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London 2017
Candidate City - IAAF World Championships
Hockey Holds Out Hope for Resolution to Indian Row
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) tells Around the Rings it’s giving India "as much time as humanly possible" to avoid losing hosting rights to the sport’s Olympic qualifiers in February.
The ongoing row between two competing national federations already cost the hockey-mad country the 2011 Champions Trophy and is now jeopardizing its participation at the 2012 Games.
"If India doesn’t have the home field advantage, that obviously becomes a tougher road for them to qualify for London," says FIH spokeswoman Jenny Wiedeke.
As for whether India will even be allowed to play at the Olympics should a) the country qualify and b) the dispute continue, Wiedeke says that’s a bridge FIH will cross only should the situation arise.
"Right now, the focus is only on the qualification tournament," she tells ATR. "We’re not taking any steps beyond just determining where that tournament will go."
Officials from Hockey India, FIH’s recognized body, as well as the Indian Hockey Federation are scheduled to convene again with the Indian Olympic Association and sports ministry on Oct. 14 after an emergency meeting Tuesday failed to make headway.
Meanwhile, organizers in New Zealand are busy with Champions Trophy preparations after inheriting hosting rights from India last month.
"The preparations are coming along very well in Auckland," Wiedeke says. "It’s coming together better than we ever thought would be possible with the three-month time window to organize our top men’s event of the year."
India is relegated to the second-tier Champions Challenge to be held in South Africa next month as a result of the increasing problematic governance issues.
IAAF Worlds Not Bound for USA, Says Senior VP
Track and field’s top-ranking American says USA won’t be hosting the world championships any time soon.
"We just don't have the wherewithal,starting with the fact that there is no stadium that exists that could accommodate it," Bob Hersh told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
"You look at large stadiums in cities that are big enough to host it and they've removed the tracks."
Stanford University in California fell short with bids for the 1997, 1999 and 2001 championships, then ditched its track.
Hersh, now an IAAF senior VP, added Austin, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Seattle to the list of candidates to remove themselves from the running the moment they removed their running tracks.
With the 2013 edition bound for Moscow, 2015 heading to Beijing and 2017 about to be awarded to either London or Doha, 2019 is the earliest USA could possibly host.
Hersh, however, doesn’t see that happening and refused to speculate on when he expects a bid to emerge again from the sport’smost decorated country.
"It's an issue we'd very much like to address, but the challenges are so great," he told The AP. "We can't say we've got a plan or we're going to do this or that in 'X' number of years."
Hersh is in Doha this week heading the IAAF's two-day inspection of the bid city's 2017 candidacy.
IRB to All Blacks: You’re "Replaceable"
International Rugby Board CEO Mike Miller calls New Zealand "replaceable" following the 2011 host country’s threat to pull out of the 2015 World Cup.
"It would be good for the All Blacks to be there," he told Kiwi station Radio Sport on Tuesday. "Everyone is replaceable."
His comments come midway through the tournament’s seventh edition in response to New Zealand Rugby Union CEO Steve Tew’s insistence that his country – and others – always lose money from the event.
"Why did [South Africa, Australia and New Zealand] choose to truncate the Tri-Nations?" Miller asked in reference to an annual competition that the NZRU shortens in World Cup years.
"That's not the IRB's doing, that's what they decided to do. They lost money because of that."
England will stage the 2015 edition. What remains unclear is whether New Zealand will take part.
Media Watch
The International Cycling Union explains how "the sporting hierarchy is changing in Britain" with cycling leading the charge.
Written by Matthew Grayson with photos by Sheila Hula in Doha.
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