The insidethegames.biz Magazine May Edition 2021 by Dunsar Media Company Limited

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

2032 OLYMPIC TALKS BRISBANE ONLY

May Edition 2021

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Contents

Published: June 2021 by Dunsar Media Company Limited Editor: Duncan Mackay Magazine Editor: Dan Palmer Managing Director: Sarah Bowron Design: Elliot Willis Willis Design Associates Pictures: Getty Images Staff headshots: Karen Kodish Print: www.csfprint.com Dunsar Media Company Limited 500 Avebury Boulevard Central Milton Keynes, MK9 2BE. Great Britain +44 1908 540675 contact@insidethegames.biz www.insidethegames.biz No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission of the publisher.

Introduction

Duncan Mackay

The chosen one

Duncan Mackay

Bach’s business plan David Owen

Tokyo ghost town Liam Morgan

The host with the most Michael Pavitt

What comes next? Brian Oliver

A story of hope

The smaller sports thinking outside the box

Mike Rowbottom Geoff Berkeley

Messing with the motto Mike Rowbottom

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. © and Database Right 2021 Dunsar Media Company Limited All rights reserved.

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STAY

SAFE The Covid-19 outbreak has left the sporting event industry, together with the rest of the world, in lockdown. It is a very challenging time for our industry as a whole and for you as our friends and international partners. We look forward to collaborating with you on the other side. Till then, stay safe!

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he great moments of Olympic sport will live on for generations but the Games have not only produced excitement on the field of play. Some of the most memorable occasions have taken place in hotels and convention centres across the world, when bidding races to host the Olympics reach their conclusion. Anyone who has been in one of those rooms at that point in time knows what the tension and sense of anticipation is like. As the International Olympic Committee President approaches the podium, envelope in hand, it can seem like time has stood still. The President has one job - to simply say the name of the winning city. Whatever is said brings to an end a gruelling process of blood, sweat and tears that will have occupied the minds of everyone on each campaign for months. For the winner, it is sheer elation. Who can forget the footage of jubilant bid teams erupting into celebration after Games won by the likes of Sydney and London? For the loser, however, there is a huge sense of despair. All of those long nights and the thousands of miles spent criss-crossing the globe has all been for nothing. The constant lobbying and hobnobbing with IOC members has not got through, and the countless hospitality events, media launches and press releases have failed to achieve the desired goal. In the cities themselves, the announcement will either have kicked off a full-scale party or led to the champagne being put back on ice. Thousands have packed themselves into squares and parks to gaze up at big screens, with a positive outcome prompting a roar which could match any from the sporting arena. Defeat, on the other hand, means the only option is to mingle sadly away as the crowd slowly disperses.

All of this suspense and fanfare is etched into Olympic history. But it now looks set to be a thing of the past. Recent bidding campaigns have been low key affairs, with fewer cities in the frame come decision day and plenty of candidates dropping out due to tight purse strings, public apathy and referendum defeats. Thomas Bach, the IOC President, believes the current way of choosing a host for the Games creates “too many losers” and defeated cities walking away with only a huge bill to show for their efforts. These are more frugal times, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic, and cities are not lining up to host the Olympics as they once were. Bach has decided that enough is enough and has opted to change things. For the 2032 Summer Olympics, a new process has led to Brisbane being parachuted into pole position as the IOC’s “preferred bidder”. The Australian city is now privy to exclusive discussions and will be confirmed as the host barring a huge last-minute surprise. Bach, who engineered the joint award of the 2024 and 2028 Games to Paris and Los Angeles, has essentially killed off the bidding race with decisions on who hosts now set to be made behind closed doors in IOC meetings, before being obediently rubber-stamped by IOC members. This has led to inevitable criticism about a lack of transparency, with other cities which may have fancied a tilt at 2032 now not getting a look in. The Brisbane decision will also have passed a lot of people by, especially those outside of the Olympic bubble. There was no razzmatazz of a big reveal by an IOC President, with the deal to bring the 2032 Games to Australia instead revealed exclusively by insidethegames. In this latest edition of The insidethegames. biz Magazine, I delve into this new way of doing things and explain how Brisbane ended up at the front of the queue. Bach, of course, has now been re-elected as IOC President for a final four years and will have a lot on his mind. Chief columnist David Owen looks at what the German’s priorities could be as he tries to safeguard the Olympic Movement and leave his legacy.

At the top of Bach’s agenda will be this year’s postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which are now rapidly approaching. With far fewer people due to be in attendance, chief senior reporter Liam Morgan wonders what a sparsely-populated Games will be like for athletes, fans and the television audience. The Commonwealth Games Federation is perhaps looking at the IOC’s selection of a host for 2032 with envy as its event in 2026 is yet to be allocated. Brian Oliver has spoken to CGF President Dame Louise Martin about how the organisation must adapt in a rapidly evolving sporting landscape. It is a shame for the CGF that Budapest is not a part of the Commonwealth. The Hungarian capital has thrown its hat into the ring for numerous sporting events in recent times and has stepped off the bench as a replacement when COVID-19 has cancelled competitions elsewhere. Senior reporter Michael Pavitt explores the ambitions of a city which will want to be in Brisbane’s shoes in the not too distant future. The coronavirus crisis has impacted all sports - but particularly the smaller governing bodies which have had to scrap for their survival. Senior reporter Geoff Berkeley speaks to some lesser-known Federations as they aim to bounce back from a year like no other. With so much doom and gloom and uncertainty in recent times, it is refreshing to also include some positivity. Felicite Rwemarika’s journey from child refugee to IOC member provides a message of hope, with the Rwandan telling chief feature writer Mike Rowbottom her story. I hope you enjoy this magazine which has again been produced by our award-winning team. Another edition, dedicated to Tokyo 2020, will be following shortly so there will be plenty to get your teeth into over the coming weeks. We hope to see you soon.

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THECHOSENONE The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games are destined for Brisbane with the Australian city benefitting from the IOC’s new fast-track selection process. But while celebrations begin Down Under, others have complained about a lack of transparency. Duncan Mackay reports.

he last time Australia was awarded the Olympics, it sparked scenes of celebration across the country. When International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch uttered those unforgettable words in Monte Carlo - “The winner is Sydney” - to reveal the city with its famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge had beaten Beijing, Australian politicians and bid campaigners leapt into each other's arms. Bush hats were thrown, tears were shed and champagne corks popped. Television crews beamed the footage into packed live sites and millions of homes around the nation. Compare that to Australia’s latest “victory”. There was no big

In the future, Olympic host cities will not be revealed by IOC Presidents to great fanfare. Photo: Getty Images

set-piece announcement in a huge concert hall thousands of miles and several time-zones away, and no celebrating officials uncorking champagne bottles while being filmed by television cameras for posterity. Instead, news that Australia was in line to host the Olympic Games for the third time in its history trickled out unexpectedly via an exclusive news story on insidethegames on February 23. “Queensland's bid to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games could receive a potentially significant boost tomorrow when it is expected it will be recommended to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board that the Australian state is installed as the preferred candidate,” I wrote after having the story confirmed via a senior IOC official. Sure enough, less than 24 hours later the IOC Executive Board announced it had entered "targeted dialogue" with officials over Brisbane and Queensland staging the Games in 11 years’ time to join Sydney and Melbourne in 1956 as Australian hosts. Technically, of course, this does not mean Brisbane has been officially awarded the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but something would have to go

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HOST CITY SELECTION

BRISBANE

spectacularly wrong from here for the world not to be tuning into watch an Opening Ceremony at a reconstructed Gabba, the city’s famous cricket ground. With Australian officials having already sent the financial guarantees to the IOC in Lausanne, there seems little to prevent Brisbane being formally confirmed as the 2032 host city

as early as July, shortly before the rearranged Olympic Games in Tokyo open. Brisbane’s bid was born out of the Gold Coast’s successful hosting of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, an event met with widespread international acclaim. A previous but unsuccessful bid by Brisbane came in the wake of a similarly lauded Commonwealth

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The world will gather in Brisbane for the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, barring an unexpected hitch. Photo: Getty Images

Games in 1982, which inspired the city’s then Lord Mayor Roy Harvey to launch a campaign for the 1992 Olympics. Brisbane’s budget was much smaller than its rivals but did not lack style. For the 1985 IOC Session in East Berlin, media magnate Rupert Murdoch flew in fresh Australian seafood for a reception held for members. A year later, Barcelona was awarded the 1992 Games, beating Paris. Brisbane finished third ahead of Belgrade, Birmingham and Amsterdam.

John Coates and Australia are the first to benefit from Thomas Bach's new bid system. Photo: Getty Images

Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates later described Brisbane’s bid as “very much on a learning curve”. He admitted later bids,

including Sydney 2000, had been helped by the experiences gained from Brisbane’s efforts. But as good an effort that Brisbane’s bid for the 1992 Olympic Games was, there was little to suggest that if they were to come again they would be fast-tracked at such dizzying speed. The 2032 race was expected to feature bids from several countries, including Doha in Qatar - which is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2030 Asian Games - Budapest in Hungary and Rhine-Ruhr in Germany. The decision to enter exclusive negotiations with Brisbane came before any of them could launch a formal bid. It is fair to say they are all privately fuming at the unexpected turn of events but have largely chosen to remain tight-lipped in fear of jeopardising any future bids. Brisbane has the IOC's new bidding system to thank for being given the unique opportunity to be awarded the Olympics four years before the traditional process would normally have reached its conclusion. It was developed in part by Coates and seeks to find a winning host more efficiently, while avoiding turning other campaigns into expensive losers.

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“This decision is not a decision against anybody," IOC President Thomas Bach said at a news conference following the announcement about Brisbane. “This is just a decision in favour of one interested party at this moment in time.” The timing of the announcement, though, was not only unexpected but strange as the IOC and the Olympic Movement, like the rest of the world, is continuing to fight the biggest pandemic in more than a century. It had already seen last year’s Games postponed and a big question mark still hangs over the event this year. Most people would have thought this would be the IOC’s priority instead

of appointing a host city for a Games still more than 10 years away. But the IOC claimed it is because of coronavirus that this was exactly the right moment to future-proof the Olympic Games. “The decision to advance the process was taken at this particular moment, given the uncertainty the world is facing right now,” an IOC statement about the decision to prioritise Brisbane read. Bach has made no secret of how much he hates the highprofile bid model used by the IOC for more than a century, having headed Munich’s unsuccessful campaign to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Other parties interested in 2032, such as Rhein-Ruhr in Germany, have been left frustrated. Photo: Getty Images

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sold Brisbane's bid to Thomas Bach. Photo: Getty Images

Ever since being elected head of the IOC in 2013, he has sought ways to make it, he claims, cheaper and more efficient. He wants to end situations where a city’s bid could be cut off at the knees after rejection of the Olympic brand by voters in local referendums, while stopping a system that invites controversy, including allegations of vote-buying. “This [former process] was not the best procedure, neither for the future of the Games nor for the reputation of the IOC,'' Bach said after the Brisbane announcement, aiming critical comments at consultants and lobbyists hired by candidates. If Brisbane is eventually approved by the full IOC membership - which it inevitably will be - it would cap the second straight unconventional bidding process for the Summer Olympics under Bach. Paris and Los Angeles were awarded the 2024 and 2028 editions, respectively, at the same time in 2017 when the IOC changed its rules mid-contest to allow a double award. Budapest's late withdrawal from the 2024 race had paved the way for Los Angeles being offered the 2028 edition unopposed. In 2019, the IOC created panels for each of the Summer and Winter Games which can

enter into rolling dialogue with possible candidates and even approach bidders. The panels can recommend a host that may now be picked without a contested vote. “We cannot, I suggest, continue to be damaged as we have in the past,” Coates, a veteran IOC member, said in 2019 while presenting the new

