Canada women's national team player Sophie Schmidt sent her team off to the Women's World Cup in style, curling in a gorgeous goal in a 1-0 friendly win over England.

Canada, which will host the tournament, won the bronze at the 2012 Olympics and is expected to compete in the knockout stages at this World Cup.

Schmidt, a 26-year-old midfielder, is one of the leaders of the team that's currently ranked 8th in the world. In the 23rd minute against England, she hit a pass to the top of the box perfectly, placed it in the top corner (via r/worldcup):

The goalie had no chance:

In a recent article in the Province, Schmidt revealed that she has become the loudest voice on the team in recent months. She said that coach John Herdman even gave her free reign to change formations on the fly herself.

“John was like, ‘You guys changed formations. What happened? Who did that?’ And I was like, ‘If it was good, it was me,'" she said.

Canada lost all three games and finished last in its group at the 2011 World Cup. They haven't made the knockout stages since 2003. But with the success of the 2012 team, the effect of homefield advantage, and a more friendly tournament format, Canada should be a contender this time around.

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Here's everything you need to know about the wonderful world of motorsports this week.

Former FIA president Max Mosley believes F1 drivers are being paid too much.

Mosley, the former president of Formula One's governing body, told GQ Magazine that salaries for the sport's elite drivers are "absurd."

These comments come just days after Mercedes-AMG's Lewis Hamilton put pen to paper on a three-year contract worth an estimated $160 million.

At the same time, Formula One's less affluent teams such are struggling to stave off bankruptcy.

According to ESPN, Mosley explained to GQ that there would be a hard budget cap in place were he put in charge of the racing series.

IndyCar's Detroit race got wet and wild on Sunday. 

IndyCar followed up a memorable Indy500 with a wet and wild Sunday race in Detroit. In the second race of a two-race weekend, heavy rain wreaked havoc on the drivers and cars. Drivers struggled with visibility while the cars struggled to find traction in the near-monsoon like conditions.

An extensive debris field left by a late race crash involving Indy500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya forced officials to stop the race as marshalls cleaned up the track. When the race restarted, IndyCar switched the race to a 5-minute sprint to the checkered flag. Former F1 driver and Champ Car star Sebastian Bourdais took his first win of the season. Bourdais is the seventh different winner in eight races this season. 

Jimmie Johnson wins for the 10th time at Dover.

Jimmie Johnson won his fourth Sprint Cup race of the season over the weekend at Dover International Speedway. The victory is also the Hendrick Motorsport driver's 10th at the vaunted "Monster Mile." Johnson was followed across the line by defending series champion Kevin Harvick and young star Kyle Larson. Polesitter Denny Hamlin finished the race three-laps behind in 21st position after a late-race wreck. 

SEE ALSO: 30 awesome photos from Formula One's glamorous Monaco Grand Prix

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LeBron James has been to the NBA Finals six times, and more often than not he's done it despite a sub-par supporting cast.

FiveThirtyEight's Neil Paine ran the numbers on the supporting casts for all 62 NBA Finals teams since 1985. The takeaway: LeBron is so good that he has dragged some really questionable teams to the Finals.

Here are LeBron's six finals teams ranked by teammate strength (since 1985):

• 2011 Miami Heat (ranked 10th out of 62 teams that made the Finals)
• 2012 Miami Heat (ranked 21st out of 62)
• 2013 Miami Heat (ranked 39th out of 62)
• 2014 Miami Heat (ranked 55th out of 62)
• 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers (ranked 60th out of 62)
• 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers (ranked 61st out of 62)

Two of the three worst Finals supporting casts of the last 30 years were LeBron teams. Of LeBron's six Finals teams, one was really good (2011), one was above-average (2012), one was below-average (2013), and three were relatively poor (2014, 2015, 2007).

For comparison, three of the six best supporting casts of the last 30 years were Michael Jordan Bulls teams from the 1990s.

