In the last three years the Portuguese Cycling Federation (FPC) has increased its membership by 46%, one of the biggest growths registered by any of the European National Federations. A big part of the increase has been due to the high profile of Rui Costa, the 2013 Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) Road World Champion and three-time Portuguese "athlete of the year." The FPC widened its activities with the launch in '13 of a Cycling for All program, including children's activities, mass participation events and the Costa-led campaigning (UCI). ... The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Monday gave a "clean chit" to three int'l cricketers who were accused by "ousted" Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi of "accepting bribes from a Mumbai-based businessman." BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said that "there is nothing in it" when asked about the Int'l Cricket Council acknowledging a letter from Modi in June '13, claiming that two cricketers from India and a West Indian were paid "in cash and kind" to the tune of Rs. 20 crore each. Thakur: "Lalit Modi had written a letter to ICC, so they informed BCCI about the letter. The three players are international players and fall under the international jurisdiction. There is no information on these players from ICC so far, so it is in a way a clean chit for them to play" (PTI, 6/29).
