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  • Mar, Mon, 2020
Sport

Japan, IOC set July 23 next year for start of delayed Tokyo Olympics

Dates
Tokyo, March 30, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 next year and run until Aug. 8, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee said on Monday.

Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said this was inevitable as the coronavirus pandemic has made it impossible to plan for them properly this year.

The Games were postponed last week and the delay is the first in the 124-year history of the modern Olympics.

The postponement represents a huge blow for Japan, which invested 13 billion dollars in the run-up to the event, and raised three billion dollars from domestic sponsors.

Mori confirmed the new dates after he made the decision with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He also said the Paralympic Games would run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.

Earlier on Monday, the Games’ chief executive, Toshiro Muto, had said the committee was moving “in the direction” of honouring tickets bought for the 2020 Games at the rescheduled event.

He had said the committee could also provide refunds in case of scheduling changes.

“We want to honour the hopes of all those who purchased the tickets amid high demand,” Muto told a news conference.

But it was too early to say what the additional costs of the delay would be, Muto said.

The IOC and Japanese government succumbed to intense pressure from athletes and sports bodies around the world last Tuesday by agreeing to push back the Games because of the coronavirus pandemic.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Mar, Wed, 2020
Sport

IOC stands firm on Tokyo Games in spite of coronavirus concerns

Concerns
Lausanne (Switzerland), March 4, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday gave further unequivocal backing to this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, urging athletes to prepare “full steam” in spite of the coronavirus threat.

“We are preparing for a successful Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020,” IOC head Thomas Bach said at an executive board meeting to discuss the July 24 to Aug. 9 sporting extravaganza.

Earlier on Tuesday, Japan’s Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto had said that details within Tokyo’s contract with the IOC “could be interpreted as allowing a postponement” until the end of the year.

That host city contract states that one of several triggers which would allow the IOC to withdraw the Games from Tokyo would be if “the Games are not celebrated during the year 2020”.

Hashimoto said, however, that Japan’s government and Tokyo were still committed to the Games beginning on July 24, and the IOC has repeatedly swatted aside any suggestions of a postponement.

The Olympics body said again on Tuesday there was no Plan B, and that the Games would take place in their allotted time slot.

Any change to dates would instantly wreak havoc on most sports programmes, with competition calendars planned several years ago to accommodate the Tokyo timings.

Finding a new date in 2020 at this stage would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the 33 sports federations present in Tokyo.

This would even first need the green light from the IOC.

Bach, a 66-year-old lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion, has an iron grip on IOC decision-making and is known for sticking to his guns in adversity.

“I will like to encourage all the athletes to continue their preparation for the Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020, with great confidence and full steam,” the German told reporters in Lausanne.

“From our side, we will continue to support the athletes and the National Olympic Committees (NOCs).”

Multiple sports events around the world have been cancelled during the epidemic.

It has killed more than 3,000 people in China and spread to more than 60 nations, including Japan where infections are near 1,000 and 12 people have died.

“Crowds will be smaller and receptions have been scrapped at the Tokyo 2020 torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia, Greece next week as the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) introduced measures to protect against the coronavirus,’’ it said on Tuesday.

In spite of concerns over possible health risks to spectators and participants at the Games, the Olympic body is unwilling to publicly discuss any other option, such as cancellation or postponement.

“No,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said when asked if the Olympic body had discussed possible options if the situation deteriorates.

“There is no international travel ban and all the advice that we are getting is that the Games can and will go ahead,” Adams said.

“At this precise time we are expecting the Games to begin on the 24th day of July.”

The IOC board said a joint task force had been created two weeks ago, involving the IOC, the Tokyo Games organisers, the city, the government, and the World Health Organisation.

It is to help deal with the coronavirus ahead of the Olympics.

“The IOC EB appreciates and supports the measures being taken, which constitute an important part of Tokyo’s plans to host safe and secure Games,” the task force said in a statement.

Asked if he was comfortable with American athletes travelling to the Games, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday he would defer to Japan.

