Tour de France organizer ASO announced the awarding of the Grand Départ for
the '16 edition of the race "to the department of Manche in the Lower
Normandy region." It "is the first Grand Depart for Manche and the start
city will be announced in early December" (CYCLING NEWS, 11/24). ... Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that the city of Kaliningrad "could lose the right to host 2018 World Cup matches unless it resolves a dispute over the site of its stadium this week." Mutko said that Kaliningrad, the capital of a Russian exclave on the border with Poland, was announced as one of 11 host cities in '12 but has suffered repeated delays and is now "under threat" (AP, 11/25). ... Promising a corruption-free World Cup, the ICC said that "it has struck partnerships with law enforcement agencies in Australia and New Zealand in its endeavour to prevent bookies from associating with the players" (PTI, 11/24). ... The Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG), the Catalonia Government and other Spanish and Catalan stakeholders announced their intention to bring the 2022 Ryder Cup to Catalonia's PGA Catalunya Resort. The resort was recently named European Golf Resort of the Year 2015. Official bids must be made by April 30 (WORLD GOLF, 11/25). ... The record attendance for a Davis Cup match has been beaten again, with 27,448 people "witnessing the clash between Roger Federer and Richard Gasquet at Villeneuve d’Ascq," according to the official figure released by the French Tennis Federation (FFT). The record set in '04 during the final between Spain and the U.S. in Séville (27,200 people) was beaten for the first time on Friday during the first two singles which gathered 27,432 people (SPORT 24, 11/23).