The insidethegames.biz Autumn Edition 2020 by Dunsar Media Company Limited

The insidethegames.biz Magazine The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading source of independent news and information about the Olympic Movement.

Autumn Edition 2020

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Contents

Published: September 2020 by Dunsar Media Company Limited Editor: Duncan Mackay Magazine Editor: Dan Palmer Managing Director: Sarah Bowron Design: Elliot Willis Willis Design Associates Pictures: Getty Images Staff headshots: Karen Kodish Print: www.csfprint.com Dunsar Media Company Limited 500 Avebury Boulevard Central Milton Keynes, MK9 2BE. Great Britain +44 1908 540675 contact@insidethegames.biz www.insidethegames.biz No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission of the publisher. Data is published in good faith and is the best information possessed by Dunsar Media Company Limited at the stated date of publication. The publisher cannot accept any liability for errors or omissions, however caused. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions, if any.

Introduction

Duncan Mackay

Running the rule

Mike Rowbottom

“There is no escaping the rule’s racist roots” Brian Lewis

“Rule 50 was never intended to stifle debate” Michael Payne

Making noise Philip Barker

Weighing up CAS

Liam Morgan

Testing on hiatus Michael Pavitt

Grudge match Dan Palmer

Good on you, Sydney Duncan Mackay

Rolling the dice for 2032 Nancy Gillen

Happy Birthday Waldi Duncan Mackay

36 38

Athletes divided

Mike Rowbottom

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STAY

SAFE The Covid-19 outbreak has left the sporting event industry, together with the rest of the world, in lockdown. It is a very challenging time for our industry as a whole and for you as our friends and international partners. We look forward to collaborating with you on the other side. Till then, stay safe!

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he International Olympic Committee would be forgiven for saying it has enough on its plate at the moment. With Tokyo 2020 postponed until next year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, these are frantic times in the corridors of power in Lausanne. Whether the Games go ahead in 2021 still remains uncertain. But there is now another pressing matter in the IOC in-tray, the subject of athlete protests and the controversial Rule 50. Political protests at the Olympics are of course nothing new. The black power salute in Mexico City in 1968 by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos is perhaps the most famous, but others have also made their mark, such as Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská and Korean runner Sohn Kee-chung. The issue is once again in sharp focus after the protests in the United States which followed the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a white police officer. Athletes are beginning to speak out with increasing frequency about the topics which matter to them most, and in some cases have even staged boycotts. Much of the sport we have seen as competition slowly returns following its period of hiatus has featured athletes on bended knees. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”. It is a rule designed to keep politics out of the Games, and to make the Olympics simply about the sport, but never before have these words come under pressure as intense as this.

The situation is a hugely tricky scenario for the IOC with all manner of opinions and no way of keeping everybody happy. Some want Rule 50 scrapped altogether, some are looking for a compromise and others will want to keep it in place. Critics of the rule will say it is simply a matter of free speech, but abolishing it will leave many questions which will be difficult to answer. How do you incorporate protests without it being unfair to other athletes who may not wish to participate, particularly on the podium where a medallist deserves their moment? What if somebody wishes to demonstrate for a cause which is generally considered unacceptable? Could there be a situation where so many athletes are making their point that it overshadows the whole Games? These are all conundrums which the IOC, and its Athletes’ Commission, will have to tackle. You have to wonder what Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, would have made of it. In this magazine, chief feature writer Mike Rowbottom runs the rule over Rule 50, and looks for possible solutions. We also hear from two guest writers who debate the way forward and the possible next steps. For Brian Lewis, the President of both the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees and the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, Rule 50 in its current guise should be removed from the Olympic Charter. He argues that doing so would be “an important sign that the Olympic Movement is committed not just to human rights, but to acknowledging and overcoming the damage of a racist past”. Sports marketing expert Michael Payne, who spent 16 years with the IOC, believes a decision should not be rushed, however. What to do with Rule 50 is “not so obvious, not so simple”, he says, but he is confident the IOC will make the right decision with the “right balance”.

Philip Barker takes us through the history of Olympic protests, from the raising of an Irish flag in 1906 to the demonstrations against Chinese policy during the Beijing 2008 Torch Relay. Other articles include chief senior reporter Liam Morgan’s appraisal of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a body which has dealt with a number of high-profile cases in recent times. With the big hearing involving Russia and the World Anti-Doping Agency due in November, Morgan looks at the inner workings of the Lausanne-based court. Senior reporter Michael Pavitt explores the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on anti-doping, with drug testing dropping off dramatically during the peak period of lockdown. This has led to fears that athletes will have used the downturn to attempt to cheat, while the race is now on to ensure a fair testing system is in place in time for the rearranged Olympics and Paralympics. We also look ahead to a pair of bidding races, with magazine editor and Middle East correspondent Dan Palmer tackling the contest for the 2030 Asian Games between fierce rivals Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Nancy Gillen looks even further ahead to the race for the 2032 Summer Olympics, which may seem a long way off but has already been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. I have also taken the opportunity to look at two notable anniversaries. It is now 20 years since the Sydney 2000 Games, and half-a-century since Waldi the dachshund was announced as the first Olympic mascot for Munich 1972. When safe to do so, insidethegames will resume travelling again to cover all of the sports stories which matter the most. I hope you enjoy the magazine.

Duncan Mackay Editor

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RUNNING THE RULE The Olympic Games has long been a place where political protest is frowned upon but the IOC’s Rule 50 is now under intense pressure. Mike Rowbottom discovers that keeping everyone happy will not be a simple task.

ne of the few welcome benefits of the postponement of Tokyo 2020 has been the extra time it has allowed for further discussion and research over the vexed topic of the Olympic Charter’s Rule 50. This rule, operative during the Games, has multiple functions. It regulates commercial displays on the field of play – effectively policing the “clean venue” policy. It defines what is acceptable in terms of manufacturers’ identifications and other features on sports uniforms and equipment. And, most contentiously, it seeks to

prevent the Games from being used as a platform for protests, demonstrations or the promotion of political, religious or racial propaganda. Under Rule 50 guidelines developed by the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes' Commission in January, competitors who demonstrate at the Games are threatened with disciplinary action. Protests were defined in the guidelines as "displaying any political messaging, including signs or armbands", "gestures of a political nature, like a hand gesture or kneeling" and "refusal to follow the Ceremonies protocol".

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Calls for Rule 50 to be relaxed or abolished have grown in recent months in the wake of global demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in the United States, with protesters uniting around the slogan “Black Lives Matter”. The standard means of respecting this cause over the last four years has been to “take the knee” – kneeling on one leg with your head bowed. The stance was pioneered in this context by American football players who used it to highlight police brutality and racism when The Star-Spangled Banner national anthem was played before games.

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This particular form of protest began in the National Football League after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat and later knelt during the playing of the anthem before his team’s pre-season games in 2016. It has since been widely used within worldwide protest movements, and by sportsmen and women in international events. US fencer Race Imboden took the knee on the podium after earning a bronze medal at last year’s Pan American Games in Lima. His gesture, he made clear, was in protest against racism, lack of gun control, mistreatment of immigrants and President Donald Trump. At the same Games, US hammer gold medallist Gwen Berry raised her fist in protest on the podium. Both athletes avoided censure from Panam Sports – even though the Pan American Games ruling was that there should be “no kind of demonstration”. But they were reprimanded by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, whose chief executive Sarah Hirshland warned future athletes of harsher punishments if such actions were repeated. Hirshland later apologised. At the time my insidethegames colleague Michael Pavitt pointed out the apparent hypocrisy of such rulings when, in a recent speech, the IOC President Thomas Bach had insisted: "We are standing against mistrust, we are standing against selfishness, we are standing against any form of discrimination, we are standing against isolation, we are standing against division, we are standing against fragmentation.” The announcement of the IOC Athletes’ Commission proposals provoked widespread criticism, and the IOC direction of travel has since altered. The Athletes’ Commission is now in the process of a widespread collection of views which will eventually be presented to the IOC Executive Board in December. What appears clear even at this stage of the general consultation process and debate is how complex this issue is. Trying to balance rights of free expression with allowing the Olympic Games to proceed in their uniquely simplified and purified fashion is not a simple task. At one extreme you have those saying that politics should be kept out of sport. They are www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Guyana's Aliann Pompey has been canvassing opinion in the Americas. Photo: Getty Images

answered by those who insist the two have been inextricably linked ever since the Ancient Games. Many of the key issues were aired in a discussion organised by Panam Sports at the end of July as part of their Athletes Connect series – entitled Leaders of the Americas, Look Towards the Future. Among those involved were Olympic cross-country skiing champion Kikkan Randall, a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission representing the US, who has been involved in canvassing opinion among athletes. Also taking part was Aliann Pompey, a four-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold and silver medallist over 400 metres for Guyana, who has been conducting a separate consultation within her region as President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission. The third panel member was Dr. John Carlos, who took part in the now iconic podium demonstration following the 200m medal ceremony at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Carlos, the bronze medallist, and gold medallist Tommie Smith both raised a black-gloved fist to the sky to protest against human rights violations and racism. This demonstration, and the other varieties of support shown by fellow US athletes later in those Games, would not be allowed under Rule 50 as it stands. But then they were not allowed in 1968, either. In June the USOPC Athletes' Advisory Council, working in partnership with Carlos, called on the IOC to scrap the controversial ruling banning political protests at the Games, @insidethegames

adding that athletes "will no longer be silenced". Both the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee were urged to "develop a new policy in direct collaboration with independent, worldwide athlete representatives that protects athletes' freedom of expression at the Olympic and Paralympic Games". The IOC and the IPC, the statement continued, "cannot continue on the path of punishing or removing athletes who speak up for what they believe in, especially when those beliefs exemplify the goals of Olympism". A call was made for collaboration, to create "a new structure that celebrates athletes who speak about issues in alignment with human rights" – a clear reference to the action taken by Carlos and Smith. Recalling that Mexico Olympics protest – something that has been re-lived, denigrated and celebrated ever since – Carlos told the Panam Sports discussion: "All we wanted was an even playing field. "Here we are, 53 years later, and we are still at ground zero. "The question is when are we as a society going to wake up and act like the right people, the way we were intended to act on this earth?" Asked about what he considered the most satisfying development from that protest, he responded: "The fact that it was used as a blueprint. "It made people have an understanding that, if something is wrong, you don’t wait around for someone else to fix it, you get off your fanny and try to resolve the issue. "I think so many people have that vision now, that blueprint.”