Also note the chronology here. Not only has LeBron made a historic five-straight Finals appearance, he has done it with increasingly little help. LeBron has made the Finals every year since 2011. Each successive year, though, his supporting cast has gotten worse. Even though he's aging, he's still managing to get worse-and-worse teams into the Finals. Obviously some of this has to do with how bad the Eastern Conference has been since 2011. But he still won the title in 2012 and 2013 with just okay supporting casts, and making the Finals five-straight years is incredible, no matter the circumstances.

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The United States is the favorite to win the upcoming Women's World Cup with a 28% chance, just edging out Germany (27%) according to Nate Silver's World Cup prediction model published in ESPN the Magazine.

The U.S., who last won the World Cup in 1999, and Germany, the 2003 and 2007 champions, are the only two teams being given more than a 1-in-10 chance to win it all. Japan, the defending World Cup champions are next at 9%.

Silver's model also give the U.S. a 96% chance to get out of the group stage and a 41% chance to reach the final.

In all, only seven of the 24 teams have a legit shot to win the tournament (>5%) and only ten countries are given more than a 1% chance to lift the cup at the end.

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The Boston Red Sox had one of the priciest offseasons in Major League Baseball, spending $245 million to bolster their team.

They made two premier signings, giving Pablo Sandoval a $95 million deal and Hanley Ramirez an $88 million deal, while extending reliever Koji Uehara for $18 million, and giving unknown Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada a $31.5 million signing bonus.

Expectations weren't sky-high for the Red Sox, but ESPN's David Schoenfield had them winning the AL East, with two others predicting them to win the AL Wild Card. Additionally, in Grantland's MLB preview, three writers had Boston winning the division, with two others predicting them to win the Wild Card.

Now, two months into the season, the Red Sox are 22-29, last in the AL East, second-to-last in the entire AL.

Boston's offense has been a big disappointment despite the money they committed to it this offseason. According to FanGraphs, the Red Sox are 23rd in batting average, 22nd in OPS, and 21st oBA, which weighs possible batting outcomes like walks, hits, home runs, etc. to determine how a batter performed. They also have a -48 run differential, worst in the AL. 

The $183 million the Red Sox designated to Sandoval and Ramirez hasn't been particularly well spent on the offensive end. They're batting .251 and .261, respectively, with 17 combined home runs. As ESPN's Gordon Edes notes, the Red Sox's offense dried up in May, with Ramirez going the first 24 days without an RBI while Sandoval had just four extra-base hits in the month.

Rusney Castillo, a $72-million free agent signed late last season, has been unremarkable in his first days in the majors this season. He's batting just .233 with a .255 OBP in 30 at-bats this season. 

The Red Sox's pitching has been a problem as well. Four pitches have 10 starts, and Clay Buchholz has the best ERA of any of them at 4.33. Rick Porcello, who leads the team with 62 innings pitched, has an ERA of 5.37. Collectively, Boston has the fourth-worst ERA in MLB and has given up the sixth-most hits in the league.

On Sunday, the Red Sox's problems all converged into one in a brutal loss to the Texas Rangers, just one day after Red Sox manager John Farrell held a private meeting with five veteran players. Farrell said afterward, "It was an opportunity to meet with our veteran group, to reemphasize the importance of the role that they provide to the younger players and how they go about and execute inside the game." 

As Edes points out, however, Boston is still in good position to make the playoffs, which speaks more to how bad the AL East is. They enter June only four games out of first place, despite being seven games under. 500. They recently called up pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, who in his first start allowed three hits with zero runs in seven innings. Boston could also hope that some of their biggest-name players could return to their normal standards while looking at different prospects for call-ups.

Anything can happen in the playoffs, which are still a realistic goal for the Red Sox. However, through the first two months, the signs for the Red Sox haven't been all that encouraging.

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Rafael Nadal's newest piece of equipment costs more than three-quarters of a million dollars, and yet it will probably never help him win a tennis tournament.

