The 2015 IAAF Indoor Permit meetings get underway this weekend with two of the most famous and historic events on the indoor calendar: the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on Saturday (31) and then the Russian Winter meeting in Moscow on Sunday (1).

Across a three-week period, the series moves on from Germany and Russia and features events in the USA, Sweden and Great Britain.

Full details of the meetings can be found at the dedicated section of the IAAF website, which will contain previews, results, reports and news.

Previews of the Karlsruhe and Russian Winter meetings have already been published and can also be found on the home page of www.iaaf.org

Mexico Guerreros rebounded from an opening World Series of Boxing (WSB) loss to Ukraine Otamans by defeating Morocco Atlas Lions in week two.

They will look to maintain the momentum when they host the second African Franchise, Algeria Desert Hawks, who were whitewashed by Cuba Domadores last week.

Deportivo IV Centernario, Aguascalientes is the venue for this Group A clash, and on Friday January 30th 2015 fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:30 (GMT -6) at AIBABoxingTV.com.

Light flyweight (49 kg) Joselito Velázquez Altamirano narrowly lost his opening round match against Hasanboy Dusmatov, and will look to make amends for Mexico against Algeria’s speedy Youcef Soltani.

The FIVB's TV and New Media Commission met in Lausanne on Friday

Lausanne, Switzerland, January 30, 2015 - FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° confirmed Mr Peter Diamond as the new TV and New Media Commission President at a meeting on Friday. Mr Diamond replaces Mr Fernando Lima, who has taken on the role of FIVB General Secretary.

In his opening speech to the TV and New Media Commission, President Graça emphasised the importance of television and explained how it had played a crucial role in the popularisation of volleyball in Brazil. He also underlined the need to spread the game to new markets. "We need to spread our market, but to do that we need to show people what volleyball is about."

Just as a strong start to the season is no guarantee that silverware lies ahead, a club rooted to the foot of the table still has time to recover in the new year. Everything can change in the last few months of the campaign, though so much often depends upon shrewd moves in the January transfer window. 

Who will pull off the eye-catching deals and who will take a gamble are the questions that dominate the football landscape, while players keen to relaunch their careers look to stir things up at a new destination. This winter represents another crucial chance for teams to shuffle the pack, and FIFA.com now looks back at all the major deals over the last couple of weeks.

Headline deals
Since leaving Inter Milan in 2011, Samuel Eto'o has been playing more or less for pleasure alone, having stacked up every title going during his time with I Nerazzurri and Barcelona before that. Now 34, the Cameroonian striker is returning to Italy to join Sampdoria, following spells with Anzhi Makhachkala, Chelsea and, most recently, Everton. 

The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the umpire and match referee appointments for the pool stage matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March.

Marais Erasmus and Nigel Llong will be the on-field umpires for the tournament opener between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Christchurch on 14 February. S. Ravi and Simon Fry will be the third and fourth umpires, respectively, while David Boon will be the match referee.

On the same day in a day/night fixture in Melbourne, Australia will lock horns with England in a match which will be umpired by Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena. Billy Bowden will act as the third umpire, while Joel Wilson will perform the fourth umpire’s duties. Jeff Crowe will be the match referee.

The people of Cameroon made a wise choice when they dubbed Claude Le Roy Le Sorcier Blanc (The White Wizard) during his first spell in charge of the country’s national team in the mid-to-late 1980s. During that three-year stay, the French coach, who is now in charge of Congo, laid the foundations for the future success of the Indomitable Lions, who achieved a first for African football in reaching the quarter-finals at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy™.

Granting an exclusive interview to FIFA.com, Le Roy, who was only 37 when he took up the Cameroon reins, reflected on his first taste of African football: “I was born into a family that loves Africa. My parents spoke to me a lot about the continent, and as soon as Cameroon made me an offer, I accepted it because I was itching to discover it for myself.”

An immediate success
A year after taking over, Le Roy steered his side to the final of the 1986 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which they lost on penalties to Egypt. Two years later in Morocco, the Indomitable Lions were back in the final, where they beat Nigeria to claim their second continental title.

