SportAccord Convention Magazine 2015

The insidethegames.biz magazine The world’s leading source of independent news and information about the Olympic and Paralympic Movement.

A year after Sochi 2014, the Olympic Movement returns to Russia.

A lot has changed in that time.

Specially produced for the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit 2015, in Sochi, Russia.

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Contents

Introduction

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Much Ado About Nothing?

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On their marks, Get set, go!

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Duncan Mackay Published: April 2015 by Dunsar Media Company Limited Editor: Duncan Mackay Managing Director: Sarah Bowron Commercial Director: Dominique Gill Project Coordinator: Elliot Willis Design: Elliot Willis Willis Design Associates Pictures: Getty Images Staff headshots: Karen Kodish Print: www.csfprint.com Dunsar Media Company Limited C222 MK:TWO Business Centres 1-9 Barton Road Bletchley Milton Keynes MK2 3HU Great Britain +44 1908 263387 contact@insidethegames.biz www.insidethegames.biz

David Owen

Mike Rowbottom

Has Russia’s decade of sport lost its sparkle? 14 David Owen

Sochi 2014: One Year On 16 Nick Butler

Heading for disaster 18 Liam Morgan

Europe gets ready for its BIG BANG moment 20 Duncan Mackay

Giants coming to play Daniel Etchells

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O CANADA! 28 Michael Pavitt

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Sun, sea and sport 32

Data is published in good faith and is the best information possessed by Dunsar Media Company Limited at the stated date of publication. The publisher cannot accept any liability for errors or omissions, however caused. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions, if any.

Lights, camera, action! 38

Š and Database Right 2015 Dunsar Media Company Limited All rights reserved.

Nick Butler

From hard time to samba time Duncan Mackay

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Emily Goddard

Almaty or Beijing? 42 Nick Butler

This time for Africa 46 Michael Pavitt

Gloves off as FIFA and IAAF go to the polls 50 Alan Hubbard

Sporting Legacy 54 Mike Rowbottom

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OďŹƒcial FINA Partners

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DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES

I

t is great to be back in Sochi for this year’s SportAccord Convention. Sochi 2014 is still fresh in the memory, another set of unforgettable moments safely locked away along with those from the 12 other Olympics I have attended.

When we left Sochi to return home, we believed the Olympics had helped dispel a few stereotypes about Russia and marked a new period of cooperation and friendliness between them and the West. Sadly, things have not quite turned out as we hoped.

Thankfully, for now at least, sport has remained largely unaffected by the tense political climate. But, with Russia due to stage so many major events over the next few years, including this year’s World Aquatics Championships and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, sport faces the real threat of getting dragged into the dispute.

David Owen, insidethegames’ chief columnist, examines whether some of the gloss has been taken off Russia’s “Decade of Sport” by recent events.

Owen also gives his early verdict on Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 reforms which will reshape the Olympic Movement, it is claimed. It is fair to

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say that he is not convinced. Make sure you read his thought-provoking views.

One thing that Agenda 2020 has done is open up the possibility of extra sports being added to the programme for Tokyo in five years’ time.

Baseball and softball remain the favourites but Mike Rowbottom looks at some of the other contenders, some more a possibility than others.

Senior reporter Nick Butler, meanwhile, has recently visited Almaty and Beijing, the last two cities left standing in the race to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. He gives us an excellent analysis.

Our team of writers also preview this year’s continental Games, including Baku 2015, a truly historic moment for sport in Europe and a testament to the perseverance shown in the project by Patrick Hickey. The European Olympic Committees President kept the faith when others would have given up a long time ago.

On the subject of keeping faith, Bach never doubted that Rio 2016 would turn out to be a success even when it seemed everyone at this corresponding Convention last year in Belek was going nuts over Brazil.

Is his faith justified? I accompanied the International Olympic Committee President to Rio de Janeiro recently to see how things are going.

Finally, the doyen of Olympic writers, Alan Hubbard, casts his hugely experienced eye over the FIFA and International Association of Athletics Federations elections, both of which are due to take place this year. Hubbard has been close to the key players in the Olympic

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Movement longer than just about anybody.

For example, Alan has known Sebastian Coe since he was 17, when the future double Olympic gold medallist and multiple world record holder stayed at his house because he couldn’t afford a hotel room. He attended his first Olympic Games at Tokyo in 1964 and has been sports editor of some of the biggest newspapers in Britain.

With experience like that, it is no wonder that www.insidethegames.biz is the undisputed number one when it comes to Olympic news.

The statistics prove it. So why pay for secondrate journalism when you can get it for free from the best team in the business?

Enjoy the Convention.

Duncan Mackay Editor

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5

O Much Ado About Nothing?

Agenda 2020 has strengthened the position of IOC President Thomas Bach after it was passed unanimously in Monte Carlo. Photo: Tony Barson/Getty Images

Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 has been hailed as a game-changer for the Olympic Movement.

David Owen, however, is not so convinced and wonders what changes it will actually bring.

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n December 9 in Monte Carlo, Gian-Franco Kasper, then 70-year-old President of the International Ski Federation, added another distinction to his long, distinguished career in sports administration. The Swiss national became the first direct beneficiary of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach’s newly-approved 40-point Agenda 2020 reform package.

Recommendation 37 enabled members to extend the term of office of up to five colleagues beyond the general age limit of 70. Within hours of the green light, Kasper became the first beneficiary of such an extension. All being well, the now 71-year-old, who is also President of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations, can remain an IOC member until his FIS Presidency ends in June 2018.

This softening of the rule on age was atypical of the overall package, in that it smacked more of good oldfashioned sports politics than anything to do with updating the organisation.

Otherwise, the headline items were more about bringing

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DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES

USOC officials are waiting to see what effect Agenda 2020 will have on Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. Photo: Getty Images

the IOC in-line with a prevailing zeitgeist that was making it look cumbersome, extravagant and a tad old-fashioned. That and the technical/marketing innovation of a digital Olympic Channel, with projected operational costs of $600 million over the 2015-2021 period, to draw people to Olympic-related content year-round, rather than just at Games-time.

Once the reported $51 billion cost of developing Sochi and environs for the 2014 Winter Games had acquired such currency that you might almost describe it as ‘the price-tag heard round the world’, the Movement had little choice but to reorient its priorities in line with the tougher times eating into ordinary people’s incomes. Anyone who doubts this need only look at the various casualties in the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic race, which will finally meander to a conclusion with a choice between Beijing and Almaty in tropical Kuala Lumpur in July.

Bach also seems to have been astute enough to realise that, as for any elected leader, the easiest time to attempt meaningful change was at the start of his mandate, before the honeymoon glow fades.

And indeed the entire package sailed through www.facebook.com/insidethegames

in a single day with unanimous backing, in a display of unity that would not have disgraced the Soviet Politburo.

Unfortunately, as can happen when new laws hit the statute book and before an accretion of case law produces precedents that yield greater clarity, one early legacy of the Agenda 2020 changes has been a certain amount of confusion.

The acceptance of greater flexibility in permitting different events to be staged outside the host city has produced a flurry of proposals of varying degrees of fancifulness and improbability: shifting part of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games to Nagano; or North Korea; mounting a nationwide South African bid for the 2024 Games or; much more plausibly, staging events in a Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in France.

Meanwhile, Tokyo 2020 is being extensively reconfigured après la lettre, with new sports almost certain to be added to the programme and several venues in the process of being changed.

IOC vice-president John Coates, who is serving as chairman of the IOC’s Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission, has made no bones about forthcoming venue changes, @insidethegames

saying that the need to make maximum use of existing facilities overrode Tokyo’s eight kilometre philosophy. At the time that this philosophy was formulated, of course, compactness was held to be one of the cardinal Olympic virtues, resulting in plans to build 10 new venues within eight kilometres of the Olympic Village.

Nowhere is confusion greater than over how the events that will compose the Olympic sporting programme will now be chosen.

Simply stated, what Agenda 2020 has done is remove the old limits on the number of sports that could be included in the Games while imposing ceilings on the number of athletes and events. Since the number of sports, beginning with Tokyo 2020, looks all set to rise, something else will have to give.

Looking over the wording of the relevant legal changes promulgated by Agenda 2020, just about the only commitment on the event programme that the IOC has signed up to is that it will “consult the relevant International Sport Federations”. The IOC’s Executive Board is supposed, in addition, to decide on the programme “not later than three years” before the Games. However, any deadline

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Squash and the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games

SQUASHSPORT AT ITS BEST.

WORLD SQUASH Back the bid at www.worldsquash.org 8

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WSF

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DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES

The reported $51 billion cost of Sochi 2014 has led to cities around the world questioning the worth of hosting mega-events. Photo: Harry Engels/Getty Images

“may be exceptionally waived with the approval of the relevant IF, of the relevant Olympic Games Organising Committee and of the competent IOC organ”.

As it seems to me, the inevitable quart may now be accommodated in the pint pot of the Olympic schedule in one of two ways, or perhaps a blend of the two: the number of competitors admitted to each event may be cut from recent levels, making for a shorter elimination phase en-route to particular finals, but also, inevitably, fewer opportunities for athletes from small Olympic nations; and/or the number of events allotted to sports offering the most gold medals may be reduced.

This sounds all very well in theory. In practice, I suspect it will lead to a timeconsuming and rather opaque spell of horse-trading between IOC bigwigs and powerful IF bosses. Look at how firmly Sergey Bubka and Sebastian Coe - the two candidates www.facebook.com/insidethegames

on the stump ahead of the International Association of Athletics Federations Presidential election in August - have spoken out in support of the likes of the 50km walk and triple jump, two elements of the current Olympic athletics programme that are widely considered to be vulnerable.

Because it will take a fair bit of time before the full consequences of Agenda 2020 are made manifest, a final verdict on how far-reaching and positive associated changes have turned out to be will have to wait probably until around the end of Bach’s first term in 2021.

One of the chief short-term effects may, accordingly, be to add a lustre of confidence to Bach and his team in their everyday dealings with the organisation they manage.

They might well have suspected prior to the Extraordinary Session at which the changes were adopted that they had the IOC membership, for the time being, eating out of @insidethegames

their hand; now they know.

This may also have been noted by leaders of the United States Olympic Committee, who over the next two years will be striving to bring the Summer Olympics and Paralympics back to their country for the first time in a generation. Some of their past comments have suggested to me that they are a little nervous, in the wake of past failed bids, about their prospects of persuading a majority of IOC members to back Boston 2024 and would prefer the IOC’s Executive Board to have more of a say.

If the spirit of Monte Carlo holds good, one might infer that if Boston, or any other candidate, can convince the Executive Board that it is the right choice, then the full membership would go along with such a judgement. The only thing is, the 2024 host will not be chosen for another two years in the Peruvian capital of Lima. How long-lasting will this spirit of Monte Carlo turn out to be?

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On their marks...

go!

Get set...

Baseball and softball are the favourites to be added to the Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020 but that has not stopped several others from launching their own campaigns to try to get into the Games. Mike Rowbottom reports.

T

he reaction of Riccardo Fraccari, President of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, upon hearing of the International Olympic Committee’s recent decision to abolish the 28-sports cap for the Summer Games, was memorable.

“It’s like when the manager calls you off the bench to pick-up the bat and warm-up, and the bases are loaded,” said the representative of the two sports dropped from the Olympic programme following Beijing 2008, which have since made strenuous efforts to return.

“All you want to do is swing for the fences.

“Today there is excitement circulating around the baseball and softball world and there is great hope that our athletes will now have a real opportunity - the pinnacle and highest honour in our sport - to play for their country, aiming to win an Olympic gold medal.”

Fraccari’s excitement about the changes planned as part of IOC President Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 “re-booting” of the Olympic Movement has been shared to a greater or lesser extent by representatives of all sports seeking to earn, or regain, their place in the Games.

For all, as the Tokyo 2020 Games preparations get fully underway, “the fences” are attainable.

But those fences are closer for some sports, of course. Part of Fraccari’s enthusiasm was down to the fact that the huge popularity in Japan of men’s baseball and women’s softball means they are widely seen as the outstanding favourites to return to the programme.

Karate, squash, skateboarding, surfing, sambo, sport climbing and roller sports are others with serious aspirations, while new disciplines in pre-existing sports - such as 3x3 basketball - are also vying for inclusion. Most recently, cue sports have thrown their hat into the rings.

The IOC’s move to an “events-based” system allowing new competitions to come in,

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while keeping to about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events, means host cities will be allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their Games.

Accordingly, a Tokyo 2020 Additional Event Programme Panel has been convened to study the feasibility of proposing specific sports to be added to the Olympic Games.

However, as IOC vice-president John Coates explained early in February, the decision on adding new sports to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games programme is not expected until August 2016.

Speaking after a Project Review meeting in the Japanese capital, Coates, who is also head of the Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission, said a final decision will be taken at the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, shortly before the start of the Rio 2016 Games. The Tokyo Organisers were originally expected to complete their analysis by September this year.

“The whole world is looking at this process, not just the people of Japan,” said Coates.

“Many sports are interested and this is going to be a very transparent process.”

Sambo enjoys high-level support from the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hollywood actor Steven Seagal.

Photo: Alexei Nikolsky/AFP/Getty Images

As a microcosm of the sporting world, insidethegames received a huge response to its February poll inviting readers to say which sport they thought should be added to the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020.

Of those who responded, 57.7 per cent voted for baseball/softball, while 34.9 per cent went for squash. Karate was the next most popular, with 6.3 per cent of the vote.

“While baseball and softball have very deep historic and contemporary connections in sporting communities and at all levels of

Karate is one of the sports hoping to persuade Tokyo 2020 to add it to the Olympic programme. Photo: Carmen Jaspersen/AFP/Getty Images

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MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Baseball last appeared on the Olympic programme at Beijing 2008 but is expected to regain its place at Tokyo 2020. Photo: Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images

society in Japan,” Fraccari says, “the sports are experiencing worldwide popularity and growth, with new as well as existing and upgraded venues able to host the sports in both traditional and new markets in Africa, the Middle East, as well as in Europe.”

