Havelange Hospitalized; IOC on Saudi Women; New Asian Games Sponsor

Former IOC Member Hospitalized

Joao Havelange, former IOC member and FIFA president, has been hospitalized according to a report in the Associated Press.

The 95-year old Brazilian is in Rio de Janeiro’s Samaritan Hospital undergoing treatment for an infection.

The AP quotes a statement from the hospital saying "his condition is serious and requires close attention.''

Havelange was reportedly admitted to the hospital on Sunday night.

He resigned from the IOC last year shortly before a ruling on whether he received improper kickbacks as part of FIFA's infamous ISL marketing scandal.

IOC Confident About Saudi Women in London

The IOC says it's "confident" Saudi Arabia will strive to have female athletes at the London Olympics.

Reuters reports that the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee presented the IOC with a roster of potential athletes on Monday.

"After the assessment of the level of each athlete by the IOC and the international federations concerned, a formal proposal will be submitted to the next meeting of the IOC executive board in Quebec City in May," the IOC was quoted by the news agency.

"The IOC is confident Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London in accordance with the rules of the international federations."

Saudi Arabia prohibits women from playing sports in public and has never had a female Olympian.

Asian Games Gain Sponsor

Korean Air will sponsor the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

On Sunday, officials signed the deal, making Korean Air the highest ranking sponsor of the Games. The airline will provide transportation support and help build the Wang San Marina.

Parent company Hanjin Group will also construct a new hotel for athletes.

The 17th edition of Asian Games will run Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

NHL Great Wants Hockey Stars in Sochi

One of the greatest Russian ice hockey players of all time tells the NHL to send its players to Sochi in 2014.

Slava Fetisov made the comments to Canadian media, saying the NHL’s actions are "not fair."

"The NHL wants to somehow find a way to put a couple of million dollars in its pocket from this question, but they may end up losing money by not being part of the Olympics," Fetisov said in an interview. "It is so narrow-minded. If people do not come to the Sochi Games, that is not right and it is not fair.

"If the NHL leaves the Olympics now, it can't come back even if it wants to when the Games are next held in the U.S. or Canada. If the NHL does not understand that, it is not as smart as I think it is."

Fetisov is a two-time Stanley Cup winner and three-time Olympic medalist.

Currently, there is no agreement allowing NHL players to play in the Olympics. The collective bargaining agreement between owners and the players union expired following the Vancouver Olympics.

However, several of the biggest Russian NHL stars have said they are determined to play on home ice in two years' time.

Forum Focuses on Good Governance

Play the Game is looking for help to build a forum for insight and ideas about good governance in sport.

The website, runby the Danish Institute for Sports Studies, launched Monday a project titled "Good Governance in International Sports Organizations" in cooperation with six European universities and the European Journalism Center.

"The credibility of international sport is challenged almost on a daily basis by reports on corruption and mismanagement, whitewashing, match-fixing, embezzlement and other forms of cheating," reads a new page on playthegame.org.

"Many of the stories are directly or indirectly related to the international organizations that represent hundreds of millions of athletes."

Play the Game asks anyone with an interestin sport governance to help shape a forum centered around such stories by submitting "thoughts, experiences, articles and reports, links" and related material to governance@playthegame.org.

Olympian, Pikachu Visit Japanese Children

Olympian Ai Shibata joined Japanese children in earthquake-affected areas Sunday for a day of sport activities.

The swimming star and Pokemon character Pikachu visited Kurihara in the Tohoku region of Japan as part of a larger initiative to support children affected by last year’s disaster.

The Japanese Olympic Committee plans on staging 60 similar events by 2013.

"Seeing these happy children interact with world-class athletes makes me proud of Japanese sports community. It is our duty to support the people in Tohoku by organising these events one after another," said JOC president Tsunekazu Takeda, who was nominated to the IOC last week.

"By sharing the Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship, we hope to bring and contribute to a positive and forward-looking impact on efforts for recovery in Tohoku and wish for continuous development the young generation in the years to come."

Ai and six other Olympians including bronze medalist Junichi Miyashita joined the children in sporting activities including tag, jump rope and tug of war.

Written by Ann Cantrell , Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson .

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