LANE ONE: North Carolina awarded 2029 Universiade; is a Salt Lake City 2030 Olympic Winter Games next?

January 11, 2023

tsx pix 2023-111 wug 2029 award to nc 750 — Award of the 2029 World University Games to North Carolina, from left: FISU Interim President Leonz Eder, North Carolina bid chief Hill Carrow, US-IUSF head Dan Guerrero and FISU Secretary-General Eric Santroid (Photo: FISU)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Thank you to now 15 donors, who have covered 38% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

In a decision that surprised absolutely no one, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) handed the 2029 World University Games to the U.S. bid from North Carolina at an Executive Committee meeting in Lake Placid, New York on the eve of the Winter World University Games that starts Thursday.

Unlike the contested vote held last November that saw the Korean Chungcheong Megacity bid selected by 14-7, the FISU Executive Committee simply “voted today to confirm” the award of the 2029 WUG to North Carolina, which had made it clear that it would not go through another bid process.

Asked after the November vote about the possibility of taking the 2029 Universiade, North Carolina bid chief Hill Carrow explained:

“They’re working on that as a possibility, and by they, I mean FISU.

“That wasn’t our preferred year, but we told them we absolutely would consider that. That’s something that, you know, we know we have what it takes, we would like to demonstrate that and like the opportunity to demonstrate that, [so] that’s not off the table at all.”

On the table was $25 million which the North Carolina legislature previously approved as start-up funding for an organizing committee for the WUG. That should still be available and after the disappointment of just two months before, Carrow was all smiles this time:

“The award of the 2029 FISU World University Games to our state and country is the culmination of an extensive, five-year effort by more than 1,000 individuals, 13 universities, five cities, five counties, the State of North Carolina, and 53 corporate and organizational sponsors to land this amazing event.

“As an event that features the best collegiate athletes from around the world, it is a natural fit for a state with 130 colleges and universities and more than 350,000 university students. North Carolina’s landing these Games is similar to a major corporate relocation as the FISU Games will deliver a local economic impact of over $150 million, but with the added benefits of significant international tourism and worldwide branding exposure for our state and local communities.”

The North Carolina bid is impressive. No construction is contemplated and 13 of the area’s universities are expected to be involved as venue and/or village hosts, including the University of North Carolina, Duke University and North Carolina State University.

In his November interview, Carrow added:

“Our expense budget was $136 million and we were showing $140 million in revenues, and that didn’t count contingencies that were built in, so I believe that if we’d adhere to our budget, we’d come out better than that margin.

“I already came to the table with two private sponsorships that would total probably at least $3.5 million, plus the counties and cities were working on a plan to put in another additional $5 million that would be a combination of cash and in-kind, and then we had $25 million from the state. So we were actually well along the way, and that was already cutting in to the $50 million or so that we had targeted to raise from sponsorships and broadcast rights. We were really good with that.”

He can reignite those now. It’s only the second time in the U.S. for the World University Games, previously in Buffalo, New York in 1993. With the Winter WUG in Lake Placid, the decade continues as a big one for the United States in international sport:

● 2022: World Athletics Championships in Eugene
● 2023: Winter World University Games in Lake Placid
● 2025: ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston
● 2026: FIFA World Cup in Canada-Mexico-USA
● 2028: Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles
● 2029: World University Games in North Carolina

Carrow and U.S.-International University Sports Federation chief Dan Guerrero – the former UCLA athletic director – can also use the 2029 WUG as the launch point for a team-sports-only rules change by FISU that could be a game-changing catalyst for wider interest in the WUG mopving forward.

Instead of the current FISU requirement for national teams in the Universiade, why not allow to allow actual university teams to compete based on the location of the school (and include their foreign-born players)?

You could see Kentucky play Oxford or the University of Melbourne, or UCLA against Shanghai’s Fudan University, or Kansas vs. Montreal’s McGill University, and so on. The opportunity to involve major university “brands” in the University Games would increase its value immensely – and not only in the U.S. – for sports such as basketball and volleyball.

That FISU took only 59 days to correct its error in not awarding North Carolina the 2029 Games back in November will not be lost on other sports organizations seeking to find quality hosts for their events.

Among these is the International Olympic Committee and its Future Host Commission for the Winter Games, which is suddenly facing a crisis as three of its four potential hosts for 2030 have either imploded … or are about to.

Embed from Getty Images

The Barcelona-Pyrenees concept in Spain died when the regions of Aragon and Catalonia could not agree on the division of sports to be held in each. The Canadian bid from Vancouver collapsed when the Province of British Columbia decided not to provide partial funding for the Games, which also ended any possibility of national government funding support.

Now, a mid-December poll by the Hokkaido Shimbun showed that 67% oppose of Sapporo residents oppose the bid for 2030 Winter Games, moving from tepid support in prior surveys to simply being against the bid altogether.

Resistance to a possible Winter Games in Europe for 2030 remains an issue, as a concept floated last week for a tri-national bid in the Mont-Blanc region from France, Italy and Switzerland was immediately torpedoed by the city of Chamonix in France, whose mayor said there was no interest in the plan at all.

That leaves Salt Lake City, which like North Carolina, has no construction requirements at all and would use the venues from the 2002 Winter Games and the University of Utah’s student residences as the Olympic Village. Although the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has been clear that it prefers a 2034 designation to clear domestic marketing space after the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, that’s not the vibe from the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which wants 2030, and is backed by wide public support across the state.

If the marketing issues with Los Angeles can be worked out – and these have been under discussion for a while now – the IOC, despite announcing a delay to naming the 2030 host until 2024, might do well to reverse course and grab Salt Lake City while it can.

The IOC used this reasoning to name Brisbane, Australia as the 2032 host, recognizing the long-term stability this would bring, while more tinkering with reducing the costs of the Games continues. In the Winter Games scenario, naming Salt Lake City now would give the Future Host Commission for the Winter Games more time to figure out its possible permanent-rotation scenario.

And the new USOPC Chair, Gene Sykes, is perfectly positioned to help, as both a brilliant financier at Goldman Sachs and past chief executive of the Los Angeles bid committee for 2024 that was awarded the 2028 Games.

The IOC would be wrong to simply assume that Salt Lake City is a permanent bidder that it can take for granted. What could change its mind? A coming recession is one possibility, although the Salt Lake City bid envisions no public financial support. How about an already-contemplated procedure to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at Paris in 2024 while the war against Ukraine rages on?

That could sour Utah public opinion against the IOC and a future Games quite quickly. And there are other such scenarios.

The expression in English, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” has been around since at least the 15th Century. The time might be right for the IOC to use it in the 21st.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Shiffrin misses win no. 83 by 0.43; French auditors still worried about Paris 2024 budget; 2024 Olympic T&F schedule released

Rich Perelman

January 11, 2023

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 - Day Eight — Could Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone win four gold medals at Paris 2024? (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Thank you to now 14 donors, who have covered 37% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Shiffrin second at Flachau, still at 82 World Cup wins
2. French government report echoes familiar Paris 2024 worries
3. All evening finals for track & field at Paris 2024
4. Modern Pent federation to roll out new obstacle format for juniors
5. Ledecky, Murphy, Manuel, Finke and more in Tyr Pro Swim

U.S. skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin was close, but finished second in the Slalom in Flachau, Austria on Tuesday, missing out on an 83rd women’s World Cup victory. She’s still tied with fellow American Lindsey Vonn at the halfway point of the season at 82. The French Court of Auditors told the national Parliament that worries continue over Paris 2024 security staffing, transport infrastructure and the budget, especially as 36.5% of the contingency fund has already been used. The track & field schedule for Paris 2024 has been released, with all evening finals this time, but no major changes in format. It is possible that hurdles superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone could compete in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles with not more than one race per day, and there is even a path to four gold medals for her! The Modern Pentathlon federation announced the first competitions to include obstacle-course racing, but only for the U17, U19 and Junior World Championships in 2023, with no prior trial events scheduled so far. The courses will be 60-70 m in length, with eight obstacles included, although what they will be has not been announced yet. Lots of big swimming stars are lined up for the first major U.S. event of 2023, the Tyr Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, Tennessee. Of special interest will be the return of Rio 2016 co-women’s 100 m Freestyle gold medalist Simone Manuel, who skipped competition in 2022 altogether.

1.
Shiffrin second at Flachau, still at 82 World Cup wins

Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait a little longer to break the tie between her and fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the most career women’s World Cup wins (at 82), as Shiffrin finished second in the night Slalom at Flachau (AUT) on Tuesday.

Beijing 2022 Olympic Slalom gold medalist Petra Vlhova had the fastest first run at 55.90, with Shiffrin close behind at 56.07. Germany’s Lena Duerr authored the best second run at 55.94, with Vlhova close behind at 56.04 for a two-run total of 1:51.95.

Shiffrin tied with teammate Paula Moltzan for the fourth-fastest second run (56.31) and ended up at 1:52.38, just 0.43 behind. Duerr won the bronze at 1:52.80 and Moltzan was fifth at 1:54.10.

The women’s World Cup circuit now focuses on speed racing prior to the break for the FIS Alpine World Championships that starts on 6 February. Next up:

● 14-15 Jan.: Downhill & Super-G at St. Anton (AUT)
● 20-22 Jan.: Super-G (2) & Downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA)
● 24 Jan.: Giant Slalom at Kronplatz (ITA)
● 28-29 Jan.: Giant Slalom & Slalom at Spindleruv Mlyn (CZE)

Shiffrin is no slouch in the speed events, with three career Downhill wins and five Super-G victories in her career, including a Super-G win this season at St. Moritz (SUI) on 18 December. She won a Super-G at Cortina in 2019.

Now at the halfway point of the season – 19 races out of 38 – Shiffrin has a 1,195-796 lead over Vlhova in the race for the overall World Cup title, with Shiffrin the defending champion and trying for a fifth career title.

2.
French government report echoes familiar Paris 2024 worries

The French Court of Auditors presented a report to the Parliament on Tuesday, with 15 recommendations concerning the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, repeating concerns it has noted for some time.

Former French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, told reporters: “We’re asking that the global security plan is finalised in the first trimester of 2023 so the reinforcement by internal security forces can be planned. We also recommend that the transport plan be finalised site by site.”

The report insisted on attention to “stabilizing private security needs and establishing alternative measures to remedy its probable shortcomings,” a concern long expressed. Moscovici added, “It’s doable but what the Court wants to say is that it is high time to get into the operational phase. It’s not too late but it’s tense.”

And on transport, the report pointed out: “Several infrastructure operations [in the Ile-de-France region] … present major risks due to already tight schedules with no real room for maneuver. If they were not completed for the Games, the result would be an unsustainable tension on the heavily used lines, with the associated risks of incidents and congestion for daily users.”

On the organizing committee front, the report worried:

“At the beginning of November 2022, only eleven of the 80 planned user agreements had been signed. … These successive delays now expose the committee to a proven risk, due to the resulting chain consequences on the preparation of the Games and, in particular, for the conclusion of the negotiations on the outsourced model of delivery of the Games.”

And concern continues on spending, with the Paris 2024 organizers under pressure from inflation and supply-chain issues. The report noted “substantial uncertainties about the final balance of the [Paris 2024] budget” and warned about having spent €115 million from the contingency of €315 million (36.5%); essentially “deferring savings measures likely to be taken later.”

3.
All evening finals for track & field at Paris 2024

The track & field schedule for Paris 2024 was released on Monday, with a change from recent Games in that all of the in-stadium finals will take place in the evenings.

Thanks to a more favorable time zone for European and American broadcasters, no more morning-session finals to allow prime-time viewing on those continents. Instead, finals at the Stade de France will be held in session starting between 6:05 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. local time, or 12:05 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Eastern time.

The road events will all be held in the mornings, with the walks at 7:30 in the morning and marathons on the last two days (10-11 August) at 8 a.m.

World Athletics noted in the schedule release:

● “Athletes looking to double up in the 100m & 200m, 800m & 1500m, 1500m & 5000m, or 5000m & 10,000m will be able to do so, without having to compete in more than one discipline on any given day.”

● “As announced last year, a repechage round in all individual track events from 200m to 1500m in distance, including the hurdles events, will be introduced at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In the new repechage format, athletes who do not qualify by place in round one heats of the 200m to 1500m will have a second chance to qualify for the semifinals by participating in repechage heats.”

The schedule maintains the usual rhythm of events, with the 100 m finals on day two (women) and day three (men), with the 200 m heats starting the day after. The Mixed 4×400 m is on days 1-2, with the 4×100 m and men’s and women’s 4×400 m on the final days. The distance races have the men’s 10,000 m and women’s 5,000 m early, the Steeplechase finals in the middle and the women’s 10,000 m and men’s 5,000 m at the end of the program.

The decathlon will be on the first two stadium days (Friday and Saturday) and the heptathlon on the final Thursday and Friday of the Games.

The morning sessions generally run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.

An interesting possibility for women’s 400 m hurdles superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. is available as well: she could run both the 400 m and 400 m hurdles and not have more than one race per day. The events run concurrently, with the 400 m hurdles rounds on the 4th-6th-8th and the 400 m flat rounds on the 5th-7th-9th. The final of the 4×400 m relay is on the 10th; might she be interested – or be allowed – to run in the Mixed 4×400 m final on the 3rd, in a possible attempt for four golds in a single Games?

4.
Modern Pent federation to roll out new obstacle format for juniors

The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) announced its first competitions to include the UIPM Congress-approved obstacle course events to replace riding, to take place later in 2023:

● 12-16 Jul.: World U17 Championships in Alexandria (EGY)
● 26-30 Jul.: World U19 Championships in Istanbul (TUR)
● 12-17 Sep.: World Junior Championships in Druskininkai (LTU)

Oddly, no events prior to these junior-level championships have been announced for young pentathletes to get acclimated to the new event. There are no obstacle-included competitions at all for senior athletes, who will be qualifying for Paris 2024, in which riding will continue to be included.

Modern pentathlon is not on the initial sports program for Los Angeles 2028 and the federation is hoping that a change from riding to obstacle will make the sport more appealing. It has had the lowest interest and impact of any sport on the program, according to the International Olympic Committee’s data report from prior Games.

The announcement also clarified the order of events: Fencing first, followed by Obstacle, Swimming and Laser Run. Competition guidelines were also produced, with actual competition rules not expected to be approved until 2024. Riding had been the third event, after fencing and swimming, another change in the event format.

The guidelines specify obstacle courses of 60-70 m in length, with eight obstacles; six to be fixed in the rules and two to be selected by the local organizers from a list of approved options (yet to be published). Failure of a second try at an obstacle means disqualification.

The points table shows scoring for times of 20.0 seconds (340 points) up to 190 seconds (3:10.0) and above, worth zero.

5.
Ledecky, Murphy, Manuel, Finke and more in Tyr Pro Swim

The first major U.S. swim meet of 2023 starts on Wednesday with the first Tyr Pro Swim Series event in Knoxville, Tennessee, with a number of big-name stars on the entry lists.

Perhaps most interesting is Simone Manuel, 26, the Rio 2016 co-gold medalist in the 100 m Free, who dropped out of competition after a disappointing 2021 in which she failed to make the U.S. team in the 100 m Free, but did in the 50 m Free. Overtraining syndrome was the apparent cause and Manuel moved to Arizona to train with Arizona State coach Bob Bowman and this will be her first time in competition since. She’s entered in the 50-100 m Frees, plus the 50 m Backstroke and 100 m Butterfly.

Then there is Freestyle distance superstar Katie Ledecky, who has produced some amazing January times in past seasons, entered in the 200-400-1,500 m Frees and the 400 m Medley.

Regan Smith, the 2019 200 m Back World Champion and 2022 100 m Back Worlds winner is also training at Arizona State, and will skip those events in favor of a huge program: 100-200-400 m Frees, 50 m Back, 100 m Fly and 200 m Medley.

Bobby Finke, the Tokyo Olympic 800-1,500 m gold medalist, will contest the 400-800-1,500 m frees and the 400 m Medley, and will face surprise Tokyo Olympic 400 m Free winner Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia in the Freestyle events. Backstroke star Ryan Murphy, fresh off World 25 m Champs wins in the 50-100-200 m Backstrokes, is in the 100-200 m Back events.

The meet will not be shown live on television; U.S. Swimming will have a live stream of finals on Wednesday and Saturday, and NBC’s Peacock streaming service will show Thursday and Friday finals. CNBC will have a highlights package on Saturday (14th) at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern and NBC will show highlights at 3 p.m. on Sunday (15th).

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Deaflympics ● No result is – apparently – ever really final.

At the 2005 Deaflympics in Melbourne (AUS), Russians Rushan Dayanov and Stanislav Ivanov won the men’s beach volleyball title. But in September, an anonymous letter sent to the International Committee for Sports for the Deaf insisted that Dayanov can actually hear and the pair should be retroactively disqualified.

Ivanov is the current head of the All-Russian society of the Deaf and there is speculation that the move is really aimed at Ivanov, in order to deprive him of his 2005 beach gold. The accusation was made on the All-Russian Television for the Deaf by former (2013-18) ICSD President Valery Rukhledev (RUS), both of whom are now being sued for slander by Dayanov.

At stake is more than a gold medal from 18 years ago; in another demonstration of the importance which Russia has always placed on international sports success, Dayanov receives a pension from the Russian government for the victory in Melbourne, which would be taken away if the accusation was true.

● Modern Pentathlon ● Sad news from Hackettstown, New Jersey, of the death of Jeanne (Picariello) Murphy, 70, on Sunday morning from a hit-and-run driver who was later arrested.

A retired U.S. Army colonel, she was married to Centenary University President Bruce Murphy and the school noted in an announcement:

“During her 30-year career in the military, Mrs. Murphy served with distinction in many leadership roles. She was a member of the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors and chaired the USOC Multi-Sport Organizations Council for 10 years. For the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, she was designated Chef de Mission for the U.S. Paralympic Team. A former competitive runner and swimmer, Mrs. Murphy was the first woman ever selected to the U.S. Modern Pentathlon Team in 1975.”

Picariello Murphy was a member of the U.S. national team from 1975-78 and was a U.S. Army nurse for 10 years. She later served as chief of health promotion for the U.S. Southern Command in Panama and spearheaded Army health, wellness and support programs in Germany, Virginia, in the Pentagon and at the Army War College. During and after the Gulf War, she worked with combat troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. In 2005, she worked with the American Red Cross in Gulfport, Mississippi, during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

A tragedy for a true pioneer.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Sydney pushing to be seventh World Marathon Major; Russian doping receding? World Aquatics wins vs. ISL in court

Rich Perelman

January 10, 2023

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Thank you to now 14 donors, who have covered 37% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Sydney seeing gold in becoming a seventh World Marathon Major
2. RUSADA chief says Russian doping down due to education
3. Anti-Doping Kenya suspends 20 (!), with first-time public naming
4. U.S. District Court rules against ISL in suit vs. World Aquatics
5. NWSL hands down big sanctions in abuse cases

The World Marathon Majors circuit is looking to expand to a seventh race and Sydney, Australia is among the three cities identified as a possibility. Its motivation: money and prestige and it will try to lure Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge to its 2025 race to show it is ready. The head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency says that educational programs are starting to reduce the incidence of doping in sport there. In Kenya, however, the anti-doping agency publicly posted a list of 20 more doping disqualifications, now allowed under a new law. The long-running lawsuits by the International Swimming League and three swimmers against World Aquatics were dealt a likely death blow when both actions were dismissed in a summary judgement by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, declaring that there was no basis for a trial on either anti-trust or damages grounds in the plaintiff’s filings. The National Women’s Soccer League handed down sharp disciplinary measures in its player-abuse investigations, including lifetime bans on four coaches and fines of up to $1.5 million against several clubs.

1.
Sydney seeing gold in becoming a seventh World Marathon Major

What motivates companies and governments to spend money on bringing, or mounting, major sporting events to their communities?

Money, for one. Exposure for another.

Take the Sydney Marathon, created in 1999 and which hosted 4,484 finishers in the last pre-Covid year of 2019 and 3,451 in its return in 2022, and now a candidate to be added as the seventh World Marathon Major. Race Director Wayne Larden told the Sydney Morning Herald:

“It’s a big deal for a number of reasons. The main one is just the sheer volume of runners that take part in these events. Every single one of the Abbott World Marathon Major events is oversubscribed by between 250,000 and 400,000 runners.

“Which means when we become a major, our numbers are going to leap, with people wanting to get that seventh star. We are expecting a huge boost in numbers, a massive increase in economic impact.”

The “seventh star” refers to runners who have completed all of the World Marathon Majors – six so far – with the idea that Sydney would have thousands of runners coming to the race to get their status updated to include the new, seventh race.

The World Marathon Majors group announced in mid-2022 that it was looking to expand. But it won’t be easy.

The requirements include an expansion of the number of finishers to 15,000, spectator interest in the event and the entertainment and festival programming. And Sydney is not alone, with Chengdu (CHN) and Cape Town (RSA) also in the running.

Larden thinks that attracting Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathoner in history and the world-record holder at 2:01:09, could be the catalyst for turning the race into a spectator event:

“We are talking to Kipchoge’s management and have been since we got nominated. He wants to finish the six next year, so our goal is to try and get him to Sydney in 2024, as that big drawcard.”

Kipchoge is 38 and has said he wants to complete his own tour of the Majors and has yet to run either the Boston Marathon or New York City Marathon. He has won at Berlin and London four times each, once in Tokyo and in Chicago in 2014.

Larden is not alone in all this; he has the backing of state government tourism group Destination NSW [New South Wales] in its quest to be added to the Majors list in 2025.

2.
RUSADA chief says Russian doping down due to education

“Is the anti-doping culture changing in our country? This question worries many people, including those abroad.”

That’s Russian Anti-Doping Agency chief Veronika Loginova, speaking to the Russian news agency TASS on Sunday. She was optimistic.

“The sociological surveys that have been conducted suggest that it has changed considerably.

“At the last anti-doping forum held by RUSADA a month ago, more than 500 people registered, this never happened at all. Some athletes, while under suspension status, started participating in our anti-doping programs. I would take tennis player Teimuraz Gabashvili as an example, the banned thorasemide was found in his sample. He decided to tell everyone what led him to make the biggest mistake in his life.”

Loginova emphasized that preventing doping in the first place is now the focus of the agency’s work, while the testing and analysis efforts continue:

“When we find prohibited substances, we analyze almost every case of violation. It is very important to understand the reasons, whether the use of a prohibited substance was accidental, whether the violator had been previously trained in anti-doping. Each case is individual, it even happens that we then adjust our educational programs.”

The biggest target for testing so far has been athletics:

“We have about 20 percent of the total number of samples taken are athletics.

“When preparations were underway for the audit of the All-Russian Federation of Athletics, the question arose about the number of anti-doping rule violations in domestic athletics in recent years. is declining, which cannot but rejoice us.

“And I can say with all responsibility that testing is flawless. This applies to both planning and the process of doping sampling. We have very strict rules, everything happens in accordance with the standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency.”

Although the sanctions imposed by WADA technically ended in December, Russia’s re-admittance still remains in limbo, with WADA continuing to evaluate whether RUSADA is in compliance with its rules. As for athletics, Russia has been suspended since 2015 by World Athletics, but reports from the federation’s Russia Task Force indicate it is improving its procedures and will be evaluated again in March.

Even if approved for reinstatement – by WADA or World Athletics – the measures against the participation of Russian athletes due to the invasion of Ukraine remain in place.

3.
Anti-Doping Kenya suspends 20 (!), with first-time public naming

Thanks to a 2021 change in the Kenyan anti-doping laws, the names of 20 athletes provisionally suspended for doping offenses – prior to their appeals – were published by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), stretching from November 2021 to December 2022.

The list includes 15 track & field athletes, three bodybuilders, one football player and one judoka, with some notable names:

● Alice Aprot (29, women’s 10,000 m): twice national champion, best of 29:53.51 in 2016, fourth at Rio 2016′ for Letrozole.

● Michael Kibet (23, men’s 5,000 m): best of 13:11.08 in 2019; for erythropoietin (EPO).

● Michael Saruni (27, men’s 800 m): NCAA Indoor Champion 2018, Tokyo Olympian in 2021, best of 1:43.25 from 2018; suspended for refusing a test.

● Matthew Sawe (34, men’s high jump): national record holder at 2.30 m (7-6 1/2) from 2018; for the steroid Triamcinolone.

● Kumari Taki (23, men’s 1,500 m): World Junior Champion in 2016, best of 3:34.14 in 2020; for erythropoietin (EPO).

The rash of doping positives in Kenya – 58 are on the Athletics Integrity Unit’s Global List of Ineligible Persons as of 31 December 2022 has led to consideration of a suspension of the federation. However, a promise to pump $5 million a year for five years into ADAK has staved off such action by World Athletics, at least for now.

As in Russia, more athlete education is seen as the key to reforming the doping situation there.

4.
U.S. District Court rules against ISL in suit vs. World Aquatics

A pair of lawsuits filed in 2018 against World Aquatics – then known as FINA – by the International Swimming League and star swimmers Tom Shields and Michael Andrew of the U.S. and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary was dealt a likely mortal blow by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday.

Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted summary judgement to World Aquatics on all counts in both suits, essentially holding that ISL and the swimmers had not stated a case sufficient to even go to trial. They can appeal, but as the holdings were on technical grounds, their chances of success are poor.

The complaints alleged that FINA – as then known – interfered with the right of ISL and the swimmers to compete and earn money in competitions not authorized by FINA directly, and that FINA had interfered with ISL’s attempt to put on a prize-money meet in Turin in 2018.

Initially-threatening messages from FINA to its national federations in June 2018 that ISL should not be recognized and that federations could be suspended for doing so were rendered inoperative by a January 2019 directive that “[S]wimmers are free to participate in competitions or events staged by independent organisers, namely entities which are neither members of FINA nor related to it in any way.”

The lawsuits, however, continued, as ISL and the swimmers pursued an injunction against FINA for anti-trust violations and damages for the inability to compete in the 2018 meet that never happened. ISL put on full seasons of meets in 2019, 2020 and 2021, but as it is supported by Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, suspended operations in February 2022 due to the Russian invasion.

The Court found:

● On anti-trust grounds, “a reasonable trier of fact could find FINA and its member federations are separate economic actors capable of conspiring and that they actually conspired on a restraint of trade.”

However, the evidence did not show that ISL or the swimmers were kept from competing in a meet, but that FINA was well within its rights to control meets organized by its member federations. And:

“It is undisputed that top-tier swimmers are not bound by contract to swim only in FINA-sanctioned competitions. Indeed, the undisputed evidence is that ISL can and does sponsor top-tier swimming competitions without any affiliation with member federations. For example, in 2019, ISL hosted a swimming competition in Naples, Italy without affiliating with FINA or any member federation. And, ISL admits it does not need FINA to conduct its swimming competition business.”

● Further, the Court scolded ISL and the swimmers for not defining the “market” which FINA is said to control and prevent access to:

“FINA’s rules prohibited its member federations from affiliating with an unapproved entity, and a trier of fact could find that, for a brief time, FINA threatened suspension of any swimmer who participated in an unsanctioned event involving a FINA member federation. There is no rule (and never was) that allows FINA to penalize a swimmer who participates in a competition that is not affiliated with a member federation, and no evidence that FINA ever did, or even threatened to do so.”

And:

“The Court acknowledges the record is replete with evidence of FINA’s concern about
competition from ISL. But, so what? The antitrust laws do not require one competitor to help another compete with it; instead, they prohibit only unreasonable restraints of trade.”

● As to the requests for damages, the Court noted that ISL’s demand for damages was based on anti-trust violations which it found non-existent. As for the swimmers not being able to compete in Italy in 2018 and earn money there, there was no identifiable link between a foreign meet and anti-trust conduct in the United States. Game over.

Said World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam (KUW), “We are pleased that it brings an end to a period of uncertainty. And we are thankful for the clarity that the Court’s decision provides. This is an important decision and also a good decision, not just for World Aquatics, but for the Olympic Movement and beyond.”

The suit, when filed in 2018, had a chance of success, but with FINA’s change of stance a month later and the fact that ISL staged three seasons of events without interference from FINA, it had little chance of success going forward.

5.
NWSL hands down big sanctions in abuse cases

The National Women’s Soccer League handed down some serious sanctions on Monday – called “corrective actions” – against teams and individuals involved in abuse cases across the league. Commissioner Jessica Berman said:

“Those actions are fundamental to the future of our league, especially as we build a league that strengthens our players’ ability to succeed and prosper on and off the pitch. As part of our commitment to accountability and deterrence, the league has determined that further corrective action with respect to certain organizations and individuals identified in the Joint Investigative Report is appropriate and necessary.”

Four individuals were banned from the league for life:

● Richie Burke (ENG), former coach of the Washington Spirit;
● Rory Dames (USA), former coach of the Chicago Red Stars;
● Christy Holly (NIR), former coach of Racing Louisville;
● Paul Riley (ENG), former coach of the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage.

Eight other individuals were either banned for two years (2) or whose employment is conditional (6). Six clubs were fined:

● $1.5 million: Chicago Red Stars
● $1.0 million: Portland Thorns
● $200,000: Racing Louisville
● $100,000: North Carolina Courage
● $50,000: OL [Seattle] Reign and Gotham FC

The Washington Spirit was not penalized as the club was sold, under pressure from the league.

Berman noted, “The league and its clubs have taken meaningful steps to begin this structural reform, and understand and accept the continual commitment to enhancing league standards that are necessary to build a safe and positive environment for our players, staff, fans and partners.”

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin will go for her 83rd career FIS World Cup win in Flachau (AUT) in a night Slalom on Tuesday (10th) at 6 p.m. local time (noon Eastern).

