Olympic Newsdesk -- Japan Update; Libyan Unrest Impacts Football, Olympic Qualifier

Japan Update

The president of the Japanese Olympic Committee expressed his gratitude to the Olympic Movement for its support following the March 11 earthquake in Japan.

"Thank you very much for your heartfelt words and encouragements you have shown to the Japanese Olympic Committee" wrote Tsunekazu Takeda in an open letter. "We JOC members and staffs are safe and well."

"Fortunately enough the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo including the JOC headquarter-building and the venues of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games remains without any damage. With this Olympic Legacy still strongly alive, we are determined to bring out the importance of the Olympic value."

He added: "Now, we are slowly getting over this disaster and rebuilding our community, with solidarity and tolerance, respecting each other."

Reports say more than 6,000 people died following the earthquake and its aftermath.

A team of Japanese athletes are pitching in to help with relief efforts.

Using the Just Giving website, the athletes have raised more than $225,000 at the time of writing. To donate, click here. For information in English (PDF) click here.

The group is lead by Dai Tamesue, a sprinter and Olympian.

A Facebook page for Athlete Society can be found here.

Tamesue has a personal appeal to fellow athletes on the page.

"I have been asking myself what it is that I can do in the face of such disaster? Confronted with such a colossal catastrophe, there seems to be so little one human can do.

"But as athletes, we have the power to influence and give hope to others. I realized that what I need to do now is to ask as many people as possible for help and to extend the chain of support for Japan.

"I ask you please, from one athlete to another, as ones with national recognition and who can appeal to your countrymen, to please lend us in Japan a helping hand."

All money will go to the non-profit organization Civic Force.

Libya’s Football Future Unclear

The ongoing civil unrest in Libya is again wreaking havoc on its football future.

Just days after the African Football Confederation stripped the North African country of hosting rights to an upcoming youth championship that doubles as a FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifier, Libya’s participation in an impending Olympic qualifier is up in the air.

South Africa’s under-23 squad is scheduled to play its Libyan counterpart next week in Daveyton, South Africa but cannot get in contact with its soon-to-be opponent, according to South African media.

"We do not know anything about Libya and we do not even know when they will arrive in SA," team manager Barney Kujane was quoted by Business Day.

"We will have to wait for FIFA to tell us what to do but other than that, what can we do?"

Also unclear is whether the qualifier’s return leg slated for next month in Libya will move forward as planned.

Clashes between security forces and citizens protesting Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year reign have killed hundreds in the past month alone.

UN Tourism Expert, Russian NOC Chief Strategize for Sochi

Facilitating the flow of sports fans into the country is the focus of an upcoming collaboration between Russia’s government and United Nations officials.

UN World Tourism Organization secretary general Taleb Rifai met Thursday with Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov, also Russian Olympic Committee president.

The two discussed plans to relax visa requirements and cross-border procedures ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

"Upcoming sporting mega-events will offer Russia unmatched global exposure and massive opportunities for nation branding and promotion," Rifai was quoted by tourism trade publication Breaking Travel News.

"To ensure that these opportunities are harnessed responsibly, UNWTO and Russia will hold a series of joint seminars to share knowledge on the linkages between tourism and mega-events, focusing particularly on the legacy value of such events".

Rifai was in Moscow this week to deliver the keynote for an international tourism fair.

Sportel Heads to Rio

Sportel, the world’s leading convention for sport, television and new media, will head to Rio de Janeiro in 2012.

The convention made the announcement earlier in the week.

Scheduled dates for the meeting are March 12-14 at the Sofitel hotel on Copacabana.

"After 5 successful years in Asia, SPORTEL is moving to Brazil, home of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games" said Sportel’s CEO David Tomatis. "We are pleased to offer our participants a meeting platform in a city to become the world capital of sports, centre of the expanding South American market."

Media Watch

The Daily Mail lists its top 15 "Olympic moments that stunned the world".

Play True, the official magazine of the World Anti Doping Agency, published its first edition of 2011. The cover story features the work of WADA’s anti-doping labs throughout the world.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.