Bach claimed his colleague was not involved in the Executive Board's debate which eventually led to Brisbane being installed as the preferred candidate. Coates may not have been physically in the room, but everyone knows he has been intricately involved in most major IOC decisions over the past decade - whether they were made entirely within an Executive Board meeting or not. “Mr Coates has not taken part in any kind of discussion of the IOC Executive Board concerning the reports of the Future Host Commission or related directly or indirectly to the Olympic Games 2032,” Bach said. He added that the IOC’s “compliance department” had active oversight. If you say so, Herr Bach. Coates’ influence is just as big back home when it comes to all matters sporting, which meant he had the ear of Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

bid process he helped shape at Bach's invitation. Queensland's quick progress raised questions about possible conflicts of interest for Coates, who has led the AOC for more than 30 years. Coates returned to the IOC Executive Board last year as a vice-president and is viewed as one of Bach's closest allies. He also leads the IOC's Coordination Commission which is overseeing preparations for the postponed Tokyo Olympics this year, as well as serving on several other key Olympic groups and being the President of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He also played a key role in the double award to Paris and Los Angeles through his position on the IOC’s “Working Group for simultaneously awarding 2024 and 2028 Games”. Asked about the perception of Coates' role in creating a process that first benefitted Australia,

Brisbane will be able to call upon infrastructure such as the Anna Meares Velodrome. Photo: Getty Images

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The Gabba, Brisbane's famous stadium which is best known for cricket, will be refurbished to become the focal venue of the 2032 Olympics. Photo: Getty Images

He engineered a meeting between Morrison and Bach at the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019. The Prime Minister reportedly “sold” Bach on Brisbane's bid and told senior IOC powerbrokers that Queensland had the full support of his Government.

For Bach to be convinced Brisbane had the full backing of the Government, he needed to hear it from the Prime Minister himself and Morrison, a former chief executive of Tourism Australia, sold the dream hard. Coates told friends after the

Australia last hosted the Games, to great acclaim, in Sydney in 2000. Photo: Getty Images

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meeting he had “never been more proud of my Prime Minister”. It represented remarkable progress as a feasibility study sponsored by Mayors across South East Queensland had only been released in February 2019, revealing there could be positive

benefits from a potential Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032. The following month the IOC Executive Board announced the formation of a five-member working group - the one chaired by Coates - to redesign the bid process after a string of difficult campaigns which saw cities lose referendums and drop out. “We gave [Coates’ working group] a kind of blank cheque to organise themselves,” Bach told reporters after the announcement. “We hope that they will be creative and effective in decisions. “We want this also to be transparent and not being presented as a fait accompli where nobody knows who is talking to whom. “The Olympic Games are too big and too important that you could make an arrangement with a city without a public discussion, without anybody knowing except maybe the Executive Committee or Board of a Federation. "This is not going to work for the Olympic Games.”

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DUNCAN MACKAY EDITOR, INSIDETHEGAMES The Australian model, with a total of 21 Olympic venues shared between Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and South East Queensland, is just the kind of regional concept that Coates’ working group had recommended in May 2019. The report had also urged the IOC to consider scrapping its traditional model of awarding the Olympics seven years before they were due to start, by adopting a new system which meant an award could be made whenever a Future Host Commission felt the timing was appropriate. The new proposed process also put most of the decisionmaking in the hands of the Executive Board - effectively taking control from the 100 or so IOC members. In truth, this is not the problem it may have been in the past as the membership is so packed full of Bach acolytes he could probably get anything approved. Morrison spoke with Bach again last November when he was in Tokyo meeting with new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. He once again told Bach that Brisbane was ready to host the Olympics in 2032. Morrison also assured the IOC that vital infrastructure projects, such as major upgrades

to the choked highways to the north and south of Brisbane, would be delivered on time. “I know the good the Olympics do for sport,” Morrison reportedly told Bach. “This is also an opportunity for the Australian Government to stimulate sport again at all levels.” These kind of messages are music to the ears of Bach, a devout believer in the power of Olympism. From that point, Brisbane’s campaign was in the fast lane. A couple of weeks before the IOC’s Executive Board was due to meet in February its Future Host Commission, chaired by Norwegian lawyer Kristin Kloster Aasen, held a Zoom call with officials from Queensland to discuss Brisbane’s bid. Among those who addressed the Commission was Cathy Freeman, whose performances at Sydney 2000, where she lit the Olympic Flame before winning the gold medal in the 400 metres to fulfil the dreams of a nation, are the stuff of legend. “The vast desert land with its wide, open skies and incredible red land was a perfect setting to cultivate my love of running,” Freeman told the Commission as part of a presentation about her heritage which reportedly sent chills down the spine of Aasen and her colleagues.

John Coates, right, is a close ally and friend of IOC President Thomas Bach. Photo: Getty Images

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Australia's track hero Cathy Freeman spoke passionately about Brisbane's bid and helped to sway the decision. Photo: Getty Images

Sydney 2000 beach volleyball gold medallist Natalie Cook also lent her voice, as did Bridie Kean, a wheelchair basketball player who was part of teams that won Paralympic bronze and silver medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Coates also played his part, as did Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Australia’s Sports Minister Richard Colbeck. The Future Host Commission left the call with the clear belief that what Brisbane was offering was too good to turn down, a message conveyed to a beaming Bach. Strict secrecy was employed in the run-up to the planned announcement after the IOC Executive Board meeting. Those involved in the bid knew early in the week a momentous decision was going to be handed down, but the only leak came when insidethegames broke the news of Brisbane’s impending coronation. It was just the kind of

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fait accompli that, less than two years earlier, Bach had claimed the IOC were desperate to avoid. Reaction in Australia has been muted so far, although this is no surprise as there are still another three Summer Olympic Games to take place before Brisbane gets its chance. But excitement will undoubtedly build during the next decade. Sydney 2000 is widely considered one of the greatest Olympic Games in history, so the bar has been set high for Brisbane. For now, though, Australian officials are basking in a job well done. And why not? They managed to be awarded the Olympics for a third time when most people were not even aware there was a bid process going on. Coates could not resist complementing himself on his good work. When asked for his reaction to the IOC’s decision, he told Australian television: “Not bad, hey?”

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N A L P $ $ E N I $ U BACH’$ B Thomas Bach’s re-election as International Olympic Committee President for a final four years has led to questions about how the German will see out his term. David Owen wonders what will be top of the agenda.

ow that Thomas Bach is back, what can we expect from the German lawyer’s next four years as International Olympic Committee President? The early priority will inevitably be to somehow find a way of staging both Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, in spite of the pandemic and other problems assailing them. Thereafter, to resort to Bach-speak, taking steps to ensure the IOC’s revenue model is

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fit for a post-coronavirus world looks set to be a key preoccupation. The IOC is facing a major structural issue when it comes to safeguarding, and if possible enhancing, its future income levels. This is that broadcasting rights can no longer be counted on to provide the superior growth rates the Movement became accustomed to in the good old days culminating with London 2012. Between 1993 and 2012, broadcasting revenue achieved consecutive cycle-on-cycle growth rates of respectively 47.5 per cent, 21 per cent, 15.1 per cent and 49.8 per cent. For 2013 to 2016, the Sochi-Rio cycle, this was down to eight per cent, and for Pyeongchang-Tokyo - if Tokyo 2020 happens and if broadcasting rights generate around $4.5 billion, as I have been led to believe then growth would once again be in the vicinity of eight-to-nine per cent. There will be no abrupt evaporation of IOC broadcasting rights earnings, not prior to the 2033 to 2036 quadrennium at any

rate, as the three-cycle $7.7 billion deal with NBCUniversal for the American rights for 2021 to 2032 will see to that. The stunning new agreement which will reportedly see the National Football League earn as much as $110 billion over 11 years will, moreover, no doubt fuel hopes the market is about to embark on a new growth spurt, fuelled by the digital revolution in media. But - and this is the point - there remains much uncertainty. The sort of lightning-fast digital disruption/innovation we are all learning to take in our stride might actually suit a multi-faceted event like the Olympic Games. The sheer quantity of content is extraordinary; everything can be captured and made available. This makes it possible for rights-holders to offer, in addition to their mainstream, free-to-air coverage of the leading Gamesrelated stories day-by-day, a service for the minority among their audience who might

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DAVID OWEN CHIEF COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES desire to see, for example, every second of taekwondo action or every Olympic sailing race. It is not hard to appreciate how digital media companies might be able to extract additional revenue from viewers in this way, and hence - perhaps - keep the value of the rights offered by the IOC moving upwards. But, again, the uncertainty over media and what the market might look like in four months, never mind four years, means it must make sense for the IOC to strive to diversify its revenue streams, even if media rights, their old stalwart, ultimately resume stronger upward momentum. To be fair, prior to COVID, the IOC appeared to have achieved this to pretty good effect in the Pyeongchang-Tokyo quad. The headline value of its other main income generator - The Olympic Partner worldwide sponsorship programme - was on course to more than double to well over $2 billion from fractionally above $1 billion between 2013 and 2016. It remains to be seen to what extent, if any, the pandemic will now eat into this, in terms both of revenue postponed and revenue foregone. Assuming, however, that Tokyo 2020 is able to proceed in some form, it still looks highly probable that growth in the IOC’s TOP sponsorship revenue will far outstrip growth from broadcasting rights in the Pyeongchang-Tokyo cycle.

Thomas Bach's first priority in his final term will be ensuring Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 go ahead. Photo: Getty Images

Once you add on the stunning $3.3 billion of domestic sponsorship income generated by Tokyo 2020 itself, then sponsorship is probably in the process of overhauling broadcasting rights as the Movement’s chief source of revenue. Bach revealed at the last IOC Session, moreover, that TOP was set to raise around $3 billion in the 2021 to 2024 quadrennium, so it seems growth from this income stream is likely to continue at a decent clip. There is, though, an issue with sponsorship revenue: a big chunk of it - perhaps as much as half -

Sponsorship revenue will likely eclipse that of broadcasting in the Pyeongchang-Tokyo cycle. Photo: Getty Images

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is not cash. While sponsorsupplied cars, computers and the like are very helpful for staging multi-sports events, when it comes to redistributing funds around the myriad bodies that have grown to depend on IOC subsidy, cash is king. While the long-term trend in broadcasting/media income remains unpredictable, therefore, and with new revenue streams being by their nature somewhat speculative, there remains an incentive for the IOC to endeavour to drive up sponsorship income even more. In this context, the new strategy document promoted by Bach - Agenda 2020+5 - makes interesting reading. The passage I have in mind here occurs under recommendation 15 - “innovate revenue generation models”. It reads: “The current media and commercial landscape has been disrupted in terms of the digital revolution, and in addition our partners are subject to increased scrutiny in terms of the value of their investment. "Therefore, it is appropriate for the IOC to ensure it takes measures to maintain the relevance of our

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commercial programmes, and further develop the growth and the stability of the programmes.” It goes on: “The IOC continues to provide a very attractive proposition to commercial partners thanks to the Olympic values on which the Olympic Movement is based. We know this brand association continues to be a valuable component and a driving element behind leading global companies’ desire to be associated with us. We want to make sure that our partners are able to tap into this and leverage their association with these values. “Purpose-led marketing has become one of the most impactful tools for companies, institutions and rights-holders to position themselves to target audiences, with a focus on the ambitions, purpose and values of the company, rather than solely putting their products or services at the heart of their marketing strategy. "In the Olympic context, this means developing mutually beneficial projects and programmes with partners that support the role of sport as an important enabler for sustainable development goals.”

