ITU Cancels World Cup Events -- Federation Focus

(ATR)The 2020 Triathlon World Cup calendar is short two events.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) Executive Board has approved the removal of the Cape Town and Antwerp events from the 2020 calendar.

Cape Town, which has hosted the opening event of the season in the past few years, was cancelled by organizers after new sponsors could not be found to ease the financial struggles of the organizing committee.

The new municipal government in Antwerp spelled the demise of the Belgian city hosting a World Cup in 2020. Organizers and the Belgian National Federation requested the removal of the event citing a lack of "the usual support" from the city under the new regime.

ITU says it will continue to work with organizers and the National Federations to get the events back on the calendar in the future.

New CEO for World Squash Federation

William Louis-Marie begins his duties as World Squash Federation Chief Executive Officer on Dec. 9.

"The popularity of squash keeps growing as more and more people enjoy playing it on all continents," Louis-Marie said in a statement. "I'm extremely convinced squash can become one of the most entertaining racket sports in the world with the support of all our National Federations.

"I look forward to working with all squash stakeholders to expand the global reach of our sport and make WSF a leading organisation in the sporting world."

The 53-year-old replaces Andrew Shelley, who stepped down in June after nine years.

"It has taken us longer than we hoped to fill this important post but we are delighted that we have found William Louis-Marie, and that he has agreed to take up the challenge," said WSF President Jacques Fontaine.

Louis-Marie served as communications director of the European Games in Baku in 2014 and 2015 before joining the International Boxing Association (AIBA) in the same position. He was appointed executive director in Sept. 2016 and resigned 13 months later, saying governance issues at AIBA were preventing him from doing his job.

Louis-Marie has also served as communications manager for Coca-Cola France and worked with the Atlanta 1996 Olympics and France 1998 World Cup.

Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai

Dubai hosts the first of a record six combined men’s and women’s events on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series this week.

The Dubai Sevens runs from Dec. 5-7 and features 28 teams from across the globe.

This is the first event of the men’s competition for the 2020 season and the second tournament for the women, who kicked off their season in Colorado, USA in October where the hosts were victorious.

As well as 2020 being a record breaker for the world series with the number of women’s tournaments increasing to eight rounds and the men’s again being contested across 10, it is also an Olympic season with Tokyo 2020 taking place next summer.

There are only one men’s and two women’s qualifying spots still available with the Global Repechage tournament in June determining the last ones into the Tokyo tournament. Eleven men’s and 10 women’s teams are already in as the seven-a-side format of the sport makes its second straight appearance in the Summer Games.

Entry is free in Dubai on Dec. 5 with general admission tickets available for the final two days.

World Athletics Fan Photo of the Year

Daniel Drozdowsky of Toronto is the winner of the World Athleticscontest for the best photograph of the year taken by a fan photographer.

His image of the men's 100m final at the Canadian Championships caught Aaron Brown and Andre de Grasse at the finish line, with Brown three thousandths of a second in front.

Drozdowsky, who is a former competitive 200/400m sprinter, will receive travel, accommodation and tickets for two to a Diamond League meet of his choice for winning the contest.

IOC President Visits Fencing Congress

IOC President Thomas Bach awarded International Fencing Federation (FIE) President Alisher Usmanov the IOC Trophy of Olympic Values during the FIE’s annual congress in Lausanne.

More than 300 delegates attended the congress, which was held in the Olympic capital for the first time in 20 years.

Bach, who won a gold medal in fencing at the 1976 Summer Olympics, encouraged delegates to "be a part of the change you want to see".

During the congress on Nov. 30, the delegates approved four new member countries. The additions of Cape Verde, Kenya, Oman and Papua New Guinea bring the number of member federations to 157.

Egypt was awarded the 2021 Senior Fencing World Championships. For the year 2022, a call for candidatures for all the championships was launched.

The Congress also approved an increase to 30 percent representation for women in the FIE Commissions beginning with the 2020-2024 cycle.

Written by Gerard Farek

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