NOC News - Uganda Allegations; Pakistan Elections; Cash for Russian Medalists

JOC Program in Ravaged Area

The Japanese Olympic Committee is contining its program to support children in the Sendai region, the area hit by the deadly tsunami and earthquake in 2011.

Last week, the JOC in a program with the International Ski Federation brought in Olympic medalists Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Jure Franco to Shizukuishi, Iwate prefecture. The skiers were there to improve the lives of the children.

"The Japanese Olympic Committee and the whole of Japan's sports community would like to thank their friends in the Olympic Movement for their warmest support" Masa Takaya, JOC spokesman said in an email to Around the Rings.

"It is also a privilege to welcome the world's legendary athletes to Japan through this programme. They brought in big smiles, which already became a big momentum of the country's effort on the recovery.

"People in the northeastern region and every staff member at the Japanese Olympic Committee look forward to welcoming more friends over the next three years and beyond."

Known as Olympic Day Festa, the event series started in October. It is sponsored by the IOC and Olympic Council of Asia. A total of 60 events are scheduled over three years.

UOC Secretary General Survives Expulsion Vote

Peninah Kabenge avoided losing her post as secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee over allegations of forgery related to an IOC award, and potentially violating UOC rules.

On Saturday, Kabenge survived the vote, allowing her to remain in office.

Former UOC secretary general Gabriel Oloka alleged that she forged the signature of UOC president Roger Ddungu on her nomination letter for the IOC Women and Sport Award, to be handed out next week. He also claims she cannot serve as secretary general because she is a member of the National Council of Sports.

"Kabenge did not win the award the right way," Oloka told the UOC assembly on Saturday, according to Uganda’s The Daily Mirror. "She also sits on the National Council of Sports committee. There is no way she can hold two positions."

For her part, Kabenge dismissed the allegations by saying that she did nothing wrong, and that the charges were politically motivated.

"Oloka is trying to bring malicious propaganda because I beat him in the 2009 elections," Kabenge said.

"He sent a letter to IOC about the same allegations immediately after the elections but the IOC rejected his claims.

"I scanned the president’s signature on my award nomination letter with his consent. He was out of the country and the deadline was approaching. I only had two days to reply."

But Ddungu said "she contacted me after using my signature." He also asked for more time to review the charges.

Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC Women and Sport Commission, tells ATR "we are moving ahead with the awards ceremony as scheduled."

Cash Payments for Russian Medalists

Russian Olympic champions will receive more than medals for their success at London 2012.

According to a report on the International Sports Press Association website, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree to allocate funds to medalists over the weekend. About $130,000 would be awarded to gold medalists while silver and bronze medalists would receive $82,500 and $56,000 respectively.

Pakistan Olympic Chief Reelected

Syed Arrif Hassan will serve a third term as president of the Pakistan Olympic Association.

Hassan won election at Saturday’s meeting of the POA with 48 and a half votes, according to Pakistan’s The News. He defeated two other candidates for the post.

"My emphasis during my third term will be raising the sports infrastructure at the grassroots level," he was quoted as saying.

Khalid Mehmood of Pakistan’s athletics federation will serve as secretary general.

Their terms end in 2016.

Kim Jip, Korean Olympic Committee VP, 86

Kim Jip, who served as vice president of the Korean Olympic Committee, died on Saturday. He was 86.

Kim served with the KOC in the 1980s, eventually serving as chef de mission for the Korean Olympic team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Following the Games, he became the country’s sports minister.

He earned the Moran Medal, South Korea’s second-highest civil award, and the Cheongryong Medal, the highest order of sporting merit. He is survived by his wife and three children.

...Briefs

...South Africa’s sports minister told SASCOC, the country’s Olympic committee, to set aside their personal grievances and avoid "muffins" in London. "South Africa wants medals not muffins," Fikile Mbalula told the SASCOC board on Tuesday. "We would like to register our concern on the media wrangling in relation to the upcoming SASCOC elective conference. We are disappointed that people choose to use the media to fight their own personal battles when it comes to organizational and leadership questions. We call on everyone in SASCOC and elsewhere to concentrate on the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London."

...The United Arab Emirates NOC vice president sees the country’s performance leading up to the Olympics as proof that the country’s sport culture is improving. Yousuf Al Serkal made the comments at a press conference on Wednesday. "Historically, the UAE has qualified with a very nominal number of athletes for the Olympic Games. But this time we have three who have already qualified and we are also expecting another ten to meet the qualifying mark in the next few months. There is a change and this shows the development of sports in the UAE. We no longer just qualify through invitation, but through actual competition."

...Indonesia’s sports ministry nixed the National Olympic Committee of Indonesia's (KONI) plans to shoot for a larger team in London. Currently 11 Indonesians have qualified for the Games, with Olympic officials telling the ministry they wanted to field a team of 50 at the Games. "The ministry thinks KONI should revise the target" ministry secretary Djoko Pekik said after a parliamentary meeting about sports on Monday. "Our estimation is only around 30 athletes will qualify for the Games in London. Fourteen of those will likely come from badminton, while we’ll cross our fingers that athletes from other sports can earn their berths." Twenty-four Indonesians competed in Beijing.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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