However, there are other contending sports with a deep historical appeal for the 2020 hosts, such as karate, which recently sent a six-strong delegation to meet Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in order to lobby for their sport’s inclusion.

In a meeting described as “fruitful and congenial”, the group explained the attractions and advantages of the sport’s inclusion at the Games before outlining recent efforts to promote the sport throughout the host nation.

Squash has been a strong and honourable contender for an Olympic place for many years.

Its leaders showed the endurance one might expect from such a punishingly physical sport last year, as they picked themselves up from a third successive failure to earn Olympic inclusion, in an agonising process which began with high hopes for the London 2012 Games, and announced - a trifle wearily - that the rally would continue onwards to the 2024 Olympics.

Squash narrowly missed being included for the 2012 Olympics, and was rebuffed again www.facebook.com/insidethegames

when the IOC Assembly decided to add golf and rugby sevens to the Rio 2016 Games.

The deliberations around 2020 inclusion were, if anything, even more painful, as the IOC first threatened to detach wrestling from its programme, but then let it back in again after significant adjustments within the sport.

Leaving squash off court again.

Now the Agenda 2020 alterations have opened up a previously unexpected glimpse of the Tokyo 2020 Games. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the World Squash Federation President N Ramachandran is proceeding with more caution than his counterpart in baseball/softball.

“I have always said that my task has been to keep pushing at the Olympic Games

Squash is refusing to give up on its Olympic dreams, despite losing three consecutive bids. Photo: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images

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Surfing is pinning its hopes on new technology improving its Olympic chances. Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

programme door for squash,” he said.

“Now that I can see that a little light is coming through at the edges I am delighted of course.

“However, we cannot get ahead of ourselves.

“We simply remain hopeful that the changes that President Bach and his [IOC] Executive Board make will take us forward onto the next stage of our dream being realised at the earliest opportunity.”

The recent announcement of an historic merger agreement between the Professional Squash Association and the Women’s Squash Association with a view to creating parity of prize money and playing opportunities was coincidental, but will hardly have done any harm to the sport’s continuing Olympic ambitions.

Surfing’s hopes of inclusion are riding partly on the recent technological advances that make it possible to utilise man-made waves in a controlled area, thus taking away the need to wait for nature to provide.

“Ten years ago Olympic ambitions would not www.facebook.com/insidethegames

have been realistic,” Fernando Aguerre, President of the International Surfing Association, told insidethegames. “But now people who have never even been to the ocean will have the opportunity to surf on consistent, high-performance waves.

“There are an estimated 14 million surfers aged 12 to 24, all seeking to watch our sport. If surfing has the honour of becoming an Olympic event then we can offer a vast, new audience that an Olympic Channel can capitalise upon - reaching young fans globally to promote the power of sport.”

Skateboarding has a similar ethos, reach and range among young people, which makes it another potentially satisfying Olympic option.

Two sports that will have a high-profile airing at this summer’s inaugural Baku 2015 European Games, sambo and 3x3 basketball, will also be hoping to press their claims.

Last year, FIBA secretary general and IOC member Patrick Baumann told insidethegames that 3x3 basketball was the “future of the sport”. @insidethegames

Meanwhile cue sports, under the joint banner of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and the IOC-recognised World Confederation of Billiards Sports, has also mounted an unlikely Olympic campaign.

WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson feels that the sport has the global reach to merit being a part of future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Snooker has grown at unprecedented levels in recent times and it has been our belief for some time that we should be given our chance on the ultimate global platform for sport,” he said.

“In 2001 we delivered, with great success, our sport to the International World Games in Akita, Japan, a programme which has continued to this day.

“Snooker alone is watched by nearly half a billion people worldwide and played competitively in over 90 countries.

“With pool and carom alongside us under the WCBS, we have competition in around 200 countries, making us one of the world’s most widely practised sports.”

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Has Russia’s decade of sport lost its sparkle?

Russia is halfway through a decade when it is hosting some of the biggest sporting events in the world. It has already staged the Winter Olympics and has the 2018 FIFA World Cup to look forward to. But the situation in Crimea, economic problems and a doping scandal involving some of its top athletes has cast a pall over it. David Owen is optimistic, though, that sport can help the country project a better image for itself.

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T

here is a new name at the foot of FIFA media releases. Nestling between Coca-Cola and Hyundai, and the rest of the football body’s corporate partners, you will now find Russian gas giant Gazprom’s well-known blue flame logo. Its presence acts as a reminder of how significant a partner international sports leaders have allowed Vladimir Putin’s vast domain to become in the 21st century’s second decade. With relations between Russia and the West now deteriorating fast after a period when they seemed to have improved beyond all recognition, managing this partnership may turn out to be one of the industry’s chief challenges for the next few years.

Few, if any, countries are set to host more big international sports events in the current decade than Russia.

In 2013, there was the Moscow World Athletics Championships and the Universiade in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan. Last year, the pace stepped up, with World Championships in judo and fencing, a debut Formula One grand prix and, of course, the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Next year, it is the turn of ice hockey and that sport’s World Championship,

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while 2018 brings arguably the biggest prize yet: the FIFA World Cup. This year promises to be as crowded as any, with Kazan hosting the World Aquatics Championships, flagship event of another major Olympic sport, a second World Fencing Championships and, of course, the reason we have converged on Sochi today: the 2015 SportAccord Convention. Not to be outdone, this key annual get-together of the sporting world coincides almost exactly with yet another international competition in this Black Sea resort: the World Mixed Doubles and Senior Curling Championships. And while the ZEN-NOH World Women’s Curling Championship in March was held not in Russia but Sapporo, Japan, none other than Aeroflot - perhaps the best-known Russian commercial brand of all - acted as a main sponsor.

The highly-mediatised Sochi Winter Olympics gave sports leaders a taste of the possible consequences, positive and negative, of their extended period of partnership with this country headed by one of the world’s most intimidating and powerful leaders.

On the one hand, the Games were

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DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES exceptionally well-run - and secure, in spite of the reputation of the Caucasus as a volatile region. On the other, there was a furore over LGBT rights which did little for the International Olympic Committee’s reputation among the West’s liberal-minded chattering classes. To its credit, the IOC did vote, the best part of a year later, to strengthen the sixth fundamental principle of Olympism, specifically including sexual orientation among the grounds on which

Protests about Russia’s anti-gay laws were held before Sochi 2014.

Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

discrimination would not be tolerated.

There was also the fallout from Russia’s massive spending on infrastructure to develop the region where the Games were taking place.

The Olympic Movement is still living with the consequences of this, as potential event hosts come under pressure from local populations convinced - wrongly - that a commitment to stage this or that competition would condemn them to foot the bill for capital spending on a similar grand scale.

Since those Winter Games, three new factors have emerged each serving to ratchet up tension between Russia and the West and, hence make management of the sports industry’s relationship with one of its most enthusiastic and able event hosts all the more difficult. As if to underline the difficulties, only one of these factors is specifically sporting in nature.

The first - and undoubtedly the gravest - is the situation in Ukraine. For the first time since Gorbachev, a reversion to something akin to the Cold War that formed a depressing backdrop to my generation’s childhood seems, if not likely, then imaginable.

The second is the market turbulence that has seen the price of both oil and the rouble tumble. www.facebook.com/insidethegames

These developments will depress Russia’s export earnings, at least when expressed in dollars, and raise the cost of imports and foreign travel. The longer the situation persists, the more pressure you might expect to be exerted on the budgets of prestige projects such as the international sports events Russia has committed to hosting.

With little tradition of vigorous democracy in the country, the Russian leadership may not be required to cope with the sort of internal popular protests that might well beset Western Governments facing similar circumstances.

However, Russia now looks a far less attractive market for Western consumer brands, including sporting brands, than it did a year ago.

The third new factor consists of the doping allegations that have triggered an ongoing investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

It all seems a long time from that day in July 2007 when Putin came to Guatemala and impressed IOC members with a speech in English that did much to win the Games for Sochi. While you might still argue that the logical culmination of the Russian President’s nation-building international sports policy is a Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in St Petersburg or Moscow, such an eventuality now looks to have receded well into the future.

As for the events already awarded to Russia, while there may be headaches aplenty in store for those charged with making them happen, it remains, to my mind, far more likely that they will go ahead more or less as planned than fall victim to economic turbulence, international power politics or a combination of the two.

There seems no reason to suppose, for example, that WADA’s doping probe would have any bearing on the international event-hosting schedule, even if it concluded that some or all allegations were well-founded. It might, of course, have severe repercussions for certain individuals. Sadly, it has probably already deepened public cynicism about athletics, a bedrock Olympic sport, and Russian athletes in particular.

As for its economic challenges, Russia seems to be doing its utmost to ensure that these impact as little as possible on preparations for events it has won the right to stage. Imported equipment, materials and services are an obvious target for pruning. Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s Sports Minister, was reported in February to have said that imports accounted for around 70 per cent of construction materials for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. However, he believed that 20 per cent could be cut from that figure without changing current plans. A problem over how to pay national football team manager Fabio Capello’s salary, which had fallen several months in arrears, was @insidethegames

eased reportedly by a pledge by Alisher Usmanov, the billionaire businessman who is also President of the International Fencing Federation, to grant a loan to the Russian Football Union.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said late last year that the cost of constructing the 12 stadia for the 2018 World Cup would remain fixed at 300 billion roubles, the figure set in 2010. But with the tournament spread around large tracts of the Western portion of the world’s biggest country, and more than a million foreign tourists expected, costs for upgrading general infrastructure will add greatly to this total.

Mutko has spoken in the past of 300 different infrastructure projects, ranging from three planned metro stations in Nizhny Novgorod and St Petersburg, to extensive road improvements and modernisation of power utilities.

I would, in short, be surprised if Russia pulls out of hosting any of the events it has already been awarded, in the way that the Mexican city of Guadalajara in February withdrew from staging the 2017 World Aquatics Championships following a cut in public spending by that country’s Government.

That leaves Ukraine, and here it is possible, I suppose, that events could spiral out of control, prompting calls for a World Cup boycott, echoing the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, or for the tournament to be re-awarded to a different host.

Thankfully, as I write, this still does not strike me as very likely. Indeed, I wonder, perhaps naïvely, if Putin’s apparent desire to use sport to spur modernisation and show Russians that their country still counts for something in the world might have some small moderating influence on his strategic thinking, encouraging him not to allow relations with Washington and Brussels to deteriorate beyond repair.

Sport, I would argue, for years, played a similar modestly constructive role during the Cold War, since while competitions were very much “war by other means”, it provided a forum for diplomatic engagement - and showed kids like me that our supposed enemies shared at least some of our keenest passions.

Much has changed since then. Sport is now big business. In the West at least, it has become considerably more independent of Government.

Moscow can no longer count on a clutch of Warsaw Pact nations to do its bidding. More than ever though, sport remains a medium through which nations can project an image of themselves that everyone can understand. Might this capacity for fostering better mutual comprehension come into its own again in coming years with Russia so much in the spotlight? I dare to hope so.

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15

Sochi 2014: One Year On

The first Russian Grand Prix took place at the Olympic Park in Sochi last October. Photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

From Formula One to the SportAccord Convention and Russia’s version of Disneyland, Sochi has hosted a series of events since staging last year’s successful Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Nick Butler finds out whether the Russian resort is living up to its legacy promises.

I

n February, when celebrations took place to mark one year since the Opening Ceremony of Sochi 2014, we witnessed a wave of contradictory reflections not unlike those that dominated the build-up to a Games capable of splitting opinion like no other.

On the one hand we had gushing tributes from Russian authorities and the International Olympic Committee, who claimed “the positive impact of the…Games cannot be overstated”.

On the other we had the critical voices of journalists - generally Western ones - claiming the Olympic Park had become a derelict “ghost town”, with all manner of infrastructural, financial and environmental problems remaining.

As is invariably the case, the truth lies

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somewhere in between.

The legacy has not been perfect, and has, on the whole, probably been less successful than that seen in the 12 months after London 2012.

Yet neither has it been a failure and there have been many positive aspects.

This has been despite somewhat mitigating circumstances relating to the growing schism between Russia and the Western world following the annexation of Crimea. This resulted in the first setback of the Sochi 2014 legacy: namely the cancellation of a proposed G8 Summit of world leaders in the Black Sea Resort in June. A G7 Summit was held instead in Brussels, without any Russian involvement.

Calls followed for October’s Formula One grand prix, the second “headline” event scheduled for last year, to be cancelled for similarly political reasons. Yet it still went ahead and the race, taking place within the Olympic Park and won by Great Britain’s eventual world champion Lewis Hamilton, was a considerable success, being named “best race of the season” by organisers.

“The surroundings, being around the Olympic Park, is quite an incredible place,” said the winner afterwards.

In recent months, we have also seen World Cup and European Championship events in luge, bobsleigh and skeleton at the Sanki Sliding Center, providing an opportunity for some Sochi 2014 stars to secure nostalgia-tinted

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successes, while major events in curling and Alpine skiing are scheduled for coming months.

A Sochi-based ice hockey team has been set up, based at the Bolshoy Ice Dome and playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, with 7,0008,000 fans attending each match.

And for every competition, thousands of hours of training have taken place in all these venues, for top internationals but also for younger and aspiring talents, with the Shayba Arena being converted into the Russian Children’s Sport and Education Centre.

