Cuba and U.S.to hold first kickboxing event

Teams from Cuba and the United States met on Friday for their first friendly kickboxing event in Havana. Competition organizers told reporters that low kick and K-1 rules applied at the event.

Eric Gutierrez, an official from the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder) said the event includes 10 fights with three rounds of two minutes per fight under weight categories of 57, 60, 63.5, 67, 71, 81 and 91 kilograms.

The president of the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO) Charles Post, led the U.S. team, one of the best in the world.

Cuba's coach is the president of the National School for Kickboxing and Related Arts on the Caribbean island, Armando Quintana, who – ahead of the event – said the duel will be "a great show."

Cycling

Lisandra Guerra will be the only Cuban representative attending the second stop of the 2015-2016 Track Cycling World Cup, based in the New Zealand city of Cambridge, from December 5th to the 7th.

Guerra, who had a discreet performance in the first stage of the circuit in Cali, Colombia, will not be accompanied this time by Marlies Mejías or Arlenis Sierra, unexpected winner of the scratch event in the South American city.

Marlies will be absent due to an injury during one of her workouts.

Besides the three stages of the World Cup, Guerra and Mejias will also have options to accumulate points in the World Championship to be held next March in London to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Lisandra will compete on Saturday in speed, while on Sunday in keirin, events in which she comes ninth (490 points) and eighth (503), respectively, in the Olympic ranking.

Major League Baseball Set for a Tour of Cuba

U.S. baseball officials Joe Torre and Dave Winfield will be leading a baseball goodwill tour of Cuba later this month.

Major League Baseball and the Players Association said Thursday that the trip, which is set to run from December 15th through the 18th, will include children’s clinics and a charity event.

Torre is the chief baseball officer and Winfield is the union’s special adviser. They will be joined by current players, a group that has not yet been announced.

This is M.L.B.’s first visit to Cuba since the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition game against the Cuban national team in 1999.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said “baseball represents a pivotal common bond in our cultures, and the impact that Cuban ballplayers have made on our game is undeniable.” Tony Clark, the union’s executive director, said he hoped that the visit would start a “relationship that will only grow stronger.”

It has also been announced that there is a possibility the Tampa Bay Rays will play a spring training game in Cuba next year.

FIFA duo Alfredo Hawit and Juan Angel Napout detained on corruption charges

FIFA's corruption scandal hit new depths on Thursday after two of the organization's vice-presidents were arrested and a total of 16 officials indicted on corruption charges. US attorney general Loretta Lynch has announced indictments against 16 officials on football-related corruption charges including FIFA vice-presidents Alfredo Hawit from Honduras and Juan Angel Napout from Paraguay.

Alfredo Hawit and Juan Angel Napout were detained on orders issued by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) on behalf of the US Department of Justice.

Charges have been confirmed against Ricardo Teixeira, the disgraced Brazilian who quit FIFA's executive committee in 2012 after it was revealed he had received millions of pounds in bribes from FIFA's former marketing company ISL, and his successor Marco Polo Del Nero.

Former FIFA member Rafael Salguero from Guatemala has also been charged.