Grachan

Certainly looks like it. If this is true I'm surprised it hasn't been made more widely known. That is quite a big change.

Qualification now on. It's Kelvin Tatum and Chris Louis.

Not arguing. No issue. Just pointing out that the forecast was mentioned as part of the reason for the cancellation, which was why people were talking about meetings being called off as a result of the forecast.

The club statement did say: "This is due to inclement weather with more forecast throughout the day in the city" which is why people are talking about the forecast.

Forecast show rain now until about 11. Then dry until 4pm. Then sunshine and showers until about 7. Then a dry evening. That would not have been a rain-off a few years back. I think these are financial decisions as they feel the crowd might be down.

I'm not in Sheffield, but the forecast seems ok. Just showers and sun in the afternoon with a dry evening.

What is going on with these cancellations? Surely people are going to lose interest if meetings are "rained-off" like this. It seems a bit foolish to me.

Laguta Sunrise by Black Sabbath

I think they had it right with the 3-2-1-0-1-2-3-4 system. I think that worked well. They should have stuck with that. Unbelievable that they changed that because sometimes supporters went home disappointed that they didn't get 3 points after winning at home and now have a system where home supporters might go home disappointed with not getting a point after getting a draw. The response to someone querying it says it all really. "Let's see." Brilliant.

This is the wording on the website: "Due to limited parking at the stadium, free parking will be available thanks to Unipart at their site just a short walk from the stadium (approx 800m) on a first come first served basis, please remember to select this option if required when purchasing your tickets as this will be required when arriving at the car park." To me that says that you can only park there if you have booked it in advance. I used to use this car park before and it's much larger than is needed for a speedway crowd. You could just drive in and park. Mind you, it's been a few years now!

I don't know why they are doing that. It was always fine to park there in the past. I don't think many speedway supporters are in the habit of buying advance tickets as it's never been necessary.

I suspect that is not going to go down well with some people.

I have to say, I'm slightly confused by the car parking arrangements on the Oxford website. It says there is free parking at the Unipart car park, but you need to select that you want this when you buy the tickets. Does this mean that you can't park there if you don't buy a ticket in advance? I think they missed a trick by not having their opening meeting as a challenge against "Swindon" by the way. Would have got a few up from Wiltshire for that, I reckon.

Won't the away team get 2?

Laguta should be allowed to ride if he's at all able to. I feel that quite strongly. This, to me, misses the point of the reason why Russian's have been expelled from the series.

Did you not originally say it was about where people were born? So what if Artem continued to represent Russia. They hadn't invaded the Ukraine then. He's not representing them any more because they have banned him for speaking out. Surely the purpose of sanctioning Russian people was to get them to turn against Putin wasn't it? So what purpose does the West banning those that have done so and subsequently been banned in Russia? Surely they should be supported so that people are encouraged to do the same.

Well, they've done it again haven't they? They've had their meeting and someone has come up with some thought from the top of their head and they've all gone: "Oh, what a wizard idea" and voted it in. What happened in the Championship? Did they say: "That's a bit silly. The points system is already worked out to account for drawn matches" so just the Premiership voted it in? They even forgot to tell anyone, so a lot of people won't even know what is going on with the extra race, never mind the fact that the points scored are different to in every other heat. If they want to do this, then use it for cup matches not league matches. Daft.

It makes no sense to me. Why ban a rider who the Russians have banned for speaking out against Vladimir Putin? How does that send any form of message to the Russian authorities? It is effectively supporting the moves made by Russia. I don't get it. How does this encourage Russian people to speak out against the war? If anything it will make them less likely to.

Ah, ok. That complicates things a little then!

If he has Polish citizenship then he is Polish regardless of why he decided to have it. By banning him now they will effectively be ending his Speedway career because he said something against Vladamir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. So who is that pandering to? As I said before, this could be that the Russian authorities put out a statement like that because he has revoked his Russian citizenship. I guess we'll have to wait and see with that. If he has, though, I hope he is allowed to rise in the GP.

I think he already has it. If I search it, I get a Speedway GP "test" page which states: "Artem Laguta’s manager Rafal Lewicki admits becoming a Polish citizen should make speedway life easier for the Russian racer. Rider No.222 recently became a duel national alongside fellow Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations winner Gleb Chugunov, with the Wroclaw rider stating..." If I click on the link, however, the page itself does not load. On Google, for Artem Laguta nationality, it says both Polish and Russian.

Not sure what you are saying here. Surely, if Poland ban him, they are merely supporting a ban that Russia has already apparently imposed on him for being against the war so how dos that send a message to Russia. Or is it possible that Laguta has already decided to revoke his Russian citizenship to ride in Poland so the Russians are pre-empting that? If Laguta then rides in Poland they can say that, as he has gone against their ban by riding in a foreign league, they are expelling him from Russian and revoking his citizenship. The reigning World Champion's career could be over here. If we can we should let the guy ride. Banning him now shows support for Russia's actions.

As good a reason as any to give him a chance to revoke Russian citizenship and ride in the GP surely? Or is he stuck in Russia? Artyom Laguta and Vadim Tarasenko are disqualified from the Russian competitions and the Russian Team The Track Commission for Racing on the cinder track analyzed the statements of Russian racers Artyom Laguta and Vadim Tarasenko in the media, as well as on Internet platforms, discrediting the honor and dignity of the Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Racers who made unworthy statements and their opinions on the situation in the country do not deserve to be called the proud name of a Russian athlete and represent the honor of the Russian Federation at international competitions. Based on the above, it was decided: 1. Revoke permission to participate in International competitions and international leagues. 2. Revoke the National License (Russian license). 3. Withdraw these athletes from the Russian National Team. 4. To disqualify Artyom Laguta and Vadim Tarasenko from participation in Russian competitions in accordance with the Charter of the IFR and the Sports Code. Cinder Track Racing Commission

I'm not sure it does. The Russian speedway riders with Polish citizenship have the option of riding in the Polish league if they have previously ridden for Poland or if they denounce their Russian citizenship. (Personally, I feel the SGP should have waited to see if Laguta and Sayfutdinov took up this option before expelling them from the GP) Take a look at the line-up for the Indian Wells tennis tournament this week. Plenty of Russians and Belarussians playing, but not representing their country. Daria Saville playing as an Australian, as she has done for several years now. I don't actually think any sports bodies are banning people purely on the basis of them having been born in Russia.

What about Daria Saville? She is a Tennis player. Formerly known as Daria Gavrilova, she now represents Australia having married an Australian and taken Australian citizenship. She has also posted on Twitter that she will be wearing Yellow and Blue at her next tournament in support of the people of Ukraine, and called for other players to join her in doing so. Should she really be banned from playing just because she was born in Russia? I don't think she should.