2011 Cricket World Cup squads, Group B, England
1 Ravi Bopara replaced Eoin Morgan, who was originally selected before pulling out due to injury. 2 Eoin Morgan later rejoined the squad, replacing Kevin Pietersen, who was ruled out with a hernia midway through the initial group stage. 3 Chris Tremlett replaced Stuart Broad, who was ruled out with a side injury midway through the initial group stage. 4 Jade Dernbach replaced Ajmal Shahzad, who was ruled out with a hamstring strain midway through the initial group stage. 5 Adil Rashid replaced Michael Yardy who was ruled out before England's quarter-final match with Sri Lanka after suffering from depression.


2011 Cricket World Cup squads, Group B, India
1 Sreesanth replaced Praveen Kumar, who was originally selected before pulling out due to injury.


2011 Cricket World Cup squads, Group B, West Indies
1,2,3 Devon Thomas, Kirk Edwards and Devendra Bishoo replaced Carlton Baugh, Adrian Barath and Dwayne Bravo respectively, who were included in the original squad but pulled out due to injury.


2011 Cricket World Cup statistics
This is a list of statistics for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Each list contains at least the top five record


2011 Cricket World Cup statistics, Team statistics, Lowest team totals
This is a list of completed innings only, low totals in matches with reduced overs are omitted except when the team was all out. Successful run chases in the second innings are not counted.


2011 Cricket World Cup statistics, Individual statistics, Fielding, Most dismissals
This is a list of wicket-keepers with the most dismissals in the tournament.


2011 Cricket World Cup statistics, Individual statistics, Fielding, Most catches
This is a list of the outfielders who have taken the most catches in the tournament.


2011 Cricket World Cup statistics, Other statistics, Highest partnerships
The following tables are lists of the highest partnerships for the tournament.


2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches
The 2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches were held prior to the 2011 Cricket World Cup, between February 12 and February 18, 2011. All 14 nations that were qualified to take part in the World Cup participated in a series of matches to prepare, experiment with different tactics and to help them acclimatise to conditions in the Indian Subcontinent.


2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches
The warm-up matches were not classified as One Day Internationals by the International Cricket Council (ICC), despite sharing some of main features of this form of cricket, but some of the playing regulations were different from standard internationals in order to allow teams to experiment. For example, the main change allowed for thirteen different players to play in a match – nine players being allowed to both bat and bowl, with two only being able to bowl and two only being able to bat – instead of the eleven players normally allowed.


2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches
England, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa were the only teams to win both of their warm-up games, whilst Australia, Canada, Kenya and Zimbabwe did not win either of their fixtures.


2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches, Match status
As of 2007 none of the warm-up games were officially recognised as ODIs or List A matches by the International Cricket Council due to various changes in the rules of the game, this continued into the 2011 version of the world cup.


2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches, Match status
While normally only 11 players are allowed to bat and field (excluding situations involving a substitute fielder), 13 players were used in each team's squad for the matches – 11 of whom were allowed to field at one time and 11 of whom were allowed to bat (meaning players could be swapped in and out when fielding or bowling, but two players did not bat in a match). In official ICC matches match referees are required to help officiate a game, but due to the changes in the rules none were appointed for any of the warm-up games. Additionally, Man of the Match awards were not given out and no reserve days were set for these matches.


2011 Cricket World Cup warm-up matches, Aggregate results
Note: Due to the change in the rules for these matches, the results did not have any effect on the ICC ODI Championship table or the ICC Associate ODI rankings.


2011 Critérium International
The 2011 Critérium International was the 80th edition of the Critérium International cycling stage race. It started on 26 March in Porto-Vecchio and ended on 27 March in Porto-Vecchio and consisted of 3 stages, including 2 stages on the same day; a flat stage and an individual time trial, held as the second and third stages.


2011 Critérium International
The race was won by Leopard-Trek rider Fränk Schleck, who claimed the leader's yellow jersey after a strong finish in the first stage, and maintained his advantage to the end of the race. Schleck's winning margin over runner-up Vasil Kiryienka of Team Movistar was 13 seconds, and Cofidis' Rein Taaramäe completed the podium, 17 seconds down on Kiryienka.


2011 Critérium International
In the race's other classifications, Kiryienka won the green jersey for the points classification, the King of the Mountains classification was won by Pim Ligthart of Vacansoleil–DCM, Taaramäe won the young rider classification, and Movistar finished at the head of the teams classification.


2011 Critérium International, Pre-race favourites
The winner of the 2010 Critérium International, Pierrick Fédrigo, was looking to defend the previous year's victory, while other pre-race favourites included 2 time runner-up in the Tour de France Andy Schleck and Vuelta a España 5th place, Fränk Schleck, as well as Alexander Vinokourov.


2011 Critérium International, Teams
The following teams participated in the 2011 edition of the Critérium International:


2011 Critérium du Dauphiné
The 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, was the 63rd running of the Critérium du Dauphiné (formerly Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré) cycling stage race. It started on 5 June in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and ended on 12 June in La Toussuire and consisted of eight stages, including a race-commencing prologue stage and an individual time trial, held as the third stage. It was the 15th race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.


2011 Critérium du Dauphiné
The race was won by Team Sky rider Bradley Wiggins, who claimed the leader's yellow and blue jersey after a strong finish on the individual time trial stage, and maintained his advantage to the end of the race. Wiggins' winning margin over runner-up Cadel Evans of BMC Racing Team was 1 minute and 26 seconds, and Astana's Alexander Vinokourov completed the podium, 23 seconds down on Evans.


2011 Critérium du Dauphiné
In the race's other classifications, Team Katusha rider Joaquim Rodríguez won both the King of the Mountains classification, and the green jersey for the points classification, Saur–Sojasun's Jérôme Coppel won the young rider classification, with Team Europcar finishing at the head of the teams classification.


2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, Teams
Twenty-two teams, each containing up to eight riders, started the race:


2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, Pre-race favourites
The winner of the 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné, Janez Brajkovič, was looking to defend last year's victory, while other pre-race favourites like Tirreno–Adriatico and Tour de Romandie winner, Cadel Evans, as well as Ivan Basso, Robert Gesink, Samuel Sánchez, Alexander Vinokourov and Bradley Wiggins used the race as a trial-run for the Tour de France.


2011 Croatian Figure Skating Championships
The 2011 Croatian Figure Skating Championships (Croatian: Prvenstvo Hrvatske za 2011) took place between December 18 and 19, 2010 in Zagreb. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles across the levels of senior and junior.


2011 Croatian Football Cup Final
The 2011 Croatian Cup Final was a two-legged affair played between Dinamo Zagreb and Varaždin. The first leg was played in Zagreb on 11 May 2011, while the second leg was played on 25 May 2011 in Varaždin.


