2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season and Wimbledon, Halle Open
Federer played at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, where he was the finalist last year. He played German wildcard Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the second round. Though Federer struggled with his serve and made quite a few errors, including one in the first set which allowed Stebe to break his serve, Federer dominated most of the match and won in straight sets, marking his fortieth win at the Gerry Weber Open.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season and Wimbledon, Halle Open
He played German wildcard Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals and swept past Zverev, not allowing him any games and breaking him a total of six times en route to a victory in forty minutes. Federer achieved his second double bagel of his career, his first since he double-bageled Gastón Gaudio at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup. He then faced defending champion Tommy Haas in the semifinal. In a tight first set, Federer gave up a break point in the sixth game of the set, and Haas held the lead to win the set.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season and Wimbledon, Halle Open
The second set saw Federer win an early break point and level the match at one set all. Federer then broke Haas to love and held the lead to win the match. In the final, Federer played Russian Mikhail Youzhny. After wasted break point opportunities and unforced errors led to Youzhny edging Federer in the first set tiebreak, Federer improved his game and won the match to claim his first title of the season, tying John McEnroe for the third-most number of ATP titles won by a male player in the Open Era.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season and Wimbledon, Wimbledon
Federer played at the Wimbledon Championships, where he was defending champion and vying to match Rafael Nadal's record of 8 titles at a single Grand Slam tournament, which Nadal had just achieved at the French Open two weeks earlier. Federer played Victor Hănescu of Romania in the first round, and dropped only five games en route to a straight-sets win in just over an hour. He played 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in the second round, and had a one-set lead before dropping the next three sets and losing the match, unable to hold leads and convert on crucial points.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season and Wimbledon, Wimbledon
The loss ended Federer's record streak of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances. This also marked his earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since the 2003 French Open, his first loss to a player ranked outside of the top 100 since losing to Richard Gasquet in 2005 (ranked 101st at the time). With Rafael Nadal's loss in the first round, this also was the first time ever that, when both of them were entered in a Grand Slam, that neither have made it to the second week. All of this, coupled with a slew of other player withdrawals, retirements, and upsets have led that day to be referred to as Black Wednesday.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer clay court season
Federer added two outdoor clay events to his schedule before the US Open hard court season begins.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer clay court season, German Open
Federer played at the German Open Tennis Championships in Hamburg as a wildcard. Federer won the title in Hamburg four times when it was an ATP Masters Series event, but did not play there since 2008, when he was a finalist. Federer announced before his first round match in Hamburg that he was changing his racquet for the second time in his career (the first change occurred in 2002 just prior to the tournament in Hamburg of that year), upgrading from a 90-inch frame to a 98-inch frame.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer clay court season, German Open
His first match was against German Daniel Brands, and he earned his first victory with his new racquet, rallying against strong play by Brands after dropping the first set. He next played Jan Hájek of the Czech Republic, and defeated him in straight sets after wasting many break and match points. He played Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals, and dropped his first set against Mayer in a tough three-set victory. In the semifinals, he played qualifier Federico Delbonis of Argentina for the first time, but lost in straight set, failing to convert break and set points as Delbonis took advantage to win both set tiebreaks.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer clay court season, Swiss Open
Federer next played at the Swiss Open. It was the first time Federer had participated in the Swiss Open since 2004. The tournament honored Federer's return by presenting him with a Swiss cow named Desiree. Despite the excitement over his return to the event, he was defeated in his opening match by Daniel Brands, his first opening-match loss since Rome in 2010. After the loss, Federer revealed that he had suffered a serious back injury several days before in Hamburg, and that he had taken anti-inflammatories and had been unable to practice.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, US Open Series and US Open, Cincinnati Masters
After withdrawing from the Rogers Cup, Federer played at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he was the champion last year. Following a first-round bye, Federer played German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round. After speeding through the opening set, Federer found some trouble against Kohlschreiber in the second set, but managed to convert his second match point during the set tiebreak, keeping his winning streak against Kohlschreiber alive with a straight sets win. He played Tommy Haas in the third round, and came close to losing after Haas held a one-set, one-break advantage.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, US Open Series and US Open, Cincinnati Masters
Federer rallied to force a third set and won the match in under two hours. Federer next played Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. He broke Nadal late in the first set, playing fast and aggressive tennis with sharply angled, clean and powerful groundstrokes off both wings and frequent attacks at the net. He had opportunities to threaten Nadal on Nadal's serve in the second set, but this went awry, as Nadal continued to fight and as Federer began to rack up unforced errors.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, US Open Series and US Open, Cincinnati Masters
Federer's serve folded at the end of the second set and the start of the third, but he saved four match points on Nadal's serve before a wide forehand from Nadal on match point went unchallenged by Federer. Federer fell down the rankings again to No. 7, his lowest in over a decade.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, US Open Series and US Open, US Open
At the US Open in New York Federer played Slovenian Grega Žemlja in the first round, and won in straight sets after a lapse of concentration resulted in a drop of his serve in the third set. He next played Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the second round, and swept him in straight sets, dropping only six games en route to a win in just over one and a half hours. He next played Adrian Mannarino in the third round, and won in similar fashion, holding his serve and dropping only five games in the match. In a surprise, Federer then lost to Tommy Robredo, a player he had beaten ten straight times, in straight sets in another error strewn display.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Asian Swing, Shanghai Masters
Federer's first post-US Open tournament was at the Shanghai Masters. He defeated Andreas Seppi in the second round in straight sets, but dropped his next match in the third round against Gaël Monfils in three sets. The loss marked only his second defeat against the Frenchman.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, European Indoor Season, Swiss Indoors
Federer next played in the Swiss Indoors. He defeated Adrian Mannarino in the first round in straight sets, and then came back from a one-set deficit against Denis Istomin in under two hours. In the quarterfinal, Roger Federer faced Grigor Dimitrov, nicknamed "Baby Federer", for the first time. Dimitrov was defeated in straight sets, but Federer had to recover from a service break down and force a tie-break decision in the second set. In the semifinal round, Federer defeated Vasek Pospisil in a very tight three-setter.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, European Indoor Season, Swiss Indoors
After winning the first set comfortably by breaking Pospisil's serve twice, Federer served for the match in the second set but squandered the opportunity. Then, Federer's serve was broken early in the deciding set, but he managed to return the service break and was able to serve for the match successfully at his second chance. Federer faced Juan Martín del Potro for the title, in a repeat of the previous year's final that saw del Potro emerge again victorious. He fell short again in another three-set battle against the Argentine. Despite the loss, the match saw Federer display significant improvement in form after a sluggish run to the final.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, European Indoor Season, Paris Masters
Federer next played in Paris at the BNP Paribas Masters, knowing that he would qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals if he won his opening match against Kevin Anderson. With his win over Anderson, he became the sixth player to qualify (seventh if including the injured Andy Murray) for the Finals. He made it to the semifinals by subsequently beating Philipp Kohlschreiber and Juan Martín del Potro, the latter whom he faced less than a week earlier in the final in Basel. His win over del Potro was only his second of the season over a top-10 player, first since January, and only top-5 win thus far. Federer met Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for their 30th career meeting, where he ultimately lost in three sets.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, European Indoor Season, ATP World Tour Finals
Federer entered the ATP World Tour Finals as the No. 6 seed and was drawn in group B with Novak Djokovic, Juan Martín del Potro, and Richard Gasquet. Before the tournament began, Federer received three ATP World Tour Awards: the Fans' Favourite Award for a record eleventh consecutive time, the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award for a record ninth time, and the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for a record-tying second time. Federer played his first round-robin match against Djokovic, only 3 days after their last match in Paris, and he again lost in three sets.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, European Indoor Season, ATP World Tour Finals
Federer had not lost an opening match in the World Tour Finals since 2008. Federer then defeated Gasquet in straight sets. With Novak Djokovic having won the group just after two round-robin matches, Federer played his last round-robin match against del Potro. It was the third match between them in the last three weeks of the season. Federer won, but not without saving a breakpoint, and booked a place in the semifinals against Group A winner Rafael Nadal, who had won all his three round-robin matches and successfully clinched the No. 1 ranking for the 2013 season.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, European Indoor Season, ATP World Tour Finals
Federer lost the semifinal match in straight sets, only managing to break Nadal's serve once in the first set. It was Federer's fourth consecutive defeat against Nadal in the 2013 season. At the end of the tournament, Federer overtook Tomas Berdych in the singles rankings and finished the season as world No. 6, his lowest since 2002.


2013 Roger Federer tennis season, Yearly records, Head-to-head matchups
Roger Federer had a 45–17 (72.6%) match win-loss record in the 2013 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP Rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings was 4–10 (28.6%). The following list is ordered by number of wins:


2013 Rogers Cup
The 2013 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 124th edition (for the men) and the 112th (for the women) of the Canadian Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2013 ATP World Tour, and of the WTA Premier 5 tournaments of the 2013 WTA Tour. The men's event was held at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, from August 3 to August 11 and the women's and legends events at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, from August 3 to August 11.


