New Zealand's horse racing industry "is ramping up" its NZ$50,000 ($39,000)-a-year random drug testing of jockeys. The industry's Racing Integrity Unit, established three years ago, "tested 224 jockeys over the last horse racing season." Four riders "returned positive results for cannabis and were banned for two months" and fined NZ$200 (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 11/4). ... As National Rugby League bosses begin work on a blueprint for expanding the competition to 18 teams, "they should look beyond Brisbane and Perth and consider sides from the Pacific nations and England -- possibly to be based in those cities." The NRL "is due to make a decision within the next 12 months on whether to expand the premiership in 2017." Officials "are currently looking at the structures of existing clubs to devise an ideal model for any new team." A list of requirements "will be drawn up for bid teams to meet and the NRL is expected to decide where it wants clubs to be based before inviting applications" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/3). ... The Int'l Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Congress limited FIVB presidents to serving a maximum of two terms (an initial term of eight years followed by a four year term). With 210 of the 220 member federations represented at the Congress in Sardinia, the amendment was passed with 157 votes, more than the two thirds majority required (FIVB).