2011 Croatian Football Cup Final
Dinamo Zagreb won the trophy with an aggregate result of 8–2.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on Sunday, 4 December 2011 to elect 151 members to the Croatian Parliament. They were the sixth parliamentary election in Croatia since independence.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election
Elections were held in 10 electoral districts inside Croatia (each providing 14 members of parliament), one electoral district for Croatian citizens living abroad (3 members of parliament), and one electoral district for national minorities (8 members of parliament). Candidate lists have to win more than 5% of the votes in an electoral district in order to be represented in Parliament.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election
The last election was a close race between the two major political alliances and resulted with Ivo Sanader winning a second term as Prime Minister. After his sudden and unexpected resignation in mid-2009, Jadranka Kosor succeeded him as head of the governing party (Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ) and formed a new Government. Zoran Milanović, despite losing a close race four years ago, was again chosen to be the Opposition's candidate for Prime Minister.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election
Domestic policy and the economy were the main themes of the campaign. The cabinet supported by the parliamentary majority, marked by numerous corruption scandals, high unemployment and a grim economic outlook, was highly unpopular and had been lagging in the polls since early 2009.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election
The election resulted in a resounding loss for the governing parties with HDZ and the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) receiving the lowest number of seats and the lowest share of the vote in their histories. HDZ lost a total of 21 seats, losing all but two electoral districts in the country. HSS was reduced to a sixth of its previous membership, with two sitting ministers losing their seats.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election
The centre-left four party Kukuriku coalition, led by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia (SDP) contested the election, unlike four years ago, with a joint appearance and won the election in a landslide achieving an absolute majority with 81 elected members. All members of the coalition, except the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), achieved their best results yet. This election was the first in which HDZ did not become the strongest individual party in Parliament, with the Social Democrats winning almost twenty more seats.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background
After two consecutive wins in 2003 and 2007, the governing HDZ was hoping to secure yet another term in office. The Social Democrats sought a first win after two consecutive parliamentary losses since 2000.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
The 2007 election resulted in the formation of the Sanader II cabinet, supported by a narrow majority of 7. One of the main goals of the administration was completing Croatian negotiations with the European Union. Croatia had been a candidate for EU since 2005. In December 2008 Slovenia blocked the negotiation progress of Croatia due to a border dispute. Sanader and his Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor were unable to settle their differences in the following months which meant Croatian's accession to the European Union was in a standstill.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
The 2009 local elections were held on 17 and 31 May and resulted with the Social Democrats making considerable gains in certain traditionally HDZ-leaning cities and constituencies, such as Dubrovnik, Šibenik, Trogir and Vukovar, as well as retaining such major traditionally SDP-leaning cities as Zagreb and Rijeka.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
On 1 July 2009, Ivo Sanader announced he was resigning the Premiership and leaving his deputy Jadranka Kosor as Prime Minister. Parliament approved her and the new Cabinet which made Kosor the first woman ever to be appointed Prime Minister. Ever since late 2008, SDP had been leading the polls, however by a narrow margin. After the sudden resignation of Sanader HDZ plummeted in the polls to their lowest level since 1999 when corruption scandals were rocking the party establishment. There was much speculation, since Sanader hadn't given a reason for his departure, whether the Slovenian blockade was the cause for his resignation.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
The new Premier, faced with a huge deficit and high unemployment, introduced an emergency budget aimed to reduce spending and the national debt. One of the most unpopular austerity measures taken along with the introduction of the budget was a new income tax called the "crisis tax" (krizni porez). In addition, the value-added tax rate was increased from 22% to 23%. The government's handling of finances was unpopular among the public resulting in the Prime Minister's dismal approval rating of 32% by the end of her first month.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
In the following months Kosor and Pahor met several times, trying to resolve the border dispute. The negotiations resulted in an agreement which led to the continuation of negotiations for the Croatian accession to the European Union. The solution was an Arbitration Agreement which was signed in Stockholm on 4 November 2009, by both countries' Prime Ministers and the President of the EU, Fredrik Reinfeldt.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
In the last quarter of 2009 many public officials as well as members of the boards of various government agencies became suspected of participating in corrupt activities. Most of the accused were members of the governing HDZ which resulted in great criticism for Kosor, who claimed she was not familiar with any criminal activity from her colleagues in the party. Others, however, praised Kosor and her Government for finally starting to tackle the difficult issue of corruption.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
The Opposition accused the Prime Minister for political responsibility claiming that it was impossible that Kosor didn't know what was happening around her when she was a Vice President of the government almost seven years before becoming Premier. The accusations grew louder as more and more corruption affairs were tied with the former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader. On 30 October 2009 Damir Polančec, member of the HDZ Presidency, resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy following allegations of corruption.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
On 3 January 2010 Ivo Sanader announced he was returning to active politics saying it was a mistake he ever left. He accused Kosor and the members of the HDZ Presidency of failed leadership citing Andrija Hebrang's poor result in the first round of the presidential election held just a week earlier. Hebrang achieved an embarrassing 12% claiming third place, the lowest result for an HDZ presidential candidate ever. Ivo Josipović, the candidate of the SDP, won a landslide victory in the resulting runoff on 10 January.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
Most political pundits as well as the majority of the public believed the true reason of Sanader's surprise return was fear that he would eventually be tied with the numerous corruption scandals which have emerged since he left office. On January 4, the day after Sanader's coup as it was called by the press, the HDZ Presidency decided to expel Sanader from the party. On 9 December 2010 USKOK issued an arrest warrant on Ivo Sanader which resulted in him fleeing the country before his political immunity was stripped by Parliament. He was put on the Interpol wanted list and arrested the following day in Salzburg, Austria.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
Throughout 2010, economy topped corruption as the biggest concern of the government. Industry shed tens of thousands of jobs, and unemployment soared. Consumer spending reduced drastically compared to record 2007 levels, causing widespread problems in the trade as well as transport industries. The import/export balance did derive a benefit from a large decrease in imports and a more tempered decrease in exports. The continuing declining standard resulted in a quick fall in both the Prime Minister's as well as government's support.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
The recession and high unemployment continued throughout 2011 resulting in many anti-government protests around the country. On 15 April former Croatian general Ante Gotovina was sentenced to 24 years in prison by ICTY after being found guilty of war crimes during Operation Storm. This caused great dissatisfaction in Croatia, especially on the political right. Investigations on the governing party's 'black funds' intensified in 2011 after former HDZ treasurer Branka Pavošević testified to USKOK about the illegal finances used for previous elections, including Jadranka Kosor's own 2005 presidential campaign. The investigation resulted with the Mladen Bajić, the Attorney General, issuing an indictment against HDZ as a legal entity.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Background, Events since the 2007 election
On 28 October MPs voted to dissolve Parliament. President of the Republic Ivo Josipović agreed to a dissolution of Sabor on Monday, 31 October and scheduled the election, as previously suspected, for Sunday 4 December.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Date of the election
The regular parliamentary election after the 2007 Croatian parliamentary election was to be held on or before 11 March 2012, which was the last constitutional deadline.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Date of the election
The unstable political climate following the resignation of the Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in July 2009 prompted many political observers and experts to raise the possibility of an early general election. This did not materialize, rather, the Cabinet of Jadranka Kosor decided to continue with some changes in personnel.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Date of the election
Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor had repeatedly stated in 2010 that they would most likely be held in late 2011, presumably in November. The tentative election date was the last Sunday of November 2011, however many pundits as well as opposition politicians had guessed that the election could be held earlier, in order to coincide with the pending European Union accession referendum. The final date was decided by the ruling parties on 15 July.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Date of the election
The election was officially called when the President of the Republic agreed to a dissolution of Parliament on 31 October, allowing the general election to take place on 4 December. The candidate lists were finalized in the State Election Committee on 17 November, and the official campaign lasted until the election silence on the midnight of 2 December.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Electoral system
Since 1999 Croatia has been divided into 10 Croatian Parliament electoral districts, named using Roman numerals. These districts are roughly based on geography, but shaped according to the number of voters so that each district holds roughly the same number of registered voters, around 400,000. These districts therefore do not correspond to the borders of top administrative divisions within Croatia and each district contains one or more or parts of several Croatian counties.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Electoral system
Each district sends 14 MPs to the parliament and winning candidates are determined using the party-list proportional representation voting system. This means that parties make lists of 14 candidates to be elected, and seats get allocated to each party in proportion to the number of votes the party receives, with the election threshold set at 5 percent of votes in each district, calculated using the standard D'Hondt formula.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Electoral system
In addition, there are two non-geographical districts. In District XI, 3 members are chosen by proportional representation to represent Croatian citizens residing abroad (this district is commonly referred to as the diaspora electorate). Although all people living outside Croatia are eligible to vote for this list, the majority of voters who turnout for this list traditionally consists of Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority of whom hold dual Croatian and Bosnian citizenships. In District XII an additional 8 members are elected to represent the 22 ethnic minorities in Croatia which are legally recognized as such in the Croatian Constitution, with 3 of these seats reserved for the Serbian minority.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Electoral system
Since the seats are allocated according to the proportion of votes received in each district, parties usually nominate senior party officials on top of their lists in districts where they have traditionally enjoyed good levels of support, to ensure that the party's most prominent members win parliamentary seats. All candidates are elected to four-year terms. However, many MPs who are members of post-election ruling coalitions often get appointed to various ministerial and government positions while others serve as city mayors or directors of various government agencies. In such cases they are required by law to put their parliamentary mandate on hiatus for the duration of their other term in office and their seats are then taken by party-appointed deputy MPs.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Electoral system, Changes
The Constitution and consequently the electoral law has been changed in June 2010 to give District XI 3 fixed seats. In the past, the number of seats given to the district was proportional to the number of voters taking part. In the last elections in 2007, this resulted in 5 seats being allocated to the district.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Electoral system, Changes
In December 2010, the Constitutional Court of Croatia decided to inform the Parliament of a necessity to update the electoral unit definitions according to current population data, in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Law on electoral units.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
The main actors of the election remain entrenched from the previous election cycle – the right-centre block led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), and the left-centre block led by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
The main supporting party of the right-centre block is the Croatian Peasant Party. In 2011, President of Croatian Peasant Party announced that his party would not be part of center right coalition with HDZ.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
The main supporting party in the left-centre block is the Croatian People's Party - Liberal Democrats. The left-centre block officially joined an electoral coalition called Alliance for Change in 2010, renamed to Kukuriku coalition in 2011.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
In 2010, the Croatian Social Liberal Party lost representation in Parliament because of an internal split between Ivan Čehok, Đurđa Adlešič and others with newly elected party leader Darinko Kosor.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
In 2009, former MP Ruža Tomašić (formerly of the Croatian Party of Rights) founded the "Croatian Party of Rights dr. Ante Starčević".


