IOC, Barca Join Up; 100 Days to Park Reopening; Sochi Scraps Strays Plans

IOC, Barca Ink MoU

FC Barcelona and the IOC will team up to promote development through sport.

Barca President Sandro Rosell traveled to IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Wednesday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with IOC President Jacques Rogge marking the beginning of the partnership between the Olympics body and the FC Barcelona Foundation.

"Through this partnership with the FFCB, we will provide young people and communities in a multitude of African countries with the opportunity to practise sport, to be empowered and to further their human development," Rogge said in a statement.

Rosell added: "It is a great source of pride for our club to contribute to the promotion of the values of sport amongst youth in Africa, as we have been doing in many regions in our own country."

According to the MoU, the IOC will support the Olympafrica Foundation with the organization of 26 local football tournaments for young people aged from 12 to 15 from Olympafrica centers in 23 African countries.

Olympic Park Gets Ready for Summer

The London Legacy Development Corporation today marked the 100-day countdown to the official opening of part of theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park for a summer of entertainment and events.

Since November, the LLDC has been busy transforming the park and its venues ready for public use as part of a $446 million revamp.

Under this program, 41,500 temporary seats have been removed from venues such as the aquatics center, basketball arena and water polo arena.

The site is re-opening in phases as works reach completion, starting with the official opening of North Park in July ahead of a full opening in spring 2014.

Among the summer events at the park are the Hard Rock Calling concert at the end of June, which will include sets by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and Paul Weller; the Yahoo! Wireless Festival in July; and Sainsbury’s London Anniversary Games.

Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt is one of the 30 Olympic medallists so far confirmed for the IAAF Diamond League event, which comes one year after the opening of the 2012 Games.

"This time last year we were putting the finishing touches on what was to become the greatest ever Olympic and Paralympic Games," said Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

"Twelve months on, the long-term future of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is bright, dispelling the fears of white elephants and tumbleweed."

He added: "With a world-beating summer of sport and music lined up and as new schools, homes and neighborhoods take shape, we are on track to deliver a lasting legacy for Londoners."

Sochi Kills Plan to Cull Strays

The administration of Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, said on Thursday it had cancelled a plan to exterminate stray animals in the city, after it received no bids for a tender to carry it out.

According to the official Russian website for public tenders, Sochi was prepared to pay more than 1.7 million rubles (about $54,000) for "work to catch and dispose of" more than 2,000 dogs and cats in 2013-2015. The tender was posted in late March.

Sergei Krivonosov, a United Russia party representative from Sochi in the State Duma, said killing strays was necessary to ensure the safety of foreign visitors during the Games. He said the issue was still open for debate and urged animal rights activists to come up with realistic proposals.

In a statement delivered on Thursday, the city administration said from now on they would oblige tender respondents to have facilities for keeping, treating and sterilizing animals.

The Sochi authorities also said an animal shelter would soon be built in the city, and a plot of land has already been allocated for the purpose.

"The animal shelter will be built and maintained by the Dobromir charity organization. All the required documents are currently being finalized," the Sochi administration said in a statement.

India, IOC Meeting Postponed

A meeting between the IOC and Indian Olympic officials has been postponed again.

Originally scheduled to take place in March, the meeting was pushed back to April, then to May 7 but will now take place May 15 in Lausanne.

The Indian sports ministry said in a statement the decision was reached between the ministry and Randhir Singh, India’s IOC member, so that the country could present a "common front" to the IOC.

The IOC suspended the Indian Olympic Association in December over concerns of government interference with the IOA. The meeting with the IOC had been planned to plot a roadmap to lift the suspension.

H&M Designing Swedish Olympic Uniforms

Swedish fashion outlet H&M will design the Swedish Olympic uniforms for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

A statement on the Swedish Olympic Committee website announced the deal. H&M will design the uniforms for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as out-of-competition gear for the team.

H&M said this is part of its push into the sportswear category. Swedish athletes will collaborate with the company to design its first sportswear line, to be launched in January.

"It is such an honor for H&M to dress both the Swedish Olympians and Paralympians for the upcoming Games in Sochi and Rio," said Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M’s head of design.

"The designs will bring together sport and fashion in a totally new way and have Swedish heritage as a proud influence of the collection."

Stefan Lindeberg, the president of the Swedish Olympic Committee, added: "To represent our country wearing clothes from a Swedish company will strengthen the team, our team spirit and image to the outside world, especially when it is an internationally renowned brand like H&M."

Written by Ed Hula III with some copy courtesy of our exclusive partnership with Sochi 2014 host news agency RIA Novosti. .

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