The insidethegames.biz Magazine Autumn Edition 2022

Published: October 2022 by Dunsar Media Company Limited

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Contents

Mackay

next for ANOC?

Berkeley

Unlikely Host

Owen

Doha 22

Mackay

Hollywood Dream

Brennan

Sport Ignites Again

Burke

the Commonwealth

Palmer

& South

Barker

the Quartet

Houston

to School

Lloyd

Ever-Changing

Barker

in the Bag

Rowbottom

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DUNCAN MACKAY

INSIDETHEGAMES

It

was back in November 2018, in Tokyo, that Seoul was first announced as the host of the Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly.

Delegates at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa heard that the South Korean capital would stage the meeting in 2020, and there was no indication that this wouldn’t be the case.

Fast-forward to October 2022 and the Olympic world is only now on the cusp of gathering in the host city of the 1988 Summer Games.

The world is a very different place, having endured a global pandemic which thwarted the Korean hopes of hosting until this year.

ANOC, too, is an organisation undergoing a period of change.

At that same gathering in Tokyo, Fiji’s Robin Mitchell was appointed as the Acting President of the organisation as incumbent Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah faced legal difficulties.

This was supposed to be a stopgap solution until Sheikh Ahmad could return to his post, but Mitchell ended up staying as the “acting” President for nearly four years.

Sheikh Ahmad, known as one of the most influential powerbrokers in the Olympic Movement, was sentenced to 14 months in prison, with 15 suspended, by a court in Geneva in September 2021 after being found guilty of forgery.

He denies the charge and is appealing, but the ongoing case means he is unable to return to the ANOC hotseat.

In July, Mitchell was declared as the only candidate for the Presidency on a

permanent basis, with his coronation set to take place in Seoul.

He will become the sole figurehead of the body which represents more than 200 National Olympic Committees, and takes the job at an intriguing time.

Panam Sports President Neven Ilic has accused ANOC of “losing its way” and there are fears that the International Olympic Committee would like to bring the organisation firmly to heel.

Mitchell also has the second edition of the ANOC World Beach Games to prepare for in Indonesia next year, while the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a political headache for sporting administrators around the world.

In this latest edition of The insidethegames.biz Magazine, senior reporter Geoff Berkeley looks back on ANOC’s recent past and ponders where the umbrella body will go from here.

Junior reporter Patrick Burke also writes with NOCs in mind - as he discovers how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the Olympic ambitions of countries around the world.

It will not be long before one of sport’s megaevents, the FIFA World Cup, kicks off in Qatar.

Chief columnist David Owen examines the lie of the land in the Gulf nation after that bewildering day in 2010 when the tiny country became a shock host of football’s most prestigious prize.

The FIFA officials who made that decision have had interesting lives since then. I have taken a look at what happened to the people who put Qatar firmly on the map on that December afternoon.

Looking further afield, the sports programme for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles is still to be determined with a shortlist of nine currently being pondered by organisers.

Junior reporter Eliott Brennan speaks to those who are still in the frame as well as others who have missed out.

Sports coming and going from the Olympic schedule is of course nothing new.

Historian Philip Barker uses these pages to explore some of the weird and wonderful disciplines which have graced sport’s grandest stage over the years. Bicycle polo or tug of war, anyone?

As the ANOC General Assembly is in Seoul, Philip also takes us through the Korean Peninsula’s Olympic history - which has often caused problems for those in the IOC corridors of power.

Reporter Michael Houston analyses four major events that we have witnessed this year - the Commonwealth Games, the World Games, the Mediterranean Games and the Islamic Solidarity Games.

Sticking with the Commonwealth Games, magazine editor Dan Palmer describes his project to speak to all 72 Chefs de Mission who served in July and August in Birmingham.

Junior reporter Owen Lloyd looks forward to the World Winter University Games in Lake Placid in January, and the election of the host city for the 2027 summer edition.

If you enjoy this magazine and our yearround coverage of the Olympic Movement, I would like to invite you to make a contribution to support our journalism by logging on to https://www.insidethegames. biz/contribute.

Every donation, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our work across the world in the years ahead.

We believe that Olympic news should remain in the public sphere and be free of charge to read, and we hope that it will.

Enjoy the magazine.

Duncan Mackay Editor

WHAT NEXT FOR ANOC?

After four years as the “acting” President of ANOC, Robin Mitchell will step out of the shadow of Sheikh Ahmad and take the job full-time. But as Geoff Berkeley reports, it comes amid criticism that the organisation is becoming an IOC puppet.

Simmering

feelings of discontent over the running of the Association of National Olympic Committees reached boiling point at a heated meeting in Santiago last month.

What was expected to be a routine election of ANOC Executive Council representatives at the Panam Sports General Assembly in the Chilean capital turned into a platform for members to let off steam.

Paraguayan Olympic Committee President Camilo Pérez López Moreira, who topped the election polling, was the first to pipe up as he vented his frustration about ANOC.

“What we seek is a different ANOC,” said Pérez.

“We want ANOC to represent our National Olympic Committees.

“In the past years it has taken a different path and we need to fight to ensure that we feel comfortable being part of ANOC.”

Canadian Olympic Committee President Tricia Smith, who also retained her place on the Executive Council for four more years, echoed Pérez’s points before Panam Sports President Neven Ilic joined the dissenting voices.

“As a continent we are clear on our stance and objectives to have an organisation in ANOC that represents in the best way the voice of our National Olympic Committees,” said Ilic, who is an ANOC vice-president for the Americas.

“I agree that there is a general consensus that ANOC has lost its way.”

The ANOC leadership was receiving a beating by Panam Sports members with St Lucia Olympic Committee President Alfred Emmanuel landing another blow.

Emmanuel slammed high-ranking officials at ANOC for holding positions of power with the International Olympic Committee, and called for “meaningful change” within the

organisation that is expected to empower the voice of all 206 NOCs.

“If we continue in the same vein then the time has come for ANOC to fall and let the IOC stand alone,” said Emmanuel.

There was no-one from the ANOC management to hear the angry voices, with secretary general Gunilla Lindberg delivering a video message to the General Assembly due to

Panam Sports and its President Neven Ilic have hit out at ANOC's current state Photo: Getty Images

her participation at the Paris 2024 Coordination Commission meeting in the French capital.

But the comments of Pérez, Smith, Ilic and Emmanuel should set alarm bells ringing for Robin Mitchell and the rest of his team at ANOC.

After serving as ANOC’s Acting President for the past four years, Mitchell is set to secure the role on a permanent basis at a time when the organisation faces increasing criticism over its very purpose.

Mitchell is due to be elected unopposed as ANOC President at its upcoming General Assembly, scheduled to take place from October 18 to 21 in South Korean capital Seoul after being confirmed as the only candidate for the top job.

Ilic had been viewed as a potential contender for the ANOC Presidency, but the Chilean official has opted to get behind Mitchell.

“I have said many times that our obligation as Presidents of the continental organisations is to be available if ANOC needs us,” Ilic told insidethegames

“But today we have Robin, and we are respecting his decision to be ANOC President.

“I have a lot of work to do at Panam Sports, but I will do my best to help Robin have a great ANOC.

GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

“The General Assembly in Seoul will be a very important meeting as it is time to sit down and see how we want to view ANOC for the next four years.

“You saw at the Panam Sports General Assembly what the opinion is of our members, and I agree with most of the points.

“ANOC represents the National Olympic Committees, and this is the first important mission for them - you have to listen to us and represent our opinions.”

Emmanuel said he understood ANOC was established in 1979 to be a “bargaining agent” on behalf of the NOCs, but claimed this role was “slowly disappearing”.

The Saint Lucian official’s anger harks back to March 2012 when the late Mario Vázquez Raña was ousted as ANOC President in an alleged plot led by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

The Mexican billionaire, who presided over ANOC for 33 years and was the head of the Pan American Sports Organization until his death in February 2015, blamed Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad and Ireland’s Patrick Hickey for forcing him out following an “aggressive” campaign.

Sheikh Ahmad took the reins in 2012 and led ANOC for six years before agreeing to temporarily stand aside amid forgery allegations.

Addressing delegates at the 2018 ANOC General Assembly in Tokyo, Sheikh Ahmad said he would step down for “a while” but vowed to “come back stronger”.

Three years later, the Kuwaiti powerbroker was sentenced to 14 months in prison, with 15 suspended, by a Swiss court.

Sheikh Ahmad was found guilty, together with three lawyers and an advisor, of formulating a plot to make false videos to damage Kuwaiti Government officials.

Following the verdict in September 2021, Sheikh Ahmad, who denies wrongdoing and claims that the allegations against him are politically motivated, pledged to appeal the decision.

Mitchell assumed temporary charge of ANOC in 2018, agreeing to remain in place until the court case involving Sheikh Ahmad, who is widely credited with helping Thomas Bach become IOC President in 2013, was resolved.

But after four years of holding the fort and with Sheikh Ahmad’s situation seemingly no closer to being settled, Mitchell is now set to secure a four-year mandate as President of the umbrella body.

Looking at the list of titles Mitchell holds within the Olympic Movement, it is hard to

Robin Mitchell will become permanent ANOC President after four years as "acting" head Photo: Getty Images

GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

imagine how the 76-year-old, a trusted ally of Bach, juggles his various lofty roles.

As well as heading up ANOC, Mitchell is a member of both the IOC Executive Board and the World Anti-Doping Agency Foundation Board. He is chair of the Olympic Solidarity Commission and President of the Oceania National Olympic Committees.

Such is Mitchell’s busy schedule, the Fijian was unavailable for interview for this publication.

Mitchell has led ONOC since 2009 and is currently serving a fourth term in office which is due to conclude in 2025 following his re-election in May.

With no-one standing against him in the upcoming ANOC Presidential election, Mitchell is poised to be elected by acclamation in Seoul.

“When you are Acting President, you don’t fully make decisions,” said Mitchell when he declared his intention to stand for the full-time job at last year’s ANOC General Assembly in Crete.

“If you are going to commit to your organisation you have to put your hand up.”

His four-year period as Acting President of ANOC has not come without its challenges, as he was tasked with the job of supporting NOCs through the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of $11.65 million was provided by ANOC to assist NOCs, with the funds managed by the five continental associations under the supervision of Olympic Solidarity.

Mitchell has hailed the resilience and commitment displayed by NOCs during what he described as “a truly extraordinary” 2021.

“The passion and dedication of the NOC family has inspired us and allowed your athletes to shine even during times of darkness,” he said in his end-of-year message.

“There have been countless examples of NOCs working together in 2021 whether it is through shared sports facilities, vaccination hubs or simply the exchange of knowledge and best practice.”

Mitchell said the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were largely held behind closed doors due to COVID-19 restrictions, showcased a “strength in unity” with a record-breaking 93 NOCs claiming medals at the Games.

Just six months later, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics were also held against the backdrop of the pandemic with Chinese organisers implementing strict coronavirus countermeasures.

The Games, which were staged despite human rights concerns, were overshadowed by the Kamila Valieva scandal when it emerged that the Russian figure skater, who was 15-years-old at the time of competing, had failed a drugs test last December.

But Mitchell, who attended daily Coordination Commission meetings at Beijing 2022, claimed the Games would “live long in the memory” as he paid tribute to organisers.

“Despite the challenges, the Games united us through sport, and for every medal there were countless more displays of friendship and respect,” he said.

The performances of those athletes are set to be celebrated when the ANOC Awards are distributed alongside the General Assembly in Seoul.

Less happily, the meeting in the South Korean capital is also expected to provide an update on the organisation’s financial state.

ANOC’s financial power has been considerably weakened after the IOC opted to make a 70 per cent subsidy cut.

During the 2017-2020 Olympic cycle, ANOC received $53.8 million in IOC subsidy, but this is budgeted to drop to $16 million for the 2021-2024 quadrennial.

A 25 per cent increase in the Olympic Solidarity budget to help NOCs recover from the COVID-19 pandemic was cited by ANOC as the reason for the decrease in subvention.

But ANOC reported a deficit of $5.5 million for the past quadrennial last year and the body’s cash balance is projected to plummet from $20.5 million at the end of 2020 to just $2.5 million at the end of 2024.

While International Federations can look to limit the extent of their financial dependence on the IOC by diversifying their income streams, NOCs are reliant on the wealth that is generated from the Olympic Games.

The global financial climate is also becoming increasingly troubled with countries facing a cost-of living crisis as energy bills rise.

Russia is cutting off gas supplies as a result of sanctions imposed on the country in response to the war in Ukraine.

The IOC reacted to Russia’s invasion, aided by Belarus, of Ukraine shortly after the conclusion of Beijing 2022 by recommending that all sporting organisations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competition and stop the two nations from staging events.

Russia and Belarus have been thrown into the sporting wilderness as the majority of IFs continue to prevent athletes from the two countries from taking part in their events, while Ukraine remains under attack from Russian forces.

Speaking after a recent IOC Executive Board meeting, Bach’s spokesperson Mark Adams said the organisation was in an “unsolvable dilemma” over Russia and Belarus but had to take “protective measures” to avoid “full politicisation”.

“On the one hand, we can’t fully live up to our humanitarian mission which is to unite the entire world in peaceful competition,” said Adams.

“On the other hand, the only way to

protect this mission for the future was to recommend the non-participation of athletes just because of their nationality.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

The IOC’s steadfast position raises doubt over the chances of Russians and Belarusians competing at Paris 2024 with Olympic qualification already up and running.

While athletes have been banned, the IOC has stopped short of calling for elected officials to step down from their positions.

The Russian Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus have also avoided suspension by the IOC.

The two NOCs were barred from attending June’s European Olympic Committees General Assembly in Skopje - a move that ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov claimed was in “violation of the integrity of the Olympic Movement”.

EOC President Spyros Capralos implemented the ban to “protect the proper functioning” of the meeting, citing “strong opposition” from some members to a plan for both countries to participate remotely.

The door appears to have been left open at the ANOC General Assembly, however, with Pozdnyakov confirming to Russian state-

owned television channel RT that he had received an invitation to attend the meeting in Seoul.

