano Ronaldo to guide the team through the opening round.

The Dutch are expected to bring back 10 members of the starting lineup from the World Cup final, including creative quartet Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Rafael van der Vaart.

That means the Oranje are likely to stay true to their high-scoring, entertaining style of football — regardless of the opposition.

“You have to find the right balance, and (coach Bert Van Marwijk) wants to go back to what we had at the World Cup,” Netherlands midfielder Nigel De Jong said.

Euro 2012 kicks off on June 8 with co-host Poland playing Greece in Group A, which also includes Russia and the Czech Republic and is seen by many as the weakest in the tournament without any top contenders.

Of course, Greece knows better than most how to spring a surprise.

“Greeks have a passion for football and I know my players will be determined,” Greece coach Fernando Santos said. “We have some problems but that’s no excuse. We are not going for a holiday.”

The Rangers did it against the pesky eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators in the first round, giving them confidence they can pull it off again against the formidable New Jersey Devils and reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 18 years.

The historical calendar is in line with the dates of New York’s 3-2 comeback over the Devils the last time these division and area rivals met in the Eastern Conference finals in 1994. None of the names are the same for the Rangers, and only New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur — and assistant coach Larry Robinson — still have the same jobs as way back when.

So the top-seeded Rangers’ point of reference as they head into Game 6 in New Jersey on Friday night isn’t the history book but rather their shared experience of rallying past Ottawa.

If they extend their season, they will be back at home on Sunday for a winner-take-all game.

“You can draw off that experience, just the feelings going into the game,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. “Just stay even keeled about it. We’ve got to go into an opposing building and win one game and get it back to the Garden.

“They’re going to be a desperate team, too, to close it out on their home ice. We need to find that next level, that extra desperation. Obviously, it’s a huge game, but we don’t need to say that.”

New York has embraced desperation much more than prosperity this post-season. The Rangers have won two in a row in a series only once and have never enjoyed a two-game lead in any of their three matchups. However, they are 3-0 when facing elimination — including Game 7 victories over Ottawa and Washington.

“We’ve been through these situations a lot this year, including in the playoffs,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said Thursday after practice. “I’m very comfortable as far as our mindset. Today was a good day for us. As we approach our game, I’m very comfortable in where we’re going to go.”

That was not as easy to see Wednesday night in New York’s 5-3 home loss to the Devils in Game 5. The Rangers fell behind 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the game, but managed to tie it in the opening minute of the third period.

However, a goal with less than five minutes remaining by Devils fourth-line forward Ryan Carter finished the Rangers for good. The loss was New York’s first in these playoffs in which it scored at least three goals.

“It’s a good group,” Tortorella said. “It’s a group that stays with it. There’s not a lot of panic there. They just go about their business, and we’re a pretty good hockey team.”

They were the best in the East over the 82-game regular season, and they tied for the second-most points in the entire NHL. All that will be an afterthought if the Rangers fail to get to a finals matchup with the upstart Western-champion Los Angeles Kings.

If confidence can be conveyed in words, then the Rangers seem loaded with it as their season hangs in the balance.

Tortorella said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will rebound from a subpar performance in Game 5 and “play his best game tomorrow night.” He echoed that sentiment for top-line forward Brad Richards, who also struggled on Wednesday.

“It’s tough when you go into a game like this. You want to win so bad, sometimes it’s more pressure than you need,” Lundqvist said. “When you’re out there, you try to focus on the things you always focus on. The challenge every time you play an important game is to find a good balance mentally, but I’m trying to approach it the same way.”

Tortorella is a master motivator, whether it be with words of encouragement or a dose of tough love that often results in benchings within games. No one is immune from that, as leading scorer Marian Gaborik found out in the Rangers’ Game 2 loss.

The coach also has been less contentious with reporters recently, making postgame news conferences calmer even as the stakes have risen during the East finals.

Tortorella is no stranger to digging out of 3-2 holes. He coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to the championship in 2004, erasing such a deficit in the finals against the Calgary Flames.

“I don’t have to motivate the team,” Tortorella said. “I think our team is motivated. I don’t look at it as overcoming a 3-2 deficit. We need to win a hockey game. We’re preparing to try to win one hockey game, and we’ll see after that.

