Olympics
TODAY, IT’S ONE YEAR TO TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS
It is exactly one year today to the beginning of the Games of XXXII Olympiad, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Everything seems ready as Tokyo prepares to host its second Olympics since that of 1964.
The organisers have used a staggered system to sell tickets, with first priority given to those within Japan. Later, sale of tickets for international attendants will commence.
Residents in Japan were able to take part in a lottery system, with more than 7.5 million people registering.
The first phase of ticket allocations were announced in June, with 3.2 million tickets sold.
Overseas tickets are sold via authorised sellers, usually the national Olympic committees.
Most of the events of the Games are expected to hold in the heart of Tokyo where two zones have been established.
The Tokyo Bay zone features a number of new venues built entirely for this edition of the Olympics.
The other zone reuses old facilities previously used for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. It was at the 1964 Games that a Nigerian, Nojeem Maiyegun first won an Olympic medal.
The Athletes’ Village is located at the centre of the two zones. The new 68,000-seater Olympic Stadium has been built on exactly the same footprint as the previous National Stadium, which was the focal point for the 1964 Games. The new venue is on track to be completed by this November, ahead of test events.
Unlike at the London 2012 Games, there is no centralised Olympic Park, with all venues sitting apart from each other.
As has been the case with previous Olympic host cities, a number of events will take place outside Tokyo, with cycling and surfing some distance away. Football matches will be held throughout Japan.
Of the 43 venues to be used at the Games, eight are new, 25 existing and 10 temporary. More than half the new venues are already complete, with only the aquatics centre construction due to run over into next year.
As Tokyo is already one of the busiest cities in the world, there is some concern about how an already strained transport system will cope with the addition of hundreds of thousands of people for the Olympics. The organisers’ answer is simple: ask local people to stop travelling at key times.
It may sound bizarre to other nations, but Tokyo 2020 organisers are hoping to tap into a strong national pride that exists in Japan, with the hope that people will do all they can for the Games to be a success.
Dedicated Games lanes are unlikely to be employed in the city, although that is yet to be confirmed. Instead, organisers will ask people to avoid driving at rush hours and businesses to conduct deliveries at night. They claim a 15 per cent reduction in traffic is all they require to achieve a smooth road transport network. Organisers expect spectators to use the city’s extensive rail network to get around.
A seven-week test period has been implemented from July 22 to September 6 this year with more than half a million people being asked to work from home as a trial scheme to see how it affects transport congestion.
Support for Tokyo 2020 seems to be strong if judged purely by the numbers of people who have applied to play a role or attend the Games.
More than 200,000 people applied to fill the 110,000 volunteer places at the Olympics and Paralympics, while ticket applications were so oversubscribed that the deadline had to be extended by 12 hours due to such a high volume of traffic on the website.
The mere fact that organisers believe they need only to ask people not to use their cars rather than provide any other incentive also suggests the local population is broadly happy with playing host.
As often happens with hosting major events, the overspend has gone into the many billions, which has lessened mass support across the country. There have also been reports of violations of human rights among workers at some of the new venues being built.
With Japan’s status as one of the world’s leading electronics innovators, Tokyo 2020 will feature a number of innovative elements, many of which are yet to be announced. Robotics will be used extensively – futuristic-looking electric golf carts will transport people around venues and facial recognition will be used for media and workers.
There have been major concerns about the heat after temperatures of 41 degrees last summer resulted in the death of almost 100 people. To mitigate another heat wave the marathons will begin at 6am and the entire route has been painted with a special substance, which organisers claim reduces the road surface temperature and therefore air temperature immediately above it by up to eight degrees.
There has been great emphasis placed on sustainability, with more than six million old mobile phones and other small electronic devices collected around Japan from which the 5,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be produced.
The podiums will also be made from recycled waste, with organisers asking Japanese people to donate their plastic waste.
Nigeria’s men’s and women’s flag football teams made history in Cairo by clinching gold at the first-ever IFAF African Flag Football Championships, a landmark moment in the sport’s journey towards its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
In a thrilling men’s final at Club One Stadium in Maadi, Nigeria edged host nation Egypt 13-12 before a lively home crowd. The match was attended by prominent dignitaries, including Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Ashraf Sobhi.
The Nigerian women’s team also delivered a commanding performance in their final, defeating Morocco 26-12. Quarterback Anuoluwapo Bello led the charge with two decisive touchdowns in the second half, securing the title and underscoring Nigeria’s growing dominance in the sport.
Tunisia (men) and Egypt (women) took home bronze medals, completing the continent’s first-ever flag football championship podiums.
Africa Makes History
The two-day tournament (June 20–21, 2025), organized under the auspices of the Egyptian Federation of American Football, featured 11 teams from eight nations. It marked the opening event of IFAF’s 2025 Continental Championship Series, the most expansive competition cycle in flag football history, culminating in LA28.
As newly crowned African champions, both Nigerian teams earned automatic qualification for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. The competition also saw 10 national teams receive their first-ever official world rankings.
Emotional Reactions from Champions and Rivals
“This is a great achievement for us and I’m proud of every woman here,” said Nigeria’s women’s quarterback Anuoluwapo Bello. “I’m excited for the opportunity to go to the World Championships and show everyone what we can do.”