Away from snow and ice, the Adler Arena has hosted home Fed Cup tennis matches for Russia’s women, a squad led by world number two Maria Sharapova, who spent six years growing up in Sochi. Moves are also underway for the revived FC Zhemchuzhina football team to move into the Fisht Olympic Stadium, a

Skiers have flocked to Krasnaya Polyana since the end of the Winter Olympics. Photo: Visitrussia

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NICK BUTLER REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES venue currently undergoing renovation ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Perhaps the biggest disappointment has been the likely abandonment of plans to convert the Iceburg Skating Palace into a velodrome, a major blow for Russian cycling, which is still lacking the stronghold from which a sustained challenge to the dominance of Oceanic and other European nations can be honed.

Among other innovations in the Olympic Park itself is a theme park, known as “Russia’s Disneyland” or locally as “Putin World”, which opened to much fanfare last year.

With a water park, circus and aquarium, the Park has been a success, particularly for children.

But it will not be causing The Walt Disney Company many sleepless nights yet and has struggled to truly entice people to Sochi, serving more to provide a day’s entertainment once they are there.

Another event, planned for September and October, is the 2015 International Wheelchair and

Sochi Park is Russia’s version of Disneyland. Photo: Getty Images

Amputee Sports Federation World Games, with archery, arm wrestling, athletics, taekwondo, swimming and table tennis among the disciplines set to be showcased.

In a pleasing vein considering the initial scepticism surrounding Russian attitudes towards the Paralympics, greater conditions for the disabled have been among the

The long-term future of the Olympic Park in Sochi remains uncertain.

Photo: Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images

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most positive legacy benefits.

Barrier access has improved, not just in Sochi but across the nation, as has an increasingly serious attitude towards Paralympic sport, with Russia now hoping to close the gap on China as the most dominant nation at the Summer as well as the Winter Games.

Other impacts for local people have been mixed.

Considering how good it was during the Games themselves, public transport appears to have drifted back towards its former state of unreliability, with far fewer trains available between the city centre and the mountains, as well as to other key locations like the airport. The plight of the surrounding villagers also appears to have improved little, with environmental concerns and a lack of reliable electricity remaining, despite some improvements.

But what has taken everyone by surprise has been the sheer wealth of tourists who have descended on Sochi this winter to take advantage of ski resorts, by far the most significant positive legacy so far.

“Thanks to these Games, Sochi became an absolutely different city,” said Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov when asked by a Kazakh journalist in Almaty of the benefits of bidding for a Games. “It’s a modern all-season resort, which

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attracted a lot of visitors. You cannot find a place in a hotel in Sochi this winter.”

Over Christmas, Sochi’s Alpine resorts were indeed so crowded that the city’s Mayor had to ask local residents to temporarily avoid skiing in the mountains, to provide more space for the guests. This may be an inconvenience but one with overwhelmingly positive overtones for the locals. Hotels, restaurants and other amenities are operating at “full capacity”, we are told, and new jobs are being created.

In many ways, this upsurge has been because of, rather than despite, Russia’s economic problems. The plummeting strength of the rouble in comparison with the Euro means less people are venturing to the Alps or Pyrenees, seeking instead a domestic resort. The challenge now is enticing more foreign visitors, something that may happen once the political situation calms, although more regular direct flights from Western Europe would certainly help.

A healthy smattering of conferences and events, including, of course, the SportAccord Convention, are taking place. In this sense, Sochi still remains far behind foremost Russian business hubs but the potential is there, and more growth can be expected.

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Heading for disaster Nelson Mandela once said that he dreamed of the “realisation of the unity of Africa” so what he would make of preparations for this year’s All-Africa Games in Brazzaville we can only imagine. At the heart of the problem is who owns the event, as Liam Morgan discovered.

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he 50th anniversary of the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo this September is supposed to be a celebration of African sport.

The event is supposed to show the world that Africa is ready to host the best quality multisport events as persistent rumours of a future African bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games gather pace.

But in reality, the All-Africa Games are plagued with a miasma of difficulties, laced with an undercurrent of squabbling and greed.

For a start, just months away from the beginning of the event, a disagreement remains over who owns the Games between the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the African Union Sports Council.

Currently, AUSC are taking the reins but the two parties remain at loggerheads, with an agreement before the start of the All-Africa Games appearing increasingly unlikely.

It seems bizarre that the event isn’t being controlled by ANOCA as it is like the International Olympic Committee not having the final say over the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Yet other continents have managed - the European Olympic Committees have thrown their support behind the Baku 2015 European Games, for example - and without an authoritative organisation at the helm, the shambolic All-Africa Games remain in turmoil.

“There are major problems at the moment and it is becoming a chronic disease within

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This year’s All-Africa Games in Brazzaville will not offer Olympic qualification for Rio 2016. Photo: CAA

African sport,” Ugandan Sports Minister Charles Bakkabulindi said.

“We need to get rid of the word ownership and look at forming partnerships for the future of the Games.”

But any partnership is still a long way off, with both organisations keen to claim the event as their own.

The Games give Africa the chance to exhibit itself in the global sporting theatre, yet it seems most people involved in the political row would rather exit stage left than come together to achieve a purposeful solution.

Even one of Africa’s most well-known and well-respected sporting leaders feels the All-Africa Games are heading for a fiasco.

“The All-Africa Games should be on our minds every day,” Senegal’s outgoing International Association of Athletics Federations President Lamine Diack said.

“We are left with very few months with no real structure in place and we have to be clear on who is leading these Games.

“We have to plan ahead and do what they do on the other continents. We need a working body and a working committee.”

Not only is the political division surrounding the event causing in-fighting and arguments, it is also portraying Africa as a laughing stock. www.facebook.com/insidethegames

But being the butt of all the jokes is the last on a long list of problems for the Games as the issues have already had disastrous consequences for African sport as a whole, as the event will no longer give athletes the chance to earn qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio next year.

This particular aspect is vital as it has caused a distinct lack of enthusiasm among African athletes, which in turn has led to a poor amount of sponsorship - a problem which Confederation of African Athletics President Hamad Kalkaba Malboum is all too aware of.

“I think the Governments of Africa should realise that it is not their role to organise Games within the sports movement in Africa. We are losing a lot of opportunities in getting money from the IOC and also the sponsors,” he said.

The difficulties show no sign of slowing either as both the dwindling excitement among the competitors and the lack of big-name sponsors who are willing to associate themselves with the event has left the Games bereft of any interest.

And without interest, there’s no broadcast deal.

This is in stark contrast to various other continental events taking place this year and, as a result, those in charge are struggling to market the Games effectively. @insidethegames

Television companies aren’t stupid; they are not going to pour millions into an event which remains up in the air, and the lack of coverage only widens the chasm of problems for African sport.

Communication is also proving an issue, and there are those in Africa who still don’t even know the Games exist, and at the Africa International Sports Convention, there were journalists, Ministers and sporting leaders who remain unsure on the exact dates of the event, a worrying trend with less than six months to go until the Opening Ceremony.

The feeling among many sporting figures across the continent is that the All-Africa Games are a car crash waiting to happen - a distressing sign for those who harbour the most optimistic hopes of an Olympic and Paralympic Games coming to Africa in the near future.

“We are worried that they will be a disaster,” Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee President Robert Bayigamba said frankly.

“We are of course sending athletes but the Games aren’t that far away and there are still many questions that need answering.”

The worrying fact is that Bayigamba is far from alone in his view.

“There are clear problems within the organisation and the planning in particular,” ANOCA vice-president Mustapha Berraf said.

“We cannot clap hands with a single hand so we are forced to work together. There shouldn’t be a case where we are still unsure of the direction we are going in this close to the event.

“We need to work hard to create a legacy after Brazzaville so that the All-Africa Games can shine in the future.”

The dissenting voices far outweigh those who have any positive words to utter about the event, but there are some who are, strangely, looking forward to the Games.

One such person is Cameroon National Olympic Committee secretary general Emmanuel Biwole, who hopes the All-Africa Games can provide his nation with an excellent platform for much bigger spectacles to come.

“Cameroon is very interested in the All-Africa Games as we see it as a great chance to improve our athletes for Rio,” he said.

“However we do think that all people involved should move in the same direction.”

That is a key word here - direction. The All-Africa Games lack any sort of direction at all and if the plethora of issues aren’t resolved, expect a damp squib of a party in Brazzaville in September.

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Europe gets ready for its BIG BANG moment The first-ever European Games, due to open in Baku on June 12, will help raise the profile of sport and Azerbaijan, it is claimed. Duncan Mackay finds out what we can expect.

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he venues are almost ready, banners are beginning to appear all over the city, the volunteers are being trained, and the tickets are on sale. Baku’s remarkable 30-month sprint to be ready for the inaugural European Games is nearing its finish-line.

On June 12, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev will officially declare the Games open in the brand new 68,000-capacity National Stadium before a crowd expected to include several dignitaries and heads of state.

Aliyev, as befits the President of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan, is a man who realises how important sport can be in helping a country build its brand and reputation.

“We have been an independent nation for only 22 years, and have already achieved so much in that time,” he told insidethegames. “We have held numerous international events in Azerbaijan, including European and World Championships. Our sportsmen achieved good results on the international stage.”

But staging the first-ever European Games will be its biggest test yet.

“Azerbaijan has shown just how much of a developing country it is,” said Aliyev. “In recent years, we have hosted the Women’s under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2012, along with the Eurovision Song Contest, and we are

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very excited to host the first-ever European Games here in Baku.

“Because of its strategic geographic position, Azerbaijan is the bridge between Asia and Europe, and we are excited to communicate this importance throughout many of the important events in the country.”

The role of First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sport Azad Rahimov, as the chair and chief executive respectively of Baku 2015, ensures that the Government is fully involved with the project.

“This is a great responsibility, a big challenge,” said President Aliyev.

“At the same time, it is an opportunity for us to present our country. We plan to organise these Games to the highest possible standards. “ The creation of the Games is set to be the most far-reaching legacy of Patrick Hickey’s reign as President of the European Olympic Committees.

Often discussed, they became a reality only when the Irishman rallied enough support behind the project and it gathered momentum. But Hickey admits he was lucky that his ambitions coincided with those of Azerbaijan.

It is impossible to think of another city in Europe who would have been willing to take on such a major event that was only awarded in

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December 2012 and due to take place in June 2015. Only a country with the resources of energy-rich Azerbaijan would have been able to dream about completing the project in such a tight time-frame.

“We are entering the finishing straight of a 30-month journey,” Hickey told insidethegames. “That day [Baku were awarded the Games] I spoke of a baby being born. I stressed the need to nurture it in order to make it a great success. Twenty-seven months later it is clear that the Baku 2015 Organising Committee, under the expert direction of the First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, has nurtured the European Games with great care and attention to detail. I am grateful for the work ethic and pride which everyone in Baku has shown in the past two-and-a-half years.

“The European Games was first proposed by Jacques Rogge about 16 years ago, but he got fierce resistance from the International Federations, because they were all afraid the sponsorship pot would be diluted by any new Games.

“Then, eight years ago, we put it back to our Assembly, after an independent feasibility study, and the European Committees gave us the green light. No-one was to know then that Europe would become the sick man of the world, economically wise. Suddenly, there wasn’t a lot of interest to take on the event, and luckily we hit upon Azerbaijan. They had bid twice for the Olympics, but didn’t get past the first round. And they’re also interested in becoming more European.”

Most sports have enthusiastically signed-up

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to the concept. “We decided to start off with a more experimental Games, with 10 sports,” he said. “Then there was the big debacle about wrestling coming off the Olympics, then coming back in. Suddenly, lots of other sports felt if they weren’t included in the European Games then it would be a black mark against them. So we got swamped by new applications, and went from 10 to 20 sports.

“But we’ve now reached our capacity, with 6,000 athletes, and we had to refuse eight sports. Another thing we didn’t expect is that of the 20 sports, 11 of them are also qualifying opportunities for Rio.” Hickey claimed they have already identified things they can improve for the next edition of the European Games in 2019. “We know our shortcomings,” he admitted. “We don’t have athletics as the real deal. We do have a European Athletics Team Championships [Third League]. And we don’t have swimming as the real deal. But we are quite confident, that for our next Games in 2019, we will have athletics in at the full range, and the same with swimming.”

The next edition of the European Games are due to be awarded by the EOC at a special meeting in Belek in May. “We’re already full steam ahead for 2019, talking to six host cities in Europe,” said Hickey. “Most mid-range cities in Europe have the infrastructure for a European Games.”

The Netherlands have been the most visible of the countries interested, proposing a joint bid involving some of the country’s major cities, including Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

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Main: Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev inspects the new National Stadium in Baku, which will host the Opening Ceremony of the inaugural European Games on June 12.

Photo: President of Azerbaijan Top: A spectacular firework display marked the One Year To Go celebrations until Baku 2015.

Photo: Baku 2015 Bottom: The medals for the first-ever European Games.

Photo: Baku 2015

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The Crystal Hall, originally built for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, will host boxing, fencing, karate, volleyball and taekwondo during Baku 2015. Photo: Baku 2015

Baku’s European Games, though, will be nice and compact, making it easy for athletes, officials and spectators to get around.

The Village Cluster, around Koroghlu metro station, includes the Athletes’ Village, the National Stadium and the National Gymnastics Arena.

The second area is the Flag Square Cluster, which includes Eurovision Song Contest venue the Crystal Hall and the newly-completed Baku Aquatics Centre. The Crystal Hall will host boxing, fencing, karate, volleyball and taekwondo. Temporary water polo, beach soccer, beach volleyball and basketball arenas will be constructed at the Flag Square Cluster too.

The City Cluster will include the Baku Sports Hall, which will stage badminton; the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, where archery will take place; and the newly-reconstructed Heydar Aliyev Arena, sure to be a popular venue for the locals as it will stage judo, wrestling and sambo.

The event will integrate some of the city’s stunning architectural landmarks and public spaces, including the Baku Boulevard and soaring Flame Towers, into the Games, providing a dramatic and telegenic backdrop for the 50 plus broadcasters who have signed-up to show the Games all over the world.

