The Int'l Rugby Board insisted it is "ready to prevent exploitation" of its regulations that could allow the likes of former Wallabies player George Smith turning out for Tonga at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
The IRB said that it "will act to prevent a flood of players switching national allegiance in order to compete at the inaugural sevens tournament at the Olympics" (AFP, 9/10). ... Hockey India "described the government's decision to exclude its four key support staff, including a coach, from the Asian Games-bound contingent as 'distraction,'" leaving its High Performance Dir Roelant Oltmans in a state of "shock."
India's national game "also had to face the brunt of the government's decision to prune down the Indian contingent for the Incheon Asian Games to 679 from 942" (PTI, 9/10).
LONG-TERM CARE: The Australian Football League Players Association's new CEO Paul Marsh "has urged every footballer who participated in Essendon's 2011-12 supplements regimen to sign up to a medical monitoring program for at least the next five years." Marsh: "I think it's the right process. It's precautionary, and obviously we've fought to get that process in place for a reason" (THE AGE, 9/10). ... South Africa "will include seven non-white players in 23-man match squads next year if dramatic transformation proposals are adopted by the national rugby body." A South African Rugby Union statement said that "at least five of the seven should be on the field at any time during Tests leading up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England." Facing intense government pressure to transform a historically white sport, SARU wants "half the national team to be non-white by the 2019 season" (AFP, 9/10).