Timelines Tight for Rugby Sevens Rio 2016 Prep

(ATR) The International Rugby Board’s head of competitions and performance tells Around the Rings that upcoming meetings with Olympic Broadcast Services and Rio 2016 will help to deliver an exciting rugby sevens tournament.

Mark Egan and an IRB delegation are holding talks with OBS chiefs in Madrid on Oct. 31 to work out the best ways technically to broadcast rugby sevens at the Games.

For OBS, presenting rugby sevens's Olympic debut is a learning curve. Egan said the IRB would show how the shortened version of the game has been broadcast, using coverage of the HSBC Sevens World Series over the past 12 years and the Rugby World Cup Sevens as examples.

"We want to ensure our sport is presented to the highest standards," said Egan, who is handling the IRB’s Olympic preparations.

He hopes that the rugby sevens Olympic tournament can be spread over several days rather than the traditional two to give it a bigger profile in Rio.

"We want to promote our sport and leave a legacy, and maintain the integrity of the sport, its stamina, endurance, speed, and skill," he added.

Working out the Olympic qualification competitions and scheduling of rugby sevens are among Egan’s chief priorities in the coming months.

With rugby sharing the 20,000-capacity stadium, the largest temporary venue for Rio 2016, decisions on the number of sessions devoted to rugby sevens that can then be sold to spectators is a major consideration. More sessions equals more prominence for the sport.

"We’re very conscious of what we can contribute to the Olympic Games and to growing our sport in Brazil. We want to give people as many opportunities to see the sport, over a longer period of time," Egan explained.

Egan, who has visited Rio twice this year and is going again early next, said the rugby federation was keen to have the schedule nailed down, in particular the number of sessions "from a broadcast and ticketing perspective" in the first quarter of 2014.

Ahead of that, the IOC is set to approve the Olympic qualification tournaments for the sport at its meeting in Sochi in February.

Despite the IOC’s concerns of Rio’s sluggish Olympic preparations, Egan insisted the IRB "have good working relations with the Rio 2016 sports department."

"We are well down the track in terms of them understanding how things are organized," he said.

"We want to have a world-class venue for athletes and spectators," he added, reporting that rugby has received "solid guarantees" that the stadium at the Deodoro Olympic Park would be constructed to high standards.

Rio 2016 officials and a group of architects will spend a week at the men’s HSBC Sevens World Series in Dubai at the end of November to gain a better understanding of the requirements to stage the sport.

"We will show them how we run everything operationally," he said.

"They will be able to see the scale and the issues. It’s a six-week build prior to the tournament," Egan added of the effort to deliver the 35,000-capacity venue in Dubai. The Rio 2016 delegation would also get a "great overview" of how the women’s tournament is staged.

Commenting on the 2016 stadium for rugby, Egan said the IRB was not worried about construction timelines. "We just want to see confirmation of what the construction timelines are, not just for the venues but for the overall infrastructure of the park and the impacts that will cross over all sports."

Egan said the IRB was still waiting to see that master plan, but it was due soon and rugby was on course to meet its pledge to the IOC "to deliver an exciting and compelling event at the Games."

Reported by Mark Bisson

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