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The International Olympic Committee is making further forays into the world of esports. Photo: Getty Images

By this logic, the more appealing the values associated with the five rings by multinational companies and consumers, the more valuable the Olympic brand should become. It makes sense, I think, to view IOC initiatives in the realm of what company executives refer to as CSR, or corporate social responsibility, through this optic. Building or sourcing in a “green” way is good for the planet, or at least less bad than failing to do so. But it is also good for the IOC brand, and might help to convince multinationals wishing to promote their own “green” credentials that membership of TOP is a good investment. Setting up the Olympic Refugee Team may provide a life-changing experience for a few displaced individuals and might inspire a great many more. But if it is perceived as a good deed - and, frankly, you would have to be seriously hard-hearted not to view it as such - then, again, it might further embellish the Olympic brand. If it, in turn, rubs off on the images of the companies which pay to be part of TOP, and hence helps to support this kind of activity then, reverting once again to Bach-speak, the IOC has a “win-win-win”. As for actual diversification of revenue streams, I am confident the IOC is preparing to take a long hard look at video gaming. If I had any doubts on this score, they evaporated on seeing FIFA President Gianni Infantino chosen, alongside his World Rowing counterpart Jean-Christophe Rolland, to present a segment entitled “Encourage the development www.facebook.com/insidethegames

of virtual sports and further engage with video gaming communities” at the recent IOC Session. Infantino, who is also an IOC member, spoke of “seizing the opportunities of a changing landscape of technology, society and sport”, while emphasising how FIFA and other International Federations had “accelerated our investment and focus on virtual forms of our sports to engage with young people”. He also underlined the “importance of moving quickly now”. Within days, FIFA unveiled a set of financial statements, for the admittedly unique year of 2020, showing the governing body appeared - extraordinarily - to have generated more revenue from video gaming than its raison d’être, football. In April, the IOC announced the launch of the Olympic Virtual Series, which brings together five sports with the aim of “mobilising virtual sport, esports and gaming enthusiasts all around the world in order to reach new Olympic audiences”. The IOC will need to mind its Ps and Qs if minded to go the FIFA route. I am not much of a gamer myself, but the football-themed video games I am aware of tend not to involve much in the way of physical activity. They might thus be said to breed couch potatoes. So we should probably expect the narrative accompanying any IOC push into the sector to focus on the opportunity it affords to inculcate Olympic values into young players as well as attracting them to try out real sport. @insidethegames

Agenda 2020+5 also includes an explicit commitment to centralise Olympic hospitality. The move is portrayed in terms of enhancing efficiency. However, any such restructuring would probably offer an opportunity for the IOC to assign to itself an additional sliver of the sponsorship activation pie. Finally, the new roadmap talks of making use of Olympic branding to lift the profile of Olympic qualifying events. If it works, one imagines another upshot of this innovation would be to make these events more attractive to sports fans and therefore to advertisers. Once again, as a significant contributor to this enhanced value, it would be no surprise if the IOC were to seek a share of the benefits. Indeed, the last sentence of the Agenda 2020+5 document drops an oblique hint that this is the IOC’s intention. “The diversification of other revenue sources outside of broadcast, sponsorship and licensing will continue,” this sentence reads. “For instance through the creation of new properties (cf. recommendation six and recommendation nine)”. Recommendation six is the apposite one in this context. It is to “enhance and promote the road to the Olympic Games”. It might be hard to see past coronavirus right now, but a period of significant, multi-faceted change for the Olympic business is approaching.

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Tokyo

GHOST TOWN Rows of empty seats at Japan National Stadium could become a common sight on television screens during Tokyo 2020. Photo: Getty Images

Tokyo 2020 will be Games like no other with far fewer people in attendance and the possibility of no fans at all. Liam Morgan assesses what the impact will be for athletes, spectators and the worldwide television audience.

t has been clear for some time that the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be very different. Different in almost every way: for athletes, for fans and for all participants involved in the Olympic circus. A key part of what makes the Olympics the Olympics will also be missing following the decision to ban international spectators from attending the Games in the Japanese capital. At the time of writing, a completely behind-closed-doors Olympics also cannot be ruled out. A surge in coronavirus cases in Japan and Tokyo has forced organisers to delay a decision on whether there will be any

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local fans inside venues - and, if there are, how many - until as late as one month before the planned Opening Ceremony on July 23. While the Olympics does not attract the hordes of fervent spectators who follow their team to a FIFA World Cup, for example, banning overseas fans, while understandable given the COVID-19 crisis, means there will be a distinct lack of global camaraderie and atmosphere in Tokyo. The Olympics and Paralympics are a typically made-for-television, broadcastfocused event in normal circumstances and watching it from home is how the vast majority of fans, particularly those not from

the host country, consume the Games. Yet the absence of international spectators will be felt particularly strongly by the most important stakeholder group - the athletes. The ban on overseas attendees, which had been widely expected, covers the friends and family of the competitors, who would usually be vehemently cheering on their charges from the stands. COVID-19 has taken that away from them. “We share the disappointment of all enthusiastic Olympic fans from around the world, and of course the families and friends of the athletes, who were planning to come to the Games,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.

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“For this I am truly sorry. We know that this is a great sacrifice for everybody. We have said from the very beginning of this pandemic that it will require sacrifices. But we have also said that the first principle is safety.” For Sarah Walker, an Olympic BMX silver medallist from New Zealand, not having her friends and family in Tokyo will be a blow, but she told insidethegames athletes understood the reason behind the decision. “From athletes I’ve heard from, they are a bit gutted but they also understand,” the three-time world champion said. “Regardless of whether an athlete feels like they succeed, or they feel like they have failed and everything in between, not being able to see family and friends before, during or after competition will be challenging. “Even though athletes can be selfish, we don’t compete as athletes just for ourselves - our friends and family have been part of the journey with us. “But, we will all be in it together. The whole world. And we will all be bringing our best, doing our friends and families proud, and keeping them with us always. Then we can look forward to the hugs, cheers and handshakes when we get home.” Those who have also been left counting the cost of the international fan ban, in a more literal sense than the athletes, are overseas spectators who had purchased tickets for the Games. It is thought around one million Tokyo 2020 tickets were bought by fans outside of the host country, just shy of a quarter of those sold to Japanese residents. Many of those customers are set to be thousands of dollars, pounds and euros out of pocket after all but one of the authorised resellers confirmed they would only be refunding the face value cost of ticket-only purchases and would retain the handling fees, which amount to up to 20 per cent of each transaction. In April, it also emerged that customers who bought tickets for the Olympics through the authorised reseller in the United States, CoSport, may only receive a 75 per cent refund on the cost of their hospitality package, usually comprising a hotel stay as well as seats for the Games. The failure from CoSport to offer full refunds is the subject of a class action lawsuit, filed in New Jersey federal court in April. The way some resellers have handled what is admittedly a tricky logistical challenge has www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto spoke confidently about fans attending before a spike in COVID-19 cases. Photo: Getty Images

compounded the misery for numerous fans who are now facing financial losses on top of being denied the chance to attend the Games. insidethegames has spoken to more than 15 people who bought tickets for Tokyo 2020 through CoSport and other authorised resellers, which are appointed by their respective National Olympic Committees. A common theme that has emerged is frustration over the lack of communication from ATRs and how there has been a lot of “passing the buck” between the companies themselves, the IOC, Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese Government. “The ATRs are blaming the IOC. The IOC are blaming the Japanese Government. The Japanese Government are saying ‘these aren't our citizens’, and then the cycle continues,” one disgruntled customer said. Others have pointed out how they will lose money on the face value of refunds owing to a poorer exchange rate between the yen and their respective currencies, while CoSport has also caused controversy by asking its customers to effectively waive all rights to further claims in their refund request form. There is a more general sense among these customers that they have been hung out to dry, not just by the ATRs but also the IOC, for reasons beyond their control. While the ATRs are equally not responsible for the decision not to allow international spectators, the majority seem to have neglected their customers, keeping them in the dark and only releasing sporadic information by email. Only one - TeamGB Live, the British ATR - has promised full refunds at the time of writing. CoSport and other ATRs argue they are @insidethegames

facing their own financial problems and could even go bust. Such was the level of concern over the impact on their finances that several ATRs urged Tokyo 2020 organisers to allow overseas fans to attend the Games prior to the announcement in March. CoSport, which also acts as an ATR in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Jordan and Australia, claims it lobbied on behalf of its customers for them to be refunded every last penny and said it was Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese Government’s decision not to do so. “CoSport and other Olympic entities argued the Japanese Government and Tokyo 2020 should compensate international ticket buyers 120 per cent of face value since their decision has resulted in the ticket buyers not being able to enjoy the ticket fulfilment programme they helped fund and CoSport developed,” it said. "There is no profit included in this 20 per cent fee. In fact, CoSport expects to experience a financial loss from the Tokyo 2020 ticketing programme. “Again, as with ticketing, CoSport and other Olympic entities argued the Japanese Government and Tokyo 2020 should make international package buyers whole, but they decided not to.” Banning all fans, Japanese or otherwise, and staging the Games behind closed doors would also be costly for organisers. Tokyo 2020 projected income of $800 million from ticket sales, the third-largest source of revenue, and any shortfall will have to be made up by the Japanese Government. Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto had publicly stated her belief that fans

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International camaraderie is a big part of any Olympics but will not reach the same levels in Tokyo. Photo: Getty Images

should be in the stands at the Games before a surge in COVID-19 infections in Tokyo and other parts of Japan threatened to scupper such plans. It seems likely the number of fans will be restricted - as they will be at other major sporting events due to be held this year, such as UEFA’s postponed European Championship - and that athletes will not be competing in front of full stadia. With that in mind, coupled with the total absence of international fans, what will the Games look like? Much will be the same for the armchair viewer, although Bach has claimed the IOC “together with our rights-holding broadcasters…will make every effort so that the fans from around the world will be able to experience the Olympic spirit”. There is the possibility piped-in crowd noise may be used in an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of packed, colourful stands, especially at the blue riband Olympic events, although opinions on it are divided among football fans, for example. Special effects such as augmented reality could also be used by broadcasters to bolster their offering. While the Games by their very nature are tailored for television, broadcasters will be wary of the fact the coverage of Tokyo 2020 could be shown to more people than ever before due to the expected lack of spectators on the ground. With that comes pressure to put on the best show possible. www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Olympic Broadcasting Services chief executive Yiannis Exarchos was tight-lipped on the specifics, but promised the coverage of the Games would meet its usual standards even without the atmosphere provided by a crowd. “As always, the goal of our production is to tell the unique and inspiring stories inherent to each athlete’s performance,” Exarchos told insidethegames. “While the ambiance

within the venue certainly enhances the broadcast of the Games, it does not define it. “Athletes will always be at the heart of our coverage and conveying their emotional journey to the fans at home is at the forefront of all our efforts. In that sense, we don’t feel we need to ‘recreate’ the Olympic atmosphere, because as long as we are able to tell the stories of the athletes, the Games will remain as captivating as ever.” Exarchos said Olympic and Paralympic rights-holding broadcasters had “benefitted from lessons learned over the past year in broadcasting sports events with limited attendance” amid the pandemic. “I would argue that RHBs are already at the top of their class in terms of the product that they deliver to their viewers,” he added. “It is my genuine belief that the worldwide audience will be so eager to watch their national heroes come together in the most anticipated Games in history, that the excitement will be palpable, regardless of the size of the crowds in the stadia. “OBS is exploring offering broadcasters new ways of virtually connecting athletes with their fans in the venue. “If we’ve learned anything during this crisis, it is that physical distance no longer has to be a barrier to engaging with one another, be it friends, family, athletes or fans.”