Nadal upgraded his on-court wristwatch to a $775,000 model made by Richard Mille for the French Open, Robert Frank of CNBC reports.

Nadal is no stranger to the world of high-end watches. In 2010 he began wearing another Richard Mille timepiece valued at $500,000. In 2013, he was wearing the predecessor to his current watch, one valued at $690,000.

Richard Mille will make only 50 of the RM27-02. It's most impressive features are its lightweight (20 grams) yet durable construction (can withstand 5,000 Gs of force).

Nadal, who's left-handed, wears it on his right wrist:

Nadal told Tom Perrotta of The Wall Street Journal that he was skeptical of wearing the watch at first.

"In the beginning there was a little bit of transition, we had to work together to adjust everything to my wrist," Nadal told WSJ. "It’s like you are wearing nothing. It’s part of my skin."

According to Perrotta, Nadal has lost two Richard Mille watches that were stolen (one was later recovered) and nearly lost a third when a fellow player found one in a locker room.

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Mark Cuban became a billionaire in 1999 when he sold his company, Broadcast.com, to Yahoo for $6 billion.

His net worth is now estimated at $3 billion, and he has numerous mansions, private planes, and sports cars to his name. 

He also owns the Dallas Mavericks, who brought the NBA championship home in 2011.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," Cuban said at Business Insider's IGNITION conference. "I only have to do what I want to do. I only have to do what I like to do."

Cuban has been a businessman since the beginning. When he was a senior at Indiana University, he and a friend bought a bar called Motley's in downtown Bloomington. It was eventually shut down after they named an underage girl the winner of a wet t-shirt contest held on the premises.

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/530961499347771392
This was an ad for the bar we started at IU. Yes we had nerf basketball and you didn't pic.twitter.com/3DkF6aRCKy

Cuban sold his first company, a consulting firm called MicroSolutions, to CompuServe in 1990. Next, he decided to pay $125,000 for an American Airlines lifetime pass, which let him fly first-class anywhere in the world. "I got as drunk as I could with as many people as I could meet," he told the Financial Times.

Source: FT, Esquire

But Cuban really made it big when Yahoo bought Broadcast.com, a live audio and video streaming site Cuban founded with friend Todd Wagner. The deal, finalized in 1999, was valued at nearly $6 billion.

Source: Esquire

After several potential host cities with a democratically elected government pulled out of the running for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the only two candidates left are Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing, China.

On Monday the International Olympic Committee released a 137-page evaluation of the two bids, and while it's generally positive, it's also open about the numerous problems the two cities face.

Since 2013 cities in Poland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Norway all dropped their bids, many over concerns that spending millions in public money on the Olympics isn't worth it.

Oslo was the last of these European cities to stay in the competition. Last year an IOC working group graded all three bidding cities (Oslo, Beijing, Almaty) in a wide range of categories. Oslo was the runaway winner, with Beijing second and Almaty a distant third. In a sign of just how much the IOC needed Oslo to stay in the running, the organization released a blistering statement slamming Norway when they pulled their bid.

As the IOC outlined in its evaluation Monday, Almaty and Beijing are far from perfect host cities for a big winter sporting event.

Beijing is the favorite to win when the IOC announces a 2022 host at the end of July, but it faces one significant problem: there's no snow.

"The mountain venues would rely completely on artificial snowmaking for the Games," the IOC report says.

In addition, the evaluators concluded that Beijing's bid underestimated the amount of water it'd actually take to make all the snow necessary for competition. Since that part of China is "increasingly arid," the report says, diverting so much water for snowmaking could impact regional water resources.

It's also going to look bad on TV.

"Due to the lack of natural snow the ‘look’ of the venue may not be aesthetically pleasing either side of the ski run," the report says. "However, assuming sufficient snow has been made or stockpiled and that the temperature remains cold, this should not impact the sport during the Games."

Other problems involve air quality and the construction of the two mountain clusters, which are located 55 miles and 100 miles outside the city.

