2009 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
Nearly two hours after the race started, Hamilton completed the final lap to take the chequered flag, ahead of Glock and Alonso. Vettel and Button held on for fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Barrichello, Kovalainen and Robert Kubica in the final points paying position. Button extended his Championship lead by one point to 15 ahead of Barrichello, with just three races remaining. Vettel was 25 points behind Button while Webber's crash meant he was now officially out of the running for the World Championship. Brawn would need 12 points from the remaining three races to clinch the Constructors' Championship, while Ferrari's poor race, with neither driver scoring points, allowed McLaren to close the gap to Ferrari to three points in the battle for third.


2009 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
Under Bernie Ecclestone's proposed 'winner takes all' medals system, Button would have been declared World Champion after this result, with no other driver able to match his tally of six race wins. The Olympics-style system was planned to be used to decide the 2009 World Champion but was dropped after pressure from teams in favour of the traditional points method.


2009 Singapore Grand Prix, Classification, Qualifying
Cars that use the KERS system are marked with "‡"


2009 Singapore Grand Prix, F1 Rocks Singapore With LG
The inaugural F1 Rocks concerts was held in Singapore. Headlining acts include Beyoncé, The Black Eyed Peas, ZZ Top, Simple Minds, N.E.R.D., No Doubt, Jacky Cheung and A*Mei which took place 24 to 26 September nightly at Fort Canning Park. This also included Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button doing fun challenges and it was hosted by Lindsay Lohan.


2009 Singapore Grand Prix, Fuel Festival Singapore
Another massive SingaporeGP Season event Fuel Festival featured headliners Underworld, will.i.am, Peter Hook ex-New Order, Bloc Party, Guru Josh, Darren Emerson, Freaks, Hybrid, Samantha Ronson, and Johnny Vicious and was hosted by Lindsay Lohan which takes place 24 September at Suntec Convention Centre as well as 25 to 27 September nightly at the National Museum of Singapore.


2009 Singapore Grand Prix, Fuel Festival Singapore
Singapore GP itself is offering a showcase featuring Backstreet Boys, Travis, Carl Cox, and John Digweed on the 25th through 27th nightly throughout the track side areas.


2009 Singapore League Cup
The 2009 Singapore League Cup kicked off on 1 June.


2009 Singapore League Cup
For this season, the 12 teams will be divided into four groups of three in the preliminary round which will be played on a round-robin basis. The top two teams from each group qualify for the next round which will be played on a knockout (single elimination) basis.


2009 Singapore League Cup
The 2009 League Cup Final took place on 19 June (Friday) at the Jalan Besar Stadium.


2009 Singapore League Cup, Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on May 14, 2009. The 12 S-League teams are drawn into 4 groups of 3


2009 Singapore League Cup, Group stage
Winners and runners up of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident
The Singapore Romanian diplomat incident occurred on 15 December 2009, when three pedestrians were struck in a hit-and-run in the Singapore suburb of Bukit Panjang. The vehicle, a black Audi A6 bearing diplomatic license plates, was later identified as being driven by Dr Silviu Ionescu, at the time Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the Romanian Embassy in Singapore. At approximately 3 am, the vehicle ran two red lights and hit the pedestrians on a pedestrian crossing, injuring two and killing one. Approximately 40 minutes after the incident, Ionescu reported the vehicle as being stolen. The car was later found abandoned in Sungei Kadut approximately 4 hours after the collisions.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident
Singapore began an investigation into the incident. Romanian authorities also commenced an investigation into the incident on 6 January 2010, and formally indicted Ionescu on charges on 2 February. A Singapore coroner's inquiry held in early March 2010 determined the vehicle had not been stolen and was being driven by Ionescu at the time of the incident. Ionescu, who had left Singapore three days after the incident, declined to return to Singapore for the proceedings. Singapore authorities have used diplomatic law to interview Ionescu's driver, but Romania has declined several requests to extradite Ionescu himself.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident
Ionescu was arrested by Romanian authorities in May 2010. His trial in Romania began in July 2010, and in March 2013, he was sentenced to 3 years' jail after being found guilty of manslaughter, negligent bodily injury and leaving the scene of a crash. Ionescu appealed, with the result arriving in February 2014, with the Court of Appeal upholding his conviction and doubling his sentence from 3 years to 6 years.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Incident
At approximately 3 am on 15 December 2009, Malaysians Tong Kok Wai, 30, his friend Bong Hwee How, 24, and Singaporean Muhd Haris Abu Talib, 18, were crossing at the pedestrian crossings in Bukit Panjang. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a black Audi A6 with diplomatic license plates run through two red traffic lights before striking the three men. Bong suffered severe head injuries, including post-traumatic amnesia. Tong suffered the most severe of injuries. After three days in hospital, he slipped into a coma and was pronounced brain dead on 18 December 2009. He was taken off life support on 25 December.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Incident
The abandoned Audi was later recovered by police in the Sungei Kadut neighbourhood. Ionescu had reported the vehicle as stolen approximately 40 minutes after the incident. According to his police statement, Ionescu drove the car to his diplomatic office shortly before 3 am. Shortly thereafter, he noticed the car was missing, at which time he reported it stolen. He then asked his driver, Marius Trusca, to drive him around in search of the car. After 20 minutes of searching, he took a taxi to his private residence. Police reports filed in a Singapore court differ from Ionescu's account. Police say Ionescu's driver was not working the night of the incident and was not called in to look for the vehicle until almost 9 am, rather than 3 am as reported by Ionescu.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Incident
Three days after the incident, Ionescu left Singapore to return to Romania.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Actions by Singaporean agencies
On 6 January 2010, the Romanian prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation and officially requested information about the case from Singaporean authorities.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Actions by Singaporean agencies
On 28 January 2010, Singapore police revealed they had evidence that Ionescu was the driver in the hit-and-run. His presence, as well as that of his Romanian driver, was requested for the coroner's inquest into Tong's death. Singapore completed a coroner's inquiry into the events on 31 March 2010. Based on the witnesses (one of whom identified Ionescu as the driver at the time of the incident) and evidence presented by police in the coroner's inquiry, it was concluded that Ionescu was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the incident.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Actions by Singaporean agencies
In response to the allegations, Ionescu said, "Honestly, I don't believe in the court of Singapore".


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Actions by Romanian agencies
The Romanian Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from Ionescu since he was excused from his diplomatic position, saying his statements carry the weight of any common citizen.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Actions by Romanian agencies
The Romanian government has taken action against Ionescu. He was recalled from his post in Singapore with effect from 5 January 2010 and the case had been referred to the Romanian Prosecutor's Office. The Romanian Foreign Ministry also suspended Ionescu from his duties following the Romanian Prosecutor's Office's starting a criminal investigation regarding the incident.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Actions by Romanian agencies
Since the coroner's inquiry, a "joint technical committee" was established between Singapore and Romania, which intends to pursue legal action against Ionescu. Pending such action, Singapore has filed 13 charges against Ionescu and as well as issued an arrest warrant against him. The Romanian government seized a property in Bucharest belonging to Ionescu on 3 February 2010 with the aim of "satisfying the claims of the civil parties." Meanwhile, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Ionescu in April 2012.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Public response
The fact that Ionescu could not be brought back to Singapore for trial due to diplomatic immunity and the absence of an extradition treaty between Singapore and Romania has triggered much public outrage in Singapore.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Public response
There was also outcry in Malaysia as the deceased was a Malaysian who was working in Singapore. The family of the deceased sought help from the Malaysian government, but were turned down as it was considered an internal matter between Singapore and Romania.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Romanian arrest and sentencing
Ionescu was arrested by Romanian authorities in May 2010. On 1 July 2010, the Romanian State Prosecutor charged Ionescu with culpable homicide, grievous bodily harm with intent, deserting the place of an accident and providing false evidence to the police. On 27 March 2013, a Bucharest district court found Ionescu guilty of manslaughter, negligent bodily injury and leaving the scene of an accident, so he was sentenced to 3 years' jail.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Romanian arrest and sentencing
Ionescu's appeal kept him out of jail and led to the case being brought to the Bucharest's Court of Appeal, with Ionescu twice filing for postponements. On 13 February 2014, the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction and doubled his sentence from 3 years to 6 years, after taking into account the State Prosecution Service's arguments that Ionescu showed no remorse for a grave crime which he continued to deny despite the weight of the evidence against him, and that he had deformed Romania's international reputation. In response, the Singapore government welcomed the decision.


2009 Singapore Romanian diplomat incident, Death of Ionescu
On 9 December 2014, Ionescu died in a Bucharest jail hospital due to cardiorespiratory problems. It was less than a year after his final sentencing.


2009 Singapore Super Series
The 2009 Singapore Open Super Series was the fifth tournament of 2009 BWF Super Series badminton tournament. It was held from June 9 to June 14, 2009 in Singapore.


2009 Singapore national football team results
This article details the fixtures and results of the Singapore national football team in 2009.


2009 Sioux Falls Cougars football team
The 2009 Sioux Falls Cougars football team represented the University of Sioux Falls in the 2009 NAIA football season. The Cougars won the 2009 NAIA Football National Championship  with a 25–22 victory over the third-ranked Lindenwood Lions. The team also won the Great Plains Athletic Conference championship with a perfect 10–0 record. This was the school's fourth NAIA Championship (1996, 2006, 2008) and third in four years. The team was coached by Kalen DeBoer.