New Zealand BMX rider Sarah Walker said the absence of overseas fans in Tokyo would be a blow, but that athletes understand the move. Photo: Getty Images

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The host with the most

Budapest’s status as a sporting epicentre continues to grow with events heading to the Hungarian capital in their droves. Michael Pavitt explains why the city is a safe pair of hands amid its continued dreams of the Olympics.

nternational Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach is said to have lavished praise on Budapest when he visited the city for the World Fencing Championships in 2019. According to the Hungarian Government, Bach said the city had “indisputably become one of the world’s most significant sports capitals”. In a meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, he went on to declare the city as “always a good host”. Bach’s comments came after Budapest had also hosted World Championships in judo and aquatics in 2017, with the flagship events in wrestling and table tennis arriving in the following years. In 2019, Budapest became the first host of the World Urban Games when the Global Association of International Sports Federations needed a new venue, following the withdrawal of Los Angeles. With all these events, it was probably correct when Budapest was named the European Capital of Sport for 2019.

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Despite being a title which is awarded annually, you would be forgiven for thinking that Budapest has never relinquished the crown since then. A multitude of events have headed to the city since it claimed the prize. Balázs Fürjes, the Hungarian secretary of state for development and international sport events, has regularly been seen alongside sporting Presidents such as Sebastian Coe and Julio Maglione with the ink drying on new hosting agreements. Coe’s comments when naming Budapest as host of the 2023 World Athletics Championships are typical of the views expressed in recent times. He noted the Hungarian capital’s “great experience in organising world-class sports events” while expressing enthusiasm over the plans for a new venue. Along with the marquee athletics event and the 2027 World Aquatics Championships, Budapest is expected to stage other major gatherings including the Chess Olympiad,

the European Handball Championship and the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in the coming years. There is even talk of Budapest welcoming the NFL for its International Series matches over the next five years.

Thomas Bach was impressed with Budapest's hosting of the World Fencing Championships. Photo: Getty Images

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Budapest's bid for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics was given the red light but another attempt is on the cards. Photo: Getty Images

It is tempting to suggest the capital’s failed attempt to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games could be one of the final instances of a city using a bid race to impressive promotional effect, given the IOC’s new targeted process. Surely it is unarguable that “Brand Budapest” has gone from strength to strength since the 2024 collapse, with the city seen as a dependable partner for the Olympic Movement and its prized properties, which has shown a willingness to raise its hand for new projects such as the World Urban Games. The ambitious, dependable and reliable image was projected by Orbán earlier this year, when he returned the plaudits Bach had offered Budapest two years earlier by lauding the German’s re-election as IOC President. “We Hungarians greatly appreciate your dedication and the efforts you have made for the Olympic Movement and the world of sports for many years,” Orbán said. “I believe that Agenda 2020 and the new rules relating to the process of the organisation of the Olympic Games will open up new opportunities for cities with overarching and ambitious dreams.” The Hungarian Prime Minister’s far from subtle hint that a future Olympic Games in Budapest remains on the agenda at some stage came alongside an additional vow that Hungary would help the Olympic Movement www.facebook.com/insidethegames

overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19. He claimed the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be a “joint victory”. Both Bach and Orbán’s words have proved to be correct time and time again as the build-up to the Olympic Games has continued in difficult circumstances. Given Budapest’s bulging portfolio of recently hosted or upcoming major events, it is impressive that the Hungarian capital’s sporting significance has arguably been boosted further by the pandemic. International Federations have increasingly found themselves heading to Budapest to ensure their events can take place, as sporting competitions across the world have continued to fall by the wayside. When an event has needed a location, Budapest has kept on raising its hand. Should Tokyo 2020 take place as planned, a significant number of athletes will have passed through Hungary at some stage on their path to the Games, to attend qualifiers or major build-up events. The Hungarian Olympic Committee outlined how the country has emerged at the forefront of the “post-COVID sports scene”. The organisation said nearly 400 athletes from 44 countries competed at the International Fencing Federation Sabre World Cup earlier this year, with 12 Olympic quota places secured. Russia and Hungary @insidethegames

also earned two women’s handball berths just outside Budapest in the neighbouring city Győr. Half of the four-event Modern Pentathlon World Cup season is taking place in Hungary prior to Tokyo 2020, with the International Modern Pentathlon Union relocating its World Cup Final from South Korea. One of the latest events saw 280 athletes descend on Budapest for the European Olympic wrestling qualifier in March, where 36 places at Tokyo 2020 were decided. The event included one of the stranger stories from the Olympic qualification process when Hungarian NOC President Krisztián Kulcsár lost his car to wrestler Bálint Korpási in a bet. Kulcsár offered his Lexus to Korpási as a reward if he lost weight to qualify for the Games in the men’s under-67 kilogram Greco-Roman category, rather than the 72kg division he had previously competed in. Korpási duly achieved the feat and was given the keys to the car until October. Not every event has come with such a prize, but the stream of competitions has undoubtedly provided a useful launchpad for organisers bringing their sports back under new COVID-19 conditions. Recent months have seen Budapest host the first in-person Artistic Swimming World Series event since the pandemic began, following a number of virtual competitions. The International Judo Federation staged its first event of the COVID-19 era in Budapest with a Grand Slam competition forming part of the qualification pathway to the Olympic Games. It also provided the opportunity to test countermeasures which will allow future competitions to be held. Leading swimmers may come away from Tokyo 2020 thankful that Budapest’s Duna Arena played host to the second season of the International Swimming League last year. Organisers of the franchise event reportedly considered heading to Australia to ensure athletes did not suffer “careerending disruption” at a time when open swimming pools and competitive events were at a premium. The ISL eventually settled on Budapest, however, with 320 swimmers from 10 international teams racing over a five-week period. Athletes were housed in two official hotels on Margaret Island on the Danube River. The hotels formed part of a bubble environment, with swimmers tested every five days to ensure no COVID-19 outbreaks. The format is set

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The UEFA Super Cup was held in Budapest with limited fans, despite coronavirus fears. Photo: Getty Images

to be replicated on a greater scale during the Olympic Games. Training as well as competition was held at the Duna Arena, one of the state-of-the-art venues constructed in Budapest in recent years as the capital seeks modern sports infrastructure. All this is not to say that hosting sporting events has not been controversial during the pandemic. Hungarian politicians called on Orbán to cancel the UEFA Super Cup last year, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Budapest in September. Concerns were raised that the match could be a “superspreader” event with UEFA allowing the game to take place with limited fans as part of a pilot project. The match between Bayern Munich and Sevilla ultimately went ahead in front of a reduced capacity crowd of 30 per cent at the 68,000-seat Puskás Aréna. UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin highlighted the match when expressing his confidence that fans will be present at the rescheduled continent-wide European Championship this year. This includes Budapest’s ambitious plan to achieve 100 per cent capacity alongside “strict” entry requirements. “Thanks to the host associations and the authorities in the host countries, we have been able to adapt and we will try to give you as 'normal' a Euro as possible,” Čeferin said. “It will be the first event of a global dimension to be held since the pandemic struck, it will be the perfect opportunity to show the world that Europe is adapting. www.facebook.com/insidethegames

“Let’s not forget last year's UEFA Super Cup in Budapest successfully opened to spectators at 30 per cent of the stadium's overall capacity. By the time the Euro kicks off in June, a large proportion of the public will have been vaccinated, rapid tests will be available and drastic health measures will be in place to further ensure the event is safe. We will not take any risks.” Budapest is due to stage Hungary’s group matches against World Cup holders France and defending European champions Portugal, with four games set to take place at the €533 million venue in all. The small matter of France against Portugal in a final group match and a last-16 tie are also due to be held at the stadium. Puskás Aréna has already been at the centre of European club football, with UEFA picking the venue to host four Champions League and two Europa League knock-out matches. These could not take place in their original locations amid travel restrictions across Europe. In terms of growing the Budapest brand as a sporting capital, the praise offered by Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp after his side’s Champions League last-16 win over RB Leipzig is the kind authorities will relish. "Brilliant, really brilliant, it's a great stadium,” Klopp said of Puskás Aréna. “Inside, it looks a little bit like the Atletico Madrid stadium, which felt good for us, to be honest. “It's a great stadium, the pitch was great. I'm pretty sure it's a proper football stadium so if this one is sold out in the future that will create some atmosphere. It was really great. If we would have lost the game, the stadium was still great.”

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The Puskás Aréna is already set to host next year’s Europa League final, but it will not be long until the biggest prize in European club football is decided there. Having assisted UEFA at a time of need - including Hungary providing a home for Qatar as they oddly participate in a European qualifying group to prepare for their hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup - the reward of staging the Champions League final will follow sooner rather than later. Such a showpiece would undoubtedly be a coup for Budapest and Hungary, whose leader Orbán has faced criticism for having a “reckless football obsession”. Critics have pointed to the use of public funds to develop expensive stadiums to boost national prestige, subsequently shoring up his political support. It is worth wondering how hosting sporting events benefits Budapest in the long run. Fürjes has previously outlined the city’s target to become one of the top three European cities for quality of life and attractiveness by 2030, with sporting events forming part of this strategy. He noted that sporting infrastructure has to fit the needs of a growing city,

A high diver takes flight over the Danube, with the Hungarian Parliament as a backdrop. Photo: Getty Images

while fulfilling requirements to host major international events. The Duna Arena is a prime example, with the venue used for the 2017 World Aquatics Championships with a capacity of 12,500. This was reduced after the World Championships, leaving a 5,000-seat facility which boasts two full course swimming pools, a diving pool

Judo is among the dozens of sports which have brought flagship events to Budapest. Photo: Getty Images

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and a short course training pool. The venue is environmentally friendly due to the use of renewable energy, and both elite athletes and members of the public can use the pools. It is a similar story at the National Athletics Centre, a 40,000-capacity venue which is being constructed for the World Championships in 2023. The venue is expected to cost €550 million, making it more expensive than the Puskás Aréna. It will include temporary seating and be reduced to a capacity of 15,000 after the World Championships. Once the temporary upper tier is removed, the stadium will be left with a circular plateau which will be filled with public leisure areas. Spectators will be able to access the venue by public transport or by walking. A public park, 15 acres of green space and a sports and leisure park are planned as part of the project. It all fits into a wider development plan in Budapest, which is expected to include a “Student City” with space for

