Zurich’s five-star Baur Au Lac hotel may soon be offering Fifa executives special packages incorporating full board and luxury dawn transfer to the local police station after two more vice-presidents were arrested as part of the investigation into corruption at football’s world ruling body. Juan Ángel Napout and Alfredo Hawit, respectively the Paraguayan and Honduran heads of the South American federation, Conmebol, were among 16 more officials indicted on corruption charges in the US. Charges have been brought against 27 named individuals alongside a further 24 unnamed co-conspirators. Fifa’s ethics committee suspended Napout and Hawit for 90 days.
Hamburg ends Olympic bid
It was another less-than-golden week for the Olympic movement. First, Hamburg’s bid for the 2024 Games collapsed after residents decided that even at a relatively frugal projected $12bn cost it was not worth the expense, although Paris, Los Angeles, Budapest and Rome remain in the race. Then a report into the offshore waterways for Olympic sailing at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 revealed high levels of sewage-related bacteria and rated “the chance of infection very likely” for competitors. At least the prospect of plastic-wrapped yachtsmen and women could make for an entertaining spectacle in its own right.
India see off South Africa
South Africa’s miserable Test series in India concluded with a 337-run defeat in Delhi, the series finishing 3-0 to the hosts. In their final innings, the visitors were all out for 143, with Ravichandran Ashwin taking five wickets for 61 for India. For better or worse, international cricket’s relentless schedule gives South Africa little time to reflect on the loss, with an upcoming Test series against England beginning in Durban on 26 December. The West Indies, meanwhile, made a less than auspicious start to their tour of Australia, suffering a 10-wicket drubbing by a youthful Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane.
‘Sexist’ Fury stirs up a furore
Britain’s newly crowned world heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury, wasted little time in souring his relationship with the public by airing some unsavoury views on the world. Fury was shortlisted for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year after defeating Wladimir Klitscho last month, but a campaign to remove him from the list reached 75,000 signatures after reported homophobic and sexist comments by the boxer. Even Fury agreed he might not be the most suitable recipient: “Hopefully I don’t win … I’m not the best role model in the world for the kids, give it to someone who would appreciate it,” he tweeted. Whether the British TV viewing public – who vote for the winner on 20 December – will take heed, remains to be seen.