The Baku Shooting Centre is being upgraded ahead of the Games. Temporary velotracks will be created for BMX and mountain biking. Bilgah www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Beach will mark the start of the triathlon with a dramatic finish set for Freedom Square in the centre of the city.

Baku have relied heavily on a large group of international experts to guide its preparations.

They are led by Simon Clegg, the former chief executive of the British Olympic Association, one of the architects of London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

The former British Army officer is the chief operating officer at Baku 2015.

“When I took over the role there were doubts being expressed but I believe we have addressed the reasons for those,” said Clegg, who has a full-time staff of just over 1,500, 68 per cent of whom are Azeri, while the others come from 43 different nationalities.

“Whatever sceptics remain they will be won over when they see the scale of the Games come June. I predict an extremely exciting future for the European Games and I am delighted to be present for the ‘Big Bang’ moment.”

Planning for the European Games is progressing hand-in-hand with the Islamic Solidarity Games, which will take place in Baku in 2017. “Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim country, a country with strong connections to Europe,” President Aliyev told insidethegames.

“These connections go back to the 19th century. Now these ties are, of course, much stronger, because we base this relationship on partnership grounds. @insidethegames

“Multiculturalism is our state policy. We highly value the religious and ethical tolerance.”

Aliyev believes it is highly symbolic that Azerbaijan should be hosting both the European and Islamic Solidarity Games so closely together.

“The European Games have not been held before,” he said. “There have been PanAmerican, Asian and African Games. The Olympic Movement emerged and was revived in Europe, but for some reason European Games have never been held before.

“The mission of hosting the first Games, this honourable mission, has been entrusted to us. I believe that this event carries not only a sporting but also a great public meaning. Two years later, in 2017, Azerbaijan will host Islamic Solidarity Games. These two events reflect the role of our country in the world.”

Hickey is confident that the European Games will mark a watershed in the development of sport in the continent. “The European Games have been designed to provide European sport with more regular opportunities to grow and improve,” he said.

“You’ll see the benefit to athletes in the medals table at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and beyond. You’ll see the benefit to sports federations in the greater exposure for their sport. You’ll see the benefit to National Olympic Committees through new funding possibilities.”

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days of elite sport 12 – 28 June 2015 Over 6,000 Athletes.

50 European Countries. 20 Sports.

1st European Games

Giants coming to play Australia and New Zealand have been invited to take part in this year’s Pacific Games in Port Moresby for the first time in the 52-year history of the event.

It is an interesting experiment that adds spice as the Games return to Papua New Guinea for the third time.

Daniel Etchells reports.

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he 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby is set to break new ground as Australia and New Zealand compete for the first time in the quadrennial multi-sport event’s 52-year history.

The Pacific Games Council rubber-stamped a proposal to allow Australia and New Zealand to take part in rugby sevens, sailing, taekwondo and weightlifting at its General Assembly last

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year, paving the way for Oceania’s first truly Continental Games.

It begs the question, why has it taken so long? PGC President Vidhya Lakhan has claimed one of the main reasons for the delay in admitting the two countries was the fear that they would dominate the competition and the Pacific Games would lose its tradition and culture.

The four sports Australia and New Zealand will be allowed to compete in were initially chosen because it is believed that the other Pacific countries could compete against them.

While this is likely to be the case for rugby sevens, taekwondo and weightlifting, the success of Australia and New Zealand in sailing at the two most recent Olympic Games suggests they could be difficult to contend with.

Between them, the two nations won four gold and two silver medals as Australia topped the sailing medals table at London 2012, while strong performances at Beijing 2008 saw them share a total of three golds and one silver.

Robin Mitchell, President of the Oceania National Olympic Committees, said he expects

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Australia and New Zealand to be involved in more sports at future editions of the Pacific Games as their standards improve.

“It’s taken ONOC almost 10 years or so to get Australia and New Zealand into the Games,” said the Fijian sports administrator.

“There’s probably some resistance because of [the possibility of] these two big world sporting powers overwhelming the Games, but I think the way they’ve approached it by gradually including them in sports that the islands are competitive in is always good for the Games.”

ONOC is continuing to work towards officially establishing an “Oceanian Games”, much like the corresponding Asian Games and European Games.

The creation of a replacement competition for the Pacific Games has long been talked about with the Organisation of Sport Federations of Oceania giving their support to the proposal at the ONOC General Assembly in Guam last May. “Essentially you’ll have 17 Olympic Committees, that’s the whole of ONOC, plus seven non-Olympic Committees, who are still

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colonies or territories of France, USA, New Zealand and Australia, taking part,” explained Mitchell.

“If these countries change their political status we may eventually call it an Oceanian Games but because the Pacific Games has been there historically, we’ll probably maintain that name for the next couple of cycles.”

This year’s edition of the Pacific Games promises to be a mammoth event, with 3,000 athletes, 500 team officials, and 1,000 technical officials and dignitaries from 21 neighbouring nations expected to descend upon Port Moresby ahead of the Opening Ceremony on July 4.

Having hosted the event on two previous occasions in 1969 and 1991, Mitchell is confident the city has got what it takes to put on a fantastic show.

The former athlete and hockey player competed at both the 1969 and 1991 South Pacific Games, as the Pacific Games was then known, and rates the latter as one of the best to date.

Such was the standard set, the 2003 South Pacific Games Organising Committee, which www.facebook.com/insidethegames

was chaired by Mitchell, used the report from the 1991 edition as a basis for the Games in Suva, Fiji.

From then on, the Games have gone from strength to strength with a marked improvement in the standard of competition and running of the events in Apia, Samoa in 2007 and Nouméa, New Caledonia four years later.

“Since 2003, the Games have become of a standard that is equivalent of other regional sports events in terms of the coverage and the competition,” said Mitchell.

“Papua New Guinea basically has all that experience to work on plus the experience of the Organising Committee, so we’re looking forward to a good Games.”

The hosting of the 2015 Pacific Games coincides with the year in which Papua New Guinea is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the country gaining independence in 1975.

The country, rich in gold, oil, gas, copper, silver and timber, and home to an abundance of fisheries, has benefitted from considerable economic growth in recent years with Mitchell describing them as an “economic powerhouse” in the Oceania region.

The Pacific Games will also serve as a prelude to Port Moresby’s staging of the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, which Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has labelled a “coming of age” moment.

Billed as the biggest ever event held in the country, which will see the city play host to the leaders of the world’s largest economies, including the United States, the Papua New Guinea APEC secretariat has described it as the “one chance to change the world’s perception” of the nation.

The success of the Pacific Games, 24 years on from the last @insidethegames

time Port Moresby hosted the event, will no doubt go a long way towards achieving this goal as well.

The challenge of servicing the needs of 3,000 athletes is formidable, but given the city’s pedigree and the ringing endorsement of someone as influential as Mitchell on the staging of the 1991 Games, it would seem that Port Moresby is extremely well positioned to meet the challenge head on.

Fifteen days of thrilling action across 28 varied sports and disciplines awaits in Papua New Guinea’s capital and with the involvement of Australia and New Zealand adding a fresh flavour to an already well-established event, it could well be a Games that is looked back on in years to come as a defining edition in re-shaping the Oceania sports landscape.

Main picture: Vanuatu athletes celebrate the end of the 2011 Pacific Games in Nouméa.

Photo: Marc Le Chelardia/AFP/Getty Images Far left: Port Moresby is already getting excited about hosting the 2015 Pacific Games.

Photo: Port Moresby 2015 Bottom: Interest is expected to be higher in the 2015 Pacific Games with Australia and New Zealand competing.

Photo: Port Moresby 2015

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O CANADA! This year’s Pan American Games is set to be the largest event ever staged in Canada and Toronto is sure it is going to be a spectacular celebration.

Michael Pavitt reports.

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thletes from Latin America, South America, the Caribbean and North America are counting down the days until the 2015 Pan American Games get underway in the Canadian city of Toronto.

Around 7,600 athletes are expected to travel to Canada’s most populated city, which won the right to host the Games back in 2009.

With the multi-sport event, colloquially known as the Pan Am Games, due to take place from July 10 to 26, Toronto 2015 have stepped up preparations by staging several test events at venues and, although the Pan American Games has enjoyed many successful editions, Toronto 2015 have been attempting to raise public awareness of the event.

Teddy Katz, director of media relations and chief spokesperson at Toronto 2015, believes that engaging the public has proved to be one of the biggest challenges facing the Organising Committee, with the Pan American Games lacking the profile and prestige of the Olympic Games.

“We have had to educate people and help raise awareness, helping people to see how important these Games have been historically, not just for Canada but for this continent,” Katz stated.

Canada have historically been a strong nation at the Pan American Games, lying third in the overall medal table, boasting 1,696 medals across the previous 16 editions of the

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Toronto 2015 mascot Pachi is excited about the Pan American and Parapan Games. Photo: Toronto 2015

quadrennial event, with only Cuba and the United States claiming more, with 1,932 and 4,172 medals respectively.

Katz also highlighted the importance of Canada continuing their strong showings at the Games and believes that by announcing a strong home team, other nations will follow suit.

“Canada have set a goal of finishing in the top two in the medal count for the Pan Am Games,” Katz said. “The Canadian Olympic Committee is talking about sending a team of close to 700 athletes which would be their biggest team ever. It is helping to encourage other National Olympic Committees to bring their best as well.”

Toronto 2015 have also stated that they have worked alongside sporting federations to add further significance to the events at the Games, with athletes in 19 of the 36 sports set to compete for places at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as well as Pan Am Games medals.

As the entire Olympic sports programme will feature at the Pan Am Games, women’s rugby sevens, women’s baseball, canoeing and kayaking are all set to make their debuts at the multi-sport event. While non-Olympic sports such as bowling, squash, racquetball and roller sports will also get the opportunity to showcase themselves and stake their claims for Olympic inclusion.

Despite Canada having previously hosted www.facebook.com/insidethegames

the Olympics on three occasions, the Commonwealth Games on four occasions and the Pan American Games on two occasions, in Winnipeg in 1967 and 1999, the 2015 edition of the Pan Am Games is set to be their biggest test as hosts of a multi-sport event.

As a result, the city of Toronto, which lies in the province of Ontario, has witnessed heavy investment in its sporting venues. Following their successful bid to stage the Games, the Toronto 2015 Organising Committee, armed with an infrastructure budget of $674 million, set about building 10 new facilities.

In addition to the newer venues, which include the Milton Velodrome and the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House, which will host track cycling and swimming events, 15 existing facilities have been upgraded.

“Many top athletes have been talking about these new facilities, saying that this has been a game-changer for them,” Katz said of the developments. “Suddenly they have top-class facilities where they can train and no longer have to leave the Province to do so. Facilities are already being used on a daily basis, by the likes of the University of Toronto, by the city of Toronto and the high performance community.”

Despite being built for the Games, Toronto 2015 believe that the venues will have a lasting legacy for the city, with the facilities having been @insidethegames

designed both to fit the scale of the Pan Am Games, and for the communities that will utilise them when the event comes to a close. In a common theme among major multi-sport events, the Athletes’ Village is set to be transformed into student accommodation and affordable housing.

As with every multi-sport Games, the local communities will scrutinise the benefits of hosting such an expensive event and Toronto 2015 feel positive that the province of Ontario will experience an economic benefit, with an estimated 257,000 people expected to visit the region.

Additionally, Toronto 2015 believe that 26,000 jobs are set to be created as a direct result of the Games, however they want to continue to engage the community in the build up to and during the Games.

Firstly, the traditional Torch Relay has been unveiled. It will begin with the lighting of the flame in Teotihuacan, Mexico, at the Pyramid of the Sun, in a traditional ceremony on May 30. It will then travel across Canada for 40 days ahead of the Opening Ceremony on July 10, with 3,000 torchbearers taking part, including members of the public and the likes of Olympic triathlon gold medallist Simon Whitfield.

The Relay can be viewed as another effort by Toronto to make the whole of Canada buy into the idea of the Pan American Games as the

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MICHAEL PAVITT REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Toronto will benefit financially from hosting the Pan American Games, local organisers promise. Photo: Getty Images

Torch will pass through 130 different communities.

The effort to be inclusive can also be seen by the decision to engrave braille onto the medals for both the Pan Am Games and the Parapan Games, which is due to be held from August 7 to 15.

Toronto’s approach to promoting the Games appears to be working, with more than 350,000 tickets sold so far and over 23,000 volunteers recruited into various roles throughout the event.

They will attempt to build upon this early success throughout the Games, as, alongside partners the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, an arts and culture programme called PANAMANIA will run for 35 days, starting the day after the Opening Ceremony.

“One of our slogans is ‘ignite the spirit through a celebration of sport and culture’ and that is very fundamental to what we are trying to do,” Katz said. “Various different festival sites will host events around Toronto. It will feature top performers and talent from Canada but also www.facebook.com/insidethegames

from the Americas and the Caribbean.”

In addition to Canada’s athletes being able to showcase their abilities at the Games, one of the country’s great institutions, Cirque du Soleil, will perform at the Opening Ceremony.

“It is a great opportunity for them to showcase to the world what they have been doing day in, day out, but they have never really had a chance to perform at a major sport Games before,” Katz said. “It will be a great way to showcase them and to showcase Toronto.”

The 54,000-capacity Rogers Centre will host both Games Ceremonies and will be renamed as the Pan Am Ceremonies venue during the Games, with the representatives from Lima set to receive the Games Torch at the end of the Closing Ceremony, after the Peruvian capital won the right to stage the 2019 edition.

If Toronto prove to be successful in their attempts to attract strong competing nations and deliver upon their legacy promises after the 2015 Pan American Games, Lima may have a much easier task of further raising awareness for this quadrennial event. @insidethegames

Canada will be hoping top athletes like Dylan Armstrong help them to their best-ever performance.