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American fencer Race Imboden caused a stir with his podium protest at the Pan American Games. Photo: Getty Images

But that particular blueprint is not something the IOC wants for its Games, which is why it is seeking a form of compromise which will safeguard the traditional purities of the venues while still allowing athletes to express views on topics that fall broadly within the Olympic philosophy. "Rule 50 has come to the forefront as athletes have begun wondering how they can communicate about social injustices and what our rights are, and everyone should have a place in that conversation," Pompey said. "We are getting feedback from all the 41 member nations in the region. "What we found from that conversation was that the athletes formed along an entire spectrum. "There were a few that thought the rule should be outright abolished. Some thought it should be left as it is. "And some thought that the rule was fine but the way that it was interpreted needed to be fixed. "After that discussion we left the athletes to continue to have further discussions within www.facebook.com/insidethegames

their countries and their sports. "Based on that feedback we will try to quantify the viewpoints. It is a very diverse region. But we will then share those findings with the IOC." Randall articulated a similar approach and highlighted the role of Kirsty Coventry, the chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission who sits on the IOC Executive Board. “She is the one bringing this feedback forward not just to President Bach but all the Executive Board members, who are in many cases the ones who make important decisions,” Randall said. “I think it was really encouraging to see that the IOC Executive Board really understood the magnitude of this right away and they empowered us, the Athletes’ Commission, to go out and conduct a true consultation. “So, in really gathering all of these viewpoints and seeing the spectrum, what we’re trying to do is grow the pie a little bit bigger and say, ‘okay, is there a way to still protect celebrating performance on the podium, trying to keep the Olympics a little bit @insidethegames

removed from too much politics?’ “Coming from all sides, can we find ways to amplify the platform of the athletes, in particular because the podium only allows those athletes who actually make the podium to make a stand and we want to grow it so that all athletes can have that spectrum. “The IOC is definitely the leadership. And I think we have seen some really good progress in for example gender equality over the last few years.” Pompey followed up on this topic. “At one point women weren’t allowed in the Olympic Village and now we have a situation where the IOC has commendably instituted policies where not only are women there but they are actively trying to make sure women have as much access as men do,” she said. “There was a tipping point and then there was that big change. I think where we are in the Rule 50 discussion is very close to that tipping point. And going forward one of the things we have talked about with the athletes is ‘what exactly are we looking for when we talk about this change?’

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MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Dr. John Carlos recreates his famous protest from the Mexico City 1968 Olympics. Photo: Getty Images

“Some of the athletes said this really wouldn’t be such a big thing if the IOC was able to somehow address these social issues and have a clear position on their views of them before we got to the Games. “So then there would be no need to protest. We’d know this is where the IOC stands, this is the safe place for the athletes. These burdens are off our shoulders when we get to the Games.” Among the awkward issues that need to be addressed in this discussion is the position of athletes who may not want to join in protests, even if they are broadly sympathetic to the cause, and also the possibility that total freedom of expression within the Olympic arena could see all manner of causes and positions championed. In the course of the Panam Sports discussion, insidethegames asked whether there was a danger of the impact being lost if athlete protests were allowed to proliferate, and whether it might also see demonstrations in favour of causes that provoked widespread disapproval. “It’s hard to say,” Randall responded. “You could imagine a situation where every athlete who comes to the podium has something to talk about, something to demonstrate for, and so then it becomes a duel of who can get the most attention, and then you are completely not talking about www.facebook.com/insidethegames

the athletic achievements of the day, you’re having this battle. “If it’s not prohibited, who knows? What athletes are telling us is we want to avoid that situation by creating better platforms to talk about this stuff. And finding ways for athletes to come together for everybody to stand for these really important issues. “I think it would be more productive to have discussions on those solutions rather than who is going to be the referee on who can do what on the podium. “The interesting thing about Rule 50 is it’s actually a two-part rule. Protests and demonstrations are only one part of it. The other part of it is about keeping commercialisation out of the field of play. If you take away the rule you open up that as well, and then all of a sudden what has the Olympic Games become?” Randall, who also sits on the Board of the USOPC, went on to cite one alternative suggestion being discussed within the IOC Athletes’ Commission. She said: "One of our IOC Athletes’ Commission members has said 'could we do something together at the Opening Ceremony?’ "Could we have a minute of silence, where everybody stands together in unity? "That could be a really powerful statement to the world. "Is it something we can agree upon?" @insidethegames

Pompey responded: “A lot of athletes do have a concern about protecting the podium, whether it’s their right to be on the podium, what they need or to have the freedom to be able to do so. “In that conversation – if someone decides to support something like white supremacy, or a view that goes against the core values of the IOC, the expectation would be that the IOC sanction that, because that should be opposed to their core values. “And it’s on the IOC to find a way to sanction someone whose protest goes against their core values.”

Olympic cross-country skiing champion Kikkan Randall revealed a minute's silence at the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony had been suggested. Photo: Getty Images

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“There is no escaping the rule’s racist roots” Brian Lewis, the President of both the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees and the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, argues that Rule 50 would be better consigned to the past.

he spirit of the law is greater than its letter. Discipline does not mean a loss of individuality. Demanding more discipline than is required is an abuse of power. In New Jersey, there is a 72-year-old double Olympic champion who remains banned for life from the Olympic Games. He did not dope, cheat or speak ill of other Olympians or of the Games. A black man, Vincent Matthews simply stood casually atop the podium as the anthem was played following the 400 metres final at Munich 1972. After Matthews had invited his team-mate Wayne Collett to climb up from the second step and join him, the two of them looked around and spoke instead of standing bolt upright gazing at the Stars and Stripes as the anthem was played. Collett raised a fist as he returned to the dressing room. Avery Brundage, the IOC President of the day and a noted racist, was furious. Lord Burghley of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, now World Athletics, raised a formal complaint. The IOC Executive Board banned the two for life, effective immediately, which deprived both them and other blameless team-mates of the opportunity to compete in the 4x400m relay. Determined to prevent further protests and perceived disrespect on the part of black athletes, the IOC created what is now Rule 50. The language initially proposed by the Executive Board called for such protests to be “firmly suppressed”. There is no escaping the rule’s racist roots. Nearly 50 years later, it is clear that the world has finally moved on when it comes to athletes expressing themselves on issues of

Should Rule 50 be scrapped? YES

social justice. It is deeply regrettable that we have had to wait until the killing of George Floyd and the past weeks for most of that progress to happen. But when Noah Lyles raised a black-gloved fist at the Monaco Diamond League athletics meeting in August, explicitly copying the Mexico 1968 protest of Dr. John Carlos and Tommie Smith, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe will instantly have realised that following in Burghley’s footsteps was simply impossible. Any disciplinary action against Lyles would have brought an instant, furious and rightful response. There has been no action from World Athletics for the simple reason that it is no longer credible to sanction athletes for protesting against social injustice. The IOC has already shown itself to be capable of moving with the times and even leading change in some cases. At Sochi 2014’s Opening Ceremony, President Thomas Bach gave a powerful speech about the need for tolerance and antidiscrimination as he stood atop the podium in the Olympic Stadium. It was a brave choice in the face of Russia’s anti-gay laws. It was the right choice. Bach spoke at a critical moment at the most-seen podium of the Olympic Games, in Russia, to clearly speak out against social injustice in the country and elsewhere. His was a deliberately political act, a defining example of the importance of free speech. Bach’s speech was also a clear and welcome demonstration of the Olympic values being articulated. But, as political propaganda, it was also prohibited under Rule 50, where the only

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people ever to have been sanctioned are two black athletes. What are we worried Olympic athletes might do without Rule 50 attempting to limit their behaviour? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes the right to free speech in Article 19. But that doesn’t allow just anything to be said. Along with Article 19 comes Article 29, which clearly sets out the responsibility not to behave in a way that is contrary to the principles of the United Nations. The individual is then left to do the right thing. On this basis, taking a knee to draw attention to the kind of racial injustice that is against the UN and Olympic principles is permitted. Speaking out in a way that supports discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, for example, is not. Removing Rule 50 would be an important sign that the Olympic Movement is committed not just to human rights, but to acknowledging and overcoming the damage of a racist past. By all means, remind participants at the Olympic Games that they have a responsibility to uphold the Olympic values. But do not start out by saying that everyone from the President of the IOC to the lowest volunteer should be deprived of the right to free speech. Better still, make the scrapping of Rule 50 part of a wider dialogue around undoing acts of institutional racism in sport. Meanwhile, there is a pressing need for justice. It is too late to make amends to Wayne Collett. He died in 2010. His lifetime ban from the Olympic Games was exactly that. It is not too late to do the right thing for Vincent Matthews, by rescinding an unjust sanction and apologising for its imposition.

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“Rule 50 was never intended to stifle debate” Sports marketing expert Michael Payne, who spent 16 years at the International Olympic Committee, believes the future of Rule 50 is not a decision to be rushed.

n recent months there have been multiple calls for the International Olympic Committee to abolish Rule 50. Black Lives Matter and other social movements have seen sport at the forefront of these protests, forcing the debate into the mainstream consciousness. The IOC has been painted as “out of touch” and “deaf” to the growing debate on the various social issues of the day. The IOC has always stated that the Olympic Games stands opposed to “any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise”. For decades the IOC led the sports movement’s opposition towards apartheid. South Africa was banned in 1960, before any other international organisation or Government moved on the issue. In 1992, the country was brought back. More recently the IOC, through quiet backchannel diplomacy, has engaged with the leaders of Saudi Arabia to break down the last walls of female participation in sport. Two women finally joined the Saudi team for London 2012. One of the most iconic political images of the Olympic Games remains the “notorious” or “celebrated” – depending on your point of view – black power salute in 1968 in Mexico, by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos. With those Olympics broadcast for the first time on American prime-time television, the sight of the protest from two black athletes sent a very powerful message around the world. American IOC President Avery Brundage was not known for his liberal views and demanded the athletes’ expulsion. More than half-a-century on, much has changed and clearly every organisation www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Should Rule 50 be scrapped? YES

needs to evolve. So, what is the problem? Surely it is obvious, a no-brainer, to drop Rule 50 and allow each athlete to express their views openly, when and where they want? Unfortunately, it is not so obvious, nor so simple, and certainly not a decision to be rushed. IOC President Thomas Bach has rightly turned to his Athletes’ Commission to seek their thoughts, and they have spoken to the national Athletes’ Commissions around the world. What initially looked straightforward has started to seem more complicated. The magic of the Olympics is their ability to pull humanity together, with different languages, traditions, religions and political views all promoting harmony amid diversity. It is exactly that diversity which now presents a conundrum. The Olympics are not a national event, targeted at one given culture or nationality. It is a global event for all cultures. And what might be acceptable in one region may be interpreted differently in another. It is unlikely that anybody, except for a few extreme right-wing racist groups, would be opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement. And there is increasing awareness and acceptance of LGBT rights. But let us pause for a moment and think this through. Tokyo 2020 will see more than 300 medal ceremonies, probably involving up to 1,500 athletes from more than 80 countries. If each athlete is allowed to make their own special statement, that is an awful lot of special statements. It is not too far-fetched to envisage a ceremony with a Cuban, an American and a Russian or Chinese athlete. And what might be seen as an acceptable view in Cuba might @insidethegames

not go down well in the US, and be totally lost in translation in China. The focus would suddenly turn from celebrating the sporting moment, and the athletes who have devoted their life to this moment, to another cause. And this is potentially repeated with every medal ceremony, in some cases perhaps where a Government has “required” an athlete to “make a statement”. We have seen this when Iran draws Israel in a judo or wrestling bout – the Iranian suddenly develops a mysterious illness and cannot compete. Back home, the athlete is celebrated and awarded a symbolic gold medal for making the political statement for the country. As you begin to study the matter more closely, you open up a Pandora’s box of issues. Rule 50 was never intended to stifle debate on any topic. The IOC has often been at the forefront of many of these debates and athletes are not forbidden from speaking out. Each country may issue different guidelines, but from the IOC’s perspective they are free to express views at press conferences, mixed zone interviews and on social media. So, what to do? What are the Athletes’ Commissions likely to recommend? How do you find the right balance between freedom of speech and respect? The IOC and the Olympics have survived for 125 years by not rushing their decisions. It views each decision through a global and not a nationalistic lens, and in the end eventually gets to the right decision. I have no doubt that the IOC will make the right decision, finding the right balance for all Olympians to express their views, at the right place and the right time.