“The main idea of the political neutrality of the Olympic Movement has been questioned,” said Pozdnyakov.

“These are all the consequences, from my point of view, of a certain media war on Russia and Russians.

“But we see that our voices, one way or another, are beginning to be heard.

“The most striking sign of this was the invitation of the ROC to the General Assembly of ANOC.

“I received the invitation to take part in the meeting of the Executive Council.

“This is a good platform for discussion, for the normalisation of those contradictions that arose, I emphasise, through no fault of our own.”

ROC and NOCRB officials will hope an appearance at the meeting in Seoul will be a step towards reintegration into the Olympic Movement.

But their presence in the South Korean capital is unlikely to sit well with some NOCs, especially National Olympic Committee of Ukraine President Sergey Bubka.

ANOC has yet to confirm whether Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to participate at next year’s World Beach

Russia's invitation to the ANOC General Assembly will cause controversy Photo: Getty Images

Games in Bali, an event it organises.

Russia ranked sixth in the medal table at the inaugural edition of the multi-sport event in Qatar in 2019 with two golds, two silvers and three bronzes, while Belarus finished in the top 10 with a medal of every colour.

The Russian men’s 3x3 basketball team are the defending champions, while Russia’s Vladimir Ryanzin and Aliaksandra Danisheuskaya of Belarus won the respective men’s and women’s water ski jump titles in Doha.

Bali’s 14-strong sports programme for the second edition of the Games includes 3x3 basketball but water skiing has been left off the list.

Air badminton, aquathlon, beach sprint rowing, beach water polo, beach soccer, beach handball, beach tennis, beach wrestling, open water swimming, 4x4 beach volleyball, individual kata, kite foil racing and surfing have also been included for Bali 2023.

The Games are scheduled to run from August 5 to 12, and Mitchell is anticipating an “unforgettable” event.

“We are grateful to NOC Indonesia, the Indonesian Government and Province of Bali for their ongoing commitment and support,” said Mitchell.

“Bali is known all around the world for its beaches and will provide the ultimate environment for our elite athletes, and stunning backdrops for our global audience.”

The Olympic Committee of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the only NOC to currently be suspended by the IOC.

North Korea was banned from fielding athletes at Beijing 2022 following the IOC’s decision in September last year.

The suspension, which is expected to run until the end of this year, was put in place after Bach ruled that the PRK NOC had breached the Olympic Charter by “failing to fulfil their obligation” to send a delegation to Tokyo 2020.

Concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic had been cited by the PRK NOC as the reason for its withdrawal but it was the only NOC not represented at the Games in the Japanese capital.

The Guatemalan Olympic Committee and Indian Olympic Association are under threat of joining the North Korean NOC on the IOC’s naughty step.

Both NOCs have been given final warnings by the IOC Executive Board

GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

because of governance problems.

This year’s Central American Games, which were due to be co-hosted by Guatemala and Costa Rica, have been cancelled because of the threat of suspension, while the next IOC Session, due to be hosted by India in Mumbai in 2023, has been moved from May to September or October.

The COG has been warned by the IOC that it will be suspended should it fail to resolve legal issues with its governance before October 15.

The IOA has also been told that it could face the same fate if problems with its governance are not sorted out “to the IOC’s satisfaction, in the interest of sport and the athletes” and if it is unable to operate through its Executive Committee and General Assembly and stage its quadrennial elections.

A decision is expected to be made when the IOC Executive Board next meets in December.

The two cases will be a cause for concern for ANOC as Mitchell aims to set a course for the future under his full-time leadership.

He is poised to be supported by Qatar Olympic Committee President Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani who is the only candidate to stand for ANOC senior vice-president.

Al-Thani was put forward by the Olympic Council of Asia as its nominee, while the four other continental associations will also nominate an individual to be elected as vice-president for the respective regions.

It will be the 26th edition of the ANOC General Assembly and it looks set to be one of the most important in its long history, with the Mitchell era due to officially begin after four years in the shadows of Sheikh Ahmad.

The in

Sheikh

Limbo

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah finds himself in a strange sort of limbo after being sentenced to at least 13 months in prison after being found guilty of forgery.

Sheikh Ahmad and four others had been accused of creating fake videos to prove two Kuwaiti Government officials were guilty of coup-plotting and corruption, charges proven in court in Geneva.

He has announced plans to appeal against the decision in September 2021 but until that is heard he remains self-suspended from the Olympic Movement.

Should Sheikh Ahmad’s appeal against the verdict fail, it is likely to spell the end of his career in sports politics.

He stood down as President of ANOC in November 2018 when the allegations first became public.

Robin Mitchell was supposed to be a temporary replacement for Sheikh Ahmad but, after an interim spell stretching nearly four years, that is about to be made permanent.

When Sheikh Ahmad had announced his plan at the ANOC General Assembly in Tokyo to step down for “a while” some delegates refused to accept it.

They claimed the case had nothing to do with his ANOC role, and there was an adjournment while legal discussions took place.

Sheikh Ahmad was then given a rapturous reception when he returned to give a second speech and the General Assembly quickly approved the earlier recommendation after he had urged them to do so.

At the time, most were optimistic that Sheikh Ahmad would be back soon. The appointment of Mitchell will end those hopes.

Duncan Mackay

Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani will become ANOC's senior vice-president. Photo: Getty Images

The Unlikely Host

Many observers were perplexed when Qatar was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but, as David Owen reports, the world is now a different place.

Itis a relic from another era, the age of super-powered bidding battles, when political leaders in every major country under the sun were desperate to host marquee sports competitions.

It runs to 84 pages. It is printed on the glossiest paper imaginable. It is a brochure for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.

The peak of the sports bidding frenzy came in 2005, when A-listers London, Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow fought it out tooth and claw for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

This Qatar document must date from 2009 or 2010. But there was still plenty of air left in the bubble. Flicking through its lustrous pages transports you instantly back to what now seems - to a European eye at least - a far-off time of confidence and progress and prosperity.

There were some who felt, as this sophisticated and eye-catching pitch rolled off the presses, that the notion of taking something as vast and all-consuming as a World Cup to Qatar was absurd.

This was a dot on the globe, the 158th biggest country in the world, smaller than Vanuatu, smaller than Eswatini. World Cups were for big countries. What is more, Qatar was HOT. (This was before the switch to dates in the northern hemisphere winter.)

How could the world’s top players function in the scorching desert climate? This explains why no fewer than eight pages of the brochure are devoted to “cooling technology”.

And yet, when decision time arrived in December 2010, the world football body in its infinite wisdom plumped for Qatar in preference to Australia, South Korea, Japan and the United States. It wasn’t even especially close. Indeed, one more vote and the tiny Gulf state would have won in the first round of the ballot.

Twelve years have passed. We stand on the very cusp of Qatar 2022. And the world has changed utterly. Many people, in poor and comparatively affluent nations alike, have found themselves beset by economic uncertainty almost continually in the intervening period.

We have also lived through a traumatising global pandemic. An upsurge of nationalism in a range of countries is further destabilising the world order.

This is the problem with designating mega-event hosts: the lead-time between choosing your partner and the event taking place is necessarily long.

Indeed, for reasons that are neither clear nor, in my view, justified, they appear to be getting longer.

So much in the world might change in the

years leading up to the Opening Ceremony that decision-makers are essentially taking a punt on the future. The choice of Rio to stage the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, for example, seemed perfectly understandable in 2009 when the choice was made, even given a robust field of also-rans comprising Madrid, Tokyo and Barack Obama’s Chicago.

By 2016, however, Brazil’s once buoyant economy had slumped and it became ever clearer that the International Olympic Committee had pitched tent too soon in this gloriously scenic coastal city.

With Qatar, I would argue, something like the reverse has happened - a decision that may have seemed batty to many a dozen years ago now appears to make a lot more sense.

Sepp Blatter announced Qatar as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in December 2010 Photo: Getty Images

DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES

I mean, if you are going to stage a glitzy mega-event at a time of severe economic strain, then there has to be something to be said for siting it in a country that has so much money it scarcely knows what to do with it.

And as much as the current war-related energy crisis is eroding the purchasing power of millions of World Cup fans, it is doing no harm at all to the Qatari exchequer. As I write, the Financial Times, no less, has reported an International Monetary Fund projection that “energy-rich Middle East states are set to reap up to $1.3 trillion in additional oil revenues over the next four years”.

The 2022 World Cup is set to take place, moreover, at a time when the desirability for the West of maintaining a strong relationship with Qatar, which - despite its size - has the world’s third-largest reserves of natural gas, behind Russia and Iran, is glaringly apparent.

Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and the geopolitical economy at SKEMA Business School in Paris, believes that the tournament will help Qatar to “cement itself as a trusted international partner and a dependable focal point for those from across the world who are seeking to build consensus”.

For all the issues that Western liberals might take with aspects of Qatar’s internal policies and world view, I tend to agree.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine means that the competition will, however, almost certainly not be able to fulfil the nonfootball related part of its legacy ambitions.

According to the glossy brochure, “beyond football and in alignment with FIFA’s objectives, a higher goal is at play - an amazing sense of global unity as only football can achieve”.

Under current circumstances, I doubt that anything will bring home to ordinary Russians their country’s present status as a pariah in

international sport more starkly than the Russian team’s absence from Qatar 2022.

After all, it was only four years ago that Russia itself was hosting the tournament, with football fans from around the world getting to know the country for themselves and the home team carving an exciting path as far as the quarter-finals.

“Expect Amazing” was the (syntactically challenged) slogan for the Qatar bid. It remains to be seen if that will be justified, but “Expect Different” certainly will be, if not for the millions watching via screens all over the world, then at least for those avid supporters who opt to follow their team’s progress on the ground.

As a veteran of four FIFA World Cups, my memories of the intervals between games are dominated by inter-city travel, often criss-crossing with diverse groups from one

competing country or another who were in the middle of their own match-to-match peregrinations.

In Qatar, the venue-plan is so compact that, once you have arrived in the Gulf, such journeyings will be dramatically reduced. This too could be said to make unexpectedly good sense at a time when living standards in many of the countries supplying teams look set to be under severe pressure. I doubt that a month-long stay in Qatar at World Cup time will be exactly cheap for anyone, but at least the cost of domestic travel should be minimal.

And what will fans find when they get to Doha? Much Western press over the more than a decade since FIFA picked Qatar has focused on issues such as labour practices and freedom of expression.

In the meantime, the Qatari capital has pressed on with its development into one of

those sleek world cities in which nearly anyone can feel sort of at home and which help to oil the wheels of international commerce.

World Cup ticketholders will find a place used to catering for visitors of multiple nationalities, where stuff works to a high standard and where most if not all Western brands and other creature comforts are readily available at a price.

DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES

For example, the Financial Times reported in August that Deliveroo, the food delivery company, was “expanding into Qatar over the next few months”. Even 13 years ago, I was amazed to discover that the catering at a stadium where I was attending a match was supplied by Fauchon, the high-class Paris gourmet food outlet.

The glossy bid brochure contained lavish four-page profiles of 11 stadia. These included Al-Khor - “stunning asymmetrical seashell motif”; Al-Wakrah - “the football oasis”; and Al-Gharafa -“facade will be made up of the colours of the flags of all countries that have qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar to symbolise football and the friendship, mutual tolerance, respect and understanding what the tournament and Qatar represents”. In the event, just eight stadia look set to be used for the 32-team, 64-match tournament.

This still seems to me quite a lot of top-notch football infrastructure for a place the size of Qatar. So, bearing in mind what Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, former secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, once said to me, I would expect one of the legacies of this World Cup to be an upsurge in the number of international football showpiece occasions to be staged in Qatar.

“Once we build a facility, we want to do two things,” the Sheikh explained.

“First we want to make sure it’s not a white elephant; then we have a strategy. And our strategy is really to plan for the best events in the world to be held here in Qatar.”

With China apparently reining in its football ambitions, at least for the time

being, I would expect these new Qatar venues to be used in coming years for big Asian football matches, for pre-season and midwinter friendlies featuring the world’s richest clubs, as well as perhaps the odd European domestic cup final and international championships of other team sports.

Another legacy, forced by the November/ December timing of Qatar 2022, is that it will disrupt the 2022-2023 European club football season.

This may cause problems for players if it obliges them to pack in yet more matches.

Qatar 2022 will be a compact World Cup with fans of all 32 teams in a small area Photo: Getty Images

Al Bayt Stadium will host the opening game of the tournament

Photo: Getty Images

The

European club seasons Photo:

Images

DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES

But it may also make European title races a tad less predictable, which I for one would count as a blessing.

I say this because, while most of the world’s top players will be battling for the coveted World Cup, a few will presumably be able to rest up, prior to roaring back refreshed in January. Neither Egypt nor Norway have qualified for Qatar 2022. It follows that the main strikers of both Liverpool - Egypt’s Mo Salah - and Manchester City - Norway’s Erling Haaland - should be fresh and raring to go when the key second half of the European season gets under way.

Some believe that this disruption to European club football is just the start of a

much more profound challenge to international sport’s traditional structures and governance as the old order comes increasingly under question.

According to SKEMA’s Chadwick: “The existing system of governance is essentially 'Western' - the people and organisations that established them; the values and operating principles that underpin them; the other organisations with which they typically work.

“Some elsewhere in the world would argue that the established system of governance therefore favours the West.”

Chadwick goes on: “Globalisation has nevertheless resulted in a number of countries from the global South which are growing quickly, accumulating power, feeling increasingly emboldened, and now have a more questioning relationship with Western institutions.

“Often”, he suggests, “the values such countries embody are not best represented and upheld by organisations based in Lausanne or Florida”.

“Unless the global governance of sport adapts to account for these changes, one envisages that some countries may seek to enact their own measures,” Chadwick added.

“This may include challenging existing principles, values, structures and systems, perhaps by introducing rival or supplementary approaches to governance.”

In the fast-developing realm of esports, Chadwick observes, “one already sees that there is something of a scramble taking place between different entities to secure a position as the global governing body. For instance, there are four or five different organisations in China trying to position themselves to achieve this.”

