Christchurch Loses World Cup; Countdown Clock Corrected; 2017 Athletics Bid from Qatar

Damage to Stadium Costs Christchurch World Cup Matches

Christchurch, New Zealand will not host any Rugby World Cup matches later this year.

The capital of South Island was rocked by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in February, and Stadium Christchurch was not spared of damages.

According to an International Rugby Board statement, the venue's operator could not guarantee when repairs to the stadium would be complete.

IRB chair Bernard Lappasset said: "That information means that Tournament partners have been left with no choice but to make the difficult decision to reallocate the seven matches due to be played in Christchurch".

Repairs to the stadium and its infrastructure are still needed.

"We know Cantabrians are passionate about Rugby and we know that many wanted the matches to remain as a way to unite and heal their shattered city," said RNZ 2011 chairman Brian Roche.

"However, we needed to weigh up the risks of continuing with matches in Christchurch with just 25 weeks to kick-off to the world’s third largest sporting event. Sadly, we collectively agreed the risks were too great. The timeframes for repairs were too tight, the uncertainty too much."

Two quarterfinals and five pool matches were scheduled for Stadium Christchurch during the Sep. 9 to Oct. 23 tournament.

Eden Park in Auckland will now host those games.

Olympic Countdown Resumes After Glitchy Debut

London 2012’s countdown clock is again ticking away the hours until next year’s Olympics open.

The Omega-made timepiece made mainstream media headlines worldwide on Tuesday when the device stopped running less than 24 hours after its fireworks-laden unveiling in Trafalgar Square.

Its screen read 500 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes and 56 seconds left to go for roughly six hours until Omega technicians successfully restarted the countdown Tuesday evening. Now they’re scrambling to figure out what actually went wrong and to make certain the glitch doesn’t resurface.

"The clock is functioning correctly and we have a team of engineers working in both the UK and Switzerland, who are currently carrying out rigorous testing to ensure that we identify the correct problem and deal with it as quickly as possible," a spokesperson for the Swiss watchmaker was quoted Wednesday by the BBC.

Omega is the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games, a distinction it’s held since 1932.

2017 Athletics Bid Up Next for Qatar

Qatar will try to ride its hot streak in events bidding to the 2017 athletics world championships.

Less than two months after winning hosting rights to the 2022 World Cup, the tiny Gulf state struck again in January by landing the 2015 handball world championships.

Now Qatari sports leadership has its sights set on yet another prize, one that should split the difference nicely between the upcoming handball champs and the far-off FIFA finals.

"The Qatar 2017 Bid proposes an innovative event concept which will give new opportunities for Athletics, the World Championships and the IAAFas an organization," the country’s NOC said Wednesday in a statement.

"The main platform of the bid is to promote the sport around the world and help the IAAF develop Athletics in new regions including the Gulf region, the Middle East and into Central Asia."

Qatar hosted the IAAF World Indoor Championships last year and is an events veteran on the tennis, golf and racing circuits.

London is so far the only other city in the running for 2017. Formal bids are due to the IAAF by Sept. 1. Evaluation visits and presentations will follow in October, and a decision is expected in November.

Olympic Security Forces to Learn from Commonwealth Counterparts

London 2012 will take a page from the security playbook of Delhi 2010, says a leading counter-terrorism expert in the U.K.

"We want to take such security expertise from the Indian security forces and manage London Olympics 2012 safely," Colonel Tim Martin was quoted Wednesday by Indian media while on the sidelines of the ongoing Global Security Asia convention in Singapore.

Despite the allegations of shoddy construction, graft and financial mismanagement that marred the buildup to last October’s Commonwealth Games, the competition itself was staged without any security incidents, a fact emphasized by Martin.

Grenada Taps Sunderland for 2012

The Caribbean country of Grenada will base its 2012 Olympic team in the city of Sunderland in northeast England.

The announcement of the deal came Tuesday.

Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland's city council, said "We are delighted to be working in close partnership with University of Sunderland to welcome the Grenada Olympic Team to use the city’s facilities.

"Hopefully they can be used as a springboard to help the Grenada team achieve great things at the Olympics. It’s fantastic news for the city that we will be playing a role in the Olympic Games in 2012."

Grenada sent nine Olympians to Beijing but took home zero medals.

Written by Matthew Grayson.