“We prepare as we always do. There’s no magic. There are no special speakers coming in. There is none of that.”

Richards scored two goals in that Game 6 win for Tampa Bay, and Ruslan Fedotenko — now his teammate again with the Rangers — found the net twice in Game 7 to lock up the Cup for the Lightning.

That experience would seem to be invaluable, but maybe not.

“That was a really long time ago, and I had a concussion at that time so I can’t remember really anything,” Fedotenko said with a wry smile. “I remember winning, but that is basically it.”

Friday’s draw set them up to face each other in Paris at the same stage as last year, when Federer beat Djokovic in four epic sets to end the Serb’s 43-match winning streak that dated to December 2010.

That was Djokovic’s last loss at a major tournament: Since then, he won the titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and Australian Open. He’s trying to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four Grand Slam trophies in a row.

Djokovic’s quarterfinal opponent could be No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. Other possible quarterfinal matchups: Federer vs. 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro or No. 7 Tomas Berdych; six-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal vs. No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic; and No. 4 Andy Murray vs. No. 6 David Ferrer.

Hard-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic is in the same half of the draw as Nadal. The No. 19 seed from Thornhill, Ont., will meet 73rd-ranked Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain in the first round. Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., will open against Martin Klizan of Slovakia while Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil will face Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

On the women’s side, Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., drew a qualifier in the first round while Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., will face Shahar Peer of Israel.

The highlight of the women’s quarterfinals set up in Friday’s draw could be Serena Williams against Maria Sharapova.

Williams owns 13 major titles, including the 2002 French Open, while Sharapova is hoping to complete a career Grand Slam with her first title in Paris.

The other possible women’s quarterfinals: No. 1-seeded and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka vs. U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur; defending champion Li Na vs. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova; and No. 3-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska vs. No. 8 Marion Bartoli.

In her first Grand Slam tournament since revealing she has an autoimmune disease, seven-time major champion Venus Williams could meet Radwanska in the second round and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third.

Seeded No. 1 at the French Open for the first time, Djokovic will play 97th-ranked Potito Starace of Italy in the first round and could face two-time major champion Lleyton Hewitt in the second.

Starace was ranked as high as 27th in 2007, but later that year he was suspended for six weeks and fined $30,000 for betting on tennis matches involving other players.

Nadal will begin his attempt to win a record seventh title at Roland Garros, breaking a tie with Bjorn Borg, by facing 111th-ranked Simone Bolelli of Italy. Nadal might have to deal with Ivo Karlovic’s big serves in the third round, and the Spaniard could meet Murray in the semifinals.

— With files from The Canadian Press

At a press conference in Halifax on Thursday, world junior head coach Steve Spott and senior director of hockey operations Scott Salmond talked at length about a long-standing policy that requires underage players to represent Canada at the under-18 level before participating in summer under-20 evaluation events.

“I wouldn’t want to rule out anything,” Salmond said, when asked if there was any possibility of a change.

“I’ve learned a long time ago to never say never,” added Spott, who was in his first day on the job. “We’ll see how this all plays out.”

News that MacKinnon wouldn’t be allowed to play in the Canada-Russia Challenge first broke on metronews.ca on Wednesday. The four-game primer for the IIHF world junior championship features stops at the Metro Centre on Aug. 13 and 14 and has replaced Hockey Canada’s traditional summer evaluation camp.

The policy dictates that MacKinnon will instead try to win a spot on the national under-18 team and play for Canada’s fifth straight gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament in Slovakia and the Czech Republic from Aug. 13 to 18.

“We think that’s the best experience for those (underage) players,” Salmond said. “Right now it’s our policy, certainly we review policies as we go, but … the discussion right now is that as an underage player, we would expect that Nathan would report to our under-18 camp and would probably be an important part of our under-18 team.”

Whether MacKinnon plays in the Canada-Russia Challenge or not, he is eligible to play in the Subway Super Series in the fall and can be invited to the final world junior evaluation camp in December.

When asked whether the Hlinka was a better experience for MacKinnon than the Canada-Russia Challenge, Salmond said “that’s debatable.”