“It’s amazing, surreal, historic and unbelievable,” added Nigeria’s men’s quarterback Hayes Obinna-Uzoh. “We’ve made history.”
Egypt’s men’s quarterback Mahmoud Aboushady praised the passionate home support: “We gave it our all but just came up short. The crowd was incredible — a big turnout, all cheering — and that was really touching.”
Morocco’s women’s centre Sonia Mouimen also reflected on the atmosphere: “We rarely see crowds this size making so much noise outside of soccer matches. I’m very proud of my team.”
NFL and IFAF: Partners in Growth
Flag football, one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, is expanding rapidly across Africa. Many IFAF member federations recorded more than 100% growth in participation last year.
The Cairo event was organized in partnership with the NFL, which is working with IFAF to build a sustainable development pathway for the sport across the continent.
Alongside the main competition, the NFL hosted a series of legacy-building activities:
- A continental youth flag football championship for U12 boys and girls
- A talent ID camp offering routes into the NFL Africa-Europe Academy and the International Player Pathway (IPP) program
- A coaching education clinic for aspiring female coaches, featuring IFAF Global Flag Ambassador Elisa De Santis (France)
Star NFL players of African descent, Bobby Okereke (New York Giants, Nigeria) and Tanoh Kpassagnon (Cote d’Ivoire/Uganda), were present in Cairo, joined by two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora, the NFL’s Africa lead.
“The first African Continental Championship was a tremendous success, and Egypt proved to be the perfect host,” said Umenyiora. “It was inspiring to see nations from across the continent come together and showcase their incredible talent.”
Looking Ahead
IFAF President Pierre Trochet hailed the championship as a foundational moment:
“Every player and official who set foot on the field in Cairo this week can claim a piece of history. More important than the history is the future. We are committed, alongside the NFL, to using this tournament as a springboard for long-term growth.”
Egyptian Federation President Ali Rafeek echoed the sentiment:
“No words can truly capture the emotion of this moment. It was a world-class competition filled with outstanding performances and incredible energy. Africa is officially on the flag football map.”
The event also marked the beginning of IFAF’s partnership with the International Testing Agency, which launched anti-doping education initiatives for athletes and officials during the championship.
The IFAF Continental Flag Football series continues later this year with EURO FLAG 2025 in Paris, France.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s directive banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the U.S. exempts athletes, and LA28 officials said on Thursday they were confident the Games had the full backing of the administration.
Trump signed the proclamation on Wednesday as part of an immigration crackdown he said was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.
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“The important thing for us is that the federal government and this administration recognized the importance of the Olympics and the Games,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover told Reuters on Thursday.
“There is a carve-out in the order in the travel ban that allows for and assures that there will be access to the Games for the athletes and their families and officials.
“We will be able to have a wide-open Games.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Casey Wasserman, the chairman of LA28, the private, non-profit company organizing the Games, said he had “great confidence” that the positive working relationship with the administration would continue.
“It was very clear in the directive that the Olympics require special consideration, and I want to thank the federal government for recognizing that,” he told a press conference after hosting International Olympic Committee officials in Los Angeles.
Wasserman added that he did not anticipate the travel ban to have any impact on ticket sales, which will begin next year.
The U.S. along with Canada and Mexico will host the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and Trump said during a task force meeting last month that he wanted people traveling to the U.S. to watch that competition to have a seamless experience during their visit.
“At the White House task force the president, the vice president, all of the administration officials said, ‘We welcome the world to come to FIFA,’” Hoover said.
“I think the administration is welcoming the world to come to LA.”
Hoover said LA28 continues to forge ties with the administration ahead of the mega-sporting event, now just over three years away.
“We have direct communication with the White House through the chief of staff, we have direct communication with the Department of State, and we are working with the State Department to have embedded teams to coordinate visa access,” he said.
-Reuters
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The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will feature an increase in women’s soccer teams from 12 to 16, while the men’s competition will be downsized from 16 to a dozen teams, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.
The decision was part of several changes to the Olympic event programme, including more mixed events across various sports and all team sports featuring at least the same number of women’s and men’s teams.
The IOC said the reason for the sharp increase in women’s soccer teams was the rapidly growing popularity of women’s team sports, especially in the United States, and that change in the competition format reflected that rapid growth.
“We wanted to do something to reflect that growth and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women’s football,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell told a press conference.
He said the IOC had discussed the issue with both LA Games organisers and world soccer’s governing body FIFA before going through with the changes.
The total number of players — men’s and women’s — would not change.
The United States, who will also host the 2026 men’s and the 2031 women’s World Cup, have won five Olympic gold medals in the women’s competition.
The men’s teams use mostly under-23 players at Olympic Games.
The LA Games will have a total of 351 medal events in all sports, 22 more than at Paris 2024 Olympics.
Several sports, including archery, athletics, golf and gymnastics will be adding new mixed-team events, with the total number of athletes unchanged at 10,500.
The five sports proposed by the LA Games organising committee — baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash — will have an extra 698 quota places.
-Reuters
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