Olympic Newsdesk -- India 2020; IOC to Rwanda; AOC Fires Back

India Out of 2020 Olympic Bidding?

The Indian sports minister suggested that India won’t bid for the 2020 Olympics.

Manohar Singh Gill made the comment Wednesday at a Parliamentary hearing regarding next year’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

"Some of my colleagues said casually that we should be bidding for Olympics. I'm not sure India should be," Gill was quoted by AFP.

"Look at the poverty in this country, look at our infrastructure. China has spent 50 billion dollars for Olympics. Are you ready to spend that amount?"

While a formal decision to bid for an Olympics must come from the Indian Olympic Association, Gill, who in his role as national sports minister is likely to have considerable influence on the IOA’s decision said his announcement is "policy."

Organizers of the 2010 Games have faced numerous challenges with construction and other infrastructure issues that have led to some concern about the readiness of New Delhi to host the games. Gill attempted to sooth concerns saying "the stadia will be completed in time."

IOC, ANOCA, Head to Rwanda

The IOC and the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa are making a diplomatic trip to Rwanda, with the hopes of averting a crisis involving governmental interference with the Rwandan National Olympic Committee.

According to reports in local media, “the visit is aimed at finding a lasting solution to the tension” created when Culture minister Joseph Habineza dissolved the RNOC’s executive body.

The delegation will meet with Habineza and other sports leaders to discuss a way to solve the impasse. Earlier this month, IOC director for NOC affairs Pere Miro wrote a letter to Habineza saying the only RNOC the IOC and ANOCA would recognize is the one that was dissolved by the government.

AOC Responds to Critical Report

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates launched another salvo at a report critical of the level of government funding the AOC receives. Writing in a letter sent to sports minister Kate Ellis and others, Coates called the Crawford Report “flawed and mistaken”.

Read the rest of the letter here.

Olympic Leader in Forbes Most Powerful List

Jacques Rogge and FIFA President Sepp Blatter are among the most powerful people in the world, according to Forbes Magazine.

Rogge ranked 60th overall and fifth in the world of sports. “Rogge has the highest global profile job in sports, bar none” the magazine wrote.

Blatter, however, topped Rogge, ranking 53rd overall, but was not included among the 7 leaders of the sports world.

Other Olympic notables who were ranked included NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol, who was the second most influential person in sports, and 2000 bronze medalist Lance Armstrong, deemed the most power person in sports. Potential Olympian in 2012 Tiger Woods rounded out the sports power rankings.

Some notable Olympic bid leaders were ranked by Forbes, although not for their Olympic connections. Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is the 33rd most powerful person in the world while U.S. President Barack Obama is number one. Both actively campaigned for their cities to win the 2016 Olympics. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is number 17 in the rankings. In 2005 as junior Senator from New York, she lobbied on behalf of New York City’s 2012 bid.

No mention was made of their Olympic involvement.

Olympic Theme at White House Dinner

John Williams’ composition “Summon the Heroes” was performed at the White House’s first State Dinner Tuesday night.

The song was played at the 1996 Opening Ceremonies. NBC regularly uses the piece in its Olympic broadcasts.

To subscribe to Around the Rings Click Here

Written by Ed Hula III.