Governing Bodies
Olympic Games will go ahead even under state of emergency
The Tokyo Olympics will go ahead even if the city is under a state of emergency due to Covid-19, a top Olympic official said on Friday (May 21), underscoring the challenges facing organisers of the pandemic-hit Games.
With just nine weeks until the Games get underway, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sought to calm fears in Japan that the event would present a burden to a medical system already under strain from the pandemic at the end of a three-day virtual meeting to discuss preparations.
In a boost for the Olympics, which was postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was announced that French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country will host the 2024 Games, plans to attend the opening ceremony in Tokyo.
The global sporting event faces mounting opposition from the public, and in a Reuters company survey released on Friday nearly 70 per cent of respondents said they wanted a cancellation or further postponement.
Asked whether the Olympics would go ahead even if Tokyo is under a state of emergency, the IOC vice-president John Coates, who oversees the preparations, said: “Absolutely yes.”
He added that “all of the plans we have in place to protect the safety and security of the athletes and the people of Japan are based on the worst possible circumstances”.
Coates, who spoke at a news conference at the end of the meeting, said that more than 80 per cent of residents of the Olympic Village would be vaccinated ahead of July 23, when the Olympics start.
He added that additional medical personnel would be part of the foreign Olympic delegations to support the medical operations and the implementation of the Covid-19 countermeasures at the Games.
Japan has vaccinated just 4.1 per cent of its population, according to Reuters’ global tracker, the lowest rate among the world’s wealthy countries and only about a half of its medical staff have completed their inoculations.
In contrast to some other Group of Seven (G7) nations that are beginning to end pandemic-busting lockdown measures, much of Japan remains under emergency curbs amid a fourth wave of infections.
Coates said he hoped that public acceptance of the Games would rise as more people get vaccinated.
“But if it doesn’t, then our position is that we just have to make sure that we get on with our job. Our job is to ensure the Games are safe for all of the participants, and all the people of Japan,” he said.
To minimise risk of infections, organisers have cut the number of people coming to participate in the Olympics as part of foreign delegations to 78,000 from about 180,000, Seiko Hashimoto, who runs the organising committee, told reporters.
She said that the Olympics would rely on 230 doctors and 300 nurses a day, about 50,000 to 60,000 coronavirus tests would be carried out daily and that the organisers have secured about 80 per cent of the medical staff they need.
“We want to make sure we secure medical personnel in a way that will not burden local medical services,” said Ms Hashimoto.
-Reuters
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
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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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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