Big blow to Russia

K DATTA

The four-year ban ruled by the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) on Russia from competing in or hosting major world events came as latest blow to that country already tarnished sporting reputation. Russia has been hit by scandals since a 2015 report commissioned by WADA found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.
The WADA ruling means that Russia will miss the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the World Athletics Championships in 2022, the Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing, the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and the Women’s World Cup in 2023. According to FIFA rules, only national teams can compete in the World Cup. FIFA has yet to comment on the issue, keeping the door open for Russia.

But President Vladimir Putin insisted during a year-end news conference that Russian athletes should be allowed to compete under the country’s flag despite the ban handed down by WADA. “If WADA does not have any issues with our national Olympic committee our team must compete under its flag,” he said,” adding “any punishment shou ld be individual.“

President Putin was of the opinion that the WADA ban was politically motivated.

The ban does not apply to the four matches Russia is hosting next summer during the European football championship in St. Petersburg, as the tournament is not considered a “major event.”

Female footballer in focus

Megan Rapinoe Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared the Ballon d’Or award between them so many times that it is nothing new any longer, however coveted the award may be. Argentina’s Messi this year won the world’s top football award for a record sixth time; Ronaldo of Portugal has won it five times.
The world is now talking about Megan Rapinoe, the 34-year-old female footballer who led the United States team to its second consecutive Women’s World Cup title last summer in France, claiming the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player and the Golden Boot as the leading scorer. Then in September she won the FIFA world-player-of-the-year prize..

Rapinoe made headlines this year by speaking out for LGBT rights and equal pay, leading the national team’s g e n d e r - d i s c r i m i n a t i o n lawsuit against the US soccer federation.

The Ballon d’Or, considered soccer’s top individual award, has been presented by France Football every year since 1956, with England’s Stanley Matthews the first winner. A women’s category was added last year when the award went to Norway’s Ada Hegerberg.



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