An eagerly awaited report on Russian doping allegations found a “systematic and centralized cover up and manipulation of the doping control process” at the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Over 1,000 top Russian athletes in winter, summer and Paralympic sports took part in or benefited from an “institutionalized doping conspiracy” involving Russian ministry officials and the security service FSB, a report, carried out by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, revealed on Friday. This included the swapping of urine samples and tampering with containers. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced it will now re-test all urine samples taken from Russian athletes in 2014 Sochi. Doping allegations already led to the Russian athletics team being banned from the Rio Olympics this summer. However, Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Aspiring F1 drivers take note: Mercedes is recruiting! The German team put out a tongue-in-cheek job ad in motoring magazine Autosport on Wednesday for a new driver, after champion Nico Rosberg announced he was retiring from the sport. The ideal candidate will have “a proven track record in… steering, braking and in particular, accelerating” and must be able to “show extreme patience in the face of media attention.” Perks, meanwhile, include life insurance, medical coverage and participation in the “Mercedes company car lease scheme.” No announcement has yet been made about who will partner Lewis Hamilton next season, but Mercedes is said to be chasing after Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Another possibility would be Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein.

Tennis ace Novak Djokovic has split from his coach of three years, ex-German champion Boris Becker. The former tennis number one suffered a drop in form this year, failing to defend his Wimbledon and US Open titles and then falling to second place in the ATP ranking for the first time since July 2014, behind Briton Andy Murray, who also lifted the World Tour Finals trophy last month. Becker later said Djokovic had not spent enough time on the practice court in recent months, but could return to the top if he did. The decision to part ways was “consensual,” he said. 

Reigning Olympic and world champion Ma Long defended his World Tour Grand Finals singles title in Doha on Sunday, beating his Chinese compatriot Fan Zhendong in a six-game thriller: 11-5, 11-4, 11-9, 7-11, 12-14, 11-9. The face-off between the world number one and two was a repeat of last year’s season-ending final in Lisbon. Once again, 28-year-old Ma emerged victorious over 19-year-old Fan, despite a late attempt at a comeback. The win makes it a record five World Tour Grand Finals titles for insatiable trophy-collector Ma, who won singles and team gold in Rio this summer. China was also successful on the women’s side with world number-four Zhu Yuling beating Germany’s Han Ying in four straight sets. 

Japan’s Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu made figure skating history by securing his fourth straight ISU Grand Prix Final title in Marseille, France over the weekend, as Russia’s world champion Evgenia Medvedea also defended her crown. Canada’s 2010 Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir came back strong after two seasons off to win the ice dance title, while in the pairs, Russians Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov took their first major trophy. They edged out China’s Yu Xiaoyu Yu and Zhang Hao who finished second, ahead of compatriots Peng Cheng and Jin Yang in sixth place. 

Two-time world champion Wu Dajing won both 500m short-track races in Shanghai this weekend, ensuring he remained top of the World Cup ranking in the discipline, while the UK’s Elise Christie did the same in the women’s races. Christie now has a 9,648-point lead on second-ranked Fan Kexin of China, with three races to go this season. China’s men also topped the podium in the 5000m relay, but elsewhere it was Korea’s athletes who dominated, winning the women’s 3000m relay, the women’s 1000m and 1500m, and the men’s 1500m. 

The breadth of the English Football Association’s sex abuse scandal continues to grow. The UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council announced on Friday that 83 potential suspects had been identified in connection with the abuse allegations, while 98 clubs were “impacted” by the probe into the scandal, from the Premier League to amateur levels, although this did not mean they were all under investigation. Police said they had received a total of 639 referrals in relation to abuse claims. The scandal broke out last month after a former football player revealed he had been abused as a youth player.

Two runners collapsed and died during a half-marathon in Xiamen, south China's Fujian Province on Saturday, according to organizers, prompting concerns over the meteoric rise in marathons around the country and calls for more rigorous testing of participants. Marathon running has swept over the country lately, but there are rising concerns that people may not be as well prepared as they think, with huge percentages of runners needing medical assistance after Chinese events this year. An estimated 10 people have also reportedly died in marathons around China over the past three years. In 2013, the country hosted just 39 marathons. This year the number has surpassed 300.