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
In 2010, MP Dragutin Lesar (formerly of the Croatian People's Party) founded the Croatian Labourists – Labour Party.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Political parties
In 2011, MP and former candidate for premier Ljubo Jurčić announced he would be leaving the Social Democratic Party and founded his own party to contest the elections.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign
The official campaign began on 17 November and ended on 2 December which was the last day when the candidates could present their ideas to the electorate. Lasting a total of 16 days, this was the shortest campaign in history, although unofficial campaigning started much earlier. Kukuriku coalition toured the country presenting their Plan 21, an open document which they sought to present to the public and urge them to share their ideas and criticisms. Throughout October and November they held multiple open forum type debates all over the country.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign
The main focus of their campaign was the economy and low employment numbers. HDZ entered the campaign handicapped by the investigation against the party's black funds, which was made public by the Mladen Bajić, the Attorney General, only a couple of weeks before the official campaign began. The stagnating economic recovery and high unemployment numbers caused by the policies of the Governments of Ivo Sanader and Jadranka Kosor in the past eight years, as well as multiple corruption scandals and a former leader on trial marked the party's campaign.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign
Their main message was that, while the situation may be difficult, HDZ was a party that was best when things are bad and had proven itself in tough times. The rhetoric was mostly patriotic and focused on largely forgotten themes of the 1990s and Franjo Tuđman, the first leader of HDZ. Due to outdated laws Zoran Milanović and Jadranka Kosor, the only two people with a realistic chance of winning the Premiership, were unable to exchange ideas and arguments in a debate.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, The economy
The ongoing economic crisis, entering its fourth year, was a major issue in the campaign. The Opposition was persistent in accusing the governing coalition for increasing the country's debt to unprecedented levels as well as being unable to bring new investors and grow entrepreneurship. With the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis, HDZ persisted that Croatia's debt was nowhere near the levels of faltering European economies such as Greece, Italy or Spain.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, The economy
Milanović and Radimir Čačić, the leaders of the Kukuriku coalition, warned of a possible downgrade of Croatia's credit rating which would result in unfavorable interest rates being imposed on Croatian citizens. The issue of whether Croatia would need the assistance of the International Monetary Fund after the election also actualized when Slavko Linić, one of the chief economic strategists of Social Democratic Party, raised the possibility of making an arrangement with the Fund if the economic outlook remained grim. HDZ quickly pounced on that statement arguing that such an arrangement would mean severe cuts and entitlement reform which would endanger the poorest in the country.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, The economy
Unemployment surged in 2009 and remained at record levels for the next two years. There were no signs of recovery in the jobs market which Kukuriku used as an argument protesting the failed policies of HDZ. Despite fresh and respected faces like Đuro Popijač, Martina Dalić and Domagoj Milošević becoming named ministers in charge of recovering the economy, all sectors saw declines in growth and many factories went into bankruptcy with unpaid workers taking their dissatisfaction to the streets. Most notable were the workers of Kamensko, a former textile giant, which protested because they have not received severance payments or salaries.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, European Union
Every major political party supported Croatian membership in the European Union apart from HSP which demanded a more balanced approach to the European issue claiming the Government's campaign for the EU accession referendum was too biased and focused on a yes vote rather than informative. Kosor claimed her party and her Government was most responsible for the completion of the negotiating process and complained about the lack of support she received from SDP and other opposition parties. Vesna Pusić and Zoran Milanović were both insisting the European issue was a common one and shouldn't be reduced to political bickering.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, Fighting corruption and organized crime
With Ivo Sanader, longtime leader of HDZ who ran a highly personalized campaign and won the 2007 general election for HDZ, in prison for conspiracy to commit organized crime, the issue of fighting political and economic corruption surged as one of the main themes of the campaign. Jadranka Kosor and her ministers were arguing they enabled a real fight against organized crime, citing the Sanader case, as well as the arrest of Damir Polančec, former Deputy Prime Minister and numerous other board members and heads of government companies.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, Fighting corruption and organized crime
However, most of the accused were in fact members of HDZ and many political pundits and law experts speculated it was only a matter of time until HDZ as a legal entity was investigated. For years HDZ was under heavy criticism for having the most expensive campaigns without ever logically explaining how the party could afford such elaborate campaign production. Finally, on 27 October, only three weeks before the start of the official campaign, the offices of the Attorney General and USKOK announced HDZ was a party under investigation for organizing with the purpose to commit crime.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Issues, Fighting corruption and organized crime
Opposition MPs, such as Željko Jovanović of SDP who was famous for his claim that the head of HDZ was a criminal organization, demanded the truth about such things as Jadranka Kosor's own failed presidential candidature which was suspected to be financed by 'black funds'. Kosor kept repeating she was unaware of the finances and such party veterans like Vladimir Šeks accused Sanader, who was still in prison, for shifting his own criminal activities on the party. Their main message was that a party can't share collective blame, but that guilt should be placed on individuals who benefited from criminal activities.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, General election campaign, Expense summary
By Croatian law all parties and lists are required to publicly disclose the amount they have raised and spent throughout the official campaign. They submit it through a standardized form to the State Election Committee (Croatian: Državno izborno povjerenstvo, DIP). The final amounts were reported to the DIP and have been reported in Narodne novine. DIP published its report on campaign expenses on 10 February 2012.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Distribution of seats per electoral district
National minorities elected 8 representatives through a separate election system: Milorad Pupovac (65,1% of votes), Vojislav Stanimirović (63,5%) and Jovo Vuković (54,8%) for the Serb national minority, Deneš Šoja (51,5%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (unopposed) for the Italian minority, Vladimir Bilek (45,4%) for the Czech and Slovak minorities, Veljko Kajtazi (18,9%) for the Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Jewish, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vlach minorities and Nedžad Hodžić (26,5%) for the Albanian, Bosniak, Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovene minorities.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Analysis
A total of 4,254,121 citizens were eligible to vote, out of which 2,446,831 turned out. This resulted in the lowest turnout, percentage-wise, yet with 54.32% of the electorate fulfilling their constitutional right. However, in district XI, reserved for voters residing abroad, the turnout was a dismal 5.13%, with 21,114 out of possible 411,758 voters turning out. In the ten geographical districts within Croatia the turnout was roughly on par with four years ago. 2,380,209 people cast their vote which resulted in a turnout of 61.95%. Out of the ten units, the largest turnout was in district I, encompassing the largest part of the capital Zagreb, where the turnout was 66.89%. The lowest turnout was in district IX, encompassing central and northern Dalmatia and Lika, with a turnout of 57.06%.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Analysis
The four centre-left Opposition parties, contesting the election united as the Kukuriku coalition, received their best result ever, with SDP winning 61 seats meaning that for the first time since Independence they will be the largest single party in Parliament, Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats winning 14, IDS 3 and Croatian Party of Pensioners also 3. Despite the record number of seats won, the coalition received 958,312 votes, or 40.0%, compared to 2007 when they contested the election separately and received 1,083,488, or 43.6%.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Analysis
The newly formed Labour Party, led by former HNS party member Dragutin Lesar, was a major surprise of the election. It won 6 seats, an unusual feat from a party outcast in a country with a stable political system where independent newcomers rarely win a significant proportion of the vote. Another surprise was the independent candidate Ivan Grubišić, a former Roman Catholic priest who ran on a campaign of restoring ethics and integrity to politics. He won 2 seats in his tenth electoral district, largely from Split, the second largest city in the country.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Analysis
Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB), a regional rightist party from Slavonia, contested the election in districts IV and V and achieved an unexpected 6 seats, despite most polls before the election giving them a maximum of 5 seats. They ran on a campaign of decentralization and regionalism and a very vocal opposition to HDZ.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Analysis
HDZ, after eight years in Government and 20 as the largest single party, received an historic blow with only 44 seats, two less than the 2000 election loss, and only 23.5% of the popular vote, their lowest share yet. By comparison, in 2000 HDZ received 790,728 votes compared to only 563,215 in this election cycle. The turnout twelve years ago was higher, but the result was still 3.4 percentage points lower than their, until 2011, lowest point.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Analysis
HDZ didn't even contest the election individually, as in 2000, but in coalition with the mayor of Split Željko Kerum's Croatian Citizen Party and Vesna Škare Ožbolt's Democratic Centre, which won 2 and 1 seats respectively. The main coalition partner of HDZ since 2007 was the Croatian Peasant Party which also received their worst result yet, being reduced to just 1 MP. In fact, two ministers from HSS, serving since the last election, Damir Bajs and Božidar Pankretić both failed to cross the threshold in their respective units. Another HDZ minister, Radovan Fuchs, also failed to enter Parliament.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
Every single poll from a relevant polling agency released since Sanader's departure showed SDP in the lead, often with a large margin. With the left making a joint appearance, every poll predicted the election would almost certainly result in the victory of the Opposition. On election night, at 7 pm when the polls closed, all three major networks released projections of the new Parliament, based on exit polls of over 25,000 people throughout the day. The projections showed Kukuriku with an insurmountable lead over the governing parties, winning 83 seats, well over the 76 needed to form a majority.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
HDZ-HGS-DC were projected to have 40 seats, not including the 3 seats from district XI which HDZ wins in every election, HSS 2, Labour and HDSSB both 6. Some 30 minutes later updated totals (30,000 polled) showed Kukuriku losing one seat to a regional party, but with 82 seats still winning a clear mandate. The reaction from the presumed victors was cautiously optimistic. Four years ago exit polls showed SDP leading, however by a narrow margin, but HDZ ultimately won 5 seats more in the ten districts.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
With a difference of 42, well beyond the statistical margin of error, there was little doubt who won the election, however reactions ranged from caution to disbelief. HDZ spokespeople claimed, as with every negative poll, conservative voters rarely participate in polling and expressed confidence in a more favorable result. Indeed, many members of the winning coalition were employing the press and their supporters to wait for official results, but claimed the difference between the two alliances was too great to be overcome.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
As 9 pm approached, the first actual results began to arrive, confirming the results of the exit polls, with few changes. As the vote count progressed, the preliminary results and especially the preliminary seat calculations varied. HSLS and HSP, both parliamentary parties since their foundation, received a number of votes close to the election threshold, but ended without representation. HSS barely won a single seat with its president, Josip Friščić, the only one who entered Parliament.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
It is a tradition in Croatia that the head of the State Election Commission gives a press conference at midnight every election night and, after they present the results, the leaders of the main parties speak to their supporters. Jadranka Kosor, the leader of HDZ, decided to break tradition and spoke to the crowd gathered in Meštrović Pavilion, where the party was watching the returns, only 15 minutes before midnight. The speech was mostly aimed at disappointed party members, saddened by the worst result the party ever achieved.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
She said the party was going through the hardest period in its history and blamed the media for their bias against HDZ citing 'impossible conditions' in which the campaign was held. Without congratulating her opponent, or acknowledging criminal activities that had diminished the party's reputation, she claimed HDZ would return stronger than ever and win the next general election, whenever it would be held. Members of Civic Action, a non-governmental organization usually very critical towards the governing party, gathered in front of the pavilion and lit candles, insinuating the death of HDZ.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Results, Election night
Celebrating victory in the Museum of Contemporary Art, members of the Kukuriku coalition were joined by former President of the Republic Stipe Mesić, former Prime Minister Josip Manolić, famous UFC fighter Mirko Filipović, Ivo Sanader's attorneys, United States Ambassador to Croatia James Foley and many other dignitaries and celebrities. After midnight, when more than 50% of the vote was counted and it was obvious he had won a clear majority, Prime Minister-to-be Zoran Milanović spoke to the crowd promising a fairer, more transparent and more modern government. Unlike his counterpart, he thanked Kosor and her associates for their service and urged all parties with Croatia's best interest at heart to work together to overcome the difficult days facing the country.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Government formation
Unlike the government formation talks in 2007 when the two political blocks were roughly even in the number of seats won, but with neither being able to form a majority without extensive negotiations with smaller parties, the resounding victory of the centre-left coalition in this election cycle left no doubt as to who would form the government. Since the Kukuriku coalition won an outright majority, there was no need for negotiations with other parties and the President of the Republic had no reason to call the leaders of the parties for coalition talks as four years ago. On 14 December, ten days after the election and immediately after the president of the State Election Commission came to Pantovčak and handed him the official and final results, president Ivo Josipović invited Zoran Milanović to his office and asked him to form a government.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Government formation
Milanović presented his cabinet to Parliament on 23 December, 19 days after the election. The discussion resulted with 89 members, 81 Kukuriku and 8 national minority MPs, voting in favour of the Milanović cabinet. The transition to power occurred the following evening when Jadranka Kosor welcomed Milanović to the government's official meeting place, Banski dvori, opposite the Sabor building on St. Mark's Square and handed him the necessary papers and documents.