Tunisia coach Georges Leekens has urged his side to go into their CAF Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against hosts Equatorial Guinea with no fear. The Carthage Eagles won the competition as hosts in 2004, but have not gone past the quarter-finals since.

But they went through to the last eight as winners of Group B, and Leekens said: "Once you reach the quarter-finals, you want to go even further. I am a winner. The will to win has to be greater than the fear of losing."

Ahead of the game against the Nzalang Nacional in Bata, the Belgian added: "For us, this is not a quarter-final. It's the final. When you look too far ahead, you often risk crashing out of a tournament."

Equatorial Guinea have not yet lost an international match in the port city of Bata and the 35,000-capacity Estadio de Bata will be jammed with home fans desperate to see their side make history by reaching the semi-finals for the first time. "The whole of Equatorial Guinea was euphoric when they qualified for the last eight. The people were in heaven and they will want their team to keep going. 

The FIVB Medical Commission met in Lausanne on Wednesday

Lausanne, Switzerland, January 28, 2015 – The International Volleyball Federation’s Medical Commission reviewed work in progress at a meeting at the headquarters of the FIVB in Lausanne on Wednesday.

The Commision members heard a report on the FIVB Medical Department’s activities in 2014 which has actively pursued its principal missions in the field of anti-doping: testing, reviewing Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs), reviewing Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE), education and communication.

Out-of-competition and in-competition urine and blood tests were carried out in 2014, with tests implemented at 11 indoor volleyball competitions and 10 beach volleyball competitions. Eighty tests took place at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Poland 2014 and another eighty at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014.

Crystal Palace have completed the signings of Queens Park Rangers midfielder Jordon Mutch and former Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi.

Mutch has penned a four-and-a-half year contract with the Eagles after spending just 25 weeks at Loftus Road, while Ameobi was a free agent after leaving Turkish side Gaziantep in December.

The 33-year-old Nigerian international has signed a short-term deal until the end of the season.

Ameobi is likely to need time to regain fitness after an unsuccessful stint in Turkey but Pardew said Mutch is ready to play and could make his debut against Everton on Saturday.

"Jordon's a player that caught my eye against my Newcastle side and he's a young player with potential," Pardew said. "It hasn't quite worked out for him at QPR so we've given him the opportunity to come and play here.

Volleyball and beach volleyball will be two of the most popular events at the Rio Olympics in 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 29, 2015 - Inquiries about tickets for the volleyball tournament at the Rio Olympics in 2016 indicate just how popular the sport will be at next year's showpiece. Rio 2016 Executive Director of Communications Mario Andrada said 27% of the ticketing website's users had registered an interest in volleyball, putting the sport ahead of other popular events including football, swimming and athletics.

To date, the Rio Olympics ticketing site has attracted interest from 174,000 sports fans - the registration process allows for fans to indicate which sports they are most interested in buying tickets for. The sports claiming the most attention were volleyball (27%), football (21.9%), swimming (21%) and athletics (20.6%). 

Crystal Palace have completed the signing of Lille full-back Pape Souare for an undisclosed fee.

Eagles chairman Steve Parish announced the deal on his Twitter feed, saying: "Delighted that @papesouare has just this minute signed for #cpfc . A warm welcome from all of us".

The Senegal international flew straight to London to complete the deal after his nation's early exit from the CAF Africa Cup of Nations this week. Souare becomes Alan Pardew's third signing of the week after the arrivals of Jordon Mutch and Shola Amoebi.

Mutch has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract and Ameobi has joined until the end of the campaign.

Both Rafako Hussars Poland and Argentina Condors are still searching for their first World Series of Boxing (WSB) victories of the season, which makes this Group B clash a tantalising fixture.

After losing away in Puerto Rico, Poland were within one round of defeating Astana Arlans Kazakhstan, but eventually lost the match, while Argentina are 0-2 after two defeats.

Hala OSiR Włocławek is the venue for this match, and on Saturday January 31st 2015 fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:30 (GMT +1) at AIBABoxingTV.com.

