THURSDAY, 12.00NOON:
THE South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) has had to reduc the number of drug tests conducted during the British Lions tour of South Africa because of a lapse in government funding.
Sarfu medical officer Dr Ismail Jakoet said Sarfu will only cut down the number of tests done. Only one player per mid-week match will be tested, “so that we have a bigger budget to test more players before the test matches”, Jakoet said.
He said new parliamentary legislation has to be passed to make the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS) a statutory body, and “once that happens, we will be eligible for department of sport funding”.
He estimates that the legislation will only be passed in about two months’ time, so there will be limited testing during the entire British Lions tour.
SPORT BRIEFS
LEOPARDS CHANGE THEIR SPOTS THE Democratic Republic of Congo changed its soccer team’s name on Wednesday, from Leopards to Simbas.
R20m FOR BOLAND RUGBY BROADCASTING company M-Net announced on Wednesday it will fund Boland Rugby Union for two years, and R20-million.
FIRST TEST SELL-OUT The rugby test match between the British Lions and South Africa at King’s Park Stadium in Durban on June 28 has been sold out. Other test matches will be played in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
CHIEFS TO CHINA SOWETO-based soccer team Kaizer Chiefs will make an eight-day tour to China at the end of June, to face various star Chinese soccer sides. The tour was organised by the Sino-SA Economy organisation, to strengthen links between the two countries.