Paris: The French Football Federation sent players a stern warning over their future conduct on Thursday by banning midfielder Yann M'Vila from the national team until the end of June 2014 for going to a nightclub during the playoffs for the 2013 Under-21 European Championship. He will miss the 2014 World Cup, which runs from June 12-July 13, the FFF said after a disciplinary committee meeting, which M'Vila attended. Although...
03:29 PM, Nov 09, 2012
New York: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced it will not appeal against the decision to ban American cyclist Lance Armstrong for life and strip him of his seven Tour de France titles. WADA had the option of challenging the ruling that was made by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and backed by the International Cycling Union (UCI). "WADA has no concerns as to the complete process and...
09:36 AM, Nov 03, 2012
Paris/London: Google denied a newspaper report on Wednesday that it had received a 1 billion euro tax claim from the French authorities. The weekly Canard Enchaine said in an unsourced report that the French Tax Administration was looking into whether Google's practice of charging French advertisers via its European headquarters in Ireland led it to underpay taxes in France. European Union rules on freedom of trade within the bloc generally...
12:38 AM, Nov 01, 2012
Paris: Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins won the prestigous Velo d'Or award as the best rider of 2012. Briton Wiggins beat Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders winner Tom Boonen and Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez in a poll of cycling journalists set up by French publication, Velo Magazine. In addition to the Tour de France, Wiggins also won the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie, Criterium du Dauphine and the Olympic time trial...
03:18 PM, Oct 30, 2012
No one will replace Lance Armstrong as winner of the Tour de France from 1999-2005 after the American was stripped of the titles for doping, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Friday. "With respect to Lance Armstrong and the implications of the USADA sanctions which it endorsed on Monday 22 October, the Management Committee decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any...
09:00 PM, Oct 26, 2012
Paris: Spaniard Alberto Contador expressed support on Wednesday for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong saying the American was being "humiliated and lynched" by doping accusations which have led to the stripping of his seven Tour de France titles. "It seems to me that at certain times and in certain places Lance is not being treated with any respect," Contador, a double Tour champion who returned from a two-year doping ban in...
12:20 AM, Oct 25, 2012
Paris: While the sports world comes to terms with the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, Tour de France organisers unveiled a mountainous, prestigious route for the 100th edition of the world's greatest cycling race on Wednesday. The 2013 Tour, which will start from Corsica, will take l'Alpe d'Huez's 21 hairpins twice in the same stage, go up the gruelling Mont Ventoux and end at dusk on the Champs Elysees. But with...
04:22 PM, Oct 24, 2012
After being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles Armstrong has been asked to return the prize money of 4 million US dollar. ...
09:51 PM, Oct 23, 2012
Oslo: Norwegian cyclist Steffen Kjaergaard, who competed with the disgraced Lance Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service team in the Tour de France in 2000 and 2001, admitted to doping on Tuesday. "When I was a part of the U.S Postal Service team, everything was organised by the team. I did not need to arrange for a doctor or do anything by myself," retired Kjaergaard told a news conference. "The...
06:28 PM, Oct 23, 2012
London: Californian sunglasses maker Oakley has ended a sponsorship of Lance Armstrong that began 25 years ago when he was a teenage triathlete after the American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles over a doping scandal. Oakley, owned by Italy's Luxottica (LUX.MI), became the latest sponsor to drop Armstrong after the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Monday ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's sanctions against the 41-year-old,...
09:18 AM, Oct 23, 2012
USADA banned Lance Armstrong for life on Monday on the grounds of doping and asserted that there's no place for cheats like him in cycling. ...
10:49 PM, Oct 22, 2012
The International Cycling Union has stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles after the United States Anti-Doping Agency brought out a guilty verdict against the iconic star. ...
07:07 PM, Oct 22, 2012
Geneva: Cycling's governing body agreed on Monday to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life, following a report from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams. UCI President Pat McQuaid announced that the federation accepted the USADA's report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The...
05:02 PM, Oct 22, 2012
Paris: France's foreign minister says Iran appears on track to reach the ability to produce a nuclear weapon by the first half of next year. France is one of six countries that have negotiated with Tehran over its nuclear program, which Iran insists is peaceful. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe-1 radio Sunday that unspecified experts "have established in an absolutely indisputable way" that Iran has compiled a full array...
03:41 AM, Oct 22, 2012
Genoa: Francesco Totti has collected his 217th goal in Serie A to become the third most prolific scorer on the Italian league's all-time list. The Roma captain found the net with a low, angled shot in the 27th minute of Roma's match at Genoa on Sunday, cutting Genoa's lead to 2-1. Totti had been tied with Giuseppe Meazza and Jose Altafini on 216 goals. Silvio Piola holds the record with...
12:11 AM, Oct 22, 2012
Paris: The Lance Armstrong doping scandal reaches a decisive day on Monday when cycling's governing body announces whether it has ratified the US Anti-Doping Agency's sanctions but whatever happens the affair is set to run and run. International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid will hold a news conference at 1100 GMT on Monday at which he is widely expected to confirm that Armstrong, 41, is banned for life and...
10:14 AM, Oct 21, 2012
"This mission is bigger than me - it's bigger than any individual," Lance Armstrong said on the 15th anniversary of his cancer foundation Livestrong, three days after stepping down as the chairman. ...
12:58 PM, Oct 20, 2012
Austin: Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong told supporters of his Livestrong cancer charity on Friday that it had been a difficult couple of weeks but the foundation's mission must go on. The seven-time Tour de France winner stepped down as the foundation's chairman on Wednesday after a doping scandal badly tarnished his cycling career. But Armstrong still took the stage at a gala dinner in Austin, Texas, on Friday to celebrate...
10:01 AM, Oct 20, 2012
Shanghai: American cyclist Lance Armstrong's fall from grace sent a clear message to sportsmen and women around the world that the anti-doping agencies are determined to catch drug cheats no matter who they are, World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) head John Fahey said here Friday. Last week US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) revealed a report of 1,000 pages, including testimonies of Armstrong's 11 former teammates, on systematic doping in the former US...
04:47 PM, Oct 19, 2012
Paris: Spint ace Mark Cavendish is leaving Team Sky in order to fulfil his Tour de France ambitions after spending this year's race serving as a domestique for race winner Bradley Wiggins, the British team said on Thursday. Briton Cavendish, the 2011 world champion who has 23 Tour de France stage wins, will join Belgian team Omega Pharma-Quick Step for the 2013 season. Sky's Team Principal Dave Brailsford said Cavendish...
11:52 PM, Oct 18, 2012
