Olympic Newsdesk -- New Responsibility for Brazil; World Famous IOC Session

Brazil has Extra Anti-Doping Responsibility

With the Olympics coming to Brazil in 2016, World Anti Doping Agency president John Fahey says the country has “an extra responsibility” to fight doping.

In an interview with Brazilian media, Fahey said WADA will help Brazil.

“WADA has assisted Brazil in infrastructure development and will continue to do so, as it has already done”.

Fahey said the anti-doping infrastructure in place “have been, to some extent, effective”, adding “no country is immune from doping”.

Brazil currently has one WADA-accredited laboratory, located in Rio de Janeiro. Fahey said WADA is tackling some of the concerns around the lab’s operation.

“WADA closely monitors closely the performance of its 35 accredited laboratories so that they maintain the highest standards of quality” he said. Fahey said WADA knows about the concerns and has met with Brazilian government officials to get “the problems solved as soon as possible.”

IOC Session World Famous

A report for Danish tourism organizations and the Danish NOC found the IOC Congress and Session, held in Copenhagen Oct. 1 – 9 was known almost worldwide.

In Copenhagen, 97% of those polled knew about the event. A staggering 75,000 articles were published online about the event, in 125 countries. Most of these involved Chicago’s bid and the arrival of President Barack Obama.

Almost $13 million in revenue was generated as a result of the influx of tourism into Copenhagen for the meeting as well.

Niels Nygaard, President of the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark said: "the analysis proves that the hosting of the IOC Session and Olympic Congress caught on with the public in Copenhagen and the entire Capital Region and internationally it received extensive media coverage, solidly branding Denmark, Copenhagen and Danish Sport. A branding that is invaluable for all the IOC Summit stakeholders and one of the legacies of this great event."

ONOC Denies Vote Irregularities

Oceania National Olympic Committees secretary Ricardo Blas says there were no voting irregularities in April’s executive elections.

Blas’ comments came after the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee alleged irregularities during the election, calling them “null and void”. Radio Australia reported Blas claims the ONOC election conformed to IOC rules.

IOC Calls for New Elections in Ghana

New elections must be held for president of the Ghana Olympic Committee. The IOC made the announcement in a letter to the GOC published Tuesday in local media.

In the letter, the IOC said it would continue to only recognize the previous GOC president Benson Baba not Olympian Francis Dodoo, who won the June 30 election. Apparently the letter was not even sent to Dodoo.

The IOC met with officials in Ghana Nov. 2 – 4 to asses the situation and determined that new elections need to be held.

"The NOC shall hold its elective General Assembly within six months at the latest, which will include, in particular, leaders of the National Federations duly recognised by the International Federations at the time that the National Olympic Committee's (NOC) General Assembly was held" the IOC’s head of National Olympic Committee relations Pere Miro wrote.

"Until the NOC elective General Assembly can be held in compliance with these principles, the IOC and [Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa] will continue to recognise the outgoing NOC President, Mr Baba and the outgoing Executive Committee, which will be responsible for the implementation of this NOC electoral process, in the framework of the NOC Statues and the Olympic Charter."

FIFA Communications Chief Quits

FIFA's director of communications Hans Klaus resigns over differences in strategy.

In a statement Tuesday, FIFA announced Klaus would be leaving "as a result of contrasting perspectives on communications strategy".

"FIFA would like to thank Hans Klaus for the contribution he has made during his time with the organisation and wish him the very best for the future," the statement read.

For the full story, read World Football Insider’s coverage.

Pan Am Village begins Construction without Permit

Construction of the 2011 Pan American Village in Guadalajara began on Monday but without all the complete paperwork.

Construction of the village in Baijo, Zapopan, is underway despite lack of a building permit and there are concerns about groundwater recharge.

Zapopan Mayor Juan Sanchez Aldana told local media that the site did not have a permit but that the paperwork is nearing completion.

Games organizers moved the Village to Baijo last month due to construction problems at the original site in downtown Guadalajara. Organizers would like the village complete by July of 2011, three months before Games.

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Written by Ed Hula III.