Russia

Russian sport is at the centre of a major doping scandal following allegations of corruption and systematic doping, including the reported admission of drug use by an Olympic champion runner and cover-up and extortion involving a three-time Chicago Marathon winner.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, president and chief executive of the organising committee for the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has been appointed as the new president of pan-European ice hockey competition the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

The Red Bull Air Race World Championship has added new events in Japan and Russia to its 2015 calendar.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has warned that the city of Kaliningrad could lose the right to stage matches during the country’s hosting of the 2018 Fifa World Cup national football team tournament unless it resolves a dispute over the site of its stadium this week.

Russia is set to return to the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) after Moscow Raceway was confirmed on the provisional calendar for the 2015 season of the motorcycling series.

Fifa’s investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has come under further fire after the two whistleblowers at the centre of corruption allegations lodged formal complaints that their confidentiality had been breached.

Fifa’s claim that a “degree of closure” has been reached in the investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was thrown into question this (Thursday) afternoon after Michael Garcia, chairman of the investigatory chamber of Fifa’s Ethics Committee, said that he planned to file an appeal against the report issued on the matter.

Russia and Qatar can continue with their preparations for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups after the chairman of Fifa’s adjudicatory chamber, Hans-Joachim Eckert, today (Thursday) cleared the two nations of impropriety in their bids for the events.

The Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) top-tier club competition has entered into a partnership with the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) as part of an effort to help protect Russian football from threats to the safety, security and integrity of the game ahead of the country’s hosting of the 2018 Fifa World Cup.

The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) has awarded its 2015 World Games multi-sport event to the Russian city of Sochi.

Security at the 2018 Fifa World Cup national team football tournament in Russia should be “effective but not intrusive,” according to the country’s President, Vladimir Putin.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has hailed Russia’s preparations for the 2018 World Cup and reiterated that sporting boycotts are not the answer to disquiet over political issues.

Alexey Sorokin, chief executive of Russia’s organising committee for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, has warned that the country’s budget for hosting the national team football tournament will not be increased despite a significant drop in the value of the national ruble currency.

In the fourth in a series of five mini reports on sports event hosting, in association with the Ultimate Sports Cities rankings, we take a look at tourism and public interest. There is a discussion of the latest thinking around tourism and public interest, and case studies looking at the top five cities in the category of tourism and public interest in this year's rankings - London, Melbourne, Sochi, Copenhagen and Calgary.

German sportswear giant Adidas has announced plans to return as much as €1.5bn ($1.92bn) to shareholders over the next three years as it seeks to address concerns over its underperforming share price.

Sochi has boosted its winter Olympics sports event legacy plans by agreeing a three-year deal to host a round of the Red Bull Air Race series at the Olympic Park from 2015.