Villarreal have agreed a deal to sign Ivorian defender Eric Bailly from fellow Spainish La Liga side Espanyol for a fee of €5.7m, both clubs announced on Thursday.

"Villarreal and Espanyol have reached an agreement for the transfer of young central defender Eric Bailly, who will play with the Yellow Submarine for the next five-and-a-half years," said a statement on the Villarreal website.

The 20-year-old, who is currently representing Côte d'Ivoire at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, has made just five La Liga appearances for Los Pericos since making his first team debut in October.

Villarreal currently lie sixth in La Liga and are on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions. However, they were in need of defensive reinforcements after selling Brazilian Gabriel Paulista to Arsenal earlier this week.

29 January 2015 – As Bafana Bafana prepares to head home after exiting the CAF Orange Africa Cup of Nations Equatorial Guinea 2015 tournament, head coach Ephraim Shakes Mashaba took time to reflect on the tournament.

Bafana Bafana finished bottom of the group with a single point after losing two matches, 3-1 and 2-1 to Algeria and Ghana respectively. Their single point was against Senegal (1-1).

Mashaba spoke to SAFA.net at the squad’s base camp in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea.

Q: Coach you have had time to sit and reflect on Bafana Bafana’s exit from AFCON 2015, what’s your overall assessment?

Cuba Domadores have achieved a perfect ten out of ten in results so far in Season V of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) but face their toughest test to date in week three against Russian Boxing Team, the only Franchise to defeat Cuba in WSB history.

Both of Cuba’s wins so far this season have come against African opposition, while Russian Boxing Team are also undefeated from their sole WSB contest against China Dragons.

Ciudad Deportiva, La Habana is the venue for this Group A match, and on Friday January 30th 2015 fans across the world can watch the action free, live and on demand from 20:30 (GMT -5) at AIBABoxingTV.com.

The first fight of the evening is at Light flyweight (49 kg) and Cuba’s 2013 AIBA Junior World Champion Joahnys Oscar Argilagos Perez will look to make it 2-0 this season against 2011 European Championships silver medalist Belik Galanov of Russia.

THE Zimbabwe national cricket team left Harare yesterday for their 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup adventure in Australia and New Zealand where they believe they will make a big impact.A delegation of 15 players and eight officials left the capital yesterday afternoon via Johannesburg and they are expected in Sydney, Australia, today.

They will then fly out of Australia tomorrow for New Zealand where they will get their World Cup preparations underway with some practice matches.

The players, who were smartly dressed in matching grey suits, were seen off at Harare International Airport by their families and the director of Sport in the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture, Tendai Tagara.

Acting Sports Commission chairman Edward Siwela was also at the airport to wish the boys all the best in their tough adventure.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), in partnership with UNESCO and several other international organisations, has cooperated on new Guidelines, released today, urging governments and educational planners to invest in the quantity and quality of physical education that they offer. 

The action-orientated Quality Physical Education (QPE) Guidelines, which are in line with the IOC’s mission to include sport in school curricula worldwide and to promote Olympic values-based education, were presented today during a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS) at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.  

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Physical Education in schools is crucial if we are to get the couch potatoes off the couch. Sport has a central role to play in the education system, not just to fight against obesity and sedentary behaviour, but studies have shown time and again the positive effects physical activity has on the social and intellectual development of young people. Collaborating closely with UNESCO, we will ensure physical education is an integral part of school curricula to promote a healthy mind in a healthy body.”  

The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has approved Nikita Miller as a replacement player for Sunil Narine in West Indies’ squad for the tournament, which starts on 14 February.

Narine withdrew from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 earlier this week after he felt he required more time to be able to confidently bowl for a sustained period in international cricket with his new action.
 
The 32-year-old Miller has represented the West Indies in 45 One-Day Internationals and has taken 40 wickets with his left-arm spin. His last ODI was against England in March 2014.