The West, he concludes, faces “an inconvenient truth”. This is “that we no longer live in the first half of the 20th century, when many of the world's now biggest sports governing bodies were established”.

“This”, he argues, “is rendering existing systems of governance obsolete, which seemingly necessitates a process of internal re-engineering”.

“Without this, one envisages that existing models of governance will be increasingly undermined and their power diminished,” he added.

If he is right, the real geopolitical legacy of Qatar 2022 may have less to do with the regrettably naive pipedream of global unity and more with rebalancing international sport’s power structures to the detriment of those regions which have ruled the roost ever since the sector was establishing itself as a mainstay of humanity’s multiplying leisure hours.

By any yardstick, that would be a major change.

The old "Western" order of international sport could be coming into question

Photo: Getty Images

The Doha 22

Twenty-two men made the stunning decision to take the FIFA World Cup to Qatar, and many have led interesting lives since then. Duncan Mackay asks where they are now.

Thedecision to choose Qatar to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup was the most controversial hosting choice in history and continues to be dogged by allegations of corruption and skulduggery.

Here is a succinct run-down of what has happened to the 22 men who opted for the Gulf state in December 2010.

Hany Abo Rida (Egypt)

Abo Rida is the great survivor of the 2010 FIFA Executive Committee. The 69-year-old former President of the Egyptian Football Association is the only one of the 22 who took part in the voting still on the rebranded FIFA Council.

Jacques Anouma (Côte d’Ivoire)

Anouma, 70, tried in late 2012 to challenge Issa Hayatou for the Presidency of the Confederation of African Football. The bid failed after the CAF Executive Committee ruled he was not eligible to stand.

Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)

World Cup-winning captain and coach Beckenbauer was provisionally banned from football for 90 days as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil began. The move was attributed to an "apparent breach" of the FIFA Ethics Code relating to the 77-year-old’s "failure to cooperate" with a FIFA Ethics Committee investigation "despite repeated requests for his assistance". The ban was lifted the same month.

He was eventually sanctioned with a warning and a CHF7,000 fine by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee. A month later, the Committee opened formal proceedings against Beckenbauer "in the context of the 2006 World Cup host selection and its associated funding", a tournament where Germany’s bid headed by him defeated South Africa.

It also emerged in 2016 that Beckenbauer, who has always denied wrongdoing, was among those under investigation by Swiss Federal prosecutors probing allegations of corruption linked to the 2006 bid.

In October 2019, emails were published claiming to show that a Russian Member of Parliament, Sergei Kapkov, had arranged for Beckenbauer to receive €3 million for his vote in favour of Russia as host of the 2018 World Cup. He allegedly received an additional €1.5 million in success fees after the 2018 tournament was allocated to Russia. In 2021, FIFA closed its ethics probe against Beckenbauer as the statute of limitations expired.

A probe into Franz Beckenbauer closed

Photo: Getty Images

Sepp Blatter's FIFA Presidency came to a dramatic end Photo: Getty Images

DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

Sepp Blatter (Switzerland)

Blatter initially managed to secure reelection as FIFA President in May 2015, in spite of gathering storm clouds over FIFA and a dawn raid by Swiss police in Zurich two days before the vote.

The raid led to the arrest of a number of officials and plunged the organisation into the worst crisis in its history. A few days later Blatter announced he intended to step down, leading to Gianni Infantino's election as FIFA President in 2016. In the meantime, Blatter had been banned from football over a CHF2 million payment made to Michel Platini when he was UEFA President.

The money was said to be for work Platini did for FIFA between 1999 and 2002 but was paid only in February 2011. The ban was initially for eight years but was reduced to six years from October 2015.

In March 2021, Blatter received a second ban for six years and was fined CHF1 million by the Ethics Committee after a probe into massive bonus payments.

In November 2021, Blatter was formally charged by Swiss authorities for fraud and falsifying documents in connection with the improper payments to Platini. Blatter and Platini were cleared of the charges eight months later.

Chuck Blazer (United States) deceased Blazer, who died in July 2017 after suffering from cancer, was a central figure in the FIFA corruption scandals. Banning him for life from football in 2015, the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Ethics Committee commented that this large, gregarious man had "committed many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly during his time as an official in different high-ranking and influential positions at FIFA and CONCACAF".

Blazer helped gather evidence for the FBI, bugging meetings with a wire device concealed in a key fob and collaborating undercover with prosecutors after pleading guilty to charges of bribery, money laundering and tax evasion.

Chung Mong-joon (South Korea)

The wealthy 70-year-old son of the founder of Hyundai lost any chance of succeeding Blatter as FIFA President in 2015 when he was banned for six years after being found guilty of infringing a number of articles of FIFA's Code of Ethics. In February 2018, CAS confirmed the violation by Chung of some rules of the Code but slashed his ban to just 15 monthsless than he had already served.

Şenes Erzik (Turkey)

The 79-year-old stepped down from the FIFA Council in 2017.

Julio Grondona (Argentina) deceased President of the Argentine Football Association from 1979 until his death aged 82 in 2014, Grondona was a key figure as chair of FIFA’s Finance Committee. His name came up at a trial in Brooklyn in 2017, when the former chief executive of a sports marketing company, serving as a Government witness, testified that Grondona was paid at least $1 million to vote for Qatar.

Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar)

Bin Hammam, 73, a former Asian Football Confederation President, challenged Blatter for the FIFA Presidency in 2011. He withdrew shortly before the vote and was subsequently banned from football for life for breaching the FIFA Code of Ethics. CAS overturned this ban the following year.

In December 2012, FIFA announced a second life ban, in a decision made public two days after Bin Hammam addressed a resignation letter to the governing body. FIFA said this was based on the Garcia Report, which showed "repeated violations" of the Code of Ethics between 2008 and 2011.

Issa Hayatou (Cameroon)

Hayatou’s long career in sports administration ended in March 2017, with defeat by Ahmad Ahmad in the CAF Presidential election. Hayatou had headed the African Confederation since 1988. He had previously ceased to be a full International Olympic Committee member at the end of 2016, on attaining the applicable age-limit. The 76-year-old took over as acting FIFA President in October 2015 in the months running up to Infantino’s election.

Alleged payments between Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, pictured, have generated many headlines

Photo: Getty Images

Chuck Blazer helped gather evidence for the FBI before his death Photo: Getty Images

DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium)

A doctor, D'Hooghe, 75, was until recently an active and respected chairman of FIFA’s Medical Committee but stepped down from the Council in 2017. In 2015, the Adjudicatory Chamber of FIFA's Ethics Committee cleared D’Hooghe after investigating a number of allegations in relation to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding process.

Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus)

The 75-year-old Cypriot stepped down from the FIFA Council in 2017. The Garcia Report referred to an allegation to the effect that Qatar “carried out various transactions that benefited businesses and individuals linked to” Lefkaritis. It concluded, however, that "at most, the evidence shows a tenuous link between a company Mr Lefkaritis is affiliated with and a company with a 'Qatari interest'".

Nicolás Leoz (Paraguay) deceased Leoz, who died in 2019 aged 90, headed the South American Football Confederation for 27 years until 2013. At the time of his death, he was fighting extradition to the US after being indicted in May 2015 after being charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offences. His resignation from FIFA and CONMEBOL came just before the publication of a FIFA Ethics Committee statement on the examination of a company called ISL.

Worawi Makudi (Thailand)

Makudi, 70, remained a FIFA Executive Committee member until 2015, which was also the year his Presidency of the Football Association of Thailand effectively ended. In July 2015, a Bangkok court found him guilty of electoral fraud, sentencing him to a suspended jail term of 16 months.

The following year, he was handed a five-year ban by FIFA's Ethics Committee. Thailand's Appeals Court overturned a forgery conviction in 2017, however, prompting an appeal of the FIFA ban. In February 2019, Makudi had his ban from the sport overturned by CAS.

Vitaly Mutko (Russia)

Mutko, a Russian Deputy Prime Minister until 2020, was barred from continuing as a FIFA Council member in 2017 after the Governance Committee decided its principles of political neutrality were

incompatible with being a member of Government.

In December 2017, the IOC banned him from the Olympics for life for the alleged role he played in Russia’s state-sponsored doping programme while Sports Minister. He later stepped down as head of the Organising Committee for Russia 2018 and was moved by Vladimir Putin from sport to construction in a Government reshuffle.

Junji Ogura (Japan)

Ogura, 83, stepped down as Japan Football Association President in 2012.

Michel Platini (France)

Once seen as Blatter’s heir apparent as FIFA boss, the 67-year-old former French captain remained as UEFA President until 2015.

He was initially suspended from all footballing activity for eight years, but this sanction was eventually halved.

Platini has also faced allegations that he came under political pressure to vote for Qatar in the 2022 World Cup race but has consistently maintained that he reached his decision independently.

Rafael Salguero (Guatemala)

The 75-year-old remained on FIFA’s Executive Committee until 2015. Later that year, Salguero was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed in Federal Court in New York City. After spending three years under house arrest, he was eventually fined CHF100,000 and banned for seven years.

Ricardo Teixeira (Brazil)

A former long-time President of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Teixeira stepped down from his prominent football positions in 2012. The following year, the FIFA Ethics Committee statement on ISL said it was "certain", as with Leoz, that "not inconsiderable amounts were channelled" to him and ex-FIFA President João Havelange, and that these payments were to be "qualified as commissions, known today as bribes”.

Teixeira, 75, was among defendants indicted in the US and charged with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies. He denies wrongdoing and has not been extradited.

Geoff Thompson (England)

The Football Association chairman between 1999 and 2008, Thompson was, according to the Garcia Report, “the only member of the

FIFA Executive Committee who admitted reaching an agreement to trade votes”. The 77-year-old said this occurred at a meeting involving then UK Prime Minister David Cameron and South Korea’s Chung.

Ángel María Villar Llona (Spain)

The 72-year-old ex-Athletic Bilbao and Spain midfielder headed the Spanish Football Federation for three decades from 1988 but suffered a marked fall from grace after taking over from Platini as acting UEFA head in October 2015. A month later, FIFA's Ethics Committee imposed a warning and a CHF25,000 fine following investigations regarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids.

After withdrawing from the race to succeed Platini permanently in September 2016, Villar Llona was arrested in July 2017 during an anti-corruption investigation. While denying all the allegations, he resigned from positions at UEFA and FIFA and was suspended by the RFEF.

Jack Warner (Trinidad and Tobago)

Warner, the long-time President of CONCACAF, resigned from his international football posts in 2011. At the time, the FIFA Ethics Committee announced all procedures against him had been “closed” and the presumption of innocence “maintained”. Four years later, however, it decided to ban Warner for life.

By this time, the 79-year-old had been named among 14 defendants in an indictment in New York City, charging them with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies. He is currently fighting extradition to the US and has always denied wrongdoing.

Jack Warner is fighting extradition to the United States Photo: Getty Images

The

HOLLYWOODdream

Nine sports are closer to fulfilling their Olympic dreams in tinsel town after making the LA28 shortlist, but, as Eliott Brennan explains, that has meant disappointment for others.

TheOlympic dream is perhaps a cliché as old as the Games itself, but it remains a constant lingering aspiration for every sport searching for a way into the exclusive club.

For nine lucky sports, this fantasy is one step closer to becoming reality after the additional sports shortlist for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics was revealed in August.

Baseball/softball, breaking, cricket, flag football, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, motorsport and squash were all successful in moving on to the next stage of the process.

For sports such as sambo, flying disc and teqball - which all showed an interest in securing a historic place at the 2028 Olympics - it was the end of a long and ambitious road.

Disappointment is only natural when you miss the cut for such a prestigious event. World Flying Disc Federation President Robert Rauch was quick off the mark when expressing he was “surprised” and “disappointed” that his sport did not make it further.

The International Sambo Federation has provided little comment regarding its thoughts, other than saying it had progressed “through the application process and it was not successful”.

“The decision of LA28 for now is final and we are wishing success to all sports that were chosen,” FIAS said.

However, little to no disappointment has been expressed by Viktor Huszár, the International Federation of Teqball chairman and co-founder of the sport.

Instead, he radiated with emotion as his optimism and buoyancy could barely be contained.

“Why should I be down?” Huszár questioned smilingly from the FITEQ headquarters in Budapest.

“We have ESPN live broadcasting teqball events.

“We are in 147 countries with National Federations, and next year we are a medal sport at the European Games.

“I doubt there is any reason why I should be negative.”

LA's GOT TALENT TALENT

ELIOTT BRENNAN JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

For a sport that was first played in 2014 and governed by an organisation founded only in 2017, teqball has made incredible strides on the world stage.

The Olympic Council of Asia recognised FITEQ in August 2018, before the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa followed suit in June 2019.

The following year, FITEQ joined the Organisation of Sports Federations of Oceania, and the Global Association of International Sports Federations granted it full membership.

Teqball featured at the 2019 African Beach Games and is due to be a medal sport at the Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games.

The sport is also set to appear at the long delayed Asian Beach Games in Sanya, as a demonstration event.

ESPN broadcasts of teqball have attracted between 100,000 and 300,000 live viewers, according to Huszár. The governing body is “very satisfied with the broadcasting quality”.

In the United States, the Hungarian official noted that teqball is played in 200 universities across more than 30 states, with fixed tables placed in parks in several major cities, such as Miami.

“It is quite incredible for a five-year-old sport to already be at this level,” Huszár said.

“Teqball is a paradigm shifting sport. We do teqball because of the real added value sport means to people who grow up and then must make a decision on what sport they would like to do on an everyday basis.

“Not just because they want to be an Olympic champion, but because they want to do the fun and grassroots exercise of the sport.”

Huszár’s strong belief in the last point cannot be understated.

He is enormously proud of the sport’s involvement in PlayLA, a programme launched by LA28 which aims to give children between five and 17 the chance to participate in low-cost sports in Los Angeles.

This is funded by LA28 and the International Olympic Committee, with the Organising Committee committing $160 million to children’s sport development prior to the 2028 Games.