She’s won this race four times previously, and is on a hot streak, having won six of the last seven World Cup races. She is listed, of course, as no. 1 on the start list for the first run, and has won four of the six Slaloms held this season on the women’s World Cup tour.

Shiffrin is tied with fellow American Lindsey Vonn for no. 2 all-time in World Cup wins at 82, behind only Swede Ingemar Stenmark, with 86.

● Athletics ● Kenyan Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba said that the country would aim to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships:

“Having lost the bid for 2025, we will prepare for 2029 and we believe we will be in a very strong position to put in a compelling bid. We cannot be such a major athletics powerhouse and we can’t bring world athletics to Nairobi. We will be banking on the goodwill from World Athletics, we will come up with a much stronger bid.”

Kenya’s 2025 bid for Nairobi scored poorly on its facilities compared to the new Tokyo 2020 stadium, and there are the doping issues that have plagued Athletics Kenya. A bid for 2027 is complicated by the country’s bid for the 2027 African Cup of Nations football championship.

● Short Track ● This has been a good season for American Kristen Santos-Griswold, with medals in all four ISU World Cup events, and swept to victory in both races of the 500 m, 1,000 m and 1,500 m at the U.S. national championships at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah.

Fellow Olympian Corinne Stoddard finished second to Santos-Griswold in all six races and finished second to her in the overall women’s classification.

Brandon Kim won the men’s overall classification, ahead of Clayton DeClemente and Marcus Howard. Kim won both of the 500 m races and both 1,500 m races (four total). Howard and Caleb Park won the two 1,000 m races, with Kim and DeClemente second.

● Speed Skating ● New star Jordan Stolz, 18, dominated the U.S. Championships held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin over the weekend, winning all three of his events in the 500 m, 1,000 m and 1,500 m

A Beijing 2022 Olympian, Stolz set track records at the Pettit National Ice Center in all three events, winning by 0.69 (500 m), 1.71 m (1,000 m) and 3.19 (1,500 m). Stolz also finished third in the 5,000 m.

The second 500 m race was won by Beijing Olympian Austin Kleba in 35.09, the same time in which he was second to Stolz in race one. Olympic Team Pursuit bronze medalist Ethan Cepuran won the 5,000 m in 6:19.00, to 6:19.05 for fellow medal winner Casey Dawson. Cepuran won the 10,000 m in 13:09.04, with Dawson second at 13:14.33.

Conor McDermott-Mostowy won the first Men’s Mass Start with a time of 7:57.87, with Cepuran second by 0.18 seconds; Cepuran won the second Mass Start, with McDermott-Mostowy second.

Olympic medal winners Erin Jackson and Brittany Bowe starred in the women’s events. Jackson, the Olympic Champion, won both 500 m races in 37.48 and 37.76. Bowe, the Beijing ‘22 1,000 m bronze winner, took that event in 1:14.33, with fellow Olympian Kimi Goetz second in 1:14.73 after being second to Jackson in the first 500 m race (37.63). And Goetz took the national title in the 1,500 m in 1:55.99 for her third medal.

Olympian Mia Kilburg won the 3,000 m in 4:08.23 and Greta Myers won the 5,000 m (7:21.60). Kilburg won both Mass Start events for three wins in the event.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: Parliament report says ₤1.9 billion bought little increase in post-London 2012 public fitness

Rich Perelman

January 9, 2023

tsx pix 2023-109 union jack st georges cross (thor-wiki) — The Union Jack (r) and the Cross of St. George, the English national flag (Photo: Thor via Wikipedia)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Thank you to now 14 donors, who have covered 37% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

One of the announced legacy goals of the London 2012 Olympic Games was to get more people involved in physical activity. That concept has become a popular rallying cry for other sports mega-events, but new disclosures in a report from the British Parliament underscore the realities of trying to get people to exercise.

A 19 December 2022 report titled Grassroots participation in sport and physical activity from the British House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts included this unhappy summary of the most recent efforts:

“The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London were a success in many ways. But ten years on, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has fallen short of the increase in grassroots sports and physical activity participation promised as part of the long-term legacy of the Games.

“The Department recognises that it relied too heavily on a national event to deliver increased participation and since 2015 has focused on local based approaches and encouraging the least active to become more active. While this shows some signs of working, disappointingly it has not translated into meaningful national level change.

“Despite Sport England spending an average of £323 million of taxpayers money each year since 2015 to increase participation in sport and physical activity and to support the sports sector, the percentage of active adults increased by only 1.2 percentage points between November 2016 and November 2019. Nearly two in five adults in England still do not meet the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for recommended activity.”

In fact, due in part to the pandemic, adult physical activity participation has regressed since the 2012 Games.

The Sport England agency, formed in 1996, measured adult physical activity in England from 2006-2016 according to a survey which measured participation in sport at least once per week. The percentage rose from 34.6% in 2006 to a high of 36.9% in 2012 – the year of the Games – and then declined to 36.1% by October of 2016.

A new measurement was introduced a month later – in November of 2016 – asking what percentage of the adult population in England was “active” for 150 minutes or more per week, regardless of the number of days. This yielded a higher number, with 62.1% in 2016, rising slightly to 63.3% – +1.2% – by November of 2019. Then came Covid-19 and the rate decreased somewhat, to 61.4% in 2020 and 2021.

Against these middling results was ₤1.938 billion in spending (~$2.34 billion U.S.) from the 2015-16 to 2020-21 fiscal years, an average of ₤323 million a year (~$390.35 million U.S.). The report further noted, with considerable worry:

“[T]he Department and Sport England have made little progress in tackling inequalities and barriers to people participating in sport and physical activity and Sport England’s spending data is not sufficiently granular to assess how well it targets spending at the least active. For example, it distributed £1.5 billion in grants in the five years starting 2016–17, but only knows which local authorities this funding went to for £450 million of this spending.”

Among those who were active, walking for exercise continued to grow, while the pandemic wiped out almost everything else. Comparing participation in November 2016 to November 2021:

● Walking: Up from 18.3 million (2016) to 24.0 million (2021)
● Active Travel: Down from 15.9 million to 11.9 million
● Fitness Activities: Down from 13.2 million to 11.4 million
● Running: Down from 6.9 million to 6.2 million
● Cycling: Up from 6.4 million to 6.5 million
● Swimming: Down from 4.9 million to 2.0 million
● Team Sports: Down from 3.5 million to 2.2 million

What did Sport England do, exactly, to get people to exercise? According to the report:

“The strategy promised to target funding at less active groups of the population, believing this would deliver the biggest gains for public spending. Sport England told us that, since 2015, it had adopted a variety of approaches to increase activity levels, from national media campaigns to working with local partners in 12 different UK cities as part of a pilot program to understand and address the barriers to getting people active.

“It explained that there had been some positive signs from this work and that insight from the pilots is helping it to make decisions at a national level. Its evaluation of the community pilots showed that, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, inactivity reduced at a faster rate in local delivery pilot areas than in areas without the pilots.

“However, Sport England conceded it had found it hard to translate successes at local level and with specific groups into gains nationally. It explained that it expected that this will take time, particularly if tackling some of the most stubborn inequalities in society.”

And the proposed programs going forward did not inspire confidence:

“We asked Sport England how it can spark activity among the least active. It told us the answer was a combination of three key characteristics: motivation, confidence and opportunity. It noted that in the past government had over-relied on opportunity side, with a focus on building facilities and opening up clubs, assuming that people will then take up that provision.

“Sport England told us its new 2021 strategy had started to look at how to build people’s confidence and motivation to participate in sport by showing the public the benefits of being active and that ‘people like them’ can take part. Sport England said it intended to work within local communities to ensure initiatives were delivered through providers that were recognised and trusted in that community, because not everyone trusted a top-down programme from central government.

“However, when pressed, Sport England struggled to provide a tangible example of putting its motivation theory into practice.”

In polite language, the House of Commons report said that the efforts of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and Sport England have been a failure.

That’s not entirely surprising, since the goal – highly worthwhile – of getting people to be more fit is extraordinarily difficult to achieve today, against the backdrop of games, notifications and messages on one’s mobile phone, tablet and/or computer, and more (sedentary) entertainment options than in all of human history.

In Britain, the new report has created plenty of critical headlines:

● BBC: ‘Little progress’ in tackling barriers to participation in sport – MPs

● SkySports: Government accused of wasting sports participation money after London 2012 Olympics: ‘Precious little to show’

● The Guardian: Government has broken pledge to get UK fitter after 2012 Olympics, says report

Let’s start by noting this is about the British government’s post-Games efforts to get people active, and has nothing to do with the long-disbanded 2012 Olympic organizing committee. And the government has not been able to leverage the Games into any lasting change in the public’s attitude towards physical activity – let alone physical fitness – since.

And the report states, quite clearly:

“Sport England acknowledges it relied too heavily on a national event to deliver increased participation and that elite sports success doesn’t necessarily inspire activity at a grassroots level.”

For those looking to use future increased public interest in fitness as a reason for bringing an Olympic Games or something similar to a community, the new Parliamentary report leaves no doubt that any suggestion that a major event will get people to exercise should be met with skepticism. Or just outright rejection.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Shiffrin ties Vonn for most women’s World Cup wins; Paris ‘24 Opening tickets from €90-25,000! WTA still wants to meet with Peng

Rich Perelman

January 9, 2023

tsx pix 21518 shiffrin, mikaela gnt slm 750 — Defending World Cup overall champ Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Thank you to now 14 donors, who have covered 37% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

● David Miller’s guest column, A Paris Olympic Boycott Threat, is available here. ●

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Shiffrin wins in Kranjska Gora, ties Vonn as no. 2 all-time
2. Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony prices: €90 up to €25,000!
3. Chamonix not interested in 2030; Sapporo support at 33%!
4. Politics in play as Brisbane 2032 infrastructure deal stalled
5. WTA return to China needs “resolution to the Peng situation”

The amazing Mikaela Shiffrin scored her 82nd career FIS Alpine World Cup win on Sunday in a Giant Slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, tying fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the most wins ever by a woman in World Cup history. Shiffrin, still just 27, is only four behind Swede Ingemar Stenmark for the most World Cup wins ever, at 86. A French newspaper report says that tickets for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will go for as low as €90 for seats on platforms on the side of the River Seine and for as much as €25,000 for a spot on the river itself on a cruise ship! Most spectators – perhaps 500,000 more – will be able to watch for free from the roadsides above the river. The mayor of Chamonix, France said the town is not interested in being part of a tri-nation bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games suggested last Friday. A new poll in the Hokkaido Shimbun said that 67% of area residents are opposed to a Sapporo bid for the 2030 Winter Games, leaving Salt Lake City as the only viable 2030 option for the International Olympic Committee at present. In Brisbane, Australia, no agreement has been made between the Queensland government and the national government on funding for infrastructure programs related to the 2032 Olympic Games, notably the renovation of the Brisbane Cricket Ground, known as “The Gabba.” Opposition party leaders are calling for the state and national governments – who are both governed by the Labor Party – to get going. The Women’s Tennis Association repeated its demand that the sexual assault allegations made by former women’s Doubles star Peng Shuai be investigated before any discussion can be had on reinstating tournaments in China.

1.
Shiffrin wins in Kranjska Gora, ties Vonn as no. 2 all-time

“I can’t believe it.

“I was so nervous this run, I have a rash on my face because I was so nervous. I don’t know why, maybe a little bit was because of 82. I really wanted to ski it well, and I did.

“I hope some day I can ski like that again because it was maybe the best thing I ever did in a GS.”

That’s American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin, who won the second Giant Slalom race at Kranjska Gora (SLO) on Sunday for her 82nd career World Cup win, tying her with fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the most ever by a woman and no. 2 all-time behind only Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark (86).

Shiffrin had a five-race win streak snapped on Saturday as she finished sixth in the first Giant Slalom race, behind winner Valerie Greiner (CAN: 1:55.01) – who scored her first World Cup victory – then Italian star Marta Bassino (1:55.38) and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova (1:55.41).

On Sunday, Shiffrin was on fire from the start, posting the fastest first run at 55.30, up by 0.24 over Federica Brignone (ITA), then won the second run at 57.23 for a 1:52.53 total. Brignone, the Beijing 2022 silver medalist in this event, was second at 1:53.30 and Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami came from fifth to third on her second run with a 1:53.50 total.

Shiffrin’s 82 wins came come mostly in the technical events – Slalom (51), Giant Slalom (17), Parallel Slalom (2) and City Events (3) – but also in the Super-G (5) and Downhill (3), along with one in the Combined. The FIS report also noted Shiffrin’s amazing win rate:

● Shiffrin won her first World Cup race at age 17 in December 2012 and has taken only 233 starts to reach 82 wins: one victory for every 2.84 starts.

● Vonn won her first World Cup race at age 20 and her last at age 33, winning once per 4.82 starts over her 395-race career.

Shiffrin, still just 27, will be the favorite for win no. 83 on Tuesday (10th) in a Slalom at Flachau (AUT), where she has won in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021! As for Stenmark’s all-time record of 86, it’s clearly in danger this season, with 21 more races remaining. In the run for a fifth overall World Cup title, Shiffrin has built a 1,115-696 lead over Vlhova after 17 of 38 races.

2.
Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony prices: €90 up to €25,000!

The French daily Le Parisien reported Friday on pricing for tickets to the unique Paris 2024 opening ceremony to take place on a six km (~3.6 mile) route along the River Seine:

● €90 to €2,700 (~$96 to $2,874 U.S.): reserved seats on riverside platforms

● €4,250 to €5,500 (~$4,524 to $5,908 U.S.): reserved VIP seats on platforms

● €9,500 (~$10,112 U.S.): reserved seats on a bridge

● €25,000 (~$26,611 U.S.): seats on a cruise ship on the river!

The exact pricing will depend on the locations and position within the seating areas. The vast majority of viewing will be free, from the roadsides above the river.

The Paris organizing committee has said that about 10 million tickets will be available for the 2024 Games, with one million at €24 (~$26 U.S.) and about half available at €50 (~$52 U.S.) or less. In a ticket catalog provided to National Olympic Committees last September, the most sought-after final sessions had best-section prices of:

● €950 (~$1,011) Athletics
● €950 (~$1,011) Swimming
● €600 (~$639) Artistic Gymnastics
● €520 (~$554) Boxing (if held?)
● €390 (~$415) Beach Volleyball and Volleyball
● €390 (~$415) Diving
● €390 (~$415) Tennis
● €350 (~$373) Track Cycling
● €350 (~$373) Judo

No word yet on the Closing Ceremony, scheduled to be held at the Stade de France, also the home of athletics during the Games.

3.
Chamonix not interested in 2030; Sapporo support at 33%!

The concept of a French-Italian-Swiss combo bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games imploded the same day it was floated in a report in the Swiss Le Temps newspaper. The city of Chamonix (FRA), one of the key elements of the concept issued a statement that included:

“Following up on the many articles in the Swiss and French press this morning, Mr. Eric Fournier, Mayor of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, indicates that while cross-border cooperation with our Valais neighbors is at the heart of the concerns of the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley, Mont-Blanc, the project of a common candidacy for the Olympic Games as relayed by certain media is not on the agenda.

“This comes from a private initiative and not from the political authorities of the Espace Mont-Blanc, which are currently actively working on the roadmap linked to the next European program with the central subject of adapting our economy to climate change.”

The idea had been to couple Chamonix – site of the first Winter Games in 1924 – with sites in Italy’s Aosta Valley and the Swiss canton of Valais (which includes prior Winter Games bidder Sion). That looks dead now.

The Sapporo (JPN) bid for the 2030 Winter Games is also in significant trouble as a new poll from the Hokkaido Shimbun showed only 33% in favor of the idea and 67% against:

● 12% support
● 21% somewhat support

● 15% somewhat opposed
● 52% opposed

That’s bad. The responses, from a telephone poll in December taken before officials said they were “pausing” the bid, showed that 48% of those against preferred spending on Covid-19 prevention and snow removal. Importantly, 23% said the expanding sponsorship sales and bid-rigging-for-test-events scandal from the Tokyo 2020 Games has soured them on another Olympic event.

Observed: This leaves only Salt Lake City as a viable bidder for 2030, with all existing venues, an existing Olympic Village at the University of Utah, a willing organizing committee-in-waiting and excellent city, county and state government support. With two other bids for 2030 already imploded (Barcelona-Pyrenees, Vancouver) and Sapporo on the way, it will be fascinating to see whether the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission changes its mind and designates Salt Lake City for “targeted dialogue” and selection in 2023 before anything else happens.

4.
Politics in play as Brisbane 2032 infrastructure deal stalled

The excitement of Brisbane’s selection as the host for the 2032 Olympic Games has settled down to political infighting, as the new, Labor government elected last May has not yet reached an agreement with the Queensland state government on funding for redevelopment and transportation projects related to the Games.

None of this directly impacts the delivery of the 2032 Games, as the International Olympic Committee specifically questioned whether a potential A$1 billion program to redevelop the Brisbane Cricket Ground (“The Gabba”) and the area surrounding it was actually needed. But the prior national government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Liberal Party: center-right) made a 50-50 funding commitment with Queensland and premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (Labor: center-left) on infrastructure programs, which have not been confirmed by Anthony Albanese’s administration.

So, the recriminations have started, with Queensland opposition leader David Crisafulli (Liberal) telling SkyNews Brisbane last Thursday:

“If you remember, before the election, the election of a Labor government in Canberra was going to create this land of milk-and-honey, where everybody was happy and play nicely and 50-50 funding would be delivered for health and infrastructure and we wouldn’t have any arguments. Well, it hasn’t, and as a Queenslander who wants to see the Olympics as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver infrastructure, we are deeply concerned.

“We are now well into the election of the Albanese government. The State [Queensland] government still hasn’t been able to broker a deal to develop an organizing committee – effectively a coordination body for infrastructure – and I suspect the reason why is that the State government in Queensland see the Olympics as a vanity exercise, a red carpet, champagne – froth and bubbles – that’s not what it’s about.

“It’s about an opportunity to bring three levels of government together to create a dedicated infrastructure plan to make life better for Queenslanders, before, during and after the Games. It’s not just about the window of the Games, it’s about infrastructure delivery. …

“I want to see a 20-year tourism vision – before, during and after the Games – I want to see an infrastructure delivery strategy, I want to work out how we get small and family businesses to benefit from it, not just the multi-nationals. …

“I’m talking about not the Games themselves. I’m talking about the infrastructure to deliver and prepare for the Games. I’m talking about making sure we have the kind of rail and road network that Queenslanders can be proud of, I’m talking about a tourism infrastructure strategy where we unlock our natural environment to create world-class tourism that will drive for the nation.”

Observed: Crisafulli’s comments are not important in the blame game, as either the funding will get worked out or it won’t, and the Games will go on. But the discussion is instructive into how governments see events like the Olympic Games as a way to get infrastructure projects funded and built where they otherwise might not be. The then-mayor of London, Ken Livingstone (Labour), wanted to get the 2012 Games in order to infuse huge amounts of money into the re-development of East London, which was achieved under the Conservative government that followed him in 2008. The question of how Brisbane and Australia use the Games to advance the quality of life there appears to be the true legacy issue ahead of the Games of the XXXV Olympiad.

5.
WTA return to China needs “resolution to the Peng situation”

Retired Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, now 37, was all the news prior to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, as she accused former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her years earlier in a 2 November 2021 post on the Weibo social media site.

The post was removed and Peng, a Doubles champion in the French Open in 2014 and at Wimbledon in 2013, was out of public view for a couple of weeks after the accusation was posted. Inquiries about her safety were made by multiple groups, including the International Olympic Committee, which visited with her during the Winter Games.

The Women’s Tennis Association, in response to the incident, eliminated its tournaments in China – losing millions in broadcasting and sponsorship fees – insisting that her allegations be legitimately investigated. And that stance was confirmed on Friday, as Reuters reported a WTA statement that included:

“A return to the region will require a resolution to the Peng situation in which she took a bold step in publicly coming forth with the accusation that she was sexually assaulted by a senior Chinese government leader.

“As we would do with any of our players globally, we have called for a formal investigation into the allegations by the appropriate authorities and an opportunity for the WTA to meet with Peng – privately – to discuss her situation.”

“We continue to hold firm on our position and our thoughts remain with Peng. The WTA continues to work towards a resolution.

“While we have always indicated we are hopeful we will be in a position to again operate WTA events in the region, we will not compromise our founding principles in order to do so.”

The WTA did confirm it had received information that Peng was “safe and comfortable,” but has not been able to meet with her. She was also invited to Lausanne to visit the IOC and the Olympic Museum, but that has also not taken place.

Peng’s story as overshadowed by the ruckus over the Team Event in figure skating and the Kamila Valieva doping situation, but her situation has not been forgotten by the WTA.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● Norway got its eighth win in 17 races on the men’s World Cup circuit as Lucas Braathen took his third victory of the season in the Slalom at Adelboden (SUI) on Sunday, ahead of teammate Atle McGrath, 1:49.31-1:50.02, with Linus Strasser (GER) third in 1:50.23. It was Braathen’s fifth career World Cup victory.

Seasonal leader and reigning World Cup overall champ Marco Odermatt won Saturday’s Giant Slalom for his sixth win of 2022-23, timing 2:30.68 to 2:31.41 for Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and 2:32.34 for Swiss Loic Meillard.

● Athletics ● Very sad news from Southern California, where Don Ruh, the long-time head of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, passed away on Friday, at age 90.

As its cross country and track & field coach Ruh shepherded the Mt. SAC Relays and the Mt. SAC track & field program through some of its greatest days, including hosting the U.S. national track & field championships in 1979 and 1980. He came to Mt. SAC in 1963 and took over the Relays from founder Hilmer Lodge and continued for 30 years until retiring in 1993.

Ruh also continued to expand the iconic Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational held each fall, bringing more than 10,000 runners to the campus in Walnut, California for dozens of races for runners from elementary school up to the collegiate level.

During that time, Mt. SAC’s role in youth sports continued to grow and Ruh was a key player in the creation of the annual Mt. SAC LA84 Foundation Youth Days – beginning in 1986 – one of the first post-Games programs supported with the financial legacy of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee following the 1984 Olympic Games. More than half a million athletes have benefitted from this program through clinics and competitions.

Said Patrick Escobar, then the lead program officer for the Foundation, working with Ruh for many years, “Through his commitment and passion he was instrumental in introducing hundreds of thousands of youngsters to the sport through the Mt. SAC LA84 Foundation Youth Days. Most importantly, he was an amazingly kind person who always took the time to mentor young people and to help where needed. He will be greatly missed.”

Ruh is survived by his wife of 61 years, Sandi, four children and six grandchildren. A celebration of his life will be held on Sunday, 5 February at 11 a.m., in the Ruh Family Education Center at Heritage Hall, on the Mt. SAC campus.

● Biathlon ● Five-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Cup champ Johannes Thingnes Boe continued to dominate the men’s IBU World Cup with two more wins at the Pokljuka (SLO) stop on Friday and Saturday.

Boe won his sixth race of the season – out of nine held – in Friday’s 10 km Sprint in 23:55.9 (1 penalty) to 24:44.0 (0) over older brother Tarjei Boe and countryman Sturla Holm Laegreid (24:51.5/1) for a Norwegian sweep. In the 12.5 km Pursuit, J.T. Boe posted another dominant win in 31:43.2 (2) to 32:48.1 (1) for French star Quentin Maillet Fillon, with Tarjei Boe third (32:49.8/1).

The women’s racing in Pokljuka also had a double winner: Sweden’s three-time Beijing 2022 medal winner Elvira Oeberg. She won the 7.5 km Sprint in 20:25.2 (0) to 20:32.1 (0) for France’s Julia Simon and 20:43.9 (0) for three-time World Champion Dorothea Wierer (ITA).

Oeberg won the 10 km Pursuit more easily, in 29:41.6 (0) to 29:59.2 (1) for Wierer with Simon third in 30:04.0 (2).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● German sleds swept all four Bob events at the famed track at Winterberg (GER), with Olympic Two-Woman gold medal driver Laura Nolte taking both women’s events and Germans winning five of six medals.

Nolte won the Monobob from Olympic champ Kaillie Humphries of the U.S., 1:59.54 to 1:59.72, with German Kim Kalicki third (1:59.73). Nolte teamed with Neele Schuten for the Two-Women victory in 1:53.74, ahead of sleds driven by Germans Lisa Buckwitz (1:54.09) and Kalicki (1:54.20). Humphries and Kaysha Love were fourth (1:54.43).

German stars Johannes Lochner and Francesco Friedrich won the Two-Man and Four-Man events. Lochner took his second straight Two-Man World Cup win with Georg Fleischhauer aboard, with Swiss driver Michael Vogt getting his third medal of the season in second, 1:51.17 to 1:51.31. Britain’s Brad Hall was third for his third medal as well, in 1:51.44.

Friedrich, the two-time Olympic champ, won the Four-Man in 1:49.07, ahead of Hall (1:49.25) and Lochner (1:49.27).

Olympic champ Christoph Grotheer of Germany took the men’s Skeleton in 1:54.32 ahead of countryman Axel Jungk (1:54.71) and Britain’s Matt Weston (1:54.72), while Dutch star Kimberley Bos – Beijing ‘22 bronze medalist – won the women’s division in 1:57.18, ahead of Canada’s Mirela Rahneva (1:57.24) and Olympic champ Hannah Niese (GER: 1:56.34).

● Cross Country Skiing ● Not quite. In the seven-stage Tour de Ski finale in Val di Fiemme (ITA), Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won had the first six legs going into Sunday’s final race, a 10 km Freestyle Mass Start event.

That was already a record, but Klaebo did not get the sweep as he finished sixth, and countryman Simen Hegstad Krueger – a two-time Olympic gold medalist from Beijing – got his second victory of the season, finishing in 31:20.4, ahead of teammate Hans Christer Holund (31:25.2).

Klaebo won Friday’s Classical Sprint in 2:43.85 over Calle Halfvarsson (SWE: 2:44.11) and then Saturday’s 15 km Classical Mass Start in 39:59.2, ahead of countryman Pal Golberg (39:59.6).

Klaebo defended his Tour de Ski title from last season and now has three career Tour de Ski victories, one short of the record, winning with a combined time of 2:44:28.9 to 2:45:28.4 for Krueger and 2:45:50.2 for Holund.

The women’s Tour de Ski title went to Swede Frida Karlsson, who scored four medals in the seven races (2-1-1). The Classical Sprint was a Norwegian sweep, with sisters Lotta Weng and Tiril Weng 1-2 in 3:06.04 and 3:06.39, and Mathilde Muhrvold third (3:06.71).

Karlsson was second in Saturday’s 15 km Mass Start to German Katharina Henning, 44:26.7-44:27.4, with Kerttu Niskanen (FIN: 44:27.5) third and American Rosie Brennan fourth (44:27.7).

Karlsson’s total time of 3:09:31.4 edged Niskanen by 33.2 seconds (3:10:04.6), with Tiril Weng third and Brennan fourth (3:11:13.5). American star Jessie Diggins was 11th.

● Ice Hockey ● Canada won its 20th title in the IIHF World Junior Championship, held in Halifax and Moncton (CAN) with a 3-2 overtime win against the Czech Republic.

The Canadians lost to the Czechs, 5-2, in pool play, but came back to beat Slovakia in the quarterfinals (4-3 in overtime), stomped the U.S., 6-2, in the semis and then taking a 2-0 lead in the final into the third period. However, the Czechs scored twice to tie it and send the game to overtime. Forward Dylan Guenther scored the game-winner at 6:22 of the overtime on a pass from forward Joshua Roy on a 2×1 break.

It’s the second consecutive World Junior title for the Canadians, with the Czechs winning their first medal in the event since 2005.

The U.S. ended up third after a wild, 8-7 overtime victory against Sweden that saw nine goals in the second period! Forward Chaz Lucius got the medal-winner at 2:06 of the overtime on a rebound off Swedish keeper Carl Lindbom.

Canada’s Conner Bedard was the scoring leader with 23 points (9+14) and the goals leader and was named Most Valuable Player.

● Luge ● The FIL World Cup tour was in Sigulda (LAT) for the first of two weeks of races, with the home team scoring wins in both men’s competitions.

Kristers Aparjods, the 2022 European Champs runner-up, won the men’s Singles in 1:35.228, just ahead of Max Langehan (GER: 1:35.481) and seasonal leader (and Beijing bronze medalist) Dominik Fischnaller (ITA: 1:35.495).

Martins Bots and Roberts Plume teamed up for the men’s Doubles win (1:22.42) for their second World Cup medal of the season, beating three-time Olympic champs Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany (1:22.798).

Latvia got a third win in the women’s Doubles – a new World Cup event this season – with Anda Upite and Sanija Ozolina taking their second medal of the season in 1:24.926. That was a clear winner over first-time medalists Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirby of the U.S. (1:25.138) and Germans Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (1:25.261).

The only event Latvia didn’t win was the women’s Singles, the second win of the season for Dajana Eitberger, the 2018 Olympic runner-up, who won in 1:22.999. However, Latvia’s Elina Ieva Votola was second (1:23.093, ahead of 2021 World Champion Julia Taubitz (GER: 1:23.143).

● Nordic Combined ● The FIS World Cup was back in action, in Otepaa (EST), jumping off a 97 m hill.

The two men’s races had a 10 km mass start race, with 2021 Large Hill World Champion Johannes Lamparter (AUT) winning his first gold of the season with 133.8 points – third in the cross-country race – to 124.1 for Ilkka Herola (FIN). The second event was a more conventional Gundersen-style race, with Germany’s Julian Schmid taking his third win of the season in 24:39.5 over Lamparter (24:41.1).

The first women’s event had to be canceled due to winds that made jumping impossible. On Sunday, Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen continued her stranglehold on the event, winning in 14:34.8 for her fifth time– without a loss – this season. German Natalie Armbruster finished second (15:01.4).