DEAL CREATES STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AND YOUTUBE’S LARGEST SOCCER VIDEO NETWORK

 NEW YORK (January 29, 2015) Major League Soccer announced today that it has sold KICKTV, its global soccer media platform with a core presence on YouTube, to Copa90. MLS will retain an ownership stake in the newly created company and will work strategically with Copa90. Per MLS policy, specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Copa90, based in London, is a dedicated global soccer platform approaching one million subscribers on YouTube, and rapidly expanding across new video and social platforms including Vessel and Viber. The new Copa90 management team will continue to run the operations of KICKTV from New York. KICKTV will continue to be the voice of North American soccer fans, covering MLS, U.S. Soccer, as well as the beautiful game globally.

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) website for the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 (15-19 July) is now open: http://cali2015.co/en/

The website (in both English and Spanish) will be enhanced and expanded continually in the coming months as the championships draw nearer.

The IAAF World Youth Championships is one of the leading events in the IAAF’s global competition programme, providing a platform for the world’s leading athletes under the age of 18 to excel.

Cali is Colombia’s second biggest city and widely considered to be the country’s sporting centre, having hosted a number of top sporting events and world championships in the past, notably the 1971 Pan American Games.

NEW YORK (January 29, 2015) - Major League Soccer announced today that MLS LIVE, MLS’ subscription streaming service, and MLS Direct Kick, MLS’ cable and satellite out-of-market package, will return for 2015. These services are the perfect companion to every MLS fan’s pay TV subscription, providing access to hundreds of live out-of-market, regionally televised matches not available through a local TV subscription package. 

 

MLS Direct Kick will be available from DIRECTV and through most cable TV providers from iN DEMAND for $79. For more information, go to www.directv.com/sports or www.indemand.com or contact your local cable provider. There will be a free preview of MLS Direct Kick from March 7 through March 15.

The ICC Board held its first meeting of 2015 at the ICC Headquarters in Dubai on 28 January. Among the decisions made and reports received were:

 

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 playing conditions

 

The ICC Board reinstated the use of a Super Over in the event of a tie in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final. This now replicates the arrangements for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final and other recent ICC events where a winner will be determined on the day of the final (weather permitting), and a Super Over was the most credible way to separate the two sides.

Lausanne, 29 Jan 2015 - Following the first three AIBA Pro Boxing Inaugural Title Events on 23 and 24 January, the next five title matches will take place on 30 and 31 January 2015 in Caserta, Novosibirsk, Sofia and Almaty, according to the match schedule below.


HEAVY 91 KG - FRIDAY, 30 JANUARY (21:00 GMT+1)
Location: Catania – Venue: PalaCatania

Italian icon Clemente Russo will fight against Russia’s undefeated Aleksei Egorov for the APB Inaugural Title. Two-time AIBA World Championships gold medallist, and two-time Olympic Games silver medallist Russo has been one of the greatest fighters on the planet over the past ten years, but the number one seeded Heavyweight comes into this title match with a previous loss against the man he is facing.

At least 10,000 torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame across Brazil (Photo: Getty Images/Todd Warshaw)

Olympic flame will visit every state in giant country, reaching 90% of population, before lighting cauldron at Maracanã Stadium

The Rio 2016 Olympic torch relay will visit every state in Brazil, carried 20,000km by 10,000 torchbearers, taking the spirit of the Games to every corner of the world’s fifth largest country. As the first details of next year’s event were announced on Thursday (29 January),  the organising committee said it was fulfilling its pledge to ensure the Rio Games would be the Brazilian Games.

Flanker Deon Stegmann will lead the Vodacom Blue Bulls on Saturday when they take on Saracens in a friendly match outside London. The Blue Bulls named their final travelling squad on Wednesday, just before departure to England.

Regular captain Pierre Spies will only play off the bench in his return to first class rugby after more than 12 months on the sidelines; hence the decision to employ Stegmann's proven leadership skills. The former Springbok flanker captained the Vodacom Blue Bulls with great success in the Absa Currie Cup competition in the past.

Another former captain, Victor Matfield, will travel to London as part of the coaching team and not as a player and will not be in action over the weekend.

A number of Matfield's Springbok team members who travelled to Europe in November will start the match, but flyhalf Handre Pollard will only be used of the bench as the playmaker has just recovered from a foot injury.