Huszár claimed teqball has engaged with roughly 2,000 children through this initiative, an accomplishment he holds in higher regard than making the LA28 shortlist.

“It is more important that the PlayLA kids are coming to our teqball events, they talk about it and try,” Huszár said.

“It is an incredible feeling. I wish all sport representatives to have a similar feeling.”

Huszár’s perceived lack of disappointment over missing the cut for LA28 does not mean teqball has given up on the Olympic dream, however.

In fact, this could not be further from the truth.

The task of securing a spot as a medal event at a future Olympics is fairly complicated because teqball is yet to receive rubber-stamped recognition from the IOC.

Currently, FITEQ’s Olympic dream remains just that - a dream - rather than a short or long-term goal.

Nevertheless, teqball’s credibility is helped by the growing shift towards newer sports and those that attract the younger generation.

According to Huszár, teqball is the second most followed non-Olympic sport and the majority of its audience falls in the 14 to 25 age bracket.

This gives the sport a strong foundation to perhaps join the likes of Tokyo 2020 debutants sport climbing and skateboarding in the future. Breaking, another sport which ticks the youth box, is set to appear at the Olympics for the first time at Paris 2024.

“I think teqball would be a good fit,” Huszár said.

“We do what we know, what we have to do, and we do it with a lot of respect and a very good heart.

“In life, when you work hard, and you have this attitude, then eventually things will come together.

“Let it be the Olympic dream or just huge events where we have a lot of exposure because people are simply interested in a young sport.”

In contrast to Huszár’s enthusiasm, flying disc has been left yearning for its moment on the world’s biggest stage.

Seven years have passed since the WFDF received full recognition from the IOC, which coincidentally coincided with the organisation’s 30th anniversary.

At the time, flying disc had 65 member associations and Rauch said the decision would “give a further boost to our efforts to increasing the presence of flying disc sports in all countries and on all continents”.

Fast-forward to today and the WFDF’s membership has risen to 103. It has the ambition to increase this to 120 by the end of 2023.

This year, flying disc enjoyed a summer of celebration, with the WFDF staging ultimate World Championships at masters, club and junior level. There was also the same tiers of competition in the overall and team disc golf categories.

Ultimate’s summer did not end there, as it featured at the World Games for the sixth time in Birmingham in Alabama.

The flying disc governing body is determined to see the sport grow around the world and, with that in mind, it is not surprising that Rauch was unafraid to show his disappointment after the shortlist revelation.

After all, flying disc had gone to the trouble of putting together Ultimate 4s, a revamped version of the sport’s showpiece discipline, especially with the Olympics in mind. It was part of efforts by the WFDF to woo officials in LA and to comply with the criteria set out by organisers.

Teqball will not feature at LA28 but the sport is taking positives

Photo: Getty Images

ELIOTT BRENNAN JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

The match format, which was launched in October 2021, features two 18-minute halves and games are played on a 45 metre by 25m field, with two 15m deep end zones.

Four players from each mixed-gender team of six compete at any one time.

Under LA’s criteria, IFs were told to prioritise a reduction in the costs and complexity of staging their sports. Rauch reasoned that flying disc could be played on the beach or in any American football arena.

Previously, he also suggested that the cap of 10,500 athletes would not be a problem as just 48 from his sport would have competed.

Other demands in the criteria require governing bodies to prove that they are supporting environmental stability, upholding integrity and fairness, recognising both interest in the host country and offering global appeal, and engaging the best athletes.

Rauch pointed out that flying disc uses existing venues, so does not need new facilities.

“It doesn’t require any special, expensive apparatus,” he said. “And the sport is not disruptive to the environment.”

Flying disc has never had a positive doping result, Rauch suggested, while he argued that the self-refereeing nature and “spirit of the game” values of the sport proved integrity and fairness.

Rauch also has little doubt that the best athletes from around the world would compete, and he is convinced the sport is popular in both the US and overseas.

“Here, I think we have a number of things that we do very well in terms of the US where ultimate is one of the top club sports

played at university level,” he said.

“It is active across the US at an amateur club basis.

“We have a semi-pro league that just cut a deal with a big promotion company.”

Also demanded in the criteria is “uniqueness, universality, promoting gender equality and relevance to youth”, and Rauch again set out the WFDF’s argument.

“On the gender equality side, I think we do better than many sports,” he said.

“Our male to female ratio tends to be 65 per cent to 35 per cent overall, but our mixed division, that we feature at our top Championships, is of course equal gender participation.”

Rauch added that it is “definitely a youthorientated sport” and has been left puzzled as to why the WFDF missed out on the shortlist when it felt it had “satisfied” the requirements.

“We felt, on all those elements, that we deserved a second look,” Rauch said.

“When I say we were surprised and disappointed, we thought that, while we know there are many, many elements that will go into a final decision on inclusion of any additional sports, if that were to occur, we perhaps [thought we] would have at least got a closer look.

“We had a meeting going back to the early stages of when LA28 was coming together, with the then management team.

“We got relatively positive input and feedback at that point in time a few years ago.

“Those are the elements that surprised us, disappointed us, but, obviously, we move on.”

Rauch is planning to continue to lead the WFDF forward by growing the sport’s visibility on the world stage. He hopes to construct a global grassroots programme, a new coaching training scheme and an educational curriculum, while targeting inclusion at more multi-sport events. This could include the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games and the World University Games.

Nevertheless, on this occasion, one’s loss is another’s gain, and this will be the feeling among the nine sports that have advanced in the LA28 process.

Each of the relevant sporting federations were invited to speak to insidethegames about their success, but the majority declined on confidentiality grounds while others did not respond.

Lacrosse remains in the frame for an Olympic appearance in Los Angeles Photo: Getty Images

An exception was World Lacrosse chief executive Jim Scherr, who took the opportunity to show his delight about inclusion on the shortlist.

“Without question, we were very, very pleased to be included in the shortlist of sports and are under further consideration by LA28,” he said.

“We, as a sport, have been working with Olympic inclusion as one of our two goals and our vision as an organisation.

“Through my time, and long before, that has been an aspiration of our sport.

“To be continued in the process was very welcome news.”

Roy Baker, the President of the World Association of Kickboxing Organsiations, was also enthused by the potential opportunity reaching the shortlist offers.

“It is a game changer,” he said to insidethegames

“The shortlisting alone has already raised the profile of our sport to new heights, and the opportunity to give our athletes a chance on the greatest sporting stage in the world is

something we are very focused on.

“It has already and will dramatically increase the awareness of our sport globally and facilitate more people being introduced to a sport that has changed my life and that of millions of other practitioners in a positive way.

“It would be the biggest step our sport has ever taken, and it will be focused on delivering a unique and value added sport to the LA28 Games.”

Baker said that kickboxing would be worthy of its place on a programme which

already includes other combat sports such as boxing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling.

“The sport of kickboxing is the most progressive and exciting contact sport in the world today,” he said.

“I would say that as the President, but I truly believe it.

“There is, in our opinion, no other combat sport like kickboxing. We are unique, in that it is so easily understood by the general public, that it is simple in its application and it is visually exciting and incredibly dynamic.”

The availability of additional sports on the programme gives federations hope they can achieve a slice of history.

Baseball and softball appeared at every Games since 1992 before being left off the programme at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Both were re-added for Tokyo 2020 but have not been chosen for Paris 2024.

With baseball’s obvious American appeal, both sports must surely be front-runners for LA inclusion.

Motorsport has long been excluded from the Games due to a significant clause in the

Squash has applied for Olympic recognition on several occasions Photo: Getty Images

ELIOTT BRENNAN JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Olympic Charter which stated that “sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable”.

An important moment came in 2012 when this was removed, and the International Automobile Federation was recognised by the IOC. insidethegames has learnt that the FIA is expected to propose karting for LA28, and any type of inclusion would be a historic moment.

Cricket last appeared at Paris 1900 and the International Cricket Council has pitched T20 as its selected format.

After failing to make the programme for Paris 2024, karate is seeking to return to the multi-sport event following its debut in Tokyo.

The Birmingham 2022 World Games was a historic moment for flag football as it made its multi-sport event debut.

Kickboxing and squash have never been part of the Olympics, while more than a century has passed since lacrosse last featured on the programme.

History is there to be made for all the contending sports and Scherr is aware the Olympic dream is alive and well for lacrosse athletes.

“It will mean everything to our players,” he said. “Our players have a desire to participate in the Olympics.

“It is a dream of our athletes to have the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games, which they view as the pinnacle.

“The interest and focus on our sport, having that platform of the Olympics, would be very welcome.”

The successful sports will join a line-up of 28 which have already been confirmed for the Games.

However, doubts remain over boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon, which have all been given a “pathway” into the Games by the IOC due to well-documented governance issues.

At the time of writing, no decision has been made on their inclusion.

The final approval of the additional disciplines the LA28 Organising Committee selects is expected to come at the IOC Session in Mumbai next year.

This was due to be held in May, but the IOC has now moved it to either September or October following problems at the Indian Olympic Association after Narinder Batra quit as President in July.

The IOC is scheduled to decide whether the IOA will be allowed to host the Session at its Executive Board meeting in December, and has threatened the body with “immediate suspension”.

Whenever, and wherever, the Session is, it will be a symbolic and mighty moment for the handful of successful sports.

There is in theory no limit on how many sports can be added, as long as athlete numbers stay within the 10,500 quota.

Inclusion would strengthen any potential bid to be part of Brisbane 2032 and beyond, while those which fail will need to roll up their sleeves and try again.

Rauch has already indicated that flying disc will seek inclusion at the Games in Australia.

“There is an awful lot to build on,” he said.

“We have a great group in Australia to promote the sport from within the country, to show we might be viable and interested in being a good addition to the Brisbane Games.”

Huszár offered a different perspective to teqball’s potential inclusion, and stressed the need not to focus too far into the future.

“It is not about LA or Brisbane, it is about how do you develop the Oceania region, the Americas region?” Huszár said.

“For me, that is more important.

“Our goal is not to push for Brisbane. Our role is to develop for the Oceania region.

“It is equally important what happens in Fiji to what happens in Australia.

“We will do everything to make Fiji, New Zealand and so on access the table and customise to the size of the country.

“And we will see if this is attractive to the Olympic Games.

“Our job is to make sure we are visible and exposed and they can decide.”

While the future is unpredictable, a collection of sports will certainly have their Olympic dreams fulfilled.

We just need to sit patiently for that time to come.

Baseball and softball would feel at home in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images

Sport ignite s againSport ignites again

The long battle with COVID-19 may never truly go away but the experience has provided some positives for NOCs as normality threatens to return. Patrick Burke speaks to officials on three continents to find out more.

TheAssociation of National Olympic Committees’ plans to stage its General Assembly in Seoul in many ways embodies the disruption, frustration and uncertainty borne by its members in the last two-and-a-half years.

South Korea’s capital is finally due to bring the 206 National Olympic Committees together at their annual gathering under ANOC’s umbrella, after the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to those hopes in 2020 and led to a move to Crete last year.

The unprecedented challenge posed by COVID-19 is one shared by numerous NOCs, but they found a plethora of ways to ensure the show went on from a sporting perspective.

“Extraordinary” was how New Zealand Olympic Committee President Mike Stanley described managing the NOC’s activities during the COVID-19 era. Bringing “havoc to local sport” was Maltese Olympic Committee

secretary general Kevin Azzopardi’s reflection on the pandemic’s impact, while Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive and secretary general David Shoemaker referred to it as “a challenge for everyone”.

New Zealand’s approach to the pandemic under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern featured strict border controls and periods of tough lockdowns, with the aim of keeping infection rates at a minimum before the measures were relaxed this year.

Despite the scale of the challenge, the country’s athletes amassed a record 20 medals at last year’s delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and Stanley detailed how safety became a top priority.

“They were extraordinary challenging times, and when we started along the process we probably didn’t appreciate just how challenging they were going to be because they took quite a few twists and turns,” he said

“Our focus was to make sure that we did everything to get our athletes to the Games with the very best preparation that circumstances would allow, and that framed our thinking.

“Obviously their wellbeing was top of the mind, as well as how we would take the circumstances into account and plan the various scenarios and risk assessments so we

New Zealand had some of the strictest COVID-19 rules in the world Photo: Getty Images

PATRICK BURKE JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

could safely support our athletes to get to the Games.

“The impact was obviously significant on all of our activities, because in New Zealand our quarantine measures and those sorts of things were strict and long-lasting, so once New Zealand closed its borders, we effectively became an island of our own, and we had to really innovate to ensure that within that island, our athletes could continue to feel good about what they were doing and optimistic about the future.”

For Malta, sport was brought to a halt in March 2020 as with most of Europe.

An easing of restrictions during the summer months enabled sport to resume behind closed doors, before the beginning of a vaccination programme marked “a positive step forward”.

After fans returned last year, Azzopardi said that the situation in the country has developed to bring it to the “closest we ever were to normality”.

“Here in Malta, bar two or three National Federations, the rest are completely run on a voluntary basis,” he said.

“So you can imagine a person caught up at home, not going to his or her full-time job, and having to take care of family from home, how that complicated matters.

“At the beginning, until people started to come to terms with what was going on, it brought about some havoc I must admit.

“But gradually we had to adapt and I think that was key, and things started to settle down and people had to realise that this is a new norm that we were living.

“I must say as well that guidance from our national sports authority, SportMalta, and Government was always forthcoming, so it was never a case of being left in the dark.”

Shoemaker outlined how the pandemic forced the COC to take stock of its approach, and detailed the lengths athletes went to as they prepared for both Tokyo 2020 and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

“The pandemic has been a challenge for everyone,” he said.

“The uncertainty and fundamental changes to how we work, live and play, have forced many organisations, including the Canadian Olympic Committee, to look at how they function and what they’re working for.

“At the outset of the pandemic, health and safety came first, and training for the Olympics in Canada largely stopped.

“The challenges faced by Canadian athletes were among the toughest globally.

“Some Canadian swimmers trained in

backyard pools with tethers attached to their ankles.