● Ski Jumping ● The finale of the 71st Four Hills Tournament in Bischofshofen (AUT) ended the way two of the first three did, with a win for Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud.

Granerud won the first two legs, then finished second to Pole Dawid Kubacki in Innsbruck (AUT), but came back to win on Friday, 313.4-305.5-303.7 over Anze Lanisek (SLO) and Kubacki.

Those three won 11 of the 12 medals in the Four Hills, with Granerud taking the title with 1,191.2 points to 1,158.2 for Kubacki and 1,129.0 for Lanisek. It’s a historic win for Granerud, the first Norwegian to win since Anders Jacobsen in 2006-07.

The women’s World Cup tour resumed in Sapporo (JPN), on a 137 m hill, with veteran stars claiming the golds. German Katharina Althaus, a two-time Olympic medal winner, took Saturday’s event at 263.8 points, ahead of Ema Klinec (SLO: 256.3) and seasonal leader Eva Pinkelnig (AUT: 249.7). On Sunday, it was Norway’s Silje Opseth with her third win of the season (232.1), with Klinec and Pinkelnig placing 2-3 once again, 227.3-225.7.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

MILLER TIME: A Paris Olympic Boycott Threat

David Miller

January 7, 2023

tsx pix 2021-808 paris 2024 flag on eiffel twr 750 — The Paris 2024 flag flying atop the Eiffel Tower in June 2021 (Photo: Paris 2024)

/It’s a pleasure to present this guest column by one of the most knowledgeable observers of the Olympic Movement, Britain’s David Miller. For more than 50 years, the former English footballer has covered the Olympic Games and the sports within it, including 15 years as the Chief Sports Correspondent of The Times of London, with stints at the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph. Author of books on athletics, football and the Olympics, he was Official Historian of the IOC from 1997-2018. His opinions are, of course, his own alone./

The renewed aspiration of the International Olympic Committee for maintaining ‘universality’ with ideological integration at the Paris Olympic Games 2024 – embracing drug-free athletes from Russia and Belarus uninvolved in Ukraine atrocities – could be spectacularly counter-productive. Evidence is accumulating that IOC imagined ethics will become not peaceful leadership but fatal cancer of Paris’s long-awaited third Games next year.

Aware that not only much of NATO – Ukraine themselves anxious candidates – but indeed world equilibrium is under threat from Putin’s demonic empire lust, Western nations are known to be considering a boycott of Paris rather than competing against an alien state. Fourteen effective neighbours of Ukraine were among the top 45 medal-winning nations at Tokyo’s suspended Summer Games of 2021. Their absence from Paris would be catastrophic: winners of a third of 900 medals at Tokyo.

“The plan to devise acceptable conditions for inclusion of Russian athletes is far too early, Ukraine’s allies indeed all of Europe, is wholly justified in their concern,” affirmed Gerhard Heiberg, veteran retired Norwegian IOC Member and industrialist who masterminded Lillehammer’s Winter Games of 1994; subsequently IOC financial director.

“More information is needed on Putin and his military leaders, still formidably aggressive. It is much too soon for leaders of the Olympic Council of Asia to be investigating possible loopholes for Russian integration. Yes, neighbours of Ukraine may well resort to boycott. The West should lie low for the moment and not venture in this false direction. Putin is obsessed with sporting triumph that Russia’s exclusion from Paris might force his hand in concluding rampant terrorism.”

The purported ‘Olympic Summit’ called by President Bach, on the contrived initiative by the Olympic Council of Asia to extend ‘investigation’ of IOC’s bureaucratic yet morally fraught compromise would make founder Pierre de Coubertin of France wince in his grave. Norway has conspicuously been the contemporary ethical flag of Olympism, seeking financial rationality of any Games, yet sadly self-destructed – through internal political confusion – when being the outstanding bid for the Winter Games of 2022, thereby opening the door for Beijing’s technically excellent but socially corrupt Chinese festival.

Alarm in Paris is on full alert. Alain Lunzenfichter, doyen Olympic commentator for French sports daily L’Equipe, is shrill in his condemnation. “The IOC’s attitude is not intellectual… it’s crazy, this plan would kill the Paris Games. Our ambition could instead become not the Olympic Games, but The War Games. The Olympics do not need Russia, not when we consider the horrors in Ukraine.” Lunzenfichter speaks for de Coubertin.

European wisdom is uniform. For the moment, Tony Estanguet, multiple canoe Olympic champion and maitre’d of the Paris 2024 festival, is holding his tongue, awaiting IOC reconsideration. Craig Reedie, chairman of the British Olympic Association for London’s third Games in 2012 – when Russia was hell bent on drug abuse – subsequently became head of World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA’s prolonged pursuit of Russia’s doping evils, added his disapproval for IOC ‘sanitation’, shortly before leaving for his winter retirement golfing holiday in California. “[President] Thomas [Bach] is well aware of my view on what is not a wise direction.” Several months ago, fellow IOC senior retiree from Canada, Dick Pound, emphasised this principle: that illegal nations are unwelcome. Thomas Bach’s initiatives for fundamental revision of the host city election process and introduction of new sports has been overdue and welcome: not so liaison with gangsters.

Following the World Wars, Germany and Austria were suspended from Antwerp’s Olympics of 1920, likewise Germany and Japan from London ’48. The symbol of Greece’s ancient wartime truce during a Games was admirable in an era of spears, not now with exploding drones and missiles. Beijing ’22, with Ukraine’s invasion imminent, exposed Putin as a lying criminal… hardly someone we need as an honourable sporting companion. One International Federation remains entrenched: World Athletics, led by Britain’s Sebastian Coe, rootedly excludes Russia/Belarus from any competition.

Comments are welcome here and or direct to David Miller here.

/David Miller’s biographical account of Thomas Bach’s presidency, ‘Igniting the Games’ is available from Pitch Publishing, £12.99/

TSX REPORT: New European host idea for 2030 Winter Games; Shiffrin stopped by race cancellation in Croatia; new California law could impact LA28

Rich Perelman

January 6, 2023

tsx pix 2019-404 long beach arena 750 (alanraywiki) — The famed "Planet Ocean" mural on the exterior of the Long Beach Arena (Photo: Alanraywiki via Wikimedia Commons)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Thanks to 13 generous donors, 35% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023 have been covered. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. A new, French-Swiss-Italian bid for 2030 Winter Games?
2. Shiffrin stalled as second Zagreb Slalom cancelled
3. California anti-oil bill could impact LA28 venues in Long Beach
4. Tokyo Olympic Stadium could see track removed after 2025
5. Winter Universiade in Lake Placid opens 12 January

A wild, late-blooming idea for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games has popped up from the Mont-Blanc region that includes France, Italy and Switzerland. The area has plenty of snow, lots of World Cup venues and even the original Winter Games site of Chamonix, France. But it will take a lot of fast work to get the International Olympic Committee to take it seriously, not to mention potential referendums in one or more of the regions. Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t get a chance to equal Lindsey Vonn’s career women’s record for World Cup wins as the second Zagreb Slalom was canceled due to weather. Shiffrin can try again on the seventh in Croatia. A new California law to cut oil production in the state could impact funding the City of Long Beach expected to use to fix up two LA28 venues, the Long Beach Pier (for sailing) and the Long Beach Arena (handball). But an initiative effort to reverse the bill in a 2024 election is also underway. The Tokyo Olympic Stadium is expected to eventually be leased out to a private operator, but the track could be removed after the 2025 World Athletics Championships and a government subsidy may still be required. The first World University Games to be held since 2019 will open on the 12th in Lake Placid, New York; the 30th Winter World University Games has 1,443 athlete registrations from 43 countries, getting ready to compete in 12 sports.

1.
A new, French-Swiss-Italian bid for 2030 Winter Games?

The Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported Wednesday on a bid concept – that’s all so far – for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games that would involve the Mont Blanc region, with France, Italy and Switzerland all involved.

As the International Olympic Committee is taking more time to consider the future of Winter Games bidding, it has postponed its selection timetable for the 2030 Winter Games past 2023, opening the door to new concepts.

The Espace Mont-Blanc is a tri-nation initiative that began in 1991 and includes the Savoie and Haute-Savoie regions of France, the Italian Aosta Valley and the Swiss Valais region. Together, they offer a formidable combination of winter-sport venues, including original Winter Games host Chamonix (1924) in France, many well-known skiing venues in the Aosta Valley and former Winter Games bidder Sion in Switzerland.

There would be a lot of work to be done quickly to get a viable bid ready for the IOC’s Future Host Commission to review in time for 2024 selection of the 2030 host. But the door might be open.

The four bidders expected to vie for 2030 all have issues. Spain’s bid for Barcelona and the Pyrenees imploded as the regional governments of Catalonia and Aragon could not agree on a division of the sports among venues in their areas. Vancouver’s bid was essentially closed when the Province of British Columbia refused to fund the Games, also foreclosing any national government support. Sapporo, host in 1972, is dealing with the blowback of the Tokyo 2020 sponsorship bribery and test-event big-rigging scandals and has been flagging public support.

Salt Lake City, host in 2002, is ready to go and requires no construction, but would follow the Los Angeles 2028 Games and domestic sponsorship marketing is a concern. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee would prefer to wait for 2034, with hopes for a stronger American economy.

In the Mont-Blanc region, how the bid would move forward is also problematic. France has the Paris 2024 Games coming up and all of the focus is there, not on a 2030 project. Italy has the next Winter Games in 2026 and domestic sponsorship marketing has already been a severe challenge that required a new chief executive to be installed. And in Switzerland, memories are still fresh of the 54-46% defeat of a 2018 referendum on what looked to be a winning candidature from Sion for 2026.

Such a concept works well with the IOC’s ideas for future bids, to use existing venues, especially those which already host World Cup events in their sports. Although a 2030 bid might not work – and a referendum will certainly be called in Valais – the region is well positioned for the future and could be a boost for winter-sport tourism in the Espace Mont-Blanc region.

2.
Shiffrin stalled as second Zagreb Slalom cancelled

Only nature can apparently stop American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin, as the second Slalom scheduled for Zagreb (CRO) on Thursday was canceled. The International Ski Federation tweeted:

“Due to high temperatures and wind, today’s race in Zagreb was cancelled”

Shiffrin has won five World Cup races in a row – also achieved in the 2017-18 season – and is just one short of the all-time women’s World Cup wins record of 82 by fellow American Lindsey Vonn. But there are more technical races to come over the next week:

● 07 Jan.: Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora (SVK)
● 08 Jan.: Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora (SVK)
● 10 Jan.: Slalom in Flachau (AUT)

Shiffrin is familiar with both sites, having scored wins in both. She won a Giant Slalom and a Slalom at Kranjska Gora in 2018 and has four wins in Flachau, in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021!

After Flachau, the World Cup will feature Downhill and Super-G racing at St. Anton (AUT) and Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA), before a Giant Slalom at Kronplatz (ITA) and a Giant Slalom and Slalom at Spindleruv Mlyn in Czechia before breaking for the Alpine World Championships in France from 6-18 February.

Shiffrin is also looking for a fifth overall World Cup title and is up, 975-586, over Slovakian star Petra Vlhova after 16 of 38 races. Only Austrian Marcel Hirscher (8), Annemarie Moser-Proell (AUT: 6) and Marc Giradelli (LUX: 5) have won five or more.

3.
California anti-oil bill could impact LA28 venues in Long Beach

The State of California adopted Senate Bill 1137, which went into effect on 1 January – maybe – and could have consequences for the City of Long Beach and two venues which are slated to host Olympic events in 2028.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that the bill, which is designed to reduce oil production within 1,066 yards (3,200 ft.) of homes immediately, will significant impact City of Long Beach oil revenues which go into a Tideland Operating Fund that supports projects close to the production sites.

This includes planned upgrades for the Long Beach Arena – slated to host handball – and the Long Beach Pier, the planned site for sailing. The story quoted City Manager Tom Modica, who explained that the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier – its formal name – will likely not be upgraded under a planned $100 million program, due to the lack of funds:

“‘We’re cutting costs now,’ Modica said. ‘It likely will be more of a cosmetics fix, with pier use the next step. This is a no-build Olympics, with no new facilities, so there’s no plan for investments from there [LA28].’”

As for the Arena and the surrounding Long Beach Convention Center, about $80 million in improvements were planned, including new seats. Modica noted, “The [Convention Center] air chillers are on their last legs. We pay the electricity bill there too. We might be able to find some grants for energy efficiency there.”

Neither venue should be impacted so badly that the Games could not be held there, but it’s another situation that was not foreseen when the 2028 Games plan was created. And while the Long Beach area is clearly the best for sailing, handball could easily be moved to the new Intuit Dome arena in Inglewood, now being built by the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, which is expected to open in 2024. That would be a loss for Long Beach.

The lack of Tideland Operating Fund resources will also impact the famed Belmont Plaza aquatic complex that was torn down in 2013, with a new project repeatedly stalled. Plans for a new swim center – quite important to the local community – were ready for approval, but the passage of SB 1137 is threatening the $119 million project. The pool was not part of the competition plan for 2028.

Long Beach had announced that it planned to end oil production in the city by 2035 and had been planning for the costs of closure. Now, however, it could face very significant costs in this decade. But: the effective date of SB 1137 is uncertain due to an initiative petition drive by the oil industry to place a statewide proposition on the March 2024 ballot that would overturn SB 1137.

4.
Tokyo Olympic Stadium could see track removed after 2025

The future of the new National Stadium in Tokyo is being discussed in a revised policy for private operation of the facility by the Japan Sports Agency.

Kyodo News reported:

“Previously planned for the second half of 2022, the agency now hopes to commence the privatization of the stadium from fiscal 2024 under a 30-year arrangement.”

Tokyo has been awarded the World Athletics Championships for 2025, but in the discussions with potential private operators, a change afterwards to remove the track and convert the facility to feature football and rugby is possible.

Further concern was noted about a continuing government subsidy on annual ground rent of ¥1.1 billion (~$8.25 million U.S.) and annual maintenance costs of ¥1.0 billion (~$7.50 million U.S.) that may not be covered by a private operator. The costs for the stadium in 2022 were ¥1.84 billion (about $13.79 million U.S.).

The facility was a central feature of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and replaced the National Stadium that hosted the 1964 Tokyo Games, as well as the 1991 IAAF World Championships.

5.
Winter Universiade in Lake Placid opens 12 January

The third World University Games to be held in the United States will open next Thursday in Lake Placid, New York, as the first Universiade to be held since 2019, thanks to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.

Originally expected to host about 2,500 athletes, the final registration totals announced by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) were 1,443 athletes from 595 universities in 43 countries. If confirmed, this would be the smallest athlete total at a Winter WUG since Turin (ITA) in 2003 (1,266). The largest delegations:

● 150: United States
● 139: Japan
● 121: Canada
● 94: Czech Republic
● 85: Korea

The sports program includes 86 events in 12 sports, and the competing athletes must be not less than 17 and not older than 25 years of age during 2023. Registrations showed 832 men and 611 women ready to compete. The biggest sports in terms of registrations were ice hockey (488), alpine skiing (194), cross-country skiing (161), snowboard (118) and short track skating (108).

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held in the Lake Placid Olympic Center’s Herb Brooks Arena, home to the “Miracle on Ice” victory for the U.S. over the USSR at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● Two-time Olympic champion Rosi Mittermaier (GER) passed away at 72 on 4 January 2023 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

A popular skier for 10 years on the FIS World Cup circuit, she claimed 10 victories – mostly in Slalom – and won the 1976 World Championships gold in the Combined.

But she gained everlasting fame with gold medals in the 1976 Olympic Downhill and Slalom, and a silver in the Giant Slalom.

She married fellow German skier Christian Neureuther in 1980, and the couple had two children: Felix (also a World Cup skier) and Ameli, a fashion designer.

● Athletics ● Sad news that Evelyn Lawler Lewis, the co-founder of the Willingboro Track Club with her late husband Bill, and the mother of stars Carl and Carol Lewis, passed away on Tuesday (3rd) at 93.

As Evelyn Lawler, she was a sprint star herself at Tuskegee Institute, winning the U.S. women’s title in the 80 m hurdles in 1950 and placing sixth at the inaugural Pan American Games in 1951. Son Carl, now the head coach at the University of Houston, tweeted Tuesday:

“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of our mother Evelyn L. Lewis’s passing this morning. She has received her wings and joined our father. She leaves a long-lasting memory and changed the world one student and athlete at a time.”

A stunning sanction totaling 36 years has been levied against Italian distance runner Alessandro Braconi, that will keep him ineligible until March of 2058!

Braconi was originally suspended for possession, use and trafficking offenses in April of 2016. But he violated the prohibition against participation while on suspension at the Lago Maggiore Half Marathon last May and was suspended for 12 years by the Athletics Integrity Unit and 24 more by the Italian national anti-doping agency. He can compete again when he’s 72.

● Cross Country Skiing ● The 17th Tour de Ski tour continues with Norway’s five-time Olympic gold medalist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo heading to the final stop in Val di Fiemme (ITA) having won all four men’s races so far.

After winning the Freestyle Sprint and 10 km Classical Pursuit in Val Mustair (SUI), Klaebo aced the two races in Obertsdorf (GER) with victories in the 10 km Classical and 20 km Freestyle Pursuit. In both cases, Norway scored 1-2 finishes with Simen Hegstad Krueger and Sindre Skar winning silvers. Didrik Toenseth of Norway completed a sweep in the 10 km Classical, but Italy’s Federico Pellegrino – a two-time Olympic Sprint silver winner – won his third medal of the Tour with a third in the 20 km Pursuit. He’s the only non-Norwegian to finish in the top three so far.

Klaeblo will try for the Tour de Ski sweep with a Classical Sprint, 15 km Classical Mass Start and 10 km Freestyle Mass Start Climb agenda ahead of him. He’s already won eight of the 14 races held this season.

The women’s Tour de Ski has been taken over by Swede Frida Karlsson, who won the two races in Obertsdorf and now has a 1:28 lead over prior leader Tiril Weng of Norway. Finnish star Krista Parmakoski – also a five-time Olympic medal winner – was second in both races, with Norwegians Anne Kalva third in the 10 km Classical and Weng third in the 20 km Freestyle Pursuit.

Rosie Brennan has been the top American in the women’s Tour de Ski, standing eighth, 2:36 behind Karlsson, with three legs remaining.

● Ice Hockey ● On the sidelines of the men’s World Junior Championship finishing up in Canada, International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) President Luc Tardif (FRA) spoke with reporters.

Beyond praising the strong attendance and competition in Halifax and Moncton, Tardif also spoke about the political issues in the sport. On Russia and Belarus, he explained:

“For us the most important thing is whether we can play in a safe environment. This tournament here was supposed to be played in Novosibirsk and Omsk [in Russia]. Was it possible to play this tournament in Novosibirsk, travel there, safety of the teams, officials, staff, media, fans, also safety for the Russian and Belarusian teams at IIHF events? Would it be possible to play the World Championship in St. Petersburg in May? It was not possible.

“We will re-evaluate the situation with Russia and Belarus every year at the Congress in May and whether we can have a tournament with Russia and Belarus in a safe environment. But I can’t say now what the outcome will be. The IIHF is a democratic institution. The IIHF Council will do a recommendation and the Congress will decide.”

He was more optimistic about having National Hockey League players in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy:

“Last time [in Beijing 2022] it was missed because of Covid, but we started the discussions. It seems that the NHL and NHLPA are more open to come. The IOC seems also more open to accommodate the needs.

“Last year it was really difficult to organize it, have the players travel there with all the Covid countermeasures, also have more players from Europe than expected there, but we found solutions with the European leagues and clubs. Having a decision with the NHL by spring 2024 would allow us to properly prepare for it. I’m optimistic but everybody has to do an effort to be there.”

● Ski Jumping ● The prestigious 71st Four Hills Tournament will not see a one-man sweep in 2022-23 as Poland’s 2019 World Champion, Dawid Kubacki, won the third leg in Innsbruck (AUT) on Wednesday over Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud, who took the first two legs in Germany.

Kubacki (1-2-0) and Granerud (2-1-0) have won medals in all three events so far, with the finale coming on the 6th in Bischofshofen (AUT) off a 142 m hill. Granerud is still the leader, 877.8 to 8.54.5 over Kubacki, with Anze Lanisek (SLO) – second and third in the last two events – standing in third with 823.5 points.

Kubacki won the Four Hills in 2019-20; Granerud is trying to be the first Norwegian champ since Anders Jacobsen in 2006-07!

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Shiffrin skis to fifth straight World Cup win; Ukraine points to bombed arena to keep Russia suspended; big-time T&F returning to L.A.?

Rich Perelman

January 5, 2023

tsx pix 2023-104 altair arena bombed (dmytro kuleba) — The bombed-out Altair Arena in the Donetsk region of Ukraine (Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Sponsored post: All about the RR Auction on now: An Athens 1896 medal in its original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals, ending 19 January ●

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Unstoppable: Shiffrin wins fifth straight, within one of Vonn
2. Ukrainian Foreign Minister invites Bach to see destroyed arena
3. USATF announces “LA Grand Prix” meets in May
4. U.S. Soccer investigating Berhalter “blackmail” threat
5. Pele laid to rest in Santos; Infantino calls for stadium namings

Four-time women’s World Cup champ Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. is on a tear, winning her fifth World Cup race in a row and moving to within one victory of fellow American Lindsey Vonn’s women’s career record of 82 World Cup wins. And Shiffrin has four more technical races coming over the next week, including a second Slalom in Zagreb, Croatia on Thursday! Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted a message to those considering a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete internationally once again: photos of a popular but now bombed-out ice arena in the Donetsk area, the fifth arena to be destroyed by Russian attacks during the war. USA Track & Field provided some details on a two-day “LA Grand Prix” meet at UCLA’s Drake Stadium on 26-27 May, with distance races on Friday and the rest of the meet on Saturday, echoing Al Franken’s famed Pepsi Invitational held there from 1978-87. An ugly situation is being investigated by U.S. Soccer, in which a decades-ago incident between now out-of-contract men’s National Team coach Gregg Berhalter and his then-girlfriend – and now wife of 25 years – was exposed to the federation’s senior management, causing Berhalter and his wife to describe it in detail in a Twitter post. The disclosure was apparently caused by the lack of playing time for midfielder Gio Reyna at the FIFA World Cup. Brazilian football legend Pele was laid to rest in Santos, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino calling all 211 member federations to name a stadium in their country in his honor.

1.
Unstoppable: Shiffrin wins fifth straight, within one of Vonn

American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin isn’t on a roll, she’s on a sleigh, winning her fifth straight Alpine World Cup race, a Slalom, in Zagreb (CRO) on Wednesday, taking the lead in the first run and never looking back.

She had a healthy 0.23-second lead after the first race and then extended her advantage with the fourth-fastest second run, finishing in 1:36.42 to 1:37.18 (+0.76) for Olympic champ Petra Vlhova (SVK) and 1:37.63 for Swede Anna Swenn Larsson. Said the winner:

“I’m really happy with how my skis felt in these conditions. I think that was the most exciting thing of the day, that I felt so good skiing when it’s a bit softer. …

“Nothing less than the best is going to work and I was taking all the risks I needed and then nailed it on the finish.”

The victory is Shiffrin’s seventh of the season and fifth in a row – now two Slaloms, two Giant Slaloms and a Super-G – with more technical races coming up:

● 05 Jan.: Slalom in Zagreb (CRO)
● 07 Jan.: Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora (SVK)
● 08 Jan.: Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora (SVK)
● 10 Jan.: Slalom in Flachau (AUT)

Shiffrin has been on a streak like this before – at many of the same sites – in the 2017-18 season, when she won eight races out of nine (and was third in the race she didn’t win) in December and January. She won five in a row then, too, in Oslo (NOR), Zagreb, Kranjska Gora and Flachau!

She now has 81 career World Cup wins, one behind fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the most all-time by a woman and just five behind Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time victory total of 86.

Shiffrin could make more history on Thursday.

2.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister invites Bach to see destroyed arena

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) has said again and again that while sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes must continue in view of the invasion of Ukraine, he would like to find a way to have some participation by athletes from those countries, perhaps those who do not support the war.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, referring to Bach’s comments, tweeted:

“I invite all sports officials who want to allow Russian athletes to compete in international events because, as they say, ‘politics should be kept out of sports’, to visit the Altair ice arena in Druzhkivka ruined by Russia’s ‘politically neutral’ shelling.”

On Instagram, he added:

“It was not just a sports facility, but one of the key arenas for the development of Ukrainian sports and the largest hockey and figure skating school in Ukraine. The only strikes that ever took place here were hockey bullies, until ‘politically neutral’ Russian bombs landed at the arena.”

An AIPS story from Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Klymenko quoted the Ukrainian ice hockey federation’s report:

“Since the beginning of the war, the Russian occupiers have already destroyed five ice stadiums: the Donetsk ‘Druzhba’, the arenas in Mariupol and Melitopol, the Ice Palace in Siverskodonetsk, and now ‘Altair’.”

There was only one positive note, from Oleksandra Pakhomova, the deputy head of the Druzhkivska city military administration:

“The ice arena guard was saved by the fact that he went outside to smoke. If he hadn’t gone out to smoke, the epicenter of the explosion would have fallen on his guardhouse.”

3.
USATF announces “LA Grand Prix” meets in May

Although already on the schedule, some of the details of two May track & field meets to be staged in Los Angeles were announced on Wednesday, with superstar coach Bobby Kersee helping to coordinate the program.

The “LA Grand Prix” will be staged at UCLA’s Drake Stadium on 26-27 May, with the USATF Distance Classic on Friday evening and the LA Grand Prix meet itself on Saturday from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Pacific time, to be shown live on NBC (4:30-6 p.m. Eastern).

The primary financial backer appears to be Internet Brands/WebMD Impact Fund, with USATF chief executive Max Siegel stating, “Partnering with Bob Brisco from Internet Brands and others, we’re viewing the LA meet as an incubator of exciting new approaches for engaging our athletes, fans, and communities. We’re back in LA to stay in a big way.”

Kersee is, of course, more than familiar with the 11,142-seat facility, having served as the UCLA women’s head coach from 1985-93 and for many years since as a UCLA assistant and more recently for his own training group, headlined by the iconic Allyson Felix. He currently coaches Olympic champions Athing Mu (800 m) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (400 m hurdles), among others.

A “USATF Legends Jam” is slated to follow at UCLA in the evening, with music and salutes to track & field stars of past and present.

The USATF Distance Classic has been held in the Los Angeles area since 2011, mostly at Occidental College, as a developmental meet and a setting to get qualifying marks for the national championships.

Staging a world-class invitational meet at Drake Stadium harkens back to some of the halcyon days of track & field in Los Angeles and the Pepsi Invitational staged by Al Franken beginning in 1978. Franken, who passed away at age 96 in December of 2021, was the driving force behind the Sunkist Invitational (Los Angeles) and Jack in the Box (San Diego) indoor meets and created the Pepsi meet at UCLA after a couple of tries at a meet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum had only tepid success.

The first Pepsi meet on 7 May 1978 drew 10,009 – close to a sell-out – and featured an American Record in the men’s triple jump by James Butts at 56-5 1/2 (17.20 m) and Patty van Wolvelaere in the women’s 100 m hurdles (13.21). The next year, Franken somehow arranged for the first U.S. appearance of double Olympic gold medalist Alberto Juantorena of Cuba, but high hurdles star Renaldo Nehemiah stole the show with a 13.00 world record. In 1983, American javelin star Tom Petranoff set a world mark of 327-2 (99.72 m) with the old-style implement. The meet ended with the 1987 edition.

The most recent high-profile, nationally-televised meet in the L.A. area was The Home Depot Invitational in 2003 and 2004 at what is now the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Adidas bought the meet in 2004 and continued it through 2007 as the Adidas Track Classic.

4.
U.S. Soccer investigating Berhalter “blackmail” threat

U.S. Soccer announced that it had commissioned an independent investigation of Men’s National Team Head Coach Gregg Berhalter following an 11 December incident which Berhalter – whose contract as coach has expired – explained on Twitter:

“During the World Cup, an individual contacted U.S. Soccer, saying that they had information about me that would ‘take me down’ – an apparent effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer.”

Berhalter further explained that, as an 18-year-old, after meeting his future wife Rosalind in 1991, they had an altercation that ended their relationship:

“One night, while out drinking at a local bar, Rosalind and I had a heated argument that continued outside. It became physical and I kicked her in the legs.”

Seven months later, they reconciled and eventually married and recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They jointly decided to detail the situation and are cooperating in the inquiry.

The federation statement included:

“Through this process, U.S. Soccer has learned about potential inappropriate behavior towards multiple members of our staff by individuals outside of our organization. We take such behavior seriously and have expanded our investigation to include those allegations.”

Multiple reports have cited Danielle Reyna, mother of current U.S. National Team midfielder Gio Reyna and wife of former U.S. star Claudio Reyna – as having contacted U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Earnie Stewart and informing him of the 1991 incident involving the Berhalters. Goal.com summed up the situation:

“What was once a World Cup feud about on-field friction has now become a tale of betrayal, friendship and, ultimately, heartbreak

“The Reyna family, one of the most beloved in American soccer, dug up 30 years of trauma and grief because U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter didn’t play their son enough at the World Cup.”

On Wednesday, U.S. Soccer named Men’s National Team assistant Anthony Hudson to lead the team’s January training camp. The U.S. men will play friendlies against Serbia on 25 January and Colombia on 28 January, both in the Los Angeles area.

U.S. Soccer stated that it will make the results of the investigation public once completed.

5.
Pele laid to rest in Santos; Infantino calls for stadium namings

The world’s greatest football player, Brazil’s Pele, was laid to rest in Santos in a private ceremony after thousands of people visited him for a final time at the Urbano Caldera Stadium, where he played for Santos FC, on Monday and Tuesday.

Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, passed at 82 on 29 December and was buried on the ninth floor of the Memorial Necropole Ecumenical, a 14-story vertical cemetery in Santos, with a clear view of the stadium from his final resting place.

The memorial service at the stadium was attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI); the FIFA report included:

“Gianni Infantino said that FIFA had asked each of the 211 Member Associations around the world to hold a minute’s silence at every game in Pele’s memory. He said he would also suggest that FIFA ask every MA to name at least one stadium in their country after Pele:

“I think the young people around the world, the future generations, have to know and remember who Pele was, and the happiness he gave the world.

“In 20, 30, 50, or 100 years’ time, when goals are scored in the Pele stadium in any country in the world, and people ask who he was, [they will hear] he was a great, great player who brought excitement to us all.”

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Errata ● Thanks to Tom Kelly of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games (and others, but Tom was first), who corrected a note in yesterday’s Lane One about the selection of a host for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games. In fact, the International Olympic Committee will not select a host in 2023, but likely now in 2024.

● Alpine Skiing ● Finally, a win for Norwegian star Henrik Kristoffersen in the FIS World Cup men’s Slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) on Wednesday.

Kristoffersen had been second in three straight races in late December, but got his first win of the season – and 29th of his career – in 1:48.37, ahead of Austria’s Manuel Feller (1:49.59) and France’s 2022 Olympic Slalom gold medalist Clement Noel (1:49.83).

Austrian star Matthias Mayer, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in the Downhill (2014) and Super-G (2018-22) suddenly announced his retirement last Thursday in Bormio (ITA) just prior to the World Cup Super-G race that ended the year’s schedule. He said:

“Last season was fantastic with the third Olympic gold medal and I have started well in the new season and I’m satisfied. But it’s enough.

“I’ve done my last course inspection today and that’s it. I don’t have that fire anymore. The sport is very important for the people and it should go on, but for me it’s OK.”

Mayer, 32, finishes with 11 World Cup wins and 45 World Cup medals over 13 seasons.

It’s the second announcement of a mid-season retirement as Beijing 2022 Olympic Downhill winner Beat Feuz (SUI) said he would close his career at 35 – after 14 World Cup seasons – following the racing in Wengen (SUI) on 13-14-15 January:

“Pushing limits and risk has been my passion in skiing for years. My emotion has often been the key to success. Now my feeling tells me: the physical limits have been reached.”

● Archery ● Montreal Olympic women’s gold medalist Luann Ryon of the U.S. passed away at age 69 on 30 December. She virtually came from nowhere to win the Pan American Games women’s gold in 1975 and then set an Olympic Record of 2,499 in the Double FITA Round (144 arrows) in 1976.

She won the FITA World Championships gold in 1977 as well and was a Team gold medalist at the 1983 Pan American Games, but did not get back to the Olympic Games a second time.

● Athletics ● Sad news from Turkey, as Nejat Kok, one of the world’s foremost track & field statisticians, passed away at 83 in Aydin in late December.

The President of the Turkish Athletics Federation in 1974-75, Kok was by trade a professor of civil engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, where he lived for much of his adult life.

His reputation as a statistician was so outstanding that he was recruited by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to come to Los Angeles for nine months in December 1983 to head up the first-of-its-kind biographical database for the 1984 Olympic Games. Kok and a small team produced detailed biographies for more than 2,400 of the highest-profile athletes that accredited media could retrieve themselves on AT&T’s Electronic Messaging System.

Kok contributed to his beloved sport of track & field as a journalist, technical advisor and especially as a statistician; he was an Executive Board member of the worldwide Association of Track & Field Statisticians for decades.

● Boxing ● A tragic death in Greece, of 16-year-old Vassilis Topalos, the European Junior Lightweight (60 kg) Champion in 2022, from injuries suffered during sparring and then from a fall in a nearby restroom.

Topalos was training at a gym in Tavros on 16 December, but felt sick, went to wash his face and then apparently fainted and fell to the floor, hitting his head again. He was taken to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery, but passed away on Monday (2nd).

As American fans watching NFL Football can attest, sports is not always safe.

Russian Umar Kremlev, the President of the International Boxing Association, has reinforced his status with the appointment of former Russian Abdulmutalim Abakarov as a Vice President of the federation.

Under the new IBA Constitution passed at the recent Congress, the IBA President may appoint up to four Vice Presidents, who will not have the status of a Director. Abakarov, 49, was a Vice President of the Russian Boxing Federation from 2011-17, but became a Serbian citizen and the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Serbian Boxing Federation in 2021.

He is listed as having been sanctioned by Ukraine since May of 2021, relating to the Russian invasion.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

MEMORABILIA: Athens 1896 medal in original box, 38 Olympic torches and 40 Olympic medals on auction, ending 19 January

Rich Perelman

January 4, 2023

tsx pix 2023-103 rr auction athens 1896 medal — A rare Athens 1896 second-place medal on offer in RR Auction's Olympic Memorabilia program, through 19 January.

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

A sponsored post by RR Auction.

It’s not every day that you have a medal from the first modern Olympic Games, an Olympic Torch from the very first torch relay and both from the most recent Olympic Games all available at the same time, but that’s only part of an impressive, 395-lot offering by RR Auction of Amherst, New Hampshire that will end on 19 January.

It’s the company’s biggest auction yet, with an original, second-place medal from the 1896 Athens Games the featured lot:

“The front depicts a relief portrait of Zeus holding Nike, the goddess of Victory, in the palm of his hand, with text along left side, ‘Olympia’; the reverse bears a detailed view of the Acropolis of Athens topped by the Parthenon, with raised Greek characters to upper and lower portion (translated), ‘International Olympic Games in Athens, 1896.’ Stamped ‘Bronze’ on the edge. Complete with its original case lined in deep red velvet.”

Only the first and second-place winners received medals in Athens in 1896, with the victors awarded a silver medal and bronze for the runners-up. The condition is amazingly good after 126 years, including the original box. It’s expected to bring $70,000.

Five medals from Paris 1900 are on offer, as well as medals from the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, Stockholm 1912, Paris 1924, Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, London 1948, Melbourne and Stockholm 1956, Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Beijing 2008, and Tokyo 2020.

The 2020 Tokyo gold came from Cuban superstar boxer Roniel Iglesias, who won the men’s Welterweight class. The entire awards package is included: medal, ribbon, wooden presentation case and the framed diploma documenting his victory. It was Iglesias’ second Olympic gold – he won the Light Welterweight Class in London in 2012 – and is expected to bring $50,000 or more.

Cuban boxing star Roniel Iglesias’ Tokyo 2020 gold medal, now on auction through 19 January.

Two exceptionally rare Winter Games medals are being offered, both expected to bring $40,000 or more: a gold from the 1952 Oslo Games – one of just 48 made – and a massive Turin 2006 gold, weighing 1.05 pounds and in its original display case.

The medals are not the only big-ticket items in the catalog, with eight Olympic torches expected to sell for $10,000 or more. At the top of the list is an Albertville 1992 Winter Games Torch, hard to find and expected to bring $50,000+. A torch from the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games – in excellent condition – is expected to bring $30,000, and a Sapporo 1972 model is estimated to sell for $25,000 or more.

There are torches with expected sale prices as low as $1,000, for those who want to get a collection started, and a Berlin 1936 torch – from the first Olympic Torch Relay – is offered with an expected sale price of $5,000.

Auctions of this type always include at least one lot of hard-to-find badges that used to be used as credentials before the modern accreditation badge was introduced. A set of 10 badges from the Tokyo 1964 Games, including Competitor, N.O.C., Press, Photo-Film, Radio-TV, Technical Official and so on are available, including the original presentation boxes, and expected to go for $10,000 or more.

For those new to Olympic memorabilia, one of the best ways to start is with the “participation medals’ which are given to all of the competitors at the Games as a souvenir of their achievement. These go back to the beginning of the modern Olympic Movement and the auction includes a large selection going all the way back to 1896! Some have opening bid prices as low as $100. A huge lot of 20 participation medals from every summer Games from 1936 to 2016 is available, with an expected sale price of more than $6,000.

The most unusual lot? It might be no. 6117, the actual competition swim trunks worn by then-16-year-old Greg Louganis of the U.S. in Montreal in 1976, on his way to the 10 m Platform Diving silver (size 30 by the way). The minimum bid is $200, but it’s expected to sell for $1,000 or more.

Or perhaps a 1984 U.S. Olympic Team ring from field hockey goalkeeper Diane Moyer, already receiving a $200 bid, but expected to sell for $500 or more.

RR Auction chief executive Bobby Eaton noted, “RR Auction is proud to open 2023 with our biggest Olympic auction yet!

“A number of scarce and sought-after Winter Olympic relay torches are featured as well, including those from Cortina 1956, Innsbruck 1976, Lake Placid 1980, Calgary 1988, and Albertville 1992—all of which are quite difficult to find in the marketplace. These key pieces are bolstered by an unprecedented variety of Olympic ephemera, IOC badges and pins, participation medals, and souvenirs from the Games.”

The auction began on 22 December, with many bids already recorded, and will continue to Thursday, 19 January 2023. The auction catalog and additional details are here.

A sponsored post by RR Auction.

For information about advertising and sponsored posts, please contact us here.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here.

LANE ONE: The top stories in 2023 II: Will Salt Lake City get 2030? Which sports for LA28? And then there is Russia …

Rich Perelman

January 4, 2023

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ We need your help. Nine donors have covered 17% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

Our exclusive, updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond is now available – by date and by sport – by clicking here!

The top half of our list of the – projected – biggest stories for 2023, following nos. 10-6 from Tuesday, with the International Olympic Committee right in the middle of the action:

5.
Is the 2030 Winter Games coming to Salt Lake City? Sapporo?

/Updated/The International Olympic Committee’s new, discussion-based process for choosing future host cities for the Olympic and Winter Games is not designed to run on a strict timetable. That was underlined in 2022.

By this point, one candidate was expected to have been identified for “targeted dialogue” to be selected as the 2030 Winter Games host. But that didn’t happen.

Instead, the IOC’s Future Host Commission for the Winter Games wanted to consider a possible future rotation of cities which appear to be offer consistent, dependable snow for competitions amidst continuing climate concerns. Further, the four contenders for the 2030 Games all took steps back in 2022.

The Spanish bid for Barcelona and the Pyrenees collapsed due to infighting between the regions of Aragon and Catalonia. Vancouver’s bid imploded when the Province of British Columbia said it would not fund the Games, also foreclosing national government funding support.

Sapporo, which hosted the Games in 1972 and held the track & field endurance events for the Tokyo Games in 2021, suffered from only modest public support, a moving budget and now a series of sponsorship and bid-rigging scandals from the Tokyo Games that is further eroding support. Local officials are talking about a referendum on the bid.

That leaves 2002 host Salt Lake City, with a detailed budget and a venue and village plan that requires no construction at all. And while the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games enjoys overwhelming support from the local community, the state of Utah and local and regional governments, it has a potential difficulty in domestic sponsorship sales due to the proximity of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has stated that, if possible, a Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2034 would be best, but that 2030 could work. The locals are ready to go for 2030.

The IOC is not targeting a decision at the 140th IOC Session in Mumbai (IND), so the story will continue into 2024. If the decision had to be made today, Salt Lake City offers the best option for success.

(Thanks to Tom Kelly of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games for a reminder of the IOC’s change of schedule from December.)

4.
Which sports will join the LA28 program
(and who will be left out)?

The IOC shocked many in the Olympic world with the confirmation last February that boxing, modern pentathlon and weightlifting were off the Los Angeles 2028 sports program, and that surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding were in.

For the rest of 2022, the turmoil within the International Boxing Association, Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne and the International Weightlifting Federation was almost non-stop, as all three tried to get back in.

The IOC has said that the final decision on the LA28 sports program will be made at the IOC Session in Mumbai (IND) in September or October, with a prior recommendation by the IOC Executive Board in the summer.

Boxing appears to be on the way out for 2028 altogether (more on this below), while comments from IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell (NZL) concerning weightlifting have been quite positive since its elections in June.

The modern pentathlon situation is confused. The UIPM decided to replace equestrian (jumping) with obstacle-course racing, changing modern Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin’s original formula for the sport, which debuted in 1912. An activist athlete group – Pentathlon United – which includes Tokyo 2020 men’s champion Joe Choong (GBR) has been fighting tooth and nail to retain riding, but with significant changes in the way the discipline is handled.

McConnell has stated that when considering modern pentathlon for 2028, not only will be the UIPM’s proposal be reviewed, but also the civil war inside the sport. It could be in, it could be out, or a third way could be considered, perhaps funding the federation as if it were in LA28 (to allow world championships to continue), but with a mandate to resolve all of its differences with its athlete base by 2026 in order to be considered for 2032.

That does not account for any added sports that the LA28 organizers would like to add. The organizing committee and the IOC’s Olympic Program Commission have been opaque about their discussions, but nine sports have been reported as under consideration: baseball and softball, breaking, cricket, flag football, karate, kickboxing, lacrosse, motorsport and squash.

These too will be considered this year, with the selections (if any) to be approved by the IOC Session in Mumbai in the fall.

Not to be overlooked: the IOC is committed to a hard cap of 10,500 athletes for Paris 2024, LA28 and beyond. Any sports that come into the program now – already at 28 sports – will impact the number of athletes in all the sports.

3.
Boxing’s Olympic future

What used to be known as AIBA – the international federation for boxing – got into a lot of trouble under former President C.K. Wu of Chinese Taipei. Bad organizational and financial decisions led to corruption, major governance failures and debts of at least $16 million.

The federation got rid of Wu in 2017, then got lost in an aimless series of interim officers and elections that finally saw Russian Boxing Federation Secretary General Umar Kremlev elected in December 2020 to finish a term that would end in 2022. Things changed quickly.

The federation name was changed to the International Boxing Association (IBA). Kremlev turned to Russian energy giant Gazprom and got $50 million over two years to clean up the debt and commissioned McLaren Global Sport Solutions to document who did what to get the federation into so many problems. A series of governance reforms were recommended and instituted, overseen by an independent group of experts.

But Kremlev’s actions also raised new concerns at the IOC. The reliance on Gazprom as essentially a sole sponsor indicated sustainability issues for the federation. Kremlev announced that Russian and Belarusian fighters would be able to compete with national uniforms, flags and anthems, in contravention of the IOC’s request to ban them. Kremlev was elected in the fourth round of voting in 2020, but in the campaign for a full term in May 2022, his opponent – Dutch Boxing Federation chief Boris van der Vorst – was declared ineligible, along with several Board candidates, a day prior to the scheduled vote.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport held that van der Vorst should not have been disqualified and another electoral Congress was held last September, with the majority elected not to have another election and confirming Kremlev in place for a full term.

Letters from the IOC asking more questions were dismissed by Kremlev, who said of the IOC’s concerns in December, “I think it’s only P.R. for the mass media.”

All of this was too much for the IOC. On 23 December, it issued a statement that included:

“The recent IBA Congress has shown once more that IBA has no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers, but is only interested in its own power. … The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may – after these latest developments – have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

All the indications point to boxing being excluded from Paris 2024; boxing has been a part of the Games continuously since 1920. There is a possibility of a challenger federation being organized, but at this point, the IOC seems ready to simply exclude the sport.

If so, it’s unlikely that the IOC’s issues with the IBA would be settled by the fall and boxing would then be likely to be skipped in 2028 as well.

Maybe that’s what Kremlev has in mind anyway, as he recently made an agreement with the World Boxing Association (WBA) to create a joint pathway to professional boxing. In that case, a new Olympic-focused boxing federation could emerge, despite Kremlev’s insistence that the IBA is the owner of worldwide amateur boxing.

2.
The Valieva doping case and the last Beijing medal ceremony

The story of Russian teen figure-skating star Kamila Valieva and her doping positive from Christmas Day 2021 is well known. But what happens next is unknown.

There were 109 events at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and medal ceremonies were held for 108. Only the Team Event in figure skating – in which Valieva won the women’s Short Program and Free Skate and Russia won the competition – remains open.

The World Anti-Doping Agency removed, under its authority in the World Anti-Doping Code, the hearing on Valieva’s doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November, after losing patience with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, which said it had completed its inquiry into the matter last September.

Valieva’s hearing will begin with the presumption that she has been cleared of doping by RUSADA, with WADA trying to prove otherwise. This is going to take a while.

In the meantime, the skaters from the U.S., Japan and Canada – placed 2-3-4 in Beijing – are waiting and waiting and waiting. If Valieva’s 2021 positive for trimetazidine, a prohibited hormone modulator, is upheld, the U.S. will advance to the gold medal, with Japan getting silver and Canada the bronze. If not, Russia will remain the winners, with the U.S. second.

So everyone is still waiting. The Russians have been clear that they prefer to have as little notice or publicity about the hearing as possible. But the result will eventually be announced and then the question is about the medal ceremony.

One ceremony? Three separate ones? Our idea: bring them to Paris 2024 and let the medalists be decorated in front of live fans – largely absent in Beijing – and enjoy the atmosphere that only an Olympic Games can bring.

1.
Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on, and so does its sports isolation

Just as the no. 1 story in international sport in 2022 was Russia, so it will be the story in 2023 and as long as its war against Ukraine continues.

IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) said in his year-end message:

“Only three days after the Closing Ceremony of Beijing, Russia invaded Ukraine in a blatant violation of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter.

“The IOC immediately condemned the war and sanctioned the Russian and Belarusian states and governments in an unprecedented way. These sanctions include:

“● No international sports events being organised or supported in Russia or Belarus.

“● No national symbols whatsoever of these countries being displayed at any sports event or meeting.

“These sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments must and will remain firmly in place. …

“On the other hand, following the outbreak of the war, many athletes, National Olympic Committees, International Federations and the IOC were exposed to political pressure and interference. Some governments started to decide which athletes would be allowed to participate in international sport competitions – and which athletes would not.

“This is why, in addition to the sanctions, we had to take protective measures to ensure the integrity of international sport competitions. This led the IOC to act against our mission to unify the entire world in peaceful competition, since we had to prohibit athletes from participation because of their passport only.”

Nothing is going to happen. Russian officials have protested mightily, but with qualifying events for Paris 2024 coming up soon, there is also some resignation that Russian athletes may be few – or none – in Paris, so long as the invasion of Ukraine continues.

Bach has floated the idea that perhaps a pathway back might be available for Russian and Belarusian athletes who are not in support of the war, but in fact any such declaration would put them at risk of their personal safety in their home countries.

In fact, the Ukrainian legislature adopted a measure in December calling for sanctions against 55 Russian athletes and sports officials who have supported the war, including Valieva.

And Russia has not only called for a new international sports organization to rival the IOC, it also took extraordinary measures against two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist Brittney Griner of the U.S., imprisoning her on an overstated drugs issue from mid-February into December.

Russia isn’t going away and the future of the war in Ukraine is impossible to predict, other than the certainty of more senseless bloodshed. We can hope that in 2023, the conflict will end, but until it does, an unrepentant Russia and its continuing sports isolation will be the top story in international sports.

It’s going to be quite a year.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: The top stories in 2023 I: Track’s future in the U.S.; catalyst events in cycling, football and running; the USOPC to be examined

Rich Perelman

January 3, 2023

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ We need your help. Nine donors have covered 17% of our technical expenses for the first half of 2023. Please consider a donation. Thank you in advance. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

Our exclusive, updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond is now available – by date and by sport – by clicking here!

It’s 2023 and the coronavirus has become – in many places – something to be lived with instead of hidden from, so look for fans to come back and competitions to heat up as the qualifying process begins for Paris in 2024. A look ahead at stories to look for this year:

10.
Can USA Track & Field expand the sport’s U.S. fanbase?

The World Athletics Championships in Eugene have come and gone. Now the comments from USA Track & Field chief executive Max Siegel at a pre-Worlds news conference have center stage. Wrote Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times back on 18 July:

“USA Track & Field will begin a circuit of meets in five U.S. cities next summer [2023] that its chief executive, Max Siegel, likened to the Diamond League in the quality of its international fields. Los Angeles will host one meet, Siegel said, adding a desire to reach fans particularly in hotbeds such as Florida, Texas and California.

“The series is part of a strategic plan formed by USATF and backed by World Athletics to take advantage of what it has called a critical six-year window in hopes of making track and field the country’s fifth-most-followed sport by the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“‘Whether you think we’re crazy or not,’ Siegel said, ‘it gives us something to shoot for in terms of how they measure where track and field is in the ecosystem.’ …

“Siegel spoke cautiously that it can take years and capital to build awareness and promotion. In hopes of avoiding the fate of other domestic-meet circuits that have fizzled entirely or failed to reach relevancy, he said the new version would take pre-existing events with built-in fanbases and create a ‘festival-type atmosphere’ around them, perhaps including a road race, to tap into its largest possible audience of casual runners.”

USATF released its 2023 meet schedule on 1 December, explaining:

“As a part of the Journey to Gold, USATF will introduce the Grand Prix Series of elite gold-label events. Fans will not only get to see exciting competition from the best athletes in the world, but they will also have the opportunity to participate and engage in the sport in various events during this multi-day series. The goal is to shine a spotlight on USATF athletes, brand, sport, and culture globally.”

The schedule includes the U.S. indoor national championships in Albuquerque in mid-February and the outdoor nationals in Eugene in early July. The other meets:

● 28 Jan.: Indoor/Dr. Sander Invitational (New York)
● 04 Feb.: Indoor/New Balance Grand Prix (Boston)
● 11 Feb.: Indoor/Millrose Games (New York)

● 21 May: Outdoor/Bermuda Grand Prix (Devonshire)
● 26 May: Outdoor/Distance Classic (Los Angeles)
● 27 May: Outdoor/LA Grand Prix (Los Angeles)
● 24 Jun.: Outdoor/NYC Grand Prix (New York)

The outdoor schedule also includes a throws festival at a date to be determined in Tucson, Arizona; the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene will be the Diamond League Final for 2023, to be held on 16-17 September.

All of these meets have been held before, in some form. Will this be the start of a U.S. revival of the sport as a spectator magnet? Or more of the same?

9.
Will the new mega-events in cycling and running pay off?

Is bigger better? Two federations will find out in 2023 as the Union Cycliste Internationale and World Athletics created new events that could be catalysts for their sports … or expensive duds.

The UCI is bringing together all eight of its disciplines into a massive, new, 11-day celebration of cycling to be held in Glasgow (GBR) from 3-13 August:

● BMX Freestyle
● BMX Racing
● Gran Fondo
● Indoor Cycling
● Mountain Biking
● Road Cycling (including Para)
● Track Cycling (including Para)
● Trials

The World Road Championships have been enormously popular and now the program will include 190+ World Champions in all, with 2,600 competitors in all, not to mention as many as 8,000 in mass participation events.

The budget is anticipated at ₤45 million-plus (~$54.2 million U.S.), with direct financial support from the Scottish Government, the Glasgow City Council and UK Sport. Lots and lots of visitors are expected.

World Athletics is putting together a small project, a two-day program in Riga (LAT), the first World Road Running Championships with six events:

● 30 Sep.: Road Mile for men and women
● 30 Sep.: 5 km for men and women
● 01 Oct.: Half Marathon for men and women

In addition to the elite competition, public participation will be available in all of the events, with modest entry fees from €9 for the mile to €79 for the half (~$9.60 to $84 U.S.).

Tens of thousands of runners are expected to contest the public events from as many as 100 countries. Two ministries of the Latvian government, the City of Riga and the Riga Marathon organizers are all involved in the project.

Both the UCI and World Athletics have potential blockbuster events here, but their success is hardly assured. Their success or failure will be one of the key results for both sports in 2023.

8.
FIFA Women’s World Cup comes to Australia and New Zealand

The 2019 Women’s World Cup in France was a huge success and established the tournament as a stand-alone mega-event and the flagship of FIFA’s women’s development efforts. Now comes the 2023 edition – from 20 July to 20 August – with the U.S. women trying for a third straight World Cup title.

The 2019 Women’s World Cup drew 1.13 million live spectators and the television audience reached 1.12 billion worldwide and the hope is for much more in 2023. The tournament has expanded from 24 to 32 teams, same as the men in 2022 in Qatar, with 64 total matches.

The qualifying is almost complete, with three positions still to be decided in playoffs. The eight groups are headed by hosts Australia and New Zealand, plus the top six-ranked teams in the world: the U.S., Sweden, Germany, England, France and Spain. Crucially for the worldwide television audience, China has qualified and will play in Group D.

Will the tournament be an even bigger success than 2019, continuing to propel FIFA’s women’s program forward? Everyone expects so, especially given the wild popularity of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. But while the time zones will be difficult, the football should be great.

7.
Who will be the world-record setters of 2023?

Beyond the questions of politics and money are the competitions and who will be the stars of the year. The new stars that no one knows about yet will be discovered, but there are some old friends who are out for more glory.

In athletics, you have to start with the athletes of the year in 2022 – Swedish vaulter Mondo Duplantis and American 400 m hurdles star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, both of whom set world marks at the World Championships in Eugene last year at 6.21 m (20-4 1/2) and 50.68, the first time a woman broke 51 seconds in the event.

Duplantis can clearly go higher and based on some of his clearances, is 21 feet (6.40 m) a possibility?

McLaughlin-Levrone has taken the women’s 400 m hurdles to a place no one has ever been, so does she stay with the event, or perhaps take a shot at the flat 400 m, in which the world mark was set by East German Marita Koch at an unbelievable 47.60 from way back in 1985. Since then, the closest was 48.14 from Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) in 2019. McLaughlin-Levrone ran the anchor on the women’s 4×400 m at the Worlds in Eugene, timed in 47.91 (with a running start). This could be epic.

American sprint star Noah Lyles moved to no. 3 on the all-time list in the men’s 200 m, winning the Worlds in 19.31. Is Usain Bolt’s 19.19 standard from 2009 in jeopardy?

In swimming, the 2022 season was a little strange, with a re-scheduled World Championships in Budapest (HUN) in June, followed by the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (ENG) in July and then the European Championships in Rome in August, with athletes making choices about which, if any, they would contest.

In 2023, the World Championships in Fukuoka (JPN) will be the focus, from 14-30 July. Once again, American Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky will duel with Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, the women’s 400 m Freestyle Olympic champ and now, world-record holder at 3:56.40 from last May. Titmus won the Tokyo 200 m and 400 m Frees, with Ledecky winning the 800 m and 1,500 m Frees. Both will be challenged by Canadian teen star Summer McIntosh, 16, who won the 200 m Butterfly and 400 m Medley at the 2022 Worlds and was the runner-up to Ledecky in the Worlds 400 m Free and to Titmus in the Commonwealth Games 400 m Free.

One of the stories of the Budapest Worlds was American star Caeleb Dressel, the five-time Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, who won Worlds golds in the men’s 50 m Fly and the men’s 4×100 m Freestyle, then contested the men’s 100 m Free heats before withdrawing from the meet.

Will he come back in 2023? When? And while he was the Tokyo men’s 100 m Free gold winner, he will now face a new challenge from Romanian David Popovici, 18, who won the Worlds gold in the 100 and 200 m Frees in Budapest and then set the world record at 46.86 at the European Championships.

And then there is American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin, who has now won 80 career Alpine World Cup races, two behind Lindsey Vonn (USA: 82) on the all-time list and within striking distance of Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time record of 86!

6.
Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics & Paralympics starts up

The Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020 formed the Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics & Paralympics, a 16-member panel asked to review the structure, diversity, finances, goals and more, with subpoena power.

The initial bill had no funding attached and it took months to finally get an appropriation through, but that was settled in 2022 and the Commission has been sworn in and is getting to work. The members:

● Olympians (7): John Dane (sailing); Benita Fitzgerald Mosley (track & field); Nancy Hogshead Makar (swimming); Edwin Moses (track and field); Brittney Reese (track and field); Jordyn Wieber (gymnastics); Han Xiao (table tennis);

● Paralympians (3): Patty Cisneros Prevo (Para basketball); Karin Korb (Para tennis); Melissa Stockwell (Para swimming and triathlon);

● Others (6): Robert Cohen (USOPC Foundation Board of Directors); Mitch Daniels (Purdue University President); Bill Hybl (U.S. Olympic Endowment Chair and President Emeritus of USOPC); Dionne Koller (University of Baltimore law professor); Rob Mullens (University of Oregon Director of Athletics); and Joe Schmitz (former Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Defense).

At least one hearing is required by the statute; Koller and Xiao are the Commission co-chairs and will be responsible for guiding what could be a contentious discussion among members whose backgrounds include former USOPC Board members and staff members, and all-out critics of the organization.

Expect a significant look by the Commission at the activities of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which receives $20 million in funding annually from the USOPC, and has been criticized as ineffective by some.

At the USOPC, Gene Sykes takes over as the Chair of the Board of Directors. A partner in the Goldman Sachs investment firm, Sykes earned high marks as the chief executive of the Los Angeles 2024 Olympic bid committee that ended up winning the right to host the 2028 Olympic Games. He will have his hands full right away, continuing with the USOPC’s reform initiatives, but also trying to figure out how to raise more money for an organization that has plenty of National Governing Bodies asking for additional support.