He added that it would be “a very sad thing” given Tokyo’s investment in venues for the Games.

Trump said U.S. officials were evaluating further action to restrict international travel to other virus “hot spots,” including Japan, but that no decision had been made yet.

Tokyo has pumped in more than 12 billion dollars to organise the event, while billions more were spent on related projects.

Tokyo Games organisers are due to deliver a report via video conference to the executive board on Wednesday.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Mar, Tue, 2020
Sport

IOC confident of Tokyo Games success in spite of coronavirus

IOC

Lausanne (Switzerland), March 3, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) The President and Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave further strong backing on Tuesday to this summer’s Tokyo Olympics.

They did not talk of a postponement or move to postpone the Games due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“We are preparing for a successful Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” IOC head Thomas Bach said at the start of a board meeting to discuss the situation.

The 66-year-old German lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion has a firm grip on IOC decision-making and is known for sticking to his guns in adversity.

Both Tokyo 2020 Olympics organisers and the IOC have repeatedly stressed that the July 24 to Aug. 9 Games will go ahead as planned in spite of the outbreak.

They have also pointed out that there is no plan B.

“The IOC Executive Board today (Tuesday) expressed its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” the board later added in a statement.

However, multiple sports events around the world have been cancelled during the epidemic, which has killed more than 3,000 people in China.

It has spread to more than 60 countries, including Japan where infections are near 1,000 and 12 people have died.

And, earlier on Tuesday, Japan’s Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto acknowledged that Tokyo’s contract would allow for a postponement until the end of the year.

In spite of concerns over possible health risks to spectators and participants, the Olympics body is unwilling to publicly discuss any other option, such as cancellation or postponement.

This is because it knows this will throw the Games into confusion.

The IOC board said a joint task force had been created in mid-February.

The task force has the IOC board, the Tokyo Games organisers, the city, the government, and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It is to help deal with the coronavirus ahead of the Olympics.

“The IOC EB appreciates and supports the measures being taken, which constitute an important part of Tokyo’s plans to host safe and secure Games,” it added in the statement.

Tokyo has pumped in more than 12 billion dollars to organise the event while billions more were spent on related projects.

Tokyo Games organisers are due to deliver a report via video conference to the executive board on Wednesday when the Games will be discussed, before a news conference by Bach.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)

  • Mar, Tue, 2020
Sport

Japan’s contract on Tokyo Olympics allows postponing of Games to end of year, minister says

Contract
Tokyo, March 3, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Tokyo’s Olympic 2020 contract allows it to postpone the Games until the end of the year, Japan’s Olympics minister said on Tuesday, amid concern the coronavirus could disrupt the event.

“The contract calls for the Games to be held within 2020. That could be interpreted as allowing a postponement,” Seiko Hashimoto said in response to a lawmaker’s question in parliament.

However, Japan’s government and host city Tokyo were still committed to hosting the Games, due to begin on July 24, she added.

“And under the hosting agreement, the right to cancel the Games belongs to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).’’

Thomas Bach, head of the IOC, reiterated on Tuesday that preparations were still underway for a “successful” Games in Tokyo.

Any halt to the Games would be costly.

“The latest budget is 1.35 trillion yen ($12.51 billion), with Japan’s government providing 120 billion yen to build the Olympic Stadium and 30 billion yen towards the cost of the 2020 Paralympics,’’ Hashimoto said.

Japan’s Board of Audit puts government spending between the bid in 2013 and 2018 at 1.06 trillion yen.

To curb the coronavirus, Japan’s government has asked schools to close and encouraged the curtailment of events, including sports meetings, which could attract large crowds.

Japan Para Sports Association and Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic organisers said on Tuesday they would cancel a wheelchair rugby test event this month due to the coronavirus.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Thu, 2020
Sport

IOC says it’s committed to Tokyo Games amid coronavirus concerns

Commitment
Berlin, Feb. 27, 2020 (dpa/NAN) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is committed to the Tokyo Olympics going ahead on schedule this summer in spite of fears around the outbreak of the coronavirus, its president, Thomas Bach, says.