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Some of the most famous moments in Olympic history involve athletes protesting. Philip Barker looks at the men and women who through their actions have been heard around the world.

o Olympic regulation has received quite as much scrutiny in recent months as Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter. The regulation states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Officials insist athletes remain at liberty to express their opinions at media conferences and outside the Olympic “bubble” but the law which restricts protest in Games areas has triggered a fierce debate about free speech. The “black power” podium salute made 52 years ago in Mexico City by American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos resonates to this day, partly because of where it was made. It remains the most famous protest in Olympic history. The early years of the Olympics were before television and mass media. Irish Home Rule was a burning political question when tennis player John Pius Boland won Olympic gold at the 1896 Games in Athens, as he was listed in the records as

Tommie Smith and John Carlos famously raised black-gloved fists in Mexico City. Photo: Getty Images

English. He did not protest, but later became a Member of Parliament in the nationalist cause. There was an Irish protest at the 1906 Olympic Games staged in Athens to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their foundation. When triple jumper Peter O’Connor won, team-mates distracted officials while an Irish flag was raised. Two years later, at the opening of the 1908 London Olympics, Finnish athletes made their political point. Finland was still part of the Russian Empire, but their contingent deliberately walked a distance behind the Russians and without a flag. Many still regard the 1936 Berlin Games as the most politically charged of all. Some demanded a boycott in protest at Jewish persecution. At both the Opening Ceremony and medal ceremonies, the Italian team gave the fascist greeting and the Germans gave Nazi salutes. No action was taken. There was a subtle and silent podium protest at the medal ceremony for the marathon, however.

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Gold medallist Sohn Kee-chung was a proud Korean but his country was occupied by Japan. Official Berlin records list his name in its Japanese form as Son Kitei. Sohn and fellow Korean Nam Sung-yong, the bronze medallist, both looked down during the anthems. “I ran without a country,” Sohn later said. The International Olympic Committee still lists both as Japanese medallists. Their protest found echoes 32 years later in Mexico City. The Prague Spring of 1968 had just been crushed by tanks sent on the orders of Moscow. At the Olympics, Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská won joint gold on the floor alongside Larisa Petrik of the USSR. When the Soviet anthem was played, Čáslavská cast her eyes down. This was noticed by the authorities in Prague where she was ostracised and not even permitted to coach young gymnasts. Rehabilitation only came many years down the line. Even later, in 1995, Čáslavská became an IOC member. More than a decade earlier, crowds reacted angrily during the water polo match between

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Chinese nationalists who fled to Taiwan protest in Rome after being forced to use the name "Formosa". Photo: Getty Images

the Soviet Union and Hungary at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. This was shortly after the suppression of the Hungarian uprising. “Bedlam broke loose as Hungarians in the crowd leapt onto the concourse and shouted abuse at the Russians,” said reports. The contest became known as the “Blood in the Water” match. Elsewhere, at the fencing, announcers pleaded with spectators to “show some sportsmanship and be more impartial”. In the 1950s, political unrest made the Olympic Movement uneasy. After the Chinese Civil War, nationalists relocated to Taiwan but their Olympic Committee claimed to also represent the mainland, now controlled by the communists. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, they were ordered to use the name “Formosa”. Chef de Mission Lin Hung-tan held a placard which read “UNDER PROTEST”. No protest before or since has quite made the impact of that salute by Smith and Carlos in 1968, however. They wore black socks and berets and raised a gloved hand skywards. “We had to be seen because we couldn't be heard," Carlos told the Smithsonian Magazine many years later. Expulsion and a ban followed but the incident was shown in the official film which infuriated IOC President Avery Brundage. He wrote to Mexico City 1968 chief Pedro Ramírez Vázquez complaining about “the use of pictures of the nasty demonstration against the United States flag by negroes in the official film”. Brundage went on: “It had nothing to do with sport, it was a shameful abuse of hospitality.” www.facebook.com/insidethegames

In 1972, US runners Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett did not face the flag but chatted casually during the anthems at the 400 metres ceremony. An IOC statement branded this as “insulting behaviour”. It was announced that the pair were “eliminated from taking part in any future Olympic competitions”. The IOC threatened that “if such behaviour were repeated the medals would be withheld from the athletes in question”. The American custom of never dipping their flag is said to have originated in 1908, but at the 1980 Moscow Games, the Stars and Stripes became the instrument for a political protest by the White House, even though no US athletes were present. Olympic protocol called for it to be raised at the Closing Ceremony to recognise the 1984 host city of Los Angeles, but Presidential counsel Lloyd Cutler sent a note to the IOC forbidding its use. After much conferring, IOC director Monique Berlioux spotted a variation between the French and English versions of the Olympic Charter which permitted the use of the host city’s flag instead. At the Closing Ceremony, the red, gold and green flag of Los Angeles was flown but this was not mentioned in the official report of the boycotted Games. During the Moscow Games, a number of nations chose to use the Olympic anthem and flag at ceremonies after a change in regulations. This was "designed to eliminate pressures and all types of exploitation and give to the Olympic Movement a new impetus", but the Soviets interpreted it as a political gesture amid Cold War tensions. @insidethegames

Their television cameras did not show the Olympic flags. Demonstrations against Chinese policy seemed likely at Beijing 2008, after a protest at the Flame lighting in Ancient Olympia and further disruption in Paris, London, San Francisco and Canberra. IOC President Jacques Rogge described this as a “crisis” and warned athletes not to make protests on the podium or in the Village. The subject is now back in sharp focus but it was an “unexpected intermezzo” at the 1952 Opening Ceremony in Helsinki which forced the IOC to address the problem explicitly. Barbara Rotraut Pleyer, a German activist known as the “Peace Angel”, breached the cordon and attempted to make a speech on the central podium. She was hustled away by security before she could complete her message. In Mexico the following year, the IOC agreed that, in future, “no political demonstrations will be allowed during the Games either in the stadium or on the sports grounds”. On the other hand, it was ruled that demonstrations taking place in the town would be outside the scope of its jurisdiction. The journey to Rule 50 had begun.

Ugly scenes marred the Beijing 2008 Torch Relay. Photo: Getty Images

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S A C P U G N I H WEIG High-profile sports disputes which attract the world’s attention often end up in the chambers at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but how does the CAS actually work? Liam Morgan finds out.

fter what feels like an eternity, Russia has been given its date in court in its protracted dispute with the World Anti-Doping Agency. The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed in June that hearings in a case which could have far-reaching consequences for sport are set to take place from November 2 to 5, a couple of weeks before banned athletics coach Alberto Salazar’s appeal is due to be heard. While the Russian case is unquestionably one of the highest-profile of the year for the CAS – joining the recently-concluded Manchester City versus UEFA financial ding-dong on the main event billing – it is one of hundreds the CAS expects to have dealt with by the end of 2020. CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb estimates between 600 and 700 cases arrive at the desk of sport’s highest court each year – an average of nearly two per day. The number is likely to be lower in 2020 because of the

coronavirus pandemic, and not all will require the attention and resources of the cases involving Russia, Manchester City and Sun Yang, for example. But it nonetheless represents a considerable workload for a relatively small institution, albeit one which has a 400-strong list of arbitrators. That volume is the product of the Lausanne-based body's status as sport’s supreme court. Practically any athlete, federation or sports organisation can take their grievance to the CAS, providing their rules and regulations allow for it. Such is the extent of disputes which reach the CAS that the phrase “going to CAS” has become permanently engrained in the lexicon of the Olympic Movement and its meaning is almost universally understood by those of us who inhabit it. The inner workings of the CAS system and how it functions are less well known, however.

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The CAS, established under the direction of the International Olympic Committee in 1984, has three main divisions – ordinary, appeals and anti-doping – with the latter being the newest member of the CAS family. Cases at the ordinary division mainly deal with issues such as contract disputes, so much of the focus of the public, media and the general Olympic world centres on the latter two.

Between 600 and 700 cases arrive on the desk at CAS each year. Photo: Getty Images

According to Reeb, of the 600-odd procedures at CAS each year, roughly 420 would be appeals related and the other 180 would be handled by the ordinary division. If an athlete wishes to contest a doping ban, for example, that would be dealt with by the appeals body. The anti-doping division, set-up to handle such cases on behalf of International Federations, is the first instance of the process, and therefore makes the first decision, like the length of the ban or acquitting an athlete of wrongdoing. Once the athlete or federation decides to go to CAS, a statement of appeal is prepared and they then have a second deadline to file the appeal brief, considered the main written submission. The party which they are challenging have 21 days to file an answer, and if no second phase of written submission is required, the panel – which could include one or three arbitrators – is convened. Arbitrators apply to be on the CAS list, which is refreshed and reviewed every four years by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport Membership Commission. Providing they have full legal training, experience in arbitration and an interest in sports law, they are likely to be accepted. For the appeals division, each party selects one arbitrator from the CAS list, and the www.facebook.com/insidethegames

President of the division chooses the chair, unless those involved have a preference on who takes on the role. The process is similar for the ordinary division, except the parties, rather than the President, choose the head of the panel. If they cannot agree, the division President makes the call. Reeb said panels are typically established between three and four weeks after the claim is submitted. The reasons why cases might be decided by one or three-person panels is largely financial, according to Reeb. It is cheaper to have only one, but three allows for a broader legal perspective. Proceedings are free for what Reeb defines as "international disciplinary matters", such as the case involving Sun, while parties contribute to the costs of the CAS in others, mainly financial disputes like Manchester City’s showdown with UEFA, which culminated in a considerable victory for the English Premier League club after the CAS overturned their two-year European ban. Dates are then sourced for hearings, which Reeb conceded was one of the most frequent stumbling blocks and often why cases hit delays. Hearings can be held in public if either the athlete demands one or if all parties agree. The CAS aims for the "award" – the decision – to be made three months from when the panel receives the file, a target the secretary general claimed is met in around 40 per cent of cases. The Swiss official is all too aware of

Manchester City won a major victory against UEFA after going to CAS. Photo: Getty Images

criticism of the time it takes for CAS to render a verdict, but insists it is not always under the court’s control. “It is our role to push the process along,” Reeb told insidethegames earlier this year. CAS decisions can be appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which only rules based on grounds such as a violation of the right to be heard, lack of jurisdiction or “public principle of law”, including whether a sanction was proportionate, and not on the application of the law itself. Sun, banned for eight years by the CAS after one of his entourage smashed his blood vial with a hammer in a row with drug testers in September 2018, has done just that as his lawyers filed two appeals – one seeking to overturn the suspension and another aimed at having the sanction reduced from eight years – in July. The chances of success, however, are slim, not only for the controversial Chinese swimmer but for the vast majority of those who appeal a CAS decision to the higher body. Only 10 of 220 appeals of CAS awards to the Tribunal have been upheld, including one case –

