The National Rugby League "is ready to step up its overhaul of the salary cap by briefing club officials at a meeting in New Zealand next week." The game's governing body "is in the throes of reviewing the cap and will take the chief executives of the 16 clubs through a series of proposals in the lead-up to the Auckland Nines" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/6). ... Malaysia Youth & Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin "is on the verge of suspending" the Malaysian National Cycling Federation. Khairy, who "has voiced his dissatisfaction with MNCF" over the past few months, is "unhappy with the annual accounts of the road programme expenditure after receiving a report of MNCF’s accounts" from his ministry’s Chief Auditor Rokiah Sahat (THE STAR, 2/5). ... This year’s Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) "will not be affected" despite the organizers' decision to cut the overall organizing cost by RM2M ($604,000). LTdL CEO Emir Abdul Jalal said that "despite the reduced organisational cost, a mammoth grand opening ceremony would be held for the first time" (THE STAR, 2/5). ... A panel of "high-profile health experts," including a leading Australian professor, has recommended the Int'l Rugby Board "force unions to take a harder line on concussion." They want rugby's global governing body to "also be able to monitor each union's compliance with management and prevention strategies, a move that would give the IRB unprecedented power on a controversial issue" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 2/6).
