Chinese Basketball Association President Yao Ming "is planning to set up two national men's basketball teams in the future," according to a proposal submitted to the sports authority. The two national teams would train and attend respective int'l games separately until '19, when "they will be integrated into one team" for preparation for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. During the two-year period, the two teams "would be banned from exchanging players." The plan "will also require the hiring of two new head coaches" (ECNS, 4/13).
UK Anti-Doping is investigating an allegation that Team Sky injected some of its riders with Fluimucil and other substances to aid recovery "even after" the UCI banned needles at races in '11. None of the substances are illegal under WADA rules but there are "concerns about the ethics of administering them intravenously" and the possibility that Team Sky may have breached the UCI's "no needles" policy (PA, 4/13).
A "raft of punitive measures for racially abusive football supporters, including lifetime bans," will be debated at the Australian Football League Commission table -- chaired for the first time by new head Richard Goyder -- next week as the game "looks to up the ante in its fight against racism." The AFL view is that while "on-field vilification has become significantly less prevalent," supporter behavior has not improved. Rather than "leave punishments to the clubs," the league will investigate taking over the penalizing of supporters who "racially or religiously vilify footballers" (THE AGE, 4/13).
Coaches and performance directors "should be prevented from giving orders to team doctors and medical staff due to possible conflicts of interest," a new independent report into British sport will recommend. A year-long review into athletes' welfare, led by Tanni Grey-Thompson, concluded that rules "should be put in place so there is clear separation between a team’s medical staff and the coaches." The review will "recommend ways of improving anti-doping education, as well as outlining how to offer support if athletes are dropped" from elite programs and how to "help them to tackle eating disorders or alcohol, gambling or drug addiction" (LONDON TIMES, 4/13).
