LONDON (Reuters) – The all-female W Series, which announced its first major sponsor at the weekend, is talking to several global brands amid increased interest in women’s sport at boardroom level, according to chief executive Catherine Bond Muir.

The fledgling series has teamed up with Williams Formula One title sponsors ROKiT, who also back the Monaco-based Venturi Formula E team.

A source indicated the deal was worth 10 million pounds ($12.83 million) over three years.

Both Williams and Venturi are run by women, Claire Williams and Susie Wolff, while inaugural W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is a Williams development driver.

“Three years ago nearly 98 percent of global sponsorship was going into male sport. And we all know that the world has changed fundamentally in the last two years,” Bond Muir told Reuters.

“A lot of boards are saying you cannot put our sponsorship into male-only sports any more.”

Bond Muir, who has said her series should break even in year three with sponsorship key to initial revenue generation, pointed also to the Olympic movement’s promise of gender equality across all sports at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The W Series aims to help female racers climb the male-dominated motorsport ladder towards Formula One, which last saw a woman start a race in 1976, and has plans to expand beyond Europe.

“I think in the next few years we will grow into a global sport business,” said Bond Muir.

“Where we’ve been lucky is we launched in a year where female sport exploded and there is increased interest in us for next year.

“We are having some fantastically interesting conversations at the moment, with proper global brands who understand what our journey is and hopefully they will come on board with us for that journey.”

British entrepreneur Jonathan Kendrick, co-founder of the ROK group that includes telecoms company ROKiT, said the W Series sponsorship made business sense and had grown from the involvement with Williams.

“Originally this wasn’t a conscious decision to target female centric teams,” he said in an emailed response to Reuters.

“As we… got to know Claire (Williams), we met other talented and dedicated women in the sport. I believe if more women were supported, in a sport where women have historically been marginalized, motorsports could open up to an even wider audience.”

Bond Muir also expressed admiration for Alejandro Agag, founder of the all-electric Formula E, and suggested her series could eventually follow his lead.

“Our progression of engine is going to be an interesting story. Are we going to have a more powerful engine in the future or do we stay at this level? I think there are lots of areas and places we could move to,” she said.

“Looking long term into the future, I wouldn’t want to be using a petrol engine. That’s not the way the world is going. Certainly we have to think about hybridisation or electric. Of course we do.”

Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Browns can’t even win without some kind of theatrics. And, once again, Odell Beckham is in the middle of the latest drama.

Nick Chubb ran for 106 yards — 99 after halftime — and Baker Mayfield and Kareem Hunt had rushing touchdowns as Cleveland kept its faint hopes alive Sunday with a 27-19 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, who outplayed the Browns but couldn’t get their second win.

Denzel Ward returned an interception 61 yards for Cleveland’s first score, and the Browns (6-7) got a huge late break when Mayfield’s third interception was reversed with a rare interference call to bounce back after a discouraging loss at Pittsburgh last week.

“We came together as a team,” Mayfield said, “and this gives us some hope and positivity.”

But as has been the case throughout this season of great expectations, the Browns couldn’t avoid being dragged into more needless distractions.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield answers questions after an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Cleveland. The Browns won 27-19. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Yet another episode broke out involving Beckham, their talented wide receiver whose arrival in March triggered unrealistic goals. Beckham’s first season hasn’t gone as planned and before the game, one report surfaced that he’ll undergo offseason surgery to repair a sports hernia that has bothered him since training camp. Another report said he wants out of Cleveland.

Following the game, Beckham had little to say about either subject.

“I’m not going to talk about any offseason stuff that’s going on,” he said. “I’m used to it. I’ve been dealing with if for three or four years. It’s just the same thing that is going on. Not anything I can’t handle.”

Beckham spoke softly in front of his locker before leaving FirstEnergy Stadium with his head covered by a hooded blue jacket. Earlier this week, the three-time Pro Bowler was vague about his future in Cleveland, fueling speculation he wants to be dealt for the second time in less than a year. He had just two catches for 39 yards.