2009 Sioux Falls Cougars football team
Quarterback Lorenzo Brown was named the NAIA Player of the Year prior to the game. Sioux Falls ended the season with a 29-game winning streak going back through the 2008 season. They extended this streak to 42 games, which tied an NAIA record before losing in the 2010 championship game After the season, DeBoer would left to take the offensive coordinator job at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He finished his tenure at Sioux Falls with a 67–3 record and three national titles.


2009 Sioux Falls Cougars football team, Schedule
USF went wire-to-wire as the number one team in the nation.


2009 Six Hours of Watkins Glen
The 2009 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen was the fifth round of the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series season. It took place at Watkins Glen International on June 6, 2009.


2009 Six Nations Championship
The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national teams. The tournament was held between 7 February and 21 March 2009.


2009 Six Nations Championship
The championship was contested by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Ireland won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown, only their second Grand Slam, and first since 1948, and first Triple Crown since 2007. It was Ireland's second Grand Slam in total.


2009 Six Nations Championship
England finished as runners-up, and also won the Calcutta Cup. The tournament featured the first Friday night game in its history, played between France and Wales at the Stade de France.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
The tournament began on 7 February 2009, when England hosted Italy in the earlier of the day's two matches. Ireland played France later that evening, with Scotland versus Wales the following day.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
The reigning champions on entering the 2009 tournament were Wales, who won the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in 2008. The winners of both accolades in 2009 were Ireland, with Ronan O'Gara's dropped goal leaving the score in the final match against Wales in Cardiff on 21 March at 17–15. Wales's Stephen Jones then missed a late penalty from just inside the Ireland half to leave Wales in fourth position. Ireland's two tries in that match came when captain Brian O'Driscoll and Tommy Bowe scored in quick succession in the 44th and 46th minutes respectively.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
Paul O'Connell received the Triple Crown and Ireland's captain Brian O'Driscoll lifted the trophy. It was Ireland's first Grand Slam since 1948, 61 years earlier. This was achieved in the first Six Nations Championship since Declan Kidney was appointed as manager of the Ireland team, succeeding Eddie O'Sullivan who resigned after the previous tournament.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
Twelve tries were scored by Ireland throughout the tournament, and five wins left the team on top of the table at the end of the Championship with ten points. They opened with a 30–21 win over France at home stadium Croke Park on 7 February. On 15 February Ireland's second match was a 9–38 beating of Italy at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome. On 28 February, Ireland beat England 14–13 at Croke Park and on 14 March, Ireland beat Scotland 15–22 at Murrayfield Stadium. Then followed the Grand Slam against Wales on 21 March 2009.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
That game was attended by the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, who presented the trophy, and Taoiseach Brian Cowen. Following the game there were tributes from politicians including Brian Cowen, Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny and Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen. A civic reception for the team took place outside Dublin's Mansion House on 22 March at 16:30, with 18,000 fans attending alongside Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Dublin's Deputy Lord Mayor Emer Costelloe. 2,000 fans had earlier greeted the team upon their arrival at Dublin Airport. Brian O'Driscoll described 21 March as a "sweet, sweet day".


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
The game was watched by 945,000 people in Ireland, the highest rating television programme in the country by that stage of 2009. Former coach Eddie O'Sullivan was said to be "delighted" for the team. Brian O'Driscoll was named player of the tournament, beating Italy's Sergio Parisse and Ireland teammate Paul O'Connell. O'Connell was later named captain of the British and Irish Lions team to tour South Africa and containing fourteen members of the Grand Slam winning Irish team on 21 April 2009, describing it as "a great honour".


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
Italy were the only side to not win a match in the tournament, suffering defeats by twenty points or more against, in addition to Ireland, France (50–8), England (36–11) and Scotland (26–6), while losing 20–15 to Wales. Scotland managed a solitary victory against Italy to finish on 2 points. England, France and Wales all managed to win three of their matches to finish level on six points but England's points difference of +54 granted them second place in the table.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Summary
Their points tally was boosted by a 36–10 defeat of France and a 26–12 win against Scotland which sealed the Calcutta Cup. Wales' early loss to France and narrow loss to Ireland in the last game of the tournament denied them a second consecutive championship. Although Wales needed to beat Ireland by more than 13 points to win the championship, they could have won the game and the Triple Crown in the last minute of the tournament (as well as denying Ireland the Grand Slam) if Stephen Jones' 50-yard penalty kick had not fallen short.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Table
Note: The first tiebreaker is point difference from all matches, the second is tries scored. After these two tiebreakers the championship is shared.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures
The fixtures for the 2009 Six Nations were released on 17 April 2008. The France v Wales game on 27 February was the first Friday night game in the history of the championship, both under the Five and Six Nations format.


2009 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 5
Ireland claimed their first championship since 1985 and first Grand Slam since 1948.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads
This is a list of the complete squads for the 2009 Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union tournament contested by the national rugby teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy Scotland, and Wales. Each country was entitled to name a squad of 39 players to contest the championship. They could also invite additional players along prior to the start of the championship while the coach could call up replacement players if squad members suffered serious injury.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads
All caps are as of the start of the tournament, and do not include appearances made during the competition.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, England
England announced their 32-man squad for the 2009 Six Nations on 14 January 2009, including both Tom Palmer, who missed the entire tournament with a shoulder injury, and Tom Rees, who was ruled out of the first three games with knee trouble. Prop Matt Stevens was replaced in the squad by Julian White after Stevens was found to have taken a banned substance. Flanker Lewis Moody broke his ankle while training with his club, Leicester Tigers, and was replaced in the England squad by Steffon Armitage, brother of fullback Delon Armitage. Andy Goode, Joe Worsley and Paul Hodgson were all called up to train with the squad and went on to take part in the tournament, while Louis Deacon and Olly Barkley replaced the injured Tom Palmer and Shane Geraghty.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, England
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, France
France named their final 23-man squad for the Six Nations on 28 January. Eight players from their training squad lost their places in the final 23, with only Biarritz number 8 Imanol Harinordoquy being brought in from outside the original 30.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, France
As cover for prop Lionel Faure, who was nursing an injured calf, Clermont Auvergne's Thomas Domingo was called up to the squad on 11 February. Maxime Mermoz was called up in place of the banned Florian Fritz. Renaud Boyoud was also drafted in place of the injured Benoît Lecouls. Mathieu Bastareaud was called up for the injured Lionel Beauxis with Benoît Baby moving to fly-half, while Sylvain Marconnet was brought into the squad after injuries to both Benoît Lecouls and Nicolas Mas. François Trinh-Duc was also called up as specialist fly-half cover.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, France
On 4 March Jérôme Thion, Julien Bonnaire and Damien Traille were all added to the squad, while Sébastien Chabal shifted from lock to the back row. For their final game against Italy, France called up William Servat and Frédéric Michalak to replace Benjamin Kayser who had a neck injury and Sébastien Tillous-Borde who withdrew with a biceps problem.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, France
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Ireland
Ireland named their squad for the 2009 Six Nations on 21 January 2009. Included in the 39-man squad were seven uncapped players, as well as inside centre Gordon D'Arcy, who had only returned in December from a broken arm picked up in the opening game of the 2008 Six Nations.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Ireland
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy
Italy's squad for the Six Nations, named on 29 January 2009 by Nick Mallett:


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy
Italy lost both of their specialist scrum-halves, Simon Picone and Pietro Travagli, for the entire Six Nations due to injury. Pablo Canavosio was called up but failed to recover from a knee injury in time for Italy's opener. This led head coach Nick Mallett to make a move he had been contemplating even before Canavosio's withdrawal – shifting Mauro Bergamasco from flanker to scrum-half.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy
After Bergamasco's poor performance at scrum-half in the opener against England, in which his mistakes directly led to three of England's five tries, Mallett recalled Paul Griffen to play scrum-half and moved Bergamasco back to his normal flanker position. Carlo Del Fava was also brought in as an experienced second row forward. Leonardo Ghiraldini was called up after he recovered from injury but Fabio Ongaro was ruled out, so Franco Sbaraglini was also called up. On 3 March, Mallett added several players to the squad. Coming in were Fabio Staibano, Simone Favaro, Kristopher Burton and Michele Sepe. After returning from his suspension Andrea Masi picked up a back injury, Luciano Orquera was brought into the squad as cover.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Scotland
Scotland named a 33-man squad for the 2009 Six Nations on 20 January 2009, and included uncapped prop Geoff Cross and fly-half Ruaridh Jackson. However, after injuries and illness hit the squad, a further five players were added to train on 30 January. After injuries to Geoff Cross and the Allan Jacobsen, Moray Low was called into the main squad to provide cover for the final two games. Following a return to fitness Rory Lamont was called up to the squad, but the game against Ireland came to soon for him.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Scotland
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Wales
Wales announced their squad for the 2009 Six Nations on 19 January 2009, naming a group of 28 players. Following a knee injury to scrum-half Gareth Cooper in training, head coach Warren Gatland opted to call 64-cap Sale Sharks scrum-half Dwayne Peel into the squad. After Dwayne Peel had also been ruled out with injury, Gatland was forced to call up London Irish scrum-half Warren Fury for bench cover.


2009 Six Nations Championship squads, Wales
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship
The 2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held between February and March 2009. France won the tournament but no team won the Grand Slam or Triple Crown.


