World Sailing Ready to Elect Next President -- Federations Focus

(ATR) The World Sailing federation prepares for its week-long annual conference that will conclude with the election of its next president.

Current president Carlo Croce of Italy is seeking reelection for his second and final four-year term at the helm of the federation. He is challenged by former International Sailing Association (now World Sailing) president Paul Henderson of Canada and former World Sailing Council member Kim Andersen of Denmark.

In Croce’s election manifesto, he vows to bring the federation into a "new era" and will seek to build on his success over the last four years.

"Since being elected President of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in 2012, I am proud of what we have achieved together, particularly a significantly enhanced Emerging Nations Program, steps to improve governance, the appointment of a top class Chief Executive in Andy Hunt, the development of a new Sailing World Cup strategy and securing a five year deal with GAZPROM International as a top level sponsor," Croce says.

Henderson, who ran the federation for 10 years from 1994-2004, says World Sailing needs to focus on hosting events that fall at the same time each year.

"It is essential that the focus is returned to these traditional regattas," Henderson says. "Sponsors like repetitive events and that is why we must encourage these events in Sailing."

Andersen, the only candidate to never hold the position of president, says the federation needs to move in a new direction and believes he is the candidate to initiate that change.

"This takes time and commitment, moreover it takes a reliable and professional leader who can efficiently and effectively make the right decisions to get things done," he says. "We need to get back on track and ensure that sailing becomes the successful sport we all know it can be."

The election will take place on Nov. 13 during the quadrennial general assembly at the end of the conference that begins on Nov. 5 in Barcelona, Spain. Seven vice presidents will be chosen along with the new president. Each of the candidates has earned the endorsement of at least five World Sailing National Federations.

More than 700 delegates are expected at the annual conference taking place at the Hotel Renaissance Barcelona Fira.

Pacific-Asia Curling Championships Near

The 26th edition of the Pacific- Asia Curling Championship (PACC) will take place this week in the host country of the next Winter Games.

Participants for PACC 2016 include Australia, China, Kazakhstan, Korea and more.

Hong Kong and Qatar will be making appearances at the championships for the first time.

2010 Olympic bronze medalist Bingyu Wang will be participating in the women’s championships for the first time since 2013 along with fellow Olympic teammates Jinli You and Yan Zhou.

Six-time PACC champion Rui Liu of China will also be returning to compete in the men’s championships.

PACC will be streamed live on the event website as well as the World Curling Federation’s (WCF) YouTube channel.

Including the PACC, a total of three WCF championships will be held in Korea this season. The 2017 World Junior Curling Championships will take place in February and the 2017 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in March.

The opening ceremony for PACC will take place at the Uiseong Curling Training Center on Nov. 5. The championships will come to an end on Nov. 12.

FIBA Hosts World Cup Workshop

Eleven national federations have assembled in Switzerland to take part in a workshop for the 2023 Basketball World Cup. Participants include Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, Russia and more.

Over the course of two days federations will discuss all that is involved in bidding and hosting the World Cup.

For the first time a multiple hosting option has been made available for the competition. National federations can decide to either host the competition on their own or be included in the multi-hosting system when bidding.

The next step for federations who would like to bid will be to submit a bid application questionnaire by the beginning of next year.

The host(s) of the basketball World Cup will be announced at FIBA's end of year meeting in 2017.

The 2023 Basketball World Cup workshop concludes today.

Written by Kevin Nutley and Courtney Colquitt

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.