Here are the biggest "risks/challenges" with Beijing, according to the IOC report:

• There's no snow at the mountain venues, so it'd have to be all artificial, which would require so much water that it could impact regional water resources.
• There's no snow, so it will look awful. From the report: "There could be no snow outside of the racecourse, especially in Yanqing, impacting the visual perception of the snow sports setting."
• They'd have to relocate 400 people to build the ski jumping venue, and 1,100 people for the Olympic Village in the mountains.
• The air quality issues are "very significant."
• The alpine skiing venue is right next to a nature reserve.
• The two proposed mountain venues are 80 and 140 minutes from the Beijing airport, respectively, so it'd be an incredibly spread out event. There would also be three Olympic villages.

The bid also calls for a speed skating venue, alpine skiing venue, sliding center, biathlon venue, cross-country skiing venue, ski-jumping venue, three Olympic Villages, and media center to be built from scratch.

Almaty has snow, but the IOC pointed out some issues with its bid as well. Evaluators stressed risks with hotels (there aren't enough yet), venues (will the sliding track be ready in time?), security (they don't all meet international standards), and the government's ability to pay for everything if the economic conditions change.

Here are the biggest "risks/challenges" with Almaty, according to the IOC report:

• The sliding track would only be completed 16 months before the Olympics, which might not be enough time to properly get it tested and approved..
• Limited hotel space for spectators in Almaty means people would have to consider staying in "alternative accommodation facilities such as unclassified accommodation; student accommodation; and family home accommodation.
• "Low oil prices and exchange rate issues" could hurt the government's ability to deliver the $1 billion in public money needed to stage the event.
• The Olympic Village and other buildings will be turned into 5,000 housing units after the games, but it's unclear if those could be absorbed into the city if the economy tanks.
• "Not all security personnel meet international professional standards."

The bid calls for a figure skating venue, three Olympic Villages, two media centers, sliding center, and alpine skiing center to be built from scratch, in addition to numerous hotels and transportation projects.

While it's ultimately a good thing that the IOC is releasing all this information, it does show how the backlash against hosting the Olympics has affected the pool of candidates.

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Though the 1998-99 season was shortened by a lockout, it was the debut of a NBA Draft class with at least two future Hall of Famers, several All-Stars, and a bunch of other notable NBA players.

It's not as heralded as the 1996 NBA Draft, but the 1998 Draft has proven to be one of the best in NBA history.

Michael Olowokandi was taken 1st overall by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Olowokandi never lived up to expectations as a No. 1 pick. He has stayed off the radar since retiring in 2007 and earning $38 million.

Source: Basketball Reference

Mike Bibby was taken 2nd by the Vancouver Grizzlies.

Law-enforcement officials believe that FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke moved money related to an alleged World Cup vote bribe from FIFA bank accounts to an account controlled by arrested FIFA official Jack Warner, according to a report in The New York Times by William K. Rashbaum and Matt Apuzzo.

Valcke, FIFA President Sepp Blatter's No. 2 man, was not arrested and isn't accused of any wrongdoing.

Valcke told The Times that "he had not authorized the payment and did not have the power to do so."

FIFA told The Times that the finance committee chairman, Julio Grondona, who has since died, authorized the payment.

This is all related to one of the most damning allegations in the Department of Justice's 164-page indictment of nine current and former FIFA officials, which concerns an alleged $10 million bribe made to soccer official Jack Warner in exchange for supporting South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid.

In May 2004, the indictment alleges, a group of officials representing South Africa's World Cup bid promised Warner the South African government would make a $10 million payment to the Warner-controlled Caribbean Football Union to "support the African diaspora" if he and two other executive committee members backed the country's bid.

Warner allegedly agreed to take the $10 million, which the DOJ calls a bribe, and South Africa won the hosting rights to the 2010 tournament.

Four years after vote, according to the indictment, the South African officials were still unable to make the payment directly from the South African government, so instead $10 million in FIFA money that was supposed to go to South Africa was allegedly sent to Warner-controlled accounts.