“Olympic champion Damian Warner fashioned a decathlon training centre on the floor of his local hockey arena.

“Maude Charron, who went on to win gold in Tokyo, built a weightlifting gym in her father’s garage, and speed skaters took to frozen lakes.”

NOCs became reliant on video conference platforms to continue their operations.

Virtual and hybrid formats for key meetings are something the Olympic Movement has become accustomed to, and, in the face of adversity, many NOCs have found solace in the lessons drawn from the pandemic.

“One of the key highlights, if we can call it so, of the pandemic is that it has made us realise we have a lot of technology tools around us, at least here in Malta, which we were not making use of,” Azzopardi said.

“Here in Malta, we were always used to traditional face-to-face meetings because the proximity for us is very close, so going from the south to the north of the island will only take you 45 minutes.

“Although we were in particular used to Skype, it was used mainly when we had meetings with people abroad.

“We discovered tools which we are still using today.

“I prefer a face-to-face meeting because it is different from an online meeting, but I think that we are gaining a lot of time as well when we are still organising online meetings.

“For example, we created a platform on Microsoft Teams together with all of our

National Federations which was a matter of saving time for all of us, and we will carry on.”

The NZOC was required to work closely with athletes and other organisations including High Performance Sport New Zealand and the Government, and these strengthened ties was a positive of the pandemic for Stanley.

“I think in a strange way it’s been incredibly empowering because it demonstrated that we’ve got a wonderful group of people on our staff and a Board which was very supportive,” he said.

“That cross-sector collaboration we’ve always been pretty good at, but that went to another level, and I think that’s a permanent plus in the system now - the ability to really look at things differently and look at solutions.

“So becoming very solutions-focused rather than a rigid template of ‘this is how we do things all the time’.

“I think it’s led to some additional innovations and also to strengthening our commitment to [the team culture of] manaaki [respect], which has been very strong throughout and is very genuinely held throughout the team, and I’m sure is going to be a significant feature of future teams.”

The pandemic provided an added emphasis on sport as a force for good, and that proved the main takeaway for the COC to take into the years ahead.

“Beyond the Games, the pandemic shed some light on inequities across society, and it caused us to look at ways of addressing them within our sphere of influence,” Shoemaker said.

Malta faced problems as sport on the island is predominantly run on a voluntary basis

Photo: Getty Images

PATRICK BURKE JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

“For the COC, that means supporting a barrier-free sport system that is safe and inclusive, supporting and inspiring young Canadians to stay active and pursue their athletic dreams and investing in programmes that help support and develop athletes both on and off the field of play, such as Game Plan and the Athlete Excellence Fund.

“This was all critical in the earliest days of the pandemic, but we’ve taken these lessons to heart and they remain a priority for us as an organisation looking forward.”

COVID-19 remains a threat to international sport because of the financial impact, and events and athletes are not immune from further disruption. This is shown by the string of postponements and

cancellations in China, most notably of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games until next year.

Several cyclists at the Vuelta a España in August and September also expressed frustration at measures they perceived were too strict after more than 20 riders were forced to pull out of the race for COVID-19-related reasons.

NOCs are handling their futures in different ways.

In Malta, Azzopardi said the country has taken the stance that “there is no turning back”, and the MOC is pressing ahead with preparations for hosting the 2023 Games of the Small States of Europe.

He acknowledged that COVID-19 “delayed certain preparations” and believes the cancellation of the 2021 edition in Andorra “added a bit of responsibility”. But he describes hosting the Games, which are for countries in Europe with fewer than one million people, as “an honour”.

“This is third time that Malta will be organising these Games following 1993 and 2003,” Azzopardi said. “We have all the necessary backing from Government, all the facilities are being brought up to scratch with all the requirements and the Maltese public are looking forward to these Games.

“We anticipate having venues that will be full to the brim with spectators in full support of local athletes, and, from a technical point of view, we are trying to give maximum

opportunities to our athletes to be as best prepared as possible for the Games.

“COVID did have an impact because it delayed certain preparations both administratively and technically, but I think today we are back on track.”

Stanley admitted that the pandemic “has created a bit of a hole in some of our revenue streams”, and that the impact of competing in Tokyo, Beijing and at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in a short timeframe of little more than a year had been “wearing on staff”.

However, he said the NZOC is “very optimistic about the future of sport and excited by the upcoming Paris, LA, Brisbane pathway” with regards to the Summer Olympics.

New Zealand fully reopened its borders to international visitors in July and staged the New Zealand Winter Games in August and September, featuring athletes from more than 30 countries.

Stanley said that “there’s a young generation of athletes coming through now excited about their opportunities in winter sports”. He added that the Commonwealth Games, possibly because of the pandemic, had a bit of an “x-factor” as they took place in front of packed crowds.

COVID-19 has changed sport, and for many NOCs the experience has shaped them into the organisations they are today.

Sport is starting to move on from the strict measures seen at events such as Beijing 2022 Photo: Getty Images

Canada's weightlifter

Charron won Olympic gold

Atfirst, it seemed like a simple enough task.

The team at insidethegames were preparing for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and I took on the challenge of interviewing the Chef de Mission from every competing country and territory.

Granted, that meant getting in touch with and speaking to 72 different people - which sounds like a lot on paper - but I began months in advance and didn’t foresee too many problems.

Surely it would just be a case of obtaining a number, and then picking up the phone? Of course, I should have known better.

Numerous emails, WhatsApp messages and calls went unanswered, and persistence became the name of the game to get these people to speak.

A full list of names with contact details did not exist, so it was up to me to frantically search the internet before firing off correspondence in the hope of receiving a reply.

Every day I would consult my complex spreadsheet of names and numbers, while checking my inbox to cross off the email addresses which had bounced back and no longer worked.

A lot of countries did not confirm their Chef de Mission until quite late in the build-up to the Games, meaning I had to play the waiting game.

Of course, as Birmingham 2022 loomed near, it meant that the people I needed to tie down were exceptionally busy and with less free time to speak.

It was a real slog, and there were times when I thought I might not make it.

But somehow, someway, I managed to speak to all 72 of the Birmingham 2022 Chefs de Mission before the Opening Ceremony on July 28.

They all gave up varying amounts of their time, and the vast majority provided a fantastic interview.

The process, as you might expect, was a fascinating experience.

in

with all

of the countries and territories which make up the

Games Federation was a fascinating task, as Dan Palmer explains.

DANIEL PALMER MAGAZINE EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

The Commonwealth Games stretches to every part of the earth and covers some of the world's tiniest and remotest places.

These are destinations I often knew next to nothing about, so it was privilege to pick up the phone and learn their sporting stories.

I made a Zoom call to St Helena to discuss their 11 day sea voyage to Glasgow 2014, and the fact that rabbits have dug up the island's only sports field.

I contacted the Falkland Islands and was left in little doubt about the proCommonwealth feeling found at the foot of South America, where the bowls team have to set up in a school corridor, dodging the cleaners trying to vacuum around them.

A particular thrill came when I spoke to Anguilla's Cardigan Connor, a former cricketer who starred as a fast bowler for my very own county of Hampshire.

Connor needed to direct me onto the subject of the Commonwealth Games as we could have ended up talking about bat and ball for hours.

Of particular interest were his exploits at the May's Bounty ground in my hometown of Basingstoke, where I once memorably blasted a six into the car park with the first ball of my innings before being comically stumped on the next delivery.

I spoke to Tony Edwards in Niue, a former chief of police who was right in the middle of his team's preparations.

As we chatted on Microsoft Teams, I could see the greens where the island's lawn bowlers were hard in training behind him.

Staying in the South Pacific, I had an absorbing chat with Tala Simeti in Tuvalu, a country threatened by rising sea levels which I have long been fascinated by.

He explained how athletes trained on the international airport runway, as space in this group of atolls is at such a premium.

In Montserrat, Valerie Samuel described what life was like after the volcano blast

which has turned the southernmost part of the island into a no-go zone.

Then there was Frederick Acheampong in Ghana, a man I couldn't resist talking about the FIFA World Cup with as he is also an Executive Committee member of the country's football body.

Ghana have been drawn with Uruguay at Qatar 2022 - the country which knocked them out of the South Africa World Cup in 2010 after Luis Suarez's infamous deliberate handball.

Acheampong said Ghana might have won the competition if it wasn't for that moment, with his passion for his side really coming through.

Some teams named former athletes as their Chef de Mission, including Gibraltar's triathlete Chris Walker who recalled racing in front of a packed multi-storey car park at Manchester 2002.

Singapore's Lim Heem Wei won a gymnastics silver medal on the balance beam in Glasgow, and Dominica's Woody Lawrence, a swimmer, was the first to represent the island in any sport at the Olympic Games.

COVID-19, perhaps inevitably, was a recurring theme. I heard about the tribulations faced by the Cook Islands Olympic team, who endured months in quarantine when returning home from Tokyo 2020.

On occasion, the chats became more sombre.

The tragic death of athletics coach Xavier "Dag" Samuels in the British Virgin Islands, and the destruction of the beach handball venue in Saint Kitts and Nevis following a tropical storm, saw proceedings take a more thought-provoking turn.

I learnt how sport has helped repair Rwanda after the genocide in 1994 and, in Sri Lanka, Chef de Mission Major General Dampath Fernando gave up his time when

his country seemed to be falling apart.

Protestors had just stormed the Presidential Palace and food and petrol were running out, but he still had 20 minutes to chat sport.

Time zones proved problematic as I attempted to speak with people from all four corners of the globe.

I conducted interviews at 7am and 9pm to cater for where people were in the world, with the Cook Islands' location to the east of the International Date Line proving to be particularly confusing.

On four or five occasions I stayed up until midnight for an arranged Zoom call that was convenient for the other side of the world, only for the Chef de Mission not to appear and the chat having to be rearranged.

There was one occasion, however, when the no-show was entirely my fault.

My apologies again to New Zealand's weightlifting gold medallist Nigel Avery, who agreed to speak with me on a Wednesday morning his time.

This was of course Tuesday night in the UK, but for some reason I had it in my head that it would be 24 hours later than what was actually arranged.

I was instead watching my football team

Basingstoke Town get thumped 4-1 in a play-off semi-final in Chertsey, and I have to tell you that speaking to Avery was a far more pleasant way to spend part of an evening.

The 72 pieces I produced from my interviews led to some rather nice consequences.

When speaking to Connor about Anguilla, he mentioned that the island was facing problems sourcing its kit for Birmingham. They were thinking about using old gear from the previous Commonwealth Games

Acclaimed cricketer Cardigan Connor served as Anguilla's Chef de Mission Photo: Getty Images

Tuvalu's athletes practice sport on the airport runway Photo: Getty Images

DANIEL PALMER MAGAZINE EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

in Gold Coast in 2018, which ought to be a souvenir for the athletes who competed in Australia four years ago.

I was able to issue a plea for help which resulted in a donation of $10,000 being made, while a local West Midlands company came forward with assistance for the team’s boxers.

Later, when I watched a re-run of the coverage of the Opening Ceremony, I recognised a number of facts from my pieces as commentators Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter talked the audience through the parade of nations.

The 72 articles had clearly been a key part of the channel’s research so my work, already viewed extensively on insidethegames, was broadcast to millions of viewers.

What came after the Opening Ceremony was a fantastic Games, packed full of fantastic sport in a city which buzzed with warmth and enthusiasm.

A highlight for me was the final Saturday, when the streets were packed with happy people trying to soak up the atmosphere that only a multi-sport event can bring.

As crowds gathered around the famous raging bull that was such a hit at the Opening Ceremony, it seemed like a world away from the disappointment felt at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympics which were shut off to the public because of coronavirus.

Australia and hosts England inevitably won a hatful of medals, but after speaking to all 72 of the countries I found myself rooting for the little guy.

Hearing the stories of the Chefs de Mission meant I felt an affinity and connection to the varying teams competing at Birmingham 2022, and I wanted them all to do well.

Not everyone can top the medal table, but the smaller delegations have their own targets

which, if achieved, mean just as much.

Winning just one gold medal, for example, prompts wild celebrations for these teams and as I saw this happen in Birmingham it felt extra special as I knew the Chef de Mission who would be joining in with the festivities.

The likes of Samoa, Barbados, Cameroon, British Virgin Islands and Grenada all topped the podium, with Mauritius, Mozambique, Guernsey, Tanzania, The Gambia, Saint Lucia, Vanuatu, Nauru and Dominica among others who also won a medal.

A special mention to Niue, an island of fewer than 2,000 people but one which reached the podium for the very first time in its history thanks to Duken TutakitoaWilliams’ bronze in boxing.

Most of the people who give up their time to assist smaller Commonwealth Games countries are volunteers, so they deserve all the success which comes their way.

It’s a shame that every team could not leave Birmingham with a medal, but there is always four years’ time and the Victoria 2026 Games to plan for.

I am already looking forward to that occasion in Australia, and to discovering the latest chapters in the stories of the Commonwealth.

Duken Tutakitoa-Williams won a historic boxing bronze for Niue

St Helena is one of the remotest places in the Commonwealth of Nations Photo: Getty Images

NORTH & SOUTH

Tensions between the two Koreas have often spilled over into the Olympic Movement. As ANOC prepares to meet in Seoul, Philip Barker looks back on an eventful past.

The Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Seoul is sure to evoke memories of 34 years ago, when the South Korean capital hosted what many regarded at the time as the greatest ever Olympics.

Outside the main stadium used for those Games, there is a statue of marathon runner Sohn Kee-chung. He was the first Korean to win an Olympic gold medal and remains as a revered figure in the nation’s sporting history.

Yet his victory in the 1936 Olympic marathon in Berlin was achieved against a bitter backdrop, as Korea had been under Japanese occupation for more than a quarter of a century. Sohn was ordered to run in a Japanese vest.

“I ran without a country, it was heartbreaking,” he said many years later.

When the Koreans finally took part in the Olympics under their own name in London in 1948, it was Sohn who proudly carried

their flag into Wembley Stadium at the Opening Ceremony.

