Australia has backed a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recommendation that Russia be banned from international athletics, including the 2016 Olympics, after a report alleged systemic state-backed cheating.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Michael Phelps urged US lawmakers on Tuesday to push for a reform of the global anti-doping effort in sport after a career in which the Olympic great said he was never confident he was competing against clean athletes.
Doping could cast a shadow over Kenya at the 2016 Rio Olympics unless the East African nation implements credible systems to root out drugs cheats, said veteran Kenya-based coach Brother Colm O'Connell.
The upcoming combined shooting World Cup in New Delhi was on Friday postponed, while an Olympic test event in Tokyo stood cancelled due to the global novel Coronavirus outbreak. The decision comes after the government imposed several restrictions on the entry of travellers from affected countries such as China, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Iran, in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
The government has rolled out its ambitious TOP (Target Olympic Podium) Scheme, under which 2016 Olympics medal prospects will be funded for their specialised world class training and top-level competition, and offered ace discus thrower Seema Punia a budget of Rs 75 lakhs till the Rio Games next year.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) put in place 14 high-level expert committees, which have been mandated to identify the country's medal prospects and provide them with specialised training in the run up to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games to be held later this year.
India may be considered a sporting minnow but in terms of doping by its athletes, it has been ranked third behind Russia and Turkey in a World Anti-Doping Agency Report for 2013 with as many as 91 from the country testing positive for banned substances in that year.
The Sports Ministry said it has released over Rs three crore of a Rs 7.95 crore financial assistance meant for the 45 medal prospects for this year's London Olympics.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has recommended slashing the country's proposed Asian Games delegation by a third and sending only medal hopefuls to South Korea's Incheon later this month.
Swimming's governing body FINA has insisted athletes are responsible for monitoring their own dietary supplements as it prepares to appeal a decision by Brazil not to sanction four swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The former head of world athletics is suspected of receiving just over 1 million euros ($1.09 million) in bribes in 2011 to cover up positive doping tests of Russian athletes, the office of France's financial prosecutor said on Thursday.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) shut down the world tour and other sanctioned tournaments following the completion of the All-England in March due to the global health crisis.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
A Russian whistleblower who helped uncover the biggest doping scandal in decades has told Reuters that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is more concerned about protecting the organisation than ridding world sport of drugs cheats.
Five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova is seeking to have her two-year doping ban wiped out or reduced as she lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday.
Shuttler N Sikki Reddy and physiotherapist Kiran C have tested positive for COVID-19 at the ongoing national camp, forcing the closure of the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad for sanitisation.
In a massive reprieve to the Indian Commonwealth Games contingent, the doctor of the country's boxing team Amol Patil was on Tuesday let off with a reprimand in the syringe controversy as he was found guilty of not disposing needles safely after injecting vitamins to a fatigued boxer.
With the coronavirus pandemic halting all sport activities, India's former chief badminton coach Vimal Kumar on Tuesday urged the government to allow the Olympic-bound athletes to continue their training after conducting the required tests. Following the respective directives of the Talengana and Karnataka governments, the Pullela Gopichand academy in Hyderbad and Prakash Padukone Academy in Bangalore have been shut down for two weeks.
The board reminded Osaka that 'a core element of the Grand Slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media'
Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra on Tuesday lashed out at Indian Olympic Association officials for refusing to accept International Olympic Committee's directive to bar chargesheeted persons from contesting elections and asked the world body to stick to its earlier stand.
Sebastian Coe chairs a meeting of world athletics on Friday to discuss suspending Russia over allegations of state sponsored doping of its athletes, a crisis that has put his leadership under the spotlight barely three months into the job.
Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over her ban on running as an independent athlete at the Rio Olympics, she said on Friday.
Australia's Nick Kyrgios could find himself in hot water again after accusing men's tennis governing body ATP of being "corrupt" following his US Open first round victory.
Russia could be banned from international athletics, including the 2016 Olympic Games, after an anti-doping commission report on Monday alleged widespread corruption and collusion that added up to a state-sponsored drugs culture in a sporting superpower.
'It was probably one of the most difficult decisions to take in my career so far. But I thought that it was time for me to take on a fresh and new challenge'
The International Paralympic Committee has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India for indefinite period for infighting within the national body and shoddy treatment meted out to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships at Ghaziabad last month.
Lance Armstrong's promise to come clean about doping is "a little late", the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said on Thursday, accusing the disgraced cyclist of trying to use events to "gain advantage".
There was ecstasy and agony in equal measure for the Indian contingent on Friday.
The administrator of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme denied it had sought a four-year ban for the former world number one and, in a statement, rejected suggestions by the Russian that its independent tribunal was "not neutral"
India's top pistol shooter Heena Sidhu is hoping funds sanctioned to her by the government as part of its TOP scheme for her Olympic preparations are released on time. "Going into the Olympics, I hope that the funds meant for my preparation will be released on time so that my training doesn't suffer. There are lot of paperwork, it's a long process normally. OGQ has been doing a lot too," Sidhu said on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi on Thursday. The current world record holder and former world No. 1 secured an Olympic quota for the country in January after she led from start to claim gold medal in women's 10-m air pistol at the last Asia Olympic Qualifiers for Shooting. Asked about her preparation, she said," I am just following the process. This is not the time to make changes in your game. There will be a test event in Rio in April, and I will get an understanding after that if I need to make any minor adjustments or not. The climate in India and Brazil are similar."
Athletics is set to reintroduce four-year doping bans even though the move risks alienating the sport from the world anti-doping authority (WADA), officials said on Wednesday on the eve of the world championships.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Five nations, including Russia, whose doping records have risked weightlifting's place on the Olympic schedule have been limited to just two athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Games by the sport's governing body, according to a document seen by Reuters.
North Korean pair Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik ended their Olympic adventure winning over the home crowd's hearts.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Lewis Hamilton looked forward to more success with Mercedes after collecting his fifth Formula One world champion's trophy at the governing FIA's gala awards on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, said on Tuesday he hopes this year's Rio Olympics can help heal a sports world hit by recent doping and corruption cases.
