The Indian Supreme Court has "barred ministers and bureaucrats from holding posts" in the Board of Control for Cricket in India as part of administrative reforms in the world's richest national cricket body. The court on Monday "accepted most of the recommendations of the Lodha Committee, a three-member panel it had appointed to look into the functioning of the BCCI which is perceived as a cash-rich but opaque body run by politicians and businessmen." In the report, the members recommended "age and tenure restrictions for top officials and cooling off period between successive terms for top officials among others" (DAWN, 7/18).
SUE THEM: Rugby League Players' Association CEO Ian Prendergast said that the RLPA will support legal action from National Rugby League players who "believe their privacy has been abused or if they’ve been subject to an extortion attempt." The move from the RLPA comes "after consultation with The Australian Athlete’s Alliance, the peak body for the country’s elite professional sportspeople, about the increasing trend of illegally obtained footage being shopped around to media outlets." Last week footage of Parramatta player Corey Norman and an unnamed Brisbane player was "offered to networks for a large sum but was turned down" (AAP, 7/18).
LEAGUE BRIEFS ...
Cuban newspaper OnCuba reported that the coaching duo of the Cuban national volleyball team has "been fired." Head coach Rodolfo Luis Sanchez and assistant coach Pavel Pimienta were "both relieved of their duties after some of their players were accused of rape on a game trip to Finland on July 2." Six players for the Cuban team are "still being held in Finland on suspicion of aggravated rape." Eight were originally apprehended, "but two were later released" (YLE NEWS, 7/18).
Two men have "lost an appeal against their convictions for scalping tickets to the 2011 Rugby World Cup." Two ticket scalpers "caught with more than 1,000 Rugby World Cup tickets have had their appeals dismissed." The men were charged with obtaining 1,734 tickets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars (STUFF, 7/18).