12,000 people and a campus for the Chinese Fudan University. The Budapest Development Agency, which has overseen the tender process for the project, has also announced plans for major upgrades to the city’s transport infrastructure over the next 20 years. This includes plans for both a bridge and tunnel under the Danube to boost the city’s rail network, which is part of an effort to reduce traffic and pollution by up to 80 per cent by 2040. A Green Budapest Programme is planned over the next five years to ensure greater access to parks and green community spaces in the capital. The development of sporting facilities is billed as being part of necessary city planning by the Hungarian Government. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, who surprisingly defeated the Orbán-backed Fidesz candidate at last year’s election, has clashed with the Government over various plans in recent months. This included a threat in April to pull the plug on the World Athletics

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The Best Not to Host

Budapest raised its hand for the first World Urban Games after plans for Los Angeles to hold the event collapsed. Photo: Getty Images

Championships over a dispute regarding the Student City project. Karácsony’s office expressed concerns earlier this year that the development of the athletics stadium, a handball arena and a rowing facility amounted to a bid for a future Olympic Games by stealth, essentially disguised as city planning. The claim was rejected by Fürjes but his denial was perhaps undercut by Orbán’s own declaration that he would “like to live to see Hungary hosting the Olympics”. The 57-yearold Prime Minister criticised a “domestic coup” that he blamed for the collapse of the 2024 bid. Even less subtlety, a Budapest 2032 Committee was established by the Hungarian Olympic Committee in January, less than a month before Brisbane was installed as the IOC's non-binding preferred bidder for the Games that year. A tilt at securing the 2036 Olympics and Paralympics seems likely, particularly as it

would come 12 years on from the last European host in Paris. Hungary is yet to host an Olympics despite Budapest bidding for the event in 1916, 1920, 1936, 1944, 1960 and 2024. The country has bid on more occasions than any nation never to have hosted the Games, and is the highest placed team on the all-time medal table which has not welcomed the world for sport’s grandest occasion. Should the proposed sporting infrastructure and improved transport links come to pass as tipped by Budapest’s development arm, the city will surely be well placed to end its wait. After all, Budapest should have enough credit in the bank with the IOC and IFs given its welcoming embrace in recent years and particularly during the COVID-19 era. One thing is for sure: we can expect to see Budapest continue to bid and secure upcoming sporting events.

Hungarian Ferenc Kemény was a founder member of the International Olympic Committee in 1894, and even offered Budapest as an alternative host for the first modern Games, eventually held in Athens. In December 1895, he became secretary of Hungary’s newly formed National Olympic Committee, a year before swimmer Alfréd Hajós braved freezing coastal waters to win freestyle gold medals over 100 metres and 1200m in the Greek capital. Hajós was Hungary’s first Olympic champion. At Rio 2016, Katinka Hosszú demonstrated that his spirit was still alive, clocking a 400m individual medley world record and returning home with three golds. Hungary is still the most successful nation never to have hosted the Olympics, having won 177 gold medals. The country’s greatest successes have come in fencing, particularly sabre. Aladár Gerevich won seven golds from 1932 to 1960, mostly in team events but also the individual sabre title in 1948. Team-mate Pál Kovács, the individual sabre champion in 1952, won six golds over a similar timeframe, an achievement matched by Rudolf Kárpáti, the individual sabre champion in 1956 and 1960. Áron Szilágyi’s individual sabre titles in 2012 and 2016 ensured he maintained a wonderful tradition. Sprint canoeist Danuta Kozák took her Olympic haul to five golds at Rio 2016, while her partner Gabriella Szabó has three. Gymnast Ágnes Keleti evaded the Nazis during the war and resumed her career with Olympic floor gold in 1952. She was also part of an intrepid team which fled the aftermath of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution to compete in Melbourne. Aged 35, she took her final tally to five gold medals. Keleti celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year. In the ring, László Papp became the first boxer to win three gold medals while the "Golden Team" which won the football title in 1952 is still considered among the finest ever. Philip Barker

Budapest staged the World Aquatics Championships in 2017 and the event is due to return a decade on. Photo: Getty Images

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WHAT COMES NEXT? The Commonwealth Games is at a crossroads with no host for 2026 and the challenge of adapting to a sporting world which is constantly evolving. Brian Oliver reports.

he purpose of the Commonwealth Games is “to unite the Commonwealth family through sport”, to “bring together members of the Commonwealth of Nations to compete on a level playing field in a spirit of friendship and fair play often referred to as ‘The Friendly Games.’” That all sounds admirable, as do the Commonwealth Games Federation’s core values of “humanity, equality and destiny” and its focus on human rights, fairer societies, diversity and sustainability. The CGF is promoting Birmingham 2022 as “The Games for Everyone”. Its programme features more medals for women than for men, a global first. Twenty20 cricket, a new introduction which is sure to be a big hit, is a women-only event. When it launched a new brand, Commonwealth Sport, and its updated strategic plan in 2019, the CGF spoke of the aim to “empower and equip athletes as agents of change”. It all sounds very promising, but how is it working out?

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How relevant are the Commonwealth Games in the 21st century, in a world and a sporting landscape that is constantly changing? These questions are likely to be asked more and more over the coming months as the CGF tries to work its way out of a tight corner or, in the words of one onlooker, “a big hole”. The CGF believes it has some of the answers and is looking for others, which is why it is working on ways to downsize and reduce costs. For example there will be no Athletes’ Village at Birmingham 2022 and we may never see one again at future Commonwealth Games. “We have to move on,” said Dame Louise Martin, President of the CGF. “We’re going through a sticky patch at the moment, yes, because of all the vagaries of COVID and cost-wise, but in the future I see the Commonwealth Games going from strength to strength in a completely different way to how it has been done in the past. “Modernise it, change it. We can’t stay as we are. It’s not sustainable.” The biggest challenge for the CGF is finding a host for the next Games after Birmingham.

In the week after the death in April of HRH Prince Philip, who was one of the great figureheads of the Commonwealth, news came through that Hamilton, Ontario, had abandoned its bid for the 2026 Games. The Canadian city that hosted the first Games wants to focus on the centenary event in 2030, which is hardly surprising. Why would anyone swap a centenary for a 96th anniversary? Commonwealth Games Australia had pushed for Government support for an Adelaide bid but none came, and it was abandoned in October. There has been talk of interest from Sri Lanka, which had wanted the 2018 Games that went to Gold Coast in Australia. Nothing doing, said Maxwell de Silva, secretary general of the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee. There has been no support for a bid from his Government. What about the other mooted bid from Canada, way out west in British Columbia, where businessman David Black sees a way to reboot the area’s tourism and manufacturing by hosting the 2026 Games?

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BRIAN OLIVER COLUMNIST, INSIDETHEGAMES Once more there is no support from the local and national purse-holders: it would all have to be done with private money, as would a proposed province-wide bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics which has more traction. India has expressed an interest in hosting the Games at some point, but the nation with the world’s worst “second wave” of COVID-19 is not going to be focusing on future sporting events right now. All of which leaves the CGF with no bidders, in a post-pandemic world, with only five years to go. Glasgow and Gold Coast, the last two hosts, were awarded the Games seven years out. The plan was to award the 2026 Games last year and the 2030 Games next year. COVID-19 has wrecked those plans. Finding a host is not the only challenge. Sport, and the way it is consumed, is changing rapidly. There are about 2.5 billion Commonwealth citizens in 72 nations and territories. Half of those people are from India and more than 60 per cent of them are under 30. How many of them are fired up by “The Friendly Games”, by the sight of septuagenarians winning medals in shooting and lawn bowls? What is the value of the Commonwealth Games - commercially, socially, sport-wise - and what further steps should the CGF be taking to promote and sustain an event that has a rich history but a less predictable future? Everybody with an interest in the Commonwealth Games knows how big a deal it is to the smaller nations, especially in the Pacific. Nauru, with a population of 10,000 at the time, declared a public holiday when the weightlifter Marcus Stephen won its first Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1990, and later elected him President of the country. Many competing teams come from places which, like Nauru, have the population of a small town, for example Anguilla, Norfolk Island, Guernsey, Niue and Montserrat. The Commonwealth Games is, realistically, the sporting pinnacle for those places while for others, such as the United Kingdom’s teams, India, Australia, Canada and Jamaica, it is not. The same is true in terms of sports, in that the Commonwealth Games means far more to some - including boxing, weightlifting and of course the core Commonwealth sports of netball and bowls - than it does to athletics, swimming and cycling. The attitude towards the Commonwealth Games of FINA, the governing body of swimming, is said to be little short of dismissive. The big event in athletics in 2022 is the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, otherwise known as Niketown. It finishes four days before www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Commonwealth Games Federation President Dame Louise Martin is overseeing a period of change at the organisation. Photo: Getty Images

the Birmingham 2022 Opening Ceremony. In its 2019 strategic plan, Transformation 2022 Refresh, there is talk of a digital strategy, a Games value optimisation project and of developing proposals for new Commonwealth Sport properties. Examples include sport-specific Commonwealth v non-Commonwealth nation events, Commonwealth Championships, Commonwealth esport opportunities, Commonwealth Masters Games, urban sports festivals and mass participation and leisure events. Dame Louise is enthused by esports. “We’ve just set up an exciting partnership with the Global Esports Federation,” she said. “That’s crucial in this day and age - in the future hopefully we’ll have more to say on that.” The willingness to change is clearly there. It is much needed, say a number of experts from the world of sport business and governance, specialists from academia, and figures from within the Commonwealth Games Movement who were canvassed by insidethegames. Some were pessimistic - so much so they did not wish to speak on the record - while others highlighted the benefits to be had from the Games, provided the CGF does not “doggedly @insidethegames

pursue the next cycle without lifting its head to see how the sporting world is changing”. Professor Simon Shibli of Sheffield Hallam University, a sport specialist and accountant, has researched and written on performance, and on the economic impact of major events, over decades. He has done specific work on the Commonwealth Games, and believes the proliferation of other events over the past quarter of a century has left the event “searching for an identity”. He points out that too many smaller nations enjoy their “Eddie the Eagle moments” while the quality of competition overall suffers,

Attracting huge stars like Usain Bolt is a challenge for Commonwealth Games hosts. Photo: Getty Images

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that host nations can distort the sport programme to enhance their medal prospects - which India did via shooting in 2010 - because the CGF’s bargaining position is largely so weak, and that the Games “dances around the sporting calendar depending where you have it”. It has been staged in five different months during the five Games this century and “is more a quirk in the calendar than a regular prestigious fixture,” said Shibli. “In Delhi in 2010 everyone wanted to see Usain Bolt but he didn’t show up,” he said. “It’s a bit like having Tiger Woods at The Masters or not. “When you are two years out from a Summer Olympic Games, bigger nations won’t play their hand. You want to see the best athletes but some countries might send development squads and you don’t have much of a spectacle because the quality of competition is diminished. “Audiences are not great and commercial rights are not great. There are too few hosts. “In the 1970s there weren’t so many competing interests but look, for example, at Gold Coast 2018. It was in April, not only soon after the time of the Winter Olympics but at the business end of the Champions League.” As ever, it was also in a World Cup year: both events began in 1930 and have been held in the same year since. “In the sporting air space, it’s very, very difficult for an event to gain attention when it’s quirky, not fixed and not the pinnacle of achievement,” said Shibli. “The fact that it is the Friendly Games where it’s very Corinthian, the taking part that matters, has led to mismatches and joke performances. “You need to make it an elite competition based on qualification. At the moment the variation in standard is such that it becomes a shootout between the big four or five nations. “If it’s going to be that, make it that from the outset, a big event for the UK athletes,

