Sports
MOTORRACING
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Winner: Nico Rosberg (Germany/Mercedes)
Second: Lewis Hamilton (Britain/Mercedes)
Third: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland/Ferrari)
Brazilian Grand Prix
Winner: Nico Rosberg (Germany/Mercedes)
Second: Lewis Hamilton (Britain/Mercedes)
Third: Sebastian Vettel (Germany/Ferrari)
Mexican Grand Prix
Winner: Nico Rosberg (Germany/Mercedes)
Second: Lewis Hamilton (Britain/Mercedes)
Third: Valtteri Bottas (Finland/Williams-Mercedes)
TENNIS
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London
Men’s Singles
Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Runner-up: Roger Federer (Switzerland)
Men’s Doubles
Winners: Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands)/Horia Tecau (Romania)
Runners-up: Rohan Bopanna (India)/Florin Mergea (Romania)
BNP Paribas WTA Final, Singapore
Women’s Singles
Winner: Agnieszka Radwanska
Runner-up: Petr Kvitova (Czech Republic)
Women’s Doubles
Winner: Sania Mirza (India)/Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
Runner-up: Garbine Muguruza (Spain)/Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain)
BNP Paribas Paris Masters, Paris
Men’s Singles
Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Runner-up: Andy Murray (G. Britain)
Men’s Doubles
Winner: Ivan Dodig (Croatia)/Marcelo Melo (Brazil)
Runner-up: Vasek Pospisil (Canada)/Jack Sock (U.S.)
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) temporarily suspended the Russian Athletics Federation following an ongoing doping scandal. This means Russian athletes are now banned from competition for an unspecified period. The President of the IAAF is Sebastian Coe.
The decision will take immediate effect and means that Russia’s track and field teams will not be able to take part in international competitions, as the sport’s governing body in Russia, the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) has been suspended. It is now unclear whether Russia’s athletes will be able to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as no timeline has been given as to when the suspension may be lifted. To regain membership, Russia would have to fulfil a list of criteria that has not been disclosed.
The scandal erupted after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a report saying that Russian athletes were involved in systematic state sponsored doping. WADA recommended imposing a ban on all Russian track and field team’s participating in all international competitions including the 2016 Olympic Games. It also insisted on life-term bans for a number of Russian sportsmen and women and coaches.
Soon after the scandal broke, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an inquiry into allegations of major drug abuse in athletics. The president also declared that a foreign specialist could take over its discredited testing laboratory.
N. Srinivasan has been removed from his post of the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) by the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). Shashank Manohar, the President of the BCCI, is the new Chairman of the ICC.
The tenure of Mr Srinivasan, who took over in June last year, was to end next year in the same month and the remainder of the term would be completed by Mr Manohar as it is India’s turn to hold the top position.
The Tamil Nadu strongman will thus lose his grip on Indian cricket for good after having already been ousted as the BCCI President owing to the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal in which his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was held guilty of betting charges. Although Mr Srinivasan was not personally indicted for the damaging scandal but the Supreme Court-appointed R. M. Lodha committee had chided him for not acting on the elements which corrupted the IPL.
With his sacking as ICC chairman, Mr Srinivasan now only remains the president of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. His company India Cements had owned the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, which was suspended for two years after its officials were held guilty of betting.