British Rhythmic Gymnasts Win Appeal; FIFA Wants "Representative" Team GB

British Rhythmic Gymnasts Win Appeal

Great Britain will participate in rhythmic gymnastics at the London Games after a group of athletes won their appeal against a British Gymnastics decision not to nominate a team.

An independent arbitrator overturned the federation's decision. British Gymnastics had ruled out fielding a team after the group initially failed to reach the qualifying benchmark score it set at last month's test event, even though the athletes met the required score the following day.

It paves the way for British Gymnastics to nominate a rhythmic group to the British Olympic Association, who are expected to accept the host country position offered under the rules of the international gymnastics federation.

Commenting on the decision, British Gymnastics CEO Jane Allen said: "British Gymnastics respects the rights of its athletes to appeal selection procedure. We were confident that we had put in place a transparent, fair and equitable selection policy and associated qualifying score to allow a rhythmic group to self-determine their nomination to the BOA and subsequent participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"The selection policy and its associated procedures have been thoroughly examined by an independent arbitrator and we accept his ruling".

The federation pointed to the arbitrator's report, which claimed the BG "has at all times endeavored to maintain the integrity of the sport and to act in the best interests of its athletes and coaches. BG’s decision not to nominate the GB group was doubtless a hard one to make, but it was a decision made in good faith and in the belief that it was correct".

FIFA Wants United Team GB at Olympics

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke is urging the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Football Associations to make their players available for the London 2012 Olympic football tournament.

The three FAs have expressed a reluctance to field players for a united Team GB side at the Games amid fears it will damage their independent status in the eyes of world football's governing body.

Valcke again offered reassurances to the associations thatFIFA will not take such a dim view.

"If they want to play, let them. For the players, when you are 20, 21, 23 it's a dream. And that's what we have to respect," he told BBC Sport.

Valcke called for the three FAs to forget their fears. "You can always understand [their concerns] but you still hope that... we should forget about these problems when you're talking about an event like the Olympic Games," he said.

"There's a team and this team should be composed by the four British associations," the FIFA No. 2 added.

"We finalized an agreement between the four British associations and FIFA. It took a long time – there was a lot of exchange of letters and things said, and a lot of words used in this period. Now it's up to the coach and the FA to finalize the composition of thisteam.

"But it should be a representation of a country."

Valcke also underlined the strength of women's football as he urged fans to snap up the thousands of Olympic football tickets that will go back on sale next month.

"The level of women's football today is a top, top one and [London 2012 will be] a great tournament."

The draw for Olympics football competition takes place Wembley Stadium on April 24.

London Assembly Grills LOCOG Chiefs

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and CEO Paul Deighton face questioning by the London Assembly on Wednesday about Games preparations and legacy issues.

Ahead of that, the Assembly's economy, culture and sport committee will on Tuesday put questions to Games organizers about naming rights and the future use of the 80,000-seat main stadium and other Games venues.

Key questions will include: What role will the sale of naming rights play in securing a sustainable future for the Olympic stadium and other venues after the Games? How will venue operators balance the need for elite and community access? And when will operators for the Stadium and Media Centre be secured?

Reported by Mark Bisson

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