Birmingham 2022 will feature more women's medal events than men's. Photo: Getty Images

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Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games next year as part of a packed calendar of sport. Photo: Getty Images

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa, with others able to make it on merit and compete sensibly.” Mark Abberley from Portas, a global consultant for sports strategy, said: “The Commonwealth Games’ biggest success is its diversity. And it’s also its biggest challenge.” The presence of so many smaller nations gives a sporting chance to those who might not otherwise have one, but at the same time it reduces the list of potential hosts. It leads to the Commonwealth Games meaning completely different things to its own members. Abberley was chief executive of England Boxing when it sent a strong team to Glasgow 2014, and is now working on a sport strategy for Mauritius “so I can see the Games through different lenses”. “How many of those diverse nations can realistically host a Games?” he said. “Could it look at maybe having five or six key host venues and circulate? Does it have to go to a different venue every time? If it was in the same place twice would it be a disaster? “The sport programme could be looked at more creatively. The combat sports all want to be there but some elite athletes in other sports don’t have it on their radar. “Do you need track cycling? Is athletics as relevant in the Commonwealth Games as it is in other events? These are big questions but they need to be looked at.” Robert Datnow and Angus Buchanan, host city experts from The Sports Consultancy, @insidethegames

another global agency based in London, suggest the Commonwealth could open up. The common language is English but there are no restrictions on membership - all are welcome. The last “non-British Empire” nation to sign up was Rwanda 12 years ago. Buchanan said: “How do you reflect to the world a modern sense of the Commonwealth, one that everyone within it is willing to sign up to, one that can be reflected back through the Commonwealth Games?”

David Grevemberg's departure as Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive is viewed as a blow. Photo: Getty Images

Datnow, who specialises in major event formats and the commercial benefits of hosting them, added: “Are the CGF looking intently at their own evolution, at what their fans want, their athletes, their brands, their broadcasters - are they dissecting and examining themselves and thinking about creating an event for the future? “The Commonwealth Games are in flux, as is the Commonwealth itself as a concept. There are wonderful opportunities to do something digital, something modern.

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The Commonwealth Games often mean more to smaller teams - with Marcus Stephen's weightlifting success a major moment in the history of Nauru. Photo: Getty Images

“There is a huge appetite out there for cities to rebuild their economies through sport.” Datnow raised some of the positive points, particularly regarding legacy from Manchester 2002, Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018. Glasgow has become “the UK capital of combined events” and will host the landmark Cycling World Championships in 2023, featuring thousands of road, track, mountain bike and BMX athletes. A major legacy benefactor from Manchester 2002 was London, as the success of those Games was a big factor in the awarding of the 2012 Olympics to England’s capital city.

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As for Gold Coast, it gave a big push to nearby Brisbane’s status as preferred host for the 2032 Olympic Games, even if nobody at the IOC has acknowledged the fact. There is no strong link between the CGF and the IOC, a result of the CGF’s determination to go its own way when the IOC adopted its Agenda 2020 strategy in 2014. The IOC was driven by a recognition that the world was evolving rapidly and that the Olympic Movement had the opportunity “to be an agent of change”. Can the CGF say the same? If the Commonwealth Games was on the

“Olympic pathway” it could be helping to showcase IOC innovations, of which there will be many in the coming years. The departure of David Grevemberg as chief executive has presented the CGF with another challenge according to sport industry insiders, as he was highly regarded. Dame Louise endorsed the comments about legacy benefits, and offered a robust and considered response to the other comments and criticisms. She says that, commercially, the CGF is not doing at all badly. “Longines has signed a three-Games deal, and Sunset and Vine have done the same,” she said. “That demonstrates the confidence they have in the Games and the future. We’re working with others.” As for “dancing around the calendar”, it will continue to happen as the Games host changes. “Most of our sports are summer sports,” she said. “We need the best weather, so the timing depends on the region. It’s the vagaries of the weather wherever you are.” That means July to August in the northern hemisphere and March to April in the southern hemisphere, but probably October in India so the monsoon season is out of the way. The biggest changes will come from a review, which is now under way, of the sport programme. “Over the past two quadrennials we’ve grown from having two compulsory sports, athletics and swimming, plus up to eight others taken from a list, to a compulsory 19,” Dame Louise said. “It’s not working for us because it’s very difficult to control.” There will be 4,600 athletes in Birmingham, including 500 with a disability who, uniquely at mega events, compete on the main programme. “We have to keep reviewing our sports, we have to stay relevant to where we are at the time,” said Dame Louise. “It’s no good any more to sit back and say ‘we’ve always done it this way’. “We’re interested in what is relevant today to the Commonwealth, and particularly what’s relevant to the athletes.” Views are being sought from all 72 CGAs, and one of the results will be a downsizing that makes hosting the Games less of a burden. “We do not want countries to start building major sports facilities, especially if they don’t have the relevant sport being performed to a high level in their country,” Dame Louise said. “There’s no point in that. Until we see the results (of the consultation) I’ve no idea where we’ll go. But I do think it will be smaller,

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Brisbane is destined to host the 2032 Olympics with the staging of Gold Coast 2018 considered a key factor. Photo: Getty Images

more affordable to put on and more exciting. “In my opinion Birmingham will be the last Commonwealth Games of this size.” Dame Louise, who swam for Scotland at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth before a career in education and sports administration, also spoke enthusiastically about a change to the traditional hosting format. Does that mean the Games might indeed be in the same place twice (currently against the rules), or there might be a core of host cities rotating, or co-hosts? “It’s tradition to move it around. It’s never been tested but we’re not ruling anything out,” Dame Louise said. “Back-to-back, or moving around to one place in the three main regions (UK, Canada, Australia)…does it matter? “When you see the size of some of our smaller countries, and their close proximity to some of the larger countries, one of the Pacific islands could host beach volleyball if Australia or New Zealand was hosting the Games. They all play it. “It’s why the time is right for us now to do the sport programme review, so some of the smaller countries who can’t put it all on themselves remain interested. The review is moving fast, we need it for 2026 and 2030. “The main thing is reducing the costs. Birmingham is your absolute proof of what can be done. They only got the Games when it wasn’t going well for the South African bid www.facebook.com/insidethegames

and they’ve got it done in under five years. “We can show countries they don’t need to build an Athletes’ Village, they can use university accommodation and hotels.” As for links with the IOC, Dame Louise says the possibility of being on the “Olympic pathway” and trying out IOC innovations has never been discussed. She points out that 53 of the CGAs have Presidents or general secretaries who are IOC members or hold senior office in their National Olympic Committees. “We have links with the IOC, we work with them on some of our policies, sharing workloads, sharing best practice,” she said. If there was a need or desire to strengthen the links “it’s not insurmountable”. There was also a suggestion, from another consultant who spoke to insidethegames, that the CGF could go even further in promoting women’s sport. It will break new ground in Birmingham by having more women’s medal events than men’s, so how about pushing on and making it more like 60 per cent female participants? “It has never been discussed,” Dame Louise said. “Because we just see the sports we want to put on, and having more women’s events was not by design. It just happened. “It was only when Birmingham asked to put on extra sports - women’s cricket, beach volleyball and Para-table tennis - that we realised we had more women’s events than men’s. @insidethegames

“It’s just a result of the work we’ve been doing, and it’s taken us a long time to get there.” The Commonwealth Games was an innovator from the start. It invented the Athletes’ Village, which is about to disappear, as well as the podium ceremony and the use of volunteers - all ideas that were pinched by the IOC. The Games have been in big trouble before, too, most notably in 1986, but at least it had a host city to help it through a political boycott that left nearly 1,500 athletes at home. And despite those absentees the roll-call of athletes in Edinburgh included established names alongside those who were just starting their careers, including Ben Johnson, Linford Christie, Steve Cram, Steve Ovett, Steve Redgrave, Lennox Lewis and Liz McColgan. It was a different world back then. The challenge for the Commonwealth Games is to adapt to the new one.

Canada could host the Commonwealth Games again in 2030, with Hamilton tipped to stage the centenary edition. Photo: Getty Images

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y r o t s A of

e p o h

Felicite Rwemarika is not your average International Olympic Committee member. After being forced to flee for her life as a child, she is now dedicated to inspiring others through sport. The Rwandan tells Mike Rowbottom her story. 32

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Felicite Rwemarika has lived a remarkable life which has taken her from child refugee to IOC member. Photo: Getty Images

hen Rwandan International Olympic Committee member Felicite Rwemarika called upon March’s IOC Session to adopt a recommendation concerning the support of refugees and populations affected by displacement, she was able to speak movingly from personal experience. In delivering her address to fellow members, Rwemarika described how her family had been forced to flee Rwanda to Burundi during the first Tutsi massacre in 1959. She later lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo and then in Uganda, working as a nurse. Rwemarika was not able to return to her homeland until late in 1994, but insisted that sport had given her a vital means of adjusting and improving her life.

Reflecting upon her experiences as a refugee, Rwemarika told insidethegames: “In 1959 there was a revolution with a series of riots and arson attacks on Tutsi homes in a few days. “Violence quickly spread throughout the country. “My family had to flee Rwanda to Burundi when I was only one. “My parents and three children at the time left our country amid lots of killings. My father, being a physician, was one of the few educated people. He was able to find work and raised us with incredible encouragement that the future could be bright. “As I grew up, I did not understand what being a refugee was. I believed living in another country was prestigious, more like a diplomat that lives and travels from country to country.

