9th career final, where he will bid for an 11th title. He leads

COSTA DO SAUIPE, Brazil - France was perhaps the biggest beneficiary when FIFA decided on its procedure for the World Cup draw Tuesday, as the team now has better odds of avoiding Brazil and Argentina. As the lowest-ranked of nine unseeded European qualifiers, France was expected to go in the Africa-dominated draw pot — meaning it could not be placed in the same group as a top-seeded European team. But instead of following its format from the 2006 World Cup, FIFA decided that all nine European teams enter an open ballot which starts the draw ceremony on Friday. That team selected will effectively enter Pot 2 alongside the five African teams, plus Chile and Ecuador. France could yet face the top South Americans but now also has the unexpected chance of drawing seeded Switzerland or Belgium. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the decision followed talks with confederation presidents, including UEFAs French president Michel Platini. However, he sidestepped a question asking him to explain a procedure that seemingly ignored FIFAs own precedent and favoured France. "Let us (hold the) draw and not let us speak of teams," Blatter said. FIFA traditionally tries to create pots based on geography, so that groups will include teams from up to four different continents and avoiding scenarios where three European teams get grouped together. For the 2006 tournament — the last time there were nine unseeded European teams — Serbia and Montenegro was the lowest-ranked team from the continent. That time, FIFA put it in a separate pot, and Serbia and Montenegro found itself in the toughest group: with Argentina, Netherlands and Ivory Coast. The eight top-ranked teams in Pot 1 also include Colombia, Uruguay, Germany and Spain. The five African teams in Pot 2 are Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria, while Pot 3 includes the teams from the Asian and CONCACAF regions — Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States. In other decisions Tuesday, FIFAs World Cup organizing committee declined to switch early kickoff times in tropical cities despite concerns by the international players union over the heat and humidity. Blatter had suggested in Rome last month that seven 1 p.m. kickoff times in Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador could be re-evaluated. FIFPro, the international players union, had formally asked FIFA to consider moving the matches to later in the day. "We were perfectly aware of the weather conditions when this match schedule was organized," FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said of the October 2011 agreement. "It was done in a professional way." Valcke confirmed FIFAs budgeted commitment to increase World Cup prize money by around one-third, but the exact breakdown will be decided later this week. FIFA shared $348 million among the 32 national federations in 2010, including $30 million to Spain for winning and a minimum of $8 million to each team. FIFA has previously said the prize fund will be $454 million next year. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Authentic .Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the winless Orlando Magic 98-90 on Tuesday night.Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Chicago, which finally pulled away in the final minutes of a game that was tied after three quarters. Custom Soccer Jerseys . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. https://www.fakesoccerjerseys.com/ . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Soccer Jerseys China .com) - Jahlil Okafor had 21 points, Tyus Jones scored 16 with 10 assists and No. Cheap Soccer Jerseys China . 22. Wade averaged 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals while leading the Heat to a 3-0 record. The 31-year-old shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range en route to his 17th weekly honor.MARSEILLE, France -- Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came through a stern test against 117th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff to win 7-6 (4), 7-5 Saturday, setting up an Open 13 final against third-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia after he upset top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-2. Tsonga was pressured by the German player in both sets. The Frenchman saved five break points in the first set. Struff broke his opponent at the start of the second set, before saving three break points of his own in the next game. But Tsongas experience told when he broke Struff twice at the end of the second set to reach his 19th career final, where he will bid for an 11th title. He leads 3-1 in career head-to-heads against Gulbis, who has won all four of his previous finals. In beating Gasquet for the first time at his third attemppt, Gulbis had 15 aces and proved clinical on Gasquets normally strong serve, converting three of his four break-point chances.dddddddddddd. "Today was very good. Everything was working: serve, backhand," Gulbis said. "I was a bit tired from yesterday, so I just tried to keep the points short and I felt so good doing that." It was a frustrating afternoon for Gasquet, who again fell at the semifinal stage after his defeat to countryman Gael Monfils at the Open Sud de France in Marseille earlier this month. "It was very difficult for me. He was just better," Gasquet said. "On a fast surface like this, its very tough to play against somebody like Ernests. He was just more powerful than me and didnt have any weakness. I didnt have any chances, not a single break point." ' ' '