2013 Rogers Cup, Points and prize money, Prize Money
The total prize money pot for 2013 was $3,496,085, an increase of around $800,000 from the previous year.


2013 Rogers Cup, ATP singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wild cards into the main singles draw:


2013 Rogers Cup, ATP singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw:


2013 Rogers Cup, ATP doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2013 Rogers Cup, WTA singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wild cards into the main singles draw:


2013 Rogers Cup, WTA singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw:


2013 Rogers Cup, WTA doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2013 Rogers Cup, Finals, Men's doubles
Alexander Peya /  Bruno Soares defeated  Colin Fleming /  Andy Murray, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)


2013 Rogers Cup, Finals, Women's doubles
Jelena Janković /  Katarina Srebotnik defeated  Anna-Lena Grönefeld /  Květa Peschke, 5-7, 6-1, [10-6]


2013 Rogers Cup – Men's Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, but lost to Robert Lindstedt and Daniel Nestor in the quarterfinals.


2013 Rogers Cup – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal defeated Milos Raonic in the final 6–2, 6–2, to win the Men's Singles title at the 2013 Canadian Open.


2013 Rogers Cup – Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic was the two-time defending champion, but lost in semifinals to Nadal.


2013 Rogers Cup – Men's Singles
For the first time since 1992, five Canadian players reached the second round or better. Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil both reached the semifinals where they played against each other, with Raonic becoming the first native finalist since Robert Bédard won the title in 1958.


2013 Rogers Cup – Men's Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2013 Rogers Cup – Women's Doubles
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik and Kristina Mladenovic were the defending champions, but Jans-Ignacik could not participate on account of becoming a mother in early 2013. Mladenovic played alongside Galina Voskoboeva, but lost in the first round to Julia Görges and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.


2013 Rogers Cup – Women's Doubles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2013 Rogers Cup – Women's Singles
Petra Kvitová was the defending champion, but she lost to Sorana Cîrstea in the quarterfinals.


2013 Rogers Cup – Women's Singles
World No. 1 Serena Williams won the title for the third time, defeating Cîrstea 6–2, 6–0 in the final. The victory gave Williams her eighth title of 2013 and fifty-fourth career WTA title.


2013 Rogers Cup – Women's Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2013 Rolex Sports Car Series
The 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the fourteenth and final season of the Grand American Road Racing Association's premier series, before merging up with the American Le Mans Series in 2014. It began on January 26, with the 51st running of the 24 Hours of Daytona.


2013 Rolex Sports Car Series
As the NASCAR Holdings acquisition of Panoz Motor Sports, and IMSA, had already taken place, this season is technically one of two series that formed the 43rd season of the IMSA GT Championship that dates to 1971.


2013 Rolex Sports Car Series, Schedule
The schedule was released on September 28, 2012 and features the addition of three new circuits for the series; Circuit of the Americas, Kansas Speedway, and Road Atlanta. Also, the August 10 event at Road America will be a combined weekend with the American Le Mans Series, showcasing the organizations' recent merger. Previous races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen Short Course and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve do not return.


2013 Rolex Sports Car Series, Championship standings
Championship points are awarded based on finishing positions as shown below. The exception is at the 24 Hours of Daytona, where a minimum of 15th place points are awarded so as not to excessively penalize a low finish when there are generally more entrants.


2013 Roma Maxima
The 2013 Roma Maxima was the 75th edition of the Italian semi-classic cycle race previously known as Giro del Lazio. The Giro del Lazio has not been raced since 2008, and the 2013 edition was the first one with the new name.


2013 Roma Maxima
The race was scheduled on 3 March 2013; it started on Via Appia Antica in Rome, passed through the cobblestone section of the ancient Appian Way and the steep climbs of the Roman hills, and ended again in Rome in Via dei Fori Imperiali, near the Coliseum, after 180 kilometres (110 mi).


2013 Roma Maxima
The French Blel Kadri won the race after a 127 km (78.9 mi) breakaway. Kadri, together with André Cardoso, Christophe Premont, Pim Ligthart and Albert Timmer, got away after 53 km (32.9 mi); on the climb to Campi di Annibale he dropped the other riders and powered on alone with 40 km (24.9 mi) to go. A five-rider group, among whom there was also Vincenzo Nibali, tried to chase Kadri down, but Kadri managed to hold the gap all the way to Rome. Lampre–Merida's Filippo Pozzato won the sprint for the second place, and Grega Bole (Vacansoleil–DCM) was third. Since Roma Maxima is not a World Tour event, riders were not allowed to use the radio during the race; so both Pozzato and Bole did not know that Kadri was still away, and Pozzato celebrated on the finish line thinking he had won the race.


2013 Roma Maxima, Teams
The start list included 16 teams – 9 ProTeams and 7 Professional Continental Teams – and a total of 128 riders. Among them, the pre-race favourites were Movistar Team pairing Alejandro Valverde and Giovanni Visconti, Lampre–Merida's Damiano Cunego and Filippo Pozzato, Ag2r–La Mondiale rider Carlos Betancur and Oscar Gatto of Vini Fantini–Selle Italia.


2013 Roma Open
The 2013 Roma Open was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the twelfth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2013 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Rome, Italy between 6 and 12 May 2013.


2013 Roma Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2013 Roma Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry as a special exempt into the singles main draw:


2013 Roma Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2013 Roma Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pair received entry as an alternate into the doubles main draw:


2013 Roma Open – Doubles
Jamie Delgado and Ken Skupski were the defending champions, but decided not to participate together. Delgado played alongside Andreas Siljeström, but they lost to Philipp Marx and Florin Mergea in the second round, while Skupski partnered with Andreas Beck, but they lost to Dustin Brown and Rameez Junaid in the first round. Andre Begemann and Martin Emmrich defeated Marx and Mergea 7–6(7–4), 6–3 in the final to win the title.


2013 Roma Open – Singles
Jerzy Janowicz was the defending champion but decided to participate in the 2013 Mutua Madrid Open instead. Aljaž Bedene defeated Filippo Volandri 6–4, 6–2 in the final to win the title.


2013 Romanian International Darts Open
The 2013 Romanian International Darts Open was the 4th edition of Romanian International Darts Open, organised by the Romanian Darts Federation. The tournament took place 27–29 October 2013 at Hotel Intercontinental 5* in Bucharest, Romania. The winner was Tony O'Shea who beat Ron Meulenkamp form Netherlands, in the final, by 6 legs to 2.


2013 Romanian International Darts Open
The tournament had, as special guests, the English professional darts players, Darryl Fitton (then rank 3 BDO) and Tony O'Shea (then rank 4 BDO).


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project
The 2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project were a series of protests in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and dozens of other cities in Romania and abroad against the Roșia Montană mining project. The protesters say that the mining project would destroy the environment and heritage of Roșia Montană and demand the withdrawal of a law which would enable this project to commence. In Bucharest, protests were held every evening in the University Square and marches were held each Sunday.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project
Although at first largely ignored by the world press, the demonstrations are starting to receive more significant worldwide attention both by the media and the general population via the use of social networks. The protests were dubbed by Romanian press and not only Indignants Movement (Romanian: Mișcarea Indignaților) and Romanian Autumn (Romanian: Toamna Românească).


