IOC Announces EB Venue; India, Pakistan NOC Updates; Tour de France to England

IOC Announces EB Venue

A second straight Executive Board meeting will take place away from IOC headquarters following Nov. 11 flooding at Vidy.

According to a Wednesday announcement from the IOC, the EB will meet Feb. 12 and 13 at the Lausanne Palace Hotel, also the venue for its Dec. 4-5, 2012 meeting.

This time around, decisions whether to drop a sport from the 2020 Olympics and whether to cut any candidates from bidding for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games top the EB agenda.

IOA Update

Abhay Singh Chautala, president of the unrecognized Indian Olympic Association, said the IOA will proceed with a Jan. 19 meeting.

"Our endeavor will be to get back into the IOC and we would like to discuss this letter on Jan. 19 so that appropriate action can be taken by us in this regard," he said.

Chautala's comments follow theOlympic Council of Asia telling Indian national sports federations to send athlete lists for the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games directly to the OCA.

National federations were warned not to associate with the unrecognized IOA leadership, or risk punishment from their international federations. Despite the warning, the IOA asked the NSFs to submit the information to them.

Also this week, Indian media reported that the country will be unable to send its boxers to international meets following a directive from the International Boxing Association.

AIBA suspended the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation last month for "possible manipulation" in IABF elections.

Pakistan, IOC Meeting

The IOC has reportedly called for a meeting with Pakistani Olympic and sport officials.

Pakistan Olympic Association president Syed Hasan Arif told local media the meeting was scheduled for Feb. 15 at IOC headquarters in Lausanne to discuss accusations of political interference in the POA.

"It is a very important meeting summoned by IOC to see and review what is happening in the affairs of sports in Pakistan and we are confident that a solution will come up in it," Arif said.

Last week, Arif voiced concerns that the Pakistani Sports Board had overstepped its boundaries in an attempt to exert more influence in Pakistani sports. The Olympic Charter mandates that all National Olympic Committees be free from government interference.

"We strongly believe that the IOC meeting will thoroughly discuss the present crisis which has engulfed Pakistani sports scene after some illegal decisions of the PSB at a meeting held recently," Arif said. "Our prime aim is to safeguard the interest of sports in Pakistan and we don’t want any confrontation with any institution but just want to find an amicable solution of the issues based on principles."

Tour de France to England

Organizers of the Tour de France say they are returning to England following successful Grand Departs and the London Olympics.

"Bradley Wiggins' historical victory last July and the enormous crowds that followed the cycling events in the streets of London during the Olympic Games encouraged us to go back earlier than we had initially planned," said Christian Prudhomme, Tour director.

The July 7 stage of the 2014 Tour will take a lap through Olympic Park and finish on The Mall, where the 2012 road race ended.

Breathless as usual, the ever-quotable Boris Johnson was gleeful over the news.

"It has been the most incredible epoch in the history of cycling that any of us can remember; and I am absolutely delighted that the world's greatest cycling race is coming to the capital," he said. "People will see London framed by shooting velocipedes for what will be a fantastic spectacle of sport. I am going to be in the crowd and I hope thousands more will too."

Noe Hernandez, 34, Silver Medalist

Noe Hernandez, a silver medalist in race walking, died on Wednesday of a heart attack. He was 34.

Hernandez was shot in the head two weeks ago at a bar.

Reports say an autopsy will determine if his heart attack was related to his gunshot wounds.

His medal came at the Sydney Olympics in the 20km event.

Police are still looking for the shooting suspects.

Olympics Drive Up Advertising Worldwide

Global market measuring firm Nielsen says the Olympics drove up advertising spending 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2012, thanks to the Olympics.

"The Olympics, a major media event in all parts of the world, and the U.S. presidential election helped drive investment up," says Randall Beard, global head, advertiser solutions for Nielsen.

"We’ll be watching carefully to see if the growth was sustained in Q4 and into 2013, or if there’s a dip in comparison to this year."

Written by Ed Hula III.

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