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MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES “But as I grew older, I understood that being a refugee was not a good thing and that there were a lot of rights we did not have. We lived under pressure and constant reminders to go back to our country. “Needless to say, we grew up with an inferiority complex that led us to change our names to fit in with the communities where we lived. “From Burundi in 1961 we then moved to Congo for many years, and finally settled in Uganda where we lived until 1994 when we returned back to Rwanda. “In Burundi and Uganda where my family had fled, we weren’t accepted or treated as citizens as we were not accessing the basic services and necessities as the citizens of those countries. “For the greater part of our lives as refugees, we were at the mercy of the United Nations Refugee Agency. “In Uganda, for instance, we had to change names so as to blend in the community and be able to go to school, get healthcare services and also make it possible for my parents to get jobs without being viewed as refugees. “This was the situation that my family and all other refugees went through in most countries they had fled to or been born in.” Sport was one of the most influential factors in shaping Rwemarika’s life. “Among other things I brought back to Rwanda was my love for sport which was passed on to me from my father, who loved playing

football and volleyball and introduced me and my 12 siblings to sport and dance,” she said. “This provided us with a way to connect, to belong, to stay healthy and strong, both physically and mentally. “I took up sport as my way to connect based on my father’s participation in sport where he used to play. “I could see how my dad enjoyed sport as a refugee, it made him confident. Seeing him play sport relieved from us the pain as refugees. “Whenever people are doing sport, they have hope for a better life. More still, in Rwanda we are honoured and lucky to have a Government that fully supports new initiatives which include sport and leadership as a way of empowering women through promoting gender equality and equity. “This has always encouraged and motivated me to strongly support and encourage women to participate in sport, become self-confident and aim high to engage in leadership positions in sport and other sectors. “I have always considered sport to be a universal language which has always brought people together, no matter what their origin, background, religious beliefs or economic status. Sport is one of the best tools and platforms that connects people for a common goal. “It can be used to unite and reconcile people. “In regard to refugee sport, I strongly believe that sport has

Felicite Rwemarika said becoming an IOC member had been a "great surprise" to her. Photo: Getty Images

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A woman carrying her child looks at the wall of victims' names at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Photo: Getty Images

an incredible power and it can be so much more than a leisure activity and, in such instances, sport can act as a social tool. “Sport in refugee camps can be used as a tool for empowering young people and strengthening communities, it can contribute to protecting refugee adolescents and young adults from abuse, exploitation, neglect and violence. “If sports are well aligned in refugee camps, it could be an invaluable contribution, not only to the enjoyment and relief from the stress of life in refugee camps, but also to the protection and personal development of young refugees to scale up and enhance sport programmes, and improve child and adolescent protection for all refugee communities in Rwanda and around the world. “As a Board member of the Olympic Refuge Foundation, I am confident that sport initiatives for refugees will bring hope to the refugee athletes who wish to return to training and compete at the Olympic Games. It is also intended as a symbol of hope for all refugees around the world, which will help raise awareness of the magnitude of the crisis. “For over 25 years the IOC has partnered with UNHCR to support refugees and displaced people. In 2016, the IOC created the Refugee Olympic Team to

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send a message of hope and solidarity through sport to millions of displaced people around the world.” Rwemarika explained that recommendation 11 of Olympic Agenda 2020+5 has a wide range of aims. “It involves supporting the Olympic Refuge Foundation to ensure one million forcibly displaced young people have access to safe sport by 2024,” she said. “It provides ongoing support to refugee athletes of all abilities through Olympic Solidarity scholarships, facilitates refugee athlete participation and allows access to international and national level competitions.” She added that it also includes selecting and supporting the Refugee Olympic Team to participate at Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 and the Dakar 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games. Measuring the impact of the Sport Coalition for Refugees, which pledges to improve access for refugees to facilities, sport activities and participation in events and competitions, is another key goal. Rwemarika, who joined the IOC in 2018, said the Olympic Refuge Foundation “gives hope to all displaced young people”. She speaks proudly of her rise to sport's most exclusive club and is now determined to work for the betterment of others,

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with her life a far cry from the days when her family were forced to hop from country to country. “I became an IOC member as a result of my work in empowering women through sport,” she said. “By pioneering women’s participation in sport at district and national level, by being one of the founding members of the Rwanda Football Federation Women’s Commission and more still due to my duties and work in sport administration.” Rwemarika is the founder, chair and legal representative of AKWOS - the Organization of Kigali Women in Sports - and, since 2013, has been a member of the Rwanda Women and Sports Commission. She was a Board member of the international women’s organisation Women Win from 2007 to 2011 and an executive and advisor with the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee from 2013 to 2017. In 2017 she was elected as first vice-president of the Rwandan NOC and has recently been serving as its Acting President. Between 2017 and 2018 she was the President of the Women’s Football Commission at the Rwandan Football Federation. “In 1997 when I started a non-Governmental organisation

The Refugee Olympic Team competed for the first time at Rio 2016 and now looks set to be a regular fixture. Photo: Getty Images

called AKWOS, my main objective was to unite Rwandans so they could reconcile and build peace, heal their wounds and recover from the traumatic experiences they had gone through,” she said. “We managed to use sport to connect communities, men and women, instead of dividing them, and it has yielded significant and evident results across the board. “Unity and reconciliation has been greatly accomplished among Rwandans through sport. “And women have become visible in sport activities at community, local and national levels and this has empowered

Sport is seen as a way of empowering women as Rwanda rebuilds. Photo: Getty Images

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them to connect with the world, become self-confident and to participate in leadership positions, specifically in the sports movement. “Women who couldn’t pursue their education were able to do so as sport had become their source of income and they have managed to graduate.” Rwemarika said becoming an IOC member had been “a great surprise” to her, adding: “I didn’t even dream to be elected to such a high-level position based on my previous experience and the negativity that women can’t participate in sports. “However, when I got the award, I was so much more motivated to continue my empowerment of women through sports and promote women’s sports. I am truly honoured for the opportunity and am working collaboratively to promote the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect.” Asked what she regards as the hardest part of being a refugee, she responded: “The hardest thing about being a refugee is being labelled ‘refugee’ before being considered a citizen of a country you fled to. “Worse still, you are mostly treated as a second-class citizen who can’t access basic services such as education, health and employment, among others, to

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the extent that you are forced to change your identity so that you and your family are able to be treated as citizens and have full rights and access to services like any other national.” She believes the opportunities now being afforded to refugees in sport are hugely important. “It shows them there is no discrimination in sports as they are not left behind,” she said. “More still, it raises their hopes for the future. “With such opportunities they will become CEOs, physicians, sports personalities... “These opportunities give them confidence and they are able to think widely.” At the IOC Session she echoed calls which had been made earlier for a refugee team at Dakar 2026, which is due to be the first Olympic event of any description in Africa. “Through the Refugee Olympic Team the Foundation gives hope to all displaced young people that they too can achieve their life’s ambitions,” Rwemarika said. “I am reminded of my childhood dream that even as a refugee I could have a voice and pursue my dreams. “I believe there are many more stories like mine that have not been told to the world.”

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The smaller

sports thinking

outside the BOX The coronavirus crisis has been particularly hard on smaller sports, which have been forced to come up with new ideas just to stay alive. Geoff Berkeley meets IF Presidents who are scrambling for survival. 36

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ightly packed into a long, narrow boat with their shoulders almost touching, 20 paddlers sit side by side rowing to the beat of a drum. Dragon boat racing is a sport rich in history and tradition, dating back more than 2,000 years to its origins in China. But competitors are facing two years without a single international tournament due to social distancing and travel restrictions. The drum has been silenced by COVID-19 - a killer virus which has proven to be more terrifying and destructive than any mythical dragon. “It has had a devastating and dramatic effect on the sport throughout the world at every level, from the clubs through to the World Championships,” said Mike Thomas, President of the International Dragon Boat Federation. The IDBF is not alone in being hit hard by the global health crisis, with countless International Federations unable to run major events because of current constraints. While sports on the programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have managed to get back up and running thanks to the support of the International Olympic Committee, smaller governing bodies have largely been

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GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

left to fend for themselves and continue to face uncertain times. In a world where people are being told to keep at least a one-metre distance from each other and, in some cases, prevented from meeting up in groups of more than six, Thomas admits dragon boat racing faces a major problem to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions. “You have to recognise that we work with large numbers because a full standard dragon boat takes 22 people and they sit quite closely together,” he said. “That is one of our immediate problems. There are issues that we are looking at in terms of the race programme to minimise the number of people. “Our competition regulations stipulate that there are 20 paddlers in the boat and the minimum crew size for a World Championships is 18. “We are looking at variants of that regulation to allow lower numbers in the boat. But how far do you go before you actually destroy your competition?” It is a question which continues to trouble Thomas, who is trying to steer a course for dragon boat racing to return to the global stage. Almost 3,000 athletes gathered for the last World Championships which were held in Thailand in August 2019. France was scheduled to stage the IDBF Club Crew World Championships in August last year, which was set to be one of the sport’s biggest occasions to date, with more than 6,500 athletes registered to take part. But with COVID-19 cases continuing to surge across the world, Thomas conceded it was simply not possible for the event to go ahead. Formed in 1991, the IDBF is toasting its 30th anniversary this year but those celebrations could be dampened if the World Championships, planned to be held in Hong Kong in November, fail to take place. Thomas said another cancellation of a World Championships would leave the IDBF in an “interesting financial position”. He also admitted around $200,000 had been lost as a result of no major events taking place over the past 12 months - a huge sum for an IF of its size. The IOC announced that it had provided about $63 million to IFs in response to the coronavirus crisis with payments starting in June last year. Funds have come in different forms, with the IOC making decisions based on an “assessment of needs” and “on a case-bycase basis”. www.facebook.com/insidethegames

Dragon boat racing's large crews mean social distancing is impossible. Photo: IDBF

Almost all governing bodies of Olympic sports received a loan from the IOC while the International Federation of Sport Climbing, the International Surfing Association, the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the World Karate Federation and World Skate benefitted from a donation. Other sports run by organisations recognised by the IOC received a smaller slice of the pie with the World Flying Disc Federation understood to have collected $32,000. “I do think that the incumbent sports on the Olympic programme have come to rely upon that support and that is one of the reasons why there is such a reluctancy to make any changes to the programme because of the financial implications,” said WFDF President Nob Rauch. “I am not going to second guess the decisions being taken by the IOC leadership or its members. “We are happy to be part of the family but certainly you are left to fend for yourself.” The WFDF called off major events for a second successive year in January, claiming it was “simply not feasible” to plan cross-border tournaments due to the “varying regulations and restrictions” caused by the pandemic. @insidethegames

Rauch felt the “slower than expected” distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine meant a return to a “new normal” could not be assured. The organisation also released a “tentative” schedule for 2022, starting with the World Beach Ultimate Championships in the United States in April. Rauch anticipates the WFDF’s revenues to be down by 90 per cent this year but believes the organisation will stay afloat courtesy of its “rainy day fund”. “I can say with some satisfaction we did not have to cut any of our staff last year,” said Rauch. “We have used furloughs to get a reduction of 25 per cent in our overall compensation for this year given it is our second year in this situation and things have been so catastrophic. “But come the middle of this year going into next year with a very full schedule, we are going to have the resources in place to do what we need to do. “We will have also ended up in a situation where we haven’t had to drain all of our cash resources and will end the year with sufficient cash in the bank unless the absolute disaster scenario happens where

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know if they have got COVID? You don’t,” said Vervaecke. “When you are just walking on the side and you see someone in distress you don’t know who it is.

was scrapped with the event in Riccione in Italy moved to September 2022. “People may say ‘why not 2021?’” said John Martin, the ILSF’s event director. “But we have been proven right to do it in 2022

Life saving received a sum of €15,000 from the IOC, a paltry amount compared to other governing bodies. Photo: ILSF

there is a fourth wave and the world continues to be shut.” The International Life Saving Federation confirmed it received as little as €15,000 from the IOC in response to the pandemic. That is a paltry figure given the role it plays in developing and recommending drowning prevention, aquatic lifesaving, resuscitation and emergency care. The Federation helps to save people’s lives alongside running sporting events. “Compared to another International Federation that is one per cent the size of our Federation, they receive €3 million and we receive €15,000,” said ILSF secretary general Harald Vervaecke. “They represent 80,000 competitors whereas we represent 35 million people including competitors, lifeguards and people that take care of health, so €15,000 or €16,000 is not that much. “But every small piece is helping us to achieve our break-even system.” When the pandemic hit, the ILSF not only called off its events but also re-educated lifeguards and instructors to do CPR in a different way. With fears that COVID-19 could be transmitted by mouth-to-mouth contact, the organisation set up guidelines which includes using a bag valve mask - a handheld device for assisted ventilation. Vervaecke said two million people die every year by drowning and stressed the need to ensure lifeguards were able to continue to save lives without putting their own life in danger. “When rescuing someone, how do you www.facebook.com/insidethegames

The World Dodgeball Federation said 2020 had been a "year of reflection". Photo: WDF

“If it is not a family member you are afraid. You need to make a decision - do I take a risk to die by COVID after assisting this person and how do I do CPR? “All the lifeguards had to be trained. They are a lifeguard first before they are a competitor, so we are having to support them in the work they do as lifeguards.” Lifesaving is among 30 sports on the programme for the 2022 World Games in Birmingham in the US. Disciplines include manikin carry, manikin tow with fins, obstacle swim, super lifesaver, manikin relay, obstacle relay and medley relay. The World Games was due to take place in July 2021 before the COVID-19 crisis forced organisers to move it back 12 months to avoid clashing with the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It was originally planned that the World Life Saving Championships would serve as a qualifier for the World Games, but this plan @insidethegames

because we knew it would take a long time. “The next World Championships will take place after the World Games, so we have had to come up with a different way of doing things with each nation holding a World Games qualification event and we select the best.