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Background
The Roșia Montană Project was initiated by Roșia Montană Gold Corporation, a company of which the largest shareholder is the Canada-based Gabriel Resources. The company was given in 2000, without bidding, a license for mining gold. The open-pit mining project will use cyanide to extract gold and it is expected to require the razing of three villages and destroying four mountain tops. If approved, it would be Europe's largest open-pit gold mine and it will use 12,000 tonnes of cyanide yearly, giving a yield of 350 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Background
The Roșia Montană campaign was originally organized by locals of Roșia Montană who have refused to be relocated and have been battling the corporation for years in the courts. The activists claim that the project would cause an environmental disaster, that it would destroy the ancient Roman archeological sites and that the project involved handling assets to the Canadian company, while the Romanian state would earn only 6% out of the project.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Background
Within the last 14 years, the company was not able to obtain all the needed permits due to failure to comply with the Romanian environment laws. The ruling Social Democrats made a campaign promise before the 2012 legislative elections to stop the project, but they changed their mind after winning the elections In order for the project to continue, the Romanian government approved a new draft law in late August 2013 and forwarded it to the Parliament which had to vote on it in September.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Background
A concern was the fact that the legislation would give the Roșia Montană Gold Corporation the right to give compulsory purchase orders to the residents of Roșia Montană who refused to sell their houses and lands. The draft law also sets time limits for the state authorities to grant all permits, regardless of potential infringements of national legislation or of court rulings.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests
The protests tend to follow a weekly pattern, with the first day of protests, Sunday, 1 September being the starter for this routine. To this day, all over the country the major protests are held on Sundays, with the weekdays being reserved for local or minor protests, the Saturdays for mass alternative ways of spreading information about the protest and the Sundays peaking with the most people joining in all major cities. Since its beginning, every major Sunday protest has grown exponentially in numbers.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests
The protests were organized in cities across the country, with thousands of people in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca. Protests were held across Europe, with an estimated 150–200 Romanians and environmentalists protesting in London. The protests, organized during the evenings, involved the protesters blocking streets, drumming, singing and organizing sit-ins in the street. In Berlin and Brussels (in front of the UNESCO Headquarters), the protests included a die-in. In Chicago, members of the Romanian community, solidary with the Roșia Montană protest movement, joined a spontaneous protest inside the consulate in Chicago. The protest took place at the Romanian Prime Minister's visit to the United States. People have made an open letter to Prime Minister Victor Ponta, through which they demand the ban of cyanide mining and shale gas exploitation in Romania.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests
Some protesters called upon President Băsescu's and Prime-Minister Ponta's resignations, both politicians being supporters of the project.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests
The 'Save Roșia Montană' campaign is now regarded as the largest civic movement in Romania since the 1989 revolution.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies
Rallies are held every evening in Bucharest's University Square. They result every time in traffic delays.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies
On Tuesday, 10 September, in the middle of the street, in front of the University, a string quartet played to the protesters classical and modern music, including Metallica's Nothing Else Matters. The following Tuesday, near the fountain next to the University, a group of 50 dancers organized a flash mob dancing tango.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies
On 21 September, nearly 7,000 people formed a human chain around the Palace of the Parliament. They were joined by thousands of cyclists, that marched around the building.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies
On 4 October, several paragliders from Cluj jumped from height at Dezmir Aerodrome, displaying messages for the salvation of Roșia Montană. They were joined by dozens of young people coming to protest.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies, Great Gathering and Proclamation of Câmpeni
More than 5,000 residents of Câmpeni, Alba County, gathered in city's centre to protest against cyanide mining project at Roșia Montană and against the Ponta Government. They were joined by thousands of activists from all major cities of the country. People are outraged because declarations of PM Victor Ponta who argued that in Câmpeni would protest extremist groups and that authorities are prepared to intervene. They accuse the entire political class of manipulation and betrayal.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies, Great Gathering and Proclamation of Câmpeni
The organizers of this event, supported by protesters, drew up a proclamation with clear and concise claims.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Rallies, Great Gathering and Proclamation of Câmpeni
Column of protesters on Carol Boulevard, Bucharest, on 22 September


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Marches
As the media, particularly the TV stations, failed to cover properly the protests, the protesters marched each Sunday for hours throughout the neighbourhoods of Bucharest in order to spread the word of the protests.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Marches
Also, slogans opposing the ongoing project of shale gas fracking were shouted and bystanders were invited to join. On 15 and 22 September, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets again, including more than 22,000 in Bucharest.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Incidents
Although the protests are generally peaceful in conduct, some incidents were reported. In the first day of protests, a group of protesters tried to break into the government headquarters, but were stopped by gendarmes. Some teenagers who had joined the protesters jostled with law enforcement officers and threw firecrackers. In Cluj-Napoca, protesters lit smoke-producing objects. In Bucharest, Timișoara and Iași, protesters installed tents on the roads, blocking the traffic on major arteries of circulation.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Incidents
The Minister of Culture, Daniel Barbu, was attacked by protesters with tomatoes in front of the prefecture in Cluj-Napoca on 13 September. The crowds demanded the resignation of the minister and displayed banners that read "Barbu, gold mercenary, against the patrimony" and "Roșia Montană in UNESCO". One of the protesters was forcibly removed from the minister's car by gendarmes. A similar incident took place in Bucharest historical centre, on 17 October, when Barbu faced an angry crowd after a debate in Club A. Protesters booed Barbu, who yelled at them "You're neofascists".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Incidents
After he got into his car, the windshield was broken when he closed the door. According to Barbu, this was due to stones thrown by protesters, but according to other reports, the windshield had been cracked beforehand, presumably by protesters. Following the incident three protesters were arrested and 40 others heard at local police station.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Incidents
On 25 September, a group of 1,000 protesters gathered in front of a restaurant in Câmpeni, Alba County where the members of the Parliamentary Commission for Roșia Montană were dining, preventing them from getting out of its courtyard. Their minivan was able to exit following an intervention of the gendermes.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Incidents
Those attending the protests accuse the authorities of initiating repression against protesters, after, on 27 October and 3 November, protesters in Bucharest, Brașov and Cluj-Napoca were hit and sprayed with irritant substances by gendarmes. Some of the anti-Roșia Montană demonstrators revealed by documents the aggressions of law enforcement and pressures they made (large fines, threats, etc.) to end anti-government protests.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protests, Incidents
On 9 December, about 50 Greenpeace activists from 10 countries entered the courtyard of the Parliament building and began to "dig for gold", displaying banners with the message "Gold mining area". Activists were seized by gendarmes and led to the sections 17 and 18 of the Police.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protesters' profile
The protesters belonged to a wide range of social strata: students, teachers, priests, activists, artists, engineers, retired and unemployed people. They did not share a common ideology, but rather being a heterogenous mix of left and right wing-oriented people, including conservatives, libertarians, socialists, anticapitalists, nationalists, conspiracy theorists etc. Due to a vast majority of the protesters being young professionals, the protests have on occasion been called, both by its critics and its supporters, "the protest of the hipsters".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protesters' profile
Although there were relatively few, the existence of anti-capitalist young people among the protesters surprised many commentators. Dan Tapalagă of Hotnews argues that for people of his generation (who overthrew the Communist Party), it's hard to understand what the young people are thinking. Marius Ghilezan of Evenimentul Zilei blamed the parents for "failing to give their children a pro-capitalist view".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protesters' profile
The protests had a non-hierarchical nature and no official leaders and have been organized through Facebook.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protesters' profile
According to sociologist Mircea Kivu, while during the first day of protests as many as 90% of the protesters were young, as the number of participants increased the following Sundays, the percentage of young people decreased to two-thirds.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protesters' profile, Participants
Princess Brianna Caradja, a declared opponent of the mining project, was among those who joined the protests in Bucharest. She also took part in the nationwide protests in 2012. Other public figures participating in the demonstrations were the PDL deputy Theodor Paleologu, who said he would oppose the project at the vote in Parliament, and the vocalist of rock band Luna Amară, Mihnea Blidariu.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Protesters' profile, Participants
Csibi Magor, Romania Program Director of World Wide Fund for Nature, Claudiu Crăciun, lecturer at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Remus Cernea, a well-known activist, and Cristian Neagoe, consultant at Cărturești Foundation were among those present during the protests in University Square.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
Protesters accused the Romanian media of a media blackout, claiming that this was due to the fact that Gabriel Resources paid large sums of money in advertising throughout the years. According to Forbes Romania, Roșia Montană Gold Corporation paid 5.4 million €-worth (rate card prices) of advertising in the Romanian newspapers during the last three years and about 550,000 € in TV ads last year.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
On 7 September, thousands of protesters marched to the publicly funded Romanian Television (TVR) headquarters to protest against the TVR's blackout, but this protest was not featured in its news program, either.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
With the exception of the national television channel Digi24, the first week of protests went uncovered in almost all mainstream mass-media, which led to a strong negative reaction in the protesters.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
As the protests became larger, it became impossible for the media to ignore the events. Still, the press was continuously criticised of presenting the news in a biased or distorted manner, in ways such as grossly minimising the activists' number to suggest the existence of a minor revolt or making use of TV personalities such as the popular media figure Mircea Badea to present the protesters as a mass of disoriented people with no defined purpose.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
Some media outlets accused the protesters and environmentalists of financial gains. For instance, TV show host Mihai Gâdea of Antena 3 (Romania) accused Horia-Roman Patapievici of being a real estate speculator for owning land in Roșia Montană. Patapievici replied in an open letter that he owns only 1 square meter, as a symbol of solidarity with the people of Roșia Montană and that it's not a real estate investment. Evenimentul Zilei accused the "cunning NGO activists" involved in the protests of receiving money from foreigners (such as George Soros's Open Society Foundations) and using the money to organize the protests.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
Likewise, Mihai Gâdea has addressed, in one of his shows, an insulting message to opposers of the Roșia Montană Project in University Square. He called protesters "Băsescu's slaves", adding that "many of you don't know because of ketamine, high ketamine impedes you understanding things." He later defended himself, arguing that he didn't insult all the protesters. More than that, both Mihai Gâdea and Mircea Badea were threatened on Facebook by angry protesters.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Media portrayal
The protesters chanted against what they perceived as the corruption of press. Evenimentul Zilei claimed that this is part of a "campaign of disinformation" which intends to "discredit the mainstream media".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Concessions
President Băsescu mentioned the possibility of having a national referendum regarding the Roșia Montană project, but later on he clarified that it's just a possibility, not that he's starting a referendum. On 16 September, President Traian Băsescu asked Prime-Minister Ponta to withdraw the law from the Parliament, arguing that it has clauses that breach the constitution and predicting that, if it passes, it would be rejected by the Constitutional Court of Romania.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Concessions
On 9 September, Prime-Minister Victor Ponta predicted that the Romanian Parliament would reject the law and that the government would try to find other ways to increase jobs for that area. This news led to a fall of 48% of the shares of Gabriel Resources on the Toronto stock exchange and threats from the company to sue the Romanian state for damages of $4 billion if the law does not pass the Parliament.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Concessions
Nevertheless, PM Ponta changed his mind the following weeks, at first arguing that not doing the project "would not be a big loss for Romania" and a week later that it "would be a negative signal to foreign investors" and hence, "a catastrophe for Romania".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Concessions
Crin Antonescu, the leader of the National Liberal Party, announced that his party opposes the project.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Concessions
On 19 November, the Senate rejected the bill on Roșia Montană, in the form submitted by the Government. The Senate adopted with 119 votes "for", three votes "against" and six abstentions, the Report elaborated by the Special Parliamentary Commission on Roșia Montană Project, that proposed the rejection of the bill as passed by the Government. The commission recommended a new draft law for all mining in the area.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
Former Minister of Culture Răzvan Theodorescu claimed that the protests are "a dangerous beginning" and that the counterculture is dangerous for Romania because the protesters oppose all parties, which he argues to be "the representatives of the Romanian people". Former President Ion Iliescu dismissed the protesters as people "don't know a great deal" about the project and that they're acting like "19th century poets horrified by industry".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
Historian Vladimir Tismăneanu applauded the protests, arguing that "civic mobilization can stop government actions that are dangerous for the society" and that "the spirit of 1990 University Square is back".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
On 4 September, Crown Princess Margareta of Romania transmitted, through a communique, the position of the royal family to the Roșia Montană Project. Royal House of Romania, alongside the Romanian Academy, the Catholic and Orthodox churches and the civil society, supports, in every way possible, safeguarding and flowering virtues and values of Roșia Montană, opposing the destruction of nature through gold cyanidation.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
Victoria Stoiciu, an analyst at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, considers that these manifestations are "an unprecedented phenomenon since the 1990s" and they are breaking the "suffocating civic apathy in Romania".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
Adrian Sobaru, Romanian Television employee who in 2010 jumped from the balcony of the Chamber of Deputies in protest against austerity measures promoted by Emil Boc Government, decided, on 10 September, during his child's birthday, to go on hunger strike. He calls for depoliticization of public television, public radio and other important state institutions, solutions for Roșia Montană problem and compliance with all promises made by USL leadership during the electoral campaign. MediaSind Romanian Federation of Journalists solidarized with protests triggered by Adrian Sobaru and will inform the European Federation of Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Parliament and the European Commission about the manner in which Ponta Government will address the issues raised by Adrian Sobaru.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
In a press conference, President of the Senate, Crin Antonescu, said that the Roșia Montană Project can not be sustained, considering also that the contrary public sentiment is more important than technical data. Likewise, the mayor of Cluj-Napoca, also former premier, Emil Boc, said on 4 September, in a press conference, that calls on the Government to withdraw the law on RMP, because is unconstitutional. Boc argues that it offers to a private company public powers that must belong only to the Government or public authorities.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
The same opinion was adopted by President Traian Băsescu, who also expressed his desire to pass responsibility for the project to state agencies. Liberal MEP Renate Weber said that she's ready to represent the Romanian State in a possible trial with Roșia Montană Gold Corporation, arguing that the company is one of the type "hit and run".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
On 24 September, Mihăiță Calimente, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Parliamentary Commission, claimed that ONGs financed by Soros acted like a catalyzer in the protests and that they can be "a danger for national security".