2011 Croatian parliamentary election, Government formation
By taking office at the age of 45, Zoran Milanović became the second youngest Prime Minister since Croatia's independence. In addition, his cabinet also became the youngest, with an average minister's age being 48. Cabinet members came from three out of the four parties of the winning coalition, leaving only the single-issue Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU) without representation.


2011 Crocodile Trophy
The 2011 Crocodile Trophy was the 17th edition of the Crocodile trophy Mountain Bike stage race. The race was held from 18 October to 27 October. The race covered 1,211 kilometres (752 mi) divided over 10 stages.


2011 Crocodile Trophy
Pre race favourites were the winner of last two events: Urs Huber, runner-up of the last two events and former olympic champion: Bart Brentjens and number three of the last two events: Mike Mulkens. Huber aimed to be the first rider in history to win the trophy three times in a row.


2011 Crocodile Trophy, Race Overview
Only two of the pre race favourites would eventually start the race. Bart Brentjens pulled out of the event before the first stage due to an illness. On the first day of the Trophy it started to rain in North Queensland. The organisation decided that it was not safe for the riders to race in the heavy rain and decided to neutralize the stage. One rider, Danish cyclist Jakob Steen-Petersen, broke his collarbone because took risks in a descent despite the neutralization of the stage.


2011 Crocodile Trophy, Race Overview
The rain hadn't stopped but the race started on the second day. Swiss Marathon champion en defending champion Urs Huber took the stage with an advantage of 4 minutes to Brentjens' team-mate Jeroen Boelen to become the first race leader. During the third stage it became clear that Huber and Boelen would be the riders for the overall victory. Huber won the stage, but the gap to the Dutchman was much smaller than on stage two.


2011 Crocodile Trophy, Race Overview
Boelen then took three consecutive stages, the first by winning the sprint of a four-man break away. Boelen outsprinted Huber on stage 5 for the second stage win. The Dutchman took both the stage and the leaders jersey on the next day. Huber punctured but also ran out of energy on the longest stage of the 2011 event, resulting in a loss of more than ten minutes to Boelen.


2011 Crocodile Trophy, Race Overview
Huber managed to take a few seconds back on the seventh stage, a stage which was compared to Paris–Roubaix by former Austrian road race champion René Haselbacher: "Today was really like a Paris–Roubaix stage. Relatively flat but hard, and you just needed to keep on going." His fellow Austrian road race cyclist Christoph Sokoll won the seventh stage after his break-away companion Mike Mulkens punctured in the last kilometer. Dutch road race cyclist Huub Duyn claimed the eight stage while only riding the Crocodile Trophy for the fun.


2011 Crocodile Trophy, Race Overview
Urs Huber withdrew from the race before the start of stage 9. Huber, second overall at that moment, got ill during the night between stage 8 and 9 and was not able to continue the event. Boelen won both the 9th and 10th stage and sealed the overall victory.


2011 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season
The 2011 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season is the 45th in the club's history. They are competing in the NRL's 2011 Telstra Premiership.


2011 CrossFit Games
The 2011 CrossFit Games were a sporting event, the fifth CrossFit Games, held on July 29–31, 2011, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The winners of the Games were Rich Froning for the men's competition and Annie Thorisdottir for the women. CrossFit New England won the team competition.


2011 CrossFit Games
2011 marked the first year of the "CrossFit Games Open" was used as the first part of the two-stage qualification process for the CrossFit Games; online submissions of workout results were  invited from competitors worldwide, and over 26,000 participated. Athletes were then selected to compete in the Regionals, and those who qualified then proceeded to the CrossFit Games. There were 10 events in the Games, including the first swim event which was held outside the main venue for the first time. Also starting this season, the Games settled on a scoring system of 100 points for the winner of an event, with decreasing number of points for lower-placed athletes, and the one with the most points at the end of the competition would be the champion.


2011 CrossFit Games
CrossFit started a 10-year, $150 million, sponsorship and partnership deal with Reebok in 2011, and the prize money for the male and female individual winners of the Games increased substantially to $250,000 this year. The 2011 Games were also the first to be covered by ESPN, and the exposure further increased the popularity of subsequent Games.


2011 CrossFit Games, Qualification
2011 was the first year the Open was implemented as part of the qualification process in a CrossFit season. Over 26,000 athletes participated the Open, which took place in six weeks from March 15 to May 1, 2011. Competing athletes participated in six workouts, with each workout released to be completed weekly. Athletes can submit their scores online either with video evidence or validation by judges in a CrossFit affiliate. In each of the 17 regions, 60 individual athletes and 30 teams with the best results proceeded to compete in the Regionals.


2011 CrossFit Games, Qualification
The point system used in both the Open and the Regionals were the same as last year, with points awarded directly corresponding to the rankings (1 point for first, etc.). For teams, the combined scores of the individuals from a single gym were used to rank a team. Scoring for the Open stayed the same for all subsequent seasons.


2011 CrossFit Games, Qualification
The Regionals were held over three days from May 27 to June 19, 2011. The workouts for the Regionals were standardized this year, and all athletes had to compete in the same six events to determine the qualifiers for the CrossFit Games. A minimum work requirement was introduced for a Regional event for the first time, whereby failure by an athlete to complete a certain movement (only a single handstand push-up in 2011 in the first event) would result in elimination.


2011 CrossFit Games, Qualification
In each Regional, the competing athletes were cut to 14 men, 14 women, and 10  team after four events to compete in the last two events. The number of qualifiers varied for each of the Regional competitions, but no more than three men and three women may qualify from each Regional. This is also the last Games where special invites were offered to the top 5 men and women of the preceding Games and winners of earlier Games. A total of 49 male and 47 female qualifiers went on to compete in the Games. Starting this year, CrossFit awarded prize money to all who qualified from the Regionals to the Games.


