Olympic Newsdesk -- FIFA Cash-for-Votes Bidding Scandal; AIBA Awaits Court Ruling

FIFA Suspends Ex-Co Members In Cash-for-Votes Bidding Scandal

FIFA has provisionally suspended Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii from the FIFA Executive committee pending a full investigation into the men facing allegations of selling their votes for cash in the competition to host the 2018 World Cup.

A full investigation will take place into the Nigerian and the president of the Oceania Football Confederation in November. Various sanctions are possible, including removal from the executive board.

"Today is a sad day for football and for FIFA. We have had to take a difficult decision," ethics committee chairman Claudio Sulser said Wednesday at a press conference thatwas delayed almost two hours while the ethics committee deliberated over what sanctions to impose in conjunction with FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.

Adamu is accused of asking for $800,000 for artificial pitches to be channeled into a private bank account from a reporter posing as a consultant working with the USA bid committee.

Temarii allegedly told the same journalists that he wanted $2.4 million to pay for a football academy.

For more on the developing story, visit World Football INSIDER.

Judge To Decide Fate of Boxing Congress

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) awaits a ruling that will make or break plans to hold the federation’s quadrennial congress Nov. 1-3 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The Lausanne Civil Court adjourned Wednesday after hearing a lawsuit presented by 13 national federations. A judge will decide the case Thursday or Friday, AIBA spokesman Paul O’Neil tells Around the Rings.

England, Belgium, Thailand and Ukraine are among the countries alleging that the decision to move the congress from Busan, South Korea to Almaty was taken improperly.

AIBA contends that three of the federations said to be part of the suit deny that they agreed to join the legal action.

The suit also alleges AIBA acted against its statutes by barring dozens of federations from participating in the congress – and presidential election – for non-payment of AIBA dues, about $250 a year.

AIBA said last week it expects to turn aside the suit and proceed with the congress as planned.

By week’s end, the federation will know one way or the other.

Nigeria Enhances Anti-Doping Education After Delhi Disaster

Nigeria will place a newfound emphasis on anti-doping after this month’s embarrassment at the Commonwealth Games.

Three of the four athletes to fail drug tests in Delhi were Nigerian.

Women’s 100m gold medalist OludamolaOsayomi and sixth-place 110m men’s hurdler Samuel Okon allegedly took methylhexaneamine.

Folashade Abuga finished second in both the women’s 400m and 4x400m relay but tested positive for testosterone prohormone as competition came to a close last week.

The Nigeria Olympic Committee will now join forces with the National Sports Commission to discourage doping, the consequences of which were all too evident in Delhi. Osayomiand Abuga were stripped of all three medals.

The partnership will focus on educating Nigerian athletes about the dangers of using performance-enhancing drugs, NOC’s third VP Tijani Umar told Afrique Avenir.

"I am sure the two bodies will address the issue of doping severely because what happened at the just-concluded Commonwealth Games was a stain on the country’s image," he was quoted by the online news magazine.

Umar noted that federations held anti-doping seminarsfor athletes and officials prior to the CWG but that Nigeria would increase its efforts going forward.

The All Africa Games are slated for July 15-27 in Maputo, Mozambique.

Junior Olympic Judoka Now Shines On Mound

Former judo child prodigy Tommy Hunter enjoys a different sort of spotlight these days.

The two-time Junior Olympic national champion was the starting pitcher Tuesday night for the Texas Rangers in their game four American League Championship Series showdown against the New York Yankees.

Hunter recently linked his success in baseball to the discipline he learned from judo as a child.

"Judo's a big mental game and baseball's 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. So you could say judo's contributed a big part for me," Hunter told MinorLeagueBaseball.com earlier this year.

"You really have to be in control, kind of like when you're out on the mound. It's you versus one guy -- one-on-one."

The 24-year-old Hunter struck out five and walked none in three-and-a-third innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits. The Rangers won 10-3.

Written by Marta Falconi in Zurich and Matthew Grayson.