2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, Top try-scorers
Doumayrou (FRA), Trinder, Lowe (both ENG), Venditti (ITA) - 3 tries


2009 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, Top try-scorers
Lapandry, Camara, Fall (all FRA), Phillips, Tipuric, Reynolds (all WAL) - 2 tries


2009 Six-red World Championship
The 2009 Six-red World Championship (styled the 888sport.com 6Red World Championship, among other spellings, for sponsorship and marketing purposes) was a six-red snooker tournament that took place between 14 and 18 December 2009 at the INEC in Killarney, Republic of Ireland. The tournament was sponsored by online bookmaker 888sport.


2009 Six-red World Championship
The field of 118 players were divided into twenty groups of five and three groups of six. Twenty-eight competitors were on the 2009/2010 professional Main Tour. During the tournament Michael White compiled the fastest 75 maximum break in the group stage with 2 minutes and 28 seconds.


2009 Six-red World Championship
Mark Davis won in the final 6–3 against Mark Williams.


2009 Six-red World Grand Prix
The 2009 Six-red World Grand Prix (often styled the 2009 SangSom 6-red World Grand Prix for sponsorship and marketing purposes) was a six-red snooker tournament held between 7 and 12 July 2009 at the Montien Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.


2009 Six-red World Grand Prix
Twenty-three of the tournament's 48 competitors were on the 2009/10 professional World Snooker tour of the more established 15-red game. A relatively high proportion of competitors were from Asia.


2009 Six-red World Grand Prix
Jimmy White won in the final 8–6 against Barry Hawkins.


2009 Six-red World Grand Prix, Prize money
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2009 Six-red World Grand Prix, Round-robin stage
The top four players from each group qualified for the knock-out stage. All matches were best of 9 frames.


2009 Skate America
The 2009 Skate America was the fifth event of six in the 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York on November 12–15. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2009–10 Grand Prix Final. The compulsory dance was the Golden Waltz.


2009 Skate Canada International
The 2009 Skate Canada International was the final event of six in the 2009–10 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex in Kitchener, Ontario on November 19–22. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2009–10 Grand Prix Final. The compulsory dance was the Tango Romantica.


2009 Skate Canada International, Results, Pairs
Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy set a new world record of 206.71 points under the ISU Judging System for pairs combined total score.


2009 Sky Blue FC season
The 2009 Sky Blue FC season was the first season for Sky Blue FC in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). In the league's inaugural season, the club finished fourth in the regular season with 26 points, qualifying for the playoffs. After victories over the Washington Freedom and Saint Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC defeated the Los Angeles Sol, the top team in the regular season, in the championship match to become the first WPS champions.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Drafts
Sky Blue FC was the WPS franchise in the New York City/New Jersey region. Players from the U.S. national team were allocated to the seven WPS clubs in September 2008; each side was allotted the rights to three national team players. The players that joined Sky Blue FC as a result of the allocation were striker Natasha Kai, Heather O'Reilly, and defender Christie Rampone; the latter two attended high school in New Jersey. Later in September, the 2008 WPS International Draft was held, allowing each club to select four international players. Sky Blue FC's first pick was Australian striker Sarah Walsh. Two players from Brazil were taken in the second and third round: Rosana and Ester. With the final selection in the International Draft, the team added Kelly Parker, a midfielder from Canada.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Drafts
The 2008 WPS General Draft, in which each team was able to select four additional players to join their squads, was held the following month. Sky Blue FC had the 7th, 8th, 21st, and 22nd picks, and chose Cori Alexander, Keeley Dowling, Kacey White, and Jenny Anderson-Hammond. In January 2009, the 10-round 2009 WPS Draft was held. Midfielder Yael Averbuch, a New Jersey native, was chosen in the first round by Sky Blue FC.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
The team had multiple locations for home games in its inaugural season. Their first two home games were held in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, at TD Bank Ballpark. For the remainder of the year, Sky Blue FC's home field was Yurcak Field, on the campus of Rutgers University. Ian Sawyers, who had won a championship as a coach in the Women's United Soccer Association in 2001, was named the head coach.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
Sky Blue FC began their first WPS campaign on April 5, in a match against the Los Angeles Sol at TD Bank Ballpark. A first-half brace by Marta led the Sol to a 2–0 win. Six days later, Sky Blue FC hosted FC Gold Pride. Rampone, the team's regular captain, missed the match due to an injury. In the 76th minute, O'Reilly scored on a strike with her right foot for the club's first-ever goal, which was enough for a 1–1 draw.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
Following that match, which was their last at TD Bank Ballpark, Sky Blue FC embarked on a five-match stretch on the road. Against the Chicago Red Stars on April 19, goalkeepers Karen Bardsley and Jenni Branam combined for six saves in a scoreless draw. Collette McCallum had a scoring opportunity for Sky Blue FC in the first half, but her effort went off the crossbar.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
After an exhibition against F.C. Indiana and an off week, Sky Blue FC's next WPS game was at FC Gold Pride on May 3. An 86th-minute goal by FC Gold Pride substitute Leigh Ann Robinson was the only score in a 1–0 Sky Blue FC loss. The team then traveled to Toyota Park for a match against the Red Stars, who were undefeated with two wins and two draws. In the eighth minute, Walsh received a pass from McCallum and scored to give Sky Blue FC the lead.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
After they allowed no shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes, Kai doubled their advantage in the 79th minute; Sky Blue FC held on by that two-goal margin for their first victory of the season. They next played at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles against the Sol, losing 1–0 on an 80th-minute goal by Marta.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
Sky Blue FC's next game, at the Washington Freedom, was played at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Before the match, Sawyers was suspended from his duties with the club; team president Thomas Hofstetter said in a statement that "Differences have arisen between Ian and the ownership of the organization." Kelly Lindsey, an assistant under Sawyers, served as Sky Blue FC's interim head coach against the Freedom. Goals by the Freedom's Cat Whitehill and Lisa De Vanna in the first half led to a two-goal deficit for Sky Blue FC at halftime.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
Despite a 66th-minute Rosana goal, they were unable to avoid defeat. The loss left Sky Blue FC at the bottom of the WPS standings, with only five points from seven matches played. Sawyers was subsequently fired by the team, and Lindsey continued as the interim head coach. Vice president of sales and marketing Gerry Marrone was promoted to general manager, a position that had also been held by Sawyers.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, April–May
Following their road trip, the club hosted the Boston Breakers in the first home game played at Yurcak Field. Kai opened the scoring for Sky Blue FC in the fourth minute, before the Breakers' Kelly Smith equalized eight minutes later. In the 29th minute, Sky Blue regained the lead with a Kacey White goal; they ended up winning 2–1 for their second victory.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, June–August
On June 7, Sky Blue FC played at Saint Louis Athletica. Although Sky Blue FC had a 14–10 advantage in shot attempts, they did not score against Athletica goalkeeper Hope Solo. A first-half strike by Amanda Cinalli gave Athletica an eventual 1–0 win, and left Sky Blue FC in last place.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, June–August
After a 0–0 draw at home against Los Angeles, Sky Blue FC defeated the Red Stars 1–0 on a 24th-minute Rosana goal. The win lifted them to fifth in the WPS standings. Lindsey was named the team's coach for their remaining 2009 games on June 19. Sky Blue FC traded Walsh to Saint Louis Athletica for forward Kerri Hanks and midfielder Francielle on June 26; the clubs also exchanged draft picks. They then lost 2–1 at home to Saint Louis Athletica two days later, as Elise Weber scored the winning goal in the 84th minute. Against the Breakers the following week, O'Reilly's sixth-minute goal was the only scoring as Sky Blue FC won their fourth match of the season.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, June–August
In another match against the Breakers on July 12, a Kai goal gave Sky Blue FC the lead in the first half before Rosana made the score 2–0 in the 37th minute. Despite a late Jennifer Nobis goal for Boston, Sky Blue FC held on for a 2–1 win to move up to fourth place in the WPS standings on 18 points. Three days later, the club hosted the Freedom in a back-and-forth match. Kai and White each had two goals for Sky Blue FC, while De Vanna tallied twice for Washington.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, June–August
Sky Blue FC held a 4–3 lead in second-half stoppage time when Whitehill scored off a rebound to level the match; the 4–4 draw marked the first time that eight goals had been scored in a WPS game. Four days later, Hanks scored in the 91st minute to give Sky Blue FC a victory against Chicago.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, June–August
Sky Blue FC were held without a goal in their next two games, which resulted in one loss and one draw. Those results left the team with a 6–7–5 record; they were undefeated when playing Boston and Chicago, but winless against the other four WPS clubs. On July 29, Lindsey resigned as head coach of the team, along with assistant coach Joe Dorini. The club named Rampone as their third head coach of the year; she served as a caretaker player-coach for the rest of the season.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Regular season, June–August
On August 5, Rampone's side defeated FC Gold Pride 2–0 behind second-half goals by Rosana and Kai; the win left Sky Blue FC in position to qualify for the WPS playoffs, which the top four teams would contest, with one match remaining in the regular season. With 26 points, they were level with third-place Washington, their opponents in the finale, and one point ahead of fifth-place Boston. Although Sky Blue FC were defeated 3–1 by the Freedom, the Breakers lost to Los Angeles in their final game, giving Sky Blue FC the fourth and final postseason berth. They ended up with seven wins, eight losses, and five draws in the regular season.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Playoffs
The WPS playoffs were structured so that the top seed, the Sol, were given an automatic berth in the league final. The third- and fourth-place teams, the Freedom and Sky Blue FC respectively, faced each other in the opening round. The winner would move on to face the number two team in the standings, Saint Louis Athletica, in the Super Semifinal. Underdogs entering the first-round match, Sky Blue FC were without the services of Bardsley and Anita Asante, who were with the England national team at the UEFA Women's Euro 2009.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Playoffs
Their opponents, who were missing French midfielder Sonia Bompastor because of international duty, featured Abby Wambach, who scored a team-high eight goals during the regular season. In the match, which took place on August 15 at Maryland SoccerPlex, Sky Blue FC outshot Washington 14–5 in the first half, but neither team scored. Kai, a second-half substitute, broke the deadlock in the 55th minute, beating Freedom goalkeeper Erin McLeod. De Vanna leveled the match in the 78th minute, but six minutes later Francielle restored Sky Blue FC's lead with a 20-yard strike that proved to be the decisive goal.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Playoffs
With the victory, Sky Blue FC advanced to face Saint Louis Athletica in the next round, a club they had lost to in each of their three regular season meetings. The match was held on August 19 in Fenton, Missouri. Sky Blue FC had numerous early scoring opportunities, but were denied by saves from Solo. Dowling, however, received a pass from Averbuch and beat Solo with a shot from her left foot in the 30th minute. The goal, which was the first of Dowling's professional career, was the only one of the match, as Sky Blue FC earned a place in the first WPS title match against Los Angeles.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Playoffs
Three days after the semifinal contest, Sky Blue FC played Los Angeles in the WPS championship match. It was the club's third match in an eight-day span; each took place in a different time zone. The Sol entered the match as heavy favorites, as analysts questioned whether their opponents would suffer from fatigue. In front of 7,218 fans at the Home Depot Center, Sky Blue FC effectively held possession against the Sol, and had control of the match for much of the opening half.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Playoffs
They took the lead in the 16th minute, as a cross by Dowling found Kai, who passed to O'Reilly. Her shot found the net for the first goal of the match. In the 27th minute, Kai gained possession of the ball in the Sky Blue FC half of the field and ran until she was near the opposition's box, where Los Angeles defender Allison Falk brought her down from behind. The foul resulted in a red card that forced her team to field only 10 players for around two-thirds of the match.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Playoffs
The Sol's performance improved as the match progressed, but Braham repelled multiple second-half shots. Marta had an opportunity to level the match with a free kick in second-half stoppage time, but her shot from 28 yards went over the Sky Blue FC goal. Sky Blue FC held on for a 1–0 victory, becoming the inaugural WPS champions.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Statistical summary
Sky Blue FC scored 19 goals and conceded 20 during the regular season; both totals were tied for third in the league. Kai led the team in regular season goals with six. Rosana was the next highest-scorer with five goals. Three players—Dowling, McCallum, and O'Reilly—each had three assists in regular season play. In goal, Branam started 16 of the 20 regular season games and appeared in two others. She had 6 shutouts and a 1.09 goals against average.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Aftermath
The WPS season concluded with the 2009 WPS All-Star Game, which pitted a team of WPS All-Stars against Umeå IK of Sweden, the reigning Damallsvenskan champions. No Sky Blue FC players were initially chosen to start in the All-Star Game, but Rampone was picked as one of the replacements for European players participating at the UEFA Women's Euro 2009. O'Reilly was among the reserves for the team, which defeated Umeå IK 4–2. Rampone was named the winner of the WPS Sportswoman of the Year Award. Asante was nominated for Defender of the Year, while Branam received a Goalkeeper of the Year nomination.


