SOCHI, Russia -- Swedish centre Nicklas Backstrom watched from the athletes village as his teammates lost 3-0 to Canada in the Olympic mens hockey final because he failed a doping test for a substance found in an allergy medication. "I was ready to play the biggest game of my career," Backstrom said Sunday following the game. "And two-and-a-half hours before the game, I got pulled aside." Backstrom paused, choked with emotion and appeared to be on the verge of tears. "Its sad," he said. The Swedish hockey team, meanwhile, was simply mad at the International Olympic Committee. "We are all very upset," said Tommy Boustedt, the teams general manager. "Our opinion is that IOC has destroyed one of the greatest hockey days in Swedish history." Boustedt lashed out at the IOC about the timing of its decision, saying it was "political" because it would make news. The governing body refused to fire back. "We will not comment on any potential process until it has concluded," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. The International Ice Hockey Federation is taking the silver medal that would have been given to Backstrom in the post-game ceremony to its offices in Zurich while it waits for the IOC to decide whether it can be sent to Backstrom, according to IIHF spokesman Adam Steiss. Backstrom was punished more than another player was in the same situation four years ago. While playing for Slovakia at the 2010 Olympics, defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky tested positive for the same banned substance -- pseudoephedrine -- and was only reprimanded by the IOC because it said he declared on his doping control form that he was taking the medication. Backstrom, likewise, said he hasnt hid the fact that he takes the substance that is banned by the IOC during competition and was told by his Olympic team doctor he could take one pill a day without possible penalty. He was tested Wednesday after helping the Swedes beat Slovenia in the quarter-finals. He was pulled out of Swedens locker room four days later, just two-plus hours before the Sochi Games finale, and was informed he couldnt play. The Washington Capitals standout was supported by his Olympic team, NHL franchise, NHL Players Association and the IIHF. "I am convinced that Nicklas and the NHLPA will take this further," Boustedt said in Swedish during a news conference that lasted about 40 minutes. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Day issued a statement saying the substance Backstrom tested positive for is not on the leagues list of banned substances. "We do not anticipate there being any consequences relative to Nicklas eligibility," Daly said. The Capitals sent out a statement saying Backstrom has been taking the allergy medication intermittently for seven years, including this season, to cope with severe allergies. "The test was done on Wednesday and he was pulled out two hours before a game on Sunday, I think thats certainly flawed," NHLPA special assistant Mathieu Schneider said. Dr. Mark Aubry, chief medical officer of the IIHF, said Backstrom provided information correctly to the IOC about the medication he was taking. "He is the innocent victim of circumstances," Aubry said. Backstroms suspension from the gold-medal game may be a point of contention when the NHL and NHLPA negotiate with IOC about whether to let their players participate in the 2018 Olympics. He was listed in the team lineups distributed before the game, and his teammates later found out he wouldnt be with them on the ice. "Its too bad he couldnt play," Sweden winger Carl Hagelin said. "We lost a really good player." Backstrom is the sixth athlete to fail a doping test at the games. Five of the six, including Backstrom, tested positive for minor stimulants that are often found in food supplements. "They need examples to scare cheaters with, Nick is not one of them," Boustedt said. "And, thats why its awful." Crockett Gillmore Jersey . But this time, the Gunners weathered the storm. Arsene Wengers team was on the ropes in the early stages of a lively FA Cup tie, until Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal against the run of the play. C.J. Mosley Jersey . Bayern winger Franck Ribery marked his league return after recovering from a cracked rib by scoring two goals and setting up two more as the league leaders inflicted the heaviest home defeat on Bremen in the Bundesliga. http://www.footballravensstore.us/authe ... ns-jersey/. Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Albert McClellan Jersey . