59/2018 • 12 March, 2018
British parliamentary doping report slams Wiggins, Sky
A British parliamentary report has sharply criticized Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins for using permitted medication to enhance his performance at the 2012 Tour de France. Sky and Wiggins have rejected the criticism. The report published on Monday by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, said Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins, had crossed an "ethical line" by using corticosteroids to treat a medical condition during the 2012 Tour.
Soccer captain Davide Astori of Fiorentina dies, aged 31
Italian football has reacted with shock to the death of Fiorentina captain and defender Davide Astori. He was found dead early on Sunday in his hotel room in Udine, where the team was due to play a Serie A match. Fiorentina captain and defender Davide Astori died of a sudden illness on Sunday morning at the age of 31, the Serie A club said, leaving Italian football in a state of shock. Italian media reported that Astori was found by his team-mates in the early hours in his hotel room in Udine, where the team was staying ahead of an Italian league match. 6
Athletics doping: IOC confident over Russia doping reform plans
Roger Federer, Serena Williams claim 2018 Laureus sports awards
International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach believes Russia will resolve its doping issues and field athletes at next yearʼs Rio Games. Russia was provisionally suspendedfrom world athletics after an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report alleged "state-sponsored doping". Bach met with his Russian Olympic Committee counterpart Alexander Zhukov to discuss the report. He said he was "confident" in the measures put forward by the ROC. Council members of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Friday voted 22-1 in favour of Russia being banned. As it stands, Russian athletes may not enter international competitions, including the World Athletic Series and Rio Olympics, which begin on 5 August next year. Russia will also not be entitled to host the 2016 World Race Walking Cup in Cheboksary and the 2016 World Junior Championships in Kazan. "We are confident that the initiatives being proposed by the ROC, with the responsible international organisations - Wada and the IAAF - will ensure compliance as soon as possible in order to provide participation of the clean Russian athletes at the Olympic Games," said IOC president Bach.
The Mercedes F1 team also claimed a prize
Tennis dominated the 2018 Laureus World Sports Awards. Roger Federer won sportsman of the year and comeback of the year, while Serena Williams was named sportswoman of the year. Roger Federer was named the Laureus Sportsman of the Year for the fifth time at the Monaco award ceremony on Tuesday. The Swiss veteran was also honored as enjoying the comeback of the year, having become the oldest world number 1 in tennisʼ history, reclaiming the top spot in the menʼs game 14 years after he first occupied it. "This means the world to me, thank you so, so much," Federer said in his acceptance speech, also praising the Lau-
reus Sport for Good Foundation for helping to inspire his own philanthropic work. Serena Williams, meanwhile, was named Sportswoman of the Year, having claimed her 23rd Grand Slam singles title and surpassed German ace Steffi Graf just in time to give birth to her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, later in 2017. Williams has not been able to return to the court quite as quickly as she had hoped since giving birth.
Ronaldo helps Real Madrid brush off Paris SaintGermain Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring as Real Madrid cast aside a disappointing Paris Saint-Germain side to reach the Champions League quarterfinals. They werewithout Neymar,they may well soon be without Unai Emery and Paris Saint-Germain will remain without a Champions League trophy after a tepid surrender from the French underachievers on Tuesday night. The first
half was high on intensity but only offered real quality in flashes. Alphonse Areola kept PSG in the game early with an excellent reflex stop from a closerange Sergio Ramos effort, before Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema both spurned decent opportunities. Cristiano Ronaldo spent much of the opening period protesting various perceived injustices but got involved in a more positive fashion after the break.