“Bach told Japanese media in a conference call that the IOC is fully committed to a successful Olympic Games in Tokyo starting July 24,’’ the Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday.

Bach, when asked on possible alternatives to holding the Olympics as scheduled, said: “I’ll not add fuel to the flames of speculation.’’

Japanese authorities reported an eighth death from Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, and over a dozen infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to over 900.

Some 705 came from the cruise ship Diamond Princess.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, ordered all primary, junior-high and high schools to close from Monday to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.(dpa/NAN)
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(Edited by Abiodun Oluleye and Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Sport

Fears of coronavirus pandemic spreading unease about upcoming Tokyo Olympics

Fears
Tokyo, Feb. 26, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Fears that the new coronavirus outbreak is on the verge of becoming a global pandemic have stoked concerns about the Tokyo Games.

While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) says there is no “Plan B”, doubts remain that the event will go ahead as planned.

Five months before the opening ceremony in Tokyo, health authorities around the world are scrambling to contain outbreaks of the flu-like virus.

The virus has already infected about 80,000 and killed more than 2,700 people, the vast majority in China.

Infections have also spiked in Iran, Italy and South Korea.

But Japan has recorded some 160 cases of the virus as well as 691 discovered onboard a cruise ship docked south of Tokyo.

Sports have been brought to a virtual standstill across large swathes of Asia.

On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged that sports and cultural events be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks as part of containment efforts.

Markets have begun pricing in the risk of a cancelled Olympics.

Already, the Dentsu Group’s share price have hammered as spooked investors fret about the local ad agency’s high exposure to the Games.

While comments by IOC member Dick Pound on Tuesday stoked concerns about the Games, Japan’s minister in charge of the Olympics sought to quell fears they could be cancelled.

“The IOC is preparing for the Tokyo Games as scheduled,” Minister Seiko Hashimoto said in parliament.

In a briefing with reporters, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said there was nothing to worry about.

Suga said he had been told by the IOC that Pound’s comment, that any cancellation decision would be made in May, was not the IOC’s official stance.

The quadrennial sports showpiece was last called off due to World War II, but doubts about Tokyo have grown for some time now.

This has been since Organising Committee chief executive Toshiro Muto said he was “seriously concerned” the virus would pour “cold water” on their momentum.

National Olympic committees remain on a watching brief, relying on assurances from the IOC, which says it is taking advice from Japanese officials and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

But Australia has said its athletes would not compete if their safety was compromised.

“Australian athletes are ready to make their mark at the Tokyo Olympics, but it should not be at the risk of their health and well-being,” federal health and sports minister Richard Colbeck said in an e-mailed statement.

No Australian athletes have reported serious concerns about competing in Tokyo, however.

They are being advised to prepare as if the Games will go ahead there, the Australian Olympic Committee has said.

“This is obviously a very serious matter and it’s not something we thought would be happening,” Australia chef de mission Ian Chesterman told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

Preparations have already been disrupted for dozens of athletes, with qualifying events postponed and training camps scrapped altogether.

Concerns about athlete safety were also high on the agenda four years ago in the run-up to the Rio Olympics due to fears over an outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

Some athletes, including golfer Rory McIlroy and tennis player Simona Halep, pulled out of the Games over Zika but the event went ahead as scheduled.

British former track athlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, who won the heptathlon silver medal at Rio after seriously considering withdrawing, said Tokyo-bound athletes would be similarly torn.

“It’s a really difficult position because you are thinking about your health and the virus that’s going around. But, also, you train so hard for that one moment and you don’t want to lose that opportunity,” Ennis-Hill told Reuters.

“You do have concerns but you have to trust (that) the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the governing bodies and everyone would not put you in unnecessary risk.”

Dutch gymnast Epke Zonderland, who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, arrived in Australia a month ahead of a World Cup event over the weekend.

