The board of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) was "due to ratify a new league structure" for '18 when it met on Tuesday evening with two divisions of 10 "widely expected to be the preferred option." But a number of clubs said that they are "unsure of how the association has arrived at this point and some are complaining that they were not even consulted during any process." League Dir Fran Gavin said last week at the launch of the league's "Brand Report" that "the board would vote on any changes at Tuesday's meeting." With the leading members of the Premier Clubs Alliance having agreed "in principle" to a 10 team top flight, "this seems set for adoption but few seem to have believed that that agreement was binding and others, mainly from the first division, are annoyed that they were not involved in any meaningful way in the decision making progress" (IRISH TIMES, 12/20).
The Turf Club has "expressed satisfaction" with its €9.6M ($10M) integrity budget for next year from Horse Racing Ireland and "has indicated more testing in the fight against doping will be its priority" for '17. A 25% increase in testing is planned with "both blood and urine tests set to be carried out on horses" in the second half of '17. Testing will increase as new laboratory equipment comes into service later in the year. Part of the regulatory service's budget includes €1.9M ($2M) of capital expenditure including new equipment for the forensic unit being used (IRISH TIMES, 12/19).
The World Curling Federation and Chinese Curling Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see the two organizations work together to develop the sport, both in China and across the world. This work will play a vital role in the preparations for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing (World Curling Federation).
The Kuwaiti government on Monday "agreed to amend controversial sport legislation" in a bid to end a 14-month int'l suspension led by the IOC and FIFA. MP Abdulwahab Al-Babtain said that the Gulf state's public sports authority "pledged in a letter to parliament that it will issue within six months a new law" that conforms with the int'l sports charter. Babtain added on his Twitter account that the authority pledged to invite the IOC and FIFA to Kuwait "to ensure the new legislation is agreed by all parties" (ARAB NEWS, 12/19).