The World Flying Disc Federation called off major events for the second year in a row. Photo: Getty Images

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“We have over 30 events to take place this year but even then we have problems because some of them are having to postpone tournaments.” Amid all the doom and gloom associated with the pandemic, there have been some advantages for IFs. Previously, officials from various parts of the world would have been required to travel to one location to gather for a meeting. It was a time-consuming and expensive exercise.

New additions to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme, such as baseball, benefitted from IOC loans. Photo: Getty Images

Thanks to technology, IFs realise they can hold meetings virtually - and stage more of them during the year. “We now have 20 meetings over Zoom,” said Vervaecke. “In some ways it flattens frictions because you have more meetings and you can discuss elements quicker so people don’t feel excluded from the decision-making system.” The World Dodgeball Association is another IF that has been able to see chinks of light through the darkness. Despite being forced to call off events, the WDA said the prolonged period without a ball being thrown has allowed them time to focus on reforming the organisation. WDA President Tom Hickson said it had been a welcome year of self-reflection, enabling the governing body to improve at grassroots level. “Among all the atrocities we’ve actually seen the positive side from our perspective,” said Hickson. “It has enabled us to communicate better and to understand our members and our participants’ needs and aspirations far more than we would have done during regular life. “We have never experienced anything like this in our lifetimes, but I think it helps us to realise what are the important things about sport, like saying ‘why did we start doing this sport in the first place?’ “It has made me a stronger advocate for getting that message across, looking at the

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grassroots picture and saying ‘are we doing enough to help our people and our communities?’ “We have had an uptake of new National Federations over the course of the last 12 months, particularly within Africa and South East Asia where there have been new demands for the sport which is incredible when you consider we are in the middle of a pandemic. “It has allowed us to invest resources and time into those communities and those new National Federations which has been fantastic.” The WDA is one of a number of IFs to sign up to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ One Humanity campaign, which calls for solidarity, compassion and unity in the face of discrimination and division. Hickson said the WDA was also looking to upgrade its observer status with the Global Association of International Sports Federations to become a full member, and was in the “final stages” of submitting an application to become a World Anti-Doping Agency signatory. “All of those have financial implications attached to them so meeting those has been tough,” said Hickson. “We have had to think outside the box around what we do, so we have looked at how we invest in the sport differently and that’s helping us through this but it has been extremely challenging. “We had a 25 per cent reduction from GAISF on the fees this year which has helped us, but we have not had any International Federation support.

“We understand that every organisation is feeling the pinch around what has happened due to the pandemic and therefore there has never been any expected support. “We have just taken that time to find out how we can look at new types of revenue streams that could help to keep the organisation going.” Hickson believes the WDA will be in a “stronger” position after the COVID-19 crisis - a feeling shared by officials at the International Federation of Teqball. Since its inception in 2014, the sport has made major strides as teqball’s curved tables continue to pop up across the globe. Teqball is a cross between football and table tennis and has attracted interest from the likes of football legends Ronaldinho and Carles Puyol. In 2017, the inaugural Teqball World Championships were held in Hungarian capital Budapest with 20 nations taking part. Two more editions followed with the 2019 event welcoming 160 athletes from 58 countries. It was full speed ahead for FITEQ as it entered the new decade looking to kick on before COVID-19 tried to get in the organisation’s way. The 2020 World Championships - which were set to attract more than 75 countries - had to be called off, but the organisation has refused to be knocked off track. “The teqball family has shown resilience, creativity and passion to ensure teqball’s global growth has continued in spite of the

The International Life Saving Federation had to rip up its plans for World Games qualification. Photo: ILSF

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GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Teqball has still been contested around the world despite the constraints of the pandemic. Photo: FITEQ

limitations of the past 12 months,” said FITEQ general secretary Marius Vizer Jr. FITEQ recently surpassed 100 National Federations, enabling them to become a full member of GAISF in November. It also became a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code and notably officially launched Para-teqball in March. Refusing to settle with the growth of the able-bodied game, FITEQ is determined to offer those with an impairment the chance to play the sport. A Para-teqball rulebook and a classification system have been set up with FITEQ aiming to “inspire a new generation of teqers to reach their full potential”. “FITEQ has a clear vision for how to ensure our sport is financially sustainable and we will continue to promote the importance of this with our National Federations and all other stakeholders,” said Vizer Jr. “The pandemic was, in some ways, an opportunity for us to show the resilience of our long-term strategy and how FITEQ is insulated from short mid-term global crises like we are currently experiencing.” The COVID-19 pandemic is showing little sign of ending soon as fears grow over a third or even fourth wave, but IFs are www.facebook.com/insidethegames

adapting in the face of the crisis and sports are gradually returning. With global travel remaining problematic, FITEQ created the National Challenger Series which has allowed competitive action to be played since August 2020. Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast are among the nations to have staged Challenger Cup competitions. The series contains four rounds for singles, doubles and mixed doubles with players gaining ranking points to determine the qualifiers for the 2021 World Championships. But doubts remain over the staging of FITEQ’s flagship event this year with so many question marks caused by the pandemic. WFDF President Rauch conceded international tournaments would be the “slowest” to return, but the success of the vaccination rollout could speed up that process. “I am very optimistic that we are going to see things get back to a place where global travel is permissible, and large scale events are able to be hosted,” he said. “I am not sure whether we will ever go back to normal, but I think we will get back to a level that we can get comfortable with which will be exciting. “Our National Federations are optimistic @insidethegames

about the second half of this year and they have probably been more impacted than we have been. “There is a very differing pace of vaccination rollout going on around the globe, certainly the US and UK are a bit ahead of the curve but places like Japan and Europe seem to be behind them. “Then we have the entire emerging developing countries that are at various stages but probably are going to be woefully behind the curve. For us, that is the biggest concern about next year. “But we do have a high degree of confidence and, barring a catastrophe, like some sort of mutation of the virus that all of a sudden turns people into zombies, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.” Dragon boat racing remains on hold but there is hope that it will not be too long before the drum sounds again with the European Nations Championships scheduled to be held in Kiev in July. “I think summer is going to be very difficult this year and the IDBF is looking very closely about what we can do,” said Thomas. "Hopefully with the vaccine rollout continuing we may get on top of COVID and get back to some sort of new normal for sport.”

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MIKE ROWBOTTOM CHIEF FEATURE WRITER, INSIDETHEGAMES

Messing with the motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger” is a phrase intrinsically linked to the Olympics but Thomas Bach decided to change it. Mike Rowbottom is less than impressed.

t seems the Olympic motto introduced by the founder of the Games is being modernised at the behest of the current custodian of the Movement. When Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee President, insouciantly suggested the idea of a zeitgeisty rebranding of the words which have accompanied every staging of the revived Games since the inaugural edition in 1896, some may have wondered if he was serious. He was. “We learnt during this coronavirus crisis the hard way that we can live up to our Olympic slogan ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’, in sport and in life, only if we are working together in solidarity,” Bach told the IOC Session in March. “I would today like to inspire a discussion on whether we should not complement this by adding, after a hyphen, the word ‘Together.’” Faster. Higher. Stronger - Together. Does it sound just a bit like a supergroup? But perhaps we are being unkind. If we’re going down the road of change, why stop here? Why not indeed underline the importance of the togetherness as a constant factor in Olympian striving? Faster. Higher. Stronger. Together. Forever. Just one more word. And yet it says so much. About a Games that endures, come rain or shine, whatever the…hang on. How about…how about this? Faster. Higher. Stronger. Together. Forever. Whatever the Weather. This begins to describe an evolving Games, a Games that builds from its ancient foundations to embrace a higher level where all strive for all, in harmony, without rancour or dissent. Hang on. Idea klaxon. How about…this? Faster. Higher. Stronger. Together. Forever. Whatever the Weather. Protesting Never. Who knows, further discussion could yet see the slogan - although isn’t that something to do with advertising? - evolving in this direction. But let’s hope it doesn’t. When Everton Football Club, one of the founder members of the English Football League, started mucking about with its

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The Olympic motto, seen here at Los Angeles 1984, has been given a revamp. Photo: Getty Images

motto in 2013 a lot of people got very unhappy about it. The club’s directors had not consulted widely, it seems, before “modernising” the team badge by removing two wreaths that flanked the iconic tower and also dispensing with the words Nil satis nisi optimum - “Nothing but the best is good enough” - which had been on the Everton crest since 1938. A petition numbering more than 20,000 signatures was raised swiftly in protest, and while it was too late to halt the rebranding operation already juggernauting towards the impending season, the motto - and the wreaths - were soon restored. People get funny about their history. The Olympic motto is not ancient. Who knows if those first Games of 776 BC had their own version? “Peace in our time”, perhaps? But the words are an integral part of the Games as we know them. The phrase “Faster, Higher, Stronger” was, history tells us, coined - in its Latin version Citius - Altius - Fortius - by a friend of Olympic reviver Pierre De Coubertin. Father Henri Didon used it to round off an inter-schools athletics meeting and Coubertin adopted it as a motto for people who “dare to try to break records”. He was apparently struck by the succinctness of the phrase, but here’s

one intrinsic problem with Bach’s latest innovation. You can’t be faster, higher, stronger together. Together is the antithesis of faster, higher, stronger. Here’s another issue. The coronavirus crisis to which the IOC President has referred has of course been a profound challenge to the Olympic Movement, and other entities, and there will certainly be a deeply felt sense of thankfulness and relief when anything even resembling normal service is resumed at a Summer or Winter Games. In the meantime, Olympians past and present have put themselves on the COVID-19 frontlines as doctors, nurses and carers, and the values they have imbibed in their sporting lives have, according to their own testimonies, been of huge and enduring importance for them. That is an Olympic legacy of which to be truly proud. A legacy that speaks for itself. When Olympians are able to gather again in competition, they will feel the togetherness. They will not need a doctored slogan to remind them of it, like a heavy and irksome arm slung around their shoulder. In seeking to alter a motto established by the founder of the modern Games, the current IOC President is surely overreaching himself.

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