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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● Following up on the Paris 2024 organizing committee surplus of €26.8 million, the Paris 2024 Endowment Fund agreed to distributions of €3.27 million to promote sports participation in France. (€1 = $1.16 U.S.)
Youth engagement will be the theme of the 10th Olympic and Paralympic Week from 30 March to 4 April in 2026, and the Inclusive Club program will be funded to train sports clubs to support those with disabilities.
● Olympic Winter Games 2038 ● Switzerland is in “preferred dialogue” with the International Olympic Committee to host the 2038 Olympic Winter Games, but must come up with a plan which satisfies the IOC by 2027.
On Wednesday, the Swiss Federal Council said it is ready to help:
“At its meeting on January 14, 2026, it opened for consultation the main points of its support for this major sporting event. The policy and planning decision provides for a maximum federal contribution of CHF 200 million, with no liability in the event of a deficit.” (CHF 1 = $1.25 U.S.)
This is slightly more than the budget developed by the Swiss Olympic Committee, as the announcement noted:
“The association estimates the total cost at approximately 2.2 billion Swiss francs. In its application for support, the association is requesting a financial contribution of 190 million Swiss francs from the Swiss Confederation for planning and implementation costs. This amount is broken down as follows: 60 million Swiss francs will be used to co-finance the Winter Paralympic Games; 50 million Swiss francs will be used to reduce the cost of public transportation for spectators; and the remaining 80 million Swiss francs are intended to co-finance expenses related to making competition venues available throughout Switzerland.”
The CHF 200 million does not include security or other government services:
“This financial contribution does not include security tasks that the Confederation will assume within its usual remit, namely the costs of a potential military intervention or a joint civil defense operation, nor the services provided by the Federal Office of Customs and Border Security (FOCB), the Federal Office of Police (fedpol), the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), and the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP). Primary responsibility for security rests with the cantons.
“The decision in principle and planning further stipulates that the Confederation will not assume any responsibility for any deficits resulting from the implementation of the 2038 Winter Olympics. The association provides for a deficit guarantee financed by private funds up to 200 million francs.”
● World Anti-Doping Agency ● A story by the Russian news agency TASS stated that the U.S. has not paid its dues to WADA for either 2024 or 2025 and that its dues for 2026 have been calculated at $3,957,756, with Canada at $1,978,8789 and Japan at $1,502,800.
The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, which is the governmental agency that would pay the dues, has been at odds with WADA over governance and operations issues, notably the January 2021 mass-positives incident involving Chinese swimmers. The story stated, “The American debt to WADA already amounts to almost $7.5 million.”
● Russia ● The annual total of anti-doping violations went up slightly in 2025, as the Russian Anti-Doping Agency announced a total of 109 violations (not sanctions) during the whole of last year.
That’s up by seven from the 102 reported in 2024.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said that Russia owes dues of $1.44 million for 2026, which is also the amount due from France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy. Due to financial transfer sanctions, Russia has been unable to pay its dues for 2024 or 2025, while it continues in war against Ukraine.
● Athletics ● Citius Magazine reported that Phoenix, Arizona is also a bidder for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2028, to be held in late March of that year.
The bid was developed by the Phoenix Sports and Events Commission and Brooksee Race Productions, which produced the first Phoenix Marathon last December.
USA Track & Field has not announced the bidders for the event; St. Louis has already said that it is a bidder.
● Flag Football ● The United States and Mexico men’s national teams, ranked no. 1 and no. 3, will meet in an exhibition at the NFL Super Bowl Experience at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California on 5 February at 4 p.m. Admission is included as part of the Super Bowl Experience for that day and the game will also be streamed on the NFL’s YouTube channel.
The two teams were supposed to play in Panama for the 2025 IFAF Americas Continental Championship, but the game was washed out and both were declared co-champions. The U.S. and Mexico have not faced off since a 40-36 U.S. win at the 2023 IFAF Americas Continental Championship final in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Flag football took a major step forward on Wednesday as the NCAA Division I Cabinet “unanimously approved the addition of women’s flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program, effective immediately. Teams at schools that sponsor the sport this spring will count toward the requirement that 40 schools sponsor the sport and meet minimum contest requirements for it to be considered for an NCAA championship.”
Having flag football introduced at the women’s collegiate level is a significant opportunity for the sport to grow in the U.S. Votes by the councils for NCAA Division II and III will take place on Friday, at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.
● Football ● FIFA reported that more that requests were made for more than 500 million tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup during the 33-day during the Random Selection Draw sales phase from 11 December 2025 to 13 January 2026. In terms of popularity:
“Apart from the host countries – the United States, Mexico and Canada – the highest number of applications came from fans residing in Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Colombia.
“The most coveted match in this sales phase was Colombia v. Portugal on Saturday, 27 June in Miami. The top 5 was completed by Mexico v. Korea Republic in Guadalajara on Thursday, 18 June; the final in New York New Jersey on Sunday, 19 July; the tournament’s opening match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City on Thursday, 11 June; and the round-of-32 match in Toronto on Thursday, 2 July – highlighting the exceptional appeal of both marquee fixtures and knockout-stage encounters across all three host nations.”
Applicants will be notified concerning the outcome not earlier than 5 February 2026. There will be subsequent “last-minute” sales, but these will come later.
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Defender Chris Richards, who also scored two goals, and started 11 of 12 national-team games for which he was available in 2025, was voted the U.S. Soccer men’s player of the year:
“In a list of nominees that included defender Max Arfsten, defender Alex Freeman, goalkeeper Matt Freese and midfielder Malik Tillman, Richards won with 48.6 percent of the weighted total, followed by Tillman (21.7%) and Freeman (13%).”
● Freestyle Skiing ● In the FIS World Cup Mixed Team Parallel Slalom event in Bad Gastein (AUT), the second Italian team won the gold over Switzerland with Aaron March and Lucia Dalmasso riding for the winners.
The Italy 3 team won the bronze; two U.S. teams reached the quarters, with Cody Winters and Iris Pflum and Walker Overstake and Alexa Bullis.
● Ice Hockey ● The U.S. and Canada ran through their group matches undefeated and barely scored on at the IIHF women’s World U-18 Championship taking place in Membertou and Sydney, Canada.
Defending champions Canada won its Group A games by 9-0, 14-0 and 9-2 for a 32-:2 total. The U.S., in Group B, won by 13-0, 9-1 and 14-0 for an aggregate of 36:1.
In the quarterfinals, Canada will face Finland, the U.S. will face Hungary, Sweden will play Slovakia and the Swiss will face the Czech Republic. The semifinals will be set based on the seeding of the quarterfinal winners and played on 17 January. The medal matches will be on the 18th.
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