More Russian athletes could face charges
Another wave of Russian athletes could face new doping charges after the World Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday it completed its investigation of a vast trove of evidence.
After obtaining a data archive from the Moscow anti-doping laboratory last year, WADA investigators focused on a “target pool” of 298 athletes, putting together evidence packages for other sports authorities to prosecute.
WADA said the athletes came from sports governed by 27 different international federations, but didn’t say which.
“The Russian doping crisis has dominated WADA’s time and resources over the past five years and the agency’s investigations team has been on the front line,” WADA president Witold Banka said in a statement. “I would like to thank them for their diligence, professionalism and expertise, as well as the organizations that have now received case packages for the work they will do and their ongoing cooperation in protecting clean sport and for bringing as many cheats to justice as possible.”
Prosecuting the cases could be extremely difficult. WADA has argued the data archive was manipulated while in Russia, with some evidence deleted and false trails laid. That’s the basis of an ongoing legal battle to ban Russia from the Olympics and other major events for four years.
Of the 298 athletes WADA has investigated, it says it found signs of manipulation in files relating to 145 of them.
Giants pick up fifth-year options on Engram, Peppers
The New York Giants have picked up the fifthyear options for tight end Evan Engram and safety Jabrill Peppers.
The team announced the moves late Wednesday, extending the players’ rookie contracts through the 2021 season.
NFL teams are permitted to exercise the fifth-year option on firstround draft choices after they have played three years.
Engram has made 25 starts and 34 appearances overall in three seasons. The Mississippi product has 153 receptions for 1,766 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has missed 14 games because of injuries.
Peppers was acquired on March 13, 2019, in the trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns. He played in 11 games last season and had 76 tackles, three forced fumbles and an interception he returned for a touchdown. His season was ended by a back injury.
Knicks keep GM Scott Perry for next season
Scott Perry will remain general manager of the New York Knicks after agreeing to a new one-year deal with the team Wednesday.
Perry ran the team’s basketball operations after Steve Mills was fired as president in February. Longtime player agent Leon Rose was hired to replace Mills on March 2, shortly before the NBA season was suspended because of the virus outbreak.
Rose decided that his first big move would be to keep Perry for next season. The Knicks and Perry had a mutual option on his contract that needed to be decided by May 1.
“Scott is a well-respected basketball executive who I have known for more than 20 years, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him as we look to build a winning team in New York,” Rose said in a statement.
NCAA board recommends delaying change to waiver
The NCAA Board of Governors has recommended delaying a change to the transfer waiver process that would permit all athletes to switch schools once without sitting out a season.
The NCAA announced the board’s recommendation Thursday after several days of meetings, but added the Division I council could still a vote on making the waiver change in May and have it go into effect immediately.
Currently, NCAA rules require football, baseball, men’s hockey and men’s and women’s basketball players to sit out a season after transferring. Athletes in all other sports are allowed by rule a one-time exception so they can play right away after switching schools.
A change to the waiver was recommended by a working group in February that would mirror the one-time exception, and go into effect this year. That was before college sports were shut down and thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic.