BOA CEO Resigns; Vienna Estimates Games Cost; Emergency Meeting for FILA

Hunt Resigns from BOA

CEO Andy Hunt says he is resigning from the British Olympic Association to pursue new opportunities.

"Now that the Games are over, and the organization’s strategy for the next four years is taking shape, the BOA's responsibilities and the job of the CEO are different, and I feel it is the right time for me to move on to another leadership role with breadth and profile similar to the responsibilities I've fulfilled since 2008," heannounced Wednesday at a meeting of the BOA Board of Directors.

Under Hunt’s tenure, Team GB had its most successful Olympics in 104 years. Brits won 65 medals, 29 gold, in front of a home crowd in 2012.

"Team GB had the very best facilities, care and preparation at the London 2012 Games thanks to the tireless efforts and passion of Andy Hunt and his team over the last four years," BOA chair Sebastian Coe said. "I know I speak on behalf of all Team GB athletes and the BOA Board when I say thank you to Andy for the work he has done, and I wish him all the best in his next endeavor."

In addition to leading team preparation for the 2012 Olympics, Hunt led an effort to overhaul the BOA, professionalizing the organization, moving its headquarters to London and creating a robust marketing presence, among other accomplishments.

Vienna Estimates Games Cost

Vienna, Austria estimates the Olympics would cost the city $135 million, and the mayor doesn’t view citizen approval as necessary.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Michael Haeupl said: "We did not conduct a referendum before the European Football Championships," referring the 2008 tournament. "I think that we do not need it now either."

A report in the English-language Austrian Times quoted Haeupl in response to his party’s call for a second bid referendum once the costs have been finalized.

Residents of the city will vote to approve the bid in a first referendum this March.

In December, Haeupl said the city would bid for either the 2024 or 2028 Olympics.

Infostrada Teams with IOC

Infostrada Sports Group signed a service provider contract for all Olympics through 2020.

Under the deal, Infostrada will provide biographies, historical results and records information.

Jean-Benoit Gauthier, IOC Technology Director, said: "The expertise Infostrada Sports Group provides is key to the media's coverage of the Olympic Games. They have proven themselves over many Olympic Games as a reliable provider and experts in this field."

Infostrada provides sports data, and will work in conjunction with TOP sponsors Atos and Omega for the Sochi Olympics.

POA Turmoil

Twenty sport federations are calling on Pakistan Olympic Association President Syed Hasan Arif to resign.

The federations did so after they formed their own body within the POA. A Pakistani sports law forbids sport leaders to serve more than two terms, and Arif was elected to a third term in January.

The IOC has warned against the rule, which encroaches on the POA's autonomy. A meeting with the IOC, POA and Pakistani sports officials is scheduled for Feb. 15. The group called for new POA elections in a month.

Arif responded saying the federations were upset simply because they lost the election.

A judge on Monday also ruled that Arif is unable to call himself POA president. He called the court’s decision "self-serving and wrong."

Emergency Meeting for FILA

The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles will hunker down in Thailand this week to address the sport’s Tuesday snub by the IOC Executive Board.

The FILA Bureau was scheduled to convene this weekend in Phuket but has moved the meeting forward to Thursday, according to a RIA Novosti report.

Following its exclusion from the IOC list of 25 "core sports" for the 2020 Olympics, wrestling now joins karate, roller sport, squash, sport climbing, wakeboard, wushu as well as a joint bid by baseball and softball for consideration by EB members at their May meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia with one or more to be recommended for a vote of the IOC Session scheduled for September in Buenos Aires.

Gwangju 2015 Sponsors Language Education

Citizens of Gwanju are learning foreign languages for free ahead of the 2015 Summer Universiade.

Thanks to the Universiade Language School, an education program initiated in 2010 and supported by the GU 2015 Organizing Committee, more than 3,300 Koreans can now carry on conversations in English, French, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish following two semesters of twice-a-week classes.

"We will be opening the language school until the year of 2015 to develop the volunteers' communication abilities and to help them qualify as the core of the successful hosting," Gwangju 2015 said in a statement.

GU 2015 also hosts regular language competitions to reinforce speaking skills for students of all ages.

Host Agency News from RIA Novosti

Sberbank, Visa Launch Sochi 2014 Olympic Card

Russian state bank Sberbank has teamed up with Visa to launch a debit card promoting the Russian Olympic team for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

Russia Ski Jumpers May Leave Sochi After Games

Russia’s national team could abandon the $265 million Sochi 2014 ski jump complex after next year’s Winter Olympics and train up to 5,000 kilometers away, the head of the national ski jump federation said Tuesday.

Sochi Extreme Park Faces Final Test – FIS

The snowboard and freestyle park for next year's Winter Olympics faces its toughest test yet with World Cup competition this week, International Ski Federation president Gian-Franco Kasper said Tuesday.

Sochi World Cup Bobsled Attracts 180 Entries

Around 180 athletes from 25 countries will take part in the ninth and final stage of bobsled and skeleton World Cup that will be staged in Sochi, the organizers said Monday.

Hall of Famer Larionov Offers Sochi 2014 Wine

NHL Hall of Famer Igor Larionov offered Monday to produce special wine to honor the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Media Watch

Stars of mixed martial arts promoter UFC sound off about Tuesday’s decision by the IOC to exclude wrestling from its list of "core sports" for the 2020 Olympics in this USA Today report.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson with copy published by special arrangement with RIA Novosti, host news agency of Sochi 2014

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