Matthieu Reeb believes the length of time before a verdict is not always in the court's control. Photo: Getty Images

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that of Brazilian footballer Matuzalem – which saw the CAS and FIFA criticised by Switzerland’s highest court for a “serious and manifest” attack on his rights following a contract dispute. Reeb insisted the CAS has learned from its losses at the Tribunal, however rare they may be, and said the oversight was important for the integrity of the process. “I think it is a very good system because there is a control by a higher authority, so we cannot do anything stupid and we need to apply the regulations of CAS and the law,” he said. “It is quite a general control, it does not go too deep into the case. The big brother is still watching us and can say ‘no, in this situation there is no fair trial’, and the case could be returned to us, where we might have to hear another witness or address the missing elements. “On the right to be heard issue, the Tribunal might come back to CAS and ask us to complete the job. “They will say ‘here is the case back, please complete the work and then we will see.’” Reeb, unsurprisingly, did not give Sun much hope in his desperate attempt to clear his name. “I understand he has nothing to lose if he goes to the Tribunal but the only element could be the sanction itself, and that the sanction is fixed by the WADA Code,” he said. “This could be an argument raised by Sun, that the sanction is disproportionate as it is almost the end of his career. “If the appeal is successful, the entire WADA Code would have to be reviewed because it is not only about Sun Yang, it is about the sanction itself.” As well as denunciation for being allpowerful and rarely answering to anyone but itself, the CAS has also faced criticism over its perceived lack of independence.

Brazilian footballer Matuzalem successfully appealed a CAS decision at the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Photo: Getty Images

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Chinese swimmer Sun Yang was handed an eight-year ban after a public CAS hearing. Photo: Getty Images

Concerns over the influence of the IOC in the CAS – which gets around two-thirds of its income from the Olympic Movement – have been prominent ever since it was formed 36 years ago. The ICAS, the governing body for the CAS which appoints the President of the three divisions, is headed by IOC vice-president John Coates, while several members of the ICAS’ ruling Council are still actively involved with Federations and sports bodies. Reeb stressed the ICAS and Coates are “responsible for the management and funding of the court, and do not play any role in the procedures themselves”. The Australian “is not involved in any CAS procedures…and is not connected to the day-to-day business” of the CAS, Reeb added. The CAS secretary general claimed the role of Coates, a close ally of IOC President Thomas Bach, was more managerial and his position “gives some confidence to the contributors that there is someone who knows the Olympic Movement in the role”. Eyebrows will be raised at that explanation, but Reeb insisted doubting the independence of the CAS was unfair. “I understand the public and the media asking the question but for us, this is no longer an issue,” Reeb said. “It was a question which was fair to ask in the 80s and the 90s, when the IOC played an important role in the activities of CAS – they @insidethegames

could amend the rules, they could select arbitrators on the general list – but step-bystep the CAS has gained its independence practically and structurally. “We had the test before the Swiss Federal Tribunal, we passed it, we had the test before the German court [with the Claudia Pechstein case] and we passed it, and we also passed the test before the European Court of Human Rights. “You could see a connection between the IOC and CAS but the system works well.” There are examples to support Reeb’s argument, and the IOC and the CAS have not always seen eye-to-eye. The decision by the CAS to overturn sanctions against 28 Russian athletes for their involvement in the state-sponsored doping scheme at Sochi 2014, just over a week before the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, was met with fierce castigation from the IOC and its President. Bach, you might recall, criticised the verdict and the entire process, while calling for “urgent reforms” to the CAS and its structure in a lengthy diatribe against the organisation. The CAS once again has the fate of Russia in its hands as it prepares to preside over yet another complex doping case. It will not just be the IOC which demands change should Russia enjoy another win at sport’s highest court.

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TESTING ON HIATUS The amount of drug testing around the world dramatically reduced during the height of the coronavirus lockdown. Michael Pavitt explores how anti-doping organisations have coped in this unprecedented period, amid fears that cheats will look to exploit the downturn.

s the first nation to be hit by the coronavirus outbreak, China gave a hint as to what was to come in the anti-doping world when the country’s National Anti-Doping Agency revealed in February that its testing programme had been temporarily suspended. As the crisis spread, UK Anti-Doping and the United States Anti-Doping Agency confirmed that their testing programmes would also be reduced, with priority placed on athletes seeking to compete at Tokyo 2020. Similar declarations followed in other nations including Canada, Spain and Russia, with several of the organisations turning their attentions to providing athletes with medical advice rather than conducting tests on them. The International Testing Agency confirmed its out-of-competition sample collection dropped by an average of 63.2 per cent between March and June, and added that

in-competition testing fell by up to 100 per cent in many sports in the same period, as events were cancelled or postponed. COVID-19’s impact on testing can be highlighted by statistics. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s global testing figures show the number of tests conducted has more than halved in 2020, with 78,187 carried out between January and July in comparison to 165,106 in the same period during 2019. Unsurprisingly, the peak lockdown period of April and May saw the biggest drop with 576 and 2,620 tests, respectively, recorded in the two months, compared to 25,219 and 27,146 in 2019. June and July have seen the figures begin to rebound as restrictions ease in countries across the world. Throughout the crisis, WADA and its President Witold Bańka have stressed that testing can continue “where appropriate, where possible”, with guidance updated regularly to ensure it can be conducted safely. “As with most other aspects of life, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the reduction or suspension of testing programmes all over the world,” WADA told insidethegames. “Sports rightly have taken a back seat to the priority of public health. This is reflected in the global testing figures, particularly for the months of April and May. It is encouraging that we are already seeing the numbers strengthening once again and anti-doping organisations are to be commended for this urgency.

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“WADA is ensuring that testing is returning to full power as quickly and safely as possible, as ADOs continue to follow the relevant health authorities’ advice.” The easing of restrictions in several nations and the slow return of competitions has coincided with the rise in the number of tests. WADA has vowed to work with anti-doping organisations which continue to face strong lockdown restrictions and are less likely to be able to carry out as many tests, with adjustments expected to be made to programmes should there be an absence or diminished level of testing. With doping cheats often said to be one step ahead of testers at the best of times, concerns have been raised that the fall in testing could serve as a green light for athletes to take performance enhancing drugs. This view has been disputed by WADA, with the global watchdog stressing that most athletes want to compete clean and would not consider cheating even if they thought they would get away with it. A similar point was made by Jorge Leyva earlier this year, with the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations chief executive highlighting that previous rule violations suggest a constant prevalence of doping in sport of around two per cent. WADA also said that athletes typically taking performance-enhancing drugs do so in conjunction with the right training and timing prior to competitions. Neither have been available due to a lack of access to proper facilities and the collapse of the global sporting calendar.

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While the floodgates might not have opened, WADA said there will always be athletes who try to cheat. Athletics Integrity Unit Board chair David Howman believes those inclined to cheat will have sought to exploit the reduction in testing. “If you look at the people who cheat, they are going to take every opportunity to cheat better when they can,” Howman said. “This is an opportunity for them to do that. I would certainly suggest there would be cheating going on in the doping world for sure at the moment. “One would be stupid, naive, or both, to say otherwise. “You have got to be aware that is happening. When you run a programme, you need to think about taking steps to find the people who would be doing it. It does require a lot more gathering of information, artificial information that is going to be helpful in that regard.” WADA has stressed that testing is not the only weapon the anti-doping movement has to combat cheating, pointing to the long-term storage and re-analysis of samples, as well as ongoing intelligence and investigations. The athlete biological passport is expected to be crucial over the coming months to help identify and target athletes for specific testing based on their data, as well as potentially pursuing rule violations based on atypical findings. “The passport can be really helpful with the profiling and if there is a gap of a number of months before you can collect more blood samples to add to it, that can be a help as you can look at the profile prior to COVID-19 and you can look at the profile as it has developed post COVID-19,” Howman said. “If there are suspicious changes, you might be in a position of saying doping has occurred. “The profiling is a helpful weapon, so long as you can start testing as soon as possible. “You have got the historical background, so if there are remarkable changes one can

The World Anti-Doping Agency stressed that testing should continue "where appropriate and where possible". Photo: Getty Images

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Athletics Integrity Unit Board chairman David Howman believes some athletes will have tried to exploit the reduced amount of testing. Photo: Getty Images

pretty soon leap to a concern that there is suspicious activity going on and this could aid you going forward. “You might not be able to use what you have done in the past in the profile, but it certainly is evidence you can use in another way.” A side effect of the reduction in testing is that budgets can be used to support other areas of anti-doping operations. The AIU, for instance, spent $8.7 million last year, with $3.4 million dedicated to testing and compliance. Howman explained that the AIU Board has repeatedly altered its budget this year, with meetings held every four to five weeks to adjust to the changing situation. The former WADA director general said the organisation took the opportunity to advance legal issues, including pending cases involving Russia, as well as ensuring their investigative and intelligence department is properly resourced. The pandemic has also prompted some anti-doping organisations to think outside the box. USADA made headlines in April when it began trialling virtual testing of athletes using video conference software. A total of 15 American athletes, including sprinter Noah Lyles and five-time Olympic swimming gold medallist Katie Ledecky, volunteered to be part of the in-home testing programme. USADA’s virtual testing was conducted using Zoom or FaceTime, with doping control @insidethegames

officers observing athletes while they provided their sample. Athletes were required to video the full blood collection process, but did not have to do so for urine collection to protect their privacy. The athletes were instead required to show officers the inside of their bathroom, through their phone or laptop, before giving a urine sample while their device was placed outside. The inclusion of a temperature monitor in the at-home kits was aimed at ensuring officials could detect a “body temperature urination", reducing the risk of tampering. Samples were then sealed by the athlete and sent directly to a WADA-accredited laboratory for analysis. “I applaud that, I think that anything that is taking advantage of what we are going through and looking at changing it has to be congratulated,” said Howman. “Whether it is successful or not is another matter.” Howman has expressed hope that the pandemic could provide anti-doping organisations with a chance to reset, allowing them to attempt new ideas and assess different ways of operating. “We do not try enough in the anti-doping world to do things that are different, we are still relying on collecting urine in the same way we were in the 1970s,” the New Zealander said. “Why can’t we use the science out there to do it differently? I am imploring people to do things differently and we do need to look at ways to cut down on cheating.

