Clarity At Last for AIBA Congress
The International Boxing Association has the go-ahead to hold its quadrennial congress as planned.
Thursday’s ruling by the Lausanne Civil Court comes just in the nick of time. Delegates are slated to arrive Sunday in Almaty, Kazakhstan for the Nov. 1-3 gathering.
England, Belgium, Thailand, Ukraine and Bangladesh were among the 13 national federations alleging that the July decision to relocate the meeting from Busan, South Korea to Almaty, Kazakhstan was taken improperly.
The lawsuit also alleged that AIBA acted against its statutes by barring dozens of federations from participating in the congress – and presidential election – for non-payment of AIBA dues, about $250 a year.
AIBA’s only surprise Thursday was that the ruling hadn’t come sooner. The court heard the suit Oct. 20, and the federation expected the decision a week ago.
The court has yet to issue its reasoning, nor what took the judge so long. For now, AIBA will have to be satisfied with the result.
"The order issued today by the Civil Court in Lausanne confirms that AIBA has been acting in accordance with its rules in the organization of its Congress, which will start as planned on Monday November 1," AIBA president C.K. Wu said in a statement.
"This order serves to remind those who seek to destroy what AIBA has achieved and to undermine our organization that they will not succeed."
Check back Friday for a full preview of the AIBA Congress, Tuesday’s elections and next month’s launch of the World Series of Boxing...
FINA Appoints Task Force to Investigate Crippen’s Death
A task force appointed Thursday by the International Aquatics Federation will investigate the case of open water swimmer Fran Crippen, FINA’s first-ever death in a competition.
Crippen, 26, was swimming Saturday in the FINA Open Water 10K World Cup at Fujairah in the U.A.E. When he failed to reach the finish line, a search was launched. Two hours later his body was found.
Water temperatures during the event reached as high as 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and several swimmers were later hospitalized for exhaustion.
FINA’s task force will include an expert from an International Life Saving organization, an expert in cardiology and sport medicine (specifically "sudden death" cases) and two experts appointed by US Aquatics/USA Swimming.
Gunnar Werner, acting president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and an honorary FINA member, will round out the five-member team.
Werner has already begun FINA’s investigation into the causes and circumstances of Crippen’s death.
The task force’s goal is now "to guarantee clearness with regard to this tragedy," a statement from the federation reads.
Ukrainian Parliament Leader Calls Olympic Bid "Inappropriate"
The deputy speaker of the Ukrainian parliament says a bid for the 2022 Olympics is "inappropriate".
Mykola Tomenko told Ukrainian T.V. that the idea for the bid is a "mystery for me".
"Why inappropriate? Because we should not build facilities for kinds of sports not existing in Ukraine and pay for this from the state budget," he was quoted by the Ukrainian News Agency.
"If this Olympics, God forbid, takes place it would destroy the whole Ukrainian sport. Because to throw money in digging up the Carpathians and build sports facilities for kinds of sports Ukraine has never had... means to throw budget money into nowhere."
He added he thinks the bid is part of president Viktor Yanukovych’s desire to keep up with Russia, host of the 2014 Olympics.
The Ukrainian NOC has not decided if it will bid for the Olympics.
The IOC will vote on the host at the 2015 IOC Session.
Women’s Volleyball World Champs Set to Kick Off
All 24 teams are on the ground in Japan ahead of the women’s volleyball world championship that begins Friday.
Five cities will see a total of 104 matches contested over the next two weeks.
Top-ranked Brazil will look to add to its gold medal from the 2008 Olympics and silver medal from the 2006 world champs.
In the way stands defending champs and seventh-ranked Russia as well as 2010 World Grand Prix champs USA.
The field is divided into four groups of six for a week of pool play split among Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Matsumoto and Osaka. After a day of rest, the remaining 16 teams will gather in Nagoya and Tokyo for a second round of pool play. Semifinals and finals are slated for Nov. 11-14 in Tokyo.
Canoe Congress Convenes In Catholic Holy Place
Spain is at the center of the water sports world this weekend as the International Canoe Federation convenes its biennial congress in Santiago de Compostela.
More than 80 of the ICF’s 156 national member federations will journey to the Catholic pilgrimage destination for two days of meetings.
Another 12 will join by proxy to vote in the elections, two of which are sure to be competitive.
German Canoe Federation president Thomas Konietzko will challenge incumbent Istvan Vaskuti for the position of 1st Vice President.
Either Joao Tomasini of Brazil, Jaroslav Pollert of the Czech Republic or Irina Siraeva of Russia will replace Asian Canoe Confederation president Narita-San as 3rd VP.
The congress will also confirm nine new national member federations. Joining the ICF’s ranks will be Malawi, Palestine, Kiribati, Kuwait, Tahiti, Mali, Libya, Eritrea and Congo.
In other canoe news, bidding is underway for official ICF events in 2013 and 2015. Bid questionnaires are due Feb. 28, and the federation’s Board of Directors will dole out hosting rights at its April meeting in Paris.
Media Watch
U.S. swimmer Christine Jennings talks Thursday on "The Early Show" about the race conditions Saturday in Dubai that left her hospitalized and fellow open water competitor Fran Crippen dead.
Written by Matthew Grayson and Ed Hula III.