The money was moved in installments, according to the indictment:

In fact, on January 2, 2008, January 31, 2008 and March 7, 2008, a high-ranking FIFA official caused payments of $616,000, $1,600,000, and $7,784,000 - totaling $10 million - to be wired from a FIFA account in Switzerland to a Bank of America correspondent account in New York, New York, for credit to accounts held in the names of CFU and CONCACAF, but controlled by the defendant JACK WARNER, at Republic Bank in Trinidad and Tobago.

According to The Times, law-enforcement believes Valcke was the person who moved the money. Warner allegedly kept a "substantial portion of the funds" for his personal use, according to the indictment.

The South African Football Association said on Monday that the payment wasn't a bribe.

We asked FIFA to comment and will update this post if we hear back.

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One of the most damning allegations from the 164-page indictment against nine current and former FIFA officials is that $10 million in FIFA money was sent to accounts controlled by Concacaf president Jack Warner as a bribe for supporting South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid.

Warner kept "a substantial portion" of that money for his personal use, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that the $10 million was originally supposed to come directly from the South African government, but that was ultimately impossible. So instead, in early 2008, $10 million in FIFA money meant for South Africa was diverted to Concacaf and Caribbean Football Union accounts controlled by Warner.

On Monday the New York Times reported that U.S. law enforcement officials believe the high-ranking FIFA official who authorized that $10 million payment was Jérôme Valcke, the current secretary general who's widely regarded as Sepp Blatter's top deputy. Valcke was not arrested or even named in the indictment, and he denied authorizing the payment in an email to the Times.

On Tuesday FIFA released a full statement explaining the payment. The organization acknowledged that FIFA diverted $10 million in money meant for the South African Local Organising Committee to accounts controlled by Warner, but says the payment was above board as part of the 2010 World Cup's "Diaspora Legacy Programme."

Valcke didn't authorize the payment, FIFA says, it was authorized by finance committee chairman Julio Grondona and it was "executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA."

The full FIFA explanation for the $10 million payment:

In 2007, as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African Government approved a USD 10m project to support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy.

At the request of the South African Government, and in agreement with the South African Football Association (SAFA), FIFA was asked to process the project’s funding by withholding USD 10m from the Local Organising Committee’s (LOC) operational budget and using that to finance the Diaspora Legacy Programme.

SAFA instructed FIFA that the Diaspora Legacy Programme should be administered and implemented directly by the President of CONCACAF who at that time was Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee and who should act as the fiduciary of the Diaspora Legacy Programme Fund of USD 10m.

The payments totalling USD 10m were authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations of FIFA. FIFA did not incur any costs as a result of South Africa’s request because the funds belonged to the LOC. Both the LOC and SAFA adhered to the necessary formalities for the budgetary amendment.

Neither the Secretary General Jérôme Valcke nor any other member of FIFA’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the above project.

While FIFA denies Valcke authorized the payment, the request from the South African FA was addressed to Valcke, according to a letter obtained by Press Association reporter Martyn Ziegler:

FIFA says this letter is consistent with their explanation:

FIFA doesn't address the accusation that Warner diverted a substantial portion of that money into his personal accounts.

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In English soccer, the ultimate goal is to win the league title. And no team has won more league titles than Manchester United (20), with Liverpool a close second (18). But when it comes to overall trophies, it's United that's chasing the Reds.

Liverpool has won 41 trophies, tops among all English teams, according to SportingIntelligence.com. Meanwhile, Arsenal's win in the FA Cup final moves them one step closer to the top two.

Here are the ten teams that have won at least ten trophies (data via SportingIntelligence.com)...

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The Golden State Warriors shocked the NBA world last season when they decided not to trade for Kevin Love, instead keeping Klay Thompson and giving him a $70 million extension.

Not only has Thompson become a pivotal player for the Warriors, emerging as one of the best two-way wing players in the NBA, the decision not to trade for Love opened the door for forward Draymond Green.