Mayfield defended his teammate, saying Beckham’s sole motivation is to help the Browns. He also took a shot at Cleveland’s medical staff, saying Beckham’s injury should have been treated differently.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) can’t hold onto the ball under pressure from Cincinnati Bengals cornerback William Jackson (22) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Cleveland. 
(AP)

“It wasn’t handled right in our training room,” Mayfield said. “I think it could have been addressed early on.”

It wasn’t handled right in our training room. I think it could have been addressed early on.

— Baker Mayfield

Later, Mayfield attempted to clarify his remarks on Twitter.

“My intentions were not to throw our medical staff under the bus,” Mayfield wrote. “No I don’t know all the facts about Odell’s injury. It was emotionally answered because I can sense his frustration and I care about my team and putting us in the best position to win.”

The Browns can still make the playoffs, but they need to run the table to have any chance of ending their 17-year postseason drought, the NFL’s current longest.

“We are still fighting,” said wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who had four catches for 76 yards, including a late 34-yarder that helped put away the Bengals. “We are in it until they tell us we are out.”

The Bengals (1-12) couldn’t build on their win last week over the Jets and have dropped 19 of 21 over the past two seasons.

Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon rushed for a career-high 146 yards and scored a TD. Bengals kicker Randy Bullock had field goals of 34, 44, 28 and 46 yards, the last with 12 seconds to go.

The Bengals outgained the Browns 451-333 and topped them in every statistical category but the final score.

“We should’ve won that game, but the best thing about it is we get to see them in three more weeks in Cincinnati,” Mixon said. “They’ve got to come to us. I’m excited and I can’t wait.”

Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov said on Monday that Moscow had done everything to try and resolve its doping scandal, after Russia was banned from the world’s top sporting events for four years.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Moscow from events including the next summer and winter Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup, for tampering with laboratory data.

“Everything possible was done to resolve this situation. Everything possible,” Kolobkov told reporters at a news conference in Moscow.

Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Catherine Evans

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LAUSANNE/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia was banned from the Olympics and other major world championships on Monday after sporting officials decided to punish it for tampering with doping-related laboratory data in another blow to Russia’s already tarnished sporting reputation.

FILE PHOTO: A man stands in front of the Olympic rings outside the headquarters of the Olympic Committee of Russia in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

The decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), imposed a four-year ban on Russia participating in a range of top-flight sporting tournaments, a period covering the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 soccer World Cup.

WADA’s executive committee took the decision after concluding that Moscow had tampered with laboratory data by planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug cheats.

The decision to punish Russia with a ban was unanimous, a WADA spokesman said.

Russia, which has tried to showcase itself as a global sports power, has been embroiled in doping scandals since a 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.

Its doping woes have grown since, with many of its athletes sidelined from the past two Olympics and the country stripped of its flag altogether at last year’s Pyeongchang Winter Games as punishment for state-sponsored doping cover-ups at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Monday’s sanctions, which also include a four-year ban on Russia hosting major sporting events, were recommended by WADA’s compliance review committee in response to the doctored laboratory data provided by Moscow earlier this year.

One of the conditions for the reinstatement of Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, which was suspended in 2015 in the wake of the athletics doping scandal but reinstated last year, had been that Moscow provide an authentic copy of the laboratory data.

The sanctions effectively strip the agency of its accreditation.

RUSADA head Yuri Ganus could not be immediately be reached for comment. His deputy, Margarita Pakhnotskaya, told the TASS news agency that WADA’s decision had been expected.

Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov last month attributed the discrepancies in the laboratory data to technical issues.

Russia’s punishment leaves the door open for clean Russian athletes to compete at major international sporting events without their flag or anthem for the next four years, something they did at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Some Russian officials have tried to cast WADA’s behavior as part of what they say is a broader Western attempt to hold back the country.

