Teams will be reduced from nine riders to eight for next year's three Grand Tours while the 2018 Tour de France will start a week later to "avoid clashing" with the World Cup. The Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement on Thursday that its Professional Cycling Council applied the change which would come into effect in '18. The move to reduce the size of teams has been "on the agenda for some time to make races less predictable and too easy for leading teams to control and also for safety reasons" (REUTERS, 6/22).
The Board of FIBA Europe voted to accept a proposal of the management committee to retain an annual budget of €4M ($4.48M) for the youth development fund for '18 and '19. The exact requirements for the national federation projects will be decided by the management group by the end of July. It also agreed the youth performance fee is to be replaced by a special promotion fund of €300,000 ($335,800), subject to board approval (FIBA).
FIBA's exec committee decided to lift, under a set of agreed upon conditions, the suspension of the Brazil Basketball Confederation (CBB) and warned the Mexican Basketball Association (ADEMEBA) that it could face sanctions if it does not meet certain statutory requirements. The CBB was suspended in November (FIBA).
