Olympic Newsdesk - Bird's Nest Football, IOC Talks on Kuwait Suspension, Support for Ghana NOC President

Inter and Lazio will meet at the Bird’s Nest Aug. 8. (Getty Images)

Bird’s Nest Stadium Readies for 1 Year Anniverary

A sell-out crowd is expected as Italian football teams Inter Milan and Lazio square off in the first sporting event to be held in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium since last year’s Olympics.

A capacity crowd of 80,000 is expected for the match, which is scheduled for Aug. 8 and marks the one year anniversary of the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony.

Half of the available tickets for the match have been sold less than a week after going on sale. An organizer for the match told the Beijing Youth Daily on Wednesday that revenue from the match is expected to be around $10.25 million.

IOC Hosts Talks on Kuwait

IOC President Jacques Rogge led a round of talks at IOC headquarters Wednesday aimed at heading-off suspension of the Kuwait National Olympic Committee.

The IOC Executive Board warned in June that the KOC faced suspension July 31 unless Kuwaiti law was changed to prevent government interference in the operations of the committee.

A release from the IOC says the meeting included representatives of the Kuwaiti government but the list of attendees does not include representatives of the NOC.

The IOC says the government has agreed to four points, all of which must be implemented by the end of the year.

Should the Kuwait government fail to follow through on any of the points, the IOC says the KOC will be subject to immediate suspension.

IOC, ANOCA, Back Ghana NOC President

The IOC and Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa expressed support for the ousted president of the Ghana Olympic Committee. At the end of June, Benson Tongo Baba lost his reelection bid to Francis Dodoo, a sociology professor and Pennsylvania State University in the U.S.

Baba has questioned the validity of the elections and the IOC apparently agrees with him.

A letter from the IOC NOC relations director Pere Miro printed in the Ghanaian Chronicle says they "and ANOCA regret these attempts at destabilization of your NOC and in particular these external interferences which prevented the regular NOC election process from being completed."

The letter continued "the IOC and ANOCA will continue to recognize (Baba)

Francis Dodoo won election to the presidency of the Ghana Olympic Committee, but the IOC declared the election illegal, supporting the ousted NOC leader, Benson Baba. (Pennsylvania State University)as the legitimate NOC President as well as the current legitimate office bearers under your leadership, until the elections process of your NOC is duly completed in a legal, democratic, fair and transparent manner, based in particular, on your NOC Constitution duly adopted by you NOC on July 5."

A warning was given to avoid any interference from external organizations. If external pressure continues, the IOC has the ability to take what it deems necessary actions to protect the NOC and Olympic movement from interference--including suspension of the NOC.

The Chronicle says Baba is pleased with the letter and that “he is not power-drunk, neither is he seeking perpetual tenure in office.”

Around Oscar Pistorius hopes to qualify Wednesday for South Africa’s team at the athletics world championships. (Getty Images)the Rings was not able to reach Dodoo for immediate comment.

Pistorius Hopes to Make World Championship Team

Double amputee Oscar Pistorius of South Africa is running Wednesday for a chance to represent his country at the athletics world championships in Berlin next month.

Pistorious needs a time of 45.95 seconds in the 400m to qualify, but he has not come within a second of that time in 2009.

"It's a race that he actually could win if he was at his best, and it's not a race that he would be out of touch with even in current form," race promoter Terry McHugh said.

He gained worldwide attention last year when attempting to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. He missed qualifying for the Games but won gold in the 100, 200, and 400 meter events at the Paralympics.

…Briefs

... Cuban Olympian in boxing, Luis Franco, announced his first professional fight will take place on July 31, just a few months after defecting to the United States. Franco, 27, competed at the 2004 Olympics, and was removed from the 2008 team over fears he would defect. He will fight in the flyweight division. "This is a dream come true," said Franco at the announcement on Tuesday in Miami, Fla. "I am surprised at how many Cuban boxers from the Olympics are here now. It makes me happy that this is my home, too."

Written by Ed Hula III and Greg Oshust.

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