2011 CrossFit Games, Individual events
The 2011 CrossFit Games featured the first event to be held outside of the main venue, which is the Beach event held on the beach at Santa Monica Pier. This was also the first swim event to be introduced at the Games. 10 events were held in total, the other 9 events were held at the various stadiums of Home Depot Center. The number of athletes were cut to 35 men and 35 women after the 6th event, 24 after the 7th, with 12 competing in the final event.


2011 CrossFit Games, Individual events
The point system was modified for the Games this year. Unlike the Open and Regionals, a scoring table was used for the Games: the winner of each event earned 100 points, each lower-ranked athlete until the 6th place gained 5 fewer points than the one higher up, and from 7th to 30th place the points dropped by 2 points every place, after which the points decrease by 1 point each.


2011 CrossFit Games, Team events
Every team had six members. Scoring in the team events was the same as for the individuals, but the Friday and Saturday team events were considered qualifiers for the final event on Sunday. Only 6 teams may qualify for the final event, where scores were reset. The  team that won this event were declared the champions. CrossFit New England won the competition, winning $30,000 in prize money.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl
The 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, nicknamed the Crosstown Punch-Out, was a bench-clearing brawl that took place at the end of the 2011 edition of the Crosstown Shootout college basketball game between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and the Xavier University Musketeers. The game and brawl took place on December 10, 2011, at Xavier's home arena, the Cintas Center in Norwood, Ohio, United States.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Background
The Crosstown Shootout is one of the most intense rivalries in college basketball, all the more so because Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati (UC) are only two miles (3.2 km) apart. There has always been a fair amount of trash talk between the two schools, and the 2011 game was no different. On December 8, UC guard Sean Kilpatrick told Andy Furman of WQRT that Xavier's All-American guard Tu Holloway probably wouldn't start for the Bearcats "with the players that we have now."


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Background
The series had developed a history of bad blood in the years leading up to the 2011 Crosstown Shootout. In 2008, a total of six technical fouls were called in a 76-66 Xavier win. Xavier's Derrick Brown was ejected, and two freshman post players were involved in an altercation that included a heavy dose of foreshadowing: Xavier's Kenny Frease headbutted UC's Yancy Gates, for which both players received technicals. The altercation set the tone for bad blood between the two players, and may have motivated Gates to seek revenge in 2011. The following year, multiple verbal exchanges resulted in UC clearing their bench, as well as technicals called on Xavier's Jordan Crawford and UC's Rashad Bishop in Xavier's double overtime win. In 2010, Holloway received a technical foul for throwing an elbow late in UC's 66-46 win.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, The brawl
The 2011 Crosstown Shootout was close at first, with eight ties and six lead changes in the first half. Xavier led 34-25 at halftime. The first sign of trouble occurred in the closing seconds of the first half, when Bearcat backup Octavius Ellis began exchanging some words with Xavier player Mark Lyons from the bench. Ellis jumped up from the bench to confront Lyons, and the two players had to be separated. Before the start of the second half, according to Xavier coach Chris Mack, both teams were warned that any further incident would result in technical fouls. The Musketeers started the second half on a 9-2 run and were never seriously threatened afterward. Ultimately, the Musketeers outscored the Bearcats 42-28 in the second half.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, The brawl
With 18.6 seconds remaining, Xavier's Tu Holloway scored a layup to give the Musketeers the 76-53 lead. As Holloway walked to the other end of the court, he began shouting at the Bearcat bench, bringing UC's Ge'Lawn Guyn over to confront him and triggering an argument between both men. As Guyn reached for Holloway's throat, Xavier's Dezmine Wells intervened by pushing Guyn to the floor, causing UC's Yancy Gates to throw the ball at Holloway's head and both benches to empty.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, The brawl
In the ensuing fight, Gates punched Xavier's Kenny Frease in the face, opening up a large cut under Frease's left eye and knocking him to the ground. As Frease tried to crawl away from the crowd, UC's Cheikh Mbodj stomped on the back of his head. Ellis threw a punch at Lyons, causing him and Wells to throw several back before coaches got in between them. This brought Gates over, who began shouting and throwing more punches at a Xavier backup, until Xavier assistant Aaron Williams and Lyons calmed him down.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, The brawl
Referees Michael Roberts, Jeff Anderson, and Tony Crisp ended the game with 9.4 seconds remaining, giving Xavier the 76-53 win. UC's Gates and Mbodj, and Xavier's Wells, were retroactively ejected from the game for fighting. Under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, these players were suspended for their next game, a sanction that could not be appealed.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, The brawl
Immediately following the incident, both sides were escorted to the tunnels at either end of the court so that they would enter their respective locker rooms. However, due to the chaos of the brawl, both teams entered through the tunnels opposite from where they were supposed to go. This would have resulted in another confrontation in the hallways beneath the Cintas Center stands as both teams would have had to cross each other in the narrow hallway leading to their locker rooms. To avoid this, the Xavier team was corralled into the south tunnel leading out of the main arena.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, The brawl
Once the UC players were off the court and had filed through the north tunnel to their locker room, the Xavier players were brought back out and began celebrating with the remaining fans and students still in the stands. This however resulted in an incident between the Xavier players and the Cincinnati fans who began yelling obscenities at one another. Security again had to get involved to keep the two groups away from each other.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
UC coach Mick Cronin, furious at how his players behaved, ordered them to take off their jerseys in the locker room, to the point he physically stripped them off from some of the players himself in disgust. In his postgame comments, a visibly angry Cronin said that he told his players not to put them on again "until they have a full understanding of where they go to school and what the university stands for and how lucky they are to even be there, let alone have a scholarship."


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
He also hinted that several players could face suspensions, and possibly dismissal from the team, saying that he was going to review the tape with school president Gregory H. Williams and athletic director Whit Babcock "and decide who's going to be on my team going forward." Cronin also appeared to blame the referees for not taking control of the situation sooner (threats of technicals after the first-half incident notwithstanding), saying that Xavier players were yelling at his bench for the whole game and even cursing at his coaches. Cronin said he tried to call a time-out before the brawl broke out so the players could go to their respective benches, but couldn't get the officials' attention.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
In the postgame interview, Holloway claimed the Bearcats had "disrespected" his teammates in the run-up to the game. He also said, "We went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game." He also added that he and his teammates considered themselves "gangsters, not thugs, but tough guys on the court." Lyons added, "If somebody puts their hand in your face or tries to do something to you, where we're from, you're gonna do something back."


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
Later that night, Cronin spoke with ESPN's Andy Katz and reiterated that there would be additional suspensions coming. "Nobody is going to walk on our side," he said. He also said the brawl was the most embarrassing moment of his coaching career. Mack was somewhat more restrained in his remarks, saying he wasn't "in a position to be a decision maker," but that his players needed to learn "how to handle themselves and not let that happen again." Earlier, Mack had tweeted, "If my players say they've been taught to be tough their whole life, they mean ON THE FLOOR. Nothing else is condoned."


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
Both schools' presidents issued statements condemning the brawl. UC's Williams strongly supported Cronin's postgame remarks, saying that the brawl was "not what we expect of representatives of the University of Cincinnati" and that school officials would "act swiftly and firmly" to ensure it would never happen again. Xavier's Michael J. Graham called the brawl "unsportsmanlike" and apologized to Xavier's fans and "the entire Cincinnati community." The Big East Conference and the Atlantic 10 Conference, the home conferences for UC and Xavier, respectively at the time, also condemned the brawl and promised to hand down additional suspensions if they felt the schools hadn't acted harshly enough.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
On December 11, both schools announced suspensions for the players involved. UC suspended Gates, Mbodj and Ellis for six games each, and Guyn for one game. Cronin said that the four players would still have to earn their way back onto the team even after they served out their suspensions. At the very least, Cronin said, they would have to sincerely apologize on camera and complete several other unspecified tasks. Xavier suspended Wells and Landen Amos for four games, Lyons for two and Holloway for one. Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski also apologized for Holloway and Lyons' postgame remarks. Mack said that Holloway was suspended specifically for his postgame comments, and admitted that neither he nor Lyons should have appeared before the media.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
On December 11, Mack, Holloway, Lyons and Xavier Athletic Director Mike Bobinski all apologized for what occurred. Mike Bobinski said, "It was an embarrassment. It was a disappointment at every level. We take full responsibility for the role that we played in those events and are resolved to whatever is necessary to see to it that it never happens again." Holloway also apologized for post game comments, saying, "Myself, I used the wrong choice of words. I represent Xavier University, my family and myself and I really apologize for what took place." The following day, an emotional Gates apologized for his actions, saying they were "not what my family is about." Guyn, Ellis and Mbodj also apologized.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters said he was considering filing criminal charges related to the brawl. Under Ohio law, Deters' office would handle the case if the charges rose to the level of felonies; Cincinnati city solicitor John Curp would prosecute if they are only misdemeanors. There is no known instance of criminal charges being filed as a result of a brawl at an NCAA game. Two days later, Deters announced he would not file charges, indicating that Gates and Frease had "reached out to each other privately" and that Frease was satisfied with a personal apology from Gates. On that same day, Bobinski used Mack's radio show to again apologize and take questions from fans concerning the incident.


