America's Cup Team New Zealand's design staff is "already being targeted by rival syndicates as the race heats up to secure key talent off the water." The four teams sidelined since the end of the challenger series are "already looking ahead to the next campaign, with the key first step being assembling the right talent." Team New Zealand Technical Dir Dan Bernasconi has been approached by "several syndicates," including British team Ben Ainslie Racing (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 6/21).
The ongoing ban preventing Russia from competing at the IAAF World Athletics Championships this summer is due to "politics," not doping, Russia Department of Sport & Tourism Head Nikolai Gulyaev said. The sanction will remain in place for August's "showpiece" at the London Stadium. Gulyaev said, "The great sports arenas need to stage sports competitions, not political ones (London INDEPENDENT, 6/21).
Lithuanian basketball side Lietuvos Rytas President Gedvydas Vainauskas, who made comments last week about having too many black players, resigned on Tuesday but "could still face punishment from the EuroLeague and the sport's governing body." The decision to step down comes days after Vainauskas said in an interview that a team should not have more than two black players because "that's when bad things start to take place." He later issued a statement to apologize (REUTERS, 6/20).
The British & Irish Lions "routinely sweep their facilities at the team's hotels for listening devices to prevent team secrets getting out before the test series against the All Blacks." A security company that worked with the team on its '09 tour of South Africa and '13 tour in Australia carry out the checks, Lions CEO John Feehan said (REUTERS, 6/21).
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif announced on Tuesday a reward of Rs 10M ($154,800) "each for every player of the national cricket team" for winning the Int'l Cricket Council Champions Trophy after defeating India at The Oval (DAWN, 6/21).