“Certainly it’s a tremendous development opportunity for him to go overseas with his peers to play in a tournament format where there’s a gold medal on the line where he’s going to be relied on to be a big part of that team,” Salmond said.

MacKinnon was the Mooseheads’ co-MVP along with Zach Fucale last season, recording 78 points in 58 games. He is ranked No. 1 for the 2013 NHL draft by Red Line Report.

The 16-year-old Halifax Mooseheads superstar was one of the most high profile names not invited to last December’s Canadian selection camp. At the time, head scout Kevin Prendergast cited age as the biggest reason for the exclusion.

But head coach Steve Spott — who will work together with Prendergast to form the roster — was emphatic on Thursday that age won’t be a part of his criteria.

“I can’t be clear enough — age is not a factor,” Steve Spott said at a press conference in Halifax during his first official day on the job.

“Trust me. Age is not a factor. We will take the best (22) players.”

Spott, who coaches the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers, said he has had numerous conversations with Prendergast and the two of them are on the same page on the matter.

MacKinnon, who turns 17 in September, is ranked No. 1 for the 2013 NHL draft by Red Line Report. He was co-MVP of the Mooseheads last season along with goaltender Zach Fucale and led the team in scoring with 78 points in 58 games.

Spott said he has not yet had any conversations about specific candidates for the team. But with the world juniors being held in Ufa, Russia, he already knows exactly what skill he covets the most — and it’s good news for the fleet-footed MacKinnon.

“We’ve got to be able to skate, I can tell you that right now,” Spott said. “We’re going over to an Olympic sized rink and we’re gonna have to have kids who can skate.”

The Angels and Mariners met for the first of 19 games this season and Pujols, a newcomer to the AL West rivalry, made his presence known immediately. He lined a two-run shot off Seattle starter Jason Vargas (5-4) with one-out in the top of the first, and added line-drive singles in the fourth and sixth innings. It was just his third three-hit game this season.

The three runs were plenty for Haren (2-5), who tossed the 16th complete game of his career. He allowed only four hits and one Seattle baserunner to reach third.

INDIANS 2, TIGERS 1

CLEVELAND (AP) — Justin Masterson matched Justin Verlander pitch for pitch for first his career win over Detroit, and first-place Cleveland did just enough to complete a three-game sweep of the underperforming Tigers.

Shin-Soo Choo homered on the third pitch from Verlander (5-2) as the Indians won for the eighth time in 10 games and opened a six-game lead over third-place Detroit in the AL Central.

Detroit has dropped six of eight, and manager Jim Leyland was ejected in the fifth inning.

Masterson (2-3) entered 0-4 in seven starts against the Tigers. He allowed one run and five hits in seven innings.

WHITE SOX 11, TWINS 8

CHICAGO (AP) — Paul Konerko and Alex Rios hit back-to-back homers and Alejandro De Aza added a grand slam to cap a six-run sixth, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 11-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

A.J. Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo also went deep as the White Sox won for the sixth time in seven games.

Konerko had two hits and drove in two runs. Rios also had two hits and knocked in three, and Chicago pulled this one out even though Philip Humber couldn’t protect an early 4-1 lead.

The Twins knocked him out during a four-run fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate. Joe Mauer homered in the inning and Brian Dozier capped the rally with a two-run single to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead, but the debuting Cole De Vries couldn’t hold it.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only countries that have never field women on their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have announced plans to take female athletes to London, the Saudis have not yet done so.

“We are continuing to discuss with them, and the athletes are trying (to qualify),” Rogge said at a news conference at the close of a two-day IOC executive board meeting in Quebec City. “We would hope they will qualify in due time for the games.”

The ultra conservative Muslim country has given mixed signals on the issue, with national Olympic committee president Prince Nawaf quoted in a Saudi newspaper last month as saying he does “not approve” of sending female athletes.

“It’s not an easy situation,” Rogge said. “There is a commitment. We’re working steadily with them to find a good solution.”

Rogge ruled out the prospect, floated in Saudi Arabia, that women could compete in London under the Olympic flag rather than as members of the Saudi team.

“There is absolutely no need to consider the possibility of the participation of Saudi women under the IOC flag,” Rogge said.

