The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) has announced modifications to its relegation format. In case a team withdraws from the league due to financial reasons, the affected team would be the first club relegated and there would be only one more relegation spot. In case two teams withdraw due to finances, no additional team would be relegated due to performance. The '13-14 season tips off on Wednesday (BBL). ... Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs has "issued detention orders on four people for their alleged roles" in a global football match-fixing syndicate. The detention orders mean the four "can continue to be detained for up to 12 months, provided the orders are approved by Singapore’s President" (REUTERS, 10/2). ... Nigeria Football Federation General Secretary Musa Amadu told lawmakers on Sunday that the federation "has been unable to move into its new headquarters because of a cash crisis'' (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/2). ... Endura Racing, which employed Jonathan Tiernan-Locke before Team Sky, "has claimed both rider and team pushed to have a biological passport early last year to dispel rumours about doping levelled against him." The 28-year-old "has been called upon" by the Int'l Cycling Union "to respond to allegations of potential discrepancies in his biological passport that revealed suspect blood values." But the rider's camp said that "they were confident that he would be cleared of any wrongdoing" (London INDEPENDENT, 10/1). ... The Badminton Association of Malaysia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Badminton Korea Association "to develop badminton as an industry." Under this MoU, there "will be joint training programmes for junior players and friendly matches, while coaches will also exchange ideas and knowledge in terms of sports science." It is "slated to last four years" (THE STAR, 10/2).
