FIE Celebrates Centennial; Comms Chief Leaves UCI; Brazil on Track, Says Minister

Brazil on Track, Says Sports Minister

Sports minister Aldo Rebelo tells Around the Rings that Brazil will benefit from hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics in such close succession.

"The 2016 Olympics will have the advantage of Rio having already hosted the championship match for the 2014 World Cup," he said Wednesday.

"That means that the mobility and telecommunications infrastructure will already have been ready and put in place for the Confederations Cup and World Cup."

Asked by ATR whether he’s confident Rio de Janeiro can complete its venues in time for the Games given the delays faced by FIFA in preparation for the Confederations Cup, he claimed everything would ready on time.

"The resources for the Olympic Village and for other Olympic structures have already been allocated in the budget, the agreements with the Rio municipality and the Rio state government are already signed, and the works are already being procured," he said.

Rebelo was speaking during a conference call organized by the Brazilian Secretariat of Social Communication ahead of Monday’s 500-days-to-go mark until the 2014 World Cup.

For the sports minister’s take on stadium progress and the launch of volunteer recruitment, visit World Football INSIDER.

FIE Outlines Centenary Celebrations

President Alisher Usmanov says the International Fencing Federation must not rest on its laurels as FIE celebrates 100 years since its founding in 1913.

"We have a great deal of work ahead of us and we must face up to tough challenges," he said Wednesday in a statement outlining the sport’s centenary celebrations, which will include a special logo designed by IMG Consulting, a trio of films produced by IMG Sports Media, a traveling exhibition to complement nine tournaments in the FIE’s nine founding countries and a Centennial Gala Dinner to follow Nov. 30 in Paris.

"I am proud that fencing is one of only four sports to have featured at every Olympic Games of the modern era," Usmanov added in a possible reference to next month’s IOC Executive Board meeting, where members will recommend an existing Olympic sport to cut from the 2020 program.

"I am convinced that 2013, when we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the FIE, will be a year of success, accomplishments and the start of a new century in the development of fencing," said the Russian billionaire, reelected last month to another four years atop the fencing federation.

UCI Comms Chief Quits

Communications director Enrico Carpani will leave the International Cycling Union in March after 15 years with the federation.

"I won’t hide the fact that this long professional interlude in the world of cycling, which as you can imagine has not always been easy, has been an unforgettable one for me," he said Wednesday in a farewell statement, referencing "numerous crisis situations" likely to include Lance Armstrong’s recent doping admission.

Carpani will still work the upcoming Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky and the Track Worlds in Minsk, Belarus before taking up his new role as head of sports for Swiss Italian Television (RSI).

"Although I am ready for and extremely motivated by the new challenge that awaits me, I know that I will always keep great memories of our time together," he said.

"If sometimes I may have been too hard, or not particularly pleasant, please excuse me: despite my efforts, it is possible that the tension in certain situations influenced my reaction."

FIBT Rundown

Bobsleigh begins bright and early Friday at the 2013 FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz.

Women are first out of the gate with two runs on opening day.

Next up is a pair of runs in the two-man event Saturday morning and the final women’s races in the afternoon.

Two-man sledding wraps up Sunday morning with the team competition to follow at 1:30 p.m.

Skeleton starts Jan. 31 with bobsleigh’s showcase four-man event to follow Feb. 2.

Written by Matthew Grayson

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