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
Greenpeace Romania announced on its official page that over 13,000 people ask lawmakers not to approve the "disastrous" bill for Roșia Montană.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions
According to Oxford Analytica, the protests have plunged the government into disarray and may bring it down.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Involvement of the Romanian Intelligence Service
The Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, George Maior and the Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Teodor Meleșcanu, were heard, on 30 September, by the parliamentary oversight commission on the subject of Roșia Montană.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Involvement of the Romanian Intelligence Service
George Maior stated that the Roșia Montană Project is a matter of national security, warning that some "eco-anarchist structures" might attempt to hijack the legitimate protest movements on the issue. He stressed that the Service has submitted, during 1999–2013, 500 informative notices on this topic, emphasizing that the institution he leads can not rule on whether the project will be implemented.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Involvement of the Romanian Intelligence Service
On the same day, the Delegate Minister for Infrastructure Projects of National Interest and Foreign Investment, Dan Șova, was heard saying that the operating license for the Roșia Montană mining activities was granted to RMGC at the request of Canadian banks and the stock exchange. Șova also said that the Romanian state would be obliged to give approval to RMGC to start mining operations at Roșia Montană, otherwise the company would appeal to the International Court of Arbitration.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Protests in favor of the mining project
Protests in favor of the mining project took place in Roșia Montană and surrounding localities, but at a lesser scale, their number not surpassing a few hundreds. They were largely orchestrated by RMGC themselves with the support of local administrations. 33 workers had blocked themselves into the Roșia Montană museum shafts 300 metres below ground and threatened to go on hunger strike over fears jobs would be lost if the mining plans did not go ahead. They demanded the presence of Prime Minister Victor Ponta and PNL leader Crin Antonescu. On 15 September, the Prime Minister descended into the underground to discuss with the protesters, resulting in the end of their strike.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Protests in favor of the mining project
Ion Cristoiu, in an op-ed in Evenimentul Zilei, argued that Ponta's descent to the mine was a "disgusting show", reminding of Nicolae Ceaușescu's propaganda and that Victor Ponta was simply an actor in a Roșia Montană Gold Corporation ad.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Protests in favor of the mining project
With the occasion of Miner's Day, 50 mayors in the Apuseni Mountains have sent to governors and lawmakers a call asking them to allow commencement of gold mining project in the village.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Protests in favor of the mining project
On 25 September, independent MP Remus Cernea and two other German environmentalists went to Roșia Montană to dialogue with supporters and opponents of the mining project. The three were aggressed by angry mobs. They were evacuated by police as they would have risked being lynched by residents and supporters of the project. Remus Cernea was trying to take part in discussions between the Parliamentary Commission and the syndicalists in the area.


2013 Romanian protests against the Roșia Montană Project, Reactions, Protests in favor of the mining project
In an interview accorded to Pro TV, a Romanian television program, President Traian Băsescu said that the protest at Roșia Montană, pro-RMGC, is forged. The Head of State also said that he doesn't like "to pretend that we enter into tourist galleries and say that we are the underground miners".


2013 Rome municipal election
Municipal elections were held in Rome on 26–27 May 2013 to elect the Mayor of Rome and 48 members of the City Council.


2013 Rome municipal election
The outgoing Mayor Gianni Alemanno (PdL) stood in the election for a second term. The centre-left coalition candidate, heart surgeon Ignazio Marino (PD), was chosen by a  multi-party primary election on 7 April 2013.


2013 Rome municipal election
Unlike the 2008 municipal election, the number of municipi of the city had been cut down from 19 to 15, the same as the number of the members of the City Council, reduced from 60 to 48.


2013 Rome municipal election, Background
Despite Alemanno had repeatedly stated its intention to hold primary elections to choose the candidate of the centre-right coalition, on 2 September 2012 he announced his intention to run for a second term as Mayor of Rome.


2013 Rome municipal election, Background
On the contrary, the centre-left coalition decided to hold the primary election on 7 April 2013 to decide its mayoral candidate. There were 6 main candidates: five from Democratic Party and one from Left Ecology Freedom.


2013 Rome municipal election, Background
Among the most popular candidates there were Ignazio Marino, heart surgeon and senator, who was candidate in the 2009 Democratic Party leadership election; David Sassoli, journalist and MEP since 2009; and Paolo Gentiloni, former Minister of Communication in the Prodi II Cabinet. On 7 April Marino won the election and became the official candidate of the centre-left coalition.


2013 Rome municipal election, Voting System
The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of the votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.


2013 Rome municipal election, Voting System
For municipi the voting system is the same, not referred to the mayor but to the president of the municipio.


2013 Rome municipal election, Voting System
The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.


2013 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
Reduced from 19 to 15 in March 2013, municipi are governed by a president and a council of four members who are elected by its residents every five years. The municipi frequently cross the boundaries of the traditional, non-administrative divisions of the city.


2013 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
In this election all 15 municipi were won by the center-left coalition, composed by Democratic Party and Left Ecology Freedom.


2013 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the first round:


2013 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the second round:


2013 Ronde van Drenthe World Cup
The 2013 Ronde van Drenthe World Cup was the 7th running of the women's Ronde van Drenthe World Cup, a women's bicycle race in the Netherlands. It was the first World Cup race of the 2013 UCI Women's Road World Cup. It was held on 9 March 2013 over a distance of 132.8 kilometres (82.5 miles), starting and finishing in Hoogeveen.


2013 Ronde van Drenthe World Cup
Marianne Vos rode away from the peloton on the VAM-Berg in the last lap. Later Ellen van Dijk was able to join her in her escape. A few metres before the finish line Vos ourspinted Van Dijk and won the race.


