ARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2013
SPORTS
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‘Oly exit will hit sport’s finances’
Wrestling in shock as IOC votes to axe it from Games LAUSANNE, Feb 12, (RTRS): Wrestling was in a state of shock after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made a surprise recommendation on Tuesday to drop the sport from the 2020 Games. Contested in the first modern Olympics in 1896 and part of the ancient Games in Olympia, wrestling will now join seven other candidate sports battling for one spot in a revamped programme. It is unlikely, however, that it will get a reprieve when the IOC session in Buenos Aires votes on the recommendation in September. “This is not the end of the process, this is purely a recommendation,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters following an Executive Board meeting. “It is the session which is sovereign. “It was a decision to look at the core sports, what works best for the Olympic games. This was the best programme for the 2020 Olympics. This is not about
what’s wrong with wrestling but what is good for the Games.” The vote came as a major surprise after other sports, including modern pentathlon and taekwondo, were seen as at risk of losing out due to their lower global appeal. “FILA was greatly astonished by today’s recommendation of the IOC Executive Board not to maintain
OLYMPICS wrestling among the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Games,” the international wrestling federation said in a statement. It said the federation was represented in 180 countries, “with wrestling being the national sport in a fair amount of them and the only possibility for athletes to represent their country at the Olympic Games, thus contributing to their univer-
sality. “FILA will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC... of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games,” it said, adding it would meet next week to discuss its next steps. Board members were given a report on each of the Olympic sports which provided details on 39 criteria such as popularity, finances, tickets sold and governance, before a secret vote. “There were different rounds of voting necessary to come to this conclusion,” said IOC Vice President Thomas Bach. “It is an extremely difficult decision to take.” “I cannot look into the heads of my colleagues. Such a decision is never based on one single reason. It is always a series of reasons. Of course different members take a different approach.” “The common understanding is the purpose of this was to modernise, to look
into the future of the Olympics,” added Bach, a potential IOC presidential candidate later this year. While pentathlon and taekwondo have the support of senior IOC members, wrestling is not strongly represented in the IOC’s decision-making body. IOC sources told Reuters that in the secret ballot there were four sports battling to avoid the cut: field hockey, modern pentathlon, taekwondo and wrestling. “I am very surprised by the result,” board member and president of the International ice hockey federation Rene Fasel told Reuters. “Personally, I do not know why but that is what the majority wanted.” The IOC said 25 of the 26 Olympic sports were elected as core sports for the 2020 Games which will also include rugby and golf, making their first appearance in 2016. Wrestling joins baseball and softball, making a joint bid, martial arts karate and
wushu, rollersports, wakeboarding, squash and sports climbing as candidates for the one empty spot. Baseball and softball were taken off the programme in 2005. The IOC executive board will meet in St Petersburg in May to determine which of these will be put to the vote in September. Wrestling had 344 athletes at the London Olympics, competing in grecoroman and freestyle disciplines. Women’s events were introduced at the Athens 2004 Olympics. Russian wrestling federation chief Mikhail Mamiashvili was shocked by the decision but was confident his sport would remain in the Games. “I’m absolutely convinced this ancient sport will retain its status,” Mamiashvili, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1988, told Reuters. “But FILA (the world amateur wrestling federation), the whole wrestling community must take a more active role in the process. We need to
make some drastic changes in the sport, make it more attractive, especially for TV audience,” he said. Olympic exclusion will be a major blow to the sport’s popularity and financial stability as the Games are a global platform for the promotion of smaller, less established sports. “It is very unfortunate,” Satpal Singh, coach of India’s twice Olympic medal winner Sushil Kumar, told Reuters. “It is being played from the first Olympics and is played all over the world.” International Modern Pentathlon Union president Klaus Schormann welcomed the news. “In the last few years we acted and took decisions to make our sport more telegenic and more compact,” Schormann told Reuters. “So every good news is further motivation for us.” Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul are bidding to host the 2020 Olympics with a decision also to be taken in September.
