with our colleagues in racing and betting as well as the

BEIJING -- Swimming officials from Australia and China have dived into the fray as a feud over doping between swimmers Mack Horton and Sun Yang boils over at the Rio Olympics.The Chinese Swimming Association on Monday asked Horton to apologize for his inappropriate words after he labeled Sun a drug cheat -- a reference to Suns three-month 2014 suspension over banned heart medication. Australias Olympic Committee, hours later, shot back in Hortons defense, saying he was speaking his mind in support of clean athletes, and wished him luck.Horton, 20, made a dig at Sun while the two attended a press conference Saturday after Horton unseated the Chinese defending champion in the 400-meter freestyle. It was the second time in days that Horton had publicly referred to Suns drug suspension as part of what the Australian team acknowledged is a campaign to unsettle the Chinese star.Sun had earlier been accused of splashing water at Horton in an apparent attempt to get his attention and Horton made his initial drug cheat reference when asked why he had ignored Sun.Sun, 24, who won two golds at the 2012 London Games, has a long history of bad behavior and tangling with others. He has been accused of disruptive pool behavior by swimmers -- both men and women -- from several countries. The Chinese team briefly banned him from competing following a raft of disciplinary issues, including crashing a friends Porsche SUV into a bus in 2013 while driving without a license, landing him in jail.Sun has previously said he did not know the medication trimetazidine, which he took for chronic heart palpitations, had been placed on the banned list when he tested positive.The 2-meter (6-foot-6-inch) Chinese star burst into tears Sunday after losing to Horton, garnering an outpouring of support from Chinese social media users who pilloried Horton on his Facebook page. The Australian was accused of snubbing Suns attempt to congratulate him on his win immediately after the race, although the two did briefly shake hands later at the podium.Chinese swim team manager Xu Qi also laid into Horton, saying the Australian had hurt the feelings between Chinese and Australian swimmers and showed a lack of good manners and upbringing, according to the official Xinhua news agency.Sun, who has largely refrained from firing back at his rival and has called for respect for all athletes, appeared to get his swagger back Monday as he told reporters at an Olympic village bus stop that he is the king in the 1,500-meter freestyle event scheduled for Sunday, when he will again compete against Horton. When prodded, he added that he was no friend of Hortons.The spiraling row has generated a shrill response from Chinese media during what has already been a period of elevated tensions after Australia voiced opposition in recent weeks to Chinese claims of maritime territory.On Monday, Xinhua released a slew of gently critical articles on topics ranging from Australian trade policy to Melbournes quality of life while the Global Times tabloid opted for a more blunt approach, referring to Australia in a commentary as a former British offshore prison that is on the fringes of civilization.We dont know if it is Horton who is silly or its the Australian media that is evil, or perhaps Australia just has a different moral standard, the newspaper said.No one should be surprised at uncivilized acts emanating from the country. Robert Parish Jersey . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Paul Pierce Jersey . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-jaylen-brown-celtics-jersey/ .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. Marcus Smart Celtics Jersey . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Robert Parish Celtics Jersey .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers.Culture secretary John Whittingdale has announced a dramatic target to replace the current betting Levy system by April 2017. The racing industry has long called for government intervention against the current system, from which offshore online betting is exempt and costs the sport tens of millions of pounds.Chancellor George Osborne proposed a Racing Right to replace the Levy in last Marchs Budget. And in a seismic overhaul that would give the sport a significant cash boost, Whittingdale has outlined the Governments aim of pooling together income from betting on racing both in shops and online.He said: Our aim is to introduce a new funding arrangement for British racing by April 2017.We will create a level playing field for British-based and offshore gambling operators, and ensure a fair return from all bookmakers to racing, including those based offshore.Racing will be responsible for making decisions on spending the new fund and well be making further announcements shortly.British Horseracing Authority chief executive Nick Rust has been working hard to fill the void in the interim after having imposed an Authorised Betting Partner (ABP) policy, which requires bookmakers to pay racing an agreed chunk of the profits they make from racing bets online.Betfair, bet365, 32Red and BetVictor have so far signed up to the new system, with the four bookmakers having agreed to make voluntary contributions from their remote activity.Other established bookmakers like Ladbrokes, Betfred, Coral, William Hill and Paddy Power have yet to agree to ABP status. Sky Racing Tickets Fast, secure racing tickets: Exclusive racing offers near you While the BHA has welcomed the news, it still intends to build on the ABP scheme with the aim being to smooth the transition to the new funding model and to maintain the current level of Levy funding.Rust said: Todays announcement is one that should prove truly historic. The new funding model will ensure a fair transfer of funding to British racing based on all betting activity on the sport - a link that was first established in law in 1961.It meets all of racings requirements for a new funding model and can bear fruit in 2017, which is crucial given the significant Levy cliff we face.In the longer term, this means greater financial security for the sport, a platform for growth, a huge boost to our participants and more certainty for the tens of thousands of people who rely on racing for their livelihoods.We look forward to working with governmennt on the details of these proposals and to make sure the implementation timetable they have announced today is achieved.dddddddddddd.We now have a great opportunity to bring together racing and betting in tackling the sports funding issues for the benefit of all parties, and this is something that we are actively pursuing.We want to focus the joint efforts of racing and betting on innovation and growth in the sport as a betting product.Philip Freedman, executive chairman of the Horsemens Group, which represents the interests of racehorse owners, trainers, jockeys, stable staff and breeders, was also pleased by the announcement.He said: Horsemen will be delighted by the announcement that racing will get rights to funding from offshore bookmakers by April 2017.Restoring racings income from betting to the levels intended by previous government determinations, before so much betting had migrated offshore and outside the scope of the Levy, is an essential step in growing the industry to the benefit of both horsemen and betting operators.Stephen Atkin, chief executive of the Racecourse Association, added: The Racecourse Association warmly welcomes governments announcement as a critical moment for the sport and an important development for all of our members.Once implemented, this will provide much needed stability and an incentive to both racecourses and horsemen to invest in the sport for the long-term.We look forward to working with our colleagues in racing and betting as well as the government to help implement this decision.The Association of British Bookmakers is keen to work in unison with the government and the BHA, but said the proposed new system must be fair to betting shops.A statement read: We welcome the governments progress on introducing a new system for the betting industry to fund horse racing.We will be working closely with the government and horse racing on the critical and so far undecided detail of the new system to ensure that any new Levy is both fair to horse racing and the betting industry.The amount that racing receives from betting, particularly in media payments has grown by tens of millions in recent years.On top of this, betting shops already bear an unfair burden and the current rate of 10.75 per cent is unsustainable for the retail sector.Any new deal on Levy has to be fair to betting shops and should be based on an accurate assessment of the level of subsidy required to support horse racing. 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