Grassroots rugby league in England will receive £10M ($13.2M) as part of the investment in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. A pot of £25M ($33M) from the U.K. government, which includes £15M ($19.8M) toward the staging of the tournament, will "steer money towards community projects." Rugby League World Cup CEO Jon Dutton said that the government's £10M for the grassroots pot will be "leveraged" to increase the overall figure to £20M ($26.5M) (BBC, 7/16).
The "controversial" transport levy on footy tickets that is "sending clubs broke" would be capped at the "price of a coffee" under a proposal that would save millions for Queensland’s elite sporting organizations. The Lee Report into Stadiums Queensland has "determined the crippling transport levies are an unfair impost on the State’s footy clubs and need to be drastically slashed." The big winners, should the Government adopt the Stadiums Taskforce’s findings when the report is tabled later this month, would be the Gold Coast’s AFL side Suns and NRL side Titans (Brisbane COURIER-MAIL, 7/16).
Super Rugby's "Television Match Official" review system will go under review as the competition's governing body, SANZAAR, admits it has faults. The TMO protocols have provided some "challenges" over the past month, according to SANZAAR. SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos said, "A major concern for us at present is the practical implementation of the Television Match Official protocols. The protocols are clearly not working and a specific review is required in this area" (STUFF, 7/16).
A proposed industry-wide policy on doping control in Ireland includes a provision for vets from Irish horse racing’s regulatory body to "carry out tests on horses throughout the thoroughbred industry" in the country. The "Industry Wide Policy On Prohibited Substances/Doping Control" is currently being examined ahead of a vital Horse Racing Ireland board meeting next week (IRISH TIMES, 7/15).
Alexander Zubkov is set to be re-elected President of the Russian Bobsleigh Federation on Tuesday after his two challengers withdrew from the race claiming the election was "illegal." Assistant to the Deputy Chair of the State Duma Anatoly Pegov and former Russian coach Oleg Sokolov announced on Monday that "they were withdrawing their candidacies." Sokolov also called on members of the RBF to boycott the vote, due to be held in Sochi, to deny Zubkov a coronation (INSIDE THE GAMES, 7/16).