Austria win 1st ‘gold’ at worlds Germany edge Canada for 3rd SCHLADMING, Austria, Feb 12, (Agencies): Slalom star Marcel Hirscher led Austria to gold in the team event at the World Ski Championships on Tuesday with a convincing 4-0 victory over Sweden in the final. It was a much-needed tonic for the host nation which had garnered just two bronze medals after the opening six events. However, there were a host of medal winners and big names missing from the team event, even though Hirscher and women’s super-combined gold medallist Maria Hoefl-Riesch did choose to compete. It was a dramatic, high-octane spectacle for a raucous, flag-waving, horn-blowing, bell-ringing crowd of 20,000, four mixed-sex parallel slaloms raced between 15 teams in a quick-fire, knock-out format. The parallel slalom down the brightly floodlit Planai course featured blue and red gates on either side, with matching dye sprayed in crescents onto the snow to help the racers, a visual feast for ski lovers. First up for Austria in the final was Nicole Hosp, who opened Austria’s medal count here
SKIING
The teams of Sweden, silver, Austria, gold, and Germany, bronze (from left), celebrate during the flower ceremony for the Nations Team event at the Alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria, Feb 12. (AP)
Inter fined for fans’ racist chants about Balotelli
‘Racists may have gone step too far’ JERUSALEM, Feb 12, (Agencies): The torching of Beitar Jerusalem’s offices by fans angry at the signing of two Muslim players has sparked a major outcry which both supporters and ex-players hope could end decades of open racism at the club. Last week arson attack, which caused heavy damage to a room used as the club’s museum, came just hours after prosecutors filed charges against four fans accused of racist chants aimed at the two new players from Chechnya. Along with trophies, pictures and other memorabilia, a pair of boots and a jersey worn by former Beitar and Israel star Eli Ohana went up in smoke. But for Ohana it will be a small price to pay if it ends up spelling an end to years of xenophobia. “If it will be the straw that
SOCCER breaks the camel’s back and fixes the problem, then they can burn another two rooms,” he told Maariv newspaper. “If this can be wiped out, it will be worth even this price.” And many of the fans feel the same. “They burned the past, don’t let them burn our future,” the official supporters’ website wrote in a report on the attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the arson as “shameful.” “Lately, we have seen displays of extremism that we find unacceptable. These must be uprooted, of course, from the world of sports,” the Israeli leader said on Sunday. “I am pleased that the prime minister for the first time referred to this issue,” said Ohana, who retired from the
Real thrash Utd in financial stakes MADRID, Feb 12, (RTRS): Since Real Madrid last played Manchester United, getting a 6-5 aggregate win in the 200203 Champions League quarter-finals, the Spanish side have given their English rivals a thorough drubbing in the financial arena. United, who play at Real’s Bernabeu stadium in Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg, topped Deloitte’s Money League for eight years between 1997 and 2004. Then the Spanish champions surged past and they have led the way in annual income ever since. Real became the first club to surpass the 500-million-euro
pitch in 1998. “It is a sign that the issue has reached the highest levels.” Former Beitar and Israel midfielder Danny Neuman said the trouble was caused by a hardcore of around 500 to 1,000 fans who
($669-million) threshold last season, according to Deloitte’s latest rankings published last month. Their earnings of 513 million euros beat La Liga rivals Barcelona into second place on 483 million, with United a distant third on 396 million. “The Spanish club’s revenue growth has been remarkable,” Deloitte wrote. Real have used a large chunk of those extra earnings to strengthen their squad, including buying Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo from United in 2009 for a record fee of 94 million euros. According to the latest transfer review by Prime Time Sport,
belong to a supporters group called “La Familia” which makes up about 10 percent of the regular crowd. ❑
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Inter Milan have been fined
This July 8, 2007 file photo shows people playing soccer in the mud of the Elbe River near Brunsbuettel, some ten kilometers off the North Sea, northern Germany. Soccer is falling under a cloud of suspicion as never before, sullied by a multibillion-dollar web of match-fixing that is staining increasingly larger parts of the world’s most popular sport. (AP)
Real have spent 428 million euros on players over the past four seasons, more than double United’s 193 million. While United have failed to keep pace with Real in revenue growth in recent years, they did seal a record $559-million deal with General Motors for Chevrolet to become their shirt sponsor for seven years beginning in 2014/15. That, and success on the pitch in domestic and continental competition, could see them challenging Real and Barca, who earn far more than United from television rights, for the top spots again in the future, Deloitte said.
15,000 euros ($20,100) after fans chanted racist slogans about their former striker Mario Balotelli during a Serie A match on Sunday. Balotelli, who joined rivals AC Milan from Manchester City last month, was the target of abuse by Inter fans during their 3-1 home win over Chievo Verona. Serie A said in a statement that Inter had been fined because their fans “directed insulting chants and expressions of racial discrimination towards the player of another team.” Balotelli, who joined Inter in 2007 before moving to City in 2010, had upset Inter fans during his time at the club by wearing an AC Milan shirt on a television programme. Milan and Inter are due to meet in Serie A on Feb 24 and Inter president Massimo Moratti said he hoped there would be no repeat of the abuse. “I am very sorry,” he told reporters when asked about Sunday’s events. “I hope it doesn’t happen in the derby.”