2009 Sky Blue FC season, Aftermath
Following the season, Sky Blue FC named Pauliina Miettinen as their head coach for 2010. The club signed U.S. national team player Carli Lloyd and Dutch international Daphne Koster. In 2010, the team finished 7–10–7 and did not qualify for the postseason.


2009 Skycity Triple Crown
The 2009 Skycity Triple Crown was the fifth race meeting of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It contained Races 9 and 10 of the series and was held on the weekend of 19–21 June at Hidden Valley Raceway, in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia.


2009 Skycity Triple Crown, Recent changes
With just 103 racing laps all weekend of the 2.9 kilometre venue, the race meeting is significantly shorter than recent V8 Supercar rounds at just 300 kilometres of racing against the 400 kilometre norm. It is also shorter than the 2008 Skycity Triple Crown which raced 360 kilometres over its three races last year.


2009 Skycity Triple Crown, Race 9
The first race was held on Saturday 20 June. Tander started well from third grid position to move past polesitter Jason Richards and settled to chase leader Whincup. Jack Perkins was an early retirement with bent steering. Lowndes was the first of the front running cars to pit on lap 7. Tander lost ground during the pitstops, falling behind teammate Davison, and when Jason Richards vaulted past after his later stop.


2009 Skycity Triple Crown, Race 9
With the stops completed, Whincup held a clear lead over a tight group of Jason Richards, Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison and Garth Tander. Late in the race with car condition falling away Jason Richards speared off the track at the end of the front straight, dropping behind the HRT pair then lost position to Todd Kelly and Craig Lowndes and kept James Courtney out of seventh position by just a single hundredth of a second.


2009 Skyrunner World Series
The 2009 Skyrunner World Series was the 8th edition of the global skyrunning competition, Skyrunner World Series, organised by the International Skyrunning Federation from 2002.


2009 Skyrunner World Series, Skyrunner World Series Races
The World Cup has developed in 7 races from April to October, in addition at the 8 trials.


2009 Sligo County Council election
An election to Sligo County Council took place on 5 June 2009 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 25 councillors were elected from five electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.


2009 Sligo Intermediate Football Championship
This is a round-up of the 2009 Sligo Intermediate Football Championship. Geevagh were crowned champions for the fifth time, defeating Bunninadden. Both finalists were relegated to Senior in 2008.


2009 Sligo Intermediate Football Championship, Group Stages
The Championship was contested by 13 teams, divided into four groups. The top two sides in each group advanced to the Quarter-Finals, with the remaining sides in each group facing the Relegation playoffs to retain Intermediate status for 2009, as the restructuring of the Championships got under way.


2009 Sligo Intermediate Football Championship, Sligo Intermediate Football Championship Final, Relegation
As part of the championship revamp, three teams were to be relegated to Junior A. As St. Mary's did not field in the competition they were automatically relegated. The teams in pink are those relegated.


2009 Sligo Senior Football Championship
This is a round-up of the 2009 Sligo Senior Football Championship to date. Tourlestrane were crowned champions on 4 October after beating the then current winners Eastern Harps


2009 Sligo Senior Football Championship, Group Stages
The Championship was contested by 14 teams, divided into four groups. Two with three teams and two with four teams. The top two sides in each group advanced to the Quarter-Finals, with the bottom sides in each group facing the Relegation group stages to retain Senior status for 2010, as the restructuring of the Championships went through its final stages.


2009 Slovak Cup Final
The 2009 Slovak Cup Final was the final match of the 2009–10 Slovak Cup, the 40th season of the top cup competition in Slovak football. The match was played at the NTC Senec in Senec on 20 May 2009 between MFK Košice and FC Artmedia Petržalka. MFK Košice defeated Artmedia 3-1.


2009 Slovak Super Cup
The 2009 Slovak Super Cup was a football match played on July 5, 2009, in Dolný Kubín, Slovakia.


2009 Slovak Super Cup
The match was played between Corgoň Liga 2008–09 champions ŠK Slovan Bratislava and the Slovak Cup 2008–09 winners MFK Košice, and was won by Slovan Bratislava 2–0 to earn their third Super Cup.


2009 Slovak Super Cup
The match was attended by 1,400 viewers. Referee was Ján Valášek, who was assisted by Kubačka and Chládek.


2009 Slovak presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Slovakia in March and April 2009, the country's third direct presidential elections. After no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round on 21 March, the second round on 4 April saw Ivan Gašparovič become the first Slovak president to be re-elected, defeating opposition candidate Iveta Radičová by 55.53% to 44.47%.


2009 Slovak presidential election, First round
There were seven candidates for the first round, which was held on 21 March:


2009 Slovak presidential election, First round
Gašparovič and Radičová advanced to the second round, winning 46.7% and 38.1% of the first round votes, respectively. Slovak women tended to be more supportive of Radičová.


2009 Slovak presidential election, Second round
In the second round of elections, held on 4 April, Gašparovič received 1,234,787 votes (55.5%), winning election. Radičová received 44.5% of the vote. After the election, Gašparovič said, "I am glad I can be standing here today with the prime minister and the speaker of the parliament ... The [election] is the most direct evidence that people trust us."


2009 Slovak presidential election, Voter turnout
Voter turnout was 43.6% in the first round and 51.7% in the second round. Voter turnout among women slightly increased in both the first and second rounds of the election, which was attributed to Radičová's candidacy.


2009 Slovak regional elections
Elections were held in Slovakia's eight self-governing regions on 14 November 2009.


2009 Slovak regional elections
Six of the regional presidencies were won by centre-left Direction – Social Democracy (Smer), with one being won by Smer's national conservative allies, the People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS). Bratislava was won by the centre-right Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party, having previously been held by ĽS-HZDS-backed Vladimír Bajan


2009 Slovenian Supercup
The 2009 Slovenian Supercup was a football match that saw the 2008–09 PrvaLiga champions Maribor face off against Slovenian Cup winners Interblock. The match was held on 8 July 2009 at Ljudski vrt in Maribor.


2009 Sobat River ambush
The 2009 Sobat River ambush was a battle between Jikany Nuer tribesmen and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) which was escorting a United Nations (UN) aid convoy on 12 June 2009.


