UPDATED Federations Roundup - IRB Elections; AIBA Investigation; Hayatou Insult

Lapasset Re-elected

Bernard Lapasset will serve another four years as chair of the International Rugby Board.

The incumbent from France was re-elected Monday in Los Angeles by a 14-12 majority of the IRB Council.

"I am honoured to accept the mandate of the Council to serve as Chairman of the International Rugby Board for another term," said Lapasset.

"Together we must work to ensure that our sport remains strong for all our Unions and is able to continue its phenomenal growth around the world."

Originally scheduled for Oct. 19 in New Zealand, the vote was postponed over concerns that the fight between Lapasset and British challenger Bill Beaumont were clouding the Rugby World Cup taking place at that time.

Beaumont then stood for re-election as vice-chair but fell 14-13 to South Africa'sOregan Hoskins, who received Lapasset's casting vote following a tie among the Council's membership of 26.

More details to come...

AIBA Investigation Finds No Wrongdoing

An AIBA investigation says recent BBC claims of corruption within boxing’s governing body – and the government of Azerbaijan – are "unsupported by any credible evidence" and instead based mostly upon hearsay.

"We have concluded that the allegations made by BBC Newsnight in September that there was an investment by a government or any discussion or effort to guarantee gold medals were completely without merit," former USA Boxing president Tom Virgets said Monday in a statement.

Virgets and the other four members of his so-called Special Investigation Committee come from AIBA’s ethics and disciplinary commissions as well as one of its legal counsels.

On the eve of the 2011 boxing world championships in Baku, the BBC reported that a secret deal had been made by AIBA for Azeri boxers to win medals at the London Olympics.

According to the Newsnight allegations, an Azeri businessman secretly invested $9 million into the struggling World Series of Boxing operations in the U.S.

As evidence, the TV program presented emails that are said to prove the money came with promises from AIBA to fix London matches so that Azeri boxers would reach the podium.

According to the SIC findings, "Mr. [Hamid] Hamidov, the investor, has confirmed he does not work either directly or indirectly for Azerbaijan or any government, and documents show that he made a commercial investment aimed mainly at making profits from the sale of U.S. TV rights of American WSB franchise matches in the United States, unconnected to the Olympic Games."

To read the complete report, click here.

Boxers from Azerbaijan won a gold and a silver at the Baku world champs – the sport’s primary qualifier for London 2012 – but failed to live up to lofty expectations.

Stay tuned for a Tuesday interview with AIBA president C.K. Wu, who was elected in 2006 as a reform candidate after years of alleged as well as proven manipulation of Olympic boxing results.

African Football Insulted by Hayatou Sanction

The Confederation of African Football says last week’s reprimand of its president Issa Hayatou disrespects both CAF and the IOC member from Cameroon.

Over the weekend, CAF vice president Almamy Kabele Camara issued a scathing rebuke of the sanction handed down Thursday by the Executive Board in line with recommendations of the IOC Ethics Commission.

According to the EB, both Hayatou and international athletics boss Lamine Diack of the IAAF took payments from former FIFA marketing agency ISL prior to their IOC membership.

Camara argues that his boss took the 100,000 French francs in question on behalf of CAF in 1995 as an ISL contribution to the confederation’s 40th anniversary celebration – and that he submitted to the Ethics Commission the necessary documents for proof.

"President Hayatou never received the said sum for his personal account and could not, therefore, use it for personal needs," writes Camara. "No conflict of interest, therefore, can be charged against him."

According to the recommendationof the Ethics Commission, however, "the documents produced by the beneficiary, established long after the receipt of funds, do not provide assurance that the funds were actually transferred into the accounts of CAF."

That judgment is not only wrong, says Camara, it’s also insulting.

"Rejecting all these documents demonstrates disrespect and lack of consideration of the IOC towards the Pan-African institution," writes the CAF vice president.

No word yet on whether Hayatou will appeal. The reprimand won’t stop him from carrying on as a fully functioning IOC member, according to President Jacques Rogge.

Neither will the warning received by Diack of Senegal.

Top Sailor DQed

British sailing star Ben Ainslie will compete no more at the ongoing world championships in Perth, Australia.

Over the weekend, the three-time Olympic champion and World Sailor of the Year boarded another boat mid-race and assaulted a cameraman after he felt the TV crew passed too close and created too big a chop.

Ainslie, who had been leading the Finn regatta, was swiftly disqualified from all remaining races by an international jury convened for the occasion.

Whether he will face additional sanction from the International Sailing Federation or from the Royal Yachting Association remains to be seen.

No Needles for UIPM

Modern pentathlon is the latest sport to go "no needles" ahead of the London Olympics.

At a weekend congress in Monaco, the International Union of Modern Pentathlon approved an anti-doping measure limiting when athletes can receive injections, albeit legitimate ones.

"We bear responsibilities in protecting athletes' health and in promoting good medical care based on evidence-based medicine and updated medical knowledge," said UIPM medical chair Fabio Pigozzi, who also heads the International Federation of Sports Medicine.

"The no-needle policy is a clear step in this direction."

According to the new rules, all shots must be medically justified, done by a certified professional, and reported to competition doctors.

The international federations for cycling, gymnastics and rowing adopted similar "no needles" policies this year.

Also over the weekend, the 2016 world championships were awarded to Moscow, host of the recent 2011 edition.

FIBA Awards 2012 Qualifiers

Venezuela and Turkey will be the last stops for men’s and women’s basketball teams looking to play at London 2012.

FIBA awarded the hosting rights Saturday at a Central Board meeting in Madrid to the aptly named Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

Women’s teams from Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Korea, Mali, Mozambique, New Zealand and Puerto Rico will join the host squad in Ankara from June 25 to July 1 to vie for the last five spots at the Games.

A week later, men’s teams from Angola, Dominican Republic, F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Greece, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and Russia will join the hosts in Caracas as they battle for the three remaining berths on offer.

Both Olympic tournaments will feature 12-team fields.

Judo Gives to Japan

The International Judo Federation and French Judo Federation are the latest sporting bodies to extend aid to Japan in the wake of its March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The IJF donated $200,000 and the French NGB an additional $100,000 during last weekend’s Judo Grand Slam in Tokyo.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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