On the Scene in Acapulco - Fireworks at Olympics Questioned; NOC Violence; Vazquez Rana Age Tussle

No Fireworks for London?

The fireworks issuewas posed Sunday in Acapulco as IOC President Jacques Rogge took questions from leaders of the 200+ National Olympic Committees who have been meeting in Mexico for five days.

Hernasiri Fernando, president of the Sri Lanka Olympic Committee, said fireworks, which have been a staple of Olympic opening and closing ceremonies for decades, harm the environment.

''We all have the responsibility to protect this earth and the fireworks have a tremendous effect on the environment,'' said Fernando, one of 14 NOC representatives to ask questions during the joint meeting between the IOC Executive Board and the ANOC Executive Board.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said he was taking the issue seriously and would speak to London 2012 organizers and the IOC's environmental committee.

He asked for more information about the carbon footprint of fireworks displays, which were spectacular at the last Summer Games in Beijing and were even part of the festivities in Acapulco before a dinner hosted by ANOC president Mario Vazquez Rana.

But while they're colorful, they're not green. Rogge compared the situation to the decision to stop releasing doves at the Opening Ceremony. In Seoul, some of the feathered peace symbols were roasted alive when they perched on the cauldron before it erupted into flames. The IOC received emotional protests from the World Wildlife Fund and animal rights advocates.

"I'm not saying we're going to eliminate the fireworks; I'm saying we're going to study it seriously," Rogge said.

London 2012 spokesperson Jackie Brock-Doyle said London organizers did not have a position on the fireworks issue. "We don't know," she told reporters. "The work has only begun on our ceremonies."

NOC Violence Kept Out of Governments Meetings

Vazquez Rena said it was no oversight that the World Sports Convention held Saturday did not discuss the threat of political violence against NOC representatives. The day-long convention on the side of the ANOC meeting attracted 130+ sports ministers or governmental representatives to meet with NOC leaders to discuss issues such as government interference in the affairs of NOCs.

While instances of government interference are numerous, perhaps no other case is as notorious as the 2006 kidnapping of the Iraqi NOC president, secretary general and two dozen sportsmen and women who were never seen again.

While the 11-hour meeting covered the range of issues where NOCs and government intersect, violence against NOC leaders caught in political or civil wars was deliberately not part of the program.

"It's not that we forget this issue; it's that we intentionally do not want to deal with it," Vazquez Rana said at a joint closing press conference with Rogge.

"We should not get into those debates. We cannot deal with violence that is 100 percent political. The fact that an Olympic Committee is kidnapped or not is not just because they are a member of the Olympic Committee."

Vazquez Rana said he especially did not want to bring up the subject with the 120-130 sports ministers or government representatives who attended the First World Sport Convention.

"They don't want to deal with this either," he said. "We come here to discuss sports matter and not matters related to violence. They are regrettable, of course," he said.

Rogge agreed that "when it comes to an issue of general security of a country, this is not something we should debate or handle."

However, he said "if it's a politically targeted threat, that's a different issue. If members of an NOC are in jail obviously for political reasons, then we will intervene."

Rogge said the IOC is working on three or four cases of that nature. He did not want to make the names of the NOCs involved public because the IOC is negotiating with authorities "to release them and make sure they do not suffer." Rogge did not want to place those negotiations in jeopardy, but said they are "very high on the agenda."

Vazquez Rana EB Status to be Studied by EB

Vazquez Rana bristled at a suggestion that he should step down from the IOC when he is 80, as the rules require, instead of asking for an exception.

ANOC will request to the IOC Executive Board that he be allowed to fulfill his entire four-year mandate on the EB, even though he will be 82 when his term expires.

"I feel like I am 60," Vazquez Rana said. "As long as I can keep on working, I'll keep on working despite my chronological age."

The matter is not expected to be brought up in Acapulco, but could be discussed at the next EB meeting in January.

Rogge said he owes it to his colleagues on the EB to discuss the matter with them. I'm not here to express personal opinion," he said. "It will be studied like all the proposals by the EB."

Russian Update for Rogge

Russian deputy prime minister and Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov met with Rogge to explain new plans for its NOC to make sure its athletes are successful at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Russia was dismayed by an overall poor performance in Vancouver, prompting an overhaul of the NOC.

"I believe he has the right strategy," Rogge said, noting that Zhukov was inspired by Canada's Own the Podium program to identify talent and prepare athletes for success at a young age.

Rogge stressed to Zhukov that "the success of the local team is of paramount importance in the success of the Olympic Games."

If the Russian team wins a lot of medals, there is a "fantastic mood. If there are not enough medals, it will be a bit gloomy. He will do the maximum so there are good results in Sochi."

World Anti-Betting Agency Not Sure Thing

Rogge said the formation of a world anti-betting agency is "not going to be soon." He compared it to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which was not up and running until 2006 despite the first conference on doping taking place in February 1999.

"It's not an easy task, rather a slow process," Rogge said, noting that the IOC first wants to have a dialogue with the countries that are most involved to come up with a workable solution.

He also said that if sport bodies want to penalize people for irregular betting, there need to be proper rules and regulations. "With many NOCs, there is a lack of rules that would forbid irregular betting," he said. "If you cannot forbid it, you cannot sanction it."

The IOC is sending a draft to all NOCs to please incorporate these rules into their legislation.

He said the IOC has a company that monitored the Olympics in Beijing and Vancouver and found no signs of irregular betting.

"I'm relieved and happy about that," he said, "but this will not last forever. One day there will probably be a corruption case and a match-fixing case."

He said the company monitors the money flows with the betting companies and if there is an abnormal flow that is suspicious, the company will freeze the payout of the money until everything is cleared up.

The IOC also has a link to Interpol.

Rogge said that instead of simple winning and losing, the bets are more offbeat, such as when there will be a double fault in tennis or a corner in football.

ATR coverage of the ANOC General Assembly

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Written and reported in Acapulco by Karen Rosen and Ed Hula.