Briefs | Football: German players offered 350,000 euro bonus to win World Cup

Germany’s players will each receive a 350,000 euro (USD410,000) bonus if the team defends its World Cup title next year in Russia. The German soccer federation says it has agreed to a performance-related bonus system for the team, as it did for the successful 2014 World Cup campaign and the last two European Championships. Bonuses will only be paid upon reaching the quarterfinals, when each player would receive 75,000 euros ($90,000). That will increase to 125,000 euros ($150,000) for reaching the semifinals, 150,000 euros ($175,000) for third place and 200,000 euros ($235,000) for reaching the final. Only Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962) have won back-to-back World Cup titles.

Boxing: British boxing body to decide on lifting Fury’s suspension

Former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury [pictured above, right] will have to wait until next year to discover whether his suspension from boxing will be lifted. The British Boxing Board of Control suspended Fury in 2016 for drug and medical issues amid a separate U.K. Anti-Doping investigation. That UKAD case ended yesterday when Fury accepted a backdated two-year doping ban for elevated levels of nandrolone in urine samples following a fight in February 2015. The British Boxing Board of Control says it “acknowledges” the UKAD decision, and adds that “Tyson Fury’s boxing license suspension will be considered by the Stewards of the Board in January.”

Figure Skating: Russian skater Pogorilaya to miss Olympics with injury

Russian figure skater Anna Pogorilaya says she will miss the Olympics with a back injury. Pogorilaya tells Russian state news agencies that the back problem, which has already forced her to miss several events this season, can’t be fixed in time for her to skate this month at Russian nationals, the key Olympic qualifier. She says she “can’t even train on the ice at the moment … my season is over,” in comments reported by R-Sport. Pogorilaya won bronze at the 2016 world championships and is a three-time bronze medalist, but has been overshadowed in Russia by two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva in recent years. Pogorilaya was in contention for a medal at the world championships in April but fell three times in her free skate and slumped to 13th.