Sports Digest, February 13, 2013

Hockey match gives women goal bonus

Con Conway, the Hong Kong Hockey Association's late president, would have loved it. Goals scored by women in today's mixed-gender tournament will be doubled. The Con Conway Memorial Cup tournament at King's Park and Club de Recreio will feature 20 teams from the local league, each of which will field a minimum of four women in the nine-a-side format. "Con was hugely instrumental in the development of the game and it is largely due to his efforts that the game is where it is now," current HKHA president Sarinder Dillon said. Conway, who was also Hong Kong Olympic Committee vice-president, died of cancer in September aged 72. Alvin Sallay

Australian rugby clubs cited in doping inquiry

Six Australian National Rugby League clubs yesterday admitted that they were mentioned in a nationwide sports doping scandal, and vowed to support any investigations. North Queensland, Penrith, Canberra, Newcastle, Manly and Cronulla all said they had been contacted by NRL chiefs after the Australian Crime Commission granted the league permission to notify any clubs it mentioned in its report. The official report said use of prohibited substances was common across multiple sporting codes, sending shock waves through Australia. It prompted the Australian Olympic Committee to announce that all athletes competing at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, would have to sign statutory declarations swearing they had no history of doping. AFP

Federer calls for use of biological passports

World No 2 Roger Federer has called for the introduction of biological passports in tennis similar to those used in cycling to detect possible doping. "A blood passport will be necessary as some substances can't be discovered right now, but might in the future, and that risk of discovery can chase cheaters away," the 31-year-old Swiss ace said in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. "But there also should be more blood tests and out-of-competition controls in tennis." According to figures on the International Tennis Federation website, the sport's governing body conducted only 21 out-of-competition blood tests in the professional game in 2011. Cycling's governing body, the UCI, carried out more than 3,314 out-of-competition blood tests in the same year. Reuters