Summer Federations Roundup -- ITU, ICF Elect New Presidents, Baseball Committee Discusses Bid for Olympic Return

Marisol Casado was elected president of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) at the ITU Congress in Madrid.(Getty Images)New ITU President Says Sport’s Olympic Spot Secure

Marisol Casado, the newly-elected president of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) tells Around the Rings her sport’s future in the Olympics is safe.

Casado, 52, citied triathlon’s success on TV as one key reason adding there are no “main problems within the ITU family, we are attracting a lot of people to watch it, it is growing in all the world, we have very fine athletes and we are working very hard in having a clean sport."

She said ITU’s HQ will remain in Vancouver and she plans to work there but added “we need to open a representative office in Lausanne, because we understand that is important to the sport.”

When asked what she would like to do with the federation, Casado said two things must happen. “I think that we have to grow the sport in Africa for example. Of course I hope that we will have even better TV coverage for the elite athletes. I think that’s enough.”

Casado comes prepared to handle the governing of triathlon. By profession, she is a sports administrator, holding a master's degree of sports administration from the University of Madrid. She has also been a member of the Spanish NOC for several years and currently serves as president of the Women in Sport Commission.

She was a triathlete in the late 80s, but only as an amateur. Casado has also competed in athletics and field hockey.

Bennett Elected ITU General Secretary

In addition to the election of Casado as president, the ITU also elected Loreen Barnett of Canada as general secretary.

With the election of Casado and Barnett, the ITU is the only Olympic international federation to have women in its top two positions.

Four vice presidents were also elected during the congress, including Bill Walker of Australia, Antonio Alvarez of Mexico, Kyung-Sun Yu of South Korea and British Triathlon Federation President Sarah Springman, with Tom Carrasco of the Phillipines running unopposed for treasurer.

A resolution was passed to name outgoing Vice President Chihuru Igaya of Japan an honorary ITU member.

The new members of the executive board are: Ria Damgren Nilsson of Sweden, Anatoly Korobov of Russia, Xin Li of China, Melissa Merson of the U.S., Shin Otsuka of Japan, Mario Rodriguez of Guatemala and Terry Sheldrake of New Zealand.

ICF Chooses Perurena as President

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) elected Jose Peruena of Spain as its new president at the ICF Congress in Rome on Saturday. The International Canoe Federation held its congress in Rome last week.(Getty Images)

Perurena, who was ICF vice president and was the organization’s secretary general before that, replaces Ulrich Feldhoff of Germany, who has stepped down as president after 10 years. Perurena assumed his new post immediately and chaired his first board meeting as president on Sunday.

“I am ready to take on the challenges as the ICF president and I am committed to advancing this federation,” Perurena said. “We have elected virtually a new executive committee who are really talented. I’m looking forward to working with the executive and board to implement the ICF strategic plan and licensing program.”

The biannual gathering attracted 110 countries, making it the largest congress in the history of the federation.

Istvan Vaskuti of Hungary was elected as first vice president, while Richard Fox of Australia was selected as second vice president and Luciano Buonfiglio of Italy as treasurer.

The congress accepted new name changes for its disciplines. Flatwater racing will now be known as canoe sprint, while slalom racing is now canoe slalom and marathon racing will be canoe marathon.

The congress also approved the ICF’s new commercial logo and new Web site, while the federation’s board approved the launch of the canoeing equipment licensing program and the organization’s strategic plan for the next two years was presented and approved.

In addition, seven new national federations were welcomed into the ICF, increasing the total to 147 countries.

The next ICF Congress will be held in 2010 in Spain.

FIH Elects Officials at Congress

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) elected several officials, along with new President Leandro Negre, at the FIH Congress in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Annabel Dillon of Singapore was re-elected as vice president, while Anne Ellis of Wales, Renita Garard of Australia and Sue Neill of Canada were re-elected and Stephan Abel of Germany and Jan Albers of the Netherlands were newly elected as FIH executive board members.

Outgoing executive board members Rosa de Massa of Argentina and Wolfgang Rommel of Germany were each named FIH Member of Honor.

During the congress, the FIH accepted five new national associations – Mongolia, Qatar, Togo, Vanuatu and Macedonia – to increase the number of member countries to 127.

The FIH Executive Board met for the first time under the chairmanship of Negre on Sunday, with federation committee appointments and the allocation of the World Level Events the key points of the agenda.

The organization also handed out its 2008 awards at the FIH Congress dinner at Universal Studios on Friday, with Luciana Aymar of Argentina and Pol Amat of Spain winning the World Hockey women’s and men’s players of the year.

IBAF Executive Committee Discusses Olympic Bid

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) executive committee met in London on Monday to outline the organization’s goals and strategy heading into 2009, with baseball’s bid to return to the Olympics a topic of discussion.

The executive committee agreed on plans to host a “Baseball in the Olympics” summit in Europe in the first quarter of 2009. The event will include all levels of participation. The federation plans to invite many of the professional baseball organizations as well as local youth leagues, representatives from Little League Baseball International and business and media partners.

The committee also announced that Eurosport has signed on to broadcast the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup, which will be held Sept. 9-28 in seven European nations.

…Briefs

… The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) and the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) will hand in their candidature files to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for the 2014 World Men’s Championship at a public presentation ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday. China, Italy and Spain are the only candidates remaining in the race after Denmark and France withdrew their bids.

The FIBA central board will choose the 2014 men’s championship host at a meeting May 22-23, 2009. The International Archery Federation announced its new World Archery brand. (Getty Images)

…The International Archery Federation (FITA) has decided to proceed with the launch of its World Archery brand at a meeting of the federation’s council in Lausanne, Switzerland last weekend.

World Archery is intended to unite all of the activities, events and members of FITA and its continental associations under one brand. With a new logo, World Archery will be introduced during the outdoor season and full presented at FITA’s 2009 Congress in Ulsan, South Korea Aug. 30-31.

…The International Triathlon Union announced it has created a World Championship Series, with Dextro Energy to be the title sponsor. The series, to be known as the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series, will include seven events – including a Grand Final -- with the competitors contending for a $2 million prize.

The World Championship Series will kick off in Singapore May 9-10, 2009, with Washington, D.C.; Madrid, Spain; Kitzbuhel, Austria; Hamburg, Germany and Yokohama, Japan the other sites. It will conclude with the Grand Final in Gold Coast, Australia Sept. 9-13.

…The European Judo Union elected its directing committee, including Sergei Soloveychik of Russia as president, at the 60th EJC Ordinary Congress in Athens, Greece on Saturday.

Also directed to the committee were Jean Luc Rouge of France, Vladimar Barta of the Czech Republic and Otto Kneitinger of Germany as vice presidents, Envic Galea of Malta as general secretary, Laszlo Toth of Hungary as general treasurer, Jan Snijders of the Netherlands as refereeing director and Franco Capelletti of Italy as education and coaching director. Other representatives include: Vangelis Soufleris of Greece as public relations director, Daniel Lascau of Romania as head sports director and Densign White of Great Britain, Eddy Koaz of Israel, Johnny Kullenberg of Sweden and Indrek Pertelson of Estonia as sport directors.

IJF President Marcus Vizer was one of the honorary guests at the congress and presented the international federation’s Special Recognition Award to Soufleris as president of Greece’s judo federation and its Gold Medal to Soloveychik as the EJU president.

Written by Greg Oshust.