Photo: Luis Acosta/APF/Getty Images

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Sun, sea sport and

With major events scheduled for the next four years in Vietnam, Japan, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, Nick Butler considers the everexpanding evolution of Asian sport.

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t the end of a day spent sunning myself while enjoying sandy varieties of wrestling, handball and sepak takraw at last November’s Asian Beach Games in the Thai holiday resort of Phuket, I was summoned back to base camp for a roundtable interview with Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

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Having had no time to change, I felt slightly out of place wearing flip-flops and swimming shorts to meet a member of the Kuwaiti Royal Family, who was himself sporting full traditional regalia. Yet opting to hide any embarrassment behind a confident façade, I plonked myself on the front row and, to my surprise, Sheikh Ahmad immediately broke into the widest of smiles.

“That is the greatest thing about the Beach Games,” he chuckled. “Where else would you be able to work dressed like that?”

Although one of the most influential powerbrokers in world sport, the OCA and Association of National Olympic Committees President’s genuine enthusiasm for sport still shines through. “We have had talks about adding tennis to the Beach Games,” he said on another occasion. “Can you believe that?

Tennis? How could that possibly work on sand?”

The biennial Beach Games, one of five continental-wide multi-sport events organised by the OCA, is very much the brainchild of Sheikh Ahmad. First held in Bali in 2008, last year’s extravaganza was the fourth edition and will be followed in 2016 by

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a fifth in Danang and Nha Trang, Vietnam.

The concept has since been taken up by other continents and a first World Beach Games has been given the green light. It will probably be held for the first time in 2017.

Although not every event has, strictly speaking, always taken place on a beach, most of them do and where else could you combine innovative versions of basketball, squash and water polo with lesser known disciplines like woodball or the Vietnamese martial arts vovinam and pencak silat, each pencilled in for 2016?

It is somewhat ironic that, considering far more Games are held in Asia than anywhere else, the world’s largest continent is the only one with no major event scheduled this year.

Instead we will have a hectic two-year period, beginning in Vietnam and continuing with three events in 2017 and another the following year.

First up in 2017 will be the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, the Japanese city in which the first two such Games took place in 1986 and 1990. The event has not taken place since 2011, but with the next two Winter Olympics and Paralympics expected to be held in Asia

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- in Pyeongchang in 2018 and in either Beijing or 2011 Asian Winter Games co-host Almaty in 2022 - winter sport is on the rise. With over 1,200 athletes from around 30 of the OCA’s 45 member National Olympic Committees set to participate, Sapporo is expected to be the largest Asian Winter Games in history.

Taking place almost 7,000 kilometres west of Sapporo, the Ashgabat 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games will be of huge political significance for the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. The latest state to use sport to project soft power and therefore enhance its international scope, the petro-gas rich country is hoping to one day host the Asian Games itself. Based around a newly-constructed Olympic Village, at least 19 sports will be held, ranging from indoor athletics and track cycling to sambo and kurash. As well as the 45 OCA members, all 17 members of the Oceania National Olympic Committees should also participate in a sign of intercontinental cooperation, with a special signing ceremony held late last year between Sheikh Ahmad, ONOC counterpart Robin Mitchell and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.

Yet despite all this optimism and innovation, not every Asian event has progressed perfectly and, like in the rest of the world, it has not always been easy to attract bidders in times of economic unease, with Sri Lanka’s 2017 Asian Youth Games one example of this.

It was always going to be a challenge to follow the lavish success of Nanjing’s 2013 edition but, after a catalogue of delays in establishing an Organising Committee amid tensions between sporting and political officials, the Games have been shifted from Hambantota - the southern coastal hub which missed out to Gold Coast in the race for the 2018 Commonwealth Games - to capital city Colombo.

So the event should at least remain in the planned host nation, which will not be the case for the next Asian Games. Hosting rights for this the 18th edition of the continental showpiece event were initially awarded to Hanoi, only for the Vietnamese capital to withdraw last April, citing “economic pressures”.

Replacements ranging from India to Taiwan to Myanmar were mooted but Indonesia, the country that finished runner-up in the original race, was always favourite. The Games were eventually awarded to Jakarta last www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Above: OCA and ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah is a big supporter of the Beach Games concept.

Photo: Phuket 2014

September, with events also scheduled for Palembang and Bandung.

Taking advantage almost exclusively of pre-existing facilities, Jakarta 2018 should be one of the most sustainable Games in history, with the Indonesian Sports Ministry having announced a budget of just $236 million earlier this year. The International Olympic Committee may be preaching messages of affordability in its Agenda 2020 reform process, but it is in Asia where this is best being applied in practice.

The Games were initially scheduled for 2019 to avoid a clash in years with either the Winter Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, but have now been shifted back to 2018 because of the Indonesian Presidential elections the following year. It will revert back to odd year cycles thereafter, meaning the next Games should be held in 2023.

As has been rather mischievously proposed

by Sheikh Ahmad, by then there is an outside chance the Ashgabat 2017 precedent could have been rolled out to the Asian Games, meaning Oceanic nations could participate alongside Asian ones.

There would be challenges surrounding such a move, and it is an idea that makes sense for some sports: swimming, basketball @insidethegames

and athletics, maybe, rather than others like rugby sevens, rowing and triathlon, where Oceanic supremacy may deprive Asian nations of precious international medal opportunities. Having 62 rather than 45 nations taking part would also presumably mean more participants and added costs, putting even more pressure on the host nation.

But such a growth would add freshness and bring added interest to the Games. It would certainly be a tantalising prospect, allowing both Oceanic and Asian athletes greater competitive opportunities, while theoretically paving the way for new host nations, as was seen at this year’s Asian Cup football tournament in Australia.

It is something which is unlikely to happen soon, but would be yet another example of Asia innovating and leading the way for other continents. Expanding its geographical range just like it expanded indoors and onto sand.

And if Oceanic integration does occur, perhaps they could include the Asian Beach Games as well because I for one would not turn down the chance to unpack the flip-flops and swimming shorts for another day spent “working”; this time on Bondi Beach or Byron Bay.

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From hard time to samba time

A year after being criticised for their poor preparations, Rio 2016 will return to the SportAccord Convention in Sochi confident they are back on track to deliver an outstanding Olympic and Paralympic Games. Duncan Mackay hails a remarkable turnaround but warns there remain serious concerns over the first Games to be staged in South America.

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t was at last year’s SportAccord Convention in Belek that the balloon went up on Rio de Janeiro’s preparations for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

Months of frustrations among the International Federations boiled over as they launched wave after wave of attacks on Rio 2016. The main criticism centred on the slow speed of construction progress in Rio,

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Main: Brazil’s widely-praised hosting of last year’s FIFA World Cup helped build confidence that Rio 2016 will be a success.

Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

particularly at the Deodoro Complex, where eight Olympic and four Paralympic sports are due to be held.

Francesco Ricci Bitti, the Italian who is President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, spoke for his members when he publicly criticised the role of the Brazilian Government in Rio’s preparations.

“The cash flow is not positive and the support is late and not coming, they have many words but not money and words are not enough,” said Ricci Bitti, also head of the International Tennis Federation. “They are delaying, delaying and delaying.”

ASOIF secretary general Andrew Ryan elaborated on Ricci Bitti’s criticism, specifically revealing there were growing concerns related to transport, accommodation, funding, public support and financial commitments by State, Municipal

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and Federal levels of the Government.

Rio 2016 were still reeling from this onslaught when John Coates, the vicepresident of the International Olympic Committee, added his own contribution to the debate. He called Rio’s preparations “the worst I have experienced”, quite a claim from someone who had experienced at first-hand Athens’ chaotic build-up for the 2004 Games.

For those Games, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch handed a “yellow light” warning to the Greek capital too because they were so chaotic. There was even some speculation, ill-informed it turned out, that 2012 host London might even be asked to reprise its role as a substitute for Rio. Fast forward 12 months and Rio 2016 officials will be anticipating a much less eventful visit to SportAccord Convention.

Few back then would have predicted the massive strides made by the Rio 2016

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DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES legacy project. On the other hand, we have no reason to be complacent because we all know there is not a single moment to lose in preparations.”

Part of the IOC’s new found confidence stems from last year’s FIFA World Cup, an event widely praised as the best in the tournament’s history and which Bach claimed to have enjoyed enormously - and not just because Germany lifted the trophy, beating Argentina 1-0 in a final watched by the IOC President.

“I think the success of the organisation of the World Cup helped, and will help, the organisation of the Games,” Bach said at the conclusion of an event that passed off without the predicted chaos.

“I could really feel this during my visit there for the final weekend of the World Cup. It was much more confident and optimistic. Brazil realised that it can deliver.”

Bach claimed that this is why he never had any fears that Brazil would deliver a successful Olympics and Paralympics. “They were extremely clear by saying that from the Monday after the World Cup the Games would be top priority,” he said.

“But it does not mean that you can lean back. There is still a lot to do, but I think we can be really confident that we will have a great Games, with all the Brazilian enthusiasm and joy of life.”

But another reason why Brazil appear to have turned the situation around is that, as a

result of the concerns so publicly aired by the Federations in Belek, the IOC took a number of measures designed to get the Games back on track.

This included setting up a special task force, addressing the specific areas of construction, operations and engagement with the local population, as well as a local project manager with experience in construction to monitor progress on a day-by-day basis.

Bach’s calm management of the situation a year ago appears to have avoided turning a drama into a crisis. He could easily have joined in the criticism, earning himself some short-term positive headlines, but preferred to try to find a solution and not dwell on the mistakes of previous Games. “This is not about the past but it is about 2016,” he said when offered the opportunity to compare Rio’s preparations with those of Athens a decade earlier.

It is always worth taking a step back when contemplating doing an “Olympics in crisis” story because it is rare that similar situations have not been seen in the build-up to previous Games. Bach has been involved with the Movement since 1976, when he won an Olympic gold medal in fencing at Montreal, so he has pretty much seen everything there is to see.

That does not mean serious issues do not Below: Thomas Bach has praised the support of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes in helping to get preparations for the Olympics and Paralympics back on track.

Photo: Maria Tama/Getty Images

Organising Committee and that they would turn up being able to show everyone a ringing endorsement from IOC President Thomas Bach.

“There is really an impressive programme in place for engagement and legacies surrounding these Games,” said Bach at the end of a trip to Rio, which coincided with the latest visit of the IOC’s Coordination Commission and included a meeting of the ruling Executive Board.

“The IOC wants to leave the Closing Ceremony not just saying goodbye and thank you. We want to leave knowing there is a great legacy plan in place for the Cariocas and for Brazil. We received excellent plans from the Organising Committee and public authorities to use the Games as a catalyst for social and economic development in Rio and Brazil. So for Rio we have many reasons to be confident and we are in fact inspired by the www.facebook.com/insidethegames

@insidethegames

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Sailors will face difficult conditions during Rio 2016 at Guanabara Bay, where environmental targets are set to be missed. Photo: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images

remain for Rio 2016 and the IOC. One topic which seems set to prove contentious right up until the Games begin is environmental issues. The end of Bach’s trip to Rio was disrupted by protestors, including two women who invaded the hotel overlooking Copacabana Beach. “You want to see robbers, they’re here, the IOC,” shouted one woman who fought her way past burly security guards.

There is anger locally at the construction of a new golf course to accommodate the return of the sport to the Olympic programme for the first time in 112 years.

The environmental group Golf For Whom contends the city has harmed taxpayers by allowing a private developer to build the course at what is expected to be a massive financial gain through the sale of luxury residential towers.

Guanabara Bay, which will host the sailing events, has become somewhat of a symbol for critics of Rio 2016. Cleaning up Guanabara Bay and cutting down untreated sewage pollution by 80 per cent were a key and headline-grabbing part of Rio’s Candidature

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File when they were awarded the Games in 2009. It looks like the city will only cut down on sewage by 48 per cent by the time the Games begin.

Visitors and sailors have reported massive amounts of rubbish, discarded furniture, and even dead animals in the water. Some scientists have warned that if a sailor falls in, the water is so contaminated that they could contract hepatitis or an intestinal problem.

Security, as at most Games, is also a concern. But in Rio it is drug-related gang crime and petty theft that is the biggest concern rather than terrorism, which was considered the biggest fear at London 2012.

On the eve of Bach’s most recent trip to Rio, five policemen were killed in and around the city. It coincided with an increase in violent crime which politicians fear could discourage tourists from travelling to Brazil for the Games next year.

Stray bullets injured about 30 people in Rio in January and caused at least five deaths, including a four-year-old girl and a nine-yearold boy. Some of the violence is connected to drug gangs, and moves by security forces

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to control unpoliced areas in Rio’s favelas, or slums.

Brazil used about 150,000 soldiers and military police for security during last year’s World Cup, a show of force that deterred the widely-expected protests. A similar presence is expected during Rio 2016.

“We have full confidence these Games will be a safe Games, and that the world will feel very welcome here in Brazil,” Bach said. “We have no doubt about this.”

Overall then, the Rio 2016 team should be looking forward to arriving in Sochi full of confidence. “Rio has made great progress,” Bach said. “You have seen the Mayor and Governor taking more responsibility and showing great dynamism and working closely with the Organising Committee.”

Even the inevitable last-minute rush that is predicted will be needed to get facilities completed by the time of the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony on August 5 next year fails to dampen Bach’s optimism. “Rio will be ready,” he said. “We will have to make sure we thank the workers before we go out to enjoy a great Brazilian party.”

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DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES 2

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5 3 4

6 1) Brazilian President Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva and football legend PelĂŠ celebrate Rio de Janeiro being awarded the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics at the 2009 IOC Session in Copenhagen.

Photo: Charles Dharapak/AFP/Getty Images.

2) International journalists learn about Rio 2016 at Casa Brasil during the Olympics in London.