The years which followed were charged with tension and uncertainty, as war raged on the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions between North and South also simmered in the sporting arena, as the International Olympic Committee tried to broker an agreement to allow athletes from both sides of the border to compete.

The North applied for recognition at the 1956 IOC Session in Melbourne - a time when the Olympic Movement had achieved an accommodation of sorts between East and West Germany.

The minutes of the meeting record IOC chancellor Otto Mayer suggesting that “similar arrangements be made in Korea”.

Romania’s Alexandru Șiperco quickly insisted “it would be impossible to make such an arrangement”, however.

Despite this claim, North Korea was given provisional recognition by the IOC in 1957, although it came attached with a proviso.

“Only if they cooperate in forming one single team”, was the demand from the Olympic top table.

Every time it seemed that a breakthrough in doing this was close, political problems prevented a solution.

It had seemed likely for the Tokyo Games in 1964, and the world held its breath in anticipation of watching the new North Korean running sensation Sin Kim-dan.

He had posted world record times and won gold medals at 200 metres, 400m and 800m at the Games of New Emerging Forces in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in 1963.

Those Games were held outside the jurisdiction of the IOC and the world governing body for athletics. Any athlete participating was warned that they would face a ban from competing at Tokyo 1964.

When Sin was banned, the entire North Korean team withdrew in protest and they did not appear at the Olympics until Munich 1972.

In the meantime, Seoul was selected as the host city of the 1970 Asian Games.

Trouble followed, however, and two years before the Games were due to take place, South Korea announced it was pulling out because of financial and political problems.

The theme of Korean unification found resonance on both sides of the 38th parallel.

Only rarely did the two Koreas meet face to face in sport, although at the 1978 Asian Games the countries played out a 0-0 draw in the men’s football final. The gold medal in Bangkok was shared.

PHILIP BARKER HISTORIAN, INSIDETHEGAMES

In 1990, a series of re-unification matches were arranged in Seoul and Pyongyang, but the moment which changed everything for Korean sport came on the last day of September in 1981.

Many in the sporting world were astonished - or even alarmed - when Seoul achieved an emphatic victory over the Japanese city of Nagoya, the only other candidate, by 52 votes to 27 to win the rights to the 1988 Games.

The vote was taken at the 1981 IOC Session in the German spa town of Baden-Baden.

Remarkably, South Korea had only hosted a major global sporting event for the first time three years earlier.

The 1978 World Shooting Championships had taken place in Seoul and proved to be the catalyst for the Olympic bid.

Civil unrest and the assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee threatened to foil the candidacy, but the bid was presented just in time.

Among those instrumental in its success was Kim Un-yong, a Government official and taekwondo enthusiast who described himself as “an operator”.

Kim was arguably the first Korean to make a significant impact in the heady world of international sports administration.

He founded the World Taekwondo Federation and established the Kukkiwon as a world headquarters for the sport.

In the late 1970s, he became an increasingly important figure in the body now known as the Global Association of International Sports Federations, later becoming its President.

This meant he attended the inaugural World Games in 1981, which he opened in Santa Clara in California as the founding head.

Kim forged a close relationship with the new IOC President, Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The road to the 1988 Games was fraught with problems, not least because South Korea did not have diplomatic relations with many of the countries in the Soviet Bloc.

Kim was an integral figure in heading off the possibility of a boycott. Within a month of winning the rights to host the Olympics, Seoul had also been selected to host the 1986 Asian Games which would prove to be an important dress rehearsal.

During these Games, the IOC Executive Board arrived for a meeting in South Korea for the first time.

The agenda reveals long discussions about the demands from the North to co-host events in 1988.

Many felt that this idea was a non-starter, but a number of meetings were held between both sides before the idea finally stalled. North Korea was one of the few nations to stay away when the Games finally began.

A few days before the sport started, an IOC Session was held in Seoul which was a significant meeting for Kim. He was elevated to the Executive Board, only two years after becoming an IOC member.

A few days later, Kim saw his dreams for taekwondo become a reality. A spectacular display was a memorable set piece at the Opening Ceremony, while the arrival of the Olympic Flame after an emotional journey through South Korea was a moment to electrify the stadium.

The bearer was none other than Sohn, now aged 76.

The cauldron was ignited by a teacher, an athlete and a dancer, representing the pillars of the Games.

Seoul harnessed the symbolic messages of the Olympic Movement in a way that others were to emulate.

The Games proved a great success, cementing Kim’s place at the top Olympic table.

His Olympic credentials were then enhanced further in 1993 when he was elected as a vice-president.

Then, at Sydney 2000, the two Koreas finally marched under the unification flag for the first time at an Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Although the delegations were largely kept separate during the Games, the gesture was hailed as a great symbolic act and the two Korean teams at least paraded together at major Games until 2006.

When Samaranch finally stood down, Kim ran against four other candidates for the top job at the IOC Session in Moscow in 2001.

The field included Canada’s Dick Pound, Pál Schmitt of Hungary and American Anita DeFrantz, all long serving IOC members.

At one stage Kim was considered a likely successor but he was then censured as part of the disciplinary action in the wake of the Salt Lake City bribery scandal.

Seoul had hosted an IOC Session in 1999, when the fallout from the Salt Lake revelations was still on everyone’s lips.

Two years later Kim polled 21 votes in the first round, going on to finish second with 23 votes behind Belgium’s Jacques Rogge.

The shadow cast by Salt Lake City - where members were found to have taken gifts and bribes in the bidding process for the 2002 Winter Olympics - was felt by many to have affected Kim’s chances of winning.

North and South Korea famously marched together at the Sydney 2000 Opening Ceremony Photo: Getty Images

Sohn Kee-chung

PHILIP BARKER HISTORIAN, INSIDETHEGAMES

The torch was carried towards the cauldron by ice hockey players Park Jong-ah of South Korea and Jong Su-hyon from the North.

"We thought it would be a dramatic moment to go up together,” said ceremonies director Song Seung-hwan. “My heart was overwhelmed.”

At the Opening Ceremony, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in welcomed Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong to the Presidential box.

A group of North Korean cheerleaders also arrived, becoming celebrities in their own right with their matching uniforms and synchronised displays.

He was later jailed for two-and-a-half years in South Korea on corruption charges linked to his leadership of taekwondo and the South Korean NOC. He protested his innocence to the end and died in 2017, aged 86.

Kim saw taekwondo become a full Olympic sport at Sydney 2000 and his last great ambition was to see the Olympics return to South Korea.

Pyeongchang first bid for the 2010 edition of the Winter Games and advanced to the second round before losing by three votes to Vancouver.

Another attempt was made for the 2014 Games, but there was similar disappointment as the Koreans missed out 51-47 to Sochi.

A third bid was made and at the 2011 IOC Session in Cape Town, Pyeongchang was finally successful as it saw off bids from Munich and the French resort of Annecy in the race for 2018.

As the new Olympic year dawned, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spoke of “glorifying a meaningful year”.

His New Year message also included a pledge for the Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

“As for the Winter Olympic Games to be held soon in South Korea, we earnestly wish success,” Kim, who was under increasing Western pressure due to his missile programme, said.

“Since we are compatriots of the same blood as South Koreans, it is natural for us to share their pleasure over the auspicious event and help them.”

High level meetings in Lausanne soon took place and made clear exactly what was planned with the secretive north.

“As you know from the popular Korean folk song Arirang, it is a long journey across the cold mountains,” IOC President Thomas Bach, who later met with the North Korean leader in Pyongyang, said.

An announcement of an “Olympic Korean Peninsula Declaration” was made.

The Games in Pyeongchang would feature 22 athletes from the North - in figure skating, short track, cross-country skiing and Alpine skiing.

The big news was that 12 players would join the South Koreans to form a unified squad in women’s ice hockey.

They soon arrived to begin training with their new team-mates, with three players due to be included in each match. The final selection rested with Sarah Murray, the Canadian head coach, however.

The team wore distinct uniforms, emblazoned with the blue symbol of Korean unification, and even had their own acronym - COR.

Just as it had been in 1988, the arrival of the flame was a highly emotional moment as it was once again an expression of hope for peace.

The proposed joint anthem, Arirang, had already been referenced by Bach. It is a folk song popular in both North and South Korea. The ice hockey team lost all five of its matches, scoring one goal, but the albeit brief events in 2018 again offered hope for the future.

Later in 2018, a joint Korean team competed in three sports at the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang. A historic gold medal was won in women’s dragon boat, and the unified flag was raised.

This achievement was widely lauded, but North Korea’s relations with the IOC, so heavily promoted during Pyeongchang 2018, have now soured.

The country was suspended after failing to appear at the re-arranged Tokyo 2020 Games - a decision it blamed on COVID-19. It meant North Korea also missed Beijing 2022, with the ban not yet lifted.

ANOC’s gathering in Seoul was originally scheduled for last year, before coronavirus forced its relocation to Crete.

Organisers in the “land of the morning calm” will hope that holding it this year will be a sign of a return to normality.

North Korea's cheerleaders became well known for their displays at Pyeongchang 2018 Photo: Getty Images

Kim Un-yong

figure

Korean sport

his career ended

A combined women's ice hockey team formed for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics Photo: Getty Images

Quite quartet

Four multi-sport events have competed for the public’s attention in recent weeks, with some going ahead a lot later than originally planned. Michael Houston assesses how they got on.

TheCOVID-19 pandemic means the sporting calendar is still a bit upside-down with a bed head.

Events are gradually returning to their normal four-year patterns after numerous delays, which were largely caused by the unprecedented postponement of Tokyo 2020.

Organisers ripped up their schedules and moved competitions to accommodate the unexpected occurrence of an Olympic Games in 2021.

This year, the World Games, Commonwealth Games, Mediterranean Games and Islamic Solidarity Games have all taken place.

All four events were moved from their original dates to accommodate issues in the calendar, although the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games were only pushed back by a single day to avoid a clash with the delayed Women’s European Football Championship.

It was a packed multi-sport schedule so the question is - how did these Games fare?

Birmingham 2022 World Games

Initially set for 2021, the Birmingham 2022 World Games were moved back a year to avoid a clash with Tokyo 2020. The event for non-Olympic sports is the closest competition many disciplines have to the Olympic Games.

Taking place in the famous Alabama city in the United States, Birmingham 2022 was the first edition to be held in the country since the inaugural event in Santa Clara in 1981.

COVID-19 and inflation had its effect on the organisation of the event, to say the least. Having been moved by a year, there was an obvious financial impact. Approximately 377,000 spectators attended the World Games, down from the projected 500,000.

Something that may have had more of an impact on the politicians involved in the World Games is the relief package given by Birmingham City Council to the tune of $5 million. This is approximately 35 per cent of the Games’ overall debt.

However, there were positives from the 11th edition of the event, including its dedication to supporting athletes from Ukraine. A slice of ticket revenue was donated to those affected by the Russian invasion, with $54,000 raised for the cause.

Germany topped the medal table in front of the US and Ukraine, with 30 sports part of the programme including breaking - which will make its Olympic debut at Paris 2024.

At the Closing Ceremony, International World Games Association President José Perurena called it the “Comeback Games” as it was one of the first multi-sport events held after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Birmingham 2022 chief executive Nick Sellers praised the work of the Organising Committee, saying the legacy it will leave will be beneficial.

“I believe that the World Games 2022 will ultimately go down as a great success for the City of Birmingham and the entire region,” he said.

“We wanted to utilise this moment to elevate the image of our city and state which ultimately leads to more economic activity in the future and, by all accounts, we delivered with many headwinds including a global pandemic and record inflation.

“The World Games had not been back in the US in 40 years.

“The lack of brand awareness brought some challenges to educate the sports fans in America that some of these sports, and many of the athletes competing, have been recent invitational sports on the Summer Olympic platform.

“Most importantly, we’ve learnt to do a financial feasibility within our own community to ensure that both our corporate and Government partners are in lockstep on the due diligence and are willing to financially commit to the event before bidding - with clear understanding that these events rarely ‘make money’ for the Organising Committees.

“Rather, they bring positive economic impact and enhance the image of a community.

“Birmingham didn’t have a playbook before on how to analyse, organise and deliver major international sporting events - we do now and we will be even better in delivering future major sporting events.”

Flag football at the World Games in Birmingham.

Photo: IFAF

MICHAEL HOUSTON REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Jumping from one Birmingham to another - we move across the pond to England for the latest edition of the Commonwealth Games. This confusingly shared its name with the World Games, which rebranded after its postponement from 2021.

That scenario would have been avoided had the Commonwealth Games Federation’s initial plans come to fruition. Instead, the English city tagged in for Durban as hosts of the Games due to financial constraints in South Africa.

With less than five years of preparation, Birmingham managed to get the event over the line successfully, albeit with some issues.

A traditional Athletes’ Village was scrapped for multiple hubs due to complications caused by the pandemic.

Track cycling had to take place in London and there were threats from powerhouse nation India to boycott the Games over the omission of shooting. This all showed that the Games lacked romanticism in some ways.

Yet, there is something special about the Commonwealth Games. From Eilish McColgan’s women’s 10,000 metres victory, to Delicious Orie getting his arm raised in the boxing ring, these are moments now etched in history. As, unfortunately, are low points such as the major crash in the cycling which saw England’s Matt Walls go over the top.

What was always going to be certain was a warm welcome in a thriving city. Thousands of volunteers made the experience fantastic for those attending, as did the popular mascot Perry the Bull.

On the field, Australia, England and Canada finished in the top three on the medal table, while New Zealand won 20 golds - their best ever haul. Scotland and Wales recorded their best medal tallies outside of a home Commonwealth Games.

This was all before we got to Black Sabbath at the Closing Ceremony, while the “raging bull” was a major hit from the Opening.

Despite the shortcuts, compromises and many barriers in the way, Birmingham showed hosting the Commonwealth Games was still possible, and worthy. Birmingham 2022 chief executive Ian Reid said that the ticket sales of more than 1.5 million was higher than expected.

“We have now sold over 1.5 million tickets which is above where we projected to get to,” said Reid at the end of the Games.

“I don’t yet have the final statistics with percentage of capacity as we were still selling tickets for final sessions.

