Pirelli will host a meeting of Formula 1's key stakeholders in Milan next week "to discuss how the sport wants the tyres to perform in future." F1 is currently planning a rewriting of the rules from '17 to "improve the show with faster and more aggressive-looking cars." Drivers have said repeatedly that they want tires that "let them race flat out from start to finish rather than the current quick-wearing ones that require careful management over a distance" (REUTERS, 1/28). ... A "staunch and consistent opponent of the controversial Decision Review System," the Board of Control for Cricket in India for the "first time ever could use the technology with some changes in this year's Indian Premier League." IPL Governing Council Chair Rajeev Shukla said, "There is a proposal to use DRS in the IPL minus the Leg Before Wicket (LBW) referrals. We have just started discussing it." This is a "significant change from the earlier stand" against the DRS adopted by the BCCI and its World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the past (PTI, 1/29). ... London Marathon CEO Nick Bitel said that "any athlete convicted of a serious doping offense" should be banned from the Diamond League, following the "zero tolerance" approach of the London Marathon. City marathons have, like the rest of athletics, "been hit hard by doping in recent years." The London Marathon "does not allow any athlete convicted of a serious doping offense to take part in the race" and, although life bans are not applicable across the sport, the race's organizers said that others "should follow their lead." Bitel: "You can’t ban them (drug cheats) for life under WADA rules but where you have a choice, then make a positive choice to support clean athletes" (REUTERS, 1/29). ... The Int'l Swimming Federation (FINA) announced it had "temporarily suspended" the Mexican federation on Saturday after the country's decision last year to pull out of hosting the '17 world championships in Guadalajara. The western Mexican city withdrew as host of the two-week event "due to financial problems resulting from falling oil prices." Meeting in Budapest, FINA said the suspension was due to Mexico "not fulfilling contractual obligations concerning the cancellation of the 2017 FINA world championships in Guadalajara" (REUTERS, 1/30).