Photo: Rio 2016 3) The Rio 2016 Olympic Torch will cover 20,000 kilometres, be carried by 10,000 people and reach 90 per cent of the Brazilian population.

Photo: Buda Mendes/Getty Images 4) Rio 2016 produced a vibrant display during the Handover Ceremony at London 2012.

Photo: Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images 5) Approximately 7.5 million tickets will be available for Rio 2016.

Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images 6) Rio 2016 mascots Vinicius and Tom are named after Bossa Nova musicians.

Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

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Lights, camera, action!

A new Olympic TV Channel is set to hit our screens before the end of this year. But will it be a success? Emily Goddard visited SPORTELAmerica to seek opinion from industry experts and sports leaders.

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he election of Thomas Bach as President of the International Olympic Committee in September 2013 was certain to bring about significant transformations following his predecessor Jacques Rogge’s 12 years in office, but perhaps among the biggest changes were what his manifesto meant for sports, both those large and small, and those on and off the Games programme.

Indeed, when the German leader’s 40 recommendations that make up Olympic Agenda 2020 were unanimously approved by the full IOC membership at its 127th Session in Monaco in December 2014, it signalled a new era for sports federations and their relationship with the IOC. It meant huge changes to the way in which sports events are selected for the Games programme were on the horizon and it also promised to bring greater exposure for disciplines, with the new Olympic Channel -

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branded as one of the “headline recommendations” - being the main vehicle for this.

Speaking about the creation of the Olympic Channel in his opening speech at that IOC Session in Monaco, Bach said: “We must give our athletes and sports the worldwide media exposure they deserve also between Olympic Games. We must give our many actions in the humanitarian, cultural and social fields the attention they deserve. We must give the youth better access to athletes, sport, Olympic history, Olympic culture and Olympic values.”

Nevertheless, the idea of an Olympic Channel is not an entirely new one. Bach is said to have first made a proposal in the pre-digital TV early 1990s, when it was not deemed a viable concept. But the notion of the IOC being a provider of coverage 365 days a year is certainly novel, even today. Here we have arguably one

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EMILY GODDARD REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

of the world’s most powerful global sports organisations making a move into broadcasting and it is not a small task to undertake. “This is a great, great step forward,” Bach said when the Olympic Channel recommendation sailed through in December 2014. Yiannis Exarchos, chief executive of Olympic Broadcasting Services, also described it both as a “historic step” and “a responsibility and a challenge of Olympic proportions”.

At least they are under no illusions about the challenges implementing the Olympic Channel can bring, but how exactly will it serve to promote sports? The idea is that it will be an “always-on” global channel that will broadcast coverage of both Olympic and non-Olympic sports events, particularly those that do not, at present, benefit from mainstream television coverage, in the time between the Games. It will also focus on athletes and make use of the IOC’s extensive archive of footage from past Olympics. According to Exarchos, it aims to be “the ultimate content and community for the Olympics”.

However, given that the IOC’s global network of broadcast partners are the Olympic Movement’s biggest revenue source - injecting no less than $4.1 billion for the 2013-2016 Olympic quadrennium - it is vital that the Channel enhances the relationship with these sponsors as opposed to damaging them. As such, it will not carry live coverage of the Games themselves, unless by agreement with local rights holders.

Bach devoted a whole afternoon to briefing the Worldwide Olympic Partners, such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, on the Olympic Channel project as part of the Olympic Agenda 2020 TOPs summit held in Lausanne in January 2015. “We were able to continue our discussions with the TOP Partners, but with the knowledge that the Channel project has now been approved,” Exarchos said during the event. “We are now out of the starting blocks with the plans for the Channel, and today was an opportunity to share our excitement and enthusiasm for the concept and belief that it will offer opportunities to engage with people, especially young people, all around the world, every day of the year.”

It would seem that broadcasters have already given the Olympic Channel their seal of approval. Scott Brown, President of Universal Sports Network, which operates a 24/7 television network and has exclusive rights in the United States for many international and Olympic sports, welcomed the project. “As the year-round home to Olympic sports www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Olympic Broadcasting Services chief executive Yiannis Exarchos will head the new Olympic TV Channel. Photo: IOC

programming in the United States, Universal Sports Network welcomes the IOC’s desire to bring more international TV exposure to these sports and athletes,” he said. “The IOC’s vote to create a digital over-the-top Channel is a positive development in our space. Their announced complementary content to the athletic competitions we broadcast on an annual basis will amplify the spotlight on Olympic sports outside of the Olympics themselves and ultimately bring them more deserved attention and help them grow.”

A prominent prediction is that the Olympic Channel will serve a better purpose for the smaller of the Olympic sports, as opposed to the likes of football, which already garners a colossal amount of income from its own media rights deals. Riccardo Silva, one of the founding partners of media rights company MP & Silva, praised the Channel’s potential for helping to promote smaller sports federations, but admitted it is perhaps not so necessary for the already internationally well-exposed sports.

“Maybe for medium and smaller federations that need visibility it [the Olympic Channel] could be a good idea,” he said. “Maybe not for the big federations because they already have good revenues. I don’t see the FIFA World Cup going on this Channel, but maybe smaller sports @insidethegames

could benefit from the project.”

The Olympic Channel does, however, have the potential to attract top tier Olympic sports, such as gymnastics, but it seems that greater interest will come when more concrete plans are in place surrounding its launch and future proposals. “It’s an exciting project for all of the Olympic family,” Olivier Strebel, the director of marketing and communication at the International Gymnastics Federation, said.

“Expectations will be different from federation to federation. We are looking at what they are doing and are interested to understand more about their plans and then we will see where we can sit within that kind of project. I think most of the International Federations would be happy to be on board because we have to admit most of us do not make a lot of revenue out of the TV rights. I would say as far as we are concerned we are kind of in between doing very good revenue and doing almost nothing - it depends on the territory. Since the FIG has commercialised our rights by ourselves we are happy with the revenue that we generate out of this. It could be interesting. It will be interesting to see what the IOC will propose in terms of rights.”

Logistically the Olympic Channel will be based in Madrid, where Olympic Broadcasting Services has its headquarters, and will require

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Sports like gymnastics wonder how they will fit into the plans of the Olympic TV Channel. Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

more than 100 production and technical staff members. For consumers, however, it will be online after the IOC made the smart move of deciding to opt for a digital channel rather than a television based station. With a gradually ageing television audience, the rise of the tech-savvy Millennials and buzz-phrases such as “screen-stacking”, “second screening” and “de-couching” being very much the lingo du jour, it would appear digital would be the only feasible route for the IOC to take in this ever more borderless world.

Statistics released last year showed a global average of 48 per cent of people use a smartphone, tablet or laptop while watching television, so it makes sense that users will be able to gain access to the Olympic Channel free of charge in many different ways, including on mobile devices.

Exarchos explained that this approach will “match the lifestyles of the youth of today”. Yu Hang, vice-president of Chinese online video content provider LeTV Sports and Technology, said a digital offering is the perfect way to launch the Channel as it gives fans across the globe the

Nearly 50 per cent of people now use a smartphone, tablet or laptop to watch television. Photo: NBC

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opportunity to watch events wherever they may be based. “The world is becoming more and more connected thanks to technology,” he said.

“There is easy travelling and easy communication between countries so it should be easy access to this content operated by the IOC. It’s a big incentive and enhancement for the IOC brand all over the world. It will show the world more and more about the Olympics even when the competition is not taking place.”

It is all looking rather good so far, but there is the small matter of figures that has yet to be broached here. It was revealed in December 2014 that the operational costs for the Olympic Channel for the period from 2015 to 2021 were projected at €490 million, including a 10 per cent contingency.

The IOC itself will contribute €175 million, or nearly 36 per cent, sports federations and National Olympic Committees will each chip in €72 million, the Olympic Movement Fund €38 million, and the remaining €133 million will come from incremental TV rights and TOP sponsorship programme sales.

With figures such as these involved, it would be wrong not to admit that there is an element of risk in implementing the Olympic Channel.

Namibian former sprinter and now IOC member Frankie Fredericks was one of those to voice concerns when he said that the expense of the project should not absorb funds that would otherwise be earmarked for athletes. However, Ser Miang Ng, the former IOC Presidential candidate who is now chairman of the IOC Finance Commission, said the estimated breakeven period for the new channel is seven to 10 years. “After seven to 10 years, we believe we have a very viable financial model,” he added.

The Olympic Channel is now set to start before the Rio 2016 Games, but, this could be as soon as later this year. In his New Year message, Bach spoke of starting to develop the brand and look of the Channel, as well as looking at its corporate structure. Three months later in March and the organisational structure is already “well advanced”, with the recruitment process underway for hiring key management staff who will launch and run the Channel as part of operations in Madrid, as well as in Lausanne.

Developments are continuing apace and it would seem that now is the time for Bach’s vision to connect fans with sport 365 days a year to come to fruition.

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Almaty or Beijing?

The race for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics may be low-key, but with two vastly different bids there is much to play for.

Nick Butler reports after attending both IOC Evaluation Commission inspections.

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estled close to the university campus a train ride away from the Swiss sporting bubble, Lausanne’s Starling Hotel was the first stop in the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic race for an Orientation Seminar held in December 2013.

To my untrained eye, Oslo appeared the early favourite, with Lviv and Kraków dark horses and the others lower key. Beijing, it seemed, was bidding predominantly to gain experience for a more serious effort in the future, while Almaty was an outsider, attempting to raise the national profile.

Fast forward a few months and this script was torn up and thrown out the window. Lviv was derailed by conflict, while Stockholm, Kraków and Oslo all floundered in the face of overwhelming popular and Governmental opposition.

Europe has rarely failed so triumphantly and reverberations rocked the Olympic Movement, with avoiding a repeat perhaps the foremost goal of the Agenda 2020 reform process. Yet to the wider world, the race could barely be lower profile and, at time of writing, neither of the remaining bidders has mustered even 1,000 followers on Twitter.

People invariably remark how Beijing “doesn’t even have snow” when I explain the candidates - not an entirely inaccurate statement - while mentioning Almaty produces either blank stares, or a heavily-accented “very nice” quip in

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relation to the Sacha Baron Cohen film, Borat.

In reality, both bids offer much, and boast clear strengths and weaknesses, similarities and differences.

With the most concise and attractive venue plan in generations, Almaty has the potential to be a wonderful Games, in a traditional and vibrant winter city. Yet political uncertainty and a degree of disorganisation means it could also be a flop, and it would certainly be another big risk for the IOC after the worries of Sochi 2014, Rio 2016 and Pyeongchang 2018.

Beijing, on the other hand, would be neither wonderful nor disastrous. The venues are less inspiring but the first Chinese Winter Games would be an efficient and reliable choice.

When I arrived in Beijing I was greeted off the runway in a separate VIP car and transported on my own to the terminal, nervously trying to freshen up and conjure the respectability the occasion required. In Almaty a month earlier, I laboured through a long immigration queue and then, with no-one to collect me, was eventually forced to borrow a taxi-driver’s phone to ring for assistance.

I feel bad bringing this up as this was an honest mistake; everyone else was picked up perfectly and who cares about how you are collected from an airport? Yet for a comparison of first impressions, it was important.

Both bids appeared well-organised for the rest of our visit, entertaining and informing us

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while providing a healthy dose of local culture.

Highlights therein included sampling the Kazakh national dish of Beshbarmak, of which horsemeat is the primary ingredient, and scrambling along the Great Wall of China.

A bar at the top of the proposed IOCaccommodating Ritz Carlton Hotel provided the best glimpse of Almaty’s core asset: its compactness. With windows along all four sides, all 13 proposed venues were visible, each no more than a 30 minute drive from the citycentre. One highlight is the iconic Sunkar Jumping Hills, the top of which is only a few metres away from the Ritz Carlton, thus allowing IOC members the luxury of watching sport first-hand from the hotel bar.

A lot was made of it, but the venue really was that good. Slap-bang in the middle of the city, it would produce images reminiscent of the equally iconic diving venue at Barcelona 1992, putting ski jumpers at the centre of the Games as never before. Nearby will be a new sliding centre and Nordic combined cross country loop, while two city-centre venues are already being developed for the 2017 Winter Universiade.

Only one would be constructed from scratch.

Outside the city, the Medeu Ice Rink comes close to Sunkar in terms of beauty, and is comfortably ahead in terms of history and glamour. Over 120 speed skating world records were broken in the open-air, 1,700 metres-high venue in Soviet times, and thousands still skate there today. A roof would be built in time for the Games to conform to International Skating Union requirements, and there is a danger this could have a negative long-term impact, but the venue certainly offers something unique and spectacular.

With the Shymbolak Alpine Resort a mere cable-car ride away from Medeu having been dropped from the bid following the IOC inspection, the other mountain venues are all newer. All Alpine events would be held at the

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The Bird’s Nest Stadium will play a key role if Beijing are awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Photo: Beijing 2022

newly-developed Almatau Resort, and others would be split between the 2011 Asian Winter Games Ak Bulak and Tabagan venues. Cutting Shymbolak was a slight personal disappointment as I spent an enjoyable morning skiing there, but the decisions made sense for cost reasons, and Almaty is not short of viable alternatives.

In comparison, Beijing 2022 would be much more like a Sochi or a Pyeongchang, with a clear division between city and mountain clusters. Its “headline venue” is the Bird’s Nest Stadium where Opening and Closing Ceremonies would take place. One of the world’s most distinctive structures, just entering the arena conjured memories of Usain Bolt changing the face of athletics in 9.69 seconds of genius.

Across a square, a planned

Medals Plaza in 2022, is the Beijing 2008 Water Cube swimming centre where curling would be held, with some public relations guru having already renamed it the “Ice Cube”. With three of the other four city venues also Beijing 2008 remnants - a new speed skating facility is the only exception - this part of the Games would be a distinct nostalgia fest, and with all these great facilities already in place, why not?