Igor Lebedev, a lawmaker and deputy speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, said on Monday the move was a serious blow to Russian sport that required a tough response from Russia’s authorities, the RIA news agency reported.

If RUSADA appeals WADA’s punishment, the case will be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Editing by Andrew Osborn and Angus MacSwan

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Russian flag and national anthem were banned from next year’s Tokyo Olympics and other major sports events for four years on Monday.

Russia also risks being stripped of its hosting duties for world championships in Olympic sports after the World Anti-Doping Agency executive committee approved a full slate of recommended sanctions as punishment for state authorities tampering with a Moscow laboratory database.

Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in major events only if they are not implicated in positive doping tests or if their data was not manipulated, according to the WADA ruling.

Still, it is unclear how the ruling will affect Russian teams taking part in world championships such as soccer’s World Cup.

Russia’s anti-doping agency can appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days.

Legal fallout from the WADA ruling seems sure to dominate preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, which open on July 24.

Alexander Zubkov of Russia carries the national flag as he leads the team during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Model Irina Shayk, left, is seen carrying the Russian placard.
(AP)

Evidence shows that Russian authorities tampered with a Moscow laboratory database to hide hundreds of potential doping cases and falsely shift the blame onto whistleblowers, WADA investigators and the International Olympic Committee said last month.

“Flagrant manipulation” of the Moscow lab data was “an insult to the sporting movement worldwide,” the IOC said last month.

However, WADA’s inability to fully expel Russia from the Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games frustrated the doping watchdog’s vice president.

“I’m not happy with the decision we made today. But this is as far as we could go,” said Linda Helleland, a Norwegian lawmaker who serves on WADA executive committee and has long pushed for a tougher line against Russia. “This is the biggest sports scandal the world has ever seen. I would expect now a full admission from the Russians and for them to apologize on all the pain all the athletes and sports fans have experienced.”

Handing over a clean database to WADA was a key requirement for Russia to help bring closure to a scandal that has tainted the Olympics over the last decade.

Although the IOC has called for the strongest possible sanctions, it wants those sanctions directed at Russian state authorities rather than athletes or Olympic officials.

An employee walks into the building of the Russia’s national drug-testing laboratory in Moscow, Russia, on May 24, 2016.
(AP)

That position was opposed by most of WADA’s athlete commission. It wanted the kind of blanket ban Russia avoided for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games after a state-run doping program was exposed by media and WADA investigations after Russia hosted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

“This entire fiasco created by Russia has cheated far too many athletes of their dreams and rightful careers, for far too long,” the WADA athlete panel said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

Russia previously signaled it would appeal the ruling. That must be filed by the Russian anti-doping agency, known as RUSADA. That body was declared non-compliant on Monday, 15 months after it was reinstated by WADA in defiance of athlete opposition.

The decision to appeal has been stripped from RUSADA Chief Executive Yuri Ganus, an independent figure criticizing Russian authorities’ conduct on the doping data issue. Authority was passed to the agency’s supervisory board after an intervention led by the Russian Olympic Committee.

The ROC on Saturday labeled the expected sanctions as “illogical and inappropriate.”

Russia has stuck to its claim that deceptive edits in the data were in fact made by WADA’s star witness, Grigory Rodchenkov. The former Moscow lab director’s flight into the witness protection program in the United States was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary.

Technical reasons were claimed — and debunked by WADA investigators — for why the data appeared to have been edited shortly before the delayed handover in January.

FILE PHOTO: A man stands in front of the Olympic rings outside the headquarters of the Olympic Committee of Russia in Moscow, Russia November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will learn later on Monday whether it will be hit with a four-year Olympic ban for tampering with doping-related laboratory data, a decision local officials have said they fear may not be taken fairly.

Russia, which has tried to showcase itself as a global sports power, has been embroiled in doping scandals since a 2015 report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.

