Federations Roundup -- Sailing Bids; Hockey Blow; New Digs for Squash

Wide Field for Women’s Match Racing Worlds

The International Sailing Federation tells Around the Rings as many as six cities are already in the running to stage the 2013 world championship in women’s match racing, an event making its Olympic debut at London 2012.

ISAF competitions manager Antonio González de la Madrid confirmed to ATR over the weekend that Helsinki, Finland; Auckland, New Zealand and Busan, South Korea had submitted bids ahead of last Thursday’s original deadline and that he expected another three applications to come from Sydney; Australia; Long Beach, California and Annapolis, Maryland.

Thanks to an extension announced Monday on the federation’s website, other cities can now enter the fray ahead of a new deadline of Oct. 1.

The women’s match racing worlds date back to 1999 with December’s sailing championships in Perth, Australia to decide the 2011 titleholder as well as the bulk of the field for the 2012 Summer Games.

India Stripped of Champions Trophy

Hockey’s top annual event is without a host less than three months before its first faceoff.

The sport’s governing body announced Monday that India will no longer stage the 2011 Champions Trophy due to the presence of competing national federations within the country.

"At issue is the governance structure of the sport of hockey in India," says a statement from the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

"It is a fundamental and non-negotiable requirement of the Olympic Charter and the FIH Statutes that there only be one governing body for any one sport in any country with exclusive authority and responsibility to govern, organize national competitions and to enter national teams in international competitions."

The eight-team round-robin remains slated for Dec. 3-11 with FIH expecting to name a replacement host within the week.

India, meanwhile, is getting bumped from the top-tier tournament, instead receiving an invite to the Champions Challenge to be held in South Africa in November.

The subcontinent is also scheduled to stage the sport’s Olympic qualification tournament in February, but that too could change.

"The FIH will continue to monitor the governance structure in India and hopes that a resolution can be found before it begins to affect future events set to be held in India," says Monday’s statement.

New Digs for Squash Federation

The World Squash Federation is the latest international governing body to open an office in Lausanne’s increasingly important Maison Du Sport.

"Given our campaign for squash to become part of the Olympic sports program, it now makes sense for the WSF to have a base alongside so many of our colleagues in the Olympic Movement," WSF president N Ramachandran saidTuesday in a statement.

"Representatives of WSF and the wider squash family will be spending an increasing amount of time in Lausanne over the next two years as we step up our campaign for Olympic inclusion."

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.

Squash joins triathlon, archery, badminton, bobsleigh, boxing, canoe, fencing, rowing and taekwondo as Olympic sports with digs in the five-year-old office complex.

The WSF remains headquartered in Hastings, England.

Football, Soccer "Exact Same", Says FIFA

FIFA tells Around the Rings world football’s governing body has no qualms with the term "soccer" as pool play wraps up at the Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna, Italy.

"Asyou know, FIFA usually uses the word ‘football’. However, to make it clear, FIFA has no issues whatsoever with the name ‘soccer’, as it simply refers to the exact same sport," FIFA communications director Nicolas Maingot explains to ATR.

"The use of the word ‘soccer’ in ‘FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup’ finds its roots in the history of this competition. Until the inaugural 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, international competitions of beach soccer were already existing, mostly under the auspices of a company called Beach Soccer Worldwide, with which FIFA created FIFA Beach Soccer S.L. (FBSSL) in 2005.

"The word ‘soccer" was therefore existing before the creation of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and was simply kept."

Quarterfinals kick off Thursday in Ravenna with Russia v. Mexico, Portugal v. Senegal, Brazil v. Nigeria and El Salvador v. Italy. Semis are scheduled for Saturday and finals for Sunday.

Slalom Champs Up Next for Canoe

Canoe caps off a busy few months of action this week with its slalom world championships in Bratislava, Slovakia.

More than 400 athletes from 50 countries will take to the Water Sports Centre Cunovo on Wednesday with Olympic berths up for grabs in 10 disciplines, six for men and four for women.

"Slovakia not only has the greatest Olympians in our sport, it has some of the most enthusiastic fans," International Canoe Federation second vice president Richard Fox said in a statement.

"We can expect an electric atmosphere and the best that slalom has to offer."

This week’s competition follows in the wake of last month’s canoe sprint world champs in neighboring Hungary and London 2012’s test event the month before at Lee Valley White Water Center.

Slalom races run through Sunday in Bratislava.

Written by Matthew Grayson.