Journalism of Courage
* Caroline Wozniacki beat Sloane Stephens 7-6 (6),6-2 to reach the semifinals in New Haven for the sixth consecutive year. The four-time champion is 23-1 at the Connecticut Tennis Center.
The former top ranked player will play Simona Halep after the Romanian beat Russias Ekaterina Makarova 6-1,7-6 (6). The other semifinal will feature two players from the Czech Republic. Defending champion Petra Kvitova beat Russias Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6,6-2,7-5. She will face Klara Zakapalova,who came from a set down to beat Russian Elena Vesnina 4-6,6-0,6-4.
Clean rights record a must
* The new president of the International Olympic Committee,who will be elected next month,must ensure that future Games hosts comply with human rights according to the Olympic charter,human rights organisations said on Friday.
In a letter to the IOC presidential candidates,Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) asked for their views on human rights as criticism of Russias anti-gay law mounts six months before the Sochi Winter Olympics.
The Olympic Movement is facing a crisis over Russias failure to respect the Olympic Charter in Sochi, Minky Worden,Human Rights Watch director of Global Initiatives said in a statement. Just as the IOC assesses ice rinks and ski jumps,the new Olympics leader needs to press Russia to repeal a discriminatory law and addres rights violations before the Games.
Officials given life bans
* Two soccer officials have been given life bans by UEFA for an attempt to fix the result of a Europa League match last month,European soccers governing body said. Armenian referee Andranik Arsenyan and assistant Hovhannes Avagyan,who officiated in the match between FC Inter Turku and Vikingur,were suspended for life by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body (CDB). In an earlier Armenian Football Federation hearing Arsenyan and Avagyan admitted having tried to manipulate the outcome of the second-leg fixture,which ended 1-0 in favour of Vikingur. UEFAs betting fraud detection system (BFDS) which monitors more than 32,000 matches across Europe,including all first and second-division games,cup ties and UEFA competition fixtures had detected suspicious betting patterns around the match which prompted a UEFA investigation.
Anelka mulls retirement
* West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke has said striker Nicolas Anelka has told him that he is considering retiring following the death of his agent. The Frenchman had already been excused from his teams Premier League game against Everton on Saturday on compassionate grounds after learning that Eric Manasse had died. British media reported the well-travelled forward had already cleared his locker at the clubs training base. There was no big bust up,he didnt storm out, Clarke was quoted as saying by the BBC. Retirement? When youre not in a good place those thoughts can come into your mind. Anelka wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday: Ive just learned with deep sadness the death of mister Eric Manasse. I cant find the words to express my huge grief and I wanted to pay condolences to the Manasse family after this tragic death.
Aus swimmers breathe easy
* The Australian Olympic Committee has decided not to impose any further sanctions on the mens freestyle relay team for the use of the sleeping tablet Stilnox at the London Olympics. AOC chief John Coates said that the penalties imposed by Swimming Australia (SA) were sufficient.
The decision comes four months after SA punished the swimmers for their bonding session at a pre-Olympic camp. The relay team James Magnussen,Eamon Sullivan,Matt Targett,James Roberts,Tommaso DOrsogna and Cameron McEvoy were fined and given suspended sentences.
The swimmers,with the exception of Roberts,admitted to taking Stilnox,which was banned by the AOC. Their misbehavior also included waking teammates with prank calls and door-knocks.