“For the majority of venues, it will be over the 90s.

“We are very much in the region of this being the biggest and most successful Commonwealth Games.

“I am hugely proud after 11 days of competition here in Birmingham.

“The whole city and region have really embraced the event.

“Walking around Centenary Square, Victoria Square and Smithfield you just see throngs of people engaging with the event and thoroughly enjoying it.

“I would like to say thank you to the volunteers who are a real credit to the city and the region in giving everybody a warm welcome and of course the athletes who have produced some incredible performances across all our sport.

“I could not be more proud of all the team and a huge thank you to the CGF for putting their faith in the city of Birmingham.”

Ozzy Osbourne made a surprise Closing Ceremony appearance in Birmingham. Photo: Getty Images

The Opening Ceremony raging bull was a huge hit at the Commonwealth Games.

Photo: Getty Images

Birmingham

Commonwealth Games

MICHAEL HOUSTON REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Separating Europe from Africa, the Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important sections of water in the world and has for centuries influenced the politics and culture of the nations which border it.

While Birmingham prepared to welcome Commonwealth nations, Oran was bringing together countries from Africa, Europe and Asia for the Mediterranean Games.

This was the second time the Games were held in Algeria after the North African country held them in 1975 in capital Algiers. Sfax in Tunisia was the final bid to fall, while Mostar, Dubrovnik and Kotor also came up short.

Although COVID-19 delayed the planned 2021 event by a year, it did not smooth the preparations in Algeria which led to public criticism from the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games.

“To our great regret, we must highlight the significant and fundamental organisational shortcomings, which have created extremely negative impressions on the members of the Mediterranean family and have provoked

strong reactions,” said ICMG secretary general Iakovos Filippousis.

He lambasted transportation, which left about 60 members of the ICMG Executive Committee and other guests unable to reach the Oran Olympic Stadium in time for the Opening Ceremony. They also had issues getting into the stadium with security having to separate the crowds outside so they could gain access.

Other controversies saw problems with volunteer numbers, as well as medical assistance, drinking water, food quality and the absence of sports facilities in the Athletes’ Village, according to the North Africa Post

Oran 2022 President Aziz Derouaz did not garner many favours with the ICMG, but will point to the success on the field. Italy pipped Turkey in the medal standings, while Algeria had its best-ever Games with 20 golds, 17 silvers and 16 bronze to finish fourth overall, just behind France.

“I think the whole world, and especially

the whole of Europe, and the Mediterranean, Asian and African countries were able to enjoy a real Olympic Games,” said Derouaz.

“These Games will open a new page for Oran, both in terms of sports and tourism, because many of the participants now want to return to Oran as tourists rather than just as athletes.”

Konya 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games

It was a successful summer of sport for Turkey, with the host nation of the Islamic Solidarity Games dominating to win 145 gold medals in Konya. Uzbekistan were second with just 51 golds.

Much like all of these events, the Games were affected by COVID-19 and moved back by a year. But before the pandemic crept into our lives there had already been significant upheaval. Most notable was the host city being changed from Istanbul to Konya.

Then, prior to the Games, Egypt confirmed it would not send athletes and Iraq also withdrew. Iraq pulled out following the shelling of the Kurdistan region, which it blamed on the host nation.

Some issues spilled into the Games, with technical problems nullifying the times of sprinters from the first three days of athletics. The results system was another gripe for the media.

That said, Konya was able to hold the Games successfully, and used them as a

platform to boost the city’s reputation. It will also have helped kick-start discussions about Istanbul bidding for the 2036 Olympic Games.

Konya’s Organising Committee were optimistic about the future, having held only the fourth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games.

“The City of Konya had a great experience with the Islamic Solidarity Games,” said Konya 2021 in a statement.

“Konya 2021 has shown us that the Islamic Solidarity Games is on the right way to being an important part inside the multisport events.

“I am sure our Games will have better editions in the future and continue to grow with the professional and helpful contributions of both the current leadership of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation and the international sports community.

“We will share all our experience with ISSF management to assist for further editions.

“I also want to thank international sports media, especially insidethegames for their attention to our Games which boosted our team with great motivation.”

Oran 2022 Mediterranean Games

Oran in Algeria staged this year's Mediterranean Games. Photo: Getty Images

Konya in Turkey took centre stage for the Islamic Solidarity Games. Photo: Getty Images

LAKE PLACID 2023 2027 BIDDING RACE

The International University Sports Federation has not been able to hold an edition of its flagship event since 2019, with Lake Placid set to end that run in January. With an intriguing bidding race also in progress, these are exciting times. Owen Lloyd reports.

LakePlacid is preparing to welcome international sporting competition for the first time in more than 40 years, but a similarly menacing landscape looms.

The New York village is on the brink of hosting the 2023 International University Sports Federation Winter World University Games, between January 12 to 22 next year.

It is the first major event that Lake Placidians will see on their doorstep since the 1980 Winter Olympic Games and the first under FISU’s new naming system.

Previous editions were known as Universiades, but the switch is part of FISU’s rebrand as it looks to launch a new visual identity.

Similarly to today, the 1980 Games took place in the shadow of war as just a month and a half before the Opening Ceremony the Soviet Union launched its invasion of Afghanistan which would last for nine years.

The Cold War conflict caused grave destruction in Afghanistan and is widely regarded as a key contributing factor to the dissolution of the Soviet Union two years later.

Despite the Soviet Union’s rebrand to the Russian Federation, some things never change as Lake Placid 2023 is also set to take place amid a sinister political context.

President Vladimir Putin’s wanton invasion of Ukraine has shown no signs of slowing down and, as a result, athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus have been banned from competing in Lake Placid.

The sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the military offensive echo measures taken by the international community in 1980 before the United States led a boycott of Moscow’s Summer Olympics later in the year.

The boycott and penalties exacerbated Cold War tensions and enraged the Soviet Government, which later led to a revenge boycott of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

There will be no immediate opportunity for a boycott at the Yekaterinburg Summer World University Games, which were

OWEN LLOYD JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

leaders in environmental sustainability”.

Due to Lake Placid being predominantly a tourist town, it can be difficult for communities and local families to afford housing.

As a result, organisers are going to offer accommodation from the Athletes’ and Media Villages to local families to ensure they can stay in the area.

Plans for the original Villages have had to change due to problems caused by COVID-19.

“Due to construction delays and supply shortages, many caused by the global pandemic, the main Athletes’ Village concept for the central area was no longer feasible as it was proposed in the original bid,” said Augustin.

“Therefore, the Organising Committee had to create an alternate hybrid concept combining hotels and university campuses.

scheduled to take place in Russia in 2023. FISU did what the International Olympic Committee failed to do in 1980 by suspending the city’s hosting.

Although it has not been completely cancelled, the Games cannot come to Yekaterinburg until 2029 at the earliest.

Chengdu in China has been given the 2023 summer slot after two coronavirus-enforced postponements, while Rhine-Ruhr in Germany is hosting in 2025. The 2027 Games are due to be held in either North Carolina or Chungcheong, while the 2025 winter edition has also found a home in Turin.

Because of COVID-19, FISU has not held one of its flagship events since the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples.

The 2021 Winter Universiade in Lucerne was cancelled so the Games in Lake Placid are seen as a cautious chance to return to business as normal.

Lake Placid is no stranger to FISU as it also hosted the 1972 Winter Universiade, which was dominated by the Soviet Union. Their delegation topped the standings with 12 gold medals, compared to the host nation which won just one.

Fifty-one years later, the village with an approximate population of just 2,200 is hoping to boost the local area as a result of the Games and the investment which comes with it.

“It was a great idea to come back to the US and especially Lake Placid for the FISU Winter Games,” said Milan Augustin, the FISU Games winter director, to insidethegames

“The Organising Committee is doing amazing work and we hope that all athletes will become satisfied and enjoy the FISU Winter Games after a four-year break due to the COVID-19 cancellation of the Lucerne Winter Universiade.

“The impact is huge not only for having new or refurbished international standard sport venues but also for the whole Adirondack region, which is one of the best touristic areas in New York State.

“The investment was carefully considered to keep going for legacy.”

A total of 10 venues are due to be used for the 12-sport programme, with the majority existing facilities as sustainability is a central theme.

These venues have benefitted from $92.5 million allocated in the New York State budget to upgrade and revitalise them.

The Saranac Lake Civic Center, due to stage curling, has undergone a $6 million revamp which has seen rink improvements take place to ensure the surface meets elite-level standards.

The biathlon circuit at Mount Van Hoevenberg is also being redeveloped, and as part of the Games’ legacy is expected to host a regular leg on the International Biathlon Union World Cup circuit from 2026.

Project director of the Adirondack Sports Council, Ashley Walden, is eager to use Lake Placid 2023 as an “opportunity to be world

“There are many useful facilities available for delegations such as fitness suites, meeting rooms and laundry rooms, giving the opportunity for athletes to socialise.

“Implementing this hybrid model meant that not all the rooms were of the same standard.

“But after a renovation we have seen a great improvement to meet our requirements for the Games.”

The Organising Committee has put the environment at the forefront of its decisions, covering not only large projects such as the

venues but smaller aspects too.

Tickets will be available primarily on a mobile platform, while the medals have been created using “responsible recycling practices”. They “embody not only the spirit of the Games but also the ethos of New York State as a leader in sustainability,” according to Walden.

“Sustainability is not underestimated by the OC and the Games are a great opportunity to show our commitment to the global issue of the zero-carbon process,” Augustin added.

“A great initiative of the OC, together with FISU, is to create the 'One Tree' website which aims to encourage all delegates, participants and spectators to support the programme of planting trees in the region.”

The

University athletes are hoping for a return to normal after COVID-19 delays Photo: FISU

OWEN LLOYD JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Lake Placid is the only place in the US to have hosted the Winter World University Games but, due to the existing amount of sporting facilities, it may not be long until another is announced.

“To keep our carbon footprint down and reduce the environmental impact of the FISU Games, they must be placed where infrastructure is already built, and we know that in the US there are several locations which are capable of organising Winter Olympic Games or major winter sports competitions at international level,” Augustin said.

“But I hope we will not wait another 51 years after Lake Placid which, from my point of view, will set a milestone for further winter multi-sport events not only for student athletes but on the whole.”

Looking further ahead, the host of the 2027 Summer World University Games is due to be announced at a FISU Executive Committee meeting in Brussels in November.

It is an intriguing battle with the Chungcheong “megacity” in South Korea rivalling the Triangle Region in the American state of North Carolina for the hosting rights.

North Carolina's Triangle Region boasts 32 existing venues that could be used, as well as several renowned sporting institutions such as North Carolina State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The bid encompasses the cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary and Greensboro, with a student population of more than 260,000.

Chungcheong has 23 potential competition venues with 19 of these already in place.

The megacity project includes the cities of Sejong and Daejeon, as well as the provinces Chungnam and Chungbuk. It covers 20 per cent of South Korea’s student population of 1.94 million.

“North Carolina is a nice destination and a home for university sports, and you could feel the vibe everywhere around the region,” FISU Games summer director Jing Zhao told insidethegames

“While the candidature from Chungcheong has a long vision over the development of this megacity for hosting the Games.

“Both candidatures are very strong and have totally different concepts.

“It is really difficult to identify the deciding point.

“Evaluating candidate cities is not mathematics, there are lots of factors to be taken into consideration, for example the vision, the legacy, the sustainability, the culture and of course the support from Government and the local community.

“I actually feel quite lucky that I do not need to vote.”

It is undoubtedly a tough decision, but Chungcheong’s support from the public and Government could give them the edge in the race.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea approved the bid because of the proposal’s feasibility and public interest.

More than one million people have also signed a petition in favour of the area hosting the event.

The South Korean Government has approved an approximate budget of €440 million for the 2027 Games with 80 per cent coming from local and central bodies. The remaining 20 per cent would be sourced from sponsors and profits, such as ticket sales.

“What determines the stability of a mega-scale international event organisation is money,” said Chungcheong 2027 secretary general Kim Yoon-suk.

“To put it straightforwardly, no money, no Games.”

This financial backing may seem impressive, but should the Games really cost such an eye-watering amount?

When you compare it to the $100 million expected for North Carolina’s bid, it seems exorbitant.

Further expenses are also not accounted for in Chungcheong’s budget, including a 3,500-apartment Athletes’ Village and the construction of roads, which are planned to be carried out separately as part of a national project.

Both the US and South Korea have staged the Summer Universiade in the past with

FISU has not been able to hold an edition of its flagship multi-sport event since Naples in 2019 Photo: FISU

OWEN LLOYD JUNIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Buffalo hosting the 1993 edition before Daegu and Gwangju were respectively under the spotlight in 2003 and 2015.

“Having hosted the FISU Summer Games before is definitely a good plus,” said Zhao.

“It indicates that there has always been a passion for university sports in the country, as well as the strong involvement of the member association in the host country.

“With an efficient transfer of knowledge and experience, it helps the local Organising Committee to build a solid foundation on the event preparation.

“Although with this being said, hosting experience is not a must-have factor in terms

of delivering a successful event, but it is certainly nice to have.”

The two bids continue the trend of more spread out and regional hosting of multisport events.

FISU’s upcoming Rhine-Ruhr 2025 Games is a prime example of this as it features five sub-sites in Bochum, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen and Mülheim.

“I personally see this approach coming more and more in the future, especially for megaevents such as the FISU Games,” Zhao said.

“Indeed, instead of a candidate or single host city, we are now having more proposals encompassing multiple cities.

“The scale of the FISU Games, and the number of facilities required for both sport and non-sport purposes of the event, is huge, and one could hardly name a few ready cities around the world.

“There are a few downsides on the concept such as the travel distance and the decentralised organisation.

“However, with this concept, we are enabling the event host to explore their region for all kinds of resources, avoiding unnecessary new-builds, and eventually making our events more sustainable and accessible.”

Zhao claims that interest in hosting the FISU World University Games is not slowing down as several member associations have already expressed their intent to bid for the 2029 summer edition. However, she remained tight-lipped as to who the interested parties are.

