UFC said of reports over the weekend that it would be holding its first event in Russia in September, "UFC continues to make progress in the Russian market and is actively working on a partnership that could result in the global brand potentially hosting its first-ever event in Russia in 2018. As standard operating procedure, UFC strategically holds dates with venues around the world in order to continually develop its brand internationally by bringing fight fans world-class events" (Tyler Everett, SBD Global).
Afghanistan is "set to launch a domestic T20 competition" and will host the first edition on Oct. 28. Afghanistan Cricket Board Chair Atif Mashal signed the tournament's MOU in Kabul on Thursday. He said, "It is a milestone as Afghanistan is now able to have an international league of its own." Afghanistan already has a domestic T20 tournament, the Shpageeza Cricket league, but ACB CEO Shafiq Stanikzai said that the T20I league will not be halted (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 1/12).
Bengaluru, India, "could be announced as a venue" for Afghanistan’s first-ever cricket test, to be played against India. The BCCI and ACB are expected to make a joint announcement after a meeting. Bengaluru "emerged as the leading venue for the historic match, which could take place in June" (PTI, 1/15).
The 2018 Magic Millions yearling sale "wrote a further chapter to its remarkable growth" by posting a national trade record of almost A$156M ($124.3M) at its Queensland’s Gold Coast complex last week. Over four days, buyers paid a record average A$228,000 ($181,700) for the 684 yearlings that were sold, with 87 which "failed to attract a reserve price" leaving an "excellent clearance rate" of 89% (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/15).
Indonesia’s preparations for this year’s Asian Games "received a thumbs-up" from the Olympic Council of Asia on Monday following a two-day inspection of facilities for the first staging of the event across two cities. Around 10,000 athletes from the OCA’s 45 member nations are expected to compete across 40 sports at the Aug. 18-Sept. 2 Games (REUTERS, 1/15).
