The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Monday it could not assemble a team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus outbreak and that its athletes should prepare for the Games to be postponed to 2021.
IOC 'suspends discussions' with India for hosting global events
The entire selection process of the IOC chairman was shrouded in mediocrity and mystery.
Athletes arriving in Tokyo for next year's Olympic Games, postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be exempt from the 14-day isolation period Japan has imposed on anyone arriving from overseas to help stop the virus spreading.
The acquisition of stake in Progress Energy Resources Corp for 1 billion Canadian dollars ($900 million) mark IOC's maiden entry into North America.
USA withdrew from Russian-led International Boxing Association and is set to join the breakaway federation.
Wrestling remained in contention for a place in the 2020 Olympics as the sport was on Wednesday shortlisted along with two other disciplines by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a final vote in September.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that wrestling should not be excluded from the Olympics, suggesting its ancient roots made it an integral part of the programme.
Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou will not be allowed to compete in the Beijing Games after her involvement in a doping scandal four years ago, the International Olympic Committee ruled on Sunday.
The European, American and final world qualifying boxing tournaments for the Tokyo Olympic Games were suspended on Monday due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the International Olympic Committee said. The IOC said the European qualifier in London, which was already under way and due to run to March 24, would end after Tuesday's evening session. It said it would provide details on the qualification process for the other regions at a later date.
'It was of course very, very difficult, especially in the second half. We saw the temperature on the building, so maybe every 10K it was one degree higher and higher.'
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) can still avoid an Olympic suspension by calling off its controversial December 5 election, its secretary general Randhir Singh told Reuters on Thursday.
The world wrestling federation (FILA) will hold an extraordinary congress in May to elect a new president as the ancient sport battles to maintain its place on the Olympic programme.
Russia's weightlifters face being banned from the Rio Olympics, subject to confirmation by the International Olympic Committee, in another collective doping punishment to hit the country.
Sudhanshu Mittal's allegations on the 'illegality' of Narinder Batra's election have come amid the feud among the top brass of the IOA. He had earlier written to the International Olympic Committee, claiming that Batra was 'illegally' elected as IOA president.
'Random displays of anger will end in punishment from the IOC and the loss of points in the World Cup, without achieving what we seek,' says Aakar Patel.
Russia was banned from the world's top sporting events for four years on Monday, a period that includes the next summer and winter Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, for tampering with doping-related laboratory data. The World Anti-Doping Agency concluded that Moscow had tampered with laboratory data by planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug cheats.
The Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments, local organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have all sought to quash persistent speculation that the Games could be cancelled or postponed.
Cricket has been shortlisted for potential inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Games along with baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse, breakdancing, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsport.
Five sports, including baseball, skateboarding and surfing, are on track to feature at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after the IOC on Wednesday recommended their inclusion to attract a younger audience, said a source close to the discussions.
Whether the beleaguered Tokyo Olympics begin as planned this July could come down to support from the United States and its new president, the Wall Street Journal quoted Tokyo Organising Committee member Haruyuki Takahashi as saying in an interview.
The fallout of the Pulwama terror attack, which killed over 40 CRPF personnel, on the sporting ties between India and Pakistan was felt the strongest on Friday.
Yulia Stepanova, the key whistleblower in the Russian doping scandal that almost led to her country being completely excluded from the Rio de Janeiro Games, will miss the Olympics after the runner was controversially ruled out due to her doping past.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
'The gold medal (in Tokyo) has motivated me in life to do even better. Performing well and ending up on podium will be my target in the World Championship (in July)'.
It was an extraordinary turnaround for an Olympics that was expected to be held without major issues by a country known for public safety and economic stability. It also revealed a fatal miscalculation by Japanese and IOC officials of public sentiment at a time of heightened fears over the coronavirus.
Norwegian Ski Federation said it does not want Russian athletes
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Russia has been banned from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics after the IOC found evidence of an "unprecedented systematic manipulation" of the anti-doping system that has led to a series of bans for the country's athletes in recent months.
Brazilian police arrested Europe's top Olympic official in an early morning raid of his beachfront hotel in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, in connection with an investigation into ticket touting at the Olympics. The police said they had discovered evidence linking 71-year-old Irishman Pat Hickey to an international scheme to illegally pass Olympic tickets to touts who were reselling them at well above their original price.
The governing boards of the OWGR and WWGR determined in March that the rankings would be suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the 2020 Tokyo Games to be postponed until July 23-Aug. 8 next year.
Plans that had been almost a decade in the making were shredded as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the IOC and Japanese government to take the unprecedented decision to postpone the Olympics for a year.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Banks and companies in India are taking a cautious approach towards Sri Lanka, which, reeling from a financial crisis, has sought a $1-billion loan from the country to import essential commodities. A senior State Bank of India (SBI) executive said the bank was committed (to Sri Lanka) for the long term. "As far as exposures (are concerned), the bank will be cautious on its dollar exposure to Sri Lankan entities till the situation improves," he said.
With the IOA's return to the Olympic fold, Indian fencers will be able to represent the country after Fencing Association of India's (FAI) suspension has been revoked by the sport's international federation.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Concerns are swirling that Japan's dream of hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics could be a fatality of the spread of the new coronavirus, jolting organisers, sponsors, and media firms who have spent billions of dollars in the run-up to the event. Global insurers face a hefty bill if the coronavirus forces the cancellation of the Games, with estimates of the cost of insuring the showpiece running into billions of dollars.
Five months before the Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo, health authorities around the world are scrambling to contain outbreaks of the flu-like virus which has infected about 80,000 and killed more than 2,700 people, the vast majority in China.
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