Its doping woes have grown since, with many of its athletes sidelined from the past two Olympics and the country stripped of its flag altogether at last year’s Pyeongchang Winter Games as punishment for state-sponsored doping cover-ups at the 2014 Sochi Games.

In focus this time are findings from WADA which concluded that Moscow had tampered with laboratory data by planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug cheats.

Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov last month attributed the discrepancies in the laboratory data to technical issues.

WADA’s executive committee will convene in Lausanne later on Monday to decide how to respond to the issue.

It will rule on whether to ban the country from hosting major sporting events for four years and whether to force its clean athletes to compete without their flag or anthem for the same period. [nL8N28G2ZM]

The recommendations for punishment it will examine do not include a blanket ban on Russian participation in international sport, however, and leave the door open for clean Russian athletes to compete at major international sporting events as neutrals, as was the case during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

RUSADA, Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA could be stripped of its accreditation for the second time in four years as part of the same doping sanctions.

Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Todd Gurley flattened Tre Flowers with a brutal stiff arm on his path to Los Angeles’ final touchdown, the Rams delivered a clear message right to the face of the Seahawks and the NFL.

Although it’s too soon to say whether the Rams solved their offensive problems in time to make the playoffs, the team that dazzled the league in the past two seasons will be dangerous down the stretch.

“We’re finally playing the way we should have been playing,” Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald said.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS’ RASHAAD PENNY WAS GIFTED TOUCHDOWN VS. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Jared Goff passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns, Gurley ran for 79 yards and that decisive fourth-quarter TD and the Rams prevented Seattle from clinching a playoff berth with a 28-12 victory Sunday night.

From start to finish in their final game under the Coliseum lights, the Rams (8-5) looked like their most dangerous selves of the previous two seasons. In their fifth win in seven games, the Rams had little trouble derailing the powerful Seahawks’ five-game winning streak.

“I think this is a different team now with a different mentality,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “I think we’re shooting our shot in the next three weeks. You can certainly see signs of last year. You don’t control your future, but we control how we come out here.”

Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp caught TD passes while the Rams kept their playoff hopes burning with an aggressive, inventive game plan on both sides of the ball. They also left the Seahawks reeling from their first road defeat of the season after sacking Russell Wilson five times.

Los Angeles still trails Minnesota (9-4) by a game for the second wild card spot and its third straight playoff berth, but its chances improved with this critical division win.

The Seahawks (10-3) fell out of first place in the NFC West with just their second loss since Sept. 22.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) is sacked by Los Angeles Rams linebacker Obo Okoronkwo, left, and linebacker Travin Howard during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

“This was a rough night,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We did not do what we planned to do at all. You’ve got to hand it to them. They played great. They did everything they wanted to do.”

Wilson passed for 245 yards amid constant pressure from the Rams. Quandre Diggs returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter, but it was the Seahawks’ only touchdown.

“Obviously it felt like we weren’t ourselves out there,” said Seattle tight end Jacob Hollister, who had a key drop. “They outplayed us, and we’ve just got to keep working.

Woods had seven catches for 98 yards and his first touchdown of the season, and tight end Tyler Higbee had seven catches for a career-high 116 yards as the Rams looked like the thrilling offensive unit led by coach Sean McVay in his first two seasons.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS NARROWLY AVOID FORFEIT AFTER EQUIPMENT SENT TO NEW JERSEY INSTEAD OF MASSACHUSETTS

McVay called a clever game full of jet sweeps and tricky schemes. He also continued to give more late-season action to Gurley, who responded emphatically.

These NFC West rivals’ first meeting of the season was decided by the Rams’ missed field goal with 11 seconds left two months ago in Seattle. Los Angeles didn’t let it get nearly that close this time.

The Rams’ offense started off with two touchdown drives. Malcolm Brown punched in the opening TD after Higbee’s 33-yard reception put Los Angeles on the goal line, and Woods then caught a short TD pass to cap an 85-yard drive.

