Sports federations face obstacles in sanctioning Russian ath…

In announcing the final revealing details of Russian state-sponsored doping in a report earlier this month, Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren was clear on his mandate — investigating Russian doping but not adjudicating it. The Herculean task of doing that now falls to the international federations (IFs), who could spend months if not years pursuing anti-doping rule violations against the hundreds of athletes involved in the Russian state-sponsored system. As those federations pursue individual cases, calls remain for a larger sanction for Russia. ”I think what will be a problem is individual cases with individuals pleading I was forced to do it or I didn’t know how it was done,” said Dionne Koller, director of the Center for Sport and the Law at the

Hamšík’s Slovakia one-two sends Russia reeling

Show-stopping ball from Marek Hamšík sets Vladimír Weiss up for Slovakia's firstNapoli midfielder bends in second moments before half-timeSubstitute Denis Glushakov heads in for Russia as they go for broke at deathNext Group B games, 20 June: Russia v Wales, Slovakia v EnglandAll the build-up, match action and reaction as it happened on UEFA.comMarek Hamšík set up the first and scored the second as Slovakia shook off their opening-day disappointment, and handed sluggish Russia a finishing lesson in Group B.

Russia v Spain: Futsal EURO final preview

“I think in terms of psychology, we have the advantageSergei Skorovich, Russia coach”“Russia have very good players and those players can fill in for the suspended Eder LimaJosé Venancio López, Spain coach”The UEFA Futsal EURO 2016 final is between Russia and Spain, just as in 1996, 1999, 2005 and 2012, and all the signs are for another epic enc...

Russia take a chance on injured keeper Todua

The injured Elvira Todua has been named in Russia's 23-strong squad for UEFA Women's EURO 2013.Todua suffered a shoulder injury on 22 June as Russia claimed a 1-0 friendly victory over Ukraine despite being down to ten players for over half the game. Coach Sergei Lavrentiev has nevertheless included his first-choice goalkeeper in the party that kick-off their campaign in Sweden against Italy on 12 July.Todua is one of 11 survivors of the squad that returned for Finland four years ago after losing all three of their group games. It means there is no place for WFC Rossiyanka defender Nadezhda Koltakova and uncapped FK Kuzbass Kemerovo defender Ksenia Kovalenko, who were shorn from an initial squad of 25.Russia continued preparations

Northern Ireland v Russia fails pitch inspection

Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Russia has fallen foul of the weather for the second time in 24 hours, with hostile conditions rendering Windsor Park unplayable. PA PhotosGround staff help clear snow away from Windsor Park The Group F clash was initially due to take placeon Friday night but heavy snow and plummeting temperatures in Belfast saw the fixture postponed after three inspections by Norwegian referee Tom Hagen and the FIFA delegation. A revised kick-off time of 3pm on Saturday was set but with no let-up from the elements the referee decided to cancel the fixture, which will now need to be fitted in elsewhere in the limited international calendar. Conditions in the Northern Irish capital were arguably even worse on Friday, with