2013 Rosario gas explosion
A gas explosion caused by a large gas leak occurred in a residential area of Rosario, the third-largest city in Argentina, on August 6, 2013. A nearby building collapsed, and others were at high risk of structural failure. Twenty-two people died, and sixty were injured. Several organizations helped secure the area, search for survivors and aid people who lost their homes. Shortly after the explosion, the time needed for reconstruction was estimated at six months.


2013 Rosario gas explosion
The provincial judiciary launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion. Primary suspects were Litoral Gas (the natural-gas provider for Rosario) and an employee who carried out maintenance work at the building that day. Several public figures sent condolences, and most of the candidates for the 2013 primary elections suspended their political campaigns.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Explosion
The explosion occurred at 9:30 a.m. near the intersection of Oroño and Salta Streets in central Rosario. Initial reports confirmed eight people dead, sixty injured and fifteen missing; eight more deaths were later confirmed. Searches the following day revealed twelve fatalities, ten of whom were identified. Of the people who were missing, some were found dead among the debris, while others were rescued. The search for survivors ended on August 13, with twenty-two people confirmed dead. A 65-year-old woman who had been injured died on October 8.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Explosion
The explosion was caused by a gas leak in a 30-year-old building. It severely damaged a nearby nine-story apartment building, causing it to collapse. Mónica Fein, mayor of Rosario, asked residents to avoid the area because of the risk that more buildings might collapse, and to ease the work of disaster management personnel. The streets were covered with broken glass from damaged buildings. Gas and electricity were immediately disconnected, and the national government sent an Argentine Federal Police task force to the scene.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Explosion
The natural gas supplier, Litoral Gas, immediately began sealing the distribution pipe to the area. The Center for Ambulatory Medical Specialties of Rosario (Spanish: Centro de Especialidades Médicas Ambulatorias de Rosario) managed the information about the dead and injured, and tents were prepared for those left homeless. Firefighters and other workers found people trapped on the upper floors of buildings and evacuated them over adjacent roofs. Although the building was not destroyed by the explosion, a high risk of structural failure remained.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
Neighbors reported to the press that they had smelled a gas leak several hours before the explosion and had called Litoral Gas. Company director José María González said that the company had received no such calls, and thought that callers might have dialed the 911 emergency number instead. Prosecutor Camporini reported at the trial that the building had experienced several gas leaks before the explosion.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
The provincial judiciary launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the explosion. The prosecution conducted a search and seizure at the offices of Litoral Gas to confirm the absence of customer complaints about the gas leak. Judge Juan Carlos Curto ordered the arrest of Carlos Osvaldo García, an employee of the department responsible for gas service to the area. He was captured during the night, and his assistant Pablo Miño surrendered to police the following day.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
According to witnesses, one employee fled in a van before the explosion, when he realized the severity of the gas leak, while another remained to try to evacuate people from the endangered area. The van belonged to García, who experienced an acute stress reaction during the trial. Curto checked the remnants of the gas employee's workshop to verify García's testimony.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
Prosecutor Graciela Argüelles said that, according to the investigation, Litoral Gas ignored calls for help from García, who was not properly trained to manage such a situation. The judge suggested that documents seized from Litoral Gas might prove the existence of customer reports of a gas leak. Curto thought that the employees might not bear sole responsibility, and that the liability of Litoral Gas had to be investigated as well.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
Pablo Miño was released from prison, but Curto refused to release García, saying that Miño had extenuating circumstances which García did not. Miño's job was to give García the required tools, not to do the maintenance. He was in the street, watching over the van, which was not properly parked and locked, and did not see García's work before the explosion. Curto stopped short of pronouncing Miño innocent at that early stage.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
As the case expanded beyond his jurisdiction, Curto recused himself from the trial and was replaced by Javier Beltramone, who released García from prison. Litoral Gas demanded Beltramone's recusal for expressing an opinion about the case to the press. The appeal court agreed in a 2–1 vote to remove Beltramone, and the case was transferred to Patricia Bilotta. García had claimed that he was following instructions received in the days before the explosion, so Bilotta summoned the technical officers of Litoral Gas to clarify that point. Litoral Gas said that García had not received any instructions prior to the explosion.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Investigation
Litoral Gas proposed an out-of-court settlement to the relatives of the victims, offering about 1200 US dollars per square meter of collapsed building, in addition to compensation for loss of life. Vice Governor Jorge Henn rejected it as immoral, and most of the families also initially rejected the proposal. By May 2014, however, almost half of the families had accepted the settlement.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reaction
The explosion occurred shortly before the primary 2013 Argentine legislative elections on August 11. The governor of Santa Fe province, Antonio Bonfatti, asked the political parties to end their campaigns to allow mourning for the victims of the explosion. The Front for Victory and Progressive, Civic and Social Front candidates suspended their campaigns, and the national government declared two days of mourning. The period of mourning was observed by all candidates in Buenos Aires and most other provinces, who ended their political campaigns.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reaction
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who had recently returned from a diplomatic visit to the United Nations, visited the site of the explosion on August 7. She was berated by local residents; some were angry because her surprise visit halted work at the site, and others thought her presence was politically motivated. The president stayed briefly, visited the CEMAR and met Bonfatti. Kirchner's entourage was surrounded by members of La Cámpora, who tried to prevent demonstrations against her and keep journalists and residents at bay.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reaction
Weeks before the explosion, several social networking sites had scheduled a country-wide cacerolazo (a pot-banging protest demonstration), known as 8A, against Kirchner for August 8. The websites had already conducted successful cacerolazos (8N and 18A). Despite the national mourning, the 8A protest went ahead as planned, with the added slogan "No more pointless deaths". Candidate Ricardo Gil Lavedra thought the cacerolazo should have been canceled, as the campaigning was, but fellow candidate Rodolfo Terragno supported it. It was attended by fewer people than previous ones in Buenos Aires and the rest of the country. The demonstration in Rosario was not a cacerolazo, but a silent candlelight vigil attended by nearly a hundred people. There was a second demonstration in Rosario on August 22, proceeding from the National Flag Memorial to the headquarters of Litoral Gas.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reaction
Pope Francis sent a letter of condolence to Archbishop José Luis Mollaghan of Rosario, and it was read during a mass and procession for Saint Cajetan at Plaza 25 de Mayo. Newell's Old Boys and Rosario Central, two local soccer teams and rivals in the Rosario derby, organized a charity match for the victims at the Gabino Sosa Stadium, and Rosario-born Lionel Messi provided support through the "Leo Messi" charity. The charity match collected 120,000 pesos. Musicians Fito Páez, Vicentico, Babasónicos, Las Pelotas, Chaqueño Palavecino, Ciro Pertusi, Lisandro Aristimuño, Pablo Dacal and Coki de Bernardis performed concerts in several Argentine cities to raise money for the victims.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reconstruction
Bonfatti announced that Santa Fe province would provide financial help to the victims of the explosion. Since most houses in the vicinity were damaged, affected families would receive a subsidy of $20,000 to rent homes during reconstruction. They would receive $50,000 in credit to buy furniture and appliances, payable in 60 months with five percent interest. Rosario's real estate firms prepared a list of houses for rent without charging victims their regular fee. Some of the affected buildings may have had cheap insurances which would not cover the risk of an explosion. Some cars trapped in an underground parking lot could not be retrieved.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reconstruction
When the search for survivors ended, authorities closed Salta Street. Engineers began checking the buildings at ground zero, trying to restore the original layout of the street and demolishing unstable structures. Secretary of Public Works Omar Saab said that the two remaining buildings were beyond repair and had to be demolished. As a sign of respect, the demolition would not be carried out with explosives. Secretary of Housing Gustavo Leone estimated that the work would take nearly six months. People were allowed to enter their destroyed houses in small groups at a time, starting on August 9. Nearby streets began to be reopened on August 13.


2013 Rosario gas explosion, Reconstruction
The CGT union signed a deal with the association of factories of Rosario and the government of Rosario to make sure that all the victims of the explosions would keep their jobs.


2013 Rose Bowl
The 2013 Rose Bowl, the 99th edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game played on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at the same-named stadium in Pasadena, California. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association is the organizer of the game. The game matched Big Ten Conference Champions Wisconsin Badgers against the Pac-12 Conference Champions Stanford Cardinal, a rematch of the same two teams in the 2000 Rose Bowl. The Cardinal defeated the Badgers 20–14 for the Rose Bowl Championship. This was Wisconsin's third consecutive Rose Bowl defeat.


2013 Rose Bowl
Because of sponsorship by Vizio, the first game in the 2013 edition of the Bowl Championship Series was officially titled the Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO. The contest was televised on ESPN with a radio broadcast on ESPN Radio and XM Satellite Radio, which began at 1:30 PM (PST) with kickoff at 2:10 PM (PST).


2013 Rose Bowl
The Rose Bowl Game, themed "Oh, the Places You'll Go! ", was a contractual sell-out, with 64,500 tickets allocated to the participating teams and conferences. The remaining tickets went to the Tournament of Roses members, sponsors, City of Pasadena residents, and the general public.


2013 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
The game was presided over by the 2013 Rose Queen Vanessa Manjarrez, the Royal Court (Madison Teodo, Sonia Shenoi, Kathryne Benuska, Nicole Nelam, Tracy Cresta, and Victoria McGregor), Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby, and Grand Marshal Jane Goodall.