Coming tomorrow: the top five stories we’re looking for in 2023 will be familiar, with a lot of the unfinished business of 2022 that needs to be settled.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Shiffrin making Alpine World Cup history; Bach says no sanctions change; Russia continues IOC criticism

Rich Perelman

January 2, 2023

tsx pix 2019-105 shiffrin, mikaela news conf 750 — American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Shiffrin’s Semmering sweep leaves her two short of Vonn
2. Bach confirms Russian sanctions must stay in place
3. Russia continues criticism of IOC; gymnastics fed likes Asiad idea
4. India will use upcoming IOC Session to showcase a 2036 bid
5. Brazil declares three days of mourning for Pele

American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin is making history again, winning four straight FIS Alpine World Cup races in a row, taking a commanding lead in the seasonal standings, but also on the verge of becoming the winningest World Cup racer in history … men or women! It could happen this season. In his year-end message, International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) confirmed no movement on sanctions for Russia and Belarus. A lengthy comment from the Russian news agency TASS strongly criticized the IOC for keeping Russian athletes out of competition, insisting that its “numerous statements concerning the suspension of Russia were dotted with contradictions and double standards.” India will host the annual meeting of the IOC late in 2023 and is readying a major push for the 2036 Olympic Games, possibly in the state of Gujarat in western India, with Ahmedabad as the center. A presidential proclamation called for three days of mourning for Brazil’s beloved football hero Pele, who died at 82 last week. He will be remembered with services on Monday and Tuesday at the stadium where he played for Santos FC for 19 seasons from 1956-74.

Our exclusive, updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond is now available – by date and by sport – by clicking here!

1.
Shiffrin’s Semmering sweep leaves her two short of Vonn

American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin had a mixed start to 2022, winning the World Cup overall title, but no Olympic medals in Beijing, but she ended it with a roar.

With four straight wins at the end of the year – in a Super-G, two Giant Slaloms and a Slalom, with the last three in Semmering (AUT) – she not only is streaking away from the pack on the way to a possible fifth World Cup overall title, she also is closing in on the most wins in World Cup history.

Still just 27, Shiffrin now has 80 career victories, including 50 in Slalom, 16 in Giant Slalom, five Super-Gs, three Downhills and six in other formats. That puts her no. 3 all-time:

● 1. 86, Ingemar Stenmark (SWE: 1973-89)
● 2. 82, Lindsey Vonn (USA: 2001-19)
● 3. 80, Mikaela Shiffrin (USA: 2012-present)

There are 24 more races to go this season, including the next five in Slalom and Giant Slalom, her best events:

● 04-05 Jan.: Slalom x 2 in Zagreb (CRO)
● 07-08 Jan.: Giant Slalom x 2 in Kranjska Gora (SLO)
● 10 Jan.: Slalom in Flachau (AUT)

Shiffrin had a run like this before, in the 2017-18 season, winning eight races in 22 days, including victories at Zagreb, Kranjska Gora and Flachau; she won 12 races that season, and 17 the next.

This is Shiffrin’s 12th season on the World Cup tour, beginning in 2011-12, and she could take over the wins record quickly compared to the 19 seasons for Vonn and 17 for Stenmark. That’s incredible.

Moreover, Shiffrin is on target for the all-time record for most career World Cup medals, possibly next season:

● 1. 155, Stenmark
● 2. 138, Marcel Hirscher (AUT: 2007-19)
● 3. 137, Vonn
● 4. 127, Shiffrin

Shiffrin owns four overall World Cup titles and is now ahead in her race for a fifth, 875-506, over Slovakian Slalom star Petra Vlhova, who won that title in 2020-21. A fifth for Shiffrin would move her to no. 2 on the women’s all-time list behind Austrian star Annemarie Moser-Proell (1969-80), who won six. The all-time mark is eight for Hirscher, trailed by Marc Giradelli (LUX: 1980-96), who won five.

We’re seeing history here. Stenmark retired at 33, Vonn at 34, Giradelli at 33, Hirscher at 30, Moser-Proell at 27, the same as Shiffrin is now. She could – barring injury – set records that will stand for a long time.

2.
Bach confirms Russian sanctions must stay in place

Just to avoid any doubt at all, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) said in his year-end message that no change in the sanctions against Russia and Belarus are coming any time soon:

“Only three days after the Closing Ceremony of Beijing, Russia invaded Ukraine in a blatant violation of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter.

“The IOC immediately condemned the war and sanctioned the Russian and Belarusian states and governments in an unprecedented way. These sanctions include:

“● No international sports events being organised or supported in Russia or Belarus.

“● No national symbols whatsoever of these countries being displayed at any sports event or meeting.

“These sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments must and will remain firmly in place. …

Bach called 2022 “an Olympic year that was as successful as it was turbulent,” and also noted the success of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, the coming qualifying competitions for Paris 2024 and the new, Olympic Esports Week coming in Singapore in June.

3.
Russia continues criticism of IOC; gymnastics fed likes Asiad idea

“The outgoing year saw Russian sports ending up caught between the grinding wheels of the geopolitical standoff with the West.

“Starting in March, national pro athletes were consistently deprived of their right to participate in international tournaments, and no one was spared, not even the top stars of the sports world. The Olympic Movement has throttled their careers while turning a blind eye to its own declarations on the inadmissibility of discrimination based on nationality.”

That’s the opening of a long commentary from the Russian TASS news agency, which reviewed the difficult year for Russian athletes, removed from international competition following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The comment also had some other, interesting points:

● “Russia’s executive sports management has no plans of pursuing a policy of isolation or to publicly boycott the Olympic Games.”

● “The owner of the rights to the Olympic Games [IOC] is in control of the majority of sports federations and they risk ceasing to exist without its financial support.”

● “While carrying on a balancing act between promoting Olympic values and gaining commercial benefits, the IOC came up with an original interpretation on the need to suspend athletes from Russia and Belarus. It issued a recommendation, which in fact turned out to be obligatory for many international federations, calling for imposing ‘protective measures’ regarding these countries’ athletes.”

● “The IOC’s numerous statements concerning the suspension of Russia were dotted with contradictions and double standards, particularly in view of the fact that the ‘protective measures’ were never enforced with regards to athletes representing countries involved in armed conflicts. Such rhetoric was handy to stall for time, which was necessary to solve the unfolding dilemma.”

● “Russian Paralympians were deprived of any chance to fight for the medals in China. Under a pressure on behest of Western politicians and previously voiced threats of imposing a boycott, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on March 3, a day before the Paralympics, a decision to reverse its previously issued permission to clear athletes from Russia and Belarus to the Paralympics.”

The post also referred to the doping allegations against figure skater Kamila Valieva as “mysterious.”

The Russian Football Union has been investigating a move to the Asian Football Confederation from Europe (UEFA), but on Friday, the RFU Executive Committee decided to seek reinstatement within UEFA instead. A working group was formed to explore options with FIFA and UEFA, per ExComm member Leonid Fedun:

“I feel the same way about this decision as the entire Executive Committee. We decided to create a working group to look into this issue again and to decide how realistic a hypothetical transfer to Asia would be. Also, this is the last chance to negotiate with Europe. Trying to rush things would be wrong.”

However, Russian Gymnastics Federation chief Irina Viner continues to be highly interested in competing in Asia, saying on Wednesday:

“We can organize [competing at] the Asian Games, which should be viewed as an alternative to the Olympic Games… We can make history there as well, on par with the Olympic Games.”

4.
India will use upcoming IOC Session to showcase a 2036 bid

Despite the governance issues plaguing the Indian Olympic Association – its National Olympic Committee – the country is readying a bid for the 2036 Olympic Games which it plans to showcase at the 140th IOC Session to be held in Mumbai next September or October.

Indian Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said in an interview:

“We have hopes and I am sure India will fully prepare and bid for the Olympics.

“Gujarat has several times expressed interest in hosting the Olympics. They have the infrastructure – from hotels, hostels, airports and sports complexes. They are serious about the bid. It’s also part of the state government’s manifesto to host the Olympics in Gujarat.”

Located on India’s west coast, the State of Gujarat features Ahmedabad – metropolitan population of 6.4 million – as its largest city and the hub of a proposed Games project.

India hosted the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, but the 2010 Commonwealth Games held there was widely seen as a disaster, including corruption issues.

Attitudes towards an Olympic Games in India could be impacted by the Tokyo 2020 experience in Japan, where the final cost of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was listed at $10.8 billion U.S. by the organizing committee or $12.9 billion by the national Board of Audit, both much higher than the bid estimate of about $6.8 billion.

Prof. Yoko Tsukamoto of the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido said last week:

“Different generations think about it differently. When I talk to younger people and young parents with children, they are very much in favor as it gives us something to look forward to and encourages children to take part in sport. For them, the Winter Olympics would be a dream come true.

“But older people feel very differently. The high costs and the possible impact on their lives are their biggest fears.”

(Thanks to reader Phil Minshull for catching the typo on the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi: 2010, not 2020!).

5.
Brazil declares three days of mourning for Pele

The greatest player in the history of football, Brazil’s Pele, was remembered with three days of mourning from last Friday through Sunday, according to a decree signed by outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

It’s a tribute to not only how beloved Pele was as a player, but as a Brazilian icon, who remained immensely popular throughout his life, which ended last Thursday (29th) at age 82 after a long battle with cancer.

Funeral services are being held at the Estadio Urbano Caldeira – the Santos FC stadium where Pele played from 1956-74 – on Monday and Tuesday.

Pele played in Brazil – for Santos – until he retired (more or less) in 1974, then came out of retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in 1975 and played there through 1977. His presence created enormous momentum for soccer in the U.S., the first time that the game drew a national following, although it took another 19 years – and the hosting of the 1994 FIFA World Cup – for the start of Major League Soccer in 1996 that created a permanent, top-level league in the U.S.

But it was Pele’s play in the World Cup that made him an icon. He played on winning Brazilian teams in 1958, 1962 and 1970, scoring 12 goals in just 14 matches. At just 17, he scored twice in the 1958 final against Sweden, but played only one game in 1962 before suffering an injury.

Fouled repeatedly in 1966, Brazil was eliminated in the group stage, but in 1970, he scored four goals in the tournament as the Brazilians outscored their opponents, 19-7 on the way to its third title with Pele. He is the only man to play on three World Cup champions.

Following his football career, Pele was deeply involved with humanitarian causes, and in 1992, he was appointed a United Nations ambassador for ecology and the environment.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Cross Country Skiing ● Norway continued its domination of the FIS World Cup circuit over New Year’s, as the prestigious, seven-stage Tour de Ski started in Val Mustair (SUI) with wins for five-time Olympic gold medalist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo.

Klaebo won his fifth and sixth races of the season in the men’s 1.5 km Freestyle Sprint (over Italian star Federico Pellegrino, 3:00.98 to 3:01.16) and the 10 km Classical Pursuit, over teammate (and seasonal World Cup leader) Pal Golberg, with Pellegrino third, 25:55.0-25:28.2-27:05.2.

Swiss Nadine Faehndrich won her fourth career World Cup race in the women’s 1.5 km Freestyle Sprint in 3:23.56, with Swede Maja Dahlqvist second (3:24.03). Norway’s Tiril Undes Weng took the 10 km Classical Pursuit for he first win (and fifth medal) of the season in 28:51.3, ahead of Kerttu Niskanen (FIN: 28:51.7).

Golberg and Weng maintained their seasonal leads, with the next two legs of the Tour de Ski in Obertsdorf (GER) on 3-4 January.

● Ice Hockey ● The IIHF men’s World U20 Championship has concluded pool play in Halifax and Moncton (CAN), with Czechia (3-1, with an overtime loss) and the U.S. (3-1) winning the two pools.

The American team beat Latvia and Finland, but lost to Slovakia. In the playoff quarterfinals on Monday, the U.S. will face Germany (1-3) and will play the winner of Canada (3-1) and Slovakia (2-2 with one overtime loss).

● Ski Jumping ● The 71st edition of the famous Four Hills Tournament started on Thursday (29th) in Obertsdorf (GER) with jumping off of the 137 m hill and a win for Halvor Egner Granerud of Norway, 312.4-299.0-294.9 over Poles Piotr Zyla and Dawid Kubacki.

Granerud, the 2021 Worlds fourth-placer on the Normal Hill, won again on New Year’s in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER: 142 m), scoring 303.7 to best Anze Lanisek (SLO: 297.3) and Kubacki (294.4). The show moves to Austria, for jumping on Wednesday in Innsbruck (128 m) and then Bischofshofen (142 m) on Friday night. The last man to win all four stages: Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi in 2018-19.

In women’s jumping, a similarly-styled program to the Four Hills – the Sylvester Tournament, in Austria and Slovenia – completed its second edition on New Year’s, with Austrian star Eva Pinkelnig winning three of the four stages to take the crown.

Pinkelnig won the first two competitions at home in Villach (98 m hill), over Norway’s Anna Odine Strom on 28 December and Katharina Althaus (GER) on the 29th. Strom took Saturday’s event at Ljubno (SLO) off the 94 m hill over Pinkelnig and then the Austrian star won on Sunday, with Strom second.

Pinkelnig, a two-time Worlds Team silver winner, took the Sylvester overall title with 1,030.3 points to 1,004.0 for Strom, and Nika Kriznar (SLO: 980.3) third.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

SPECIAL: Updated! Our revised, 929-event International Sports Calendar for 2023 now posted!

Rich Perelman

January 1, 2023

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

The Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to cause chaos, including in the international sports calendar. But sport goes on, and as your guide, here’s our exclusive 929-event listing for the remainder of 2022 and into 2023, with a few of the larger events beyond to 2028.

Our updated International Sports Calendar focuses on sports and events on the Olympic and Winter Games program for 2024 and 2026, plus a few other meetings and multi-sports events.

Please note: this listing will change, and some federations have still not posted their complete events list for 2023! However, this edition is a good place to start for following many of the events coming up in a very busy year ahead.

Two calendars are included in the single PDF download: an 20-page listing in chronological order and a 21-page listing by sport (and in date order within each sport).

It’s free! Get your download right now here!

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

LANE ONE: The top stories of a turbulent 2022, nos. 5 to 1: Beijing and Qatar were wild, but Russia dominated the headlines this year

Rich Perelman

December 30, 2022

tsx pix 2022-211 valieva, kamila 2 wiki (Ttckcv21) — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, in the middle of the final event to be decided at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games! (Photo: Ttckcv21 via Wikipedia)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

// SHIFFRIN ALERT: Sweep! American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin won Thursday’s Slalom in Semmering, Austria to take all three races there and run her career World Cup win total to 80, now just two behind fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the most ever by a woman! Shiffrin stormed the first run in 49.82 and had a big 0.72-second lead on the field and cruised home in 1:43.26, leading a U.S. 1-2 with Paula Moltzan winning silver in 1:43.55 for her second career World Cup medal! //

This year started with the coronavirus still shredding the international schedule, but the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing came off pretty well, with plenty of magical performances. But just four days after the closing ceremony, everything changed as Russia invaded Ukraine again and set off a conflict that has continued unabated.

Continuing the countdown of our top stories of 2022: nos. 10 to 6 are here, and let’s check out the top five:

5.
World Athletics Champs finally come to U.S., in Eugene

The United States has long been the top nation in track & field, but the World Athletics Championships – which debuted in 1983 – finally came to America only in 2022, at the new Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

The competition was brilliant, with world records in the men’s vault by Mondo Duplantis (6.21 m/20-4 1/2), in the women’s 100 m hurdles by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan (12.12) and a sensational 50.68 for Sydney McLaughlin of the U.S. in the women’s 400 m hurdles, the first performance ever under 51 seconds in the event.

The U.S. dominated the medal count with 33 (13-9-11), way ahead of Ethiopia, Jamaica and Kenya, with 10 each, with a sweep in the men’s 100 m from Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell, an American Record from Noah Lyles in the men’s 200 m (19.31), leading another sweep ahead of Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton and a third sweep in the men’s shot by Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde.

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price won the women’s 100 m for an astonishing fifth Worlds gold, leading a sweep with Shericka Jackson and Tokyo Olympic champ Elaine Thompson-Herah. Jackson and Fraser-Pryce went 1-2 in the 200 m and Peru’s Kimberly Garcia won both the 20 km and 35 km women’s walks.

Drama? How about American Kara Winger, who had announced that she would retire at the end of the season, coming from sixth to second on her final throw, the first-ever American medalist in the women’s javelin at the World Championships.

In many ways, however, the story of the 2022 Worlds was its debut in the U.S., at the smallest venue ever to host the event – with about 15,000 seats available for sale – and ticketed attendance averaging just 10,506 on average across all sessions.

U.S. television viewing averaged 1.993 million for the weekend sessions on NBC, down 37% from the NBC average of 3.183 million viewers for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials. Most sessions were on cable, with an average of 403,000 U.S. viewers, down 30% from the cablecasts of the 2021 Trials.

Said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR): “We need to be in this market. It’s important. It’s not punching its weight.

“We want to be back here. It won’t be Eugene. I want to be back into L.A. or Miami or Chicago.”

The Worlds move to Budapest, in a new stadium that will seat 36,000 in 2023 and then to Tokyo’s magnificent, 68,000-seat National Stadium that hosted the 2020 Olympic Games.

4.
Tight Covid controls allow Beijing to host Olympic Winter Games

While the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was held with tight controls against the coronavirus, China implemented an air-tight policy, placing the Olympic participants inside a cocoon to ensure not only their health, but sealing off any contamination of the local population.

It worked. The Winter Games was held very successfully, with Norway topping the medal table for the second consecutive Games, with 37 total medals and a record 16 golds. The Russian Olympic Committee – with Russia itself suspended – fielded a team of 212 athletes and won 32 total medals (6-12-14). Germany was third with 27 medals (12-10-5), Canada fourth at 26 (4-8-14), and the U.S. fifth at 25 (8-10-7).

The event was held against a backdrop of protest against Chinese treatment of the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang Province, and an occasional political statement was offered by the organizing committee’s team during the daily news conferences. Only a few, carefully-screened spectators were allowed at most events.

On the snow, Norwegian stars Johannes Thingnes Boe and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland each won two individual golds in biathlon, and Boe got two more on relays and Roeiseland won a third. Teammate Therese Johaug dominated women’s cross-country skiing with three individual golds and Russian Alexander Bolshunov won two men’s individual golds and a third on a relay. China’s Eileen Gu – born in the U.S. – starred with two Freestyle wins in Big Air and Halfpipe, plus a silver in Slopestyle. American Chloe Kim spectacularly defended her Snowboard Halfpipe gold.

On the ice, German bobsled driver Francesco Friedrich repeated his Two-Man and Four-Man double from 2018, and Germany swept all four luge events. American Nathan Chen and Russian Anna Scherbakova won the men’s and women’s titles in Figure Skating. Sweden’s Nils van der Poel dominated the men’s 5,000 and 10,000 m Speed Skating events, and Dutch star Irene Schouten took the women’s 3,000-5,000-Mass Start wins.

This was the final leg of the Olympic “pivot to Asia” after the 2018 Winter Games in Korea, 2020 (2021) Olympic Games in Japan and 2022 in China. U.S. television ratings sunk to new lows, with the NBC primetime show averaging only 11.4 million viewers across all platforms, a decrease of 42% vs. the PyeongChang Games in 2018 (19.8 million average).

3.
Valieva’s doping positive roils Beijing Games, still not resolved

Russian teen figure skating star Kamila Valieva stands only 5 feet, 3 inches, but she was the biggest story of the Beijing Winter Games. And she still is, months later.

Then 15, Valieva won the European Championships women’s title in January and was the favorite for Beijing. She competed in the Team Event, winning both the Short Program and the Free Skate, with Russia winning the event over the U.S., Japan and Canada on 7 February.

But in the hours following the Team Event came a report that she had tested positive at the Russian nationals on 25 December 2021 for trimetazidine, a prohibited hormone modulator, and the medal ceremony for the Team Event was postponed. Valieva was initially suspended by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, but the suspension was reversed by a RUSADA Appeals tribunal, clearing her to compete in the women’s Singles, to begin on 15 February.

An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Beijing was made, but the panel held that Valieva should be allowed to compete, essentially saying that the doping inquiry should continue, but that if she was cleared, she would be “irreparably harmed” by not having been able to compete.

Valieva won the Short Program in Beijing, but had trouble in the Free Skate, finishing fifth and ending up in fourth place.

After the Games, the controversy has continued. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency undertook a months-long inquiry, said it had competed its work in September, but no hearing was held.

In November, the World Anti-Doping Agency – which had been monitoring the RUSADA process – complained that the investigation had gone on far too long and, under its rules, removed the case from Russia and brought it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport itself, with Valieva assumed to be cleared. That’s still ongoing.

Meanwhile, no medal ceremony was ever held for the Team Event, as the results are still not finalized, pending a final disposition of the Valieva doping case. Now 16, Valieva has competed domestically, but not internationally as Russian skaters have been banned by the International Skating Union over the invasion of Ukraine.

The Valieva story completely changed the focus of the Beijing Games and nearly silenced the recurrent questions about whether China should be hosting the event in view of its human-rights record. And the resolution of the case will be one of the leading stories of 2023, along with how and when the Team Event medals will be awarded.

2.
FIFA holds brilliant first World Cup in winter and the Middle East

Human rights was again a theme at a sporting mega-event as the crescendo of criticism of FIFA’s choice of Qatar as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup reached its climax in the months prior to the first match on 20 November.

Seven stadia were built for the event, along with roads and other infrastructure that saw reports of $220 billion in total costs. The event was held in the winter for the first time in order to avoid the stifling summer heat in the Gulf region, causing a contraction of national team training times and problems for many club teams which lost players to national teams competing at the World Cup.

These turned out to be minor compared with the torrent of complaints about migrant-worker rights in Qatar from foreign governments and human rights and labor organizations, as well as Qatari law which bans homosexuality. However, significant changes were made following the award of the World Cup in 2010, including the abolishment of the employer-controlled sponsorship system for workers, a government oversight agency for worker protection and other improvements. Qatari authorities said everyone would be welcome at the event, including gays.

This was hardly enough for the critics, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) made a hour-long address to news media on the eve of the tournament, saying, “Today, I feel Qatari. Today, I feel Arab. Today, I feel African. Today, I feel gay. Today, I feel disabled. Today, I feel a migrant worker.”

He then castigated the unrelenting negative media coverage, saying “This moral lesson-giving, one-sided, it’s just hypocrisy.”

Once the tournament started, it was spectacular. The group stage was one of the best ever, with not a single team winning all three of its games and the determination of which teams would advance to the knock-out round coming down to the final match day of each group. In the eliminations, Morocco became the first African (and Arab) nation to advance to the semifinals by beating Portugal and then Spain. Argentina overcame an opening loss to Saudi Arabia (!) to advance past the Netherlands in the quarters on penalty kicks and then beat Croatia, 3-0, in its semi.

Defending champion France got past a very tough England team, 2-1, in the quarters and then handled Morocco, 2-0, in its semis. That set up a classic final, with Argentina taking a 2-0 halftime lead, but French star Kylian Mbappe scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to send the game to extra time. Each side scored once – Mbappe getting a hat trick and Argentina’s Lionel Messi getting a second goal – and the game was decided by penalties for Argentina, 4-2.

Early in the tournament, there were issues with security guards asking fans or even journalists not to wear pro-gay T-shirts or display rainbow flags. But these calmed down as the matches continued. Qatari authorities prevailed and banned beer sales to spectators just a couple of days prior to the start of the tournament (although non-alcoholic beer was sold).

The stadiums were essentially all sold out, and the worldwide television audiences were strong. There were a few deaths during the month-long tournament, including three accredited media, with noted American soccer writer Grant Wahl, 49, suffering an aneurysm in his press section seat near the end of the Argentina-Netherlands quarterfinal and unable to be revived by the medical staff that attended him quickly.

1.
Russia

The Beijing Winter Games and the FIFA World Cup were enormous, worldwide stories that dominated weeks of coverage in 2022, but neither was close to being the biggest story of the year – in sports and elsewhere – the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin had invaded Ukraine before, taking control of the Crimea in February 2014 just four days after the close of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. On 24 February 2022, four days after the close of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, Russian forces invaded Ukraine again, with the intent of taking over the entire country.

This was during the period of the “Olympic Truce” endorsed by the United Nations in December 2021 and stretching past the end of the Winter Paralympic Games, scheduled to close on 13 March 2022.

On 28 February, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board announced:

“The IOC EB has therefore today carefully considered the situation and, with a heavy heart, issued the following resolution:

“1. In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.

“2. Wherever this is not possible on short notice for organisational or legal reasons, the IOC EB strongly urges International Sports Federations and organisers of sports events worldwide to do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colours, flags or anthems should be displayed.”

Most federations have followed this plan, with Russian athletes being allowed to compete as neutrals as members of road cycling teams, in judo (Russians entered one tournament only) and tennis.

As the war has raged on and on, with Ukraine making a stiff defense of its homeland, aid for Ukrainian athletes has been organized by the IOC, by individual federations and by National Olympic Committees and national federations around the world, but especially in Europe.

Russian sports officials, have consistently declared that sport is separate from politics and their athletes should be allowed to compete without restrictions, that international competitions without Russia are incomplete and degraded, and exploring the possibility of organizing a new governing body to challenge the IOC.

Through the end of 2022, Russian and Belarusian athletes are still banned and while IOC President Thomas Bach (GER) has talked about eventually finding a way to re-admit them, he has stated that, at present, the bans must continue.

Asked about the best way for Russian athletes to be reinstated, World Athletics chief Coe told reporters in December that Russia should “get out of Ukraine.”

That hasn’t happened yet and despite Russian protests to the contrary, there is no imminent prospect of their return. As the months pass and qualification events for the 2024 Olympic Games are held, more and more windows of opportunity for Russians and Belarusians to get to Paris will close.

This was a hard year in sport; wars do that, as do clashes of culture, and there is no end in sight for either.

Coming after the New Year: picks for the top stories to come in 2023!

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: The top stories of a turbulent 2022, nos. 10 to 6: confusion, doping, federations in trouble and sensational world records!

Rich Perelman

December 29, 2022

tsx pix 2020-917 duplantis, mondo 615 rome 750 — Three world records in 2022 for Sweden's Mondo Duplantis ( Photo: World Athletics)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

// SHIFFRIN ALERT: She did it again! American alpine ski star Mikaela Shiffrin won the second Giant Slalom race in Semmering, Austria on Wednesday, giving her 79 career World Cup wins, three behind Lindsey Vonn for the most in women’s history. She came from second after the first run to finish in 2:03.51, just ahead of Swiss star Lara Gut-Behrami (2:03.61) and Italy’s Marta Bassino (2:03.98). She contests the Slalom in Semmering on Thursday. //

In 2022, the year began with a difficult, but ultimately successful Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and ended with perhaps a more strenuous, but also historic FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

In between, there were issues everywhere that went well beyond the continuing coronavirus pandemic and challenged the Olympic Movement to find solutions to new problems and recalcitrant stakeholders. But there was also sensational competition on the fields of play; our look back at the top stories of the year, counting down from no. 10 to no. 6:

10.
Ball of confusion: bidding for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games

What the bid committees in Canada, Japan, Spain and the U.S. thought would be the process to select the host for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games was turned inside out. Now, nothing is sure.

In June, Spain’s bid to stage the Games in Barcelona and the Pyrenees fell apart as the two host regions, Catalonia and Aragon, could not agree on a division of what would be played where. In October, the Province of British Columbia told the Vancouver organizers and the Canadian Olympic Committee that it would not help fund the Games, also eliminating any federal support, effectively killing that bid.

Meanwhile, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chair Susanne Lyons said that while Salt Lake City is ready, willing and able to host the 2030 Winter Games, it would prefer 2034 in order to give the domestic marketing effort some breathing room after the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

That left Sapporo, where interest had been good, but hardly overwhelming. Then came a still-unraveling scandal from last year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in which Tokyo prosecutors alleged that nearly $1.5 million in bribes were paid to organizing committee Executive Board member Haruyuki Takahashi by at least four companies wishing to be selected as sponsors or licensees – at a discounted rate – as well as an advertising agency looking for sponsor marketing work.

The scandal expanded to include big-rigging for contracts to operate the test events for the organizing committee and then venue management contracts for the Games. So, Sapporo announced in December that it was lowering its promotional efforts until more is known.

For its part, the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission suggested to the IOC’s Executive Board that perhaps a rotation of pre-approved cities for future Winter Games might work best and is holding off naming either Sapporo or Salt Lake City as the preferred bidder for 2030. And yet, the decision is still expected in the fall of 2023 at the IOC Session in Mumbai, India. Wow.

9.
Doping, transgenders and more under the microscope

The International Testing Agency concluded its re-analysis of stored samples from the London 2012 Olympic Games, ending with a total of 73 positives, the most of any Games ever. In all, the IOC withdrew 31 medals won at the Games and re-allocated 46, with Russia (21), Belarus (11) and Ukraine (7) leading the list of doping nations.

But the lessons have apparently not been learned, as doping positives continued to pop up in 2022. In track & field, there was an alarming outbreak of doping by Kenyan distance runners, with 49 listed by the Athletics Integrity Unit on provisional suspension, pending suspensions, suspensions and failed appeals in the calendar year of 2022 alone.

World Athletics considered suspending Kenya from international competition, but a government commitment to clean up the doping, backed by $25 million in added funding for the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya has stayed its hand for now.

Meanwhile, the discussion over eligibility to compete in the women’s category for transgenders and individuals with differences in sex development (DSD) raged on. In response to the IOC’s Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and NonDiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations – adopted in 2021 – that was seen as more interested in human rights than competitive equity, the international aquatics federation – now re-named as World Aquatics – issued detailed regulations in June that prohibit male-to-female transgender participants who have experienced male puberty.

Further criticism of the IOC’s Framework document led to the December release of a commentary in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that specifically included:

“The Framework does not preclude the possibility that certain individual athletes could be subject to participation restrictions or exclusions where an unfair and disproportionate advantage and/or unacceptable safety risk is clearly demonstrated and cannot be mitigated via reasonable accommodations.”

This discussion has only started; look for much more in 2023 as more scientific inquiries are conducted.

8.
Modern Pentathlon: Can a house divided against itself still stand?

While Modern Pentathlon has long been considered the smallest sport on the Olympic program in terms of attention, popularity and participation, it made a lot of headlines in 2022.

