World Rugby Creates First Women's World Rankings -- Federations Focus

(ATR) Women’s test rugby teams now have their first official global ranking system since women’s rugby matches began in 1987.

Thenew ranking system is based on the same criteria as the men’s rankingsystem and was created after analyzing every result from officialinternational matches dating back to those first played 28-years ago.

NewZealand takes the top spot in the first rankings released on Feb. 1.This could change as early as this weekend as three of the top fiveteams face off this weekend at the RBS 6 Nations.

The weightedsystem offers points to the winning team proportional to the differencein ranking points between the two teams prior to the match.

"WorldRugby is committed to driving forward the competitiveness of thewomen's game and the new rankings are yet another significantmilestone," said World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset.

Lapassetsays the system encourages more rugby unions to play internationalmatches to increase exposure and prepare for the 2017 Rugby World Cup inIreland.

Austria Awarded 2018 UCI Road Championships

At its first meeting of 2016, the International Cycling Union (UCI) management committee selected Innsbruck, Austria as the host of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships. The meeting was held in Belgium in tandem with the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.

The awarding of the championships marks the third time Austria will stage the event, previously hosting it in Villach in 1987 and Salzburg in 2006. The event is scheduled for Sep. 23-30, 2018.

Innsbruck is one of three cities to host the Winter Olympics twice along with St. Moritz and Lake Placid. The city often known as the Capital of the Alps will utilize its previous hosting experience to showcase cycling in 2018.

"I have no doubt that Innsbruck will provide a stunning and challenging route for riders to compete on, as well as a wonderful, unique backdrop that can only add to the spectator and viewer experience," said UCI President Brian Cookson.

The next UCI management committee meeting it set for June 2-3 in Lausanne.

Prince Ali Questions FIFA's Motives

Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan says FIFA’s decision to suspend funding to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL means their votes for the upcoming FIFA presidential election are being held for ransom.

Prince Ali, a FIFA vice president, is one of five men in the running to replace the disgraced Sepp Blatter as FIFA president. The election is scheduled for Feb. 26.

His camp released a statement on Wednesday, two days after it was reported that FIFA was withholding $20 million to the two soccer federations at the heart of a widespread corruption case by the U.S. Department of Justice. More than three dozen people have been charged in the case, most of them with ties to either CONCACAF or CONMEBOL.

Prince Ali, in his statement, asks, "…who decided that 45 Member Associations should suffer collective punishment as a result of individuals' bad actions; who decided to hold these votes to ransom less than three weeks before the election and who exactly will decide when the funding will be reinstated?"

Around the Rings is told by Prince Ali's camp @AliForFIFA he has not filed an official complaint about FIFA suspending funding for CONMEBOL and CONCACAF or called for an electoral committee probe into "votes for ransom" claim.

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Written by Kevin Nutley

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