2009 Sobat River ambush, Inspection and exchange of gunfire
The UN convoy consisted of 27 barges travelling on the Sobat River from Nasir to Akobo, in Southern Sudan near the border with Ethiopia. Following rains which washed away roads, the river was the only way to move aid around the south of the country, which has suffered from tribal fighting – the river itself being closed earlier in the year due to increased tension in the area. The 27 UN barges were travelling in company with four other barges.


2009 Sobat River ambush, Inspection and exchange of gunfire
The barges were only allowed to use the river following negotiations with high-ranking government officials, who agreed to a 150-man SPLA escort. The convoy was operating under the auspices of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and was to have helped support around 18,000 of the 135,000 people displaced by recent tribal fighting which claimed hundreds of lives.


2009 Sobat River ambush, Inspection and exchange of gunfire
The convoy was stopped about ten or twenty miles downstream of Nasir by a force of Jikany Nuer tribesmen. The tribesmen demanded to search the barges to check that arms and ammunition were not being shipped to their rivals in the Lou Nuer tribe. They searched one barge, finding only food, but opened fire when the rest of the convoy tried to continue its journey. The attack killed at least 40 Sudanese soldiers and wounded 30 others. The deaths of several women and children by gunfire or drowning have also been reported. The wounded were taken to a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Nasir which was braced to accept further casualties. This was believed to be the first time the SPLA has suffered significant casualties in the recent tribal violence.


2009 Sobat River ambush, Aftermath
While sixteen UN barges were able to return to Nasir, the other eleven remain unaccounted for, and are believed to have been sunk or looted. The WFP lost 735 tonnes of food aid in the attack and airlifted ten tonnes of aid to the area on 13 June. The attack may have been made to prevent the food supplies reaching the Lou Nuer tribe which is alleged to have killed around 70 members of the Jikany Nuer tribe in attacks in May 2009. It is feared that the Lou Nuer may be planning a retaliatory strike against the Jikany Nuer.


2009 Sobat River ambush, Aftermath
There is fear of renewed fighting in the area, following the recent end of the Second Sudanese Civil War and the upcoming 2010 national elections and 2011 referendum on independence for Southern Sudan.


2009 Sobat River ambush, Aftermath
Clashes between rival tribes and ethnic groupings are common in Southern Sudan and usually occur over cattle or access to natural resources. Fighting in May 2009 in South Kurdufan between the Rizeigat and Messiria tribes claimed more than 1,000 lives.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention
The 2009 national convention of the Socialist Left Party of Norway was held from March 19–22 at the Scandic Bergen City Hotell and Bergen People's House in the city of Bergen, Hordaland. 208 delegates attended the convention.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Background
By early 2009 signs showed that Kristin Halvorsen was supported by the majority of the party, even when the party was losing many ideological battles in government. Discussion on whether to leave the Red-Green Coalition was seen as dead by many news commentators, with Solhjell sharing his belief that the only viable option is to be in government so they can be a part of the decision making, saying there are no longer anyone who are scared of "minister socialism".


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 1st day
The convention started with a speech from Kristin Halvorsen. In the speech, she was highly critical of plans for oil drilling in Lofoten og Vesterålen, saying it would be impossible for the party to sit in a government supporting such environmental hazard policies. Her speech was criticized by some for using big words such as "market fundamentalism is playing a dangerous game" without giving clear answers. The newspaper Dagens Næringsliv noted that she skipped over topics such as nationalization, government involvement in the economy and even privatization in favour of discussing environmental issues.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 2nd day
The second day included speeches from former party leader Erik Solheim and sitting deputy leader Audun Lysbakken. One commentator called Lysbakken's speech "sparkling" and noted increased attention when he held the speech. Among the topics he talked about was a "renaissance" of more government involvement in the economy and a future climate crisis. The new party program was described by the media as "radical" and "expansionist", however the question most asked themselves were how much of their program would be included in Soria Moria II. Lysbakken then presented his proposed new party program, which was applauded by the convention audience. Before he presented the program, he said;


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 2nd day
This party program displays a party which is as tough as ever. It shows that we take on two tasks in Norwegian politics, that we should take on the job of achieving results in the short term and compromise, and get things for our electorate. It shows that we take two roles in Norwegian politics; that we should take on the job of achieving results in the short term and compromise, and get things done for our electorate. It shows that we should retain as a society critical party, a rebel party and a party that is not satisfied with short-term goals which will always wish to be something more. It is still us.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 2nd day
Solheim's speech focused on technological research and development to meet the upcoming climate crisis. He controversially stated that the government should take more "political control over Statoil," so that it could move the company into a more environment friendly direction.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 3rd day
On the third day, the convention voted to stop all public funding to religious institutions in Norway. This decision led to accusations from the Christian Democratic Party that the party was "totalitarian" and anti-religious. In response, Halvorsen argued that "The reason for the decision is a strong desire to give all children a common platform. We fear a trend in which children with the same background are on their own denominational schools. It will inhibit inclusion". Solhjell when commenting on the situation said; "The Government's current policies remain unchanged, and options should be allowed. But it should be done within the framework of public held assets". The goal, according to many high-level party members, was to abolish such religious schools within the guidelines of human rights.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 3rd day
Another controversial event was that the majority of the convention audience supporting a ban on all private schools in Norway. This was included in the party's program, something Halvorsen and sitting 2nd deputy leader Bård Vegar Solhjell opposed. This decision later led to fellow Socialist Left politician Stian Oen accusing Halvorsen of stopping all internal debates within the party.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 3rd day
Among other statements made that day, the party voted for a crisis package to level social differences and stronger regulation of financial institutions while voting against both the EU Directive and mail solicitation and a consumer boycott of Israel. The convention also made it clear that it could only participate in the governing coalition if a majority of the party's key issues were approved by their coalition partners. This idea was suggested by the party's Editorial Committee which reported this statement to the convention on the third day. This decision is seen as a tightening of the requirements needed for future collaboration with the Labour and the Centre Party.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 4th day
The convention also decided that Norwegian membership in the European Economic Area should be re-considered in a report by the Norwegian Official Report group. No to the EU leader and Socialist Left member Heming Olaussen was pleased with this decision. The control public hospitals should according to the convention be given to the local municipality authorities, and away from direct control by the government. The convention demanded immediate withdrawal of Norwegian troops in Afghanistan.


2009 Socialist Left Party national convention, Convention, 4th day
Kristin Halvorsen was re-elected to the office of party leader.


2009 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Season, Série A
Palmeiras started well the campaign in the Série A, and led the tournament for 19 rounds, unfortunately the team failed to keep the good results and after a 3–1 away win against Santos, only winning 9 points in 11 matches.


2009 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Season, Série A
Palmeiras ended in 5th place, it was a disappointing result for a team that played well during almost the entire season and wanted to win the first brazilian title since 1994.


2009 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Season, Série A
The Palmeiras player with most goals was Obina with 12 goals in 27 league matches, that signed a 1-year loan deal from Flamengo and left the squad before the end of the season after a fight with teammate Maurício during a 0–2 away loss to Grêmio.


2009 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Season, Série A
Vágner Love returned to the team in August, after an agreement with CSKA Moscow, and scored 5 goals in 12 matches but he didn't have a good return to the team. Attacking midfielder Diego Souza won the award by Placar as the best player of the league, playing 34 matches and scoring 8 goals in the season, including a wonderful midfield goal against Atlético Mineiro. Cleiton Xavier, Pierre, Marcos and Pablo Armero also made great appearances in the league.


2009 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Season, Série A
Manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo left the team on 25 June alongside young striker Keirrison, after a discussion with Palmeiras chairman Luiz Gonzaga de Mello Belluzzo. The Interim Manager Jorginho assumed the team for 1 month with great results and Muricy Ramalho took charge of the team until the end of the season.


2009 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Season, Série A
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points


2009 Solheim Cup
The 11th Solheim Cup Matches were held August 21–23, 2009 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois, west of Chicago. The biennial matches are a three-day team competition for professional female golfers, pitting the 12 best players born in the United States against the 12 best players of European nationality.


2009 Solheim Cup
The United States claimed the Cup for the third consecutive meeting, winning 16–12. Entering the final day, the competition was tied at 8 points each, but the U.S. won eight of the dozen singles matches to retain the Solheim Cup.


2009 Solheim Cup, Teams
The United States and European teams were selected by different methods.


2009 Solheim Cup, Teams
Team USA qualified by earning points for wins and for top-20 finishes on the LPGA Tour over a two-year period. Points were earned beginning with the 2007 State Farm Classic and concluding with the 2009 Women's British Open. The ten players with the highest points were automatically selected for Team USA. Two additional players were selected by captain Beth Daniel after the conclusion of the Women's British Open on August 2, 2009.


2009 Solheim Cup, Teams
Team Europe was selected by taking the top five players from the LET Solheim Cup standings, followed by the top four European LET members on the Rolex Women’s World Rankings at the agreed cut off date who were not already qualified via The Solheim Cup standings, and three captain’s selections. Qualifying points for Team Europe were awarded weekly to the top-10 finishers at official LET events.


2009 Solheim Cup, Teams, Team USA
*Residence/Hometown according to official 2009 Solheim Cup designation. Rolex rankings as of August 2, 2009. Rolex ranking does not factor into US Team selection. Shown for comparison purposes only. Lang was 24 on the second day.