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Five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky was part of the United States Anti-Doping Agency's home testing trial. Photo: Getty Images

“The real difficulty is the present, no-one can predict what is going to happen and no-one can predict how you can work in a fashion that we used to call normal. “Everyone said when this pandemic hit, this was an opportunity for a reset. I look around and I don’t see too many reset buttons being hit. “Many people are looking back and saying, 'we will just wait until the good old days and we will go back to normal'. “I hold a contrary view to that and our Board does, we are looking at all kinds of things that might change and different ways of operating, at least in the foreseeable future.” The postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has also had consequences for clean sport, both positive and negative. Just as the postponement will have come as a blessing for some athletes who would have missed the Games through injury, the same goes for those serving doping bans which are set to expire. With the bans focused on the length of time, rather than events, some sanctioned athletes will benefit from an unexpected reprieve. This will impact some sports more than others with qualification at different stages, but it remains possible that an athlete initially banned from Tokyo 2020 will be standing on the podium at the Games in 2021. Alternatively, an athlete given a four-year ban prior to the Games would stand to miss both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Postponing the Games was supported by Travis Tygart, with the USADA chief executive claiming there would have been www.facebook.com/insidethegames

"serious holes" in global testing had Tokyo 2020 gone ahead due to the shortage of testing in the home straight. Although testing capacity has yet to fully recover, the ITA has vowed to ensure delivery of a “robust and consistent” pre-Games testing programme. It announced last year plans to collect 6,000 samples before and during the Olympics, with its pre-Games expert group responsible for reviewing available anti-doping information on athletes who are likely to compete. The group is tasked with analysing gaps and sharing testing recommendations with other anti-doping organisations. The ITA has said its Tokyo 2020 testing and pre-Games activities remain the same as before the coronavirus crisis, with risk assessment and worldwide testing recommendations set to be adapted, acknowledging the new time period and reduced testing numbers. “Our risk assessment and the ITA pre-Games expert group recommendations aim at tackling any kind of testing gaps ahead of or during the Games,” the ITA said. “Our activities aim at

The International Testing Agency has promised a robust system leading-up to the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games. Photo: Getty Images

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ensuring that athletes who participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been subject to proper testing ahead of the Games. “Should we consider that pre-Games testing has been insufficient on any participating athletes, the ITA will take that into account as part of its pre-Games and Games-time testing strategy. “At this point in time, and without any major worldwide reverse trend, we are confident of delivering our anti-doping programme for Tokyo 2020 as planned. ITA’s objective remains to help deliver a clean and credible Games, to protect clean athletes’ accomplishments and doping-free records.” A robust anti-doping programme should undoubtedly be welcomed by athletes prior to the Games, particularly those who produce outstanding performances. With lockdown periods forcing athletes’ training to be adjusted and testing at low levels, it is only natural that eyebrows could be raised if world records and personal bests are shattered in Japan. “If you have got a cynical or suspicious mind, you are going to say ‘of course that is what it is,’” Howman said. “You have got to look at what testing went on around that event, the individuals, has there been follow up, is there profiling being conducted? “All those questions you would ask as a reporter, I think those would also be being asked by testers. “I would suggest all those people who have succeeded in doing a really good time or breaking a record would be under a strong programme to ensure it was a true and fair one.”

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Fierce rivals Qatar and Saudi Arabia will go head-to-head for the right to host the 2030 Asian Games and the wealthy neighbours will likely be in major bidding races for years to come. Dan Palmer reports.

idding races for major Games no longer capture the public’s attention like they once did. In days gone by, at least a handful of the world’s most famous cities would place themselves on the start line for the right to host the Summer Olympics. With perilous financial situations becoming the norm and increasing levels of public scepticism, those days seem to be gone. Politicians, probably with one eye on angry rhetoric on social media, are reluctant to throw their hats into the ring and the global pandemic will have done nothing to change this stance. During the race for the 2024 Olympics, the contenders dropped one-by-one like flies in a blizzard of referendums and political opposition, until just two remained. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach handed Paris the Games on a plate, with Los Angeles given the rights to 2028 to solve what may have become a future problem. It was a far cry from the interesting battles for Games eventually won by the likes of

Barcelona and London, but with the IOC also overseeing a pair of low-profile races for the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics, this is a situation sport may have to get used to. With this in mind, it was exciting to receive confirmation of a bidding race which does come coupled with more than its fair share of intrigue. The contest for the 2030 Asian Games has just two bidders, but they are the fierce regional rivals Qatar and Saudi Arabia. This is a real grudge match for the second biggest multi-sport Games on Earth, and it could also be a sign of things to come with regards to sport’s other huge events. It was April when the respective Qatari and Saudi capitals of Doha and Riyadh confirmed their interest for 2030, the height of COVID-19 lockdown when much of the world seemed to be falling apart. A bid for a major Games at this time from a western country would have been unthinkable, and even suggesting it would probably be political suicide. This is clearly not a problem for the megarich Middle Eastern neighbours which enjoy

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vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Both countries also operate controversial authoritative regimes – more of which later – so the likelihood of the public kicking up a fuss is essentially zero. The ruling classes are therefore free to bid for any huge sports event they wish for, and it has become increasingly clear that they wish for a lot. Welcoming the world for sporting extravaganzas is seen in both countries as a way to improve their image amid various political and human rights accusations.

Saudi Arabia hosted Anthony Joshua's boxing showdown with Andy Ruiz Jr. Photo: Getty Images

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Riyadh will be one of the most attractive cities in the world in 2030, Saudi officials claim, but the country has many international critics. Photo: Getty Images

Many have dubbed this practice as “sportswashing” – an attempt to wipe away the stain of unwelcome criticism. But with Qatar and Saudi Arabia there is the extra spice of the pair’s deteriorated diplomatic relations which will encourage both to bid. If one nation is awarded a mega-event then it is a political blow to the other, so can we expect further grudge matches down the line? In July, when coronavirus was still rampant, 2016 and 2020 bidder Qatar put itself forward for the 2032 Summer Olympics. Will Saudi Arabia eventually join them? It would not be a surprise, and with western bidders likely to be few and far between the IOC, and other sporting bodies, could easily face a situation where wealthy Middle Eastern nations are the only contenders. “With these two bids for the 2030 Asian Games we now have stability and continuity in our sports movement for the next decade,” said Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al-Sabah, the Olympic Council of Asia President. “This will allow our National Olympic Committees, our administrators and, above all, our athletes to make solid plans for the future in the short term, medium term and long term. “It puts us in an envious position in terms of our sports calendar and highlights again that Asia is a major partner in the global Olympic movement.” www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Sheikh Ahmad is a man who will be well aware of the clout both Qatar and Saudi Arabia possess. The 2030 race, interestingly, is a departure from the OCA’s recent practice of making known its preferred host city and electing it without a bidding process. In 2015, Sheikh Ahmad said the “Asian tradition” was to favour one pre-meditated choice over an election. Perhaps, with two heavyweight contenders in the ring, the OCA was unable to select just one for 2030 and is instead letting them slug it out. It is a strategy which keeps two rich bidders in the game but the risk of causing offence to the loser seems high. You would not be surprised if the defeated party walks away with at least some sort of concession in their back pocket. The sporting portfolios of both countries are already impressive, with Qatar’s future staging of the 2022 FIFA World Cup the most high-profile. There was bewilderment when the small nation was awarded football’s biggest prize in 2010, with corruption allegations aplenty following. Sports have been heading to Doha by the dozen, however, with the World Athletics Championships taking place there last year. Shortly afterwards the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games, which Qatar stepped in @insidethegames

to host at the 11th hour after problems in San Diego, went ahead. Doha has also held the Asian Games before, in 2006, but with progress in Qatar so swift that already seems like a lifetime ago. Qatar Sports Investments, an arm of the state’s sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority, wants “rapid growth” in the country and has pledged to make the nation a sporting “centre of excellence”. “The Qatar Olympic Committee, with the total support of the Qatar Government, is fully committed to bidding to host the 21st Asian Games,” said QOC President HE Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani. “We had the honour of hosting the Asian Games in 2006 and we believe it is time to bid again and welcome Asia back to our country. “The Doha of today is very different to the Doha of 2006 and the Doha of 2030 will be even more advanced. “Athletes, NOCs, fans and all stakeholders can be assured of the very highest standards.” Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia are among the bidders for football’s 2027 Asian Cup, alongside India, Iran and Uzbekistan, so will be locking horns for that competition, too. Saudi Arabia’s interest in sport can be viewed as being relatively recent as, before September 2019, it was practically impossible for most people to visit the Kingdom. A new online visa system which opened the borders to residents of 49 countries changed all that, with sport at the forefront of this newly-found openness. "Saudi Vision 2030", the long-term blueprint for the future of the country, states: "We aspire to excel in sport and be among the leaders in selected sports regionally and globally." Sporting events have begun to roll in, including the Anthony Joshua v Andy Ruiz Jr heavyweight boxing showdown in December. Football officials in European superpowers Italy and Spain have been convinced to hold competitive matches there, and it seems that no matter the sport, Saudi Arabia wants to host it. The crown jewels of the Olympics and FIFA World Cup will certainly be on their radar with the Asian Games, which they have never hosted before, perhaps a planned precursor to that. Saudi Arabia is even planning to build NEOM, a sci-fi sounding “futuristic megacity” where they hope the best athletes in the world will live, train and compete. “Bidding for the Asian Games in 2030 is part of our new strategy and is fully aligned

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Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 but human rights remains an issue. Photo: Getty Images

with the Kingdom Vision 2030,” said Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, the President of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee. “I have full trust the Riyadh 2030 bid will be a very powerful demonstration of our vision that aims to bring Asia together to deliver the best Asian Games ever in 2030 in Riyadh. “By the year 2030, Riyadh will be among the most attractive cities in the world, the impact of sport will be seen in the whole society and our athletes will be ready to perform at their best and be part of an exciting journey of transformation that ought to be shared.” There are clear similarities between the wealth and ambitions of the two nations but in recent years there has been no room for cordial ties. In 2017, Saudi Arabia led an international blockade of Qatar after accusing their miniature neighbour of supporting terrorism. The financers of terror groups were operating in Qatari territory, it was claimed, while the powerful Al Jazeera television network, owned by the Government in Doha, was another source of contention. Qatar has denied aiding militant groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIL, with Saudi Arabia also alleging growing links between Doha and

Iran, another of its fierce regional rivals. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim state, was left furious when Qatar paid a reported $700 million to Iranian-backed Shi’a militias in Iraq, to secure the release of 26 hostages which included members of Doha’s Royal Family. There was also high drama when quotes purportedly from the Emir of Qatar were published by the official state news agency, where he appeared to praise both Iran and Israel. The quotes were quickly denied by Doha, which insisted that the website had been hacked. These were key trigger-events before the blockade, which led to the closure of the Saudi-Qatari border. Every member of the Gulf Cooperation Council ordered its residents to leave Qatar, and the Saudis are even said to have driven 12,000 camels and sheep out of its territory. To outsiders, some elements of the dispute may come across as petty. Saudi airspace was closed off to Qatar Airways flights, forcing planes into inconvenient detours. When I flew from Amman in Jordan to Doha for the World Beach Games, the pilot first took us out east through Iraq before dipping down over Kuwait and into Qatar. Flying straight over Saudi Arabia would have been far simpler but, during the blockade, both countries seem intent on making life difficult for each other. In 2018, reports emerged that Saudi officials were planning to build a huge canal along the entirety of its border with Qatar, which would turn its rival into an island. A small part of Saudi territory on the island would be used as a place to dump nuclear waste, it was claimed. The border, through which 40 per cent of Qatar’s food used to enter, is now sealed off and has been described as a “ghost town”.

