World Rugby Approves Japan 2019 Revisions -- Federations Focus

(ATR) Following the decision to scrap the design of the Tokyo National Stadium in July, the venue plan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup changed substantially.

The national stadium was supposed to host the opening ceremony, opening match and closing match for the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup but it is unlikely the stadium will be completed before the event begins in September of 2019.

As a result, Japan 2019 revised their venue plan, making Yokohama International Stadium the stage for the closing match of the tournament. Yokohama International Stadium hosted the FIFA World Cup final in 2002.

The revised plan is to use a total of 12 venues including Yokohama to stage the month-long competition. Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium will now host the opening ceremony and opening match.

The other 10 stadiums to be used include: Sapporo Dome, Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, Kumagaya Rugby Ground, Ogasayama Sports Park Ecopa Stadium, Toyota Stadium, Higashiosaka City Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Kobe City Misaki Park Stadium, Higashi Hirao Park Hakatanomori Football Stadium, Kumamoto Prefectural Athletic Stadium and Oita Stadium.

"These are exciting, unprecedented times for Japan Rugby and this revised roadmap reinforces and reflects the shared vision and mission to deliver a Rugby World Cup that will be great for Japan, great for Asia and great for Rugby," said World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset.

ITF Leadership Elected

Three vice presidents were elected to serve on the International Tennis Federation Board under new president David Haggerty.

Presidential candidates Anil Khanna and Renne Stambach were elected to the ITF Board and will serve as vice presidents, along with Katrina Adams.

"The first thing is we have to settle the staff down, and get to know them, and work with the talented board with 14 members, of which 9 are new," Haggerty told ATR.

"We have the next board meeting in November and we had a nice meeting after the for 90 minutes, and it will all come together. That means working together and building a team feeling with the board so we are all aligned with what we are doing. We can always disagree on what we are doing, but then we need to make decisions and align behind them."

After his election, Haggerty says that the main reforms he aims to implement with new leadership is communication with all 210 member federations, reform of the Davis and Fed Cups, and development of tennis worldwide.

Click here to read our interview with Haggerty after his election.

ISSF Determines Future World Cup Locations

The International Shooting Sport Federation is changing the planned world cup stages for 2016. Instead of hosting a stage of the rifle and pistol world cup in Granada, Spain, the ISSF will host the event in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Along with announcing this change of venue, the ISSF has revealed the world cup stage locations for the next three years of competition through 2018.

The world cup finals in 2016 will both be held in Italy, with Bologna hosting the rifle/pistol competition and Rome hosting the shotgun competition.

The 2017 edition of the world cup series will only feature five stages, including New Delhi, Munich, Gabala, Acapulco and Nicosia. The 2017 season will also be the beginning of the ISSF junior world championships for rifle and pistol events only, set to take place in Suhl, Germany.

The 2018 season will have a test event in Changwon, Korea for the 52nd edition of the ISSF world championship towards the end of the season. Regular world cup stages will take place prior to the test event.

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying

The Olympic Qualifying Championship for the Rio 2016 Games begins on October 1 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Eight teams are participating in the two-week tournament yet only two teams will earn spots in the Olympic tournament next year. The third place finisher will advance to a playoff against CONMEBOL team Columbia. Columbia finished second in South America's Youth Football Championship.

Matches will be held in Missouri, California and Colorado with the final match taking place in Sandy, Utah.

Panama will play Cuba to begin the tournament on Thursday while the United States takes on Canada in the second game, both in Kansas City.

The U.S. team will aim to qualify for the Olympic tournament, a feat they failed to accomplish at the last Olympics in London.

Written by Kevin Nutley and Aaron Bauer

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.