Green was one the Warriors' big pick-ups in the 2012 draft, and he has emerged as a crucial player for the team this year.

On an episode of Zach Lowe's podcast "The Lowe Post," Lowe and SB Nation's Paul Flannery noted how not trading for Love led to Green's breakout. Lowe started by saying, "The Kevin Love-Klay Thompson thing, it's so interesting, because Golden State clearly made the right decision, and that decision was right less because of Klay Thompson than because of Draymond Green."

Flannery added:

"Is Draymond Green a max player in Boston? I don't know, maybe not. Is he a max player with Golden State? Absolutely. Because the other thing is, how do you replace that guy? You don't replace that guy, he's unique... You can put Klay Thompson against Kevin Love in a vacuum and see who's a better player, right? But on this team, Klay Thompson is more important, and specifically, because that meant Draymond Green was going to come into a different realm and a different role."

After an injury to David Lee early in the season, Green became a starter and averaged career-highs across the board, mainly because his minutes jumped from 22 per game in 2013-14 to nearly 32 per game this season.

At 6'7", Green is undersized as a power forward, but he's strong enough to handle opposing big men and nimble enough to switch onto smaller, quicker guards and harass them with his size. In addition to his athletic gifts, Green can spread the floor with his shooting, work off the dribble, and find open teammates with his passing, giving Stephen Curry and Thompson easier shot opportunities. Green's versatility was key in the Warriors' small-ball chess match with the Rockets in the Conference Finals.

During the regular season, Green made the already-elite Warriors even better when he was on the court. Golden State finished the season ranked second in offensive rating and first in defensive rating, with averages of 109.7 and 98.2, respectively, meaning they outscored opponents by over 12 points per 100 possessions. With Green on the court, the Warriors' offensive rating jumped to 112.5 while their defensive rating improved to 96, outscoring opponents by over 16 points per 100 possessions, third-best on the team. It's been the same in the playoffs, where the Warriors are outscoring opponents by 13 points per 100 possession with Green on the floor — the best mark of any starter on the team.

As Flannery noted, Green is so important to what the Warriors do on both ends that he's worth any price. He'll become a restricted free agent this summer, which means the Warriors can match any offer he receives. If he receives a max contract offer, which would pay him at a starting rate of about $16.7 million, the Warriors will have to match, simply because there's no way to replace what Green does for the team. 

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Gedion Zelalem, an 18-year-old Arsenal midfielder, stole the show in the United States under-20 team's 4-0 win over New Zealand at the U-20 World Cup.

Zelalem, who was born in Germany but recently became an American citizen and switched his national team allegiance to the US, is now the most hyped prospect in the US system. In his first start for the US U-20's, he drew rave reviews from the American soccer world with his skill on the ball.

Zelalem pulled off a nutmeg at one point, passing the ball in between a helpless New Zealand defender's legs to teammate Bradford Jamieson IV:

He followed that up with a beautiful assist, while being swarmed by four New Zealand defenders, to set up fellow midfielder Paul Arriola's goal to give the US a 3-0 lead:

Zelalem wasn't done just yet. Later in the game, the young midfielder delivered a beautiful rabona — which, somehow, didn't result in yet another US goal:

While USMNT fans tried to remain cautiously optimistic prior to the game, Twitter still exploded following Zelalem's brilliant performance:

American Soccer Now's John Godfrey wrote after the game of Zelalem and Emerson Hyndman: "Zelalem's vision and skill on the ball were nothing short of spectacular, and together with Hyndman the US now has two impressive central midfielders it can rely on to create and distribute."

Fans and writers aren't the only ones who are enamored with Zelalem. USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann told ESPN's Doug McIntyre three weeks ago, before Zelalem was even eligible to play for the US, that he thought the talented midfielder could play for the senior national team right now:

"I think he's already at a level that he can definitely play on the senior team," Klinsmann said. "He's a special player."

