Australian cities will be invited to bid for the first rugby league Nines World Cup to be held from Oct.-Nov. '19. Rugby League Int'l Federation CEO David Collier said that the Nines World Cup is an Australian Rugby League Commission initiative and "will definitely be held in Australia first" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/6).
Russia said that it will take "extraordinary measures to combat any terrorist threat" when it hosts the 2018 World Cup, as its military campaign in Syria makes the country a "prime target" for jihadists. Russia has experienced "a number of terror attacks" over the last 20 years and during two wars in Chechnya, but "the threat has increased since Moscow’s military intervention in Syria" in Sept. '15 to support President Bashar Assad’s regime, making it "a priority IS target" (AFP, 11/6).
The streets of Marseille will host a live Formula 1 event to "promote the French Grand Prix, which will return to the calendar next year." The French city will host the event in June, "with F1 drivers and teams in attendance, in the build-up to the race." It will be a "similar event" to the one hosted by London earlier this year to promote F1 ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (MOTORSPORT, 11/7).