Doha staged last year's World Athletics Championships where empty seats were a problem. Photo: Getty Images

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The Saudi Princess at the IOC Saudi Arabia celebrated what it hopes will be a significant victory against the country’s image problem when HRH Princess Reema bint Bandar was elected as an IOC member in July. The treatment of women in the Kingdom has been regularly lambasted in the west, particularly as officials in Riyadh make a play for more and more sporting events. After Princess Reema’s elevation to sport’s most exclusive club, the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee hailed a “remarkable achievement for Saudi women and for Saudi sports as a whole”. It remains to be seen if the world will be convinced that real moves towards gender equality are being made, however. Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, who is at the centre of the Saudi sporting ambitions, believes that there is progress. In December he boasted that 30 per cent of General Sports Authority staff were now women. Five years ago it was only two, while in 2017 Saudi women were allowed to drive for the first time after a much-publicised discrimination was dropped. The strict male guardianship system has also been relaxed, but Amnesty International describe the situation as “still really grim” and high-profile activists such as Loujain al-Hathloul remain in jail. Princess Reema is the great-granddaughter of Ibn Saud, the country’s founder, and is a Board member of the SAOC. She becomes the third Saudi to have held IOC membership but currently represents her nation alone. It will not have gone unnoticed that Saudi Arabia now has parity at the IOC with Qatar, whose member is the country’s Emir. Daniel Palmer

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Qatar has entered the race to host the Olympic Games in 2032. Photo: Getty Images

Qatar’s natural resources and access to the sea meant it had the ability to survive many of the restrictions, although there was still a mad rush to the shops when the blockade was announced. Another dispute involves BeIN Sports, the Qatari broadcaster which has rights for many major sporting events including all of the top European football leagues. The network has been banned in Saudi Arabia, reportedly due to “monopolistic practices”. Riyadh is claimed to support the pirate station BeoutQ, which is alleged to illegally air content from BeIN Sports for which it does not have permission. BeIN Sports urged England’s Premier League, one of its partners, to block the takeover from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for Newcastle United, before this deal eventually collapsed. The Saudis will likely be back in the market for a major football club, particularly as QSI owns French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Despite their problems with each other, it may well be the pair’s issues with the wider world which cause Doha and Riyadh the biggest headaches. Amnesty International has already called on the OCA to consider human rights in the 2030 Asian Games race. “The Asian Games shouldn’t become a vehicle for states to ‘sportswash’ their reputations, instead they should be an opportunity for human rights to be properly bolstered and defended in hosting countries,” said Stephen Cockburn, the organisation’s head of economic and social justice. “There are numerous important issues, including whether women www.facebook.com/insidethegames

and LGTBI fans and contestants will be able to freely participate.” Qatar has faced particular criticism for the treatment of migrant workers at World Cup sites, with a Human Rights Watch report in August claiming abuses remain “persistent and widespread”. Saudi Arabia’s human rights record has been described as “diabolical” with the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country's Consulate in Istanbul still fresh in the memory. The continued use of beheadings, an alleged crackdown on campaigners and the treatment of women, who are described as being "shackled" to men, are other issues which will not go away. Both countries will claim, no doubt, that they are making progress but they will find that the pressure will ramp up every time a major sporting carnival rolls into town. Hosting a mega-event shines the spotlight on that country, and calls for change will only get louder if more and more sports arrive. Large swathes of empty seats at Doha’s World Athletics Championships will also be a concern, with athletes dubious that the appetite for top sport really exists in these hot desert lands. It all means there are uncomfortable questions ahead for sports organisations which might increasingly see countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia as their safest and only options. Could this also affect the discussion on athlete protests, with sports bodies perhaps unwilling to upset potential hosts which are more likely to be the subject of a demonstration? The OCA have already taken the plunge, with their decision due this year. One day soon it might be the IOC in a similar position.

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Sydney 2000 was held at a critical stage in Olympic history and the early signs two decades ago were not good. But as Duncan Mackay explains, the Australian city went on to host a magical Games.

s the new millennium dawned, the Olympic Movement was stumbling badly. The last Summer Games of the century, at Atlanta in 1996, had widely been considered the worst anyone could remember. Controversially chosen for the Centenary

Olympics ahead of Athens, critics decried the over-commercialisation of an event where advertisers appeared to be as prominent as athletes. Poor transportation planning left Olympic spectators on buses for hours as out-of-town drivers tried to navigate their way around Atlantaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always challenging highway system. Midway through the Games a bomb set by domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph exploded in Centennial Olympic Park, killing two people and wounding more than 100. Few visitors looked longingly over their shoulders as they departed from HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport.

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Then, at the end of 1998, a major bribery scandal involving Salt Lake City, the host for the 2002 Winter Olympics, broke in spectacular fashion. Swiss International Olympic Committee member Marc Hodler, the head of the Coordination Commission overseeing the organisation of the Games, made the accusation that a group of members had taken bribes since the start of the bidding process. The scandal soon widened as four independent investigations were underway, by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee, Salt Lake City 2002 and the United States Department of Justice. A total of six members of the IOC were expelled and

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another 10 were sanctioned for accepting “gifts” and favours either in direct payments, land purchase agreements, tuition assistance, political campaign donations or charitable donations for a local cause. This was the first expulsion or sanction for corruption in the IOC’s history since it was formed more than a century before. The bid process had long been suspected to be an opportunity for corrupt sports administrators to line their pockets and this scandal merely reinforced what many people had long believed – that it was a cesspit. At the height of the scandal, Australian officials admitted they had offered AUD$35,000 apiece to two African members of the IOC in Kenya and Uganda, while Sydney was bidding for the 2000 Olympic Games. John Coates, then and still the President of the Australian Olympic Committee, denied they had done anything wrong and said the money pledged had been within the guidelines, and was similar to plans used by bidding competitors from Beijing and Manchester. Sydney avoided being drawn into the whirlpool quite as deep as Salt Lake City 2002 but the revelations took away a lot of the shine for Australians from the memory of the day in 1993 when the country’s biggest city

Cathy Freeman en-route to her memorable 400 metres gold at Sydney 2000. Photo: Getty Images

somehow managed to poll two more votes than the long-time favourite Beijing. “The winner is ... Syd. er. ney” had seemed the sweetest four words that the city had heard when they tripped off the tongue off IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, but by then that seemed a long time ago. Sydney’s involvement in the scandal came at a time when the Australian public already seemed to be losing faith in the project. A backlash over a decision to have marching bands made up of mainly American and Japanese

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch returned to the tradition of describing Sydney 2000 as the best Games ever. Photo: Getty Images

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students at the Games' Opening Ceremony caused such a huge furore that Sydney 2000 was forced to cancel the contract. They had to pay a seven-figure compensation fee to settle legal action. Even worse for Sydney 2000 was a debacle less than a year before the Games opened over ticketing. After they had promised three-and-a-half million tickets would be available through a ballot system, Australians lodged more than 320,000 applications, a record, and paid around AUD$180 million in advance for the chance to see the events they selected. But in December it was revealed Sydney 2000 advertising campaigns and promotional material had been misleading and only three million tickets had been offered to the general public. Worse still, a pool of 840,000 of the best Games tickets had been set aside for high rollers prepared to pay premium prices. The public was outraged. Critics

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included the public face of the Sydney 2000 ticketing campaign, cricket hero Mark Taylor, champion swimmer Ian Thorpe and Prime Minister John Howard. The controversial construction of an Olympic volleyball stadium on Bondi Beach, legendary among surfers and which protesters called an environmental hazard, was among other controversies. Aborigines vowed to disrupt the Games in protest over past racial injustice. An Aborigine who once led a Government agency on indigenous affairs was quoted as saying he expected “burning cars and burning buildings”. IOC member Kevan Gosper became entangled in another ugly row when his 11-year-old daughter Sophie displaced another girl at the last moment as the first Australian Torchbearer at the Olympic Torch lighting ceremony in Greece. Gosper issued a formal apology the next day, saying he was unaware that the GreekAustralian girl, Yianna Souleles,

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Teenage star Ian Thorpe dazzled in the pool for the host nation. Photo: Getty Images

had missed out. “My fatherly pride clouded my judgment,” he wrote in his letter of contrition. Smaller problems kept emerging, which quite frankly were ridiculous. Sydney 2000 admitted that many tickets were manufactured too big to fit through turnstiles at most Olympic venues and could not be replaced. Floating weeds afflicted a rowing, canoeing and kayaking venue. Covering it from afar, it looked like chaos and for the second consecutive Summer Games the Olympics appeared to be heading for disaster. Surveys commissioned by the new expensive New York City PR firm hired by the IOC in the wake of the Salt Lake City crisis which claimed to show that, despite everything, scandals and other complications had not dampened enthusiasm for the Olympics in Australia, were taken with a large pinch of salt. One survey even claimed that Australians regarded the Olympics more highly than Disney. It all seemed a bit Mickey Mouse. Then it happened. The very same Flame involved in the Gosper controversy, which seemed to encapsulate

everything wrong with Sydney 2000, touched down for the start of its 100-day journey on home soil at Uluru, a place sacred to indigenous Australians. The opening Torchbearers were Aborigines and included Nova Peris, the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal when she was a member of her country’s hockey team at Atlanta 1996, and Evonne Goolagong Cawley, the first indigenous Wimbledon champion. Instead of “burning cars and burning buildings” there were cheering crowds and mounting excitement. If Sydney 2000 organisers had claimed this was how they imagined it would be, then they were lying. But the Olympics were coming to town and nothing was going to stop them happening, so the Australians seemed to decide they may as well bloody enjoy them. And bloody well enjoy them they did. As the Torch edged closer towards its final destination, excitement continued to mount with a growing anticipation that these Games were going to be something special. At the centre of this expectation was a shy young indigenous

runner. Cathy Freeman was Australia’s sole, realistic prospect of an athletics gold medal in Sydney but, far more importantly, a symbol for national unity. This woman straddled both camps. She had one foot in the establishment but was someone who ran for her own people, downtrodden for so long but who were now determined to fight back. “When you are born black everything is political,” she once said. For Freeman, the first inkling that her relationship with Sydney 2000 would be more than simply an athlete and a major competition came three months prior to the Games when Coates asked her out for lunch. “I was wondering, ‘what is this all about?’” Freeman recalled of the minutes before she was asked to be the one to light the Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony. “It was one of those surreal moments. I was so caught up in my workouts and looking after my body in the best possible way ever and it came out of nowhere – a hard to prepare for moment. I didn’t see it coming. I was really humbled, to be frank. And I was a little bit like, ‘gee, c’mon, I understand if there is a change of plan here.’” There was no change of plan. The breath-taking photographs of

