No Progress On NHL Participation; Rogge Says Brazil Protests "Not A Concern"

An agreement on NHL participation at the Sochi 2014 Olympics is unlikely to be reached today, Around the Rings has learned.

The league, NHL Players' Association, IOC and International Ice Hockey Federation are meeting in New York City today to hammer out an agreement. The NHL said on Thursday the meeting would attempt to "conclude an agreement" for NHL participation at Sochi.

However, an NHL spokesman said in an email to ATR:"We have no expectation either way about anything definitive coming out of today's meeting."

Comments from the IOC and IIHF were not immediately available.

NHL players have competed at every Olympics since 1998. Talks have been ongoing in one form or another since the end of the Vancouver Olympics.

IOC Athletes Forum Concludes

The IOC Athletes Forum proposed "concrete recommendations" for the IOC Executive Board to consider regarding athletes.

A statement from the IOC says the exact recommendations will be published on its website following the June 27-29 meeting in Singapore.

While no exact details were provided, the IOC says the topics of discussion focused on "the important questions of athletes’ commissions" including their structure how to improve their structure and communication and the Games-time experience, "with a special focus on the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as life in the Olympic Village."

IOC Athletes Commission Chair Claudia Bokel said: "There was a good buzz during the entire event, and the recommendations are the tangible result of very constructive and lively debates."

Heading to Singapore for the Forum was IOC President Jacques Rogge, representatives of athletes’ commissions from International Federations and continental organizations, the six candidates for IOC President and others.

Rogge said the forum represented "the leading voice for athletes within the Olympic Movement."

"The Athletes’ Commission and this Forum have influence far beyond this meeting room. With your help, we have made significant progress on some important issues that directly affect athletes."

Rogge on Brazil Protests

IOC President Jacques Rogge says the ongoing protests in Brazil are "not a concern" for the IOC at the moment.

Protests erupted in Brazil last month ahead of the Confederations Cup. Protesters have expressed outrage over a variety of issues including the high costs of organizing the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, while basic civil services go unmet.

According to Rogge: "Brazilians are still supportive of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games." He made the comments to Singapore’s Straits Times news outlet, following the IOC Athletes Forum in Singapore.

"It is not a concern, but we are explaining to the people in Brazil and other countries that staging the Games will have a lasting good legacy," he said. "We are very respectful of what people want and do not want."

IOC Postpones India Deadline

The IOC postponed a July 15 deadline for the Indian Olympic Association to amend its constitution.

Christophe de Kepper, IOC Director General, wrote in a letter to Indian sport minister Jitendra Singh that the IOC needed more time to study the "complexity of the issues" internally.

"The IOC will, therefore, not be able to meet the deadline initially established (15 July) for the first Extraordinary General Assembly of the suspended IOA to take place," Indian media report him writing in his letter.

"Consequently, this initial deadline of 15 July will have to be slightly extended until the IOC can compile and send all necessary comments for the new IOA Constitution."

The IOC Executive Board suspended the IOA over concerns of governance and said a new constitution is a first step to re-joining the Olympic Movement.

T&T Olympic Goals

Brian Lewis, the new president of the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee set a lofty goal of eight more gold medals by 2024.

Speaking to local media, Lewis said without such aspirations "we will continue to produce average and mediocre performances on the global sporting stage".

"We have to change the mindset and set big goals," he said. "We have gone past the times when we were just happy to qualify and participate. In the Olympic realm, we must think gold.

Olympians from Trinidad & Tobago have won only two gold medals, 18 overall, in 65 years of Olympic participation.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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