If we have learnt anything from events gone by, it is that they are so often used as political vehicles.

So, no matter where the Games end up, there may well be more than just sport on the cards.

North Carolina's Triangle Region is one of two bidders in the frame for 2027 Photo: Getty Images

FISU Games which are more spread out could become a common fixture Photo: FISU.

The ever-changing

schedule

The Olympic sport programme has changed dramatically over the years, with weird and wonderful events enjoying their time in the spotlight and others dropping in and then back out again. Philip Barker reports.

Paris2024 is the next Summer Olympics on the calendar but the first competition for Los Angeles 2028 has already begun.

The quest for inclusion at the Californian Games is up and running for nine hopeful sports, which are doing their utmost to gain a place.

Baseball/softball, breaking, cricket, flag football, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, motorsport and squash are all in the frame, as the Olympic tradition of an ever-changing sports programme looks set to continue.

Of those shortlisted, karate was the most recent Olympic debutant at the re-arranged Tokyo 2020 Games last year.

It was held at the famous martial arts arena the Budokan, where judo made its debut at the 1964 Games.

Unlike sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding, which also made their bows in Japan, karate was not invited to make an immediate return at Paris 2024.

This was the same fate suffered by judo, which was summarily dropped after its first appearance at the Games despite an impassioned plea by future FIFA President João Havelange.

That judo did return in 1972 will surely give karate hope for its future on the grandest stage.

Kickboxing is seeking admission after receiving Olympic recognition along with sambo and Muay Thai last year. The growing

Baseball and softball is bidding to return to the Olympics at LA 2028 Photo: Getty Images

PHILIP BARKER HISTORIAN, INSIDETHEGAMES

television market for mixed martial arts might well help its case.

When we reach 2024, it will have been a century since the Olympic appearance of another martial art.

Savate, or boxe française, was included at the 1924 Paris Games as a demonstration sport.

Sports have seized the opportunity to be part of the Games thanks to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach’s strategy document, Agenda 2020.

This has given host cities the chance to include sports which are attractive to the audience in their home nation.

Until the early 1990s, Games organisers were able to stage demonstration sports, with the big difference that these did not offer Olympic medals.

Sometimes, as with Australian rules football at Melbourne 1956, the appearance was fleeting.

On other occasions, the demonstration provided a pathway to full Olympic acceptance.

This was the case for baseball and softball, which were finally accepted as full sports in 1992 after demonstrations at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988. Both were jettisoned after Beijing 2008, before being recalled for Tokyo 2020.

Baseball and softball have been fighting for their Olympic lives since the 1912 Games in Stockholm, when two demonstration matches were played.

The Americans challenged local Swedish players with a team comprised of members of the United States athletics squad.

Eight medallists took part, including 3,000 metres team race winner Abel Kiviat, who was also known for sharing a room with Jim Thorpe, the winner of both the pentathlon and decathlon.

Thorpe was also a talented baseball player and took part in one of the matches in Stockholm.

Later, it was revealed that he received a small sum for playing minor league baseball which prompted authorities - operating under strict rules of amateurism - to strip him of his Olympic medals.

They were eventually returned to his family, but he was only recognised once again as the

sole Olympic champion earlier this year.

As baseball and softball has not been accepted for Paris 2024, the sports’ Olympic fight must now continue, although Los Angeles would seem like an obvious venue.

Cricket is also seeking a place in 2028 but the IOC’s concern about athlete numbers could count against another team sport.

It was due to be part of the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, under the supervision of the Marylebone Cricket Club in London.

This proved impossible to arrange, but the sport was played in Paris in 1900, albeit with only one match. A French team, largely drawn from British expatriates living in Paris, and a side from Blundell’s School and Castle Cary Cricket Club in the English West Country, locked horns.

Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin had planned for cricket to be part of the Olympics when the Games were originally awarded to Rome for 1908.

However, by the time the Games were reassigned to London, organisers had rejected it along with baseball “because the practice of these games was too restricted in character for the purposes of an international competition”.

This is not a charge which can be levelled against cricket in 2022. The International Cricket Council rankings include 78 countries for men and 59 for women in T20, the format which would most likely be used in the event of Olympic inclusion.

The ICC can also point to a hugely successful eight-team competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and inclusion at both the African and Asian Games.

Lacrosse, a game rooted in the traditions of the Iroquois people, was included for the first time at the St. Louis Olympics in 1904.

In 1908, a match was played between Canada and England which “proved to be one of unusual interest”.

“It was hailed by a crowd, the large majority of whom had assembled to watch the subsequent football match and knew nothing of lacrosse,” the official report added.

Lacrosse has been included for both men and women at the World Games, with an indigenous Iroquois team taking part in Birmingham in Alabama this year.

Flag football also appeared at those Games, and college football was originally included in a list of events for the St. Louis Olympics.

“Owing to the conditions in American colleges, it would be utterly impossible to have an Olympic football championship decided,” organisers later admitted.

Despite this, Saint Louis University remained enthusiastic and were joined by Washington and other institutions for a series of exhibition matches.

For many years, the Olympic Charter included a clause which explicitly banned “sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion”. These were described as “not acceptable”.

Karate debuted on the Olympic stage at Tokyo 2020, but immediately lost its place Photo: Getty Images

NORTH CAROLINA’S

The International Automobile Federation now enjoys the recognition of the IOC, and e-karting featured at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires as a demonstration event. This might give a clue to the format officials have in mind.

In 1900, the internal combustion engine was all the rage and a series of events were included on the programme for the Paris Exposition, which was attached to the Games in the French capital. To this day, however, no-one is quite sure precisely what events were Olympic or not.

In 1908 in London, the Olympic programme listed motorboating in Southampton Water.

“Only boats propelled by means of internal combustion engines shall be eligible to compete,” regulations stated.

The official report said the weather had negatively impacted the competition.

“A strong gale was blowing and heavy sea running made racing an enterprise of some considerable risk,” it said. “It robbed it of all its enjoyment, except to the most confirmed enthusiasts.”

Breaking will be part of the Olympic programme at Paris 2024 and is hoping to consolidate its place in 2028.

It enjoyed a successful baptism at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

When the IOC makes its decisions for 2028, it will also consider the Olympic future of three long-standing sports.

Boxing was introduced in 1904, and with the exception of 1912 has been contested at every Games since.

Women’s boxing finally came in at London 2012, but controversies over governance, finances and judging have put the sport’s Olympic future in jeopardy.

Modern pentathlon was introduced 100 years earlier, with rules devised by De Coubertin himself, to find the ultimate Olympian.

Coubertin was prepared to accept alternative suggestions for the sport’s five events, but not at the expense of equestrian which has now been axed amid opposition from many. An obstacle race has since joined fencing, swimming, running and shooting.

PHILIP BARKER HISTORIAN, INSIDETHEGAMES

The new format was piloted in Turkey earlier this year, and an obstacle race was in fact included at the 1900 Olympics.

It was part of events held on the Seine, with competitors asked to swim part of the course.

Weightlifting has featured at every Summer Olympics since 1920, and took place at two Games before then, but its place in Los Angeles is also under threat due to a series of doping and governance scandals.

Officials hoping to retain its place need to convince the IOC that the culture of the sport has changed for the better.

The way in which sports are selected has changed many times since the first Olympics in 1896.

The initial prospectus for the maiden Games in Athens laid out different categories.

“Athletic sports” listed track and field events, including a road race from Marathon to Athens, as well as gymnastics and cycling.

“Nautical sports” included swimming, rowing and sailing, which were all due to be held in the sea at Piraeus. In the end, only swimming was possible due to bad weather.

“Combat sports” included fencing and wrestling, a staple of the Olympics in antiquity. “Athletic Games” listed lawn tennis and cricket.

“It will be noticed that equestrianism no longer figures in the programme,” a bulletin stated.

“The Greek Committee said that with the resources available it would be difficult to organise a competition which had all the required guarantees, and that in such circumstances, they would prefer to abstain.”

Even so, the sports which were held gave encouragement that the Olympic Games had a future.

Although jumping, eventing and dressage were not included formally on the programme until the 1912 Stockholm Games, horses were involved as early as 1900 when polo was included.

This remained a fixture until 1936. Regulations insisted that “no pony showing vice or not under proper control shall be allowed in the Games”.

In the years before the First World War, the Olympic programme featured golf, croquet and tug of war which was first included in 1900.

It kept its place until the 1920 Games in London, and was the first medal event at the inaugural World Games in Santa Clara in 1981.

Squash has been trying to force open the Olympic door for many years without success. In 1908, Olympic competition began with the similar “racquet sports” at the Queen’s Club in London.

The first gold medal was won by Evan Noel, almost three months before the Games were officially opened.

“Racquets, it may be noted, is always so expensive a game that, except at the public schools, the number of players is always so restricted which may be a reason for not including it in future programmes for the Olympic Games,” a report said.

Indoor tennis, played alongside the grass court version, also enjoyed a brief spell in the Olympic spotlight.

After the First World War, the discussion on the make-up of the programme intensified and the Olympic Charter began to include lists of “core” and “optional” sports.

But even in the late 1970s, the Charter still included separate criteria for each gender.

“Only sports widely practiced in at least 40 countries and three continents may be included in the programme of the Olympic Games,” the regulations for men read.

“Only sports widely practiced by women in 25 countries and two continents may be included.”

Women’s rowing was not admitted until 1976, women’s hockey only in 1980 and cycling not until 1984. In the new millennium, the IOC’s Olympic Programme Commission drew up evaluation criteria for sports and disciplines.

It ran to 33 points over six pages, and covered subjects such as doping, gender equity, universality and television coverage.

This was not a problem in bicycle polo, which made its only appearance in 1908 as a demonstration sport.

Although the input of host cities is now emphasised in the process, the evaluation criteria still retains considerable importance, particularly in questions about marketing and broadcast potential.

We will have to wait and see which sports make the cut for Los Angeles, as well as beyond.

Breaking will debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics as officials look to youth Photo: Getty Images

Tug of war being contested at the London Olympics in 1908 Photo: Getty Images

Germany and Ireland square off in bicycle polo at the London 1908 Games Photo: Getty Images

It’s in the bag

MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Thearrival of the Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Seoul, we earnestly hope, will provide another signal that Asia is up and running again as a sporting host after extended troubles with COVID-19.

After the postponement of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games to next year, and the shift of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing from 2020 to 2025, the fact that ANOC is taking place is a significant marker.

Thirty-four years ago, the 1988 Seoul Olympics were a marker on a different scale. It was only the second Summer Olympics to be held in Asia, following the 1964 staging in Tokyo, and the first to be held in South Korea.

There was so much to celebrate from those 24th Summer Olympic Games.

Not the bit when South Korean officials, angry at a decision against their boxer Byun Jong-il in favour of Bulgaria’s Aleksandar Khristov, attacked the New Zealand referee Keith Walker and attempted to smash the Bulgarian President of the Referees’ Committee over the head with a plastic box, however.

Or that bit where the embarrassed home fighter Park Si-hun, adjudged the lightmiddleweight gold medallist after undergoing a remorseless three-round pounding from Roy Jones Jr of the United States, held up the silver medallist’s hand on the podium and later told him: “I am sorry. I lost the fight. I feel very bad.”

Although, in retrospect, that moment of respect was well worth celebrating.

But, yeah, that Ben Johnson thing was also a bit of a blot on the landscape, thinking about it, although I do feel that when it comes to doping bans in sport it is worse to hear nothing than something.

It is still odd that the Canadian sprinter

tested positive for stanozolol, a drug that virtually sits up and begs testers to notice it, and one that his doping overlord, Dr. Jamie Astaphan, insisted would never have been part of the programme at that point.

Reading Astaphan’s testimony at the Dubin Inquiry, you almost find yourself sympathising with him over his profound frustration that something had cheated his cheating regime of the success it so demonstrably deserved, and in which he so obviously rejoiced. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “no man is a hypocrite in his pleasures”.

But here’s the thing - and I must apologise in advance for what you are about to read. I and many like-minded - that is, frankly juvenile - members of the press will always recollect the 24th Summer Olympic Games for a story told by those who arrived at the Media Centre after flying in, to be met by the wild-eyed figure of Bob Harris.

This wily and highly experienced operator was, frankly, in a state of shock. He was like one of Jonathan Swift’s Houyhnhnms who had no word for a lie, and instead had to “say a thing which is not”.

And this is what he said: “Welcome to the no-bag Olympics!”

Now I don’t know for sure if there were any press bags at the Seoul Olympics. But I do know that, at this key early point, Harris had been unable to detect any, and detection of that kind was one of his strong suits.

To their credit, the members of the Fourth Estate who came through that time of dearth speak little of their pain. And, soon enough, the flow of Olympic baggage resumed as Barcelona gave way to Atlanta and Sydney…

People like bags that tell other people they are, or have been, people who have been Olympic people. Press people are no different.

One colleague of mine diligently collected his freebie bags from over the years and then sold them at a car boot sale. He now has an offshore account and changes his Rolls Royce every month.

I don’t know if ANOC are preparing any bags for those who will cover their deliberations. I earnestly hope they are.

But one thing that will not, and should not, be anticipated, please God, is medals.

A few years ago there was a vogue for media medals. You didn’t even have to win the media 800 metres. You just had to be able to locate and pick up a branded bag.

Medals are for athletes - not those who write about them.

Beer - now that’s a gift. My young colleague Owen Lloyd recently tweeted the stunning evidence of his media welcome pack when he covered the European Youth Olympic Festival in Banská Bystrica. Not just a bottle, but a box of Urpiner beer.

Mascots or similar. Now those are a gift - especially for those with small children.

One of my own small children, who is now strangely un-small and thoughtful and sensible, reminded me the other day of the koala bear I brought her back from Sydney 2000.

“You know…the one with the inlaid mother-of-pearl bits,” she said. “I loved it.”

I’m glad she loved it really, but I can’t remember it.

Now, if she’d been talking about a bag, well….

Media bags are in high demand at any Olympic Games Photo: Getty Images