RUSSIA CONFIRMS IT WILL APPEAL 4-YEAR OLYMPIC BAN
Russia confirmed Friday that it will appeal its fouryear Olympic ban for manipulating doping data.
The Russian anti-doping agency, known as RUSADA, sent a formal letter disagreeing with the sanctions imposed earlier this month by the World Anti-doping Agency.
The case is now heading to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Next year’s Olympics in Tokyo will be the third consecutive edition of the games preceded by a legal battle over Russian doping issues.
RUSADA said it “disputes the (WADA) notice in its entirety,” including the evidence of tampering with the data archive. The data was handed over in January and was meant to clear up past cover-ups, but has led to more legal tussles.
RUSADA’S own CEO, Yuri Ganus, attached his own note of protest to Friday’s letter.
Ganus is critical of Russian officials and had disagreed with the decision to appeal.
He was overruled by his agency’s founders, which include some of Russia’s most influential sports leaders.
The WADA sanctions ban the use of the Russian team name, flag or anthem at a range of major sports competitions over the next four years, including next year’s Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup.
College basketball
Evansville has placed men’s basketball coach Walter Mccarty on administrative leave and is conducting an internal investigation into alleged violations of the school’s Title IX policy.
The university released a statement saying it has received reports about Mccarty’s off-court behavior, including a recent incident that appeared to be a Title IX violation. A national law firm will conduct the investigation, the statement said, and Evansville will make a “fair and informed decision” on Mccarty’s status based on its results.
The school’s action comes six weeks after after Mccarty guided the unranked Purple
Aces’ stunning 67-64 upset of then-no. 1 Kentucky, his alma mater, on its home court.
Soccer
Veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is returning to help his struggling former club AC Milan, which is reeling from a humiliating defeat and languishing way behind city rival Inter Milan. Ibrahimovic’s arrival resembles something of a rescue mission for a seven-time European champion fallen on tough times. That’s because Milan is mired in 11th place in Serie A, a distant 21 points behind league leader Inter, and none of its players has more than four league goals this season.
• Matt Doherty scored in the 90th minute to complete Wolverhampton’s comeback from two goals down to beat 10-man Manchester City 3-2, dealing a further blow to the champion’s faint hopes of defending the Premier League title.
• The Chicago Fire hired former U.S. youth coach Raphael Wicky as their coach, the latest move in a makeover by the struggling MLS team.
Also
The San Diego Seals (0-3) dropped a 16-11 NLL contest to Calgary (2-0) at Pechanga Arena.
• The Kansas City Royals signed third baseman Maikel Franco to a $2.95 million contract to be their everyday third baseman next season.
• Rio Olympics gold medalist Monica Puig had stitches removed after surgery for a nerve problem in her right elbow that will sideline the Puerto Rican for the start of the tennis season.
• Shane Pinto scored his third goal in two games and the United States rebounded from a loss to Canada with a 6-3 victory over Germany at the world junior hockey championship at Ostrava, Czech Republic.
• Elbert Dubenion , a receiver who played key roles in the Buffalo Bills winning consecutive American Football League championships in the mid-1960s, died. He was 86.