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Three fans sustained "minor injuries" at the French Open on Tuesday when a large piece of metal fell on to fans, according to the tournament's Twitter account.

The incident occurred at the Philippe Chatrier court during a quarterfinals matchup between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kei Nishikori.

According to the Tennis Channel broadcast, two fans were taken to the infirmary at Roland Garros and one man was being treated for a "significant cut" to his arm.

Here's video:

The fan with the significant cut was able to walk out of the stands with assistance.

The chunk of metal came from a videoboard and may have come loose as a result of high winds. The side of the piece that cannot be seen in the photos above is covered in the spikes used to keep birds from sitting on structures.

Here is where the panel fell from. The spikes can be seen on the panels to the left.

Here is where one of the fans was sitting when injured.

The match was delayed for at least 20 minutes and two sections were cleared of fans before play resumed.

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Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics bid has one glaring problem: There's no snow.

Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, are the only two cities bidding on the 2022 Olympics after several European cities with democratically elected governments dropped out.

On Monday the International Olympic Committee released a lengthy evaluation of the two bids. The 137-page report, while complimentary overall, is open about the problems the two potential hosts face.

Beijing, the favorite, plans to divide the Olympics into three clusters — one in the city, one in the mountains of Yanqing (55 miles away), and one in the mountains of Zhangjiakou (100 miles away). The mountain clusters aren't just relatively far away; they're also almost complete devoid of natural snow.

The IOC took photos of the Yanqing cluster, the proposed venue for skiing and other mountain sports, and included them in the evaluation. These photos were taken between January 20-23, which is two weeks before the Beijing Olympics would take place in 2022. As you can see, snow was minimal.

Here's the ski slope:

And here's the whole cluster:

The average snow depth at the Yanqing cluster (above) is only 1.9 inches, and the average snow depth at the Zhangjiakou cluster is 8.3 inches.

In its evaluation, the IOC wrote that the 2022 Olympics would "rely completely on artificial snow."

This is a problem for two reasons:

1. It'd look bad. The IOC wrote: "Due to the lack of natural snow the 'look' of the venue may not be aesthetically pleasing either side of the ski run."

2. China would probably have to divert water from local reservoirs for snow making, which could affect regional water supply in an area of China that is "increasingly arid." In addition, the IOC wrote: "The bid committee provided detailed figures to demonstrate sufficient water for snowmaking from stored runoff and water diverted from existing reservoirs. The Commission considers Beijing 2022 has underestimated the amount of water that would be needed for snowmaking for the Games but believes adequate water for Games needs could be supplied."

The IOC just held a Winter Olympics in a tropical resort town where temperatures hit 60 degrees during the games. Now we could be headed for a snow-less Olympics.

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FIFA president Sepp Blatter is resigning as president of FIFA amid a growing corruption scandal, he announced on Tuesday at a surprise press conference.

"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football — the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA," he said. "Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress."

There will be a congress of FIFA members and a new president will be elected, at which time he will step down the post he has held since 1998. This will take place sometime between December of 2015 and March of 2016, FIFA says.

Blatter said he will work on "driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms" before he steps down. 

"FIFA needs a profound overhaul," he said.

It's a shocking move. Two days after nine current and former FIFA officials were arrested in a $150 million bribery scandal, Blatter defiantly stood for a fifth term and was reelected in a landslide. Now, less than a week later, he's quitting.

Here's Blatter's full statement announcing his intention to resign:

I have been reflecting deeply about my presidency and about the forty years in which my life has been inextricably bound to FIFA and the great sport of football. I cherish FIFA more than anything and I want to do only what is best for FIFA and for football. I felt compelled to stand for re-election, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but FIFA’s challenges are not. FIFA needs a profound overhaul.

While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA.

Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as FIFA President until that election.

The next ordinary FIFA Congress will take place on 13 May 2016 in Mexico City. This would create unnecessary delay and I will urge the Executive Committee to organise an Extraordinary Congress for the election of my successor at the earliest opportunity. This will need to be done in line with FIFA’s statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign.