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
On December 18, prior to Xavier's game against Oral Roberts, Mack took the floor again to apologize for the incident that had occurred in the previous game. Mack said, "We were all embarrassed by our behavior last weekend," and added, "It's extremely disappointing and in no way was a representation of what our university and our basketball program is all about."


2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl, Aftermath
Partly due to the incident, Xavier and UC officials decided to move the Crosstown Shootout to U.S. Bank Arena for at least the next two seasons and rename it the Crosstown Classic. Player and fan behavior was extensively reevaluated after the 2013 game, and was said to be a major factor in the decision to continue the series beyond the 2013–14 season. On May 12, 2014, the two schools announced a ten-year agreement to continue the series, alternating between campuses, and to revert the name of the series back to the Crosstown Shootout.


2011 Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400
The 2011 Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on April 30, 2011 at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 400 laps on the 0.75-mile (1.21 km) asphalt D-oval, it was the ninth race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Kyle Busch for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Denny Hamlin finished second, and Kasey Kahne clinched third.


2011 Crown Royal Presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400, Report, Background
Richmond International Raceway is one of  five short tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Bristol Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Phoenix International Raceway. The NASCAR race makes use of the track's standard configuration, a four-turn short track oval that is 0.75 miles (1.21 km) long. The track's turns are banked at fourteen degrees. The front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eight degrees while the back stretch has two degrees of banking. The racetrack has seats for 97,912 spectators.


2011 Crusaders Rugby League season
The 2011 Crusaders Rugby League season was the club's second year in the Super League. Despite going into administration at the end of 2010, the club was readmitted to the Super League for the 2011 season, but was docked four points for breaching insolvency rules. Crusaders struggled throughout the season, and finished bottom of the league.


2011 Crusaders Rugby League season
In July 2011, Crusaders announced that they would not be competing in the Super League from next season after withdrawing their application due to financial concerns.


2011 Crusaders Rugby League season, Super League table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2011 Crystal Skate of Romania
The 2011 Crystal Skate of Romania was the 12th edition of an annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Romania. It was held on November 2011 in Brașov. Skaters competed in the disciplines of single skating on the senior, junior, and novice levels.


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad
The 2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 44th edition of the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Roy Emerson Arena in Gstaad, Switzerland, from 25 July through 31 July 2011.


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad, Finals, Doubles
František Čermák /  Filip Polášek defeated  Christopher Kas /  Alexander Peya, 6–3, 7–6(9–7)


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Doubles
Johan Brunström and Jarkko Nieminen were the defending champions, but Nieminen decided not to participate. Brunström played alongside Adil Shamasdin, but they were eliminated in the semifinals by Kas and Peya.


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Doubles
No.1 seeds František Čermák and Filip Polášek won the title beating No.2 seeds Christopher Kas and Alexander Peya in the final, 6–3, 7–6(9–7).


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Singles
Nicolás Almagro was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Fernando Verdasco.


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Singles
8th seed Marcel Granollers won the title. He defeated his compatriot, 4th seed Fernando Verdasco in the final, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3.


2011 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Singles, Seeds
The first four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2011 Cup of China
The 2011 Cup of China was the third event of six in the 2011–12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai on November 3–6. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2011–12 Grand Prix Final.


2011 Cup of China, Eligibility
Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2011 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.


2011 Cup of China, Eligibility
In July 2011, minimum score requirements were added to the Grand Prix series and were set at two-thirds of the top scores at the 2011 World Championships. Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to earn the following:


2011 Cup of China, Entries
The entries were as follows. Brian Joubert was assigned to the event but withdrew due to a back injury. Jinlin Guan of China also withdrew; as both skaters had withdrawn just days prior to the event, no replacements were assigned and the men's field consisted of eight skaters.


2011 Cup of Nations (rugby union)
The 2011 Emirates Cup of Nations was held at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai as a season ending tournament for tier 3 teams from different continents. The four competing teams were hosts UAE, Asian 5 Nations rivals Hong Kong, 2011 Africa Cup champions Kenya and South American Rugby Championship A Division team Brazil.


2011 Cup of Nations (rugby union)
The tournament was Brazil's first 15-a-side games outside of South America.


2011 Cup of Nations (rugby union)
Hong Kong won the tournament, winning all three games with a bonus point (scoring 4 or more tries in a game). Kenya finished runners-up, courtesy of a last minute win over Brazil in their opening game.


2011 Cup of Nations (rugby union), Format
The tournament is being played as a single round-robin, with the winner being the leading team after the third round of fixtures. The points for the tournament were awarded for:Win =  4 pointsDraw = 2 pointsLoss = 1 pointScoring 4 or more tries in one game = 1 bonus pointLosing by 7 or less points = 1 bonus point.


2011 Cupa României Final
The 2011 Cupa României Final was the 11th final of the Cupa României between the archrivals Dinamo București and Steaua București. The match took place on 25 May 2011 at the Silviu Ploeşteanu stadium in Brașov. Steaua won the 21st cup in the club's history after beating Dinamo 2–1.


2011 Cupa României Final, Pre-match, Opening ceremony
Start of the match was given by the winner fan of "Drumul Mingii" (The Road of the Ball), including Romanian football legends like Ilie Balaci, Adrian Bumbescu, Rodion Cămătaru and Sorin Cârțu.


2011 Curl Atlantic Championship
The 2011 Curl Atlantic Championship was held from September 23 to 26 at the Tantramar Civic Centre in Sackville, New Brunswick. This was the first edition of the Curl Atlantic Championship. The goal of this event was to better prepare high performance Atlantic curling teams for the national and international stage. The winning men's team, skipped by James Grattan, will participate in the Perth Masters in Perth, Scotland, while the winning women's team, skipped by Suzanne Birt, will participate in the International Bernese Ladies Cup in Bern, Switzerland.


2011 Curl Mesabi Cash Spiel
The 2011 Curl Mesabi Cash Spiel was held from December 16 to 18 at the Range Recreation and Civic Center in Eveleth, Minnesota, as part of the 2011–12 World Curling Tour. The purses for the men's and women's events were USD$17,200 and USD$10,000, respectively. The event was held in a round robin format.


2011 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic
The 2011 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic was held from October 7 to 10 at the Calgary Curling Club in Calgary, Alberta. It was the first women's Grand Slam event of the 2011–12 curling season and the twenty-sixth time the tournament has been held. The purse for the event was CAD$54,000, and the winning team of Cathy Overton-Clapham of Manitoba, received CAD$14,000. Overton-Clapham defeated Alberta's Amy Nixon, who skipped for Shannon Kleibrink, in the final.


2011 Currie Cup First Division
The 2011 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 15 July to 14 October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of the 73rd season of the Currie Cup, an annual rugby union competition featuring the fourteen South African provincial unions.


2011 Currie Cup First Division
The tournament was won by  Boland Cavaliers, who beat the  Eastern Province Kings 43–12 in the final played on 14 October 2011. No team was promoted to the top-tier Currie Cup Premier Division competition for 2012.


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Competition rules and information
There were six participating teams in the 2011 Currie Cup First Division. These teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Competition rules and information
Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that score 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Competition rules and information
The top four teams qualified for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second had home advantage against the team that finished third. The winners of these semi-finals played each other in the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team.


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Competition rules and information
Following the reduction of the Currie Cup Premier Division from eight teams to six teams for 2012, there was no promotion from the First Division in 2011.


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Teams
The following teams took part in the 2011 Currie Cup First Division competition:


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Standings
The final league standings for the 2011 Currie Cup First Division were:


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Standings
The top four teams qualify to the semi-finals. The first-placed team will host the fourth-placed team and the second-placed team will host the third-placed team. The higher-ranked semi-final winner will then host the lower-ranked semi-final winner in the final.


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Standings
Points breakdown:* 4 points for a win* 2 points for a draw* 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less* 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Fixtures, Compulsory Friendlies
The following compulsory friendlies were played before the 2011 Currie Cup season between Premier Division and First Division teams:


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Fixtures, Regular season
The following matches were played in the 2011 Currie Cup First Division:


2011 Currie Cup First Division, Top scorers
The following sections contain only points and tries which have been scored in competitive games in the 2011 Currie Cup First Division.


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division
The 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 73rd season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from July to October 2011. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is the top tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition. The MTN Golden Lions won the 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division.


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Competition, Regular season and title play offs
There were 8 participating teams in the 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division. These teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Competition, Regular season and title play offs
Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by 7 points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Competition, Regular season and title play offs
The top 4 teams qualified for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second had home advantage against the team that finished third. The winners of these semi-finals played each other in the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team.


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Competition, Relegation
The 2012 Currie Cup Premier Division will only consist of six teams, so the bottom 2 teams will be relegated to the 2012 Currie Cup First Division.


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Fixtures and results, Compulsory Friendlies
The following compulsory friendlies were played before the 2011 Currie Cup season between Premier Division and First Division teams:


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Top scorers
The following sections contain only points and tries which have been scored in competitive games in the 2011 Currie Cup Premier Division.