Goff led another TD drive late in the first half, connecting with Kupp from 10 yards out with 51 seconds left, while Wilson was left frustrated by the Rams’ defense and his own receivers’ drops.

Goff and Woods miscommunicated at midfield on the opening drive of the second half, and Diggs returned it untouched for his second career touchdown and his second interception in his first four games with Seattle.

Diggs grabbed his third interception for the Seahawks on the next series, catching an overthrown pass by Goff. Former USC star Rasheem Green then blocked a field goal attempt by the Rams, but Seattle’s offense was unable to capitalize, with Wilson repeatedly getting rocked by blitzing Rams.

Los Angeles’ final 95-yard TD drive ended with Gurley flooring Flowers.

An equipment fiasco nearly ended in disaster for the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of their highly anticipated matchup against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

A container holding some of their team’s shoulder pads, helmets and footballs was sent to Newark, N.J., by accident, but it safely arrived in Foxborough, Mass., after the team rushed it back to Boston for arguably its biggest game of the season, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The outlet reported that the Chiefs were responsible for the mishap after the team never took the equipment — which included about 35 of the players’ bags — off a plane.

At 2:39 p.m., CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson posted a picture on Twitter of workers carrying Chiefs equipment bags through Gillette Stadium.

“Crisis Averted! Chiefs equipment bags have arrived,” she wrote.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes throwing a pass during a game against the Indianapolis Colts this past October. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)

If the Chiefs had failed to locate or retrieve the equipment before the 4:25 p.m. kickoff, they would have needed to forfeit, sources told ESPN.

A Chiefs spokesman confirmed to ESPN that the equipment did, in fact, arrive on time.

“I never heard that before,” a source told the outlet.

FILE PHOTO: Dec 1, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a Kansas City Chiefs helmet during the first half against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo

(Reuters) – Police in the American state of Massachusetts must have felt split loyalties as they provided an escort for football gear ahead of Sunday’s National Football League game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs.

While most on the force no doubt support the Patriots, who are revered in the sports-mad region, duty called when much of the Chiefs’ gear was late arriving in Boston after a shipping mix-up.

The Chiefs even faced the prospect of having to forfeit the game after an equipment container somehow ended up in Newark, New Jersey in what a team spokesman called an “honest mistake”.

“As much as we wouldn’t mind a forfeit for #PatsNation, but we did escort the delayed @Chiefs equipment from Logan to Foxboro. Game time can go as scheduled. #GoPats,” Massachusetts state police announced on Twitter.

ESPN reported that the equipment container held shoulder pads and helmets for about 35 Kansas City players.

It was a close shave, but video posted on Twitter showed a golf cart transporting Chiefs gear in the bowels of the Gillette Stadium a couple of hours before the game in Foxborough.

The match-up between the Tom Brady-led Patriots (10-2) and Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs (8-4) was one of the most eagerly anticipated of the round.

Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Toby Davis

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

NFL players will do just about anything within the rules to get an advantage over their opponents, just as NFL coaches take extra precautions to keep their plays away from the curious eyes of opposing teams.

For Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White — one of the best players on their roster — all he needed was a little help Sunday from Mother Nature to get a leg up on the Baltimore Ravens amid gusty conditions in Orchard Park, New York.

During the third quarter at New Era Field, a gust of wind caused Ravens special-teams coach Randy Brown to lose what appeared to be pictures of the team’s plays, sending some of the pages onto the field, ESPN noted.

Ravens players and referees reportedly scooped up most of the notes, but not before White picked up a few pages and was caught on camera analyzing them for a few seconds.

CBS Sports cameras captured the funny interaction.

Tre’Davious White of the Buffalo Bills during a game against the Denver Broncos last month. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images, File)

Unfortunately for White, the sneak peek didn’t translate to a victory for the Bills against a better Ravens team. They were defeated 24-17 on Sunday afternoon and fell to 9-4.

The Ravens moved to 11-2 and kept rolling on top of the AFC.