Not included by the IOC in the “initial sports program” for Los Angeles in 2028, a furious debate has raged between the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) Executive Board and an activist athlete group – Pentathlon United, including Olympic champion Joe Choong of Great Britain – about the future of the sport.

The UIPM Executive Board convened an expert panel, considered dozens of options and agreed in May to test two different kinds of obstacle racing to replace riding (show jumping) following the Paris 2024 Games (where riding will be included again).

The Pent United folks protested, posted polls, challenged the UIPM at every turn and put forward a highly-revised riding program with horse-care controls modeled after the Federation Internationale de Equestre (FEI).

In November, the UIPM Congress approved the addition of obstacle racing as a possible discipline within the sport – created by modern Olympic Games founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France for the 1912 Stockholm Games – in advance of a formal application for a modified Modern Pentathlon in 2028.

However, the IOC said publicly that it has taken note of the discordant voices within the sport, which it said would be considered in determining whether it returns to the Games program, echoing Abraham Lincoln’s famed “A house divided against itself cannot stand” speech from his 1858 Illinois Senate campaign that presaged the American Civil War three years later.

The decision on whether Modern Pentathlon is included for 2028 will be made in 2023. One of the other in-trouble sports, weightlifting, has been getting good marks from the IOC for cooperation with its new Board and staff. Its future looks fairly bright right now.

7.
Boxing on the brink of elimination from Paris 2024

In even more trouble is boxing, now governed by the International Boxing Association (IBA), whose President is Russian Umar Kremlev.

Given decades-old problems with refereeing and judging and more recent trouble with finances and governance, boxing was also not included in the initial Los Angeles 2028 sports program. But the sport was much worse off at the end of 2022 than at the start.

Kremlev and Dutch federation chief Boris van der Vorst were the candidates for President at the IBA Congress in May, but van der Vorst was disqualified by an IBA Ethics Committee a day before the vote was scheduled. Kremlev won in a walk-over. Then the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that van der Vorst should not have been disqualified, and a special Congress to decide on a re-vote was held. The result was a vote to not have a re-vote, confirming Kremlev as President.

The IOC took notice and having already included boxing on the Paris 2024 program, stripped the IBA of its responsibilities to manage the qualifications or the Olympic tournament in June, just as it had done for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

This hardly impressed Kremlev, which crossed the IOC again in October, announcing that Russian and Belarusian boxers would be allowed to compete in future IBA events, with full colors, flags and anthems.

At the IBA’s Global Boxing Forum in Abu Dhabi in December, Kremlev insisted that there were no facts backing the IOC’s complaints and said “I think it’s only P.R. for the mass media.” The next day, at the IBA Congress, there was no agenda item or vote on a renewal of the IBA’s $25 million-a-year sponsorship contract with the Russian energy giant Gazprom, the IBA’s primary source of funding; Kremlev raised it in his closing remarks and declared the matter approved without so much as a comment from the delegates.

On 23 December, the IOC issued its strongest statement yet, saying “The recent IBA Congress has shown once more that IBA has no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers, but is only interested in its own power. … The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may – after these latest developments – have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

The decision on Paris will have to come by the spring, as qualifying events begin in June. The question about 2028 will also be decided in 2023. Boxing has been on the Olympic program continuously since 1920; that could have ended in Tokyo.

6.
A record-breaking year for Duplantis, McLaughlin,
Kipchoge, Ledecky

There was more than politics in 2022; happily, there were also great performances, especially from Swedish vaulter Mondo Duplantis, American 400 m hurdles star Sydney McLaughlin, the greatest marathoner of all time, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky.

Duplantis was the star of the indoor season, raising his absolute world record twice, to 6.19 m (20-3 3/4) in Belgrade in early March and then again at the World Indoor Championships – also in Belgrade – to 6.20 m (20-4).

It was clear there was more to come and while he had opportunities to raise his record further, he saved his efforts for the World Championships in Eugene, winning with a fantastic 6.21 m (20-4 1/2) vault, giving him the top five vaults in history and seven of the top nine. He also claimed a $100,000 bonus for a world record in addition to the $70,000 first prize.

McLaughlin was also a multi-world-record setter, having come into 2022 as the Olympic champion from Tokyo and the world-record holder at 51.46. After opening with the third-fastest performance of all-time on 5 June at 51.61, she won the U.S. nationals with another brilliant run and her third world record of 51.41.

But that was just a warm-up compared to her masterpiece in the final of the World Championships in Eugene, where she ran away from the field and crossed in an astounding 50.68, the first woman ever under 51 seconds and a winning by more than a second and a half.

McLaughlin, who also found time to get married in 2022 and now goes by McLaughlin-Levrone, owns the top three times in history and seven of the top 10. Encore?

Kipchoge simply kept going, continuing his mastery of the marathon. Following his Tokyo triumph in 2021, he won the Tokyo Marathon in March in 2:02:40, then returned to the Berlin Marathon for the fifth time, having set the world record at 2:01:39 in 2018.

He was steady and brilliant and even surprised himself a little with a victory in another world record, this time in 2:01:09. His career record is almost incomprehensible: in 17 career marathons, he has won 15, set two world records and has four of the top six times ever run.

Those weren’t the only track & field world-record setters in 2022, as Venezuelan triple-jump sensation Yulimar Rojas claimed the furthest jump in history with her 15.74 m (51-7 3/4) winner at the World Indoor Championships in March and then Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan ran a surprise 12.12 to win her semifinal at the World Championships in Eugene to take the women’s 100 m hurdles mark. She proved it was no fluke either, coming back to win the final in a windy 12.06 (+2.5 m/s).

Ledecky, the American Freestyle superstar, won four golds at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan in June, taking the 400-800-1,500 m Free events, plus the fastest leg of the meet in the women’s 4×200 m Free Relay. She made a rare appearance in short-course (25 m) competition at the FINA World Cup, setting world records in the 1,500 m Free (15:08.24) in Toronto and then 7:57.42 in the 800 m Free in Indianapolis, the 15th and 16th world marks of her amazing career.

Best of all, none of these stars are done yet.

Next up, a look at the top five stories of 2022, and, yes, China, Qatar and Russia figure prominently.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Shiffrin gets 78th World Cup win in Austria; Belarus gives Olympic medalist Herasimena 12 years; remembering Manolo Romero

Rich Perelman

December 28, 2022

Slalom 2018 Killington FIS World Cup Photo: Reese Brown/U.S. Ski & Snowboard — American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin (Photo: Reese Brown/U.S. Ski & Snowboard)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Shiffrin takes 78th World Cup win in Semmering
2. Takahashi allowed ¥80 million bail in Tokyo 2020 scandal
3. Belarus sentences Olympic medalist Herasimenia to prison
4. Int’l Testing Agency reports 30,000 tests in 2022
5. Remembering Olympic broadcast giant Manolo Romero

American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin took her 78th career World Cup win in a Giant Slalom in Semmering, Austria on Tuesday and enters a stretch of seven straight races in her specialties, the Slalom and Giant Slalom. She’s closing in on former teammate Lindsey Vonn’s women’s career record of 82 World Cup wins. In Tokyo, bribery suspect Haruyuki Takahashi was granted bail as the Tokyo 2020 sponsorship-selection scandal continues. In Belarus, a criminal court in Minsk sentenced three-time Olympic swimming medalist Aliaksandra Herasimenia to 12 years in prison, in absentia, and ordered his apartment, car and bank accounts confiscated. She and Aleksander Opeykin campaigned against the Lukashenko regime in 2020 and 2021 through the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, which supported athletes who alleged widespread fraud in the 2020 election for President. The International Testing Agency reported that it carried out more than 30,000 tests in 2022, and followed up on more than 1,000 “whereabouts” failures; some 280 doping positives were noted. One of the most influential executives in Olympic television production, Spain’s Manolo Romero, passed away at 81 on Saturday, just 11 days after being inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

1.
Shiffrin takes 78th World Cup win in Semmering

Already the leader in the women’s Alpine World Cup standings, American star Mikaela Shiffrin entered a potentially historic two weeks in which she could set herself up for a fifth seasonal World Cup title and even pass Lindsey Vonn for the most women’s World Cup wins.

And she delivered in the first of three events in Semmering (AUT), winning Tuesday’s Giant Slalom in 2:07:18, just ahead of 2021 World Cup champ Petra Vlhova (SVK: 2:07.31) and Italian star Marta Bassino (2:07.49).

Shiffrin led after the first run, 1:05.49 to 1:06.21 over Vlhova and while Vlhova had the fastest second run, Shiffrin was close enough (-0.59) to maintain a winning margin. She knew it was going to be tight:

“I was pushing really hard. Sometimes when I start bib 1, I am holding back on my skiing but today I said ‘no, we are not doing that, I am going full gas every time. I don’t care how it feels, every turn I am pushing’.

“The second run a little bit wild sometimes but I felt like the skis were running. I really enjoy racing here. I was being pushed around sometimes but overall my skiing felt good.”

It’s World Cup win no. 78 for Shiffrin – still just 27 – which brings her within four wins of fellow American Vonn (82) with the next seven races in her favored events: Slalom and Giant Slalom:

● 28 Dec.: Giant Slalom in Semmering
● 29 Dec.: Slalom in Semmering
● 04 Jan.: Slalom in Zagreb (CRO)
● 05 Jan.: Slalom in Zagreb (CRO)
● 07 Jan.: Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora (SLO)
● 08 Jan.: Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora (SLO)
● 10 Jan.: Slalom in Flachau (AUT)

Shiffrin has won in all these places before: Tuesday was her fifth career win in Semmering, and she has won four times in Zagreb, twice at Kranjska Gora and four times in Flachau. And she won all three races in Semmering once before, in 2016!

After 13 of 39 races on the women’s World Cup circuit for 2022-23, Shiffrin now leads speed superstar Sofia Goggia (ITA) by 675-470, with Vlhova third at 420.

2.
Takahashi allowed ¥80 million bail in Tokyo 2020 scandal

The man at the center of the Tokyo 2020 sponsorship scandal, former organizing committee Executive Board member Haruyuki Takahashi, was granted bail – at ¥80 million, or about $599,000 U.S. – on Monday by a Tokyo District Court.

Indicted four different times, Takahashi is alleged by Tokyo prosecutors to have taken bribes from companies wanting to be selected as Tokyo 2020 official sponsors, supporters or licensees, or from advertising agencies wanting to be the campaign managers for existing sponsors. Funds were either paid directly, or through third parties, and may have totaled as much as ¥198 million (~$1.48 million U.S.).

Takahashi, 78, a former senior director of the ad giant Dentsu, Inc., has acknowledged receiving money from companies such as business-suit retailer Aoki Holdings, Kadokawa Publishing, toy manufacturer Sun Arrow and an advertising agency, but maintains these were legitimate payments for consulting services.

Three executives from Aoki Holdings have pled guilty to bribery and indictments were made of 12 others, including Takahashi.

A separate inquiry is continuing into the rigging of bids to produce test events for Tokyo 2020 that led to venue management contracts for four firms, including Dentsu.

3.
Belarus sentences Olympic medalist Herasimenia to prison

While Russia has taken most of the headlines as a pariah in international sport for its February invasion of Ukraine, its ally Belarus has also had its athletes banned and the regime sentenced one of its former athletic stars in a long prison term – in absentia – on Monday.

Aliaksandra Herasimenia was the women’s World 100 m Freestyle Champion in 2011 and won three Olympic Freestyle medals, in London (50-100 m silvers) and Rio (50 m bronze). She has been a critic of the regime which faced mass protests since a controversial election of Alexander Lukashenko to a sixth term in 2020.

She, along with Aleksander Opeykin, the head of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation that has helped athletes who have spoken out against Lukashenko, were both sentenced to 12 years in prison. Neither is in Belarus now; Herasimenia lives in Lithuania.

Reuters reported that the state news agency BelTA stated:

“From August, 2020 to May 20, 2022, through the media and the Internet, they disseminated deliberately false information and fabrications about the events that took place on the territory of Belarus, about the course and results of the election campaign 2020. …

“They were found guilty of public calls to commit actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of Belarus, including the use of restrictive measures (sanctions) against Belarus, individuals and legal entities of the republic.

“Such actions entailed grave consequences.”

The court ordered the seizure of assets Herasimenia left behind, including her apartment, car and bank accounts.

4.
Int’l Testing Agency reports 30,000 tests in 2022

The International Testing Agency, now working with 50 international federations, posted a short report on its 2022 activities, with a busy testing program and athlete tracking program:

“The ITA Board also took note of the high operational volumes the various departments of the agency have delivered in 2022, with a forecast of around 30’000 collected samples until the end of the year (46% of which in-competition at almost 500 international sporting events), over 500 Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) processed and over 32’000 Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) notifications received.

“ITA’s legal affairs department has processed almost 1’000 potential Whereabouts Failures in 2022 and has handled over 280 new potential cases of Anti-Doping Rule Violations next to continuously handling cases from previous time frames such as the Moscow Laboratory LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) cases for 11 of its IF partners, as well as cases stemming from re-analysis projects.”

Organized in 2016, the ITA has grown to a staff of 80 and is accelerating its activities, importantly including anti-doping education sessions at 50 major events, serving 35 of the international federations.

And the ITA has a busy future ahead of it, already contracted to handle the doping-control programs at the 2023 Asian Games and European Games, the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026 and the Winter and Summer Youth Olympics Gangwon 2024 and Dakar 2026.

5.
Remembering Olympic broadcast giant Manolo Romero

One of the pioneers in Olympic television, Spaniard Manolo Romero passed away on Saturday at his home in Segovia (ESP) at age 81 after a long battle with cancer.

Romero was one of those people who helped make history, but was relatively little known outside of the Olympic world or the television production business. He was innovative, insightful, curious, practical and a dreamer all at the same time.

His television production career began in 1965 at TVE in Sevilla and while he began his Olympic career in Mexico City in 1968, he emerged as a key figure in mega-event television production with his work in coordinating the broadcast coverage of the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Two years later, he came to Los Angeles and was Director of the International Broadcast Center at the Sunset-Gower Studios in Hollywood, working for ABC Sports, which was both the U.S. domestic rights holder and the host broadcaster for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The Olympic television production model began to change, especially when the Olympic and Winter Games went to separate cycles beginning in 1994 with the Lillehammer Winter Games. Romero was deeply involved in the broadcast operations for Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996, then formed International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) in 1997, which provided host broadcast services for Salt Lake City’s 2002 Winter Games and Athens in 2004.

Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) was formed in 2003 – headquartered in Madrid – and Romero was the obvious choice to head it, leading the planning and operations for Beijing in 2008, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and London 2012, after which he retired.

Under his direction, sports that had barely been covered, like archery, sailing and shooting, were covered live, often in new formats which he helped develop. More familiar sports saw new technologies, such as the rail-cam alongside the final straightaway in track & field, on-field point-of-view cameras and much improved sound. The pictures became more compelling and Romero worked to deliver new visions of the Games for use by broadcasters worldwide.

Romero was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in a ceremony in New York on 13 December of this year.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Russia ● The move of the Russian Football Union from the European confederation (UEFA) to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is hardly a done deal and might not happened at all.

Looking for a way to compete, away from the UEFA-imposed sanctions, the RFU saw an opening in Asia, but a vote by the RFU Executive Committee on Tuesday was postponed to Saturday (31st). According to RFU Honorary President Vyacheslav Koloskov:

“The voting was postponed once; the executive committee failed to arrive at any decision and took a couple more days. Now it was postponed because there were too many questions and no answers to them.

“It is quite logical that the RFU management has taken several more days to look at the possible consequences of a transfer to the Asian confederation. The most important thing is to be sure we will be accepted there.

“I think we need a 100-percent guarantee that we will be accepted in Asia and then begin these changes. So far, we don’t have such guarantees and may find ourselves on the fringe of world football.”

FIFA and UEFA have both banned Russia from their tournament as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

● Athletics ● An amended complaint in the Huntington University cross-country abuse case has alleged that former coach Nick Johnson doped runners with Erythropoietin (EPO) and testosterone cream, without their knowledge.

David Woods, writing for DyeStat.com, reported:

“Nick Johnson was fired in December 2020 after being charged with four felony counts. The university promoted his wife, Lauren Johnson, to replace him. Lauren Johnson was placed on administrative leave in October and has left the program.

“Nick Johnson accepted a plea deal in February 2022 and was sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to identity deception.”

The case continues in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● After a two-year wait due to the pandemic, USA Bobsled & Skeleton inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2020 that included Steve Mesler, Tristan Gale Geisler, Randy Jones, Vonetta Flowers, James “Nitro” Morgan, and Geoff Bodine, on 17 December in Lake Placid, New York.

Mesler was a push star on the famed “Night Train” sled driven by the late Steve Holcomb that won the Olympic Four-Man gold in Vancouver in 2010. Gale Geisler won the first Olympic women’s Skeleton gold in Salt Lake City in 2002 and Flowers was the brakeman with Jill Bakken as they won the first women’s Bobsled gold in Salt Lake City.

Jones was also a push star, helping the U.S. Four-Man squad to a 2002 Olympic silver, the first U.S. Olympic medal in bobsled in 56 years. Morgan was a driver, finishing seventh in the Two-Man in the 1975 Worlds, the best American finish of the decade; a 1976 Olympian, he was killed in a crash at Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) in 1981.

Bodine is best known for his racing in NASCAR and was the Daytona 500 champ in 1986. He co-founded the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project to build made-in-America sleds for the U.S. team. Holcomb’s “Night Train” sled in 2010 was Bo-Dyn built.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: IBA complains Paris ‘24 exclusion being used as “extortion” against it; U.S. Congress passes “Equal Pay Act” but with holes in it

Rich Perelman

December 26, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. IBA: “Olympic Games cannot be a tool of extortion” against it
2. Van de Vorst, USA Boxing priority is Olympic inclusion, not IBA
3. U.S. Congress passes USOPC “Equal Pay Act,” but with holes
4. FIFA says no “match manipulation” during the World Cup
5. Ferriani confirms GAISF dissolution more like a re-branding

The International Boxing Association posted an unhappy message in reply to the International Olympic Committee’s statement last Friday that boxing’s place at the 2024 Paris Games is in doubt. The IBA continues to blame its troubles on prior chief C.K. Wu and is in denial about the IOC’s current issues with the federation. Dutch boxing federation chief Boris van der Vorst tweeted that boxing needs to stay in the Olympic Games “with or without the IBA” and USA Boxing posted a statement that staying in the Olympic Games “is the top priority.” The U.S. Congress completed an “equal pay act” that applies to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the U.S. National Governing Bodies and no one else, that President Biden is expected to sign. FIFA announced that its integrity group found no match manipulation during the Qatar World Cup. Although the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) voted to disband, the year-end message from its President confirmed that its functions are essentially being transferred to the SportAccord organization, which is the name that GAISF used to have. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

1.
IBA: “Olympic Games cannot be a tool of extortion” against it

After the International Olympic Committee’s plain threat to remove boxing from the program of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Thursday, the International Boxing Association posted an unhappy message later that day that began:

“It is not with joy or pleasure that we write to you today as many of our member nations head into their holiday season.”

The seven-paragraph posting included:

● “[I]t is imperative that we address the latest attack on IBA’s athletes and IBA by the IOC for the new leadership’s continued commitment to becoming a sound and independent organisation, purged of prior governance issues and ultimately a financially independent sustainable organisation.”

● “The Olympic Games are a global sporting asset that belongs to the athletes of all sports and cannot be a tool of extortion of the International Sports Federations for purely political reasons, as is unacceptably happening now. With that, IBA will continue to fight for its athletes to make sure you have every opportunity and equal right to participate in the Olympic Games, free from discrimination and separate from the politics of sport which has now become the normalized approach.”

● “We are being criticized for renewing a commercial partnership that was first made in 2021. … These steps are the start of the many initiatives and governance reform to repair the reputational damage done by AIBA’s former President, IOC Member, and Executive Board Member, Ching-Kuo Wu. At this critical juncture for boxing, we cannot simply accept that the IOC refuses to acknowledge the misdeeds of a key figure in their Olympic Movement while continuing to criticize IBA and flatly ignoring the countless governance reforms undertaken.”

● “It is clear, that the persecution of IBA athletes will continue until ultimate control of boxing and its leadership has been achieved. The discrimination against you and IBA’s leadership and partners based on citizenship, directly contradicts the Olympic Charter, and only highlights the issue of athletes and sport being manipulated for geopolitical purposes.”

● “With that said, with the threat of Boxing being removed from the Paris 2024 programme, IBA will continue to reach out to the senior leadership of the IOC to work towards a de-escalation of this current development and with a view to LA 2028.”

Observed: The IBA message contains nothing new, reiterating the stance previously announced by IBA President Umar Kremlev of Russia, that the IOC is persecuting the IBA and boxers for the problems caused by Wu (TPE) and that the current administration’s changes should allow it to return to the Olympic program.

In fact, the IOC’s issues are with what Kremlev and the IBA membership have done recently with the federation’s questionable election management that saw Kremlev’s opponent for the IBA Presidency – Dutch federation chief Boris van der Vorst – sidelined one day before the vote last May, and then the sponsorship by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom, giving the IBA very much the appearance of a controlled subsidiary.

The approval of the renewal of the Gazprom sponsorship was not even brought up in the main body of the recent Congress, but mentioned only in Kremlev’s closing remarks, with no vote taken.

That a majority of the IBA’s national federations approves is only a further confirmation that the federation is simply unresponsive to the IOC’s governance requests.

Boxing had 289 entries in Tokyo but the quota was cut to 252 for Paris, places that other sports would be happy to fill if given the chance.

2.
Van de Vorst, USA Boxing priority is Olympic inclusion, not IBA

The possible exclusion of boxing from the Paris 2024 program is worrying boxing leaders worldwide, starting with van der Vorst, who tweeted following the IOC’s statement:

● “We cannot afford for boxing to be eliminated from the Olympic Program in Paris 2024. We have to keep fighting for its re-inclusion in LA 2028. We have to do it with or without the IBA.”

● “The recent statements from the IOC highlight that their patience is being tested, & is close to running out with regards to IBA leadership & its incapacity/unwillingness to address the long-standing concerns.”

Also on Friday, USA Boxing Executive Director Mike McAtee sent a two-page letter to the federation’s more than 38,000 boxers that noted:

● “USA Boxing is concerned that IBA is prioritizing its own role in the Olympics above the interests of the boxers. To be clear, Kremlev’s statement [‘I want to stress that not a single boxer, coach or National Federation will be participating in the Olympic Games without IBA.’] is the opinion of one person who does not speak for all 38,000+ USA Boxing’s boxers or other National Federations and their boxers.”

● “[M]aintaining Olympic recognition is not simply one of USA Boxing’s priorities, it is the top priority. However, USA Boxing fully understands that Olympic recognition is not a right, but a privilege. USA Boxing’s stated position has not changed:

“‘The future of boxing as an Olympic sport is in doubt, and the IOC has made it clear that unless significant changes are made, it will not be included in the program for the Paris 2024 Olympics and beyond. This represents a critical threat to the future of the sport, both at the elite level and grassroots. We have a responsibility and a duty to everyone connected with the sport to explore all possibilities and do everything we can to ensure boxing’s continued inclusion in the Olympic games, thereby providing opportunities and inspiration for boxers across the world and for all future generations.’”

The next step in the IOC’s process will be to consider boxing future at an Executive Board meeting, next scheduled in February. To remove the boxing from Paris 2024 will require a vote by the IOC’s membership – the Session – which will next be held in India in the fall of 2023, although a special, online meeting could be called well before that.

3.
U.S. Congress passes USOPC “Equal Pay Act,” but with holes

The U.S. House of Representatives approved S. 2333, the Equal Pay for Team USA Act of 2022, by a vote of 350-59, and sent it to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it.

The bill amends the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (36 U.S.C. §2205 et seq.), requiring the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee:

“with respect to a sport for which the corporation [USOPC] conducts separate programs for female and male athletes, to ensure that female and male athletes who represent the United States in international amateur athletic events receive, from funds directly provided by the corporation to the athlete (excluding any prize or award based on the athlete’s performance in an international amateur athletic competition), equivalent and nondiscriminatory compensation, wages, benefits, medical care, travel arrangements, and payment or reimbursement for expenses.”

The same language is included to apply to the National Governing Bodies. However, in both cases, pay discrepancies are specifically approved for:

“merit, performance, seniority, or quantity of play in determining contract or other terms of participation.”

So, not every player is equal. There is also a provision to “overpay” athletes to “address disparities in outside income, including in compensation made available by international sports federations and other event organizers, or the need to foster underdeveloped programs or address documented and justifiable personal need on the part of specific athletes or teams.”

A report will be due annually to the Congress to demonstrate that these new provisions are being followed.

4.
FIFA says no “match manipulation” during the World Cup

As part of its preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA set up an Integrity Task Force to look for signs of competition manipulations, but announced Friday:

“[T]he Task Force analysed monitoring reports of legal betting markets, conducted multi-jurisdictional inquiries, and reviewed surveillance of competition venues for any suspicious behaviour. No match manipulation threats to any game that was played during the tournament were detected.”

That’s good news, indeed.

5.
Ferriani confirms GAISF dissolution more like a re-branding

The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), founded in 1967, was dissolved this year by a vote of the membership, but in fact, its key current function – the vetting and inclusion of new sports federations – is simply bring moved to the SportAccord organization. GAISF President (and International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation) President Ivo Ferriani (ITA) confirmed this in his year-end message that included:

“[W]e are driving forward with key structural changes to SportAccord and the integration of [GAISF] activities, responsibilities and staff members into SportAccord are very much on track.

“The revised governance structure will see the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) and Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) join the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) as Members of SportAccord.

“The global sports community will remain united within a strengthened SportAccord through the representation of the umbrella organisations. The International Federations will continue to be the gateway for new sports through a new Membership Commission overseeing the application process for entry into AIMS.”

In fact, GAISF changed its name before to SportAccord from 2009-17, then changed it back. Maybe some stationary is still left over?

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● Swiss Daniel Yule took his third career win in the FIS World Cup in Madonna di Campiglio (ITA) on Thursday, winning the men’s Slalom in 1:37.67, just 0.08 ahead of reigning World Cup Slalom champ Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR: 1:37.75), with Linus Strasser (GER: 1:37.85) third.

Yule added to his wins at Madonna in 2019 and 2020; if this five career World Cup golds, now three have come there.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The seventh Cross Alps Tour in Ski Cross finished in Innichen (ITA) with two events on Wednesday and Thursday, with Canada’s Reece Howden and the irrepressible Sandra Naeslund taking the series titles.

Naeslund, the Beijing Olympic champion, has simply overwhelmed the field this season, winning all five races so far. In Innichen, she beat two-time Olympic bronze medalist Fanny Smith (SUI) and Sochi 2014 gold medalist Marielle Thompson (CAN) in the first race, and then Andrea Limbacher (AUT) in the second, as Smith and Sonja Gigler (AUT) did not finish and tied for third.

Over two seasons, Naeslund had won 16 of the last 17 World Cup races. Wow.

The men’s racing saw Mathias Graf (AUT) win his second event of the season on Wednesday, ahead of Canada’s Howden and PyeongChang 2018 winner Brady Leman. Howden won the second race, beating Ryo Sugai (JPN) and Niklas Bachsleitner (GER), giving him the overall title, with Graf second.

● Judo ● The final IJF World Tour event of 2022 was the Jerusalem Masters in Israel, with Japan and France dominating the medal table.

Japan got wins from Sanshiro Murao in the men’s 90 kg class, Tatsuru Saito at +100 kg, and Miku Takaichi in the women’s 63 kg division. France earned golds from Shirine Boukli in the women’s 48 kg division and 2022 World Champion Romane Dicko in the women’s +78 kg class, but also six silver medals!

The home crowd celebrated Baruch Shmailov’s win at 66 kg. Tokyo Olympic medalists were busy as well, with Brazil’s 66 kg bronze medalist Daniel Cargnin winning at 73 kg, women’s 48 kg winner Distria Krasniqi (KOS) taking the women’s 52 kg gold and +78 kg bronze medalist Dicko winning for France. The 2022 World men’s 81 kg champ, Tato Grigalashvili (GEO) won his division as well.

● Table Tennis ● The U.S. Open in Ontario, California, ended on Thursday, with Lei Kou defending his men’s Singles title from 2021, with a straight-set 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 victory over Xin Zhou in the final.

The women’s final was a tense, seven-set marathon between Amy Wang and American star Lily Zhang, with Wang coming back from 3-2 down to win: 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 4-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8.

The Doubles titles went to Kou and Ye Tian, who beat Xiang Jing Zhang and Wenzhang Tao in the final, three sets to one. Zhang and Rachel Sung took the women’s Doubles title from Youruo Wu and Luoxuan Shao, three sets to two, and Nikhil Kumar and Wang took the Mixed Doubles, 3-1, over Kai Zhang and Sung.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: IOC may knock boxing out of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games; does the IBA really care?

Rich Perelman

December 23, 2022

tsx pix 90318 boxer knocked out 750 — Should boxing be knocked out of the Olympic Games? The IOC might be getting ready to do just that!

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

Boxing may be removed from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Really.