2013 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
After the teams' arrival in Southern California, the teams participated in the traditional Lawry's Beef Bowl in Beverly Hills and the Disney Media Day at Disneyland in nearby Anaheim. The Rose Bowl Hall of Fame ceremony luncheon was held prior to the game at the Pasadena Convention Center.


2013 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
The bands and cheerleaders from both schools participated in the pre-game Rose Parade on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California along with the floats.


2013 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
A USAF B-2 of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base performed a fly-over at the end of the National Anthem before the game.


2013 Rose Bowl, Teams
Teams playing in the Rose Bowl game are typically the winners of the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences (each of which currently determines this by means of a conference championship game), unless one team (or both teams) plays in the BCS National Championship game. The teams were officially selected by the football committee of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association on Selection Sunday on December 2, 2012. Also former ABC college football announcer Keith Jackson announced the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Class of 2012 inductees John Cooper, Brian Griese and Ron Yary. Both teams held their pre-game practices at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Prior to the game, the two teams had met five times with the Badgers leading the series 4–0–1.


2013 Rose Bowl, Teams, Stanford
Stanford, representing the North Division in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, defeated UCLA, the South Division Champions 27–24 to earn a trip to Pasadena. The Cardinal last played in the 2000 Rose Bowl, also against the Wisconsin Badgers, losing 17–9.


2013 Rose Bowl, Teams, Stanford
The Cardinal led the Pac-12 Conference in scoring defense (17.5 per game), rushing defense (87.7 yards per game), sacks (56), and kickoff coverage. Running back Stepfan Taylor rushed 302 times for 1442 yards with 12 touchdowns, averaging 110.9 yards per game.


2013 Rose Bowl, Teams, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Badgers, representing the Leaders Division in the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game, defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Legends Division Champions 70–31 to earn their third consecutive trip to the game. Wisconsin lost to the TCU Horned Frogs  21–19 in 2011 and to the Oregon Ducks 45–38 in 2012. Head coach Bret Bielema accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas prior to the game. Wisconsin was coached in the Rose Bowl by Bielema's predecessor and current athletic director Barry Alvarez, a member of both the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. He was the coach of the 1999 Wisconsin Badgers football team that defeated Stanford in the 2000 Rose Bowl and, prior to this game, had never lost a Rose Bowl (3–0).


2013 Rose Bowl, Teams, Wisconsin
Running back Montee Ball rushed for 1,730 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season. He had nine 100-yard rushing games including two 200-yard rushing performances this season. His career 76 rushing touchdowns and 82 total touchdowns are both NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision records, and his 25 career games with multiple touchdowns equals the previous FBS record of Travis Prentice (who was also the prior holder of the two records broken by Ball). Ball is the 2012 Doak Walker Award winner.


2013 Rose of Tralee
The 2013 Rose of Tralee was the 54th edition of the annual Irish international festival. The festival ran for a total of 7 days; two additional days were added due to The Gathering Ireland 2013. The festival ran from 14 to 20 August; concluding with the televised event on the final two nights. Many acts performed in Tralee during the festival, including; JLS, Ryan Dolan, The Coronas, Sharon Shannon and The Stunning. Shane Filan made his debut solo performance during the televised selection show on 20 August.


2013 Rose of Tralee
The Texas Rose, Haley O'Sullivan was crowned the winner of the Rose of Tralee for 2013 on 20 August. A memorable highlight from the festival was when the boyfriend of the New Orleans rose proposed to her during the live TV broadcast.


2013 Rosenborg BK season
The 2013 season was Rosenborg's 23rd consecutive year in Tippeligaen, their 46th season in the top flight of Norwegian football and first season with Per Joar Hansen as manager. They participated in the Tippeligaen, finishing second, the Cup and the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, entering at the First qualifying round stage and reaching the Second qualifying round before an aggregate defeat to St Johnstone.


2013 Rosenborg BK season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2013 Rosenborg BK season, On Loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2013 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2013 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2013 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2013 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2013 Rostelecom Cup
The 2013 Rostelecom Cup was the final event of six in the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Luzhniki Small Sports Arena in Moscow on November 22–24. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2013–14 Grand Prix Final.


2013 Rostelecom Cup, Eligibility
Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2013 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.


2013 Rostelecom Cup, Entries
Kevin Reynolds withdrew. He was replaced by Misha Ge. On 13 November 2013, it was announced that Evgeni Plushenko had withdrawn from the event due to injury. He was replaced by Konstantin Menshov. Brian Joubert withdrew and was not replaced.


2013 Rostelecom Cup, Entries
In the ladies' event, Kaetlyn Osmond withdrew and was not replaced.


2013 Rostelecom Cup, Entries
In the pairs' event, Britney Simpson / Matthew Blackmer withdrew and were replaced by Lindsay Davis / Rockne Brubaker.


2013 Royal Bank Cup
The 2013 Royal Bank Cup was the 43rd Junior "A" ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The 2013 Royal Bank Cup marks the 43rd consecutive year a national championship has been awarded to this skill level since the breakaway of Major Junior hockey in 1970.


2013 Royal Bank Cup
The five competitors competing in the Royal Bank Cup included the host Summerside Western Capitals, the winners of the Fred Page Cup (Truro Bearcats), Dudley Hewitt Cup (Minnesota Wilderness), and the top two teams from the Western Canada Cup (Champion Surrey Eagles and runner-up Brooks Bandits).


2013 Royal Bank Cup
The tournament was hosted by the Summerside Western Capitals which saw the round robin begin on May 11, 2013 and the final played on May 19, 2013. Tournament games were played at the Consolidated Credit Union Place in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.


2013 Royal Bank Cup, History
The Royal Bank Cup in 2013 presented three historical moments. The Minnesota Wilderness, in having won the Dudley Hewitt Cup, became the first American club to compete at the Royal Bank Cup. Secondly, the 2013 final, for the first time ever, involved two teams that were not regional champions. The Summerside Western Capitals lost the Fred Page Cup to the Truro Bearcats but hosted the Royal Bank Cup, while the Brooks Bandits lost the Western Canada Cup to the Surrey Eagles and were admitted as runner-up by defeating the Yorkton Terriers due to the page playoff system. Additionally, as Brooks won the cup, they became the first team to win it without being a regional champion or host.


2013 Royal Bank Cup, Tournament, Round Robin, Results
All games played at the Consolidated Credit Union Place, in Summerside, P.E.I   .


2013 Royal Trophy
The 2013 Royal Trophy was the seventh edition of the Royal Trophy, a team golf event contested between teams representing Asia and Europe. It was held from 20–22 December at the Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou, China. Europe won the event by a score of 8½ to 7½. They won five of the last six singles matches and halved the other for the victory.


2013 Rugby Championship
The 2013 Rugby Championship, known as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Investec Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The Castrol Edge Rugby Championship in Australia and The Personal Rugby Championship in Argentina for sponsorship reasons, was the second edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere championship consisting of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. New Zealand as the 2012 holders, was trying to keep their 100% winning record in the championship after winning six from six in 2012.


2013 Rugby Championship
The Championship began on 17 August with Australia hosting New Zealand at the ANZ Stadium and South Africa hosting Argentina at the FNB Stadium. The South Africa vs Argentina match was originally meant to be held at the Free State Stadium, but it was moved to the FNB to form a unique sports programme – Nelson Mandela Sports Day – in honour of Nelson Mandela.


2013 Rugby Championship
The Championship concluded with South Africa hosting New Zealand at the Coca-Cola Park and Argentina hosting Australia at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito. Argentina were the only nation to reuse the same venues from 2012.


2013 Rugby Championship
The Championship was retained by New Zealand after a 38-27 win against South Africa in Ellis Park on 5 October, keeping their 100% winning record in the expanded championship.


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 1
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)Television match official:Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 1
Touch judges:Pascal Gaüzère (France)John Lacey (Ireland)Television match official:Eric Gauzins (France)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 2
Touch judges:Craig Joubert (South Africa)Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)Television match official:Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 2
Touch judges:Pascal Gaüzère (France)John Lacey (Ireland)Television match official:Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 3
Touch judges:Romain Poite (France)James Leckie (Australia)Television match official:George Ayoub (Australia)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 3
Touch judges:Nigel Owens (Wales)Glen Jackson (New Zealand)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 4
Touch judges:Jérôme Garcès (France)Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)Television match official:George Ayoub (Australian)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 4
Touch judges:George Clancy (Ireland)Glen Jackson (New Zealand)Television match official:Vinny Munro (New Zealand)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 5
Touch judges:Nigel Owens (Wales)Pascal Gaüzère (France)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 5
Touch judges:Wayne Barnes (England)Leighton Hodges (Wales)Television match official:Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 6
Touch judges:John Lacey (Ireland)Greg Garner (England)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2013 Rugby Championship, Fixtures, Round 6
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Leighton Hodges (Wales)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2013 Rugby Championship, Warm-up matches
On 3 August and 9 August, Argentina played two uncapped matches against a New South Wales Waratahs Barbarians team in La Plata and in Salta in preparation for the tournament. The NSW Barbarians was composed of 21 Waratahs players (mostly players not involved in the Australian set-up for the championship) and 13 Shute Shield players.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Summary
Note:Ages, Caps and Clubs are off the starting date of the tournament (17 August 2013).