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Top scorers, Top points scorers
Last updated: 29 Oct 2011 Source: South African Rugby Union


2011 Currie Cup Premier Division, Top scorers, Top try scorers
Last updated: 29 Oct 2011 Source: South African Rugby Union


2011 Cypriot legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Cyprus on 22 May 2011 to elect the 56 Members of the House of Representatives. They were won by the Democratic Rally, who increased their seats from 18 to 20. The governing Progressive Party of Working People also gained a seat, bringing them up to 19. The Democratic Party lost two of their 11 seats and the European Party lost one of their three seats. The Movement for Social Democracy held on to their five seats.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Background
The election follows a presidential election in Northern Cyprus which was won by the right-wing candidate Dervis Eroglu, who beat leftist incumbent Mehmet Ali Talat, amid fears of a halt in peace talks for a unified Cyprus; it also follows a similar legislative election.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Background
Conversely, in Greece the previous election was won by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement defeating the conservative New Democracy. Roughly a month later, Turkey would hold its own general election.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Background
The Interior Ministry estimated a total Greek Cypriot eligible voting population of 530,000. Additionally, about 544 Turkish Cypriots residing in Cyprus proper are eligible to vote. The Interior Minisitry also called on Cypriot expatriates to register for the election by the end of January, so as to make preparations for polling stations.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Background, Cypriot conflict
The election was important as an adverse result against conflict resolution talks could also affect Turkey's accession to the European Union. Though this election would not directly affect the 2013 Cypriot presidential election, it could set a precedent for coalition alliances.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Background, Cypriot conflict
Current negotiations between the two parties concern the establishment of a federation of two states with a loose central government, though implementing the proposal has run into obstacles and northern part of Cyprus have not abandoned a wish for independence. Such hindrances to unification include territorial swaps and property rights of thousands of internally displaced persons.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Parties
Incumbent President Demetris Christofias governed with a coalition of his Communist Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) and the centrist Democratic Party (DIKO) which has 11 seats. Both AKEL and the centre-right Democratic Rally (DISY) have 18 seats. However, DIKO dropped out of the coalition in August 2011, forcing AKEL into a minority position in the house of representatives.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Parties
Other parties include: the Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK) (currently five seats), the European Party (currently three seats) and the Ecological and Environmental Movement (currently with one seat).


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Campaign
DIKO has criticised Christofias' offer for a rotating presidency with Turkish Cypriots as part of deal to settle the Cypriot conflict.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Campaign
The incumbent government was also criticised for its "slow response" to the financial crisis, in which Cyprus experienced its first recession in more than three decades.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Opinion polls
The opposition centre-right Democratic Rally showed a slight lead of the AKEL Party. Though it was still forecast to fall short of a majority in the 59-seat parliament.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Results
Democratic Rally finished with 34.27 percent and AKEL followed with 32.67 percent.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Results
The high abstention rate of 21% was also noted considering that voting is compulsory.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Reactions
An op-ed in the Turkish Hurriyet suggested two repercussions: an impact on the presidential election; and an effect to the United Nations-led direct reunification talks. This could be further hurt as the junior members of the governing coalition had shown signs of a rift with AKEL and Christofias over the reunification talks, as well as social and economic policies. It suggested a "grand coalition," though acknowledging it was a massive task due to the burgeoning ambitions of both the two biggest parties for the presidency between incumbent Christofias and the DISY's Nicos Anastasiades.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Reactions
It also pointed out that though AKEL still had wide-backing their overall performance of the government had lost some support. Additionally, it suggested peace talks would add pressure to Northern Cyprus should a grand coalition come to fruition and bring in a "strong leadership...to engage in a give-and-take." The first test of such a possibility would be the election of the parliamentary speaker.


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Reactions
[A grand coalition] would produce the best chance ever for a Cyprus settlement. – Hurriyet


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Aftermath
A coalition government was formed in 2008 between the incumbent AKEL and DIKO parties. However, on 3 August 2011 DIKO withdrew from the coalition citing its differences over resolution of the Cypriot conflict and consequently leaving AKEL with a minority government. Following a meeting with President Dimitris Christofias, party leader Marios Garoyian said that "despite our continued efforts and repeated appeals, unfortunately, the wished-for understanding between political forces which is so needed in these crucial moments for our country couldn't (sic) be achieved."


2011 Cypriot legislative election, Aftermath
Part of Garoyian's demands, following his criticism of Christofias, was that the president withdraw proposals for a rotating presidency of a potential unified Cyprus. Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said that though Christofias regrets DIKO's withdrawal from the government he would go ahead with a cabinet reshuffle: "The aim is for the new government is to confront the challenges our country faces with dynamism and determination." He also added that the government would not withdraw proposals during an "intensified period of negotiations" following UN Secretary-Genera; Ban Ki-moon's urging to resolve all core issues by October, including resolving the matter of private property losses from the war.


2011 Cyprus Rally
The 2011 Cyprus Rally, officially the 39th FxPro Cyprus Rally, was the eleventh and final round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) season. The eleven stage gravel rally took place over 3–5 November 2011.


2011 Cyprus Rally
The rally offered double points towards the respective IRC championships, meaning that the overall rally winner, as well as class winners, gained 50 points instead of the usual 25. With victory, Andreas Mikkelsen became the youngest IRC champion, winning the title by 1.5 points ahead of Jan Kopecký.


2011 Cyprus Rally, Introduction
The rally, which was run for the 39th time, was based in Paphos – moving from its 2010 base of Limassol – with a super special stage making up Thursday's running. On Friday, four stages covering 84.62 km (52.58 mi) were run, with the final six stages, consisting of 99.76 km (61.99 mi) being completed on the Saturday.


2011 Cyprus Rally, Introduction
With double points on offer for the rally, six drivers remained in championship contention after the previous event at Rally Scotland. Jan Kopecký held the championship lead with 131 points, ahead of Škoda Motorsport team-mate and defending champion Juho Hänninen, who was six points in arrears. Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg's Thierry Neuville, the highest placed Peugeot driver, held third place with 115 points, ahead of Škoda UK's Andreas Mikkelsen on 111.5, Bryan Bouffier of Peugeot France on 110.5 and Freddy Loix, representing the BFO-Škoda Rally Team, on 103. The championship battle was later reduced to five drivers, as Bouffier did not travel to Cyprus.


2011 Cyprus Women's Cup
The 2011 Cyprus Women's Cup was the fourth edition of the Cyprus Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Cyprus.


2011 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format
The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a round-robin tournament. The main eight entrants were identical to the previous year.


2011 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format
Groups A and B, containing the strongest ranked teams, were the only ones in contention to win the title. The group winners from A and B contested the final, with the runners-up playing for third place. The Group C winner faced the better 3rd place team from Groups A and B for 5th, with the Group C runner-up facing the other 3rd place team for 7th. Group C's 3rd place team faced the better 4th place team of Groups A and B, while the other two 4th place teams played in the 11th place match.


2011 Cyprus Women's Cup, Format
Points awarded in the group stage follow the standard formula of three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. In the case of two teams being tied on the same number of points in a group, their head-to-head result determined the higher place.


2011 Cyprus Women's Cup, Group stage, Group A
Scotland's 2–0 victory against England was only their second win in the history of the fixture and their first since 1977.


2011 Czech Lion Awards
2011 Czech Lion Awards ceremony was held on 4 March 2012.


2011 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2011 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2011 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 12–14 August 2011 at the Masaryk Circuit located in Brno.


2011 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round eleven has concluded.


2011 Czech Social Democratic Party leadership election
The Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) leadership election of 2011 happened as a result of 2010 Czech legislative election which led to the resignation of incumbent leader Jiří Paroubek. The leadership election was considered a duel between Bohuslav Sobotka and Michal Hašek who were main candidates. They were both endorsed by 7 Regional organisations of party. Other candidates included Vladimír Dryml. 609 Delegates were allowed to vote in the election but only 593.


2011 Czech Social Democratic Party leadership election
Bohuslav Sobotka won in second round when he received 304 votes while Hašek received 258. Sobotka became the leader of ČSSD. Hašek then became the Vice Chairman of the party.


2011 D.C. United Women season
The 2011 D.C. United Women season was the team's inaugural season. For the 2011 season, D.C. United Women played in the W-League, the second tier of women's professional soccer in the United States and Canada, specifically in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference.


2011 D.C. United Women season
United began the season on May 25 and concluded the regular season on July 10. They won their first match against the New York Magic 3–0 with goals by Christine Nairn and Bri Hovington. The team finished the regular season with a 5-3-2 record, tied on points for second place in the division with the New Jersey Wildcats. However, they lost the tiebreaker on head-to-head competition and therefore fell short of making the W-League playoffs.


2011 D.C. United Women season, Match results, W-League
The D.C. United Women played their inaugural match against New Jersey fielding a lineup which featured two former USWNT players.