This is because he feared being delayed by virus-related travel restrictions.

“Every time you’re in a plane for a long time, there are a lot of people on board, probably a few are sick with a cold and the air circulates,” he told Reuters in Melbourne in a recent interview.

“There’s a big chance of getting sick, especially as an athlete.”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Sun, 2020
Sport

Twitter says Olympics, IOC accounts hacked

Hacking
London, Feb. 15, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Twitter said on Saturday that an official Twitter account of the Olympics and the media Twitter account of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had been hacked and temporarily locked.

The accounts were hacked through a third-party platform, a spokesperson for the social media platform said in an emailed statement, without giving further details.

“As soon as we were made aware of the issue, we locked the compromised accounts and are working closely with our partners to restore them,” the Twitter spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the IOC separately said that the IOC was investigating the potential breach.

Last month, the official Twitter accounts of several U.S. National Football League (NFL) teams, including the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, were affected.

They were hacked a few days ahead of the Super Bowl.

Earlier this month, some of Facebook’s official Twitter accounts were briefly compromised.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

We are already looking beyond participation at Tokyo 2020, Dare says

Planning
Abuja, Dec. 12, 2019 (NAN) The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, on Thursday in Abuja said the ministry was already looking beyond Nigeria’s participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Dare, while declaring open the 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), said the move was in the area of all-round preparedness for major international sporting events.

Represented by Adesola Olusade, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dare stated that commendable progress had been made by the ministry for corporate organisations and charitable individuals to take up
sports sponsorship.

“Yes, the Olympics holds every four years but the preparations and level of preparedness which goes into it take more than four years.

“So, we have commenced preparations for the Tokyo Games with the inauguration of the `Ministerial Committee on Tokyo 2020’.

“However, preparations for the next Olympics after Tokyo, as well as other international sports events, should start now if we want to achieve success at the world stage,” Dare said.

The minister, who has emphasised the importance of corporate sponsorship of sports activities to complement government’s intervention, said efforts in that regard have started yielding results.

“We have secured the support of Dangote Group to renovate the main bowl of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja. We have also secured similar support for the National Stadium in Lagos,” he said.

Dare, however, said it might take longer for renovation work to commence on the Lagos stadium due to its state of disrepair.

He also commended the NOC for its collaboration and cordial relationship with his ministry and urged the Committee not to relent in efforts to grow Nigerian sports further.

Earlier in his welcome address, President of the NOC, Habu Gumel, had called for the cooperation of all stakeholders in moving sports forward in Nigeria.

“What is most important to us at the end of the day is for Nigeria’s National Anthem to be played repeatedly on the podium at the Tokyo Games.

“Let us all collaborate and work together for the success of our nation,” Gumel said.

Gumel, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), commended Dare and the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports Development for sourcing alternative funding for sports.

He said it should be clear to all by now that government alone cannot adequately fund sports in such a way that guarantees success.

“Unfortunately, in many African countries, government is the sole financier of sports.

“While many claim that such tendency impedes the autonomy of sports federations, my opinion is that what we need is collaboration,” Gumel said.

He therefore appealed to multinational and corporate organisations to support sports development by sponsoring federations, funding events and assisting talent development.

Gumel also commended the Sports Ministry for delivering on the building of the Secretariat of Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) in record time.

“We can all recall that Thomas Bach, the IOC President, recently commissioned the secretariat in Abuja.’’

He disclosed that the NOC, in collaboration with the IOC, has secured a training scholarship programme for 14 Nigerian athletes ahead of Tokyo 2020.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there were goodwill messages to the AGM from ANOCA and the newly-constituted Forum of NOC Patrons.

Activities at the 2019 NOC AGM also included the presentation of the President’s 2018 Report and the 2018 Audited Account.

There was also the election of the Committee’s Fourth Vice-President and appointment of auditors.

