Governing Bodies

TOKYO RESIDENTS WANT 2020 OLYMPICS SCRAPPED

Published

5 years ago

July 1, 2020

BY DAN PALMER

A new survey has found that more than half of Tokyo residents do not want the postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held next year.

Tokyo 2020 has been moved back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but doubts remain about the Games going ahead.

The survey, carried out over the phone by Kyodo News and the Tokyo MX television channel, was taken by 1,030 people.

It found that 51.7 per cent want the Games to be postponed again or cancelled, with 46.3 per cent wanting the re-arranged Tokyo 2020 to take place.

Out of those who are opposed to next year, 24 per cent said they would favour a second postponement.

This option has been repeatedly rejected by Tokyo 2020 and International Olympic Committee officials, however.

Complete cancellation was backed by 27.7 per cent.

Of those who want to see the Games go ahead next year, 31.1 per cent said they should take place in a reduced form.

This is the path being taken by organisers, with Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshirō Mutō speaking about “simplified Games” and announcing this month that 200 ideas on how to scale things back were being considered.

Holding a full-scale Olympics as planned was backed by 15.2 per cent.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are now scheduled for between July 23 and August 8 next year, with the Paralympics due to follow from August 24 to September 5.

Some believe that these dates will also not be feasible, however, if the coronavirus pandemic does not subside significantly around the world and a vaccine is not developed.

IOC President Thomas Bach is among those who have admitted the Games would be cancelled entirely if not possible in 2021, with a second postponement not being considered.

Tokyo 2020 Board member Haruyuki Takahashi has claimed, however, that another shift in dates should be considered.

The delay has created a huge logistical challenge for organisers, which Bach has described as a “huge jigsaw puzzle and every piece has to fit”.

Another survey by Japanese broadcaster NHK revealed that two-thirds of corporate sponsors for Tokyo 2020 are unsure if they will extend their contracts past December, with 14 per cent saying it would depend on the asking price.

The re-arranged Games is a key topic amid campaigning for Tokyo’s gubernatorial election on Sunday (July 5).

Incumbent governor Yuriko Koike looks likely to win a second term although one of her rival candidates, Tarō Yamamoto, has pledged to cancel Tokyo 2020 if elected.

There are fears of a second wave of coronavirus in the Japanese capital, with the city reporting more than 50 cases for the past four days.

This is the highest level since early May, when Japan was under a state of emergency.

– insidethegames

Governing Bodies

Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council

Published

20 hours ago

April 26, 2025

Kunle Solaja

Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.

The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.

Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.

He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.

An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.

He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.

“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”

Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.

“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.

He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.

“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.

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Governing Bodies

Ex-FIFA Council member and Mali football chief released from jail

Published

4 days ago

April 23, 2025

Kunle Solaja

A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.

Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.

He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.

The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.

He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.

Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.

While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.

-Reuters

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Governing Bodies

Nigeria Football Federation denies owing late national captain and coach, Chukwu

Published

2 weeks ago

April 14, 2025

Kunle Solaja

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.

Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.

The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.

Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.

“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.

“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”

Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.

“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”

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