2011 D.C. United Women season, Club, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 D.C. United season
The 2011 D.C. United season was D.C. United's 17th year of existence, their 16th season in Major League Soccer, and their 16th consecutive season in the top-flight of American soccer. D.C. United tried to salvage a poor showing last season where they finished at the bottom of the MLS standings. The season covers the period of 1 November 2010 through 31 October 2011.


2011 D.C. United season
Ahead of the preseason, then interim-head coach Ben Olsen assumed head coaching duties, under a three-year contract for an undisclosed price. Olsen became the first head coach in franchise history to both play for and coach the squad. Upon retiring as a player on 24 November 2009 Olsen became an assistant coach under head coach Curt Onalfo. On 7 August 2010 Olsen was named interim head coach after Onalfo was fired. Olsen finished the 2010 season with a 3–8–1 record. Several major offseason acquisitions were made, in both the offense and defense.


2011 D.C. United season
Notable signings included Charlie Davies on loan, Perry Kitchen, Dax McCarty and Josh Wolff. In the summer, a major trade was made when United traded McCarty to their Atlantic Cup rivals, New York Red Bulls, for Dwayne De Rosario. During the MLS regular season, United regularly hovered in the middle of the league's overall table, frequently swapping positions barely in or outside of a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Ultimately, their playoff run ended in the 33rd week of the campaign, culminating a six-match winless streak, that included five consecutive losses.


2011 D.C. United season
Outside of MLS, the team failed to qualify for the third round proper of the U.S. Open Cup for the first time since 2002. In the qualification propers, United lost 3–2 to New England Revolution in the MLS qualification semifinals. Before the MLS regular season campaign, United participated in the preseason Carolina Challenge Cup tournament, where the club defended their 2010 title by recording a 2–0–1 record in the pre-season competition.


2011 D.C. United season, Background
The 2010 season marked the worst regular season record in United's history, as the club finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and overall league standings. As a result, United failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs for a league record-tying third year.


2011 D.C. United season, Background
Midway through the season, head coach Curt Onalfo was fired and replaced by assistant coach, Ben Olsen. As interim head coach Olsen led the club to a 3–8–1 record, which advanced them to a season total of 22 points over 30 games.


2011 D.C. United season, Background
The team concluded the regular season on 23 October 2010 with a 3–2 loss at home against Toronto FC. Club veteran, Jaime Moreno, earned his 133rd regular season goal during the final match of his professional career. Moreno departed professional soccer as the MLS career scoring leader.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, November 2010
On 24 November, D.C. United acquired Dax McCarty and an allocation fee of roughly $35,000 from the Portland Timbers for Rodney Wallace and the lower of United's two fourth round 2011 MLS SuperDraft selections. Three days after playing for the entire MLS Cup 2010 McCarty was acquired by the Portland Timbers with the first overall pick of the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft. At 4:13 pm EST D.C. United announced it had signed McCarty from the Portland Timbers.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, November 2010
After much speculation for a new coach, United announced Ben Olsen became head coach on 29 November 2010. His three-year contract as an assistant coach was replaced with a new three-year guaranteed contract that also includes options for additional seasons. At the time of the announcement Olsen had only selected one assistant coach, Chad Ashton, who had been serving as technical director during the previous season. Mark Simpson, the goalkeeping coach, decided not to return to the club. Kris Kelderman, who had another year under his contract as an assistant coach, was named the head coach of the UW–Green Bay Phoenix men's soccer team in May 2010.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, December
On 2 December, D.C. United announced it would not exercise options on the contracts of defenders Barry Rice and Juan Manuel Peña, as well as midfielder Carlos Varela and Brandon Barklage.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, December
On 21 December, D.C. United announced MLS veteran goalkeeper Pat Onstad would join D.C. United as goalkeeping coach. Onstad retired after a 24-year professional career, including 136 regular season matches with the Houston Dynamo. It was also announced that Olsen would not hire a third assistant coach to replace Kris Kelderman.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, December
On 8 December, D.C. United acquired former Houston Dynamo forward Joseph Ngwenya during the first stage of the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. On 15 December, D.C. United acquired Josh Wolff from the Kansas City Wizards during the second stage of the draft. Ngwenya was guaranteed $156,000 for the 2011 season, which was an increase from his base salary in 2010 of $72,000. Wolff was guaranteed $160,000 for 2011, which was $60,004 less than his 2010 base salary.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, December
Between the two stages of the MLS Re-Entry Draft, D.C. United signed D.C. United Academy player Ethan White. White previously played for the Maryland Terrapins before signing a homegrown player contract with D.C. United on 14 December 2010. He became the fourth academy signee within the last year for United.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
The start of 2011 was highlighted by United's first selection in the SuperDraft, where they had the third overall pick in the first round. For the third pick, United drafted University of Akron standout Perry Kitchen, who was a key cog for the Akron Zips' championship-run in the College Cup the previous month. Club management expressed immense excitement in signing Kitchen, with head coach Ben Olsen and manager David Kasper sharing that if they had the first overall pick, they would have signed Kitchen.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
Along with Kitchen, United signed Kitchen's teammate, Chris Korb in the second round, and in the final round, selecting Joe Willis, who last played for University of Denver in collegiate soccer, while playing for the Premier Development League's Real Colorado Foxes.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
If I had had the number one pick, I would have taken him. I can't tell you how happy we are to have this kid.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
—Ben Olsen, D.C. United Head Coach, upon drafting midfielder Perry Kitchen in the SuperDraft.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
United also made one selection in the Supplemental Draft, choosing forward Blake Brettschneider in the second round. The Black-and-Red had previously traded its first-round pick and another first-round supplemental pick acquired in a SuperDraft day trade to Los Angeles Galaxy. United chose to pass on its third round Supplemental Draft selection.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
On 30 January, at the Washington Auto Show, United unveiled their brand-new third kits for the 2011 season. The third kit, marked the first time in club history that the team will don a third kit during any year campaign. The new third kit is predominately red; red jersey, shorts and socks, with accents of black on the jersey.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, January
Concluding the Supplemental Draft, United shortly thereafter began their preseason training, which started with mandatory team physicals for the upcoming MLS season, as well as fitness training. Following players' medical clearances and preliminary training, United went south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 31 January to begin their preseason training camp.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, February
During the first week of February, rumors began to circulate that D.C. United was in "serious talks" with FC Sochaux-Montbéliard to acquire U.S. national team forward Charlie Davies on loan from the French Ligue 1 side. Originally declining to comment about a possible loan, Davies' agent, Lyle Yorks, told reporters that Davies was seeking a loan, in order to have more ample playing time while recovering from a series of injuries he suffered in an automobile accident in October 2009.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, February
On 2 February, D.C. United posted a press release that stated Davies would be training with United during their Fort Lauderdale training camp, for a week starting on 3 February. Subsequently, club public relations released a press statement declaring that Davies would join United on loan if they saw him match fit.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, February
On 16 February, two weeks following the arrival of Charlie Davies in camp, the club made local and national headlines when they announced that they successfully acquired Davies on a 12-month loan deal from Sochaux. Club management expressed how impressive Davies was in camp. D.C. United have the option of buying out Davies from Sochaux at the end of the season should they decide to do so. United were able to obtain Davies due to their position in the leagues allocation order.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, February
The very next day following Davies official announcement, the club waived long-time defender, Julius James. In the press statement, D.C. cited that the waiving freed another international roster spot on the team's squad. That same day, United also acquired allocation money from L.A. Galaxy when trading the international roster spot vacated with James' departure. James did not make any appearances with the club during preseason training.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, February
During their Florida preseason training, United went undefeated in all matches, winning each match. and Florida International University's men's soccer team. Following training in Florida, United continued their preseason tour by traveling to Southern California, where they played against the PDL's Ventura County Fusion, as well as a match against UC Santa Barbara's men's team. To conclude their California preseason training, United took on fellow MLS club, C.D. Chivas USA in a friendly on 25 February. During their time in California, United posted victories against Ventura County as well as UC Santa Barbara, before drawing against Chivas USA.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, February
Concluding the Chivas USA match, the club traveled back east to Charleston, South Carolina to participate in the Carolina Challenge Cup.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, March
The first half of March opened with D.C. United participating in their final preseason tune-up, the 2011 Carolina Challenge Cup, played in Charleston, South Carolina. United, the defending champions, were paired up against the host Charleston Battery in the opening match of the tournament on 5 March. In the game, United emerged victorious 2–1, and moved into first place in the tournament table.


2011 D.C. United season, Preseason, March
Three days later, United played their second MLS opponent of the preseason. This time, they played fellow conference foes, Chicago Fire, for the second match of the Challenge Cup. Played on 9 March, the match proved to be another successful game for newly acquired Brettschneider, as he tallied on the scoresheet in the 10th minute of play. Things would continue in United's way in the 37th minute, when Chicago midfielder Diego Cháves was ejected from the game in the 37th minute, allowing United to have a one-man advantage for a significant portion of the match. Consequently, the Fire would fail to create many goalscoring opportunities, being outshot 16–5 by United. Brettschneider's tenth-minute tally was the lone goal of the match, thus giving United a 2–0–0 record in the tournament table, and placing them in a key position to win the entire cup.