Freeman standing in front of a cascade of water, lighting a Flame that grew all around her and then lifted above her, leaving her seemingly floating in the middle of a towering waterfall, set the tone for an extraordinary Games. There is also a pleasing symmetry that ran right through to the photographs of Freeman performing in the 400 metres final 10 days later. “It does look very similar, doesn’t it?” Freeman said of the bodysuits she wore to light the Flame and win Olympic gold. “The Ceremony one was just a lot thinner.” A nation, including those fortunate enough to be among the record 112,524-capacity crowd inside the Olympic Stadium, and the millions watching around the world, let out a collective sigh of relief when Freeman crossed the line in the position all Australians had wanted, no, demanded of her. After the race Freeman symbolically draped herself with both the Australian flag and the Aboriginal flag. There could not have been a more symbolic way for Australia to claim its historic 100th Olympic gold medal. Every Australian of a certain age knows where they were the night Freeman delivered on her promise to win. I was fortunate

The Australian public were a key part of the Games' success. Photo: Getty Images

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Cathy Freeman lighting the Olympic Flame was a memorable moment. Photo: Getty Images

enough to be in that Olympic Stadium to watch, quite simply, the greatest night of sporting action I have ever witnessed. If Freeman was all smooth acceleration and sleek lines on the track, in the pool 17-year-old Thorpe, whose feet size matched his age and who had an arm span of 1.90m, was the closest thing most people had seen to a human fish. He won three gold and two silver medals as the host nation enjoyed their most successful Olympics ever, finishing fourth overall behind giants United States, Russia and China. By now, the party was in full swing. Australia was big. It was brash. It was showing the world what it had to offer beyond kangaroos. They even served up Australia’s national animal with chips at the Main Press Centre restaurant on some nights to the horror of their foreign guests. Rows of souvenir t-shirts in shops around Circular Quay and outside Sydney Opera House proclaimed “AUSTRALIA – IT'S A BLOODY LONG WAY”, but those lucky enough to be there were having the time of their lives. No-one wanted the party to finish. These Olympics even had its own unofficial mascot, Fatso the

Fat-Arsed Wombat. Designed as part of Australian comedy duo Roy and HG’s Olympic television coverage, Fatso was smuggled into awards ceremonies and broadcast across the world. Fatso was a spoof of the official Olympic mascots Olly, Millie and Syd, whom Roy and HG disparaged as “Olly, Millie and Dickhead”. The AOC at first attempted to ban athletes appearing with Fatso to stop him upstaging their official mascots. The ensuing public relations disaster forced Coates, and the

then director general of the IOC, François Carrard, to distance their organisations from these attempts. It summed up perfectly Australians’ bold sense of humour, with the hosts never afraid of saying or doing something hugely insulting in the name of a good laugh. If Fatso was the unofficial mascot, then there was no doubt what the unofficial theme song was. Men at Work’s Down Under blasted out everywhere – and I mean everywhere – you went. “Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? “Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover. “Buying bread from a man in Brussels. He was six-foot-four and full of muscle. “I said, ‘do you speak-a my language?’ “He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich.” Most visitors had absolutely no idea what all this meant but, by the end, everyone was word perfect in Australia’s favourite song. In the end, it was the

Australians who made these Games and restored some much-needed shine to the Olympic rings. Samaranch was right at the Closing Ceremony to return to the grand Olympic custom of calling these “the best Olympic Games ever,” a tradition he had suspended four years earlier – to the eternal shame of Atlanta. The headline in an Australian newspaper the next morning read “47,000 Heroes” – meaning the volunteers – and that was right. The Olympics were great, but the Australians were greater. If the Aussies did not totally rescue the Olympic Movement from the corruption that was beginning to leave an indelible stench, from the drug cheats who blighted these Games like they had every other one for the last 40 years, from the uneasy feeling that the money men saw everything as one enormous marketing opportunity, then they put on a show that, 20 years later, still brings a smile to people’s faces. As they say around those parts, “Good on you, mate”.

The Games still bring a smile to people's faces two decades on. Photo: Getty Images

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Rolling the dice for 2032 The 2032 Olympics and Paralympics seem like a lifetime away but the contenders are already beginning to jostle for position. Nancy Gillen looks at a race where there are currently more questions than answers.

espite being 12 years away, the COVID-19 pandemic has already managed to have an impact on the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Spectator-less sport will hopefully be a distant memory by then, but the host country may be different as a result of the global health crisis. Before the pandemic, Queensland, and the city of Brisbane in particular, looked set to receive the hosting rights for the 2032 Games. The Australian state enjoyed an unprecedented level of dialogue with the International Olympic Committee last year.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was among a delegation to visit Olympic House in Lausanne in September, with IOC President Thomas Bach full of praise for their project. It was the third time Bach had held high-level talks with Queensland or Australian officials in four months. Under IOC reforms passed in June 2019, a flexible timeline for the Olympic bidding process was installed. The requirement for the host city to be elected seven years before the start of the Games was removed from the Olympic Charter. With Bach confirming that the host of the 2032 Olympics and

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Paralympics would be decided before 2025, it seemed that the Games would be returning to Australia for the first time since Sydney 2000 as soon as Queensland formalised its bid. Then came 2020 and coronavirus. The financial impact of the pandemic on sport is already well documented, and the situation was no different in Australia. As a result, the Queensland Government placed its bid to host the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics on hold, with the Australian Olympic Committee endorsing the move. Queenslandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position as the early front-runner for the Games suddenly looked uncertain.

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International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, centre, met with Australian Olympic Committee counterpart John Coates, right, and Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner to discuss Queensland's bid. Photo: Getty Images

Despite the setback, officials have tried to remain positive about the bid. Both AOC President John Coates and chief executive Matt Carroll have claimed hosting the Games would act as an economic boost for Australia, aiding the country’s coronavirus recovery. Coates also claimed that 85 per cent of proposed venues were already built, with their bid instead focusing on the development of infrastructure projects. This may make it easier for the bid to get back on its feet again post-pandemic, but it will not be plain sailing. The Queensland bid already has significant opposition from some quarters. "If it was a stupid idea to sink billions into a Brisbane Olympic Games before COVID-19, then it is infinitely more stupid now," North Queensland Federal MP Bob Katter recently said, with controversial Australian politician Pauline Hanson also starting a major campaign against the candidature earlier this year. This opposition and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic may make it harder to persuade Australians that hosting the Games is a good idea. Indeed, the financial cost of COVID-19 may result in Queensland withdrawing from the bidding race altogether. Fortunately for the IOC, there is no shortage of interest in hosting the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics. Among the other contenders are India, Indonesia and Qatar. The Indian Olympic Association officially submitted a letter of interest to the IOC www.facebook.com/insidethegames

which declared its intention to bid for the 2032 Games in December 2018. It did this while also making a play for a series of other sporting events, including the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games. In May, IOA President Narinder Batra claimed the organisation had begun preparing documentation around the potential bids for the events in 2026 and 2032. Again, the process has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic but it will likely resume in December. Indonesia wrote to the IOC in February 2019 to signify its interest in the 2032 Games, following on from the success of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang. The Olympic and Paralympic bid will solely be focused on the former, despite speculation that the future capital in East Kalimantan would be proposed as the main host city. In August, Indonesian Olympic Committee President Raja Sapta Oktohari attempted to revive the country’s candidacy for the event and called on the Government to offer its support. Oktohari’s request came soon after the Qatar Olympic Committee announced it has plans to host the Summer Olympics and could do so by 2032. It confirmed it had formally requested to join the IOC’s non-committal "continuous dialogue" about hosting the Games in July. The Qatari capital of Doha hosted the 2006 Asian Games, an event which was seen to have encouraged the country to go for @insidethegames

other global events. Subsequently, Qatar unsuccessfully bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in both 2016 and 2020. Officials in the Middle Eastern nation were successful in acquiring the hosting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, however, and Doha held the World Athletics Championships last year. Qatar is also bidding for football’s 2027 Asian Cup, and is locked in a head-to-head battle with Saudi Arabia for the hosting rights for the 2030 Asian Games, with the two neighbours caught in a diplomatic crisis. Such a choice for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics would be controversial for the IOC, which is already battling against human rights organisations and politicians angered by Beijing’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Games. The bid processes which awarded Qatar events such as the FIFA World Cup and the World Athletics Championships were also subject to allegations of bribery and corruption. Opponents have claimed Qatar has used major sporting events to improve its image amid a poor human rights record, while criticising migrants' rights at World Cup construction sites. Heat would also be a major issue for the IOC to consider. The 2006 Asian Games were held in December to counter Qatari temperatures, and the FIFA World Cup has also been shunted from its usual summer spot to the winter of 2022. Holding an Olympics in winter is not unprecedented, with Melbourne 1956 taking place in November and December, but it would be a difficult and unpopular move. Aside from Australia, India, Indonesia and Qatar, there had also been hopes for a historic joint-bid between North and South Korea. This looks to have fizzled out, however, as relations deteriorate between the two neighbours. Germany has suggested an interest in bidding for the 2032 or 2036 Olympics and Paralympics, while Turkish Olympic Committee vice-president Hasan Arat has called on Istanbul to target 2032. The IOC is certainly not short of interest for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the full impact of the pandemic has not yet become apparent. A bid from Queensland is the most advanced out of all the options but has been stopped in its tracks by COVID-19. The IOC will be hoping the global health crisis does not ruin its carefully laid plans once again.

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happy birthday waldi Half-a-century ago, the idea for the first official Olympic mascot was born. Duncan Mackay explores the history of Waldi, the dog that has an eternal place in Games folklore.

his summer marked a significant landmark in Olympic history, although one that has gone largely unnoticed. It was the 50th anniversary marking the announcement that a dachshund would be the official mascot of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the first time

that the Games would have such a symbol. It was on July 23 in 1970 that a young wirehaired dachshund puppy was presented by Willi Daume, the President of Munich 1972, to Félix Lévitan, head of the International Association of the Sports Press, at the topping out of the main competition venues at Oberwiesenfeld. He announced that this breed of dog would be the mascot. Daume also revealed that he would be called “Olympia-Waldi”. It has been claimed that the idea of choosing a dachshund was Daume's, since he owned one himself and they fitted in with his concept for the 1972 Olympics as Die heiteren

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Spiele – which meant “The Cheerful Games”. But Waldi’s concept had first taken shape the previous December, at the 1969 edition of the Organising Committee’s Christmas party, where attendees were given crayons and asked to create their idea for a mascot. Submissions included a wolpertinger, in German folklore an animal with wings, antlers, a tail and fangs, and said to inhabit the Alpine forests of Bavaria and BadenWürttemberg, and a lion. Other ideas included an eagle and characters in traditional Bavarian dress. But Daume, aware of the connotations that were still strong in many people’s

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Waldi was first introduced to the public in 1970. Photo: Getty Images

memories of the last time Germany had hosted the Olympic Games at Berlin in 1936 under Adolf Hitler, and the devastation caused by the Second World War, ordered that any symbols that reminded people of his country’s recent past were banned. “The Bavarian Seppl is worn out, lion and eagle are unsuitable for advertising because of their pathos,” he said. A dachshund was thought to be the ideal choice because they were considered tough, agile and resilient. In addition, the dachshund was considered a typical domestic animal for Munich's citizens. The word “mascot” originates from the French term mascotte which means a lucky charm. It

was used to describe anything which brought luck to a household. Waldi may have been the first “official” Olympic mascot but he was not the original. That honour had gone to a cartoon character called “Schuss” who featured at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble. He was a red ball on some skis and was created by Aline Lafargue, who had designed him in a single night. Schuss was not actually called a mascot during the Games, but rather referred to as a character, although he appeared in an animated film and even a musical. He is not recognised as an official mascot of the 1968 Winter Olympics but can lay claim to be the forerunner. He was the character who got

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people thinking that the Games needed something they could market, to help raise valuable commercial revenue. Similarly, the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo had a bear called Takuchan, an unofficial mascot designed by Seiko, the official timepiece of the Games. They marketed this mascot in its shops in the form of fabric figures, decals, bags, bath towels and many other souvenirs – exclusively in connection with the 1972 Winter Games and in combination with the official emblem. Waldi, though, was the first to be given the honour of being an official mascot of the Games and to be widely marketed internationally. Daume’s announcement that a dachshund would be the mascot

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of Munich 1972 was met with widespread praise in the local press, which had already been conducting unofficial polls to see what the public wanted and had found the city’s favourite dog to be high among readers’ choices. Choosing the choice of mascot was the easy part – getting it designed, made and marketed was always going to be the most difficult. That task fell to Otl Aicher, who had assembled a team called Dept. XI to design the look and feel of the first Olympic Games in Germany for 36 years. He had co-founded the Ulm School of Design and was influential to the corporate identity of the company Braun. He designed the logo for German airline Lufthansa in 1969.