NAN reports that the AGM’s opening ceremony also witnessed the presentation of awards of recognition to the minister and permanent secretary.(NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Second Russian athlete fails doping test at Winter Games

NAN-S-16
Doping
PyeongChang (South Korea), Feb. 23, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva, a Russian athlete, has tested positive to a performance-enhancing drug at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the Russian bobsleigh federation said in a statement on Friday.

Sergeeva tested positive to the drug on Sunday, making her the second Russian athlete to fail a drug test at the games so far.

The result came five days after a previous doping test returned a negative result for her.

“On Feb. 13, her sample was clean. The team’s medical staff did not prescribe the drug to the athlete.

“The Bobsleigh Federation of Russia and the athlete herself understand the extent of their responsibility and understand how what has happened can have an impact on the fate of the whole team,” the federation said.

Earlier this week, Russian curling medalist, Alexander Krushelnitsky, agreed to hand back his mixed-team bronze medal after testing positive for meldonium, which can boost endurance.

The new development is a major blow for the country’s hopes of regaining its Olympic status and would have allowed its athletes march with the Russian flag at Sunday’s closing ceremony.

It was hoped that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would lift its suspension on Russia’s Olympic committee.

That prospect is now severely complicated by the second positive test of a Russian athlete.

Russia now accounts for two out of four positive tests during the Games.

The IOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news came a few hours after hundreds of Russian fans roared in celebration when teenage figure skater Alina Zagitova delivered their team’s first gold medal.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Salif Atojoko and Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Olympic spirit dying, athletes looking to IOC for a change, U.S. athlete warns

 

Skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender poses for a portrait at the U.S. Olympic Committee Media Summit in Park City, Utah, U.S.  REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

 

NAN-S-4
Spirit
Pyeongchang (South Korea), Feb. 8, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) The Olympic spirit is in danger of being snuffed out by doping scandals, U.S. skeleton slider Katie Uhlaender warned on Thursday, urging the Olympic Movement to brace up to checking it.

The recent scandal has led to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banning dozens of Russian athletes for life.

Already, sport’s highest tribunal, the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), has nullified the sanctions.

Both the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have expressed disappointment with the CAS decision.

Uhlaender says the situation is a “catastrophe”, and all parties involved must grasp the opportunity for reform.

“Initially when the IOC took such a strong stance to ban Russia and strip the medals, it gave the athletes who were holding on to the spirit of sport, hope.

“It strengthened our Olympic spirit,” she said at a news conference on Thursday.

“When CAS took that away, it did the opposite. So, I think we’re all turning to the IOC for reform and to take a strong stance to give us that spirit back.

“We’re holding to an Olympic spirit that feels like it is dying.”

Two-time world champion Uhlaender had finished 0.04 seconds outside the medals at the 2014 Sochi Games, but the third-placed slider, Russia’s Elena Nikitina, was stripped of her bronze medal in November.

The Russian was banned for life after the IOC said she had committed anti-doping violations.

However, Nikitina was one of 28 Russians to have their bans overturned by CAS, leaving Uhlaender unsure if or when she would ever get her hands on the Sochi bronze.

The IOC invited 169 carefully-screened Russian athletes to compete as independent athletes after the country was banned from Pyeongchang over the Sochi 2014 doping scandal.

It then refused to invite any of the Russian athletes who had their bans overturned by CAS.

Dozens of Russians, including some who had not been named in the investigations or had any prior doping offences, but were still not invited, have since lodged appeals with CAS.

They are seeking to be admitted to the Games.

Nikitina is also in Pyeongchang awaiting news on her appeal.

Uhlaender warned that if the IOC, WADA and CAS failed to find a solution to the anti-doping system’s problems, it would open a “Pandora’s Box’’.

“I‘m looking to the IOC to take a harder stance and I think all the athletes are looking to the IOC to make sure that the athletes are tested —- not just increased in competition.

“Because we know when we’re going to compete,” said Uhlaender, who will be competing in her fourth Olympics.

“It’s the out-of-competition testing that’s most important. Why can’t we have the top 10 athletes in the world tested out of competition mandatory by an independent source?”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)