By Editor

New York Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill out with injury

KANSAS CITY (Sunday, July 28, 2013) – MLS All-Star Head Coach Peter Vermes has selected Philadelphia Union forward Jack McInerney as a replacement for injured New York Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill for Wednesday’s 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game against AS Roma (9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2, UniMas, TSN, RDS).

By Editor

NEW YORK (Friday, July 26, 2013) – MLS Commissioner Don Garber has selected LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan as a replacement for injured LA Galaxy teammate Robbie Keane for Wednesday’s 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game against AS Roma (9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2, UniMas, TSN, RDS).

Now in his 13th MLS season, Donovan is among the best players in league history. Donovan won his record-tying fifth MLS Cup title with LA last December, took an extended offseason, and has returned to top form. For the Galaxy, Donovan had three goals and six assists in 13 games before joining the U.S. national team, where he tallied an unprecedented seven goals and seven assists in the past six games – all wins. Donovan will represent the United States again Sunday in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Panama. Earlier this month, Donovan became the first U.S. player to tally 50 goals and 50 assists, and he is the fourth man in CONCACAF history to score 50 international goals.

Lausanne, July 26, 2013 - The AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) "Boxer of the Week" campaign headed back to Mexico, this time to unveil an explosive Lightweight (60kg) and Season II World Series of Boxing (WSB) Individual Champion, Juan "Pivi" Romero.

The orthodox boxer has built-up an excellent record in his three seasons with the World Series of Boxing (WSB) with nine wins and four losses on his card along with his Individual Championships title for Season II. Whilst already a solid enough record, it is even better when you consider that most of the losses occurred three years ago when "Pivi" was still only twenty. Last season he was the number 7 ranked WSB Lightweight boxer in the world.

IAAF launches 1st World Athletics Forum in Moscow

Monaco - The International Association of Athletics Federations is delighted to announce that the 1st IAAF World Athletics Forum will be held on the first day of the 49th IAAF Congress in Moscow, Russia.

The 1st IAAF World Athletics Forum will be chaired by IAAF President Lamine Diack, and aims to create an environment for lively and open debate about the future of Athletics for Congress Delegates and guests.

NEW YORK (July 25, 2013) – MLS WORKS, Major League Soccer’s community outreach initiative, will be conducting various events in the Kansas City area, as part of this year’s All-Star festivities, that highlight the League’s commitment to supporting the communities where we live and play our games.    

Lausanne, July 25, 2013 - For the first time since 1962, Cuba will officially allow its boxers to compete in a pro-style boxing event. The newly formed Cuban World Series of Boxing (WSB) Franchise will take on the Mexico Guerreros in Mexico City on 29/30 August in a historic WSB Exhibition Match.  

The International Cricket Council today announced the fixtures and squads for the final two encounters of the sixth round of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Championship and ICC Intercontinental Cup, which kick off in Canada on1 August.

Canada will host sixth-placed United Arab Emirates (UAE) for two WCL Championship 50-over matches on 6 and 8 August at Maple Leaf, Toronto, an encounter that UAE must win to keep itself in contention for a top-two finish.

Monaco - A comprehensive blood testing programme will be organised at the IAAF World Championships, Moscow, Russia, as part of a sophisticated anti-doping programme for the 14th edition of the championships which take place from 10th to 18th August 2013.

Two years ago the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) collected blood samples from all athletes taking part in the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, Korea. That anti-doping programme which was conducted in close co-operation with the Lausanne WADA-accredited Anti-Doping Laboratory and with the support of the World Anti-Doping Agency and local partners was unprecedented in world sport history. It was the first time that nearly 2000 elite athletes competing in a major sports event were blood tested under the same optimal conditions, within the same time period.

The ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier gets underway today (Tuesday 23 July), with host Ireland, Canada, Japan, Pakistan, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Zimbabwe fighting for three qualification spots to the ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh in 2014.

 

The host, who has placed its faith in a youthful side for this tournament, kicks off its campaign against Japan at The Hills.

1. The first Gold of the Games will be in the Women’s Triathlon on Thursday 24 July at Strathclyde

Country Park.

1. The first ever Mixed Triathlon Team Relay Gold medal will be awarded on Saturday 26 July

while the first ever Women’s Boxing Commonwealth Gold medals will be decided on 2 August.

She is a true diamond in the rough that is now well polished and shining brightly for the rest of the world to see.
 Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare; is Africa’s best ever woman sprinter of all time who today; July 27th 2013 broke the African Women’s 100 meters record beating the 2012 Olympic Champion, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica along with some of the best women sprinters in the World including fellow African, Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast at the London Diamond League Grand Prix Track meet. She now proves that she is and will be the future of women sprinting in the world, as she lowered  fellow Nigerian, Chioma Ajunwa’s African record from 10.84 sec to her own brand new African record of 10.79 seconds.

Bloemfontein, South Africa, July 23, 2013 – A FIVB Level I Coaches Course, held in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity, has just started in Bloemfontein, South Africa at the Free State High Performance Centre.

Gaborone, Botswana, July 23, 2013 – The Botswana Volleyball Federation in conjunction with Botswana National Olympic Committee hosted the FIVB Level II Coaches Course from July 9 to 21.

The course was conducted at the Botswana College of Agriculture and was led by the renowned FIVB Instructor Mr. Athanasisos Papageorgious as the Course Director and Mr. Cencz Akarsemes, Course Instructor.

