Two clubs retire Astori’s number

Rome, March 6: Fiorentina and Cagliari will retire the number 13 shirt worn by defender Davide Astori after the Italy international died of a sudden illness over the weekend at the age of 31, the Italian clubs said on Tuesday.

Astori, who made 289 Serie A appearances in 10 seasons and played 14 times for the national team, joined Fiorentina on loan in 2015. The club signed him outright one year later and he went on to become their captain.

He previously spent six seasons at Cagliari and one on loan at AS Roma.

“In honour of Davide # Astori’s memory, @ CagliariCalcio and # ACFFiorentina have decided to retire the no. 13 shirt. # DA13,” Fiorentina said on Twitter. Cagliari posted a similar message.

Italian public prosecutors said on Monday they are to open proceedings to determine whether Astori’s death could be considered as manslaughter.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina have called for respect and silence after it was erroneously reported they had extended Astori’s contract with them.

Giovanni Malago who is president of the Italian Olympic Committee, which oversees Italian top flight and international football, “spoke too soon,” a source very close to those concerned said.

D. Nardella, the mayor of Florence, said the city would observe a day of mourning for Astori’s funeral. — Agencies Birmingham ( England), March 6: The governing body of world athletics said on Tuesday it was maintaining Russia’s ban from the sport over mass doping, saying Moscow had failed to provide evidence it was adequately testing Russian competitors.

Despite Russian athletes being allowed back into Olympic competition, the International Association of Athletics Federations said the country’s antidoping body Rusada had met some requirements for reinstatement, but not all.

The IAAF’s medical expert Rune Andersen said the sport’s anti- doping task force had “recommended to the IAAF Council and the Council accepted that RUSAF ( the

Despite Russian athletes being allowed back into Olympic competition, the IAAF said the country’s antidoping body Rusada had met some requirements for reinstatement, but not all

Russian athletics federation) not be reinstated”.

“Because while many reinstatement conditions had been met, there are several that still have not been satisfied,” Andersen told a press conference in the English city of Birmingham.

“For example, RUSAF and Rusada have still not provided a test distribution