Olympic Newsdesk- Baseball Pursues Reinstatement; African Youth Games; London 2012

Baseball Seeks Olympic Reinstatement

International Baseball Federation President Riccardo Fraccari is leading the effort to reinstate the sport into the Olympics.

The Italian outlined his plans on Monday about two months after taking office. Fraccari will head a commission dedicated to reinstatement, which will be formed during the IBAF Executive board meeting in Rome on Feb. 20.

"We are well aware of the obstacles that must be overcome to recapture Olympic status," Fraccari said.

"However, I believe we are ready to effectively deal with such issues as anti-doping, participation of the best players, female discipline and global scheduling. Baseball will be able to play a leading role in the Olympic Games within the framework of the Olympic movement."

Baseball and softball were both played at the Beijing 2008 Olympics but are not on the London 2012 or Rio 2016 programs, as the sports were voted out of the Olympics in 2005. Last year, both failed to gain spots on the 2016 Olympics program. Without official Olympic status, baseball does not receive funding from the IOC.

Fraccari’s push for baseball’s reinstatement follows the efforts of his predecessor Harvey Schiller.

"Under the new administration, the IBAF will remain steadfastly committed to baseball’s reinstatement to the Olympic program," Fraccari said.

"Support from the IOC is crucial for the IBAF and the national federations in order to strengthen a number of initiatives in baseball’s emerging nations. Thus, we must work diligently to earn the support of the IOC, if we are to continue to grow and develop our sport around the globe efficiently."

Morocco to Host African Youth Games

Morocco will host the inaugural African Youth Games in May. The event comes three months before the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and the Morrocco national Olympic committee signed an agreement last week to host the African Youth Games from May 9-15. ANOCA will invest $1 million and ANOCA president Lassana Palenfo confirmed that athletes and team officials will get free accommodations.

“The African Youth Games shall not only be limited to sports encounters for the young across the continent but will also include a culture and education program," Lassana Palenfo said. "The African Youth Games will be a catalyst for the power of sport to promote friendship, unity and peace."

Organizers expect the participation of 800 boys and girls between the ages of 15-17. About 300 teams from across the continent will take part. The program includes 15 sports to be held in two cities.Rabat will host athletics, basketball (3 versus 3), boxing, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, judo, rowing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and wrestling. Casablanca will host swimming and gymnastics.

"Our government is going to avail enough resources to ensure that the Games will be organized successfully," said Moncef Belkhayat, the Morocco Minister of Youth and Sport. "Through the Africa Youth Games our hope is that if young people can learn to respect each other on the field of play, they may transmit this to the other parts of their daily lives."

Singapore will host the inaugural YOG from August 14 2010.

IOC Awards Peru Broadcast Rights

América Televisión in Peru will broadcast the upcoming Vancouver Olympics and the London 2012 Games.

The IOC awarded América Televisión free-to-air television and radio broadcast rightsfor the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games on Monday. The newtwork will also broadcast the Youth Olympic games

Grey-Thompson Joins the House of Lords

Paralympian Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and London 2012 Cultural Olympiad chair Tony Hall are joining the House of Lords as non- party-political peers.

Grey-Thompson is the most decorated Paralympian in British history. From 1988 to 2004, she collected a total of 16 Paralympic medals including 11 golds, and set more than 20 world records.

She is active in numerous outreach endeavors including the London 2012 International Inspiration Program aimed at improving the lives of youth around the world through sport. She also serves as vice-chair of the London 2012 Sports Advisory Group

Hall, a former executive for BBC News, was named chair of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Since 2001, he has served as chief executive of the Royal Opera House.

900 Days to London Video

To subscribe to Around the Rings Click Here

Written by Sam Steinberg.