On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee said in its strongest language yet that the antics of the International Boxing Association are unacceptable and that the sport – which has been on the Olympic Program since 1920 – could disappear. The IOC’s statement:

“The recent IBA Congress has shown once more that IBA has no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers, but is only interested in its own power. The decisions and discussions to keep boxers away from the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic Games cannot be understood differently. It has also become clear again, that IBA wants to distract from its own grave governance issues by pointing to the past, which has been addressed by the IOC already in 2019. There is no will to understand the real issues, the contrary: the extension of the sponsorship contract with Gazprom as the sole main sponsor of IBA reinforces the concerns, which the IOC has expressed since 2019 over and over again. This announcement confirms that IBA will continue to depend on a company which is largely controlled by the Russian government. The concerns also include the recent handling of the [Court of Arbitration for Sport] decision which did not lead a new Presidential election, but only a vote not to hold an election. The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may – after these latest developments – have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

The statement refers to the recent IBA Global Boxing Forum and Congress on 11-12 December in the United Arab Emirates, where the renewal of the Russian energy giant Gazprom’s sponsorship – $25 million a year for two years for 2021-22 – was not on the meeting agenda, and was not voted on, but was brought up by federation President Umar Kremlev (RUS) in his closing remarks!

Kremlev also ripped the IOC in a news conference the day before, saying (per the live interpretation into English):

“I would also like to say to the International Olympic Committee that they have no right – I mean, they can issue recommendations to us – but they have no right to dictate to us how to live. Not a single other organization should interfere or meddle in the business of our association. Every country has its own culture, right? If another country meddles in the culture of the other country, says ‘this is not the right way to live, you have to live this way’, that would be incorrect, right? Because every country is independent, and we are independent. The International Boxing Association, we are independent. Don’t dictate things to us, don’t tell us how to live properly. …

“I am confident that in the nearest future, they [the IOC] will make the correct decision, I am talking about the IOC, and these unclear accusations will simply cease. And that’s the same accusations that never change, they are the same. I think it’s only P.R. for the mass media.”

And Kremlev may actually not care. Interestingly, in his 886-word year-end message posted on the IBA Web site, the word “Olympic” never appears.

Moreover, the IBA announced in November an agreement with the World Boxing Association that “includes cooperation in the development of amateur athletes and their integration into professional boxing through specific programs.”

With funding from Gazprom and an integrated path into professional boxing through the IBA-WBA joint venture, who needs the Olympics? Perhaps Kremlev does not care all that much, although he said at the Global Boxing Forum:

“I really don’t think anyone would dare to violate this wonderful sport, boxing. Boxing is the king of sports. The Olympics started with boxing. The history of the Olympics is all about boxing. And what the international association does is their business.”

That may be over. Boxing is already not on the “initial sports program” for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and now may be out four years earlier.

IOC processes are fairly slow, although the organization can move quickly, as it did with the coronavirus threat to Tokyo 2020. The next meeting of the IOC Executive Board is apparently not until 15 February, and the Olympic Charter states, in the bylaw to Rule 45, that only the IOC Session – the membership meeting as a whole – can remove a sport from the Olympic program:

“The Session is entitled to remove from the programme any sport, at any time, at its full discretion, in particular (but not limited to) if the relevant [International Federation] governing such sport does not comply with the Olympic Charter, the World Anti-Doping Code, the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions or an IOC Executive Board decision applicable to the relevant IF, or if the relevant IF acts in a manner likely to tarnish the reputation of the Olympic Movement.”

This is repeated in Rule 59.

The 2023 IOC Session is to meet in Mumbai, India, but the dates have not been fixed, but is to be sometime in September or October. That’s a problem, because the IOC’s qualification process for boxing for Paris 2024 will actually start with the European Games in Krakow (POL) in June.

Look for more action more quickly from the IOC.

Kremlev is quite right when he says the IOC has no right to tell the IBA how to act, but it does if boxing is going to be part of the Olympic Games. And judging by his actions of the last month, does Kremlev care, or is he building a new, prize money-based structure that has nothing to do with the Olympic Movement?

One major future problem for Kremlev and the IBA: if boxing is dismissed entirely from the Olympic program – not just for Paris – it will collapse many of the national boxing federations which are supported by national governments as part of Olympic sport funding programs. No Olympics, no federation funding. There may not be much of an association left if its members implode.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: First guilty pleas in Tokyo 2020 sponsor scandal; €85 mil. sliding track rebuild on for Cortina; USOPC OKs transgender “direction”

Rich Perelman

December 23, 2022

tsx pix 20418 head in hands 700x467 — Henri Vidal's Caïn venant de tuer son frère Abel (Cain, after having murdered his brother Abel), in the Tuileries Garden, Paris (Photo: Wikipedia)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

● Happy holidays from The Sports Examiner! ●

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Three Aoki Holdings execs admit to paying Tokyo 2020 bribes
2. Historic Cortina track backed for 2026 use despite high cost
3. USOPC Board adopts transgender position “direction”
4. World Athletics publishes Paris ‘24 qualification regulations
5. Russia slams “radical voices,” continues re-entry campaigning

The first three guilty pleas were entered in the Tokyo 2020 sponsorship-selection scandal, with three executives of the Aoki Holdings business-suit retailer chain admitting bribing Tokyo 2020 Executive Committee member Haruyuki Takahashi in order to be named as an “Official Supporter.” A total of 15 indictments have been handed down so far; Takahashi maintains the payments were for legitimate consulting services. The controversial – and expensive – rebuilding of the long-closed Eugenio Monti sliding track in Cortina d’Ampezzo is going ahead, despite the price tag rising from an initial €41.7 million to €85 million ($90+ million U.S.) now. Austria offered use of its existing track in Innsbruck, just 100 miles north, but the new Cortina track is part of an amusement and sports park being paid for by the national government. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee adopted a “direction” statement for transgender participation, emphasizing science, but noting there is much unsettled at present. A new category of participation is suggested, but defining it properly is already bedeviling World Aquatics, which has had a task force working on the issue for months. The track & field qualification process for Paris 2024 was published, with the sport getting 16% less participants than at London 2012, with the 100 m and the throws showing most of the losses. Russian complaining about being banned from international sports continues, with the newly re-elected head of the Russian Olympic Committee blaming “dishonest competitors, marginalized, pseudo-journalists far from objectivity, [and] radical voices.”

1.
Three Aoki Holdings execs admit to paying Tokyo 2020 bribes

The first three guilty pleas in the Tokyo 2020 sponsorship scandal came on Thursday, from executives at Aoki Holdings, who admitted to paying ¥28 million ($211,431 U.S. today) in bribes to be designated as a Games sponsor.

Aoki Holdings former chair Hironoki Aoki, 84, former vice chair Takahisa Aoki, 76, and an executive director, Katsuhisa Ueda, 41, pled guilty, admitting to paying former Tokyo 2020 Executive Board member Haruyuki Takahashi for preferential treatment in selection.

Prosecutors allege that Takahashi – a former senior director at the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu, Inc. – held enormous sway over the choice of companies to be Games sponsors, and Aoki Holdings, which sells business suits across 500 stores in Japan, used him as a shortcut to being named an Official Supporter, allowing the company to use the Games logo on its products.

Their pleas admitted to bribes of ¥28 million, although the total paid to Takahashi from 2017-22 may have exceeded ¥51 million (~$385,106 U.S.); a three-year statute of limitations only allowed prosecution of the amounts paid from 2019 on.

A total of 15 indictments have been filed so far and a new scandal in the rigging of bids for contracts to organize Tokyo 2020 test events and then venue management for the Games is still being investigated.

Takahashi, for his part, admits receiving money, but maintains these were for legitimate consulting services. He may have been paid more than ¥196 million in all (~$1.48 million U.S.).

2.
Historic Cortina track backed for 2026 use despite high cost

The battle over costs for the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games continues to vex the organizing committee and the local governments, especially the ballooning bill over the renovation of the long-closed Eugenio Monti sliding track for bobsled, luge and skeleton.

Used for the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the track is need of a complete rebuild to get up to modern standards. The project has been insisted on by the regional government as part of a sports and amusement park development and had an initial budget of €41.7 million (~$44.20 million U.S.), then increased to €60 million ($63.56 million U.S. today). Even during the bid phase, the International Olympic Committee asked if another, existing track could be used – perhaps in St. Moritz (SUI)? – to save money, but the locals were firm.

Now the cost estimate has expanded to €85 million (~$90.03 million U.S.), and the operators of the track at Innsbruck (AUT) offered use of their facility, already being upgraded, for the 2026 Games. The idea was considered by Veneto region president Luca Zaia, who had to backtrack under pressure, noting that the national government was paying for it and not his region.

Last week, the head of the Italian National Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malago, assured reporters that the renovation will be completed:

“The Monti track will be ready for the test events, so well before 2025. We are happy that Austria, on its own initiative, has proposed, but we are convinced that the races will be held in Italy. It should be remembered that the track will benefit the area, for 12 months of the year. It is a project we believe in.”

This is one battle that the IOC did not win on the basis of its Olympic Agenda 2020 because the Monti track is part of a larger development which is slowly coming together. But the planners in Lausanne know now that whatever happens, there is an alternative just 100 miles north.

3.
USOPC Board adopts transgender position “direction”

Just nine days before the International Olympic Committee had a detailed commentary published on its 2021 transgender “Framework,” the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Board of Directors adopted a “direction” statement on transgender participation.

Its principal declaration:

“[W]e rely on fairness as our guiding principle. It is not fair if athletes cannot participate or compete in sport because of their gender identity – participation in sport should be available to everyone. Similarly, it is not fair if an athlete must face unreasonable field of play safety risks or a much-reduced chance for success in competitive sport due to sex-linked physiology – ensuring fairness in sport should be a priority for everyone.”

And, following the IOC’s lead from its 2021 Framework document, the USOPC statement is heavily laced with “reliance on science,” including:

“In our world of elite sport, these elements of fairness demand that we reconcile athlete inclusion and athlete opportunity. The only way to do that for all genders, and specifically for those who are transgender, is to rely on real data and science-based evidence rather than ideology. That means making science-based decisions, sport by sport and discipline by discipline, within both the Olympic and Paralympic movements. The science in this area is emerging, so at present we must focus on the available science we have and – importantly – work together to advance it further.”

As the current scientific discussion is about advantages gained by boys through puberty, who later might decide to become trans women, the USOPC statement prioritizes “inclusion and participation” prior to male puberty, but suggests possible new classifications for post-pubescent males:

“[S]port-by-sport work should be based on extending the existing and important concept of category qualifiers to better accommodate transgender athlete participation. Category qualifier systems include those such as the athlete classification system in Paralympic sport, weight classes in sports such as boxing and wrestling, and handicaps in golf.”

There is nothing in the USOPC statement directly in conflict with the new IOC commentary on its 2021 Framework. But the details are going to be difficult.

World Aquatics notably proposed an “open category” in its transgender regulations adopted earlier in 2022, but finding the definition has proved elusive. World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki (USA) told StateofSwimming.com earlier this month:

“We’ve assembled a group. There’s been a number of meetings. They have been working for probably four to five months on the concept, but they’re going to need more time. We had our last meeting about a month ago and at that point there was a request just for some additional time. They want to get it right.

“It’s complex. They want to make sure that they get all their touch points in place before anything is kind of rolled out, if it’s rolled out at all. And, frankly speaking, I’m not sure where it’ll go. I’ve really tried to remove myself from the discussion out of just pure respect for what they want to do and what they think is the best thing to do.

“I don’t want to push them. I want to get it right, so I don’t really feel they need to rush to make a decision on this. But I can say, earnestly, that it’s going well. There’ve been some really great interactions and some really great suggestions that have been reported back to me, so I’m highly motivated by their work.”

Nowicki expects results from the working group to be presented to the World Aquatics Bureau in mid-2022.

Meanwhile, USA Fencing, in the absence of any guidance from its international federation, adopted a transgender policy in November that “Athletes will be permitted to participate in USA Fencing-sanctioned events in a manner consistent with their gender identity/expression, regardless of the gender associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.”

Taken as written, all that is needed is for a male fencer to compete in the women’s division in USA Fencing-sanctioned competitions is to declare their participation as a woman for an upcoming season. Thus, two-time Olympic Team Foil bronze medalist Gerek Meinhardt could, if desired, compete against his wife, Tokyo Olympic champ Lee Keifer, for the women’s national championship in the 2023-24 season!

Observed: Confusing? Yes, and getting more so every day.

4.
World Athletics publishes Paris ‘24 qualification regulations

Although the largest sport at the Olympic Games, the size of the track & field competitions will be downsized again at Paris in 2024, as documented by the approved “Qualification System” document.

In London in 2012 – 10 years ago – there were 2,231 competitors in athletics. In Paris, due to the IOC’s agreement with Olympic organizing committees to stick to its 10,500 athlete limit first used for Barcelona in 1992 (and unenforced since), the athlete quota for track & field will be down to 1,810, or 19% less.

Comparing 2012 and 2024, most of the track events are not impacted too badly, other than the 100 m, but the throws and combined events (decathlon and heptathlon) are being thinned (2012 men/women entries and 2024 quotas shown):

● 100 m: 74/79 in London ~ 56/56 for Paris
● 200 m: 54/54 in London ~ 48/48 for Paris
● 400 m: 49/49 in London ~ 48/48 for Paris
● 800 m: 55/45 in London ~ 48/48 for Paris
● 1,500 m: 43/46 in London ~ 45/45 for Paris
● Steeple: 39/34 in London ~ 36/36 for Paris
● 5,000 m: 43/36 in London ~ 42/42 for Paris
● 10,000 m: 29/22 in London ~ 27/27 for Paris
● 100/110 m H: 53/50 in London ~ 40/40 for Paris
● 400 m hurdles: 40/32 in London ~ 40/40 for Paris
● High Jump: 35/35 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Pole Vault: 32/39 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Long Jump: 42/32 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Triple Jump: 27/35 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Shot Put: 40/32 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Discus: 41/36 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Hammer: 41/37 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Javelin: 44/42 in London ~ 32/32 for Paris
● Combined: 31/39 in London ~ 24/24 for Paris

The relay events were maintained at 16 each, with road events being condensed:

● Marathon: 105/118 in London ~ 80/80 for Paris
● 20 km Walk: 56/61 in London ~ 48/48 for Paris

There are qualification standards for each event, with half of the places expected to be filled by athletes meeting those marks, and the remaining 50% taken from the World Athletics World Rankings. One important note: qualifying marks “must be achieved during competitions organised or authorised by World Athletics, its Area Associations or its National Federations in conformity with World Athletics Rules and published on the World Athletics Global Calendar.”

That requirement could very well trip up some U.S. competitors used to finding fast races in collegiate or spring relays meets which may not be on the World Athletics Global Calendar.

5.
Russia slams “radical voices,” continues re-entry campaigning

Four-time Olympic Sabre gold medalist Stanislav Pozdkyakov, 49, was re-elected as President of the Russian Olympic Committee on 20 December, running unopposed. He wasted no time in continuing with his public theme that Russian re-entry into international sports is overdue.

In remarks to the ROC, he reported:

“On the margins of the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees [in Seoul in October], we held many meetings.

“Only dishonest competitors, marginalized, pseudo-journalists far from objectivity, radical voices continue to dream about the abolition of Russia. There are fewer and fewer radical voices. I personally discussed the issue of returning with the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, and other heads of international sports federations, there was never a hint that they do not want to see Russian athletes. We are doing everything so that our athletes can return to the international arena.

“Any restrictions based on the principle of citizenship are contrary to both the Olympic Charter and international documents and cannot have legal, let alone moral grounds. Our counterparts abroad understand this. The situation is blatant, requiring the consistent abolition of anti-sport restrictions. So far, politics is stronger than sports, as sad as it is. …

“Baron Pierre de Coubertin consistently advocated that the main task of the Olympic movement is to make our imperfect world better with the help of sports. Unfortunately, the foundations of the Olympic Movement today are being dismantled under the guise of restructuring by Western colleagues and some of our compatriots.”

Dmitry Svishchev, the Chair of Russia’s State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, continued his criticism of the IOC as the leader of international sport a day earlier:

“We are talking about the fact that in today’s conditions, when Russian athletes are being banned, the Russophobic campaign has reached sports, and we are obliged to create conditions for our athletes.

“We discussed opening windows for interaction with other countries, communities, BRICS [Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa] and the [Shanghai Cooperation Organisation]. I think a large number of countries are ready to compete with us.

“We’ve heard repeatedly that Mr. Bach calls for removing Russians from sports life, but at the same time sometimes recommends allowing it. But Mr. Bach is not [in charge of] all sports, so we need to find an opportunity to create sports organizations under the BRICS and SCO.”

And the “pivot to Asia” suggested at the Olympic Summit by the Olympic Council of Asia, that some Russian athletes could compete in its regional competitions – Asian Games – as a pathway to Paris in 2024, was endorsed by Irina Viner, the head of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, although:

“The Russians have practically no chance to go to Paris-2024 anyway. …

“I welcome the desire of Asia to invite Russian athletes to their competitions, where they can compete in a completely legitimate way, having the same rights as other participants. We feel a sense of gratitude, I have always liked Asia more than Europe. We have provided assistance to many Asian federations, especially from the republics of the former USSR. We also cooperated a lot with Japan and China, and now good contacts are being established with colleagues from India, who also need our help. I’m glad about it and I think everything will be fine

“An invitation from Asian countries is now much more important for us than anything else.”

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Russia ● Amid reports of forced evacuations of people from the Donetsk area, invaded and “annexed” by Russia as part of its war against Ukraine, this from the TASS news agency on Wednesday:

“Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism of the [Donetsk People’s Republic] Nikolai Tarapata at the final meeting of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports:

“‘About 2,000 athletes and coaches have already been evacuated outside the DPR to attend training camps. Now classes are not held in educational institutions,’ Tarapata said. ‘Our athletes are ready to take part in all-Russian competitions. We need funding for the training camps and we have sent the corresponding figures to the Ministry of Sports.’”

● Artistic Swimming ● The International Olympic Committee approved having men compete in the Paris 2024 Artistic Swimming competition for the first time, with up to two men being allowed to be part of the eight-member Team event. The discipline, introduced in 1984, has been exclusively contested by women; the international federation for aquatics introduced men’s participation (and now men’s events) in artistic swimming beginning in 2015.

● Athletics ● The Boston Athletic Association announced that following the disqualification of 2021 women’s Boston Marathon winner Diana Kipyokei (KEN) for doping:

“The B.A.A. is in the process of adjusting race rankings and will provide prize award adjustments to top finishers of the 2021 event. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya has been elevated to women’s open division champion of the 125th Boston Marathon, and is now recognized as a two-time Boston winner (2017 and 2021).”

It’s another honor for the amazing Kiplagat, now 43, who was considering giving up running until she won the Los Angeles Marathon in 2010 and then went on to win the 2011 and 2013 World Championships marathons and 10 top-three finishes in World Marathons Majors races, including the two wins in Boston, plus New York in 2010 and London in 2014!

She’s still going strong, finishing fourth at both the Boston and New York City marathons in 2022.

● Cycling ● Another impact of the 2024 Olympic Games on the Tour de France, with the opening of the 21-stage race to be held in Italy for the first time. This will keep more of the race away from Paris in the north, with three stages starting from Florence, Cesenatico and Piacenza, and to end in Turin.

The Tour has had stages in Italy before, as early as 1952 and as recently as 2011, but never as the “Grand Depart.”

● Shooting ● No surprise, but with billionaire Russian Vladimir Lisin voted out as President of the International Shooting Sports Federation, the ISSF Executive Board announced a set of cost-containment measures on Wednesday.

These include eliminating non-Olympic events from ISSF World Cups, which will trim the competitions from three days to two; having only one bronze medal instead of two (meaning one less match); reductions in the expenditures for television production and the postponement of a video-review system until its quality can be improved.

The ISSF showed assets of €17.051 million at the end of 2021, with €4.16 million in reserves and €11.27 million from the IOC’s distribution of Olympic television money from Tokyo 2020 held as deferred income.

● Weightlifting ● Another doping positive, this time of a three-time Olympic champion, as the International Testing Agency announced a positive out-of-competition test for China’s Xiaojun Lyu, now 38, on 30 October 2022.

Lyu’s sample was found to include the prohibited hormone erythropoietin (EPO), and he did not compete at the World Weightlifting Championships in Colombia earlier this month. He won Olympic golds in the men’s 81 kg class in 2012-16-20 and five world titles at 77 kg (3) and 81 kg (2).

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Japan audit says Tokyo 2020 cost $12.77 billion; IOC clarifies transgender stance; FIS chief in favor of Winter Games rotation now

Rich Perelman

December 22, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Japan audit bureau pegs Tokyo 2020 costs at $12.77 billion
2. IOC heard the criticisms, explains transgender “Framework”
3. FIS chief Eliasch wants Winter Games rotation to start in 2030
4. Zelensky’s World Cup final message declined by FIFA
5. Winter-sport federations show improved governance

In Lane One, a look at what the International Olympic Committee can do for the U.S. and other medal-winners-in-waiting from the Beijing 2022 figure skating Team Event, and now for American Lashinda Demus, declared on Wednesday as the gold medalist in the women’s 400 m hurdles in 2012 after a final disqualification of on-field winner, Russian Natalya Antyukh. One word: Paris.

An independent financial watchdog agency in Japan released a report giving its view of the total cost of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the equivalent of $12.772 billion (U.S.) instead of the $10.431 billion figure from the Tokyo organizing committee published in June. Of course, the same agency had projected the cost of the Games at $18.219 billion back in 2019. Either way, it was expensive. The International Olympic Committee medical director teamed with eight others to produce a commentary on its 2021 “Framework” for dealing with transgender athletes and those with differences in sex development. The paper adds much-needed explanation to the simple Framework elements and acknowledges that in some circumstances, athletes may have to be excluded from protected competition categories, especially in women’s sports. The head of the International Ski & Snowboard Federation said during the recent Olympic Summit that he is in favor of a rotation of Olympic Winter Games host cities starting in 2030; that’s good news for Salt Lake City! FIFA declined to allow a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be inserted before the World Cup Final last Sunday, due to its political nature; you can read the transcript below. The fourth study of governance quality among the seven Olympic Winter Games sports federations showed improvement, but none at the level of top seven summer federations.

1.
Japan audit bureau pegs Tokyo 2020 costs at $12.77 billion

In June, the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee dissolved and announced the final cost of the Tokyo 2020 Games at ¥1.423.8 trillion or approximately $10.431 billion U.S.

On Wednesday, the Japan Board of Audit – an independent watchdog agency – announced its view, that the total cost of the Games was ¥1.689 trillion or about $12.772 billion U.S., some 18.6% higher.

The major difference between the two figures was in costs assigned to the Games that were spent by the Japanese national government.

The Tokyo 2020 organizers’ division of costs for the Games showed 44.9% for the organizers (¥640 billion), 41.9% (¥597 billion) for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and 7.68% for the Japanese government (¥187 billion).

The Board of Audit’s figures had the national government spending ¥467 billion (~$3.53 billion U.S.) related to the Games, figuring in costs for athlete training facilities, doping control, payments to local governments for venue renovation, more money related to the building of the new National Stadium and 329 smaller programs, such as added immigration checks and improved weather forecasting.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said in November that it incurred ¥685.4 billion (~$5.18 billion U.S.) in expenses related to the Games, a 14.78% increase from the June figures.

After removing duplications, the Board of Audit’s total was ¥1.689 trillion or $12.772 billion U.S., vs. the $10.431 billion announced in June. However, the same Board of Audit predicted in December 2019 that the Tokyo Games – then to be held in 2020 – would cost ¥2.41 trillion, or about $18.219 billion!

Here’s the odyssey of the Tokyo 2020 budget per the organizing committee’s published projections:

● 2013/Bid ~ $5.38 billion U.S.
● 2016/Dec. ~ $14.0 billion U.S.
● 2018/Dec. ~ $12.6 billion U.S.
● 2019/Dec. ~ $12.6 billion U.S.
● 2020/Dec. ~ $15.4 billion U.S.
● 2022/Jun. ~ $10.4 billion U.S.

Using these figures in comparison with the 2013 bid projection of a total cost of ¥734 billion, the final total of ¥1.42 trillion was up by ¥690 billion, or 48.5%, and the new Board of Audit figure is up by 130.1%, including costs related to the pandemic and the postponement.

In either case, the costs were enormous, but – amazingly – came in less than either the organizing committee or the Board of Audit expected.

2.
IOC heard the criticisms, explains transgender “Framework”

In 2015, the International Olympic Committee issued guidelines for transgender participation in sports, naming a testosterone level of 10 nmol/L, but rejected this “one size fits all” standard in November 2021, issuing a new “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and NonDiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations.”

The new formulation emphasized the human-rights aspect of participation and has been criticized for its declaration that there is “no presumption of advantage,” specifically, “athletes should not be deemed to have an unfair or disproportionate competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status.”

Now a clarification paper, with significant commentary, was published on 16 December in the online edition of the British Journal of Sport Medicine, with nine authors credited, including the IOC’s medical director, Dr. Richard Budgett (GBR), and Dr. Ugur Erdener (TUR), the President of World Archery. It is much more explicit than the original Framework about exclusion, including:

“The Framework recognises the need for separate women’s and men’s categories in elite sports.

“It also acknowledges the significance of fair competition opportunities for the women’s category, given the historical and contemporary struggle for gender equality in sport. The Framework does not preclude the possibility that certain individual athletes could be subject to participation restrictions or exclusions where an unfair and disproportionate advantage and/or unacceptable safety risk is clearly demonstrated and cannot be mitigated via reasonable accommodations.

“The challenge before IFs is to find ways to develop eligibility pathways that are fair and non-discriminatory and that provide opportunities for inclusion in an athlete’s preferred category wherever possible, while also continuing to take meaningful action on gender equality.”

And while the new paper criticizes the use of specific testosterone levels as a go/no go test for a sport, it also acknowledges the narrow-casting approach pioneered by World Athletics and shared by other federations:

“The Framework is not for or against any one approach to regulating eligibility for sex-segregated competition. For example, it neither endorses nor prohibits the use of testosterone levels as part of eligibility criteria for trans athletes.

“The IOC acknowledges that testosterone may be an important factor shaping performance in elite athletes in certain sports, events and disciplines. It also acknowledges that, where established as relevant, testosterone levels could be investigated as a means to mitigate performance and offer some trans athletes a pathway to inclusion in elite sport.

“However, a robust and evidence-based approach to eligibility criteria starts with an assessment of unfair and disproportionate advantage that is informed by the specificities of a given sport/discipline/event, is supported by appropriate data and is consistent with the Framework as a whole.”

As a continuing demonstration of the lack of consensus in this developing area, the commentary also states, “The question of ‘treatment’ for athletes with sex variations was a topic of unresolved debate among the authors of this paper.”

A clear directive in the new paper is to have separate guidelines for “grassroots” sport vs. elite competitions. Essentially, if there are no medals or pay, let them play.

Observed: The paper is an important next step in creating a better understanding of the Framework in actual practice. It will be fascinating to see how aggressive the IOC will be in funding studies for those federations who cannot afford to research this topic on their own.

3.
FIS chief Eliasch wants Winter Games rotation to start in 2030

The International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) is responsible for more than half the events held in an Olympic Winter Games, in alpine skiing, cross country skiing, Freestyle, snowboard, Nordic Combined and ski jumping. So when its President says he’s ready to start a rotation of host cities for the Winter Games – suggested by the IOC’s Future Host Commission – it’s noteworthy.

In a Wednesday post, FIS shared comments by Johan Eliasch (SWE) from last week’s Olympic Summit held in Lausanne, noting

“President Eliasch spoke in favour of a rotation of the Winter Games, starting in 2030, as this would have several clear benefits: Olympics venues would be re-used, the venues would be ripe for more long-term investment, allowing them to be modernised in a sustainable way; and such venues could be supported by Olympic [International Federations] with more events and competitions in the ‘fallow’ years between Olympics.” And:

“I am grateful to the IOC and President [Thomas] Bach [GER] for their efforts to take the consequences of climate change into account when choosing the hosts of the Winter Olympics, and for their willingness to implement the Games in the most climate-friendly way possible.

“We in the Olympic Movement have an extraordinary platform, and the power to influence billions of people who are engaged by sports. From this platform we can demonstrate to the world how large-scale events can be conducted in a way that is sustainable and mindful of our impact on the climate. There is a clear ‘win’ to be had in rotating the Winter Games because long-term, it would drastically cut down on the carbon emissions created by these events.

“At FIS we are taking the question of sustainability extremely seriously. For two years in a row, we have been the first Climate Positive sport, with our carbon footprint measured and off-set many times over by projects FIS is funding in the Amazonian rainforest. We are fully committed to the climate protection agenda – and so we are delighted to see the IOC’s clear engagement and ambition on this issue.” (Emphasis added)

More than perhaps any other potential host, this view helps Salt Lake City to be part of a permanent rotation as it combines five elements that make a Winter Games work smoothly and at an optimal cost:

● Existing competition and training venues
● A permanent Village at the University of Utah
● Strong accommodations inventory
● Excellent airport and road network
● Continuing site of winter-sport World Cup events

The Salt Lake City Games in 2002 was only the second Winter Games in history to turn an absolute surplus – including construction – joining Oslo (NOR) in 1952. And it has already updated its approach to the Games with a comprehensive bid to handle either the 2030 or 2034 Games.

Sapporo (JPN), the 1972 Winter Games host, is also bidding for 2030, but has been hurt by an unfolding series of scandals at the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee. Vancouver (CAN), host in 2010, is also interested, but has run into a roadblock as the Province of British Columbia is unwilling to underwrite part of the cost, and by declining, has precluded federal support as well.

4.
Zelensky’s World Cup final message declined by FIFA

Citing its political nature, FIFA declined to allow a 1:43 video message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be shown prior to the World Cup Final on Sunday, but the video was tweeted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The text:

“Warm greetings from Ukraine to all fans of football, life and peace. I congratulate the whole planet on the World Cup final.

“Today, we’ll witness a common victory. The celebration of human spirit. This World Cup proved time and again that different countries and nationalities can decide who is the strongest in the fair play is but not in the playing with fire, on the green playing field and not on the red battle field.

