Foreign players "tentatively endorsed" the return of int'l cricket to Pakistan "after their whirlwind trip to Lahore for Sunday’s heavily guarded Pakistan Super League final." Players including winning captain Darren Sammy "detailed a journey involving bulletproof buses and closed roads, before they were rushed straight back to the airport with no time for celebrations." Sunday's "incident-free final has opened the door" to more int'l cricket with a World XI now scheduled to visit in September (AFP, 3/8).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is "helping" the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's "long-running probe" into Mo Farah's coach, Alberto Salazar. Farah joined Salazar's Nike Oregon Project "stable" in '11 and "the pair have enjoyed huge success." But the success "has not come without scrutiny, though, and USADA has been investigating Salazar's method" (RTE, 3/8).
Japan's Sports Ministry is "looking to establish a Japanese version" of the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association by the '18 fiscal year, to "boost university programs around the country." A ministry panel to discuss ways to improve the collegiate sports scene in Japan met Wednesday, laying out a proposal to create a "Japanese NCAA." A Japanese NCAA would "seek to coordinate the schools and the various athletic federations to come up with a system to increase revenue" (KYODO, 3/8).