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Otl Aicher played a key role in the design of Waldi. Photo: Getty Images

Just as importantly, Aicher was not tainted by the stench of Nazism. In 1937 he was arrested for refusing to join the Hitler Youth. He was later conscripted into the German army to fight during the Second World War, but made several attempts to leave. Eventually, an opportunity presented itself and he deserted. The Scholl family, who were well-known anti-Nazi political activists, let him hide at their residence in Wutach until after the War ended in 1945. When first approached by Daume about turning the dachshund into a mascot for the Olympics, Aicher was unsure before agreeing to integrate it into the visual look of the Games. Aicher gave the task of designing the mascot to Elena Winschermann, a member of his Dept. XI team he had originally taken on as an intern when she was a teenager. Aicher’s instructions included ensuring that Waldi avoided similarities with the many

Designers wanted to make Waldi more than just a souvenir so he came in a variety of different materials. Photo: Getty Images

other toy dachshunds on the market, and for it to be more of a toy than a souvenir. Other criteria laid out was that all the Waldis to be manufactured must have the same colour, the official Munich blue. The sections that make up the body should also have between three and six separate colours. Waldi appeared vertically striped in a variety of the pastel colours used in the Olympic Stadium, colours that were intended to represent individual sports, national flags and even the uniforms of Games personnel. Aicher vetoed red and black, colours identified with the Nazis. Design simplicity enhanced the appeal of the multi-coloured canine. Waldi was also not allowed to be produced shorter than 12.5 centimetres so that the emblem, the spiral and five rings, could always be seen on the chest. His inventors hoped that the minimum size would also prevent him from losing his toy character and being misused as a kitschy mini figure. “It is important for us to avoid the unfortunately all too common kitsch and the embarrassment this brings with it, and to find a surprisingly appealing dachshund,” Winschermann wrote in an internal memo reproduced in Mark Holt’s excellent book Munich '72. The Visual Output of Otl Aicher's Dept. XI. The plan was to produce Waldi in several different materials, including wood, plastic, fur fabric and rubber. The Olympia-Waldi concept was presented to the media in January 1971, and was generally well received. The Organising Committee appointed two marketing agencies to licence Waldi. Atlas Publishing House was based in Munich and the Cremota advertising and sales promotion agency in Frankfurt. In addition, 12 toy manufacturers were asked to produce prototypes. Apart from the 3D version of Waldi, there were plans for his image to appear on a whole range of products, including paper bags, stickers, posters, cushions, puzzles and badges. Olympic mascots today are generally associated with plush toys but the first Waldi to be manufactured was in wood. It was surprisingly produced by Steiff, a German company famous around the world for

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It was World Cup Willie who first showed what a powerful marketing tool a mascot could be for major events. Photo: Getty Images

making teddy bears. They had wanted to make a plush version but Aicher and Winschermann resisted. In the end, despite its worldwide reputation for soft toys, Steiff never did manufacture any plush version of Waldi. They did, though, make a version in dralon, a synthetic plush material that was very common on Steiff play animals of the time. It was not just Steiff who wanted to produce a plush version of Waldi. Top Munich 1972 officials were also pushing for a soft toy to be manufactured as soon as possible. “In the Organising Committee it was, of course, the legal and financial departments who were really very keen for everything to be made of fur fabric,” Winschermann told the Olympic Museum in an interview. “Mr Aicher and I wanted it to be a specific, high-end object but not too high that it became a design object.” A wider range of Waldis were presented at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in February 1971, including a large one made of fabric, an inflatable one, a very small bendy one made of soft plastic and the one from wood. The first signs that having a mascot for a major global event could help generate much-needed funds had come at the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England with the commercial success of World Cup Willie, a cartoon lion. With the demand for goods so high, World Cup Willie merchandise flew off the shelves almost quicker than it could be made. That

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DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

Waldi paved the way for every future Olympic Games to have at least one mascot. Photo: Getty Images

often came at the expense of quality control. As there was no approved style guide to follow, poor designer Reg Hoye had to draw Willie to order. Aicher ensured that more quality control was maintained over Waldi, but the dog was so popular that even he could not stand in its way. Winschermann said there were several versions of Waldi they did not approve.

Frank Shorter won the Munich 1972 marathon on a Waldi-themed course. Photo: Getty Images

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It is estimated that about two million Waldis were sold in more than 20 countries. A total of 15 different versions were planned, some with a wagging tail or nodding head, some on wheels and many on keyrings. Strangely, however, a pin featuring Waldi did not come out until several years after the Olympics had finished. Waldi also unwittingly found himself a symbol of what many German citizens regarded as the Organising Committee’s monetary gigantism. After the budget for the new Olympic Stadium rocketed from $3.5 million to $65 million, angry Munich taxpayers displayed posters featuring Waldi using the Olympic Tower as a fire hydrant to urinate on. Overall, however, Waldi was hugely commercially successful and even today his likeness appears regularly on internet retail sites, often selling for three-figure sums. The huge success of Waldi ensured that @insidethegames

every Olympic Games from then on would have a mascot. Some have had as many as five. But his symbolism did not end with just the various toys and souvenirs produced in his image. Even the marathon course through downtown Munich followed the dog’s outline, with runners starting at the back of the neck and racing counter-clockwise around the head, legs and belly to the tail. They then went along the back until exiting into the Olympic Stadium where the United States’ Frank Shorter crossed the line first to claim gold. The real Waldi, from a well-known breed in Fürstenfeldbruck-Maisach, the one that had been presented by Daume to Lévitan, went to live in Paris, where Madame Lévitan took him for daily walks on the boulevards. Together with Monsieur Lévitan, Waldi was invited to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 26 in 1972 in the VIP box – all other pets were banned.

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MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Athletes divided When it comes to sporting protests, athletes can agree on one thing – the fact that they can’t agree. Mike Rowbottom finds out that opinions on Rule 50 cover a wide spectrum.

ne day at school, while we were playing football during our lunch break, all my fellow classmates sat down every time I got the ball. It was a protest over my customary insistence that we played on not just after the first bell had rung – the warning that break was about to be over – but after the second bell also. This was my first experience of a sporting protest. And I have to say it was effective, as I was obliged to moderate my hectoring of the weak-willed, lily-livered goodie-goodies who were so keen to get their legs back under a desk while there was still time for an extra couple of minutes of the beautiful game. You could view that as a triumph for unanimity. A misguided triumph, in my view, but a triumph nevertheless. Levity aside, the question of unanimity is one of the most vexing issues in the current debate – providentially enabled by the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics – over what degree of latitude athletes should have with regard to personal protests during the Games. In other words, the question of whether Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, and in particular its controversial stricture – "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas" – should be amended or abolished. I was speaking recently to Karsten Warholm, Norway’s Rio 2016 Olympian and double world 400 metres hurdles champion, and asked him his views on the issue of “taking the knee” – the gesture that over the last few years, and particularly in the last few traumatic months – has become the widely acknowledged means of showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. “When it comes to kneeling and showing

Taking the knee is now a famous form of protest but not everybody is convinced. Photo: Getty Images

support to these movements I totally support that,” he said, before referring to the iconic podium protest after the men’s 200m at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood each with a black-gloved fist held high to draw attention to racism and social injustice. “You have this famous picture of Tommie Smith and John Carlos – it’s things such as that which change the world and hopefully for the better so I am all for that. “What I like about the Olympics is that it gathers the whole world and it’s all about fair play and competing and being friendly. I support everything that can make the world a better place.” No doubt many of Warholm’s fellow athletes would endorse that view. But there is no doubt also that not every one of his peers would do so. This is already becoming clear after early feedback on the efforts currently underway within not just track and field, but sport in general, to canvass athletes’ opinion on how, or if, Rule 50 should be changed. A discussion organised by Panam Sports at the end of July as part of their Athletes Connect series – entitled Leaders of the Americas, Look Towards the Future – offered valuable insight into how the land lies in this area. Five-time Olympic cross-country skier Kikkan Randall, a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission representing the United States, and Aliann Pompey, a four-time Olympic 400m runner for Guyana and now President of the Panam Sports Athlete Commission, both reported opinions across a wide spectrum on the issue of the vexed rule, as they engaged in consultation exercises ahead of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board meeting in December. Away from the Olympic arena, other sports have been reacting to the social circumstances of the time in differing

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fashions. Football matches in the English, Spanish and Italian leagues have been prefaced by unanimous displays of players taking the knee. It has been the same before National Basketball Association games. But Formula One, where Britain’s six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been energetic in taking a lead on this issue, has produced a more variable response. Before the British Grand Prix on August 2, for instance, while all drivers took part in an organised protest against racism and wore black t-shirts with the words “End Racism” on them, seven chose to stand rather than taking the knee. “I believe that what matters are facts and behaviours in our daily life rather than formal gestures that could be seen as controversial in some countries,” said Charles Leclerc, one of the seven. “I will not take the knee but this does not mean at all that I am less committed than others in the fight against racism.” Meanwhile Max Verstappen, who also stood, said: “I am very committed to equality and the fight against racism. But I believe everyone has the right to express themself at a time and in a way that suits them.” Carlos was the third sporting figure taking part in the Panam Sports discussion. And he revealed how he had his own doubts about how best to protest in an Olympic context. He was originally set on boycotting the Mexico Games in the manner advocated by the Olympic Project for Human Rights, before being persuaded to compete. “I was told, ‘if you boycott, someone else will take your place,’” he said. “Will they represent you the way you feel you need to be represented? Right there I got my boots back on and went back to training. “All we wanted was an even playing field. Here we are, 53 years later, and we are still at ground zero.”

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