#ICYMI: Organizers Reduce Haze For Asiad; AIBA Chief Pushes Reforms; ODESUR Marketing Strategy

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(ATR) Government officials are scrambling to contain forest fires on the island of Sumatra ahead of 2018 Asian Games events in Palembang.

Palembang is one of two host cities for the Games, along with the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Palembang is located in South Sumatra, about an hour and a half flight from Jakarta on West Java.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto told reporters that officials are working to contain fires during the dry season. The first event in Palembang is scheduled for August 16.

"We need to work hard to ensure that South Sumatra will be haze-free," Wiranto said according to reports in the Jakarta Post. "Weather forecasts say that the peak of the dry season will happen during the Asian Games."

Palembang will host 12 sports during the Olympics and prepared for the Games by completing a light rail system from the airport to the athletes village.

Reports from the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency by the Jakarta Post said there are currently 47 hot spots in the region where Palembang is located. Government officials have been reportedly regularly seeding clouds since May to try and prevent rainfall during the Games period.

For more on Asian Games preparations, click here.

Olympic Boxing Federation Chief Pushes Reforms Agenda

Gafur Rahimov says AIBA is "working tirelessly to bring positive change" amid the threat of expulsion from the Tokyo Olympics hanging over the sport.

The federation’s interim president issued a progress report on Wednesday informing its member federations that AIBA is implementing initiatives and policies on governance and ethics to meet demands from the IOC.

Last month, the IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters after a three-day executive board meeting that AIBA was not making enough progress, pointing to unresolved concerns around financial issues, good governance measures and the upcoming elections.

Threatened with the axe from the Tokyo Games earlier this year, Bach said boxing’s inclusion in the 2020 Olympics would "greatly depend" on the outcomes of the AIBA congress in November where member federations will elect a new president and vote on reforms. The IOC’s suspension of payments to the federation still remains in place.

Rahimov is a leading contender to replace C.K. Wu as president on a permanent basis – and Around the Rings understands he has significant support in the federation to secure the role. But the IOC remains concerned about the Uzbek-born Russian businessman’s alleged links to organized crime in Russia. Rahimov has never faced charges and is said to be taking various steps to clear his name.

On Wednesday, Rahimov said he was "very proud" to report on the IOC’s acknowledgement of AIBA’s progress in restructuring the federation.

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ODESUR Searches for Marketing Agency

(ATR) The South American Sports Organization (ODESUR) is receiving widespread international interest in its tender for an agency that would manage licenses, sponsorships and television rights for its South American Games.

"So far, more than 20 companies from South America, the United States and Europe have shown interest," Mario Cilenti, the executive director of ODESUR, reveals to Around The Rings.

"We will be waiting for proposals until the last day of August. We will make an evaluation and we hope that by the end of September the chosen agency will be known," adds Cilenti,an expert in mounting large multidisciplinary events. He was recently hired by Panam Sports to advise the Lima-19 Organizing Committee.

The tender seeks to guarantee that the largest multi-sport celebration in the region has a broad level of television coverage while facilitating new sources of funding for the promotion of Olympism among the 14 member countries of the organization.

The winning bid would sign a contract that would run from October 2018 to December 2023 for the advice and full commercialization of the rights of the 2021 South American Youth Games, the 2022 South American Games and the 2023 South American Beach Games, in addition to the new games or events that ODESUR may add to its calendar.

It also contemplates the management of the sponsorship, licenses and audiovisual rights of the South American Beach Games to be held in Rosario, Argentina in 2019, but only outside Argentine territory, in accordance with the obligations already assumed by the South American entity.

ODESUR is the only regional sports entity recognized by the International Olympic Committee that organizes three Games of different characteristics.

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