Watchdog Questions FIFA Reform; Hoops Test Event; Squash Setback

"Where’s the FIFA Reform?" Asks Watchdog

Anti-corruption organization Transparency International urges FIFA president Sepp Blatter to scrap his plans for reform from within and appoint a multi-stakeholder group to oversee a comprehensive governance overhaul of world football’s governing body.

"FIFA says it wants to reform, but successive bribery scandals have left public trust in it at an all-time low," TI senior advisor on sport Sylvia Schenk says in a report released Tuesday.

"Working with an oversight group – taking its advice, giving it access, letting it participate in investigations – will show whether there is going to be real change. The process has to start now," said Sylvia Schenk, senior advisor on sport to TI."

After his reelection to a final four-year term at the FIFA Congress in June, Blatter claimed he could root out corruption from within and spoke of a "solutions committee" to help guide the implementation of reforms.

The governing body's reputation has been tarnished by a series of bribery allegations and lifetime bans handed down to former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam and former Blatter ally Jack Warner.

For complete analysis of the report from Transparency International, follow World Football INSIDER.

Hoops Test Event Tips Off

London Olympic Park is in use for the first time as the test event for basketball tips off.

The national teams of Great Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia square off from Tuesday to Sunday inside the temporary 12,000-seat arena.

The six-day scrimmage is played in round-robin format to mirror the tournament in which these teams hope to compete come 2012.

Of the six, only Team GB already has a spot booked at the Games. The other five are using the test event as practice for continental championships beginning in the next few weeks.

France, Serbia and Croatia are each among the top teams in Europe, but only two tickets will be up for grabs next month in Lithuania. China is the favorite to represent Asia at the Olympics, and Australia is likewise for Oceania.

Africa also gets a place,theAmericas get another two and Team USA is already qualified thanks to its win at last year’s world championship.

The top finishers at an Olympic qualifying event just before the Games will round out the 12-team tournament.

Flagship Squash Event Cancels Final

Squash enters its latest bid for the Olympics without a winner to one of its flagship events.

Just weeks after winning a spot on the IOC shortlist of eight sports in contention for 2020, the Professional Squash Association announced Thursday its 2010 World Series Finals will forever remain unfinished.

World number one Nick Matthew of England and four-time world champion Amr Shabana of Egypt had been in limbo ever since the makeshift venue for January’s final match – apurple inflatable cube – deflated, forcing safety officers to evacuate historic Queen’s Club in London.

"Whilst we are hugely disappointed with not being able to hold the postponed final, we feel this is the right decision," PSA CEO Alex Gough said in a statement.

"It was such a fantastic event, until the unfortunate situation on the final day, and it would have been a costly exercise to replicate for a single match."

After failed attempts to enter the program for London and Rio de Janeiro, squash is campaigning for 2020 alongside baseball, softball, karate and roller sports as well as newcomers wakeboard, wushu and sports climbing.

Judo to Inspect London

Delegates to the International Judo Federation Ordinary Congress in Paris will inspect the London 2012 venue Sunday.

As part of the program, they will travel by train to London for an informal visit to the Excel Center as well as the Olympic Village and Olympic Stadium.

The Congress starts Saturday at the Palais de Congres de Paris.

Both events precede the World Judo Championships, scheduled for Aug. 23-28. Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy is the venue for all competition. Judoka are able to compete in both team and individual competitions. This is the fourth time France has hosted the event.

Japan is the dominant power in Judo, an expected honor for the country in which the sport was born. Japan won the overall title at the 2010 World Judo Championships and is the reigning men’s champion. The Netherlands is the current women’s world champion.

IAAF Ratifies Four World Records

New world records in triple jump, heptathlon and two distance events are now official.

Moses Cheruiyot Mosop of Kenya smashed a pair of 30-year old marks both owned by Japanese marathoner Toshihiko Seko at the Prefontaine Classic earlier this summer in Eugene, Oregon.

Mosop ran the 25,000m in 1:12:25.4 and the rarely contested 30,000m in 1:26:47.4, both on June 3.

Also this week, the IAAF ratified reigning indoor champion and world record holder Teddy Tamgho’s triple jump of 17.92m, a mark he later matched at the March 6 meet in his native Paris.

Likewise, Ashton Eaton of the U.S. broke his own world record when he totaled 6,568 points in the heptathlon at a February meet in Estonia.

Written by Matthew Grayson and Mark Bisson.