2009 Solheim Cup, Teams, Team Europe
*Residence/Hometown according to official Solheim Cup designation. LET rankings as of August 2, 2009Rolex rankings as of August 2, 2009


2009 Solheim Cup, Individual player records
Each entry refers to the Win–Loss–Half record of the player.


2009 Somali presidential election
An indirect presidential election was held in Somalia on 30 January 2009. Due to the security situation in Baidoa, it was held in Djibouti. President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed won the election.


2009 Somali presidential election, Background
The election was necessitated following the resignation of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed on 29 December 2008, over the dismissal of the government of Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein which was not approved by the Transitional Federal Parliament. As such, the Speaker of Parliament Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe shall act as interim President until the Parliament elects a new President based on the Transitional Federal Charter within 30 days.


2009 Somali presidential election, Background
Postponing the election until a new interim parliament, which would likely include moderate Islamist opposition, was considered, but Interim President Aden Madobe stated that a new president would be selected within the constitutionally mandated 30-day period. On 11 January 2009 African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra announced that the election would take place on 26 January, with preparations including nominations of candidates commencing on 20 January.


2009 Somali presidential election, Background
Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein announced on his candidacy 15 January 2009. Other official candidates include MP Mohamed Afrah Qanyare (an ex-Mogadishu warlord), MP Hassan Abshir Farah (a former prime minister), Ali Mohammed Ghedi (also a former prime minister), Ali Khalif Galaid (another former prime minister) and Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan (an ex-Kismayo warlord); ARS Chairman Sharif Ahmed also stated he was a contender for the presidency. In total, at least sixteen candidates have stated they want to become President; the PM and the ARS chairman are seen as the most likely contenders. Due to difficulties in picking the next president, the deadline was considered to be extended; despite strong pressure from the international community, the original deadline of 28 January 2009 was extended by five days, meaning the election is to be held by 2 February 2009.


2009 Somali presidential election, Background
As planned, the Transitional Federal Parliament was enlarged to include 200 representatives from the Islamist opposition and 75 representatives of citizens' groups and diaspora representatives; the former group was sworn in on 27 January 2009. The 275 existing MPs voted 211 to 6 in favour with 3 abstentions to enlarging the TFP.


2009 Somali presidential election, Candidates
A total of fourteen candidates formally filed to stand in the election. The candidates were:


2009 Somali presidential election, Results
There were three rounds of voting. The first round of voting reduced the field of candidates to six, the second to just two, with the winner decided in a run-off round. As the first round of voting began, several candidates withdrew. In the first round, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed got 215 votes, Maslah Mohamed Siad 60 and Nur Hassan Hussein 59; Hussein and Ali Khalif Galaid then also withdrew. All candidates except  Siad and Sharif withdrew after the first round of voting; Sharif won the run-off with 293 to 126 votes.


2009 Somerset County Council election
An election to Somerset County Council took place on 4 June 2009 as part of the 2009 United Kingdom local elections, having been delayed from 7 May, to coincide with elections to the European Parliament. The result brought to an end 16 years of Liberal Democrat rule to a Conservative controlled administration. 58 councillors were elected from various electoral divisions, which returned one county councillor each. Members were elected by the first-past-the-post voting system for a four-year term of office. This was the last election before the number of seats was cut to 55 for the 2013 election. With a total of 58 seats being reduced to 55 for the next election.


2009 Somerset County Council election
All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 2 May 2013 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections.


2009 Somerset County Council election
It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.


2009 Somerset County Council election, Summary
The Liberal Democrats lost overall control of the council to the Conservatives who went on to form a majority administration. The Liberal Democrat group became the council's official opposition. Meanwhile the Labour Party had their number of seats halved from 4 to 2. No independents or candidates from other parties were elected as councillors.


2009 Somerset County Council election, Results by division
The candidates in bold were elected councillors on 4 June 2009.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open (also known as 2009 Miami Masters) was a men's and women's tennis tournament held from March 23 to April 5, 2009. It was the 25th edition of the Miami Masters event and was played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami. The tournament was part of 2009 ATP World Tour and 2009 WTA Tour, classified as ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and Premier Mandatory event respectively.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open
The men's singles event was won by British player Andy Murray, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the final. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the women's singles event by defeating defending champion Serena Williams. Both Murray and Azarenka were first-time winners at the tournament and also the first to win from their respective countries. In the doubles events, Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram won the men's title by defeating the team of Ashley Fisher and Stephen Huss. The women's doubles title was won by Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo who overcame Květa Peschke and Lisa Raymond in the final match.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Tournament
The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open was the 25th edition of the Miami Masters tournament and was held at Tennis Center at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne near Miami, Florida. The tournament was a joint event between the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and was part of the 2009 ATP World Tour and the 2009 WTA Tour calendars. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles events which were played on 12 Laykold Cushion Plus hard courts. The total prize money for the tournament was US$9,000,000 with $4,500,000 assigned equally to ATP and WTA events. Singles winners received $605,500 each and doubles winning teams received $225,000 each.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Tournament
The tournament was conducted from March 23 to April 5, with qualifying draws played on March 23–24 and main draws from March 25 to April 5. Both the men's and women's singles draws consisted of 96 players and the doubles draws consisted of 32 teams. The qualifying draw consisted of 43 men and 42 women who competed for 12 positions each in the men's and women's final draw.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Players
47 of the top 50 players in the ATP rankings entered the men's singles event at the tournament with Rafael Nadal seeded first, followed by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko withdrew ahead of the tournament due to a foot injury. Richard Gasquet, who was initially going to play, withdrew prior to his first match after suffering from right shoulder injury. Gasquet was replaced by lucky loser Björn Phau. 12 players progressed from the qualifying draws to the main draw and six players, including Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis, were given wildcard entries.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Players
In the women's singles field, defending champion Serena Williams was top seeded, with number two Dinara Safina only 311 points behind her in the WTA rankings at the start of the tournament. Maria Sharapova was expected to return to singles tennis at this tournament after playing doubles matches in the previous tournament, the 2009 BNP Paribas Open. Sharapova, who had not played singles matches since August 2008, withdrew due to a continued lack of fitness. Jelena Dokić, Sania Mirza and Alexa Glatch were among the eight players who received wildcard entries. 12 players progressed from qualifying draws to main draw.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Players
The doubles draws were led by defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan on the men's side and Cara Black and Liezel Huber on the women's side. Katarina Srebotnik, one of the women's doubles defending champions, had not recovered from an injury picked up in December 2008 and did not participate. Her partner from the previous year, Ai Sugiyama, partnered with Russian Daniela Hantuchová. Marina Erakovic – Sun Tiantian and Francesca Schiavone – Chan Yung-jan withdrew from the tournament due to respective injuries to Erakovic and Chan. The doubles draws included five wildcard entries in total.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
All the seeded players received a bye into the second round. Wildcards Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt were among the players progressing into the second round, while Germans Philipp Kohlschreiber and former World no. 2 Tommy Haas were the major upsets. Most seeded players continued their progress into the third round with eighth seed Fernando Verdasco winning his 200th ATP tour match in his career. Ivo Karlović and David Nalbandian were among the seeded players defeated in second round.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
Lucky loser Björn Phau was promoted into the third round after his opponent Albert Montañés suffered a hamstring injury during the second set of the match and was forced to withdraw. Frenchman Gaël Monfils took a hard-fought win over 22nd seed and former world number 1  Marat Safin in a third round match played for nearly three hours. Qualifier Taylor Dent continued his successful run by defeating Tommy Robredo in the third round. Czechs Tomáš Berdych and Radek Štěpánek overcame higher seeded players James Blake and Fernando González en route to the fourth round.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
Top seed Rafael Nadal faced an uphill battle against Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round match, facing a tiebreak in each set and eventually defeating him. Second seed Roger Federer defeated Dent in the fourth round to set up a quarterfinal match with longtime rival Andy Roddick, who overcame Gaël Monfils in a two-set match. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martín del Potro, Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made it into the quarterfinals. Del Potro defeated Nadal in the three-set quarterfinal match to reach the first ATP Masters semifinal of his career.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
Del Potro took the final set on a tiebreak after losing the second set. Murray faced Verdasco in the second quarterfinal in a rematch of 2009 Australian Open fourth round. Verdasco suffered an injury in the second game of the match and had to be seen by his physio. He was not in good enough shape to compete with Murray and eventually lost. Federer defeated Roddick while Djokovic moved past Tsonga to advance to the semifinals. Djokovic rallied back to defeat Federer in the first semifinal after losing the first set.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
The third seed however kept his consistency in the next two sets and won them. Murray edged past del Potro in the second semifinal to enter his second straight Masters final. Murray faltered in the second set of the match conceding two service breaks. However he recovered in the final set, gaining an early break of serve, to win the match.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
Djokovic and Murray appeared in their seventh and fourth Masters final and 19th and 17th career finals respectively. Djokovic led the head-to-head tally against Murray, but Murray had won the last two encounters between them. In the match, Murray moved into a 4–0 lead in the first set. Djokovic improved his serve from that point but lost the set. A role reversal in the second set saw Djokovic move into a 4–1 lead. Murray fought back, however, to level the score to 5–5 and won the set to secure the victory.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's singles
This was Murray's third title win of the season and eleventh of his career. It was also his third Masters win of the career. Murray credited his improved fitness for his win. Djokovic, who had struggled with excessive heat in the past, struggled once again to assimilate with the temperature. He admitted that he was impatient early in the match, which resulted in him making too many unforced errors.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Women's singles
All the seeded players received a bye into the second round. Seven seeded players were ousted from the second round including third seed Jelena Janković, who was defeated by Gisela Dulko, and eighth seed Marion Bartoli, who lost to qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova. Second seed Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva and Ana Ivanovic were among the nine seeded players who were eliminated in the third round. Three times former champion and fifth seed Venus Williams faced stiff competition from Agnieszka Radwańska in fourth round. Williams lost the first set but prevailed in later sets to win the match. Li Na and Ekaterina Makarova also fought hard for a place in the quarterfinals, with Li coming out strong in the three set match, winning.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Women's singles
Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Caroline Wozniacki in the first of the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova looked good to win the match in straight sets after building a big lead, however Wozniacki fought back to win the second set on a tiebreak. Kuznetsova ultimately won. Victoria Azarenka defeated Samantha Stosur in the second quarterfinal. Williams sisters Serena and Venus set up the second semifinal after defeating Li Na and Iveta Benešová respectively. The Williams sisters had met 19 times before their semifinal meeting, Venus leading the head-to-head tally 10–9. Serena won this time in a closely fought match. Azarenka came on top in the second semifinal defeating Kuznetsova.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Women's singles
Serena and Azarenka met in their careers' 46th and seventh career finals respectively, with Serena appearing in her third consecutive final at the event, having won on the last two occasions. Azarenka dominated the final match, as Serena was playing while nursing a leg injury. Azarenka won the match, securing third title of her career. Azarenka stated that she was very nervous in the final game of the match and described her win as "the biggest moment in [her] career". Serena mentioned that it was difficult for her to move to the left, but she still played with maximum effort.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's doubles
Four seeded teams were eliminated in the first round of the event. Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić were the highest ranked team to lose, falling to Nicolás Almagro and David Ferrer, along with third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, who lost to French duo Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Bennetau and Tsonga continued their progress into the third round defeating Rik de Voest and Bobby Reynolds. They were joined by Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer, who triumphed over Almagro and Ferrer.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's doubles
Only two seeded teams, those of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and of Bruno Soares and Kevin Ullyett, made it into the quarterfinals, and faced each other in that round. The Bryan brothers, who were the defending champions, overcame Soares and Ullyett in a two-set match. Ashley Fisher and  Stephen Huss, Knowle and Melzer and Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram were the other teams who made it into the semifinals.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's doubles
The Bryan brothers faced Fisher and Huss in the first semifinal and lost, ending their streak of winning 13 consecutive matches. Mirnyi and Ram encountered much harder competition against Knowle and Melzer and saved five match points before winning. In the final, there were no service breaks in the first set, with Fisher and Huss winning it in the tiebreak. Mirnyi and Ram came back strong to win the second set. The match-tiebreak decided the outcome of the final, with Mirnyi and Ram winning the tiebreak and the match. It was Mirnyi's 36th and Ram's 16th men's doubles title of the career and their second title as a team.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Men's doubles
Max Mirnyi /  Andy Ram defeated  Ashley Fisher /  Stephen Huss, 6–7(4–7), 6–2, [10–7].


