Major Developments Major Developments by Calendar Year

Retired former World No 1 Pete Sampras stunned the world after he had defeated reigning World No 1 Roger Federer in a friendly match played on November 24, 2007 at Macau. Sampras won 7-6,6-4 and proved once again that his serve and volley tactics were as sharp as they used to be. The American might have turned his back on professional tennis but then he still managed to upset Federer, who failed to win even a break point during the contest on a fast carpet surface. The American lost their only competitive match in Wimbledon in 2001, was not carried away, and dismissed any talks about his comeback. Federer claimed that he wasn’t bothered by the defeat and that Sampras would still be in the top five if he had been playing. Federer also said that he was happy that Sampras beat him and would like to win back against him.

The FIFA Executive Committee has named Brazil as the Host Nation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The South American country was the only one to bid for the tournament, which was to be staged on the continent according to FIFA’s rotation system. Brazil, have won the tournament a record five times, hosted the tournament once before in 1950, but were beaten 2-1 in the Final by Uruguay.

Now they have the opportunity again, with FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter saying that he had been impressed by Brazil’s plans for 2014 despite the fact they were the only bidders following Colombia’s withdrawal.

Blatter said that the task was not easy – for it was a real big challenge to have the same list of requirements and the same conditions for only one candidate than if they were two and perhaps raising the bar higher than if they were two, said Blatter. The 2014 World Cup would have such a big social and cultural impact in Brazil.
The Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that the nation was looking forward to the “huge task” of preparing for this unique sporting event.

Marion Jones who was born on October 12, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, is a former world champion track and field athlete known for her doping offenses. She won five medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia but has since agreed to forfeit all medals and prizes dating back to September 2000 after admitting to the fact that she had taken performance-enhancing drugs.

In October 2007, Jones had admitted that she had taken steroids before the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics and acknowledged that she had, in fact, lied when she previously denied steroid use in press statements, to various sports agencies, and—most significantly—to two grand juries. One, which was impaneled to investigate the BALCO “designer steroid” ring, and the other was impaneled to investigate a check fraud ring involving many of the same parties from the BALCO case. As a result of these admissions, Jones had accepted a two-year suspension from track and field competition, and announced her retirement from track and field on October 5, 2007.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency stated that the sanction also required disqualification of all her competitive results obtained after September 1, 2000, and forfeiting of all medals, results, points and prizes. On October 5, 2007, Jones formally accepted the charges levied against her and pled guilty to lying to federal agents in the BALCO steroid investigation in the U.S. District Court. On January 11, 2008, Jones was sentenced to serve 6 months in jail. She began serving her sentence from March 7, 2008 and was released on September 5, 2008.

Asafa Powell set a new 100 m world record in a low-key obscure meeting, in the absence of any major competition and may be counted as one of the least exciting world records ever. This had happened in the qualifying heats of a one day meet in Reiti, Italy. Powell now has three clockings of 9.77 seconds and this clocking of 9.74sec gives him the chance of being titled “ the fastest man on earth.” But Powell faces a major problem, that he never has a world or Olympic title to his credit gives his critics a chance to shout louder and louder. There is a missing piece in his ‘jigsaw puzzle’ and that is a gold medal. His critics include greats such as Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson. Powell’s main problem is that he seems to get tied up when a runner comes along side and his wall of confidence caves in.

David Beckham had left Real Madrid to join Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy as per a five-year deal reportedly worth 128 million pounds. The star had conceded that after considering several options to continue in Real Madrid or join any other European or British terms, he decided to join LA Galaxy. The deal is said to consist of his salary, existing sponsorship contracts, merchandising shirt sales and a share of the club’s profits. Beckham said that he was looking forward to grow the world’s most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport like England. LA Galaxy General Manager Alexai Lalas believes that among others, the interesting things that Beckham could bring about is the attention he would bring to the sport and to American soccer. Real Madrid confirmed Beckham’s departure stating that both the parties have decided not to extend their contract beyond 30 June,2007. Beckham is the biggest name to sign up for Major League Soccer since its inception in 1996. Sports and entertainment giants AEG, who also hold a stake in Beckham’s soccer academy in Los Angeles, own LA Galaxy. AEG President Timothy J. Leiweke believes that David is the truly the only individual who can build the ‘bridge’ between soccer in America and the rest of the world.