My concern is the lack of a winter sporting vibe, and although we were repeatedly told how winter events are booming in China, I was not convinced. We were taken around the worldrenowned Beijing Shichahai Sports School, and saw training sessions in boxing, table tennis and taekwondo. But when we asked if winter athletes train there, we

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received slightly bemused looks before an anecdote about our guide’s daughter skating on a frozen lake.

The Games would create 300 million new winter athletes, we were told, and, if true, this would have a huge impact for the snow and ice world, in a commercial as well as a competitive sense. But the atmosphere would probably be incomparable with most resorts in the Alps, North America or, dare I say it, Almaty.

After packing our overnight bag we drove 193 kilometres northwest to Zhangjiakou, passing the proposed Alpine skiing and sliding sports venues at Yanqing. It was nice, but in a warm and rustic sort of way, and with the season over by the time of our March visit, it is tricky to see a Paralympic Games taking place there. There was snow

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at the Genting Resort snowboard and freestyle ski venue, but not much, despite the IOC Evaluation Commission members having reportedly broken into a snowball fight during their visit.

Biathlon, cross country and ski jumping will all be held close by, with a jumping venue within sight of the Great Wall of China, billed as Beijing’s riposte to the Sunkar Jumping Hills. Zhangjiakou and Beijing will be linked by a highspeed railway, apparently taking just 50 minutes and transporting a staggering 70,000 people per day, at a rate of once every five minutes in peak time.

As a “wider infrastructural investment” envisaged regardless of the bid being successful, the cost remains unclear, and with the terrain the railway will cover largely mountainous, construction costs

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are likely to be extortionate. But it should play a key role in connecting and boosting a largely backward, agriculturally-driven region.

The two budgets are largely comparable and, at under $2 billion, very low, with Almaty’s having been slightly higher before the post Evaluation Commission changes, which reportedly removed $500 million. But with the railway and two new highways to be built, Beijing’s wider spending is bound to be greater, although they claim, somewhat conveniently, this is “unrelated” to the Games as it was planned regardless of the bid.

To put it bluntly, he will have to play a blinder.

There are other challenges for both bids. Air pollution is one, a concern for Almaty as well as Beijing. Human’s Rights Watch have also condemned both prospective hosts, while the Free Tibet lobby is flexing its muscles to derail the Chinese effort. Both cities batted off the question of whether human rights concerns will affect their bid, but with neither regime perfect, expect many more questions for the IOC over the next seven years, whoever wins.

With no presentations to be given at the SportAccord Convention, the main milestone on

Head of the IOC Coordination Commission Alexander Zhukov receives a souvenir of his visit to Almaty. Photo: Almaty 2022

Then again, you can be fairly confident that the Chinese will pull off all the necessary spending. They have the experience from Beijing 2008 and the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, as well as the economy and definite Government support to do so. With the oil crisis affecting the economy, Almaty’s financial stability is less strong, and while all the guarantees have been given, top-level backing is unconvincing. Kazakhstan’s longstanding President Nursultan Nazarbayev moved the capital from Almaty to Astana in 1997 and appears unsure still about supporting a major project in the former.

China also boasts three IOC members, and experienced officials like fluent English speaker and leading Beijing 2008 veteran Yang Shu’an at the helm. Kazakhstan has no IOC members and appears dependent on vice-chairman and leader-in-all-but-name Andrey Kryukov, who, although likeable and impressive, is far less versed in the world of Olympic-bidding politics. www.facebook.com/insidethegames

the road to the July 31 decision date at the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur should be the Candidate City briefing in Lausanne on June 9 and 10. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out, although, with press and public banned, it will also be hard to find out. But with more openness promised, will the Evaluation Commission members reveal who they personally would vote for, as has been mooted?

And if a majority say one and the other wins, what does this tell us about what motivates IOC members in making Winter Olympic choices?

As ever, with three months to go anything can happen, and it was only after the 2013 SportAccord Convention in St Petersburg that the 2020 Summer Olympic race was so changed by the eruption of protests in Istanbul.

But while the general public may not be too interested, what does happen this summer will reveal a lot about the future path of the Olympic Movement. @insidethegames

Lillehammer 2016 aiming to recreate spirit of 1994

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slo may have dropped out of the race for 2022 but Norway still has an Olympic Games to look forward to.

Lillehammer is hosting the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games, only the second time the event will have been held following its debut in Innsbruck in 2012.

It is fair to say there are high expectations after Lillehammer hosted what many people consider to have been the best Winter Olympics ever back in 1994.

Nine competition and 11 noncompetition venues from those Olympics are to be used by Lillehammer, with all, except the Youth Olympic Village, being existing venues.

The venues include the twin ski jumping hill of Lysgårdsbakken, which has a spectator capacity of 35,000.

There will be a total of seven sports and 15 disciplines, including a number of mixed events in the spirit of the Youth Olympics.

But the chances of the popular Norwegian activity of dog-sled racing being included among the demonstration events, as Lillehammer 2016 chief executive Tomas Holmstead had suggested, appear slim.

Holmstead still wants to make sure that the Games, due to be held between February 12 and 21, fulfil their brief of appealing to youngsters and encourage them to get involved in sport.

“I think the Youth Olympics is here to stay and the idea behind it is really good,” he told insidethegames. “It is still a young concept that can be taken in very different directions in different locations, and it needs to be understood in that context.

“It could be down-scaled and made easier; easier on protocol aspects to make it more youthful and playful, and we at Lillehammer 2016 will make our contribution to bring the Youth Olympics in the direction we want to bring it in.”

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This time for

Africa

South Africa have been handed the 2022 Commonwealth Games on a plate after Canadian city Edmonton were forced to withdraw because of the oil crisis. But that does not mean there will be any less excitement when Durban becomes the first African city to host a major global multisport event, as Michael Pavitt discovers.

Following the withdrawal of Edmonton, Canada, from the race to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the South African city of Durban looks set to become the first African host of the Games, proposing to stage the event from former President Mandela’s birthday, July 18, to July 31.

By starting their presentation with traditional African singing and dancing, it contrasted the rather grandiose 18th century building, Mansion House, which hosted the bid launch in London, with the implication that Durban could add something different to the Games should they be confirmed as hosts in September.

Assembled dignitaries, including Durban Mayor James Nxumalo and

F

ollowing their return to the international sporting arena, nobody can accuse South Africa of shying away from hosting major events.

Having become the first African hosts of the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010, they can be seen to have blazed the trail for African nations.

Those tournaments have highlighted their ability to host major sporting events while also producing iconic moments, including Nelson Mandela presenting the Rugby World Cup trophy to Francois Pienaar, after his South Africa side triumphed at the 1995 tournament. Additionally they have added their own uniquely African style to proceedings, shown by the vuvuzelas, whether you loved or hated them, at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. South Africa now appear set to create more sporting history for Africa.

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Nelson Mandela presenting the Rugby World Cup trophy in 1995 to South African captain Francois Pienaar remains an iconic shot. Photo: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images

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elite South African athletes such as London 2012 swimming gold medallist Cameron van der Burgh, seemed united behind the mantra that it is Africa’s time to host the Commonwealth Games.

Perhaps they may well have a point, as in 21 editions since the inaugural edition in 1930, when it was known as the British Empire Games, only three times have the Games been held in a country which is not Australia, Canada, New Zealand or a British nation.

However, the wider context should also be noted, as the Commonwealth Games, which are open to countries who were part of the former British Empire and seen as the world’s third largest multi-sport event, could provide the ideal dry run for South Africa to become the first African hosts of the Olympic Games.

It was a point which South Africa’s Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula was at pains to stress, as he stated Durban’s bid for the 2022 Games is “good for athletes and their own confidence but let’s remember that the hosting of Commonwealth Games is a precursor to the Olympic Games, they are in tandem”.

He added: “We have engaged all and are ready to take serious steps in Government to put in a solid bid to make sure these Games come to the African continent. I can tell you now the progress of engagement is well underway.”

After the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow bucked the recent trend of multi-sport events by coming in under budget, while also being seen as one of the best-ever Games, the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal may have chosen to pick up the baton at the right time, with public support for hosting the Games likely to be high.

With a budget of $511.7 million, Durban have aimed to gear their bid

towards the local community, pledging to deliver a bid to benefit its estimated 3.5 million inhabitants. Additionally their bid plays heavily on delivering a compact Games, in what they describe as a “sports mad city”.

Their promises are unlikely to go unnoticed by the International Olympic Committee given the recent craving for sustainability, highlighted by Agenda 2020.

The compact nature of the bid is highlighted by a promise to hold 80 per cent of Games venues within a 2.5 kilometre radius of the extravagant 56,000-capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium, which hosted seven matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The venue would be the centrepiece of the 2022 Games, hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, in addition to athletics.

With most events held close to the beach front and only the mountain bike and shooting events set to be held outside the host city, Durban’s Candidature File describes them as “the ideal city to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games”, citing its world-class facilities, beautiful sunshine and surf, and outstanding accommodation and venues.

However, Durban may have been aided by the Commonwealth Games sports programme, with only 10 core sports and seven optional ones, allowing Durban to avoid the expense of building purpose-built venues, like a velodrome for track cycling.

Commonwealth Games Federation President Prince Imran indicated that sports programmes for multi-sport events needed to help potential hosts, stating “we in the Commonwealth Games Federation have got to be more flexible as we go forward and I do not think we need to be stuck on ‘X’ number of sports”.

“You look at what the IOC has put forward, the total numbers, and

The Moses Mabhida Stadium will be the centrepiece of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban. Photo: Rajesh Jantilal/AFP/Getty Images

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MICHAEL PAVITT REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

you look at the events, then maybe you can then accommodate more sports.”

While a flexible programme might help Durban in their pursuit of delivering a compact bid, the first step towards their ambition of hosting the Games will come when the Commonwealth Games Evaluation Commission visits in April.

Louise Martin will lead the Evaluation Commission and with Durban being the only bidder, Martin confirmed that the CGF would look to “work with them, see what they have and make them work better”.

“It’s going to be an interesting journey over the next few months and I’m sure that when they deliver to the General Assembly in Auckland, we will be pleased with what we see,” Martin said.

As with every recent bid for a multi-sport event, the idea of legacy features heavily in the submitted proposal, with Durban officials stressing that young people will gain skills and jobs as a consequence of the Games, stating in their bid document that they are aiming to “ensure that at least 30 per cent of the entire workforce directly related to the Games comprises of young people”.

Additionally, Durban state that by hosting the 2022 Games the city would gain economic benefits in tourism, with the region of KwaZuluNatal described as having a vast and diverse selection of tourist options, including the uKhahlamba mountains, game parks and historical battlefields.

Durban believe that the Games would also allow them to develop infrastructure as part of South Africa’s 2030 National Development Plan and meet their aim of becoming “Africa’s Caring and most Liveable City”.

CGF chief executive David Grevemberg reinforced the idea that the Commonwealth Games could help develop the region, stating that “there is infrastructure that is brought forward by the Games, but not necessarily for the Games”.

Grevemberg, who was chief executive of the Glasgow 2014 Games, pointed towards the redevelopment of Glasgow’s Athletes’ Village into housing post-Games as a potential blueprint to follow, with Durban set to operate a similar model to solve the city’s housing backlog.

“The Games provide a fantastic opportunity to accelerate projects and bring things forward, that should be world-class and community related,” Grevemberg said.

Following on from the success of Glasgow 2014, the quadrennial event will next be held in 2018 in the Gold Coast, Australia, and Grevemberg believes that Durban will be able to learn lessons from both Games.

“I am confident that we have got a great partner, it is the right time, right place, right position for our brand to have a partner like Durban,” he added.

“Having the support of great Commonwealth cities who have done it before or have the ambition and aspiration to do it, and working with them to build a network to connect those great cities.

“The Commonwealth has this connection between sport, culture and society, business and a shared sense of purpose and people’s rights. I think the values are very relevant today, whether you are in the Commonwealth or globally.”

A key aspect of delivering a successful multi-sport event in recent years has been the engagement with the local community and Durban are already looking towards continuing the volunteerism shown at both the London 2012 Olympics and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games with a volunteering programme of their own, under the brand idea that Durban is “Ready to Inspire”.

The keen focus on getting the public on side with the bid can also be www.facebook.com/insidethegames

From an Opening Ceremony featuring Scottish Terriers, Glasgow 2014 was widely considered the best-ever Commonwealth Games. Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

highlighted by the pledge to offer family packages and reduced ticket prices for scholars and pensioners, with ticket prices set to include transportation to events.

In this sense Durban seems to be ticking all the right boxes in staging a multi-sport event, focusing on a message of compactness, sustainability and community engagement. However, talking a good game is one thing, delivering is another thing entirely.

With seven years to go, Durban have effectively just heard the starter’s gun, but having underlined their desire to use the Commonwealth Games as a blueprint for the greater prize of the Olympics, South Africa have invited the sporting world to see if they can deliver.

If they are unable to engage the public’s imagination on the path to the Games or fail to deliver on any of their pledges, it will be noted and the dream of hosting the first African Olympics may remain in the distance.

However, success in 2022 could see a first African Olympics appear firmly on the horizon and see South Africa continue to blaze a trail for Africa on the international sporting stage.

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Gloves off as

FIFA IAAF go to the polls and

This year sees two key international posts up for grabs at FIFA and the IAAF, with the outcome of pending elections certain to determine the direction of the respective sports for many years to come. Alan Hubbard looks at the contenders.

X

marks the spot in what is a crucial election year for the two biggest players in world sport.

Never mind the domestic duel in the United Kingdom between David Cameron and Ed Miliband for the key to 10 Downing Street, the upcoming spats in sports politics rather than real politics present equally fascinating power-struggles.

