World Briefs: IOC Seeks Public Opinion, Sailing Leader Departs

Copenhagen's Bella Center, the 2009 Olympic Congress venue. (visitcopenhagen.com) IOC Solicits Public Comment for Olympic Congress

The International Olympic Committee is for the first time ever, inviting public comment about how to improve the Olympic Movement. Starting Jan. 15, people will be able to submit their ideas and opinions on five Olympic themes that are on the agenda for the October 2009 Olympic Congress.

When the forum on Olympic.org opens, each contributor will be able to send two sets of comments on the five themes: Olympic athletes, the Games, the structure of the Olympic Movement, Olympism and Youth and the digital revolution.

"Even if the Olympic Congress is primarily for the Olympic family, we need to take the pulse using the modern methods available to us, and in particular open up to the public," said IOC president Jacques Rogge in July at the IOC Session in Guatemala.

Details on the five Congress themes are available in the IOC's call for contributions to the 2009 Congress.

The congress, first for the IOC since 1994, opens in Copenhagen on Oct. 3, 2009.

Sailing Boss Departs Federation

Arve Sundheim is leaving as secretary general of the International Sailing Federation on January 1. He will be replaced by deputy Jerome Pels.

"Over the past 12 years it has been a privilege to work with so many committed and enthusiastic people from every corner of the sailing and sporting world," says Arve Sundheim. (Getty Images)

"After an exceptional year with the ISAF Centenary and the successful ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, I feel it is a good time to step down from the position of Secretary General and pass the helm on to my successor. After the appointment of Jerome as my Deputy in May this year, we have both been preparing for a seamless handover," says Sundheim in an ISAF statement.

Sundheim became secretary general of what was then the International Yacht Racing Union in 1995. Before that, he worked at the Norwegian Sailing Federation as well as the Royal Norwegian Navy.

Sundheim will work as a high-level advisor to ISAF through the Annual Conference and General Assembly in Nov. 2008.

One of Pels' first leadership storms may be the controversial ISAF vote to cut the multihall event and high performance dinghy womens’ event from the 2012 Olympic program. On Dec. 6, the UK’s Royal Yachting Association announced it has written to the ISAF asking it to reconsider the November vote and hold off from officially submitting the revised events list to the International Olympic Committee. The federation cut the events under an IOC directive to keep a lid on the numbers of athletes and events in the Olympics.

McEnroe Fears Mafia Influence in Tennis

Tennis great John McEnroe has voiced concerns that organized crime groups, such as the Russian Mafia, have threatened tennis players and their families, and has led athletes to intentionally throw matches.

Mafia involvement in tennis is "potentially pretty dark and scary," says John McEnroe. (Getty Images)

"The thing that worries me is that mafia types, like the Russian mafia, could be involved," McEnroe told The Daily Telegraph.

"I think that's the side that people aren't really looking at with these match-fixing stories. Someone may have threatened the players, and they are put in a situation. I'm guessing that could happen. That would make more sense to me than top players throwing a match for money."

There have been several reports of tennis pros throwing matches in the last few months. Nikolay Davydenko, the number-4 ranked player in the world, is being investigated by the Association of Tennis Professionals after losing in Poland in August, as the match followed suspicious patterns on a peer-to-peer betting web site. He was also be fined after a match in October for not giving his best effort, though the fine was rescinded soon after.

Olympic Expert Joins Rugby Team

As part of its plan to get into the Olympics, the International Rugby Board has hired Vero Communications to lead rugby PR efforts around the world. Vero is owned by Mike Lee, who helped London win the 2012 Olympics.

NYC Games Leader Leaves City Hall

New York City deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff – the leader of his city’s failed 2012 Olympic bid – is leaving city hall for the private sector.

He will join finance news and data company Bloomberg by the end of the month.

Women’s Ski World Cup

The Audi Aspen Winternational, the first women’s downhill world cup event for Aspen in 20 years, will stream its events on WCSN this weekend. A schedule of air times can be found on wcsn.com.

Bruce Jenner Joins USATF

Olympian Bruce Jenner was selected Thursday to the board of directors of the USA Track & Field Foundation. Jenner won the gold medal in decathlon at the 1976 Games.

U.S. Triathlon Set for Tuscaloosa

The city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama will host the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Trials in April, the U.S. national governing body has announced. Honolulu, Hawaii was the last host in 2004, but Tuscaloosa lured the event by offering more perks to the organizers and by putting on a good Collegiate Nationals championship, according to Alabama media.

Written by

Bryant Armstrong, Ed Hula III, and Maggie Lee

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