FOOTBALL for One of the Most Important Deci- Clean Ones Through a Hole in a Wall at Sions in Olympic History
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CRICKET | Page 2 GGOLFOLF | Page 9 Yasir best Injured leg-spinner Tiger to sit aft er Warne, out for rest says Stokes of the year Thursday, July 21, 2016 ROAD TO RIO Shawwal 16, 1437 AH Humble Siddikur GULF TIMES eyes Olympic glory for Bangladesh SPORT Page 4 SPOTLIGHT CRICKET IOC will take a India heavy favourites week to decide against Windies AFP world Test rankings with only Bangla- North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda desh and Zimbabwe below them. West Indies selectors have taken the bold step of dropping experienced est Indies and India com- wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ram- on Russia ban mence a four-Test series din for Shane Dowrich, who made at the Sir Vivian Richards his Test debut as a specialist batsman Stadium in Antigua today against Australia in Dominica a year The IOC has already banned Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and all Wwith the visitors heavily favoured to ago. extend a 14-year unbeaten run against They have stuck with veteran bats- other ministry off icials from the Rio Games and withdrawn backing for the hosts. man Marlon Samuels, but he is badly in Such is the gap in performance be- need of a run of scores. Functional but international events in Russia over its systematic doping programme tween the two teams that anything unattractive opener Kraigg Brathwaite less than a 3-0 triumph by the Indians will be entrusted with the tough task will see them lose rating points in their of providing solidity at the top of the AFP options with regard to a collective ban quest to close the gap on Australia at order. Lausanne of all Russian athletes” against “the the top of the offi cial international Test West Indies’ biggest concern, right to individual justice.” rankings. though, is in the bowling department Evan Bach has called for a way to let Despite an outstanding 2016 for the where the two main wicket-takers, he International Olympic clean athletes compete in Rio. West Indies in shorter forms of the pacer Shannon Gabriel and leg-spin- Committee said yesterday It must fi rst wait for the CAS ruling game, which has seen success at the ner Devendra Bishoo, have been inju- it would take up to a week to on an appeal by 68 Russian athletes Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, ry-prone over the past 12 months. decide whether to ban Russia against an Olympic ban ordered by the triumph for both the men’s and wom- Fast-medium bowler Miguel Cum- Tfrom the Rio Olympics over its “state” International Association of Athletics en’s teams at the World T20 in India mins is tipped for a Test debut hav- doping machine. Federations. and an encouraging eff ort in reaching ing replaced the retired Jerome Taylor Amid widespread agonising within The IAAF suspended all Russian the fi nal of the Tri-Nation One-Day while skipper Jason Holder and fellow the IOC over how to handle its biggest track and fi eld competitors after an International Series on home soil last all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite are like- doping scandal, the fi nal verdict could earlier inquiry, chaired by Pound, month, they continue to struggle in the ly to be called upon to produce long, come less than 10 days from the Rio found widespread “state-sponsored” traditional Test arena. tight spells of medium pace. opening ceremony on August 5. doping in athletics. They lost 2-0 in both their last two India appear to be contemplating The IOC executive decided on While waiting for the legal opin- series in Sri Lanka and Australia at the omitting the seasoned Rohit Sharma Tuesday to wait until after a Court of ions, the IOC has barred Mutko, a end of 2015. Periods of competitive- from their middle-order and still seem Arbitration in Sport (CAS) ruling ex- long-time ally of President Vladimir ness were too fl eeting in those match- undecided over the pace-spin balance pected today before deciding whether Putin, from the Rio Games. es, highlighting the chronic inconsist- of their bowling attack on a pitch that a blanket Olympic ban on Russian The IOC also ordered a disciplinary ency of the Caribbean side which has traditionally gets slower and lower competitors should be imposed. commission to look into the sports left them languishing eighth in the over fi ve days. The IOC, which said it needed to ministry’s role in the drug cheating study all “legal options”, has now sig- that included Russia’s secret serv- nalled it will take every day possible ice swapping dirty urine samples for FOOTBALL for one of the most important deci- clean ones through a hole in a wall at sions in Olympic history. Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC) president Alexander Zhukov chairs the ROC the Sochi Olympics. “We expect a decision within seven executive board meeting in Moscow yesterday. The IOC said it will not grant any days on the participation of Russian Rio accreditation “to any offi cial of Allardyce set to be competitors in Rio,” IOC media rela- ing from the United States, Canada, rest of the world is not prepared to the Russian Ministry of Sport or any tions chief Emmanuelle Moreau told Germany, Japan and other nations. play with them unless they change.” person implicated in the (McLaren) AFP. “It’s a complex issue to ban a coun- Several national Olympic commit- report.” named England The IOC has already banned Rus- try, but we’re delighted to see they’re tees have also voiced support for Rus- Mutko has denied any wrongdo- sian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko considering it,” New Zealand Olympic sia’s case that it would be wrong to ing. He said he has suspended fi ve top and all other ministry offi cials from Committee secretary-general Kereyn exclude Russian athletes who have not deputies, including his number two manager — reports the Rio Games and withdrawn back- Smith said. failed drug tests. Yury Nagornykh, described as the ing for international events in Russia But some senior offi cials have ex- Italian Olympic committee presi- point man for running the cheating over the doping programme revealed pressed doubts whether the IOC dent Giovanni Malago said athletes scheme. AFP by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren wants to expel Russia. were right to complain about Russian The IOC executive also ordered a London this week. Dick Pound, an IOC member and drug cheats. reanalysis of all samples by Russian McLaren, who produced a report for former WADA president, said it was But he said no one can say all Rus- athletes taken at the Sochi Olympics. the World Anti-Doping Agency, said right for the IOC to take time to make sian athletes are cheats and added: “In That means several more weeks and underland boss Sam Allardyce there was a “state-dictated failsafe a decision. the public’s imagination participation months of inquiries. is expected to be named the system” of drug cheating. IOC presi- But he added: “I do get the impres- in the Olympics is for everyone. So I And the IOC said it would not give new England manager inside dent Thomas Bach called Russia’s ac- sion reading between the lines, how- cannot imagine it without Russia.” backing to any international sports the next 24 hours, British press tions a “shocking and unprecedented ever, that the IOC is for some reason The Association of Summer Olym- events in Russia. Sreports said yesterday, tasked with attack on the integrity of sport and on very reluctant to think about a total pic Federations has also urged cau- It called on winter sports federa- guiding the under-performing nation- the Olympic Games.” exclusion of the Russians.” tion. tions to “freeze” preparations for ma- al side to the 2018 World Cup. WADA has called for Russia to be Pound said an Olympic ban “would The IOC said after Tuesday’s ex- jor events in Russia and look for alter- The 61-year-old former Bolton, banned and are believed to have back- force Russia to acknowledge that the ecutive talks it will “explore the legal native organisers. Newcastle and West Ham manager will take over from Roy Hodgson, who stepped down after England’s humili- PRESSING ON ating last-16 exit to Iceland at the Eu- friendly on September 1 and the open- ropean championships in June. ing 2018 World Cup qualifi er in Slova- The Press Association said that Al- kia on September 4. lardyce, the long-time frontrunner for Allardyce is believed to have been the job, will be offi cially named as the given a glowing recommendation by new manager at a Football Association former Manchester United boss Alex board meeting on Thursday. Ferguson. Russia names Olympic “Big Sam” Allardyce was in line for Earlier yesterday, FA chief execu- the job a decade ago when Sven-Goran tive Martin Glenn had told Sky Sports Eriksson departed after the 2006 News: “We’re not after a short-term World Cup, but lost out to Steve Mc- mercenary, someone just to do the job Claren. for a couple of years. squad despite ban threat He will become England’s 15th per- “I want someone to come in to the manent manager with Allardyce’s ap- England role to really work with not AFP fi eld athletes, whose fate hinges on the Court of pic ban following bombshell allegations of state- pointment coming on the 50th anni- just the senior team, but to make sure Moscow Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, which is controlled cheating. versary of the country’s 1966 World all the great work with the under-16s, set to rule today on whether the IAAF had grounds An independent WADA commission led by Cana- Cup triumph.