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Women's doubles
Daniela Hantuchová and Ai Sugiyama, who lost to wildcard entrants Petra Martić and Coco Vandeweghe, were the only seeded pair to drop out in the first round. Another wildcard team of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amélie Mauresmo defeated the top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the second round. Eighth seeds Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta were also eliminated in second round, losing to Chuang Chia-jung and Sania Mirza. Chuang and Mirza continued their march into the semifinal defeating second seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual. They were joined by Kuznetsova and Mauresmo, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Patty Schnyder, and Květa Peschke and Lisa Raymond, the only seeded team left in the draw.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Women's doubles
Kuznetsova and Mauresmo defeated Grönefeld and Schnyder to enter their third final as a team. Peschke and Raymond overcame Chuang and Mirza to secure the second spot in the final. Kuznetsova and Mauresmo continued their winning streak in the final, defeating Peschke and Raymond. The title was Kuznetsova's 14th, Mauresmo's third and their second as a team.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Events, Women's doubles
Svetlana Kuznetsova /  Amélie Mauresmo defeated  Květa Peschke /  Lisa Raymond, 4–6, 6–3, [10–3].


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Viewership, Broadcasting
The tournament was broadcast on television channels worldwide. The British television station Sky Sports held rights to broadcast the tournament from the first round through to the final. Both the men's and women's finals were shown on CBS in the United States. The tournament also had around 44 hours of live coverage in the United States. The tournament was broadcast for more than 2000 hours and seen by over 153 million people worldwide.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Viewership, Attendance
According to the event organisers, 293,228 people attended the 22 sessions across the 12 days of the tournament. This was the second highest attendance in the tournament's history and four sessions were sellouts.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Men's Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are the defending champions. However, they lost to Ashley Fisher and Stephen Huss in the semifinals.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Men's Singles
Nikolay Davydenko was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year due to a left heel injury.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Men's Singles
Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic 6–2, 7–5 to win the title.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Women's Doubles
Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama were the defending champions, but Srebotnik chose not to participate this year due to injury.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Women's Doubles
Ai Sugiyama partnered with Daniela Hantuchová, but lost in the first round to Petra Martić and Coco Vandeweghe.


2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Women's Singles
The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open – Women's Singles was the women's singles event of the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, a WTA Premier Mandatory tennis tournament held in Key Biscayne, Florida in late March and early April. World No. 1 Serena Williams was the defending champion and attempting to win a record sixth title at the tournament, but she lost in the final to Victoria Azarenka, 6–3, 6–1. Azarenka won her third WTA singles title and first at the Premier or above level.


2009 Soul Train Music Awards
The 2009 Soul Train Music Awards were held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia on November 29, 2009. The show was hosted by Oscar nominated actor Terrence Howard and  Oscar nominated actress Taraji P. Henson. Performers included Keri Hilson, Toni Braxton, Trey Songz, Mario, Raheem DeVaughn, Ludacris, Ryan Leslie, and Robin Thicke.


2009 Soul Train Music Awards
Singers Chaka Khan and Charlie Wilson received the honoree Soul Train Legend Award. Michael Jackson was honoree for posthumous award for Entertainer of the Year. Beyoncé won three awards; Best Female Artist, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. LeToya served as host for the Red-Carpet Show.


2009 Soul Train Music Awards, Telecast
The Soul Train Awards aired on BET and Centric on November 29, 2009. It was also broadcast on BET UK.


2009 Soul Train Music Awards, Trivia
The Soul Train Awards was a trending topic during its time on-air on the social media site, Twitter.


2009 Soul Train Music Awards, Trivia
The Soul Train trophy, originally the trademark African ceremonial mask (Soul Train Music Award for Heritage Award – Career Achievement) is replaced with an actual train.


2009 Soul Train Music Awards, Trivia
In an episode of Community, "Social Psychology", character Troy mentions the Soul Train Awards when complaining about participating in a study that never begins.


2009 South Africa Sevens
The South Africa Sevens is played annually as part of the IRB Sevens World Series for international rugby sevens. The 2009 competition took place on 11 December and 12 December at Outeniqua Park in George, Western Cape, the second of eight Cup events at the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series. New Zealand won its second consecutive title by defeating Fiji in the final.


2009 South Africa Sevens, Format
The tournament consists of four round-robin pools of four teams. All sixteen teams progress to the knockout stage. The top two teams from each group progress to quarter-finals in the main competition, with the winners of those quarter-finals competing in cup semi-finals and the losers competing in plate semi-finals. The bottom two teams from each group progress to quarter-finals in the consolation competition, with the winners of those quarter-finals competing in bowl semi-finals and the losers competing in shield semi-finals.


2009 South African Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 South African Figure Skating Championships were held at The Ice Station in Cape Town from 18 to 19 August 2008. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's and ladies' singles at the senior, novice, and pre-novice levels. There was also a junior and juvenile ladies' competition.


2009 South African general election
General elections were held in South Africa on 22 April 2009 to elect members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. These were the fourth general elections held since the end of the apartheid era.


2009 South African general election
The North Gauteng High Court ruled on 9 February 2009 that South African citizens living abroad should be allowed to vote in elections. The judgment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 12 March 2009, when it decided that overseas voters who were already registered would be allowed to vote. Registered voters who found themselves outside their registered voting districts on election day were also permitted to vote for the national ballot at any voting station in South Africa.


