Doping will remain a criminal offense during the Turin Olympics, allowing for possible police raids on the athletes' village.
Weeks of dialogue between Italian officials and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finished on Monday without any changes to Italy's tough drug law. The IOC maintains, however, it never asked for Italy's law to be weakened.
"The IOC is not above the law and has never expected or requested to be," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies told reporters. "From the IOC perspective that has not been where our focus was for the whole process."
Italian law calls for criminal prosecution of sports doping offenders. Under IOC rules, athletes can be disqualified and stripped of their medals but face no criminal liability.
"Raids in the village could happen for a number of issues. The IOC certainly respects that," Davies said, treating the issue as a "hypothetical" and not expected.
Mario Pescante, Italy's government supervisor for the games, had sought to get the Italian parliament to suspend the law during the Feb. 10-26 Winter Olympics.
The IOC was concerned about three other doping issues, which have been resolved:
* The IOC will be in charge of testing and will delegate the procedures to Turin organizers and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
* The 2006 WADA list of banned substances will be used, ending worries that the list for this year would still be in effect.
* Hyperbaric chambers, which are banned under Italian law but not specified in the World Anti-doping Code, will be prohibited in the Olympic village.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
Mathys Tel was hero and villain as Tottenham drew 1-1 at home to Leeds United on Monday — a result that leaves their English Premier League future hanging in the balance. The Frenchman broke the deadlock early in the second half to ease the tension at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but then gave away a penalty with a reckless attempted clearance. In the dying minutes, Spurs were grateful to Antonin Kinsky, who produced an astonishing save to deny the visitors a win. Tottenham are now two points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United with just two games left this season. The
‘DONE IT ALL’: LeBron James is now out of contract with the Lakers and would head into the off season as a free agent with uncertainty swirling around his future LeBron James on Monday said he would take time to consider his future after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the NBA playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder in what could turn out to be the final game of his career. James, 41, delivered a typically defiant performance with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough to prevent the Lakers from falling 115-110 as the Thunder completed a 4-0 sweep in the Western Conference semi-finals series. The four-time NBA champion is now out of contract with the Lakers and would head into the off season
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
RSS