with a super-combined bronze. Any threat was nullified when her opponent Maria PietilaeHolmner skied out. Then came Hirscher, the defending World Cup overall champion, who scorched down the icy slope in 19.08sec to beat Mattias Hargin and hand his team a 2-0 lead. Michaela Kirchgasser trumped Frida Hansdotter to send the crowd wild with the gold in the bag, while Philipp Schoedrghofer was awarded victory in his tie after Andre Myhrer had skidded into his path. Germany stole bronze from Canada thanks to Fritz Dopfer’s victory by 0.01sec over Philip Brown in the fourth race of their third-place run-off. After Lena Duerr had beaten Brittany Phelan, Michael Janyk pulled one back for Canada with a close-fought win over Felix Neureuther. Erin Mielzynski then edged Hoefl-Riesch, but Dopfer saved the day with his run. Neureuther, Germany’s big hope for the men’s individual slalom was given an early scare when Croatian Filip Zubcic took him out in the opening round. The Croat lost his edge and slid with full force into the German, who lost a ski in the impact and was left nursing a sore right knee, hardly the preparation he needed for the worlds-ending slalom on Sunday. But Neureuther came back to help Germany scrape past defending champions France by four-hundredths of a second in the quarterfinals after Tessa Worley had trumped HoeflRiesch and the tie ended 2-2. Austria racked up a morale-boosting 4-0 victory over Germany in the semifinal, with Lena Duerr and Hoefl-Riesch both skiing out as Hirscher and Schoerghofer ruled the roost over Neureuther and Dopfer. Sweden had dispatched Canada, for whom Janyk again performed well to send out a warning that the men’s slalom would not be all about Hirscher. “That was cool, I had a super feeling,” said Hirscher, who is among the favorites in the individual giant slalom and slalom events later this week. “It was good fun and I think we all
Austria’s Michaela Kirchgasser celebrates winning the gold medal during the Nations Team event at the Alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria, Feb 12. (AP)
US ski team enjoying
Funding scheme seen paying off SCHLADMING, Austria, Feb 12, (RTRS): Even without their two biggest names, Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller, the American ski team are enjoying a great world championships, with two golds for Ted Ligety and a bronze for Julia Mancuso. Behind their success lies a well-financed back-up scheme, launched more than a decade ago for the Salt Lake City Olympics, that makes the United States Alpine ski team one of the richest in the world. Since the scheme was set up ahead of the 2002 Winter Games, money has been pouring into the sport in the US thanks to a board of trustees comprising business leaders and fans which collects funds for the country’s ski association (USSA). As a result, the annual budget of the USSA is estimated at 25 million dollars, one of the largest in the Alpine ski world, and has allowed the team to build state-ofthe-art equipment and training facilities. A superb training centre was constructed in Park City to help the racers get the best possible pre-season physical training and the advice of full-time medical staff.
performed really well.” Hirscher said winning the first gold was important for the team ahead of the technical races. “It’s a huge relief for us,” Hirscher said. “Our achievements were not all that bad but we had several fourth places and they don’t count at world championships.”
Boost anti-drugs effort: WADA LONDON, Feb 12, (AFP): Football must do more in the global battle against drugs in sport, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president John Fahey said on Tuesday, supporting claims by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that current policy was too lax. Amid questions about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in a number of sports, Wenger recently called for greater use of biological passports and increased testing for the blood-booster erythropoetin (EPO) in “the world game.” “Whatever the sport, wherever it is in the world, more can be done,” Fahey told a news conference in London, against the backdrop of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal that saw the US cyclist stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for drug use. “I saw some examples recently, in tennis, where senior players were saying they were not tested terribly regularly,” Fahey said. “I would say tennis can do more, as can football do more,” the Australian added. “We’re not in the business — and nor is any anti-doping
agency — of reacting to rumour. “On the other hand, on a daily basis we get frequently anonymous information at our headquarters and we ensure the appropriate body is given that information to follow up. “So we don’t ignore it but one has to work on facts and it is not unusual for a losing team to blame something other than the ability of themselves for the reason for their defeat so you have to be a little bit careful and work on the facts. “I simply say this about football — they are not testing enough for EPO. They can do more and we encourage them to do more. “Again, use intelligence, not just more tests. While testing is a good deterrent factor and may be an effective way of catching people, I would argue the athlete biological passport is a very effective tool. “Why isn’t football using it? Again, why aren’t the four football codes (football, rugby union, rugby league and Australian rules) in my country (Australia) using it?