Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/695268
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 JUNE 2016 Sport OLYMPICS FORMULA 1 CRICKET Russians, Kenyans to face evaluation for Rio Games spots EVERY competitor from Russia and Kenya expecting to take part in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will have to be evaluated individually for doping and be cleared by their sports's international body, Olym- pic chief Thomas Bach said on Tuesday. The special measure was being introduced, Bach said, because of the unsatisfactory record of the anti-doping bodies in the two countries, which Bach said had put "very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence" of the athletes. Russian track and field athletes remain suspended from Rio after the International Olympic Com- mittee (IOC) approved a blanket ban on them - extended on Friday by world athletics' governing body - for systemic doping. Kenyan athletes are not banned. But their country's anti-doping structures are judged not to have been compliant with international standards. But IOC President Bach, speak- ing at the end of a doping summit, gave a limited number of Russian athletes a chance to race for their country in Brazil despite a ban. He said any Russian athlete cleared by the world athletics body IAAF or the Court of Arbitration for Sport as clean and eligible could compete under the Russian flag. Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) chief Aleksander Zhukov, meanwhile, said clean Russian athletes would appeal the "legally indefensible" ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Any athletes who succeeds in their appeal would compete un- der the Russian flag, Bach said, not an Olympic or neutral one as the IAAF had suggested last week. "The position is very clear: we re- spect this (IAAF) decision. We ad- vised today that athletes and/or the ROC may appeal," Bach said. "This is the good right of everybody. We expect the results of these poten- tial court cases." "If there are (Russian) athletes qualified then they will compete as members of the Russian Olym- pic Committee team," Bach told reporters at the end of an extraor- dinary summit. A total of 55 athletes had tested positive for performance-enhanc- ing drugs in those re-tests in re- cent weeks with the IOC having said none of those athletes would compete in Rio. Bach also said the summit, in- cluding sports federations and Olympic committees, had decided to fully review the anti-doping system, calling on the World Anti- Doping Agency to hold a global conference next year. The IOC President said the meet- ing had not discussed the potential participation of whistleblower Yulia Stepanova, a former drugs cheat whose revelations sparked the scandal, after the IAAF gave her hope of competing at the Games. The decision is expected to somewhat appease the Russians, who were unhappy with the ban of their track and field athletes by the IAAF from the world's biggest multi-sport event. In a carefully-worded three-page declaration following the summit, the IOC ordered all international federations to "take swift action" and ban athletes who had tested positive in re-testing of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Button an 'attractive proposition' - Williams WILLIAMS Deputy Team Princi- pal Claire Williams has described Jenson Button as an "attractive proposition", as the outfit consid- ers its driver line-up options for the 2017 season. Williams is believed to hold an option on Valtteri Bottas for next year, while Felipe Massa's contract expires at the end of the current campaign, potentially opening up a space. Button, who started his career at Williams in 2000, will be out of contract at McLaren, and Williams admits a return would be fitting, but says the team is talking to "a lot of drivers". "It's a great headline, isn't it? 'But- ton back at Williams'," Williams told Sky Sports. "He's a World Champion – the guy is extremely intelligent when it comes to building a team up around him and helping the engi- neering side develop the car over the course of the year. "So of course he's always going to be an attractive proposition if he's available, but we're talking to a lot of drivers in the paddock at the mo- ment, and he may or may not be on the list." Williams was also keen to state her satisfaction with Bottas and Massa's efforts. "It's early days, but of course we're talking to them, and we're hav- ing other conversations with other drivers in the paddock, to see what opportunities there are," she ex- plained. "But that's not to say we're not re- ally happy with the job Valtteri and Felipe have done. "We were so lucky that Felipe chose to come to our team for 2014, and Valtteri has been with us for seven years now – he's spent the formative days of his career with us. "Felipe has scored points in every race this year, and Valtteri got the podium in Canada for us, our first of the year, so we're very lucky that we have the driver line-up that we do. "They're both great guys, they're very 'Williams' kind of people. "No decision has been made [for 2017]. We just have to work through the conversations and when we're ready to make that decision then we will let the world know." Jenson Button Malta Marauders and Marsa start Malta Cricket League with wins Match 1: Marsa CC 194 for 6 defeated Krishna CC 192 for 5. Malta all-rounder Bikram Arora struck 53 off only 30 balls as Mar- sa defeated Krishna by 5 wickets. Arora received excellent support from Haroon Mughal (45) and John Grima (33). For Krishna, Les White and Niraj Khanna took two wickets apiece. Earlier Krishna had reached a total of 192 for 5 from their 25 overs with Khanna especially se- vere with 60 runs off his 30 balls. Nowell Khosla (40) and Mark Sac- co (33) laid the foundation with a 90 run opening stand. Sarfraz Ali was the pick of the Marsa bowlers with 2 wickets. Match 2: Malta Marauders CC 161 for 4 defeated Melita CC 160 for 3. Edward Manning (51) and Dean Arnold (40) steered the Maraud- ers to an impressive victory over Melita. Arnold followed up his batting performance by taking two Melita wickets. For Melita, Sam Aquilina scored an impressive 88 runs off only 45 balls and took 2 wickets to fall. Feroz Ahmed chipped in with a valuable 23 runs. Scorer: Paula Calleja. League Standings: Marsa 15, Ma- rauders 12, Krishna 5, Melita 2. This weekend sees the visit of the University of Nottingham Cricket Club, who will play matches at the Marsa Oval on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. Sam Aquilina's gallant 88 runs was the top score of the first round of the Malta Cricket League