Since I shall not be a candidate, and am therefore now free from the constraints that elections inevitably impose, I shall be able to focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that transcend our previous efforts. For years, we have worked hard to put in place administrative reforms, but it is plain to me that while these must continue, they are not enough.

The Executive Committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no control, but for whose actions FIFA is held responsible. We need deep-rooted structural change.

The size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected through the FIFA Congress. The integrity checks for all Executive Committee members must be organised centrally through FIFA and not through the confederations. We need term limits not only for the president but for all members of the Executive Committee.

I have fought for these changes before and, as everyone knows, my efforts have been blocked. This time, I will succeed.

I cannot do this alone. I have asked Domenico Scala to oversee the introduction and implementation of these and other measures. Mr. Scala is the Independent Chairman of our Audit and Compliance Committee elected by the FIFA Congress. He is also the Chairman of the ad hoc Electoral Committee and, as such, he will oversee the election of my successor. Mr. Scala enjoys the confidence of a wide range of constituents within and outside of FIFA and has all the knowledge and experience necessary to help tackle these major reforms.

It is my deep care for FIFA and its interests, which I hold very dear, that has led me to take this decision. I would like to thank those who have always supported me in a constructive and loyal manner as President of FIFA and who have done so much for the game that we all love. What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner.

The shock announcement comes a day after the New York Times reported that U.S. law enforcement believes Blatter's top deputy, Jerome Valcke, transferred $10 million in bribe money to accounts controlled by arrested ex-official Jack Warner. Valcke was not arrested and isn't accused of any wrongdoing, and both FIFA and Valcke denied that he authorized the payment. 

While the corruption allegations almost exclusively related to activity in North and South America, Blatter was under intense criticism for presiding over an organization that U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch said was plagued by "rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted" corruption.

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NOW WATCH: FIFA just spent $30M on a film about itself — and guess who plays Sepp Blatter

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The recent controversy surrounding FIFA isn't stopping the release of a film documenting the association's rise. "United Passions" highlights FIFA's presidents including Sepp Blatter. It cost $30 million to make and is largely funded by FIFA itself.  The film received bad reviews at Cannes, with many wondering how FIFA could afford to fund such an expensive self-indulgent project. Watch the trailer to the film above.

Video courtesy of Screen Media Films

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Sepp Blatter announced he is resigning as FIFA president Tuesday at a surprise press conference.

The announcement comes as a shock as Blatter won reelection last Friday and is just five days into his fifth term as FIFA president, a position he's held since 1998.

FIFA and Blatter have come under heavy fire after the arrest of nine current and former FIFA executives on bribery and corruption charges.

After Blatter was reelected, he told a Swiss TV station that he wouldn't step down because that would mean he did something wrong.

"Why would I step down? That would mean I recognize that I did wrongdoing," he said, via the Telegraph.

Blatter also claimed that he couldn't be held responsible for the corruption in FIFA because it would be "impossible" to preside over everything happening in the organization:

"But how can everybody be responsible? That's impossible ...  That is impossible. In no country in the world is there a single court. We are talking about over a billion people. How can a single entity do all that? This needs to be understood. I need to make it be understood ... You can't just ask everybody to behave ethically just like that in the world in which we live."

In the statement announcing his resignation, Blatter said he was stepping down because he lacked the support of the broader soccer world.

"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football — the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA," he said.

On Monday, a report in the New York Times by William K. Rashbaum and Matt Apuzzo said that law-enforcement officials believe FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, Blatter's No. 2 man, moved money related to an alleged World Cup vote bribe from FIFA bank accounts to an account controlled by arrested FIFA official Jack Warner. FIFA later denied that Valcke was behind the transfer.

FIFA says a new presidential election is likely to take place between December 2015 and March 2016.

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NOW WATCH: FIFA just spent $30M on a film about itself — and guess who plays Sepp Blatter