The IOC has come under pressure from human rights groups to impose sanctions against the Saudis if they don’t include women, but Rogge declined to talk about any penalties.

“Wait and see,” Rogge said. “We do not want to enter into any hypothetical questions.”

A recent report by Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of violating the IOC charter on gender equality.

In March, Rogge told The Associated Press in an interview that he was “optimistic” that Saudi women would compete in London, but he was much more guarded on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia may not have women who meet Olympic qualifying standards, but the IOC is ready to grant them entry under special circumstances if needed. The number of potential Saudi female athletes for London is believed to be less than a handful.

If the talks with Saudi Arabia prove successful, it will be the first time in Olympic history that all national Olympic committees include women athletes at the games.

On a separate issue, the IOC ethics commission delayed a decision on the case of Hungarian member Pal Schmitt, who resigned as Hungarian president after being accused of plagiarizing his 1992 doctoral dissertation about the modern Olympics.

Schmitt, a two-time fencing gold medallist who has been an IOC member since 1983, could face sanctions from the IOC — with penalties ranging from a warning to suspension to expulsion.

Rogge said the IOC still needs more documents on the case.

“We want a fair procedure,” he said. “Some documentation was missing. We’ve asked for the documentation to be forwarded. We hope to finalize the case in the short term.”

Rogge said the ethics commission was also awaiting more information on South Korean member Moon Dae-sung, a gold medallist in taekwondo who also was accused of plagiarizing much of his doctorate.

The Reds completed their first four-game sweep of the Braves in Cincinnati since 1980 at Riverfront Stadium. They’ve won six straight, their longest winning streak since August 2010 when they started their push toward the NL Central title.

The teams combined for 16 homers — 13 solo shots — accounting for 21 of the 24 runs in the series.

Mesoraco connected off Kris Medlen, who relieved Randall Delgado (2-5) with the bases loaded in the sixth. Drew Stubbs added a solo shot for Cincinnati.

Homer Bailey (3-3) gave up four hits in six innings, including Michael Bourn’s two-run homer.

PHILLIES 10, CARDINALS 9

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Shane Victorino and Freddy Galvis each drove in three runs, including Galvis’ go-ahead single in the sixth inning, and Philadelphia beat St. Louis.

Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz and Ty Wigginton added three hits apiece for Philadelphia, which had a season-high 18.

Raul Valdes (1-0) got the last two outs of the fifth after starter Joe Blanton couldn’t finish. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 13th straight save.

Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday and David Freese homered for St. Louis.

Fernando Salas (0-3) gave up Galvis’ RBI single to make it 8-7 in the sixth.

GIANTS 14, MARLINS 7

MIAMI (AP) — Melky Cabrera had three hits and drove in four runs for San Francisco, which gave starter Ryan Vogelsong robust run support for a change.

Vogelsong (3-2) allowed three runs in 6 1-3 innings, which hiked his ERA to 2.50. The Giants had 22 runs in his previous seven starts.

The Giants came into the game leading the majors in stranded runners, but went 7 for 17 with runners in scoring position. Their run total and 15 hits were both season highs. Angel Pagan had four RBIs, while Cabrera raised his average to .362.

Giancarlo Stanton drove in three runs and hit another tape-measure home run for the Marlins.

Anibal Sanchez (2-3) gave up five runs in 5 1-3 innings.

PADRES 11, METS 5

NEW YORK (AP) — Will Venable hit a pair of RBI doubles and Cameron Maybin had two run-scoring singles as San Diego broke out the offence after a long rain delay.

Jesus Guzman hit a two-run double in a four-run third to help the Padres rebound from being swept in a three-game series in St. Louis. Everth Cabrera had a career-high four hits and Eric Stults (1-0) pitched five innings to earn his first win with San Diego.

Both starters wearing No. 53 returned to the mound following a delay of one hour eight minutes after the second inning. Stults adjusted better than Jeremy Hefner (0-2), shutting down the Mets for three more innings.

David Wright hit a two-run homer off Matt Palmer in the sixth and he finished 3 for 5 to raise his average to .405 in the first game of the Mets’ season-long 11-game homestand.