Twenty five participants from primary, secondary and tertiary schools and clubs enrolled in the two week long course.  A similar course was held in 2006 to help upgrade the skills of coaches in the country.

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, July 23, 2013 – The Girls’ U18 volleyball team from Algeria flew to Thailand on Tuesday to participate in the 2013 FIVB U18 World Championship due to start in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on Friday, July 26 until August 4.

It will be the third historic participation for the Algerian girls in this age category after Lisbon (Portugal) in 1991 and Ankara (Turkey) in 2011.

Kampala, Uganda, July 24, 2013 - The Kenya men’s national volleyball team arrived in Kampala Uganda Tuesday night ahead of the 2014 FIVB World Championships African Zone H Qualifiers to be played at the Lugogo Stadium Arena on Thursday.

Kenya plays its first match against Burundi on July 25, 2013 starting at 5pm, with hosts Uganda also starting their campaign against Tanzania that day. 

Monaco – The Anti-Doping Statistics for tests carried out in 2012 under the direct authority of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) have been published on the IAAF website.

These testing statistics only include IAAF tests and do not include those carried out by National Anti-Doping Agencies, WADA or the IOC.

The IAAF Registered Testing Pool in 2012 contained 525 athletes, who were selected from the top 20 athletes in each event discipline.

Celtic eased past Cliftonville to reach the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League with a 2-0 win, comfortably beating the Northern Irish club 5-0 over two legs. 

With so much at stake - UEFA earlier revealed Celtic made €30m from their run to the round of 16 during last season's competition - the Hoops fielded a strong side despite holding a 3-0 advantage from the first leg in Belfast.

Given both the quality and quantity of top-class football on offer, the first half of 2013 will be hard to top for many fans across the globe. From Brazil's triumph on home soil at the FIFA Confederations Cup, to Bayern Munich's remarkable treble and France's success at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013, the most prestigious youth tournament in the world, there were no shortage of unforgettable highlights. 

Yet any thoughts of the footballing calendar running out of steam in the second half of the year are wide of the mark.

FIFA welcomes the high level of interest in hosting the FIFA Congresses in 2016 and 2017. The 209 member associations were invited to submit a declaration of interest by the end of June 2013 and the procedure has been very successful, with a long list of candidates to host the most important gathering of international football’s governing body.

For the Congress 2016, the following associations have expressed interest: Costa Rica, Canada, Greece, Jamaica, Jordan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

FIFA passed a decision today, 22 July 2013, to lift the suspension of the Cameroonian Football Association (FECAFOOT) given that the conditions previously set have been met.

As requested by the FIFA Emergency Committee, the normalisation committee that was appointed on 20 July 2013 was able to take up its duties this Monday, 22 July 2013, at the FECAFOOT headquarters, with FIFA and CAF observers present.

NEW YORK (Monday, July 22, 2013) – Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) for week 21 of the 2013 MLS season.

Rolfe’s feisty play and two-goal first half helped the Chicago Fire capture a 4-1 victory over visiting D.C. United on Saturday.

Rolfe needed just 114 seconds of play before netting his first goal of the night. The Ohio native found himself on the end of a Joel Lindpere cross, which he clinically finished with a one-timed strike to the back of the net.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The Women's Tennis Association today announced its plans for two key positions within the WTA's leadership with the hiring of Steve Tseng as the newly created Head of Global Sponsorship Sales, and the recruitment of a CEO for Asia-Pacific.

“I am excited for the strategic investment we are making in our senior management team. These two positions are vital for the continued growth and development of the WTA as we look to capitalize on the momentum we are seeing in women's tennis," said Stacey Allaster, WTA Chairman and CEO. "Steve brings an impeccable track record of generating new sponsorship opportunities across sports and entertainment. And along with the recruitment of our CEO of APAC, we are investing in dedicated resource in crucial business areas to drive future growth."

 Glasgow 2014 today (July 22, 2013) ensured yet more sports fans across the globe will have the opportunity to become immersed in the Games with the appointment of SKY Network Television Limited as the New Zealand and Pacific Islands broadcast rights holder.

SKY Network Television will provide extensive coverage, including six channels of action in HD/SD, as well as news and daily highlights across its digital platforms, via Pay TV and free-to-air to offer comprehensive coverage for New Zealand viewers.

Monaco - The IAAF is delighted to announce that ticket sales for the upcoming IAAF World Championships, Moscow, Russia, 10 to 18 August 2013, are accelerating fast with a sold out final weekend and an average of 80.59% sold for the nine days of competition at the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium.

IAAF General Secretary Essar Gabriel said today: “Looking at the latest ticket sales summary from our partners in the Moscow LOC confirms that Muscovites prefer to buy their tickets closer to the event. Since the beginning of July, thanks to enhanced promotional campaigns on television, radio, in the press, with billboards throughout the city and most recently, on the Moscow Metro (used by 9 million Russians per day), we have seen a real surge in ticket sales. With the competition not starting until the 10 August, the IAAF is very optimistic that the evening sessions can now be sold out.”

“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me brave in the attempt”. This Special Olympics athlete’s oath was first introduced by Eunice Kennedy Shriver at the Special Olympics international games in Chicago in 1968. Forty-four years later (in 2012), a famous daughter of that city; FLOTUS Michelle Obama in an inspirational speech to the USA Olympics contingent to London was to re-echo those same words, but with a bit of spice. Mrs. Obama believes that “It is cool to win”. So should athletes interpret this as win at all cost?