ISU Suspends Chinese Judges -- Federation Focus

(ATR) The International Skating Union sanctioned two officials for expressing national bias at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics.

Huang Feng was given a one year suspension, and Chen Weiguang was banned for two years by the International Skating Union.

Weiguang cannot officiate at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Feng received a "letter of warning" from the OAC commission in January 2018, pertaining to his judging at the Grand Prix Final in December 2017. No prior warning was mentioned for Weiguang.

ISU’s disciplinary commission reached their decisions without consulting testimonies from ISU officials or video footage from the event. Their scores alone proved national bias according to the panel.

The Feng decision can be found hereand the Weiguang decision can be found here.

New IJF Training Center Opens in Zambia

The International Judo Federation fully financed a new training facility in Lusaka, Zambia with support from the Zambia Judo Association and Ministry of Sport.

IJF president Marius Vizer promised the area a new facility when he visited Zambia in 2010.

The center will host educational programs for the area and will provide facilities for the Zambian national team.

Moses Marewe, Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development, said in a statement, "I am reliably informed that this is the first ever Centre for the IJF on the Southern African region. The importance of continuous human resource development cannot be over emphasized and this need is ever more acute for sports personnel to enhance their knowledge based skills in order to remain relevant to the needs of the sports world in an ever evolving and dynamic environment."

IJF also announced Friendship will be this year's theme of World Judo Day, which takes place on October 28.

Dance Sport President Announces Resignation

World DanceSport Federation president Lukas Hinder says he is resigning "to bring all parties closer together in how they interpret dance as sport".

First vice-president Shawn Tay will succeed him. Tay was appointed chief executive officer by the WDSF presidium, effective June 18. He will become president on November 17. Hinder will stay on until then to smooth the transition.

Hinder was made honorary life president by the WDSF presidium, a decision that will allow him to continue to hold elected office on the executive committee of the International World Games Association.

"I am very pleased to advise that the Presidium has reconfirmed that WDSF’s participation in the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games is supported unreservedly and that the WDSF Presidium will approve of my future candidacy for any office in the International World Games Association," Hinder said in remarks to delegates and observers at the general meeting of the WDSF in Lausanne last weekend.

"During the weekend, I had cordial meetings with my Presidium colleagues who understood and accepted my decision. This also included a very satisfactory reconciliation and agreement with our 1st Vice-President, Shawn Tay," Hinder said.

Hinder's term was to run until 2021. Tay has agreed to stand for election in 2019 to confirm his mandate until 2021.

WBSC Enjoys Cooperation Between French and Japanese Governing Bodies

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is welcoming a cooperation agreement between the Japan Softball Association (JSA) and the French Baseball Softball Federation (FFBS).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on Wednesday states "Both JSA and FFBS desire to have the status of baseball and softball retained as Olympic [events] for the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris, France."

The cooperation begins this week with the FFBS sending a first-of-its-kind observer program to Tokyo for the Japan versus United States All-Star Series, a three-game series between the two top-ranked softball teams in the world.

WBSC Secretary General Beng Choo Low attended the MOU signing in Tokyo.

"This spirit of collaboration between world leaders like Japan and up-and-comers France is hugely encouraging, and characteristic of our inclusive, global sport. The WBSC is building a billion-strong global baseball-softball community, and growing our sport across Europe is an absolute priority for us," said Low in a statement.

Under the agreement, the JSA will send teams, players and officials to France to hold warm-up and exhibition games with teams from around Europe, and in particular France. The French federation will also welcome Japanese coaches, who will help to improve targeted technical and tactical skills at the French national team level.

Eight More Governing Bodies Join Olympic Channel

The Federation of International Lacrosse (FILx), International Federation of Basque Pelota (FIPV), International Korfball Federation (IKF), International Sumo Federation (IFS) and International Wushu Federation (IWUF),in addition totheInternational Committee ofMediterranean Games (ICMG),International University Sports Federation (FISU)andSpecial Olympics all committed to cooperate with the Olympic Channel to create original content.

With these additions, the Olympic Channel now has 75 partners.

Written by Jeffrey Farekand Gerard Farek

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