Olympic Newsdesk: Asia Considers Changes, Ghana NOC Election

The Asian Games would move to a new schedule if approved by the OCA this week. (ATR)Asian Games Could Slip One Year

The Olympic Council of Asia is expected to adopt major changes to its events schedule, including pushing back the schedule for the Asian Games.

The changes will be up for a vote at the OCA General Assembly to take place Friday in Singapore.

Under the new calendar, the Asian Games for 2018 would be held in 2019, the event taking place the year before the Olympics instead of two years out on the current timetable.

Another change would merge the Asian Indoor Games and the Asian Martial Arts Games into one event held every four years. The change would leave OCA with five events to organize.

OCA Sports Committee chair Wei Jizhong says the changes will reduce the burden of preparing for the events. He says for the most part, the result will be a single multi-sport event each year.

The 2010 Asian Games will take place in Guangzhou, China and 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. The next host has yet to be determined.

The OCA assembly will also debate a cap on the number of sports for the Asian Games. For 2010, 42 sports are on the program, but there’s a push to reduce the number to 35.

The meeting in Singapore is being held on the sidelines of the Asian Youth Games. The premier edition of the event has drawn 1400 athletes, competing in 10 sports.

Rugby Backs England, Japan as Hosts

Japan gained an edge with the RWCL after hosting the 2009 Junior World Championships in June. (Getty Imagees)England and Japan emerged as the Rugby World Cup Limited’s favorites to host the 2015 and 2019 World Cups Tuesday.

The organizers of the event selected England over Italy, Japan and South Africa for 2015 stating England was better suited for the International Rugby Board (IRB) to “maximize its funding available for investment in the game.”

England offered a low-risk, high-return tournament when they presented to the IRB council in May.

Japan gained an edge after hosting the 2009 IRB Toshiba Junior World Championships in June.

“The RWCL board believes that a Rugby World Cup in Japan would provide a gateway to the further development and expansion of the game in Asia, reaching out to new young fans and providing a superb spectacle for the sport,”Rugby Football Union chairman Martyn Thomas said.

RWCL stated they selected both cities because they could also create new rugby markets.

The IRB council will make a final choice July 28 in Dublin, Ireland.

New President of Ghana Olympic Committee

Olympian Francis Dodoo unseated 12-year incumbent president of the Ghana Olympic Committee, Benson Tongo Baba, at the GOC’s congress on Tuesday, but Baba is questioning the election’s validity.

According to Ghanaian media, Baba will ask for the IOC’s interpretation on the election saying “whatever happened there was unacceptable because I had deferred the Congress indefinitely and I am the only one with that right to do so. It is my prerogative to come out and defendFrancis Dodoo, a professor of sociology at Pennsylvania State University, is the new president of the Ghana Olympic Committee. (PSU)the IOC and the Olympic Charter as best as my conscience say.”

Baba would not offer further details on his plans.

Dodoo chairs the Ghana Athletics Association and is a sociology professor. His term as GOC president lasts for four years.

Dodoo competed in four Olympics in the triple jump.

Nii Quaye Kumah takes over as secretary general of the GOC.

Briefs…

…Tickets for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will go on sale September 25, 2009. About 600,000 tickets starting as $25 will be available to fans at wwww.alltechfeigames.com. The event takes place September 25-October 10, 2010.

…The 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team has earned a spot in the Hall of Fame and will be inducted Aug. 12 in Chicago. The team known as the “Dream Team” included Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. They won gold in Barcelona after winning eight games by an average of 44 points. Olympian Picabo Street will also be inducted.

Media Watch

Conservative daily The Washington Times has an editorial about President Obama’s proposed White House office on Olympic sports, fearing it may be costly.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/29/obamas-olympic-czar/

With reporting from Ed Hula, Isia Reaves and Ed Hula III

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