Lawyer Nalesoni Tupou petitioned Rugby League World Cup organizers and the Rugby League Int'l Federation in a bid to get Tonga's 20-18 semifinal loss to England reversed. However, organizers confirmed that they will not be "changing the result." Tupou and many Tongan fans were "left fuming" after player Andrew Fifita was ruled to have "lost the ball before grounding it over the line and claiming the match-winning try" on Saturday in Auckland (STUFF, 11/28).
Scrapping relegation from Premiership Rugby is back on the agenda and "will be discussed at a senior level" within the Rugby Football Union on Wednesday. English rugby has had promotion and relegation "since the league system began 30 years ago." This year, Premiership Rugby announced it was "finally burying the notion of ring-fencing the top division." It did not "stay buried for long" -- and there is "growing support for it now" (LONDON TIMES, 11/28).
Former Polish Cycling Federation President Piotr Kosmala "leveled sexual assault allegations at an unnamed leader of the governing body." On Sunday, officials "denied the accusations of sexual assault and rape." Kosmala said in an interview Saturday that a federation exec had committed sexual assaults, including rapes, against members of the federation. Kosmala said that "some of the assaults involved minors" (AFP, 11/27).
