Weekly Digest (June 29-July 5) - From Bottas' win at Austria to Bayern's double

Formula One returned to action for the season's first race at the Austrian Grand Prix while Real Madrid moved four points clear off Barcelona in La Liga.

Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris on the podium at the end of Austrian Grand Prix.

CRICKET

Sri Lanka police dropped the investigation of match-fixing allegations in the 2011 World Cup final.

 

West Indies great Everton Weekes died at the age of 95 at his home in Barbados after a long battle with ill health.( REPORT )

Shashank Manohar has formally stepped down as the International Cricket Council chairman after heading cricket’s global governing body for four years.( REPORT )

India’s Nitin Menon has been inducted into the ICC Elite Panel of umpires.( REPORT )

The Sri Lankan Police on Friday ended its investigation into allegations that the country’s 2011 World Cup final loss to India was fixed, saying it found no evidence after recording statements of stalwarts like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.( REPORT )

Led by Quinton de Kock, South Africa’s 44 cricketers, who are part of a men’s high performance squad, have returned to training amid the COVID-19 pandemic after getting approval from the country’s sports ministry. ( REPORT )

England captain Joe Root will miss the first Test against the West Indies next week to be at the birth of his second child. Ben Stokes will lead England for the first time. Jos Buttler will assume vice-captain duties. ( REPORT )

Ravindra Jadeja has been named as India’s most valuable Test player in the 21st century by the Wisden magazine. With an MVP rating of 97.3, the 31-year-old Jadeja was also rated as the second-most valuable Test player worldwide, behind Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan. ( REPORT ) 

FOOTBALL

Sterling celebrates scoring for Manchester City against Liverpool.

 

Manchester City handed out a 4-0 thrashing for the newly crowned Premier League champion Liverpool. ( REPORT )

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has been named as one of the directors of the merged Indian Super League franchise ATK-Mohun Bagan ahead of the upcoming season. ( REPORT )

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has called off negotiations over renewing his contract with the club and is ready to leave the Catalan when his current deal expires in 2021, according to a report. ( REPORT )

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Challenge Cup kick-off brought in record-breaking viewership as the league became the first in North America to return from the COVID-19 shutdown. ( REPORT )

Spanish giant Real Madrid has taken the final step towards officially launching its women's team after the Spanish football federation approved a deal to merge with CD Tacon. ( REPORT )

Spain's secretary for sport Irene Lozano and La Liga president Javier Tebas have categorically ruled out fans returning to matches before the end of this season to minimise the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading. ( REPORT )

Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich has reached an agreement with Manchester City to sign winger Leroy Sane in a deal worth 45 million euros ($50.56 million) plus add-ons. ( REPORT )

Lionel Messi scored his 700th career goal in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid. Barca is now seven points behind leader Real Madrid. ( REPORT ) 

Player transfers in Germany can be registered on July 1 for one day, then another transfer period will run from July 15 to October 5. ( REPORT )

Bayern Munich kept its hopes of a treble alive after a dominant 4-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen to lift the German Cup for a record-extending 20th time. ( REPORT )

TENNIS
 

Frances Tiafoe has tested positive for the coronavirus (File Photo).

 

Frances Tiafoe became the latest player to test positive for coronavirus. ( REPORT )

Up to 60% of the usual capacity will be allowed inside the Roland Garros grounds for the 2020 edition of the French Open. ( REPORT )

Roland Garros has announced that the sale of tickets will begin from July 9. ( REPORT )

Novak Djokovic and his wife have tested negative for the coronavirus, 10 days after announcing they had contracted the disease. ( REPORT )

Wimbledon's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year will have no major financial impact on British tennis, according to the outgoing All England club Chief Executive Richard Lewis. ( REPORT )

HOCKEY

Multiple state governing bodies in India have expressed their objections at Hockey India's one-state one-team policy for the National Championships.

 

Hockey greats from Mumbai have written to Kiren Rijiju and seeking continuity of full membership for Mumbai Hockey Association. ( REPORT )

Hockey India launched an open application submission system for registration of its coaches and technical officials. ( REPORT )

Bengaluru Hockey Association (BHA) and Hockey Coorg expressed serious concern over Hockey India’s one State-one association policy, which came into effect on July 1. ( REPORT )
 

TABLE TENNIS

Former Olympian Neha Aggarwal donned the role of a saviour as she partnered with ace paddlers G. Sathiyan and A. Sharath Kamal to raise funds for the needy in the table tennis fraternity. The initiative, called ‘Our Chance To Serve’, crossed its target of 10 lakhs within a week. ( REPORT )

MOTORSPORT

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas won a dramatic first race of the delayed Formula One season in Austria. Charles Leclerc finished a surprise second for Ferrari with McLaren's Lando Norris taking his first podium. ( REPORT )

A few hours before the opening race of the season, Red Bull appealed against Mercedes' Dual-Axis Steering (DAS) system, only for it to be turned down again. Here's what the controversial technology is all about:

 

BADMINTON

China's two-time Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan announced his retirement from the sport in a social media post on Saturday. ( REPORT )

ATHLETICS

Wilson Kipsang, a former marathon world record holder, has been banned for four years for violating anti-doping rules. ( REPORT )

AFI chief Adille Sumariwalla said if Hima Das, who has been fighting back issues, is unable to take the load of 400m, she will be switched to the 200m category. ( REPORT )

The salary cap of Rs 2 lakh has been removed in a bid to encourage coaches to produce better results and attract former players to become high-performance trainers. ( REPORT )

BOXING

 

The Boxing Federation of India’s plan to resume the national camp for Olympic-bound pugilists in Patiala is expected to materialise in the first week of July as the “requisite permissions” are “finally coming through". ( REPORT )

Former world boxing champion Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran was wheeled out of a hospital amid applause from medical staff after recovering from the coronavirus. ( REPORT )

Asian Games gold-winning former boxer Dingko Singh has recovered from COVID-19, testing negative for the deadly virus on Friday over a month after the cancer-stricken legend was hospitalised in Imphal. ( REPORT )