FIFA, football’s governing body, polls its 209 members in Zurich on May 29 on whether one of three rival candidates can unseat 79-year-old incumbent head honcho Sepp Blatter after 17 years, while three months later, in Beijing, the International Association of Athletics Federations, which has an even larger electorate, will choose between two legendary Olympians, Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka, for a new President to succeed another long-serving

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old boy of 16 years, the octogenarian Senegalese judge Lamine Diack.

Both ruling authorities are being dangerously tossed about in very stormy waters, buffeted respectively by tidal waves of corruption and drugs-taking.

If any organisation could do with a strong new hand on the tiller it is FIFA but the odds now suggest Blatter will have the clout to call in enough favours to stave off the challenges from the brave trio opposing him; Jordan Football Association President Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Royal Dutch Football Association President Michael van Praag and former Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Portugal star Luis Figo.

Pity. Surely the world of football has had more than enough of Blatter’s blather.

The determination of the wily Swiss glad-hander to cling on to power is sadly

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symptomatic of sports administration.

We should have learned the lesson of “Slavery” Avery Brundage, the dictatorial American dinosaur whose 20-year tenure at the International Olympic Committee set back the Olympics need for modernisation by a decade.

These are game-changing times for the governance of sport.

When Prince Ali, like Lord Coe already a vice-president of his international organisation, declared his candidacy he made a point of saying he wants the emphasis to be on football again, and not FIFA. “It is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport,” he said.

Good on him.

But can he dislodge slippery Sepp, who himself won a bitter election against former UEFA President Lennart Johansson in 1998?

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Those close to the Prince say he would not stake his reputation on such a fight if he did not believe it is one he could win.

The evidence suggests that he is the only one of the trio who might do so, but breath is not being held as election day looms.

He has always been potentially Blatter’s most credible rival outside of UEFA boss Michel

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Platini. The well-respected royal is the fourth son of the late King Hussein of Jordan and brother to King Abdullah II. His half-brother Prince Feisal is a prominent member of the IOC. At 39, he is the youngest member of the FIFA Executive Committee. As his reformist views are not shared by Blatter and FIFA’s old guard, he seems the ideal figure to clean up the discredited governing body’s shoddy act.

However, it seems unlikely now that Prince Ali, or anyone else, will garner sufficient support to depose battle-hardened Blatter.

But curiously one man who might have done so had his career been in football rather than athletics is one Sebastian Newbold Coe. How FIFA members must wish they had a Coe in their midst. Yet they did have once, as the Chelsea fan was called in by Blatter to chair their Ethics Committee in September 2006. He stood down from this post to join the bid team that failed to bring the 2018 World Cup to England amid allegations of a FIFA stitch-up.

So he well knows the murky machinations of world football.

Had he remained in FIFA’s team, could he, in the immortal words of Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront, have been a contender?

If the FIFA ballot turns out to be a foregone conclusion, the same cannot be said of that for the IAAF Presidency. Britain’s double Olympic champion Coe and Ukraine’s prodigious pole vault hero Bubka seem a pair well-matched, though personally I feel the case for Coe is compelling.

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Main: FIFA President Sepp Blatter enjoys widespread support around the world, despite continued controversies.

Photo: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images Top Left: Sebastian Coe (left) and Sergey Bubka (right) are the candidates to replace Lamine Diack as IAAF President.

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images Bottom: Lamine Diack will step down in August after 16 years as IAAF President.

Photo: Kevin Lee/Getty Images Below: Royal Dutch FA President Michael van Praag faces a tough task of unseating Sepp Blatter as head of FIFA. Photo: Koen van Weel/AFP/Getty Images

As former Parliamentarians in their own countries, Coe, 58, and Bubka, 50, know what it is like to fight an election, so we should be in for a bout of tasty political scrapping between now and August.

Doubtless Coe’s own familiarity with the hustings will stand the British Olympic Association chairman in good stead in the upcoming set-to with long-time chum Bubka when the 213-strong IAAF electorate go to the polls in August to determine a successor to Diack.

Coe certainly seems to be treating his campaign as seriously as he did when elected (albeit for just one term) as Conservative MP for Falmouth and Camborne in 1992.

The fact that award-winning spinmeister Mike Lee has been brought in as Coe’s PR “campaign manager” suggests that his Lordship is aware that the contest may not be quite the shoo-in many anticipate. The odd alliance of a Tory peer and a former Labour spin doctor sees them reunited on sport’s political platform as they were when London bid for the 2012 Games.

After setting up his own agency, Vero Communications, ex-UEFA spokesman Lee has built a formidable portfolio which includes the successful, if highly controversial, championing of Qatar for the 2022 football World Cup, the Rio Olympics in 2016, Pyeongchang’s 2018 Winter Games, the 2018 Summer Youth

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Martin hoping for Glasgow 2014 halo effect

L Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein is seen by many as the only realistic hope of unseating Sepp Blatter as FIFA President.

Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Olympics in Buenos Aires, the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympic programme and, significantly, the election of Britain’s Brian Cookson as President of the International Cycling Union.

Coe’s manifesto includes the reshaping of athletics to appeal to a younger audience.

“I want us to have a renewed focus on engagement with young people and a real understanding of the global landscape that is shaping the next generation of athletes and fans,” he tells us.

“If we are guided by these principles as we review and reform our sport then I am convinced that athletics can enter a new era with confidence and ensure a bright and exciting future.”

Fighting talk. Just as well because Bubka will also have a heavyweight in his corner. Literally so - the giant Vitali Klitschko, the now retired former world champion and courageous antiPutin political activist who has become Mayor of Ukrainian capital Kiev.

At the height of the Ukrainian civil unrest they were on different sides of the nation’s political divide, but have now united with “Dr Ironfist” backing Bubka all the way.

Could this become athletics’ very own grudge match? If so, it is one ardent fight fan Coe will relish.

Actually they have much in common. Both are Olympic legends and prolific world record breakers in their respective disciplines; have served in their national Parliaments; and are IAAF vice-presidents who head their domestic National Olympic Committees.

However, the pole vault phenomenon certainly set the bar too high by challenging for the Presidency of the International Olympic Committee, of which he is a member, getting only four votes out of 92 in a second round exit last year.

This Presidency is a perch many believe Coe could occupy one day but first he must get www.facebook.com/insidethegames

on to the IOC itself. Becoming numero uno in world athletics would automatically guarantee him the seat that could be his springboard for a loftier ambition.

He has also ducked out of another potential electoral tussle, repeatedly rejecting overtures from Downing Street to run for Mayor of London because he preferred to eye the IAAF prize, insisting: “My future is in sports politics, not real politics.”

Since declaring his candidacy Coe has spent much of his time trying to dispel the worldwide conception that top-level success in athletics is determined more by the syringe than the stopwatch. Good luck with that.

This is not something with which the last British peer to be President of the IAAF needed to concern himself. Coincidentally Lord Exeter was also an Olympic athlete - a hurdler, indeed he was the Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion at Amsterdam 1928, and was later immortalised in the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire - as well as a Tory MP, chair of the BOA and organiser-in-chief of a London Olympics the 1948 Summer Games.

While unquestionably a popular figure among the athletics elite, winning the Presidency in August won’t be a cakewalk for Coe. Bubka is also a decent, ambitious guy and an able adversary. But crucially he lacks Coe’s cachet as an administrator.

Coe’s brilliant overseeing of London 2012 surely will remain fresh in the memory of the IAAF’s electorate, not least for his determination to ensure that the Olympic Stadium retained a tangible legacy for track and field, as he had vowed when London won the bid seven years earlier.

So my prediction for the contenders stalking sports corridors of power is that Coe will soar above Ukraine’s pole vault czar and that, alas, while a man appropriately named Ali may bruise Blatter, he will fail to land a knock-out blow on sport’s supreme artful dodger. @insidethegames

ouise Martin, a relatively little-known Scottish administrator, could soon be in charge of the Commonwealth Games Federation, whose members cover almost a quarter of the world’s land area and represent a third of the population.

She has announced plans to stand against Prince Imran, the Malaysian who is a member of the International Olympic Committee, at the CGF’s General Assembly in Auckland in September.

Martin made her decision to stand following last year’s hugely successful Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, an event which did much to rebuild the brand’s image following the previous edition four years earlier in New Delhi, sadly associated with problems in the build-up and corruption allegations afterwards.

Martin had been closely associated with the success of Glasgow 2014, serving as vice-chair of the Organising Committee and honorary secretary of the CGF. “Having thought long and hard about it, and having been honorary secretary for four Games, I’ve always had the ambition to become President at some stage, and I think now is the time for me to stand,” Martin told insidethegames when she announced her decision to put herself forward.

“I get along very well with him [Prince Imran].

He’s a friend and I respect everything he’s done.

“I had to make a decision about myself and, in my opinion, if I had stood for the vice-presidency, I would have been doing a similar thing to what I was doing before.”

Prince Imran, only elected as President in 2011 to replace the popular Jamaican Mike Fennell, may pay the price for a series of ill-judged attempts to move the CGF headquarters from London to Kuala Lumpur as a cost-cutting measure.

It was a proposal that particularly upset the African members and was eventually dropped at last year’s General Assembly. Prince Imran, however, has vowed to try to modernise the organisation if he is elected for a second term.

“We have undertaken a lot of reforms in the CGF with a new strategic plan,” he said. “Having started the process and completed the first phase of getting everything approved and moving, I now want [to] see through the implementation process.”

Duncan Mackay

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MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Sporting Legacy It all comes down to

striking a chord with people We hear a lot about Sporting Legacy. But what does it mean? Mike Rowbottom tries to find the answer.

I

’m looking at a sporting legacy right now - a shin pitted and marked with 20 years’ worth of scars accumulated on football fields ranging from Maple Cross Sports Club to Market Road Astroturf.

Not an exciting range, admittedly.

On reflection, maybe this is more of a Sporting Leg. So. To re-focus.

We hear a lot about Sporting Legacy.

But what does it mean?

It’s tangible and intangible. It’s about facilities, infrastructure, ongoing sporting activity; but it’s also about memories, about inspiration.

Which means, I suppose, that it’s about Nicole Scherzinger.

I don’t know whether the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre would have been built had it not been for the small detail of having an Olympic Games slap-bang next to it in 2012.

Even if it would have been built, there’s no way, surely, without the Olympics, that someone would have got Scherzinger to sing “Don’t Cha” at the Opening Ceremony. Of Westfield Stratford City, that is.

Oddly I find the memory of the former Pussy Cat Doll springing about within miaowing distance of Boots, Miss Selfridge and Currys PC World one of the Sporting Legacy memories I can’t lose. No matter how hard I try.

In a report on the eve of London 2012 by a reporter from the BBC, the question of Sporting Legacy - about which the London organisers had made many bold and hopeful statements - was considered from Down Under as he looked into the way Sydney had, eventually, regenerated its Olympic Park after the 2000 Games.

At one point he asked the heroine of the Sydney Games - cauldron-lighter and 400 metres gold medallist Cathy Freeman - to reflect on her view of sporting legacy: “To me it lies in those intangible qualities, the stories people have to relate now because of the Olympic Games,” said Freeman. “Stories that can be passed on from generation to generation.”

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By that measure, I can tell my children about Nicole Scherzinger. They will not want to know, of course, but I can try.

In fact I can offer them many stories from Olympics, Games and Championships past precious, personal fragments of sport’s intangible legacy.

About the bus driver at the 1998 Nagano Olympics who stoically refused to engage with the fact that he had a turbulent cargo of journalists stuck in traffic halfway up the Japanese Alps and late for the men’s downhill skiing.

After staring straight ahead while being subjected to the kind of violent verbal haranguing for which so many French sports photographers seem naturally equipped, our man at the wheel finally let out a cry of human anguish as he noticed other less vocal but equally desperate press men, myself among them, clambering out of a side window and starting the long slog up through snow and slush to an event which was, inevitably, cancelled by the time we got there.

About the Kuala Lumpur taxi-driver I flagged down during the 1998 Commonwealth Games who asked me, somewhat oddly I thought: “You want lady, boy?” I didn’t want a lady, as it happened. And I was clearly not a boy.

About the cataclysmic storm which interrupted proceedings at the ill-starred 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki. How we chortled as those unfortunate enough to be in uncovered sections of the 1952 Olympic Stadium were soaked by rain being driven virtually horizontally by the wind. How they must have chortled as the wind changed, forcing the fourth estate into a drenched frenzy of laptop protection.

Or about the first day of beach volleyball on its Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996. After a surreal incident in which a deputy sheriff forbade me to walk into the arena but then allowed me

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Nicole Scherzinger: An example of Sporting Legacy?

Photo: Facundo Arrizabal/AFP/Getty Images

to jam myself into a car full of Japanese photographers and drive 20 metres through the gates before getting out, I was immediately greeted by a homely volunteer who announced brightly: “Have a nice day.”

The subsequent experience made up for things, however, and I still cherish the uniquely Californian quote I got from one of the US team, Barbra Fontana Harris: “I think that the energy in the air is just more celebration and a more powerful definition of focality. And that’s great.”

As I say, I can tell my children all this. And they won’t be particularly interested in any of it.

Whatever. I like to think I have made a small contribution myself in terms of a sporting legacy.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, myself and a colleague spent much time playing a steel-string guitar which we had bought for our own amusement at the start of the Games.

We did the same thing at the Beijing Games four years later.

On both occasions we decided to award the guitar at the end of the Games to our favourite person in the host country. In Athens it was the waitress at our regular restaurant - a great girl with a real talent for receipts. In Beijing it was Kin-Pin, kindly host for our block in the media village.

Our waitress may have kept the guitar and learnt to play it - or she may have sold it to help finance an imminent holiday with her boyfriend.

Probably the latter.

Kin-Pin? Well, he was overwhelmed with the gift, and still has it. Recently on Facebook he hinted he was learning to play it.

I call that a Sporting Legacy.

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