‘U-17 WC will change mind-set about women’s football’
NEW DELHI, Dec 22: The Indian Women’s Team’s prolific striker Bala Devi feels that the forthcoming FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2022 will bring in a fresh change in Indian parents’ mind-set about motivating their daughters to embrace the beautiful game. “Earlier, we didn’t see many girls play football. Now, the numbers have gone up significantly. In the FIFA U-17 World Cup, more girls from various countries will come to India and our girls will get an opportunity to rub shoulders with the world’s best. That will help change the overall mind-set,” the Rangers Women FC forward told AIFF TV. In another effort to take Indian Football forward together, the All India Football Federation is at the cusp of hosting the second FIFA World Cup in five years in India, and the 30-year-old striker feels that it will help the country “shine” on a global stage. (UNI)
CAS upholds International Judo Federation’s ban on Silva
LAUSANNE, Dec 22: Olympic judo champion Rafaela Silva has lost her appeal against a two-year doping ban and will miss the Tokyo Games.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday upheld the sanction imposed by the International Judo Federation in January. Silva tested positive for the banned substance fenoterol, which is used to treat asthma, in August 2019 after the Brazilian won her class at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. At the end of the same month, she tested negative at the world championships in Tokyo, where she was third. She was stripped of both medals and banned. At her appeal in September, she claimed unintentional contamination at the Pan Am Games from her roommate or supporters. But the CAS panel said she failed to prove it. Silva was the first Brazilian woman to win a judo world championship in 2013, and the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. (AP)
Tokyo Olympics’ official cost by 22 per cent up to $15.4 bn
TOKYO, Dec 22: The official cost of the postponed Tokyo Olympics has increased by 22 per cent, the local organising committee said on Tuesday in unveiling its new budget. In an on-line news conference, organisers said the Olympics will now cost USD 15.4 billion to stage. This is up from USD 12.6 billion in last year’s budget. The added USD 2.8 billion is the cost of the one-year delay. Added expenses come from renegotiating contracts and measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympics are to open on July 23, 2021. (AP)