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Chris Wormley Jersey . He was still a kid, going into his senior year of high school. Thursday, the point guard stood in front of a couple dozen members of the media and spoke with poise about how much hed grown since then, and how hes ready for the next level.TORONTO - For months, the thought of walking out on his team and fleeing to the U.S. lingered on Maikel Changs mind.The young midfielder talked about it with close friends on Cubas national soccer team and almost tried his luck on a few occasions, only to let fear deter him. But when he saw his chance — the night before a World Cup qualifying match in Toronto in the fall of 2012 — there was no hesitation, he said.He and two teammates, Odisnel Cooper and Heviel Cordoves, grabbed their passports and belongings while the rest of their group settled into their hotel rooms. They then slipped out through the fire escape and bolted down the street to avoid being spotted by their coaches. U.S. officials later confirmed the three had crossed the border in Niagara Falls, Ont.We had to do it if we wanted to play professional soccer. We also had to do it when we were still young, Chang, 23, told The Canadian Press in a phone interview from Charleston, S.C., where he, Cooper and Cordoves play for the Charleston Battery in a lower-tier professional league.We had already played at all levels in the national team and we realized that there was nowhere else to go, he said in Spanish.Dozens of top athletes — including many from Cuba — have defected during international competitions in an effort to escape persecution or to move up to a larger market.Its too early to tell whether the thawing relations between Cuba and the U.S., which will ease travel restrictions and may affect immigration policies, will reduce the incentive for Cuban athletes to defect while playing abroad, experts said as Ontario prepares to welcome thousands of athletes for the Pan Am and Parapan Games this summer.When Canada last hosted the Games in 1999, eight members of the Cuban delegation defected, stirring tensions between the two countries as Cuban officials accused Canadian media of inciting athletes to jump ship. When Winnipeg first staged the Games in 1967, a Cuban boxer defected shortly after winning a gold medal.Two players from the Cuban womens soccer team defected in 2011 after facing off with the Canadian team in Vancouver in an Olympic qualifying match. They crossed into the U.S., where they were reunited with relatives.It is fairly common given that these events bring people from different places in the world...They may be persecuted due to their sexual orientation, due to their political opinion and other grounds, said Jamie Liew, an Ottawa lawyer specializing in immigration and refugee law.In our culture, we view athletes as being quite well off, being compensated for the work thatt they do, who live charmed lives, (but) its very different for people who may come from different countries, she said.ddddddddddddAthletes in certain sports, such as soccer and baseball, can often find better opportunities in North America, said Bruce Kidd, an expert on the history and political economy of Canadian sports at the University of Toronto.But should travel between Cuba and the U.S. become easier in the next few years, they might not need to defect to get their big break, he said.Many Russian athletes defected during the Cold War, when movement in and out of the Eastern Bloc was heavily controlled, Kidd said.Since then, he said, the freeing up of travel has significantly reduced the driver for a lot of this and Russian athletes dont have to defect to have opportunities to train and compete in the United States, Canada and Western Europe.Both Liew and Chang, however, said its unlikely the softening relationship between Havana and Washington will affect athletes decisions at this time.There is still a lot of uncertainty, Liew said. In the last few weeks there has been an increase of Cubans trying to get to the U.S. due to U.S. policy with regards to Cuban refugees. There is a healthy skepticism that anything in the near future will change in Cuba.Chang said he cant predict whether Cuban athletes will try to defect during this summers Pan Am Games, but he doesnt believe the new diplomatic developments will be a factor.Fear, and concerns about leaving relatives behind, are more likely to influence athletes considering defection, he said.I can tell you that all my fellow Cuban players would like to be here to play professional soccer but this is a very difficult decision to make, said Chang, who was barred from returning to Cuba for eight years but talks to his mother daily through email.This is a decision you cannot undo.Athletes seeking to stay in Canada rather than head south of the border will have to go through the same process as any other asylum-seekers, Canadian officials said.Canadas refugee policies are applied consistently regardless of any special event, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada said in an email.In the past, there were allegations that Ottawa — or NGOs acting with federal approval — actively encouraged defection, Kidd said, more to embarrass its political rivals than to bolster Canadian teams.More recently, he said, Canada has not gone out of its way to recruit defectors, it has simply considered and supported those who have asked for refugee status._ With files from Marie-Espérance Cerda Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Discount Jerseys Wholesale NFL Hoodies Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Throwback Jerseys ' ' '