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
Argentina 30-man Squad for the Championship was announced on 25 June.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
Tomás Lavanini was added to the squad to cover the second row.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
Australia 30-man squad for the Championship, including 8 uncapped players and the re-call of Fly Half Quade Cooper.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
With captain James Horwill ruled out of round's 3 and 4 and with Hugh McMeniman also out injured, Sitaleki Timani was brought into the squad as cover for the second row, but kept his place in the squad for the final two rounds. Dave Dennis was added to the squad to replace Jake Schatz who was ruled out of the championship after picking up an injury in training ahead of round 3.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
Benn Robinson and Chris Feauai-Sautia were added to the squad for the away fixtures against South Africa and Argentina, with Nick Cummins and Jesse Mogg withdrawn from the squad due to injury.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
James O'Connor was removed from the squad on 20 September following an off-field incident that occurred following the Wallabies win over Argentina in round 4. Uncapped player Peter Betham was called in as his replacement.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
New Zealand 28-man squad for the Championship was announced on 4 August. Joe Moody was included in the squad as injury cover for Wyatt Crockett – who had a knee injury. Three additional players will assemble with the squad as part of the wider training squad, but will be released to their provincial sides on the Wednesday of each Test match; these players are: Frank Halai, Jeremy Thrush, and Francis Saili. Following an injury to Francis Saili, Centre Ryan Crotty was added to the training squad but will be released to his provincial side along with Halai and Thrush.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
With Dan Carter out for the opening two tests, and with Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett injured after the opening round with a knee and calf injury, Colin Slade and Tom Taylor were called into the squad as cover for the First five-eighths. Luke Whitelock was also drafted in to replace Luke Romano (groin injury) and Brad Shields to cover sidelined Liam Messam (hamstring strain). Rhys Marshall spent time with the squad as an apprentice hooker as did Liam Coltman and Nathan Harris. Matt Todd was called in after round 3 to replace the injured Captain Richie McCaw, who was ruled out of the championship following an injury.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
Following an injury to TJ Perenara, Piri Weepu was called up to the squad for the final two rounds against Argentina and South Africa both away.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
‡ – Included as injury cover for Wyatt Crockett. * – Part of the wider training squad


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
South Africa 30-man squad for the Championship was announced on 3 August 2013.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
On 18 August Lourens Adriaanse was added as a replacement for Trevor Nyakane, who was removed from the squad following repeated breaches of team protocol (he missed the bus and the team's flight to Argentina).


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
Pieter-Steph du Toit was added to the squad for the final two rounds with Australia and New Zealand playing at home.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2013 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
‡ – Included to cover Fourie du Preez when he is unavailable to play for South Africa


2013 Rugby League Asian Cup
The 2013 Rugby League Asian Cup is the second staging of the Rugby League Asian Cup which was contested by Thailand and the Philippines. Japan was originally set to participate in the tournament but later withdrew due to lack of available players. The tournament was also originally set to be held at the Challenger Field in Clark in Angeles, Pampanga but was moved to San Narciso, Zambales after the owner of the original venue, the Philippine Air Force, cancelled the booking of the tournament organizers because the field was needed for military maneuvers.


2013 Rugby League European Bowl
The competition this year there are 3 teams taking part with the Czech Republic being joined by Norway and Ukraine. The winners were Ukraine.


2013 Rugby League World Cup
The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013.


2013 Rugby League World Cup
It was the main event of the year's Festival of World Cups. Fourteen teams contested the tournament: Australia, England, New Zealand, Samoa, Wales, Fiji, France, Papua New Guinea, Ireland, Scotland, Tonga, Cook Islands, Italy and the United States. The latter two were competing in the Rugby League World Cup for the first time.


2013 Rugby League World Cup
New Zealand were the defending champions, having defeated Australia in 2008. Australia won the tournament, beating New Zealand 34–2 in the final to lift the trophy for the tenth time.


2013 Rugby League World Cup
In terms of attendance, exposure and revenue, the 2013 tournament is considered the most successful Rugby League World Cup to date.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Organisation, Background
The Rugby League International Federation confirmed this competition as a part of its international program. The RLIF announced a five-year plan to build up to the 2013 World Cup with Four Nations tournaments held in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The competition was part of the UK's "Golden Decade of Sport". 2013 was chosen as the year of the World Cup to avoid a clash with the London Olympics in 2012. After 2013, the Cup will be held on a quadrennial cycle.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Organisation, Host selection
In addition to the United Kingdom, Australia announced its intention to bid for the hosting rights, despite hosting the previous World Cup in 2008. The Australian Rugby League had been preparing a rival bid due to the success of the 2008 event but the business plan presented by the Rugby Football League for the UK to be the host was accepted by the RLIF at a meeting in July 2009. The event formed part of what was being dubbed a 'Golden Decade' in British Sport.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Organisation, Host selection
The UK last hosted the World Cup in 2000, with the event generally being considered unsuccessful.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Organisation, Host selection
Prince Charles welcomed representatives of all 14 nations and tournament organisers with a reception at Clarence House.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Qualification
There were two qualifying pools for the remaining two World Cup places; a European and an Atlantic pool, with one side from each to qualify.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Qualification
The European Qualifying group involved Italy, Lebanon, Russia and Serbia while the Atlantic Qualifying group involved Jamaica, South Africa and the USA. In the Atlantic Qualifiers the United States and Jamaica defeated South Africa in the opening rounds leaving the final match between the two to determine who qualified for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. United States defeated Jamaica to qualify for their first ever Rugby League World Cup.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Teams
The competition featured fourteen teams, compared to ten in 2008. Originally around twenty teams were to be involved in qualification, but subsequently the total number of teams involved in the tournament was fixed at nineteen. Twelve nations automatically qualified; the ten nations that contested the previous World Cup, Wales as winners of the 2009 European Nations Cup and the Cook Islands as runners up in the 2009 Pacific Cup.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Match officials
Rules and officiating panel: Daniel Anderson, Stuart Cummings and David Waite.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Pre-tournament matches
Before the World Cup it was announced that USA would face France in Toulouse, Scotland would play Papua New Guinea at Featherstone, England would play Italy at Salford, New Zealand would play the Cook Islands in Doncaster and England Knights would play Samoa at Salford.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Venues
The games were played at various venues in England, Wales, Ireland, and France.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Venues
The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was the host stadium for the opening ceremony and a double header featuring hosts England playing Australia and Wales taking on Italy. The decision to play England vs Australia in Cardiff to open the tournament drew criticism from some in the press who believed that the game should have been played in England where a higher attendance could be expected, or at least a full house which would have looked better than the almost half empty Millennium Stadium.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Venues
Headingley in Leeds, the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham and the DW Stadium in Wigan hosted the quarter-finals. Both semi-finals were hosted at Wembley Stadium, with the final held at Old Trafford.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Match schedule
The match schedule was announced on 22 March 2012. The Rugby League International Federation announced the kickoff times of the matches, with the opening kickoff to be held on 26 October in Cardiff, at 14:30 local time. The group stage matches will be played at 14:00, 14:30, 16:00, 16:30, 18:00, and 20:00 local time, with knockout stage matches at 13:00, 15:00, and 20:00 local time. The semi-finals will be played at 13:00 and 15:30 local time and the final, on 30 November 2013 at the Old Trafford stadium, at 14:30 local time.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place at the Millennium Stadium on 26 October. The ceremony saw 550 dancers perform, 500 amateur and 50 professional, including former players Martin Offiah and Gareth Thomas, both of whom are from Strictly Come Dancing contestants. The ceremony also featured live music and a light show. The ceremony preceded the opening matches of England versus Australia, versus Wales and Italy.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Group stage
The draw, undertaken at the launch of the event in Manchester on 30 November 2010, involved four groupsThe first two groups are made up of four teams whilst the other two groups feature three teams each. There will be a quarter-final round made up of the first three teams in the first two groups and the winners of each of the smaller groups. Group play will involve a round robin in the larger groups, and a round robin in the smaller groups with an additional inter-group game for each team so all teams will play three group games.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Knockout stage
Quarter-finals will follow the group stage, with three teams from each of Groups A and B and one team from each of Groups C and D qualifying.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Knockout stage
All times listed below are in Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) for English and Welsh venues.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Attendances
Seven grounds achieved sell-out crowds, with four setting stadium records. Games held in both Wales and Ireland were watched by the biggest crowds ever for rugby league internationals in those countries. The final was played in front of the largest crowd ever to attend an international rugby league fixture.


