Reuters Sports News Summary

07/29/2016 0:55

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

IOC warned Rio on construction contracts five years ago: documents

The International Olympic Committee warned organizers of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro five years ago that construction contracts they drew up could give developers incentives to cut corners, presaging problems with athletes' housing that drew complaints from several countries this week, documents showed. Rio's city government, responsible for the vast majority of infrastructure projects for the Games, has used public-private partnerships, or PPPs, to get private firms to cover the cost of building venues in return for permission to build real estate on the sites.

London to host Nuggets and Pacers NBA clash

London is to host a regular-season NBA game for the seventh time when Denver Nuggets play Indiana Pacers in January, the National Basketball Association said on Thursday. The Pacers lost in the first round of last season's playoffs, while the Nuggets failed to make it that far. Neither team has played in Britain before.

MLS wants to be 'guinea pig' for video reviews

Major League Soccer in North America is fast-tracking plans to use video reviews to aid referee decisions, commissioner Don Garber said on Thursday. Garber has long been a proponent of using video to ensure crucial calls are correct, and the league recently hosted a visit to New Jersey by officials from the international rule-making body IFAB for the first ever live trials.

Volleyball: Brazil seek gold sweep on home court

In Brazil it is often said that volleyball is the country's favorite sport, because soccer is a religion. Brazil's deep well of volleyball talent and home court advantage make its women's and men's teams favorites to win gold at the Rio Games, where fervent fans should make the sport a big crowd-pleaser.

Handball: Inside job threatens European reign

European nations have long cleaned up at Olympic handball but at the Rio de Janeiro Games, their dominance may be ended by their home-grown players competing for Qatar. Since the 2012 London Olympics, the oil-rich Gulf nation has assembled a formidable roster of naturalized Europeans who helped sweep the last two men's Asian championships and took a stunning silver at last year's world championship on home soil.

Djokovic stands between Murray and second gold

Britain's Andy Murray, bristling with confidence after ending a three-year wait for another grand slam title at Wimbledon, will seek to make history in Brazil by becoming the first man to win successive Olympic gold medals in men's singles tennis. But to replicate his London Olympics triumph Murray will need to find a chink in the armor of Novak Djokovic, the proud Serb who has dominated men's tennis in recent years and now has his eye on the only major honor to elude him.

Rowing: 'Sure things' could highlight rowing in Rio

Elite level sport rarely produces 'sure things' but the New Zealand men's pair will hope to justify that label when the rowing gets underway at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Hamish Bond and Eric Murray are unbeaten in 66 successive races since being paired together following the 2008 Beijing Games and are heavy favorites to win a second Olympic gold at the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon.

Golf: Few stars left to shine in men's field

Sweden's Henrik Stenson and the United States' Bubba Watson will be vying for a gold medal in golf's return to the Olympics after 112 years, an event with less buzz than many in the sport had hoped for due to some high-profile no-shows. Watson and Stenson, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the Olympics field of 60 players, will be missing some familiar foes, since the top four men in the world -- Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy -- have controversially decided not to play in the competition, which takes place between Aug. 11 and 14.

Wawrinka advances to Toronto quarter-finals

Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka won a hard-hitting battle with American Jack Sock on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the Rogers Cup with a 7-6(3) 6-2 triumph. Wawrinka and Sock held serve throughout the first set to force a tiebreak that was won easily by Wawrinka who went on to dominate the second set where he charged out to a 4-0 lead and dropped just five points on serve to take the match.

Brazil raises infrastructure financing for Olympics

Brazil's National Monetary Council, known as CMN, said on Thursday it changed regulation to raise the limits of financing to infrastructure projects linked to the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. In a statement, the CMN, the country's highest economic policy body, said it authorized up to 5.4 billion reais in credit for projects related to the Olympics through the state development bank BNDES. The statement did not say what the previous limit was.

07/29/2016 0:55