Mercedes F1 non-exec Chair Niki Lauda "continues to downplay mounting speculation he is in line to succeed" Bernie Ecclestone as Formula One's CEO. The "rumor making the rounds" is that Ferrari's Sergio Marchionne, backed by Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff, is advocating that a group of three individuals should take over for the 85-year-old F1 boss. Others have "suggested that Lauda is the man being targeted." Red Bull Dir Helmut Marko said, "When I think about the sporting side, then for me Niki Lauda is one of the hottest candidates." Lauda, however, "is not racing away with the job." Lauda said, "If some people here believe that it is easy to replace (Ecclestone), they are mistaken. Bernie still has 15 percent of the business, and only he was able to get our engine parts through customs that fast in Russia" (GMM, 5/10).
LEAGUE BRIEFS ...
The UCI announced on Monday that it has "lifted the provisional suspension of Russian rider Eduard Vorganov, who returned a positive test for Meldonium in January." Vorganov had been "provisionally suspended by the UCI under its anti-doping rules." He tested positive for Meldonium "after an out-of-competition test" on Jan. 14. The "exact reason given to lift the suspension has not been disclosed" (CYCLING WEEKLY, 5/9).
Inter-Provincial Coordination Federal Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada said that the Pakistan Cricket Board is "very much answerable to the Parliament and its standing committees because it exists in Pakistan and is not an offshore company." Pirzada was "responding to a query raised by Senator Saud Majeed who pointed out that despite the humiliating performance of the national team in the Asia Cup and the World T20, no major changes have been made in the PCB." The minister, in reply, stated that "his ministry is going to write to the prime minister -- who is also the patron-in-chief of PCB -- and will request him to convene a meeting of cricket board officials" (DAWN, 5/9).
