Federations Roundup - Diack Reacts to IOC Warning; Beijing Plays Mind Games

Athletics Boss Reacts to IOC Discipline

IAAF president Lamine Diack says he’s "glad" to be done with the IOC Ethics Commission following a Thursday warning from the Executive Board.

Along with IOC colleague and African football boss Issa Hayatou, Diack was found by the EB to have taken payments from former FIFA marketing agency ISL.

Hayatou received a reprimand and Diack a less serious warning, both of which IOC President Jacques Rogge equated to variations of a yellow card in football versus the far more grave red card.

"As I explained to the IOC Ethics Commission, I received gifts of cash in 1993 because my house was burned down by a political mob and I was left homeless," Diack explained in a statement made available early Friday to Around the Rings.

"This payment was made to me on a personal level by people who were my friends and at that time I was neither an IOC member nor president of the IAAF, and was certainly NOT involved in negotiations with ISL regarding marketing and TV matters. Indeed, on becoming acting president of the IAAF in late 1999, one of the first things I did was to have the IAAF directly handle the contract for TV rights in Europe and Africa rather than continue to allow ISL to do the job, so it is clear that they received no commercial advantages once I became IAAF president."

According to Rogge, the fact that neither Diack nor Hayatou was an IOC member at the time he took kickbacks functioned as a mitigating circumstance in the corruption inquiry.

Neither discipline will prevent Diack or Hayatou from remaining fully functioning members of the IOC.

France Gets Next IPC Athletics Champs

Lyon will stage the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships.

"We are very excited to be heading to France," IPC CEO Xavier Gonzalez said Friday after signing the host contract at the ongoing IPC General Assembly in Beijing.

The biennial para-athletics showpiece scheduled for July 20 to 29 of 2013 is expected to draw 2,000 athletes and officials from 118 countries and will represent the first major international athletics event following next year’s Paralympics.

"With the London 2012 Games just around the corner, Lyon 2013 will feature many new heroes, Paralympic champions and world-record holders who I am surewill provide great entertainment for the French crowds," added Gonzalez.

France last staged the event in 2002 in Lille.

Beijing Plays Mind Games

SportAccord's inaugural World Mind Games are taking overChina National Convention Center, the Main Press Centre, International Broadcasting Centre as well as venue for Olympic fencing and pistol shooting.

It's part of a growing events portfolio for the international federations umbrella organization and highlights activities that use analytical skills, deduction and logic

Roughly 170 elite players will compete in chess, bridge, draughts, go and the Chinese chess variant xiang qi over the next week.

Feng Jianzhong, deputy director of the General Administration of Sport of China, opened the Games late Thursday alongside Liu Jingmin, deputy director of Beijing as well as former BOCOG boss.

Live coverage of the event is available via YouTube.

Judo Grand Slam

Japan is on top after day one of the year's fourth and final Judo Grand Slam.

In Tokyo, the host country took home four gold medals in the women’s 48 kg and 52 kg and the men’s 60 kg and 66 kg. Russian Musa Mogushkov won a silver medal in the men’s 66 kg.

Bouts end Sunday.

ISU Grand Prix Kicks Off

Figure skating's Grand Prix finals are underway in Canada.

Competition kicked off Thursday in Quebec with the junior short programs and junior short dance with 72 skaters.

Friday features junior pairs, junior ladies free skating, short programs and the short dance. The event wraps up Sunday.

Setting Sail for London 2012

The battle to qualify for London 2012's sailing competition is heating up at the sport's ongoing world championships.

Over the weekend, 24 countries will contend for 19 spots at next year's Olympics in the men’s 470 class and 21 countries will fight for 19 places in the Finn event.

Thirty-one nations have already booked their tickets to London through the world champs in Perth, Australia.

Fencing Launches Digital Magazine

The Federation Internationale D’Escrime has released the first edition of its new digital magazine.

Written by Ann Cantrell.

20 Years at #1:

Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.