More bad news for big time sport as reports emerge that Adidas is getting ready to ditch its long-term deal with athletics, but there are more heartening tales from Scottish performers in the less money-oriented world of ‘minority sport’ with victories on the ice for Elise Christie and Team Murdoch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today

 

 

Adidas doing a runner

 

The Herald:

Embattled Coe has another major problem to deal with as one of the biggest names in sport looks set to withdraw from backing the IAAF

 

 

 

It's like this son...

 

The Herald:

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson shows understanding for both player and officials as Rossi sees red

 

Young gun taking aim

The Herald:

Callum McGregor, one of the youngsters who has made an impression at Celtic Park this season, has set his sights on winning the treble

 

Reformed character

 

The Herald:

Bobby Barr is looking to cause the right sort of mayhem against Rangers

 

Goal machine

 

The Herald:

Martyn Waghorn's goals have brought the feelgood factor back to Ibrox according to ex-Ger Jonatan Johanson

 

Show stealer

 

The Herald:

All eyes were on the returning Anthony Stokes but Liam Henderson stole the show

 

Mixu operating in clear air

 

The Herald:

Blunt speaking at Tannadice contributed to big win over relegation rivals Killie

 

Vital spark

 

The Herald:

Fellow Saints are concerned that losing O'Halloran could wreck their League Cup chances

 

You know how it is...

 

The Herald:

Andy Murray has made it clear that he will be be heading home if wife Kim goes into labour, no matter when that happens

 

Ice queen

 

The Herald:

Elise Christie, who famously had a succession of Winter Olympic disasters, continued to show her character with a second successive European speed skating title

 

German Master

 

The Herald:

Dave Murdoch led his team to another win against a high class field in Hamburg

 

Olympic year starts well

 

The Herald:

Kirsty Gilmour loses final of Victor Far East Malaysia Masters at end of what was perhaps her best ever week's work

 

 

Go East young man

 

The Herald:

Dunc Weir becomes the latest homegrown Glasgow Warrior to leave the club, choosing to cross the great divide by heading along the M8 to Edinburgh

 

 

Too little too late

 

The Herald:

Glasgow Warriors claim European Champions Cup victory after they have already been knocked out of the tournament with a round to go

 

 

06.05 Radio Scotland sports headlines

 

Andy Murray getting set to face Bernard Tomic at Australian Open... Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares beat Dom Inglot and Robert Lindstedt to reach quarter-finals in Melbourne... Rangers looking to extend lead at top of SPFL Championship... Elise Christie wins European speed skating championship

 

06.32 Five Live sports headlines

 

Johana Konta on court at Australian Open with Andy Murray set to follow... Arsenal miss out on chance to return to top of English Premier League... Swansea claim first ever league win over Everton... Hearts and Hamilton draw 0-0 in Scottish Premiership... England face fight to save cricket Test in South Africa... Bath winger Semesa Rokoduguni called into England's Six Nations squad as cover for Chris Ashton... Exeter beat Ospreys as Leicester lost to Stade Francais as Champions Cup quarter-final line-up is sorted out... Denver Broncos claim dramatic win over New England Patriots to set up Superbowl showdown with Carolina Panthers

 

Back Pages

 

The Evening Times leads on Anthony Stokes’ loan deal ruling him out of the League Cup final if it is Celtic v Hibs, The National has Robbie Nielson admitting that the officials were right to give Igor Rossi the red card which the Hearts boss reckons cost his side victory over Hamilton and The Herald also leads with the Hearts boss talking about that incident but suggesting that foreign players are struggling to get used to the Scottish environment.

 

The Herald:

 

The Herald:

The Herald:

Grandstanding – today’s sports comment

 

In The Herald Matthew Lindsay discusses how Anthony Stokes decision to join Hibs shows a lack of ambition and highlights why Ronny Deila has misgivings about him while in the Evening Times Alison McConnell contemplates how a goal barrage from Celtic in their last three matches has once again silenced the manager’s doubters for now at least… and Jonatan Johansen tells Chris Jack that free-scoring Martyn Waghorn has brought the feel-good factor back at Ibrox.

 

Sporting Twitterati

 

Reasons to be cheerful part one:

 

 

Reasons to be cheerful part two:

 

 

Today's top message

 

To the rest of the world it must have looked like some sort of old Commonwealth establishment closing of ranks when an investigation team led by a Canadian came up with their remarkable conclusion that the IAAF was riven with corruption but that the British peer who had been its vice president, then president during the last seven years and who had angrily turned on those asking the right questions last summer, was the best person to clean it all up.

Sebastian Coe's friends in his sport and in the media were lining up to back that claim of the two-time Olympic gold medallist by Dick Pound, whose own reputation may not come out unharmed as a result of that judgement, but from a country whose media seems to have demonised everyone involved in FIFA over recent years, this all looks terribly, terribly pompous.

If the BBC is to be believed, then, one of the most influential companies in sport, German-based Adidas, is set to pass its verdict by withdrawing its sponsorship of world athletics' governing body. 

It really is a sorry state of affairs when sponsors have to point out what seems obvious to those running such organisations and plays to the impression often held in the wider world that sports people are not that bright.

If athletics is to move forward as quickly as possible it needs a fresh start and that may well mean bringing in someone from outside the sport, perhaps outside of sport altogether.

 

Thanks for reading. Back tomorrow with another day's sports agenda.