RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) OLYMPICS
Ten Brazilians who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group were arrested Thursday, authorities announced, describing them as ”amateurs” who discussed on social media the possibility of staging attacks during next month’s Olympics.
Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said in the capital, Brasilia, that the 10 were being held on two terrorism-related charges and that two more people were being sought.
Authorities said any attack plan would have had little chance of coming to fruition, citing the group’s lack of resources and skills.
But officials and security experts argued that police were justified in being aggressive in light of ”lone wolf” attacks staged in the U.S. and Europe by men with little or no training.
Moraes said police acted because the group discussed using weapons and guerrilla tactics to potentially launch an attack during the Olympics, which begin in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5. They will remain in police custody for at least 30 days.
LONDON (AP) – Now that Russian track and field athletes have failed in their effort to have their Olympic ban overturned, it’s up to the IOC to decide whether to kick the entire Russian team out of the games that begin in Rio de Janeiro in 15 days.
In another blow to the image of the sports superpower, the highest court in sports on Thursday dismissed an appeal by 68 Russian track athletes of the ban imposed by the IAAF following allegations of systematic and state-sponsored doping.
Sports officials in Moscow condemned the ruling as ”political,” and said some athletes might take their case to civil courts. Two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva said the Rio Games will be devalued, with only ”pseudo-gold medals” available.
In its ruling, the Court of Arbitration for Sport found that track and field’s world governing body, the IAAF, had properly applied its own rules in keeping the Russians out of the games that begin Aug. 5.
The three-man panel ruled that the Russian Olympic Committee ”is not entitled to nominate Russian track and field athletes to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games considering that they are not eligible to participate under the IAAF competition rules.”
NBA
The NBA is moving the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte because of its objections to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.
The league had expressed its opposition to the law known as HB2 since it was enacted in March, and its decision Thursday came shortly after stage legislators revisited the law and chose to leave it largely unchanged.
The league added that it hoped to announce a new location for next February’s events shortly. It hopes to reschedule the 2019 game for Charlotte if there is a resolution to the matter.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) – Oklahoma State forward Tyrek Coger has died after collapsing during a team workout.
The school said Thursday that the 21-year-old junior college transfer was pronounced dead at Stillwater Medical Center.
Coger, from Raleigh, North Carolina, played last season for Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina. The 6-foot-8 player arrived at Oklahoma State on July 5.
”Tyrek was excited to be at Oklahoma State and had such passion for the game and was looking forward to being an OSU Cowboy,” coach Brad Underwood said. ”Losing a member of the team is like losing a member of the family. But we know our loss pales in comparison to the pain his family is going through.”