2009 South African general election
The result was a victory for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which won 264 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly, a fifteen seat reduction compared to the 2004 elections and losing its two-thirds supermajority. ANC leader Jacob Zuma remained president.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, African National Congress – ruling party
The African National Congress was the ruling party in parliament going into the 2009 elections, having won 69.69% of the vote at the 2004 elections. During its term in office a number of internal changes occurred, the primary one being the election of Jacob Zuma to the party presidency ahead of Thabo Mbeki at the 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress held on 18 December 2007. Zuma's victory in the election was partly due to the wide degree of support for him from the ANC Youth League, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, African National Congress – ruling party
Subsequent to this, in 2008 Zuma's ongoing corruption trial in relation to a multi-billion Rand arms deal was dismissed by the courts, which insinuated that Mbeki had unduly influenced the investigation into Zuma. In light of the court's findings, the ANC's National Executive Committee asked Mbeki to resign as president of the country, which he duly did on 20 September 2008.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, African National Congress – ruling party
Mbeki was replaced by Kgalema Motlanthe, who had been elected as ANC deputy president at the 2007 conference. Motlanthe was not the presidential candidate of the ANC for the 2009 general election, but rather the current President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma. The ANC's electoral list was led by Zuma, followed by Motlanthe, Deputy President of South Africa Baleka Mbete, finance minister Trevor Manuel and Winnie Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, African National Congress – ruling party
The recall of Mbeki, amongst other issues, created severe tensions and splits within the party, and eventually led to the formation of the Congress of the People, a new political party formed by former ANC members. Nevertheless, most pre-poll predictions gave the ANC between sixty and seventy per cent of the popular vote; even the lowest prediction, giving the ANC 47 per cent, still rendered it comfortably South Africa's most favoured political party.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, Democratic Alliance – official opposition
The Democratic Alliance, South Africa's main opposition party, had undergone a leadership change, with Cape Town mayor and former anti-apartheid activist Helen Zille having succeeded long-serving Tony Leon in May 2007.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, Democratic Alliance – official opposition
With a disproportionate focus on the Western Cape province, which it had identified as winnable, the DA launched its election campaign with the slogan "Vote to Win". It released its manifesto on 14 February.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, Democratic Alliance – official opposition
The party was expected to perform strongly in the Western Cape, with analysts suggesting it would take control of the province from the ruling ANC. The ANC's support in the province was on the wane, while the DA had performed well in by-elections in the province leading up to the poll.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, Democratic Alliance – official opposition
The party projected that it would govern in the Western Cape province – a task made easier by the ANC-COPE split – though it expected to need to form a governing coalition in order to do so. The party anticipated that it would take control of several other major cities and towns in the 2011 local elections, and, with what it termed a "realignment of SA politics", predicted it would take its "winning streak" into the 2014 elections, when it plans to challenge for the mantle of ruling party.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, Democratic Alliance – official opposition
The DA's relationship with ANC breakaway party Cope started strongly. Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota showed a willingness to co-operate with Zille in the future. Subsequently, Zille criticised COPE's internal structures and suggested many of the party's new members were merely Mbeki loyalists hoping to resurrect defunct political careers.


2009 South African general election, Background and campaign, Democratic Alliance – official opposition
In the closing stages of the DA's campaign, it launched its "Stop Zuma" drive, which came under considerable criticism in the press—political analysts dubbing the tactic an example of "negative" politics. Zille later retorted, however, that what was really negative was the idea of handing over the right to change the Constitution unilaterally to Jacob Zuma and his "closed, crony network", as they would abuse that right both to enrich themselves and to protect themselves from prosecution. She later claimed the decline in the ANC's support base and the concomitant increase in that of her own party was a result of the DA 'Stop Zuma' campaign.


2009 South African general election, Electoral system
The 400 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed list proportional representation; two hundred members were elected from national party lists and 200 from provincial party lists in each of the nine provinces. The President of South Africa was chosen by the National Assembly after the election; in 2009, the presidential election was held on 6 May. The premiers of each province are chosen by the winning majority in each provincial legislature.


2009 South African general election, Boycott
A number of communities, organisations, social movements and well-known personalities threatened not to vote in the 2009 elections. The most well-known personality was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who at first said he would not vote but then changed his mind. South Africa's Poor People's Alliance, the Anti- Privatisation Forum, NOPE, and the independent farmworkers' union Sikhula Sonke resolved to boycott the election under the banner No Land! No House! No Vote!.


2009 South African general election, Results
African National Congress     Democratic Alliance     Congress of the People     Inkatha Freedom Party     Independent Democrats     United Democratic Movement


2009 South African general election, Results
The ANC, which has been in power since 1994, obtained 65.90% of valid votes cast on the national ballot, making it just shy of being able to change the constitution. The DA retained its position as the official opposition and also won the election in the Western Cape province with an outright majority.


2009 South African general election, Results
Some 23-million people were registered for the 2009 general elections, which was about 2.5 million more than in 2004. There was a 77.3% turnout of registered voters, 1.34% of whom spoiled their ballots rendering them invalid. About 12-million people eligible to vote either did not register to vote (about 7-million), or did register but did not vote (5.4 million). In this election, there was a slight decrease in voter abstention though there was at least one high-profile election and registration boycotts campaign, the No Land! No House! No Vote! Campaign.


2009 South African general election, Results
The Independent Electoral Commission made results available on their website as they were received from voting districts, filtered by national, provincial, municipality, and voting district.


2009 South African general election, Results, Provincial legislatures
The following table summarises the results of the elections to the provincial legislatures. The majority party in each province is indicated in bold.


2009 South African general election, Results, NCOP seats
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) consists of 90 members, ten elected by each provincial legislature. The Members of NCOP have to be elected in proportion to the party membership of the provincial legislature.


2009 South African general election, Aftermath
The ANC received widespread congratulations for its decisive national victory, both from international and domestic sources. This included the opposition, with DA leader Helen Zille acknowledging that the people had given it a strong mandate to rule. "We trust that the ANC will not abuse this confidence, and will govern well and in the interests of all South Africans." However, with 65.9% of the vote and 264 seats in the National Assembly (down from 74.3% and 297 seats), the ANC no longer had the two-thirds majority it needed to change the Constitution unilaterally. The governing party had lost considerable support in 8 of the 9 provinces, partially compensated for by a big increase in KwaZulu-Natal at the expense of the IFP.


2009 South African general election, Aftermath
Thanking supporters the following week, DA leader Helen Zille related proudly that her party had achieved all three of its primary objectives: it had kept the ANC below a two-thirds majority (albeit only just), won an outright majority in the Western Cape and significantly improved its standing in parliament.


2009 South African general election, Aftermath
Zille saw the results as a vindication of the party's statement at the beginning of its campaign that the only two genuine political forces in South Africa were the DA and the ANC, with the latter losing support while the former consistently gained it, and voters refusing to waste their ballots on small, insignificant parties.


2009 South African presidential election
An indirect presidential election was held in South Africa on 6 May 2009 following the general election on 22 April 2009. Jacob Zuma of the ruling African National Congress won the election with 277 votes (13 more than the number of seats held by the ANC), while Mvume Dandala of the Congress of the People got 47 votes. The 67 members of the official opposition Democratic Alliance abstained from voting.


2009 South Alabama Jaguars football team
The 2009 South Alabama Jaguars football team represented the University of South Alabama in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Joey Jones and played their home games at Ladd–Peebles Stadium. The Jaguars, playing as an independent in their inaugural season, played an abbreviated season of seven games, none of which were against any other Division I teams, and most of which were against prep schools. The Jaguars completed their season with an undefeated record of seven wins and zero losses (7–0).


2009 South American Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2009 South American Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Sogamoso, Colombia October 28–November 2, 2009. This was the 9th edition of the South American Artistic Gymnastics Championships for senior gymnasts.


2009 South American Beach Games
The I Beach South American Games was a multi-sport event held from 2 to 13 December 2009 in Montevideo and Punta del Este, Uruguay. The Games was organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR).


2009 South American Beach Games, Participating teams
15 nations of the Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR) competed in these Beach Games.


2009 South American Beach Games, Medal count
The medal count for these Beach Games is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of gold medals earned by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.


2009 South American Beach Soccer Championship
The 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup CONMEBOL qualifier, also later and commonly known as the 2009 South American Beach Soccer Championship, was the third Beach Soccer World Cup qualification championship for South America, held from March 11–15 in Montevideo, Uruguay.


2009 South American Beach Soccer Championship
The qualifiers were not coordinated by CONMEBOL at the time. The event was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), under the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifier title. CONMEBOL began recognising the tournaments in 2013, under the title South American Beach Soccer Championship, also acknowledging the 2006–11 events as historic editions of the championship. CONMEBOL eventually began organising the qualifiers in 2017, under a new title.


2009 South American Beach Soccer Championship
Brazil won the championship, with the hosts Uruguay taking 2nd place. Third place Argentina scraped through to move on to play in the 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai, United Arab Emirates along with the two finalists.


2009 South American Championships in Athletics
The 2009 South American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: 2009 Campeonatos Sudamericanos) was the forty sixth edition of the tournament and was held between 19 and 21 June in Lima, Peru.


2009 South American Championships in Athletics
Brazil dominated the tournament, easily finishing with the highest total points and medals, and also winning the most gold, silver, and bronze medals. Colombia and Argentina took second and third places, respectively, while hosts Peru finished in fifth.


2009 South American Championships in Athletics
Numerous records were broken at the Championships, including two area records, 10 Championship records and seventeen national records. Both area records were achieved in the 20000 metres track walk event, with Luis Fernando López running 1:20:53.6 in the men's race to break Jefferson Pérez's previous mark, and Johana Ordóñez winning the women's race in 1:34:58. Mario Bazán also beat one of Pérez's records, setting a Championship record in the 3000 metres steeplechase.


2009 South American Championships in Athletics
Colombian Norma González was the athlete with the most medals at the end of the tournament, with three golds from the 200 metres, 400 metres, and 4×100 metres relay, and a silver from the 4×400 metres relay. A handful of other athletes also won multiple gold medals. Three women won two gold medals: Rosibel García won the 800 and 1500 metres, Germán Lauro took the shot put and discus titles, and Inés Melchor set a national and a Championship record in the 5000 and 10000 metres, respectively. Three male athletes also achieved double golds: Alonso Edward did the 100 and 200 metres sprint double, Andrés Silva won the 400 metres sprint and hurdles, while Byron Piedra won both the 1500 and 5000 metres races.