Translated material
Chronicle
President of the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) Sergei Chernov said that the CSKA women's basketball club will not take part in the Russian Championship and the Euroleague of the 2009/10 season, despite the fact that the team got a new sponsor last week.
The head of the RFB explained that the other day he received an official statement from the president of the army club, which states that the team is withdrawing from the competition and will not participate.
Suspicions against Russian football players are groundless
“UEFA has no reason to suspect Russian clubs that they participated in match-fixing in the 2009/10 European Cup season,” said Andrey Malosolov, press attache of the Russian Football Union (RFU). The reason for the comment was information disseminated by Bloomberg. The message said that a special UEFA commission to detect match fixing had begun to investigate eight games in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League this season, including with the participation of teams from Russia, Hungary and Greece.
“I don’t see a single reason why one could question the results of matches involving Russian clubs,” RIA Novosti quotes Malosolov as saying. -- The match between Zenit and Nacional is unlikely to raise any questions. "Amkar" - "Fulham" - it was a pure sporting fight. Dynamo, which fought and tried, is also beyond suspicion. These people strived for victory and bet on this Eurocycle. I believe that all doubts are groundless,” Malosolov said.
According to him, UEFA did not inform either the RFU or the clubs about its suspicions. “We haven’t received any requests, and I’m sure there won’t be any,” Malosolov concluded.
Dementieva lost at the tournament in Tokyo
The prestigious tennis tournament in Tokyo with a prize fund of $2 million turned out to be unsuccessful for the Russian women. Following Safina and Kuznetsova, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva also suffered defeat. The third seed lost in the second round to Ukrainian Ekaterina Bondarenko - 2:6, 7:6 (7:3), 1:6. After the match, the Russian said that fatigue and the referees were to blame for the defeat. “The judge made too many mistakes today. I'm surprised there isn't a hawk eye system at such a big tournament. I played too many matches during the American series. And I needed one more week to get in shape for this tournament,” Reuters quotes the Russian woman.
Together with Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Nadezhda Petrova and Vera Dushevina are leaving the tournament. Zvonareva was beaten by compatriot Alisa Kleybanova - 6:3, 4:6, 2:6. Petrova lost to Magdalena Rybarikova from Slovakia - 2:6, 2:6, and Dushevina - to Chinese Na Li - 5:7, 0:6.
Three representatives of Russia made it to the third round of the tournament. Maria Sharapova defeated Australian Samantha Stosur - 6:0, 6:1, Elena Vesnina defeated Italian Roberta Vinci - 6:1, 7:6 (8:6), and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated American Venus Williams - 7 :6 (7:5), 7:5.
Smodis needs surgery
Forward and captain of basketball CSKA Matjaz Smodis, apparently, will not help the team until the end of this year. A back injury may require surgery, the army's official website reports. Israeli specialists recommended Smodis undergo surgery. The final decision on treatment tactics will be made soon. In case of surgical intervention, the Slovenian will return to full training in three to four months.
CSKA head coach Evgeny Pashutin noted the army team's shortage of front-line players and said that the club is already negotiating with a potential newcomer. “Matjaz is the main player of the team, our captain. The situation is very difficult, it is clear that Smodis is out for several months. We wish him a speedy recovery and return to duty. At the same time, we have serious problems in the front line due to a series of injuries, since Viktor Khryapa and Alexander Kaun are also undergoing a recovery process, they will need time to return to form, and therefore we only have Dmitry Sokolov and Andrey Vorontsevich left in the rotation . We will try to strengthen the squad with another “big” player - we have decided on a candidate and are in active negotiations,” Pashutin said.
Vitali Klitschko will retire in 2010
WBC world heavyweight champion 38-year-old Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko intends to end his sports career in 2010. Klitschko, who defeated American Chris Arreola last Saturday in Los Angeles, plans to have two or three more fights before retiring from the sport. Vitaly will most likely hold the first of these fights at the end of this year (the preliminary date is December 12), and a unification fight with the WBA world champion will be organized in the spring of 2010, BoxingScene.com reports.
According to German media reports, the Klitschko brothers Vladimir and Vitaly receive from 7 to 10 million euros for each appearance in the ring. This amount consists of the sale of entrance tickets and television rights, as well as sponsorship income. So, for each fight, the Klitschkos receive up to three million from the German TV channel RTL. If the fights are broadcast in prime time, then half a minute of advertising time costs up to 99 thousand euros. If the fight is broadcast by the American television giant HBO, then the amounts increase by another 2-3 million euros.
However, boxers earn much more from advertising men's clothing, perfume, chocolates and hepatitis vaccines. It is noteworthy that German burghers trust Klitschko more than anyone else - 24.9% of respondents. According to this indicator, boxers are ahead not only of popular German TV presenters, but also of former tennis star Steffi Graf.