2013 Rugby League World Cup, Broadcasting
* The BBC and Premier Sports jointly televised seven live matches with the remaining 21 live matches exclusive to Premier Sports. The jointly live matches were England's Group A matches (BBC One), an inter-group match between Wales and Italy and a quarter-final (both on BBC Two), a semi-final and the final (both on BBC One). The jointly televised quarter-final and semi-final involved England.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final
The 2013 Rugby League World Cup final was the conclusive game of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup tournament and was played between New Zealand and Australia on 30 November 2013 at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. Australia won the final by 34 points to 2 in front of a sell-out crowd, finishing the tournament undefeated. They reclaimed the cup from New Zealand, who had defeated them in the 2008 final. The Kangaroos won the Rugby League World Cup for the tenth time, and the first time since 2000. Their five-eighth, Johnathan Thurston was named man-of-the-match.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final
The sellout crowd of 74,468 at Old Trafford set a new international rugby league attendance record, eclipsing the previous record of  73,361 established at the 1992 World Cup Final where Australia defeated Great Britain 10-6 at the old Wembley Stadium.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, New Zealand
New Zealand's road to the final started on 27 October at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, where they played Samoa, who were knocked out in the quarter-final stage. New Zealand stormed the match with 8 tries to earn a 42-24 victory. New Zealand then found themselves playing the co-hosts France at the Parc des Sports in Avignon. In front of a sold out capacity crowd, New Zealand kept the hosts to zero points, while New Zealand scored 8 tries to win 48-0.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, New Zealand
The Kiwis returned to England to play Papua New Guinea, who had failed to win a single match in the run up the New Zealand game. New Zealand continued their Group B dominance and scored 10 tries to earn a 56-10 victory to top the group and advance to the knock out stage.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, New Zealand
New Zealand faced Scotland in the quarter-final, who like New Zealand hadn't lost a single game in the Group stage but did at worst draw 30 all against Italy. New Zealand was victorious in the quarter-final match running in 8 tries to 1 to win 40–4. In a hard-fought semi-final, New Zealand won 20–18 against hosts England. The home side were leading for most of the first half, up 8-0, 25 minutes into the match. A try from Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and 2 goals from Shaun Johnson meant 8 all was the half time score.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, New Zealand
New Zealand looked to start to dominate the match with a second 44th minute try from Tuivasa-Sheck for the Kiwis to lead 12-8. Tries from England's Kallum Watkins and Sam Burgess meant with just 10 minutes to go, England were in front 14-18. A last gasp try on the 80th minute for New Zealand, could at least take the semi-final to over time should Johnson not be able to convert his own try. Unfortunately for the hosts, Johnson bisected the posts to take the Kiwis their third final, and keep them with in the chance to defend their title. In reaching the 2013 World Cup Final, New Zealand had again equalled their record for consecutive victories with five.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Australia
Australia's road to the final started on the opening day of the tournament at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff against hosts England. Australia ran in 5 tries to England's 4 to earn a hard-fought 28-20 victory under the roof in Cardiff. Australia then played Fiji, who had opened their tournament with a 32–14 win over Ireland, at Langtree Park in St. Helens, but lost second rower Luke Lewis with a shoulder injury during the game. Lewis had collided with the advertising boards that were located close to the dead-ball line raising concerns about player safety.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Australia
His injury would keep him out of football until mid-2014. Most of the safety concerns came from the use of soccer stadiums which generally have a shorter pitch length than desirable for a rugby league field (soccer pitches are 105 metres in length while the minimum length for a league field between the dead ball lines is 112 metres) which often led to shorter than regulation fields and left very little room between the dead ball lines and the fence. However, Langtree Park is actually a rugby league ground being the home venue of the famous St Helens club.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Australia
The Kangaroos were victorious in this match, winning 34-2 with 6 tries to nil. Thomond Park in Limerick was the venue for Australia's final match of the group stage against Ireland. Ireland hadn't won any matches in the run up this final match, only scoring 14 points in 2 games which came against Fiji (0 against England). With Australia's 9 tries, including 24 points in 10 minutes, Australia went out victors 50-0. With Australia's 3 from 3 wins in the group stage and the conceding of only 22 points, Australia topped Group A and advanced to the knock out stage.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Australia
In the quarter-final, Australia played surprise packet newcomers United States at The Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. The Hawks had played well to reach the finals, but were not expected to be a match for the tournament favourites. Australia were the victors 62-0 scoring 12 tries, including 4 from Jarryd Hayne playing in the unfamiliar position of centre, and 4 from Man of the Match Brett Morris. Australia played Fiji in the semi-final, a replay of the Group A match that happened on 2 November (28 days earlier). This time, Australia kept Fiji scoreless, running in 11 tries to win 64-0, which including a 22 points in 10 minutes. Australia therefore advanced to the final for the 10th time in a row.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Head to Head
Before the final, Australia and New Zealand had played each other 125 times, with Australia winning 95 times, New Zealand 27 and 3 draws. Of the last 10 encounters, Australia had won 8 of them, New Zealand 1 and a single draw. New Zealand's last win over the Kangaroos was a hard-fought 16-12 win in the 2010 Four Nations Final at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Their previous meeting was in April 2013 for the 2013 ANZAC Test, where Australia won 32-12 at the Canberra Stadium in Australia's capital city. The two teams had previously met each other on 17 occasions in a Rugby League World Cup match, with Australia winning 15 to New Zealand's 2.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Head to Head
Australia and New Zealand had met in three previous World Cup Finals; 1988 at Eden Park in Auckland (won 25-12 by Australia), 2000 at Old Trafford (won 40-12 by Australia), and 2008. The 2008 Rugby League World Cup Final at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium was won 34-20 by New Zealand. It was the first time New Zealand had won the World Cup, and the first time Australia had lost it World Champions crown since Great Britain had won in 1972.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background, Head to Head
In the run up to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Australia had only conceded 22 points, and let though 4 tries, while scoring 238 points and crossing the line 43 times; 20 Group stage, 12 quarter-final and 11 Semi-final. New Zealand, however, had conceded 56 points and let through 11 tries, while scoring 206 points and attacking their opponent with 37 tries; 26 Group stage, 1 quarter-final and 3 semi-final.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details
Although it had hosted 7 international matches since first being used in 1986 (including the 2000 World Cup Final), and was the host venue of the annual Super League Grand Final, prior to the game, concerns were raised by the Australian team management about the safety and suitability of Old Trafford as a rugby league venue, primarily the shorter than regulation in-goal areas (measured at 4.1 metres, shorter than the minimum allowable distance of 6 metres) and the slope around the perimeter of the field.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details
There were some suggestions of moving the game to Wembley Stadium in London, though this was ruled out by tournament organisers citing logistical and financial reasons. Two players, Brett Morris and Manu Vatuvei, fell victim to falling down the slope with Morris actually colliding with the advertising boards at the bottom of the slope after scoring a try while Vatuvei fell awkwardly on concrete, only emphasised the questions raised.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details, 1st half
After Australia kicked off, a New Zealand error in the first set of the game led to an early opportunity and field position for Australia, and the penalty was kicked by Johnathan Thurston to open the scoring to 2–0. The Kiwis suffered an early blow when after just one touch of the ball, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck had a recurrence of an ankle injury that forced him from the field after just 8 minutes with second rower Alex Glenn his replacement, forcing a re-shuffle with Simon Mannering moving to the centres and Dean Whare to the wing.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details, 1st half
Australia weren't without their problems though as soon after Jarryd Hayne went down with an apparent concussion after colliding with the hip of Simon Mannering while tackling the Kiwi captain, though the Kangaroos centre would remain on the field. Further play from the Kiwis brought them into the Australian half of the field, and a holding penalty then given by the Australians was kicked by Shaun Johnson to level the score to 2–2 at the 16 minute mark. Despite Old Trafford having an in-goal area of just 4.1m, Australia were able to force a line drop-out.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details, 1st half
From this, Thurston was able to kick to Billy Slater, setting up the first four-pointer which Thurston also converted to make the score 8–2. A try attempt by Cooper Cronk was controversially  disallowed by the video referee, who ruled Isaac Luke had been able to stop the ball coming into contact with the in-goal grass while also giving New Zealand a penalty against Andrew Fifita for 'driving' Luke.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details, 1st half
Cronk didn't have to wait long to score though, as a few minutes later Darius Boyd got around Whare and raced down the wing before putting in a miss-kicked grubber which Cronk managed to find to go over and score despite a desperate Kevin Locke tackle. Thurston kicked his 3rd goal from 3 attempts to take the score out to 14–2. Thurston's conversion of Cronk's try saw him overtake Michael Cronin as Australia's highest point scorer in test match football. Manu Vatuvei's attacking run for New Zealand saw him pushed over the sideline 5 metres out by 5 desperate Australian defenders, and an offside penalty at the 35 minute mark gave Thurston another kick to bring the score out to 16–2 at halftime.


2013 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match details, 2nd half
Billy Slater opened the scoring on the first set of the second half, thanks to break by captain Cameron Smith who passed outside to Thurston who found Darius Boyd who raced down the sideline and found Slater in support as Kiwi fullback Kevin Locke loomed in defence. This gave Thurston another chance to convert and bring the score to 22–2. A charge-down by Ben Matulino and regather from Sonny Bill Williams led to New Zealand beginning attack at halfway.