“This is the dream of so many people when players compete making everybody enjoy peace. Every father would like to take his son to a football match all over the world and every mother would like her son to be back from war.

“Whenever it is, Ukraine strives for peace more than anything else. We offered peace formally to the world, absolutely fair, we offered it because there are no champions in war, there can be no draw.

“So, I announce the initiative to hold a global peace formal summit this winter. The summit to unite all nations of the world around the cause of global peace.

“Stadiums and stands get empty after the match and after the war cities remain empty. That’s why wars must fail and peace is to become the champion as it is here in Qatar now. The World Cup but not the world war. It is possible.

“Please support Ukraine in our efforts to restore peace. Join the global peace formal summit and become a champion of peace. Let’s witness the final together and end the war. Slava Ukraini [glory to Ukraine] and Happy Qatar Day.”

A Ukrainian statement to CNN included:

“Qatar supported the President’s initiative, but FIFA blocked the initiative and will not allow the video address of the president to be shown before the final game.”

5.
Winter-sport federations show improved governance

A major theme among the Olympic-program sports federations, both summer and winter, has been improved governance. In part a reaction to intense criticism from outside groups, it has also been an issue with athletes and coaches in some sports and has led to outside studies that grade the International Federations on their compliance with best practices.

The Association of International Olympic Winter Federations (AIOWF) published its fourth study of its seven members, governing skiing (FIS), skating (ISU), biathlon (IBU), bobsleigh and skeleton (IBSF), luge (FIL), curling (WCF) and ice hockey (IIHF).

The verdict is that governance is good, not great, and showed an average improvement of 11% from 2020.

The scoring covered dozens of specific data points, with a perfect score being 200. Where seven of the 33 summer federations scored in the highest tier in 2022, from 175 and up, none of the winter federations did as well. Instead, four scored from 150-174 and three from 130-149:

● 150-174: Skiing (FIS), Biathlon (IBU), Skating (ISU), Ice Hockey (IIHF).

● 130-149: Bobsleigh & Skeleton (IBSF), Curling (WCF), Luge (FIL).

For the summer IFs, beyond the seven who scored 175+, 10 were at 150-174, and 12 scored from 130-149.

There was improvement, but only modestly so. In general, the more staff a federation had, the better it did on the governance tests. And none were in the lowest tier of under 120.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Curling ● The World Curling Federation confirmed that Russian and Belarus would be banned from participation in its events for the entirety of the 2022-23 season, an extension of the existing ban that was implemented in February.

● Football ● More details of Tuesday’s chaotic victory parade in Buenos Aires for the victorious Argentina World Cup team have come out, with the event aborted and the team – unbelievably – moved from an open-top bus to helicopters to complete a fly-over instead of a ground review.

The parade route was reported to be 50 miles long and end at the famed Obelisco in downtown Buenos Aires, but with more than four million people lining the streets, the procession moved slower and slower.

Videos showed fans jumping from overpasses, trying to join the players on the bus, and after four hours, the buses had to be abandoned and the team was moved onto helicopters to conclude the parade!

Argentine Presidential spokesperson Gabriela Cerruti stated on social media:

“The world champions are flying over the whole route on helicopters because it was impossible to continue by land due to the explosion of people’s happiness.”

Argentina Football Association President Claudio Tapia wrote on Twitter:

“The same security organizations that were escorting us are not allowing us to move forward. I apologize in the name of all the champion players. A pity.”

The team had arrived from Qatar at 3 a.m. and spent the night at the football federation’s training site before beginning the parade.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: American Team Event figure skaters now joined by Lashinda Demus in waiting for medals: how about Paris?

Rich Perelman

December 21, 2022

tsx pix 2021-1027 beijing 2022 medals 750 — The medals for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games (Photo: Beijing 2022)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

“Natalya Antyukh’s victory in the women’s 400-metre hurdles at the London 2012 Olympic Games has now been officially disqualified.”

That’s the start of a Wednesday news release from the Athletics Integrity Unit, announcing a new sanction by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency on 21 October that expands the nullification of her results from 31 December 2015 now back to 12 July 2012 and wipes out her Olympic victory on 8 August in London:

“That sanction by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) stemmed from AIU charges based on historical data, showing evidence of doping in Russian athletics, from the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) at the former Moscow Laboratory.”

Antyukh, now 41 and who has not competed since 2016, is in the midst of a four-year ban that began in April 2021, and did not appeal the sanction. So, the AIU has now certified her London disqualification; the statement included, “The IOC may now proceed with the reallocation of medals and the update of the IOC database.”

So the London 2012 women’s 400 m hurdles results are now:

1. Lashinda Demus (USA), 52.77
2. Zuzana Hejnova (CZE), 53.38
3. Kaliese Spencer (JAM), 53.66
4. Georganne Moline (USA), 53.92
5. T’erea Brown (USA), 55.07
6. Denisa Rosolova (CZE), 55.27
7. Muizat Odumosu (NGR), 55.31
DQ: Natalya Antyukh (RUS), 52.70

So now, Demus, 39, who was also the 2011 World Champion in the event, is in line to receive the London gold.

But then there is this, from 1996 superstar – and triple gold medalist – Michael Johnson, on Twitter:

“This is both the right thing and incredibly upsetting. I received my [gold medal] in front [of] my family and the world, reaped the financial benefits with endorsements, and lived life as an Olympic Champion from that moment. Lashinda Demus was robbed of that. I couldn’t imagine!”

Assuming the International Olympic Committee re-allocates the medals in the event as can be expected, Demus stands with the nine U.S. figure skaters who competed in the Beijing 2022 Team Event and are still in limbo, waiting for their medals to be awarded.

They won silver on the ice, but then came the news that Russian skater Kamila Valieva – who won the women’s Short Program and Free Skate – had tested positive on 25 December 2021 with the results only becoming available after the Team Event had concluded. The tumult over that situation has still not cleared and is now in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an action brought by the World Anti-Doping Agency after RUSADA had taken months to complete its inquiry and then did nothing with it.

The U.S. team is at least entitled to the silver medals, and Japan to the bronze, with Canada fourth and possibly to ascend to a medal position if Russia ends up being disqualified.

So with the calendar turning to 2023, what now? How will both the skaters and Demus get their medals?

During the Beijing Games, U.S. Figure Skating Executive Director Ramsey Baker told The Associated Press:

“Having a medal ceremony at an Olympic Games is not something that can be replicated anywhere else, and they should be celebrated in front of the world before leaving Beijing.”

Well, the IOC actually has a pretty interesting process for this, which includes:

“The following six options are proposed to each athlete who can then choose their preference:

“1. The next Olympic Games (for reallocations from PyeongChang 2018 onwards).

“2. The Youth Olympic Games.

“3. The IOC headquarters or Olympic Museum.

“4. At a National Olympic Committee function.

“5. At an International Federation event or function.

“6. To have a private ceremony.

“Once their decision is confirmed, the IOC works with the National Olympic Committees of each athlete with the aim of completing the ceremony within 12 months, unless the athlete chooses to have the reallocation at the next Olympic Games.”

The current rules only allow Winter Games medals to be presented at a succeeding Winter Games, but a waiver should be granted to allow a different outcome:

Paris.

To give the skaters their medals in an appropriate setting, why not award them on the first day of competition at the Paris Games, perhaps at the 15,000-seat Accor Arena in Bercy during the men’s or women’s gymnastics team qualification competitions?

For Demus, why not during the first day of competition in track & field, a notoriously thin session for finals (and awards) anyway?

This would bring the athletes full-circle, receiving their medals during an Olympic Games and at an Olympic stadium – with fans, unlike in Beijing – and with worldwide television coverage, just as they would have had during the original medal ceremony.

And for the delay, the reward is a trip to the Paris Games in 2024.

It’s not that far away, and the publicity will be as close as could be arranged to the original setting.

For Demus, it will not be London in 2012 and for the skaters – whatever the color of their medals – it won’t be Beijing. But the IOC can grant all 10 of these American athletes, plus the rest of the medal-winners in the skating Team Event, the memory of a lifetime:

They’ll always have Paris.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: FIFA World Cup Final draws 25.78 million U.S. viewers; Mac Neil and Murphy top World Swim earnings; World Games impact: $164.8 million

Rich Perelman

December 21, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1218 murphy-macneil swim wch 25 m awards — The outstanding swimmers of the 2022 FINA World 25 m Championships: U.S. backstroke star Ryan Murphy (l) and Canada's double world-record-setter, Maggie Mac Neil (Photo: World Aquatics)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. FIFA World Cup Final draws 25.78 million U.S. viewers
2. Mac Neil and Murphy top World Short-Course Champs money list
3. Int’l Paralympic Committee reaches €53.4 million revenue record
4. Birmingham World Games economic impact pegged at $164.8 million
5. Sapporo scaling back 2030 Winter Games bid effort due to scandals

The U.S. ratings report for the FIFA World Cup Final showed that an outstanding 25.78 million watched the Argentina-France spectacular, the largest audience ever for a men’s soccer match, and no. 2 all-time. For the entire, 64-match tournament, the U.S. combined viewing audience on FOX and Telemundo averaged 6.00 million viewers, and the quarterfinals, semifinals and final combined – seven matches – averaged more viewers than either the 2022 World Series or NBA Finals! Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil and U.S. backstroke star Ryan Murphy were named the outstanding swimmers at the just-completed FINA World 25 m Championships in Australia and were also 1-2 on the money list, with $2.45 million distributed in prize money. The International Paralympic Committee’s annual report for 2021 showed record revenue of €53.4 million as the Paralympic Movement continues to gain strength. A report from the International World Games Association showed that the total economic impact of the Birmingham World Games last summer was $164.8 million, short of the organizing committee’s goal, but still impressive. Almost 100,000 room nights were generated, counting both participants and visitors. Amid the continuing scandals in sponsorship sales and contracts for test-event and venue management from te Tokyo 2020 Games, the mayor of Sapporo and governor of Hokkaido said that promotion of Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games must be secondary to regaining public trust by uncovering exactly what happened in Tokyo.

1.
FIFA World Cup Final draws 25.78 million U.S. viewers

The monumental final match of the FIFA World Cup drew an almost-NFL-sized audience in the U.S. on Sunday with the combined English and Spanish-language coverage totaling about 25.783 million, including both television and streaming.

FOX reported a total average audience of 16.783 million viewers, making it the most-watched men’s soccer match in U.S. history on a single network, passing the U.S.-England match during the group stage, which drew 15.491 million. Sunday’s match was also the most-watched men’s World Cup Final ever in the U.S., eclipsing the 14.510 million who saw the 1994 World Cup final – held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena – between Brazil and Italy.

Telemundo had a television audience of 5.534 million, but had streaming to more than three million to total almost 9.0 million.

Combined, the 25.783 million total makes the 2022 World Cup Final the second-most-watched soccer match in American history, behind only the 26.7 million who saw the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final between the U.S. and Japan (25.4 million on FOX and 1.3 million on Telemundo).

The television audience peaked at the end of the match (of course), with 25.62 million watching on FOX and 7.72 on Telemundo, or 33.34 million combined.

For the entire, 64-match tournament:

On FOX:
● Group-stage average: 4.25 million viewers for 22 matches
● Knock-outs average: 6.51 million viewers for 14 matches
● Tournament average: 5.13 million viewers for 36 matches

On FS1:
● Group-stage average: 1.28 million viewers for 26 matches
● Knock-outs average: 2.73 million viewers for 2 matches
● Tournament average: 1.38 million viewers for 28 matches

On Telemundo:
● Group-stage average: 2.07 million viewers for 48 matches
● Knock-outs average: 3.85 million viewers for 16 matches
● Tournament average: 2.51 million viewers for 64 matches

Combined:
● Group-stage average: 4.71 million viewers for 48 matches
● Knock-outs average: 9.89 million viewers for 16 matches
● Tournament average: 6.00 million viewers for 64 matches

Sunday’s 25.783 million audience was still short of the NFL in the U.S., as the 1 p.m. Eastern window drew a combined 33.490 million on CBS and FOX. But Argentina and France did out-draw the 4:25 p.m. late window on CBS (21.454 million) and Sunday Night Football on NBC (15.376 million).

Worth noting: the combined average audiences for the World Cup semis and final beat the average U.S. English-language audiences for the World Series and the NBA Finals in 2022:

● World Cup semis/final: 15.91 million avg. (3 games)
● MLB World Series: 11.8 million avg. (6 games)
● NBA Finals: 12.4 million avg. (6 games)

If the World Cup quarterfinals are included – for a total of seven matches – the average still tops baseball and basketball at 12.79 million average with English and Spanish combined.

As good as the U.S. numbers were, they hardly compare with what happened in France, where TF1 reported an average audience of 24.08 million during its broadcast of the final, with a ratings share of 81% (meaning that 81% of all TVs on in France during the match were watching it!). Its peak audience came at the end, with 29.4 million viewers … in a country of 67.5 million.

2.
Mac Neil and Murphy top World Short-Course Champs money list

Completely overshadowed by the FIFA World Cup was the 16th FINA (now World Aquatics) World 25 m Championships, held in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to the medal count – won by the U.S. with 36 (17-13-6) – the meet also carried with it $2.1 million in prize money and $25,000 for every world record set.

The big winner on the money list was Chinese-born Maggie Mac Neil, who was adopted at the age of one by a Canadian family and swims for Canada and swam two seasons for the University of Michigan. At 22, she had a brilliant Worlds, winning the 50 m Back, 50 and 100 m Flys and setting world records in the 50 m Back and 100 m Fly, plus shared from two relay bronzes.

With per-event awards of $10,000-8,000-7,000-6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2.000 for places 1-8 ($45,000 per event), the top earners per SwimSwam.com included:

1. $86,250: Maggie Mac Neil (CAN)
2. $49,500: Ryan Murphy (USA)
3. $47,500: Nic Fink (USA)
4. $47,000: Torri Huske (USA)
5. $44,000: Kate Douglass (USA)
6. $43,500: Emma McKeon (AUS)
7. $43,250: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS)
7. $43,250: Claire Curzan (USA)
9. $43,000: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU)
10. $38,750: Lani Pallister (AUS)

Some 86 swimmers won at least $10,000, including shares of the 14 world-record swims, worth an extra $350,000 in bonuses, making the total payout for the six-day meet $2.45 million.

And American swimmers did very well, totaling $513,000 in prizes, or 20.9% of the total prize pool, just behind winning 25% of all medals available across the 48 events!

3.
Int’l Paralympic Committee reaches €53.4 million revenue record

The annual report of the International Paralympic Committee reported record revenue for 2021, with the Paralympic Games held in Tokyo and a one-time-only initiative that brought in 54% of its income:

“[T]he Tokyo Broadcast project where the IPC was responsible for broadcast sales and production for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was a one-off project that will not be repeated in the future.”

But for 2021, it was worth it, bringing in €28.91 million (~$30.71 million U.S.), but also costing €28.62 million (~$30.41 million) for a modest surplus of about $300,000. Nevertheless, it catapulted the IPC’s revenues to new heights:

● 2012: €10.29 million (~$10.93 million U.S.)
● 2016: €19.98 million (~$21.23 million U.S.)
● 2021: €53.42 million (~$56.75 million U.S.)

The IPC also saw €12.20 million (~$12.96 million U.S.) in fund-raising and marketing revenue. Close to its most ever and €3.40 million in grants (~$3.61 million U.S.).

All this led to a small surplus of €12.08 million (~$12.83 million U.S.). The organization, based on Bonn (GER), now has assets of €27.50 million (~$29.21 million U.S.) and reserves of €20.13 million (~$21.38 million U.S.).

The one-year-postponed Paralympic Games in Tokyo welcomed 4,393 athletes – the most ever – from 162 nations, competing in 22 sports, with 86 countries winning a medal, the most ever.

The IPC’s “WeThe15″ campaign to raise awareness of people with disabilities around the world was successfully launched during the Tokyo Games with the promotional video viewed more than 750 million times.

4.
Birmingham World Games economic impact pegged at
$164.8 million

The 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama last July welcomed 3,457 athletes from 99 countries in 34 sports and generated an estimated $164.8 million in total economic impact for the host city and region.

That’s from a report by the Edinburgh, Scotland-based Quantum Consultancy, reviewing the event for the International World Games Association. The direct-spending aspect of the event totaled $11.7 million, but the induced impacts and added outputs add up to $164.8 million in total. This included:

● $10.2 million in visitor spending from 13,521 out-of-town visitors to Birmingham.
● 99,039 bed nights generated by the event by participants and spectators.
● 115,928 tickets sold and 140,217 in attendance; 37.1% of available capacity.
● 7,663 volunteer staff contributing more than 168,000 total hours of service.
● 1.12 million unique visitors to the World Games site, with 4.22 million page views.
● 268 million reach on broadcast television to 61 countries (including news coverage).

The report also noted that “With expenditures totaling $66.4 million as of November 2022, the [Birmingham Organizing Committee] is reporting a small remaining deficit with plans in place to satisfy all remaining debts and successfully close out the Games by the end of Q1 2023.”

The organizers reported a debt of $14.1 million, of which $10 million was picked up by the City of Birmingham ($5 million), Jefferson County ($4 million) and the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau ($1 million).

The report noted that part of the reason for the debt was the continuing pandemic, which hurt out-of-town travel and reduced ticket sales, which were targeted at $6 million, but brought in just $3.8 million. Poor weather during the early days of the competitions didn’t help either.

Overall economic impact of $250 million had been hoped for, but the World Games fell short. Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau President John Oros said of his organization’s $1 million contribution to the debt:

“This is not typically the role and responsibility of a destination marketing organization, but we had to do this. Bankruptcy for [the World Games Organizing Committee] was not an option. If that had happened, the statement that would go out to the amateur, college, and youth sports universe would have potentially hurt our chances to land some of the major events we’re working on. So, for that reason – and we were sensitive that a number of local suppliers and vendors needed to be paid – we felt like we had to step up and the board supported it.”

5.
Sapporo scaling back 2030 Winter Games bid effort
due to scandals

Japanese officials now plan to reduce their promotion of Sapporo as a primary candidate for the 2030 Winter Games, in view of the Tokyo 2020 sponsorship and business-rigging scandals are hurting the effort to land the Games.

Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto told a Tuesday news conference that promotion of the bid must be eased, saying “We must first dispel the public’s unease rather than rushing forward blindly without regard to appearances.”

Last week, Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki told reporters, “It is difficult to keep fostering momentum as things stand. … There’s been a variety of problems taking place. We can’t proceed unless we have thorough discussions and present countermeasures to gain [public] understanding. …

“People are voicing concerns about the effect the scandals might have on the bid. First, I want the truth to come out as soon as possible.”

The skepticism runs deep, as Seiko Hashimoto, who led the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee after former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was forced out in February 2021, said – of the organizing committee she inherited – “We need to take a hard look at the way the Games previously existed and drastically rethink them.”

Sapporo and Salt Lake City have serious bids assembled for the 2030 Winter Games, which the International Olympic Committee said would be awarded late in 2023. Polls have shown public support for Sapporo to be lukewarm at best and the Tokyo 2020 scandals have not helped. Salt Lake City has overwhelming public support and plans to use only existing venues to keep costs down.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● Inflation and the disruption of supply chains is impacting the Paris 2024 construction effort, being handled by a dedicated, government-created firm called SOLIDEO, which announced last Friday that the public-money aspect of its budget had been increased once again.

Construction efforts are already underway at multiple sites, including what will be the Olympic Village. The government’s share of the works was originally budgeted at €1.38 billion (~$1.47 billion U.S.), then increased in 2021 to €1.55 billion (~$1.65 billion U.S.) and now €1.711 billion (~$1.82 billion U.S.), about 39% of the €4.4 billion total (~$4.68 billion U.S.) that includes private investment.

Per SOLIDEO General Manager Nicolas Ferrand:

“Despite the obstacles, we are continuing our journey. We will be able to deliver the works on time, within the fixed costs and within the strong ambitions that we have determined. The additional funding voted today by the Board of Directors only responds to the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the COVID crisis in China. Apart from that, we are still perfectly in line with the budget initially announced in constant 2016 euros.”

● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● Giovanni Malago, the head of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) hailed the appointment of Andrea Varnier as chief executive of the 2026 Winter Games organizing committee as a key step in getting the planning effort back on track. He told a news conference last week:

“In the past three years since we won the Games, I have met with four governments, four different institutions and structures, four people with whom to deal with … without forgetting COVID, inflation and the international crisis [war].

“It was like running a marathon with a backpack. Now I am happy because the appointment of Andrea Varnier finally shows that the government is on board … we all know very well what are the difficulties and the problems, but I think most of these will be resolved soon.

“Andrea Varnier is the light at the end of the tunnel. His collaboration as adviser to the IOC and more than 30 years of experience in the industry are the key to accelerating our roadmap. His appointment represented a fundamental step.”

The organizing committee has been criticized for a lack of sponsorships and a slow pace of planning, now expected to change quickly.

● World University Games ● The elected head of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) since 2015 is Russia’s Oleg Matytsin, who was elevated to be the country’s Sports Minister in 2020. That put him in a difficult position, and he elevated FISU First Vice President Leonz Eder (SUI) to Acting President in March 2021.

With the end of the formal sanctions against Russian officials by the World Anti-Doping Agency (which still retains Russia on suspension), Matytsin could have returned as FISU chief and said Sunday:

“I have not resigned as FISU President from anywhere. Yesterday I informed my colleagues on the Executive Committee by sending a letter to them that I temporarily entrust the leadership of FISU to the First Vice-President in accordance with the statutes of the organization. But I can return at any time, as soon as I consider necessary, to my duties as President. I have no restrictions regarding participation in FISU events, I actively participate in the work and I am informed about what is going on in the organization. I stay in contact with my colleagues and actively participate in the dialogue with them.”

And at the FISU Executive Committee meeting on Saturday, Matytsin confirmed that Eder would continue.

● National Olympic Committees ● Four-time Olympic fencing gold medalist Stanislav Pozdnyakov ran unopposed and was re-elected as President of the Russian Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

The Russian news agency TASS reported his comments about the future of Russia at the Olympic Games made prior to the election:

“The best-case scenario is that our athletes will take part in the 2024 Olympics, having cleared the qualifying stage. Otherwise, we will resort to an alternative scenario. We will be implementing an Olympic sports program aimed at creating an athletic base and the training of the youth.

“The main goal will be to prepare a new generation of athletes, who can enter the top three at the [2028] Olympics after the [2024] Games in Paris.”

● Anti-Doping ● The World Anti-Doping Agency noted with pleasure the “Operation Shield” initiative coordinated by Europol and led by police efforts in France, Greece, Italy and Spain, that “successfully seized more than EUR 40 million-worth of counterfeit medicines and doping substances, dismantled 59 criminal groups, and arrested or reported to the judicial authorities 349 suspects across Europe.”

Gunter Younger (GER), the WADA director for Intelligence and Investigations, noted the direct impact of the project:

“Substances prohibited in sport were among the most seized items in this operation and, apart from the arrest of hundreds of people suspected of being involved, it also resulted in a number of targeted testing campaigns being launched by several Anti-Doping Organizations. As a result, 48 positive tests came about thanks to intelligence provided by this investigation.”

● Alpine Skiing ● Reigning World Cup overall champ Marco Odermatt (SUI) scored his fourth win of the season on Monday in the Giant Slalom in Alta Badia (ITA), finishing in 2:38.27, ahead of Norwegian star Henrik Kristoffersen (2:38.47) and Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec (2:39.19).

Odermatt was sensational on the first run, finishing in 1:20.04 and leading the field by 0.60, and despite having only the 21st-fastest time on the second run, managed to win his 15th career World Cup race, of which 10 have been Giant Slaloms. River Radamus was the top American finisher in 10th (2:40.88).

● Athletics ● More Kenyan doping, as the Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed lengthy bans on Diana Kipyokei – the 2021 Boston Marathon winner – and Purity Rionoripo.

Kipyokei, 28, was banned for doping with the anti-inflammatory Triamcinolone Acetonide, found in a sample taken after her October 2021 Boston Marathon victory. She exacerbated her penalty from four to six years by “provid[ing] false/misleading information in trying to explain her AAF, including fake documentation which she alleged came from a hospital.”

Rionoripo, 29, won the Prague Marathon in a lifetime best of 2:20:14 in May 2021, but tested positive for the diuretic Furosemide in an out-of-competition test in Kenya in May 2022. Then, “In her explanation, she claimed to have been prescribed medication by a doctor at a hospital to treat an ankle injury and presented supporting documentation. However, investigations revealed that, though Rionoripo was treated at the hospital, she had altered her prescription form to include Lasix (the commercial name for Furosemide).”

She was also banned for six years, but admitted the violation, shortening the suspension to five years.

Betty Wilson Lempus, already on provisional suspension, was charged with another doping violation – also Triamcinolone Acetonide – from an October test, to go along with an existing tampering charge.

The current AIU list of ineligible persons shows 54 Kenyans.

● Football ● Argentina declared a national holiday on Tuesday for the FIFA World Cup champions, with some five million people estimated to have saluted the team on a reported 50-mile victory parade atop a bus and an enormous, packed crowd around Buenos Aires’ famed Obelisco to celebrate after Sunday’s victory.

Budweiser, which was not allowed to sell its alcoholic beer at Qatar stadiums, has been promoting a #BringHomeTheBud campaign, with shots of shipping containers with the Budweiser logo landing in multiple cities. AB InBev announced that fan festivals will be held in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Cordoba to celebrate Argentina’s World Cup victory (and the unsold beer from Qatar).

A November report noted that AB InBev sponsored the 2022 World Cup at $112 million and has agreed to pay $170 million for the rights for the 2026 World Cup, but will ask for a $48.2 million discount in view of being refused the right to sell at the last moment in Qatar.

● Freestyle Skiing & Snowboard ● Highlights of the Toyota U.S. Open Freeski and Snowboard Big Air finals were on NBC on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time – against the late NFL window – and drew a respectable 678,000 viewers. Most of the event had been streamed live on Outside TV.com.

● Ice Hockey ● The U.S.-Canadian women’s Rivalry Series continued on Monday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with the Canadians getting a second straight win, 3-2, in overtime. The 2022-23 series now stands at 3-2 for the U.S., with two more games coming in February.

The American women got the lead on a first-period score from Cayla Barnes, but that was wiped out as Canada scored twice in the second, on a power-play goal from Sarah Fillier at 2:54 and then from Laura Stacey at 16:31.

The U.S. tied it in the third via a Taylor Heise goal at 10:16 and at 2-2, Danielle Serdachnny for the game-winner at 2:44 of overtime. The U.S. had a 34-28 shots advantage, but it wasn’t enough.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: Has the FIFA World Cup passed the Olympic Games as the world’s greatest sporting event?

Rich Perelman

December 20, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

After Sunday’s rapturous FIFA World Cup Final that saw Argentina and France battle all the way to penalty kicks, combined with the staggering announcement of FIFA’s $11 billion budget for 2023-26, it’s worth asking whether the Olympic Games – and the International Olympic Committee – have been displaced as the world’s biggest sporting event.

Despite all of the issues raised in the run-up to the tournament, it more than lived up to expectations. According to FIFA:

● More than 3.4 million live spectators, with average attendance at 96.3% of capacity;

● Worldwide television audience of about two billion for the group stage and “approaching” five billion for the tournament (this figure will not be finalized for some months);

● More than 1.8 million attendance at the FIFA Fan Festival in Doha (average of more than 70,000 per day);

● More than 1.9 million Hayya Cards – essentially a temporary visa – were approved, with Saudi Arabia, India and the U.S. the top originating countries for foreign visitors.

These are impressive figures, but not as impressive as the announcements by FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) concerning the future.

= FIFA vs. IOC: Revenue =

The FIFA Council approved a stunning budget of $11 billion for the 2023-26 time frame, a 47% increase from the 2019-22 total of $7.5 billion.

Infantino said the expectations for the 2026 World Cup, to be held in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., are for five to five-and-a-half million visitors for the tournament, which will expand from 32 to 48 teams in a format yet to be determined.

These are staggering numbers, and show FIFA estimating it will triple its four-year revenues between the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and then rise 47% just by 2026:

● 2003-06: $2.634 billion
● 2007-10: $4.189 billion, an increase of 59%
● 2011-14: $5.712 billion, an increase of 36%
● 2015-18: $6.421 billion, an increase of 12%
● 2019-22: $7.5 billion estimated, an increase of 17%
● 2023-26: $11.0 billion budgeted, an increase of 47%

Infantino points out that the budget of $6.44 billion for 2019-22 was exceeded despite the Covid-19 pandemic that started in 2020 and has not yet been thoroughly conquered.

By comparison, what about the International Olympic Committee? It is no slouch, either, also working on quadrennial budgets, but tied to different years. The IOC’s revenues:

● 2000-04: $3.0 billion
● 2005-08: $3.9 billion, an increase of 30%
● 2009-12: $5.2 billion, an increase of 33%
● 2013-16: $5.7 billion, an increase of 10%
● 2017-20: $7.6 billion, an increase of 33%
● 2021-24: ???

This nearly mirrors FIFA’s growth over time; a 2021-24 budget was not included in the IOC’s Annual Report for 2021, in part due to the complications from the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Games to 2021. But the Olympic Solidarity program, which supports the National Olympic Committees, is already committed to grow in the 2021-24 timeframe from $509 million to $590 million, an increase of 16%. At that rate, the IOC’s revenues for 2021-24 would be about $8.8 billion, ahead of FIFA for the 2019-22 period and also heading toward its major event being in the United States – specifically Los Angeles – for 2028.

(Although no 2021-24 budget was shown, the IOC did state that it has revenues of $4.1 billion already secured for the 2029-32 timeframe.)

(For American fans, it’s worthwhile to note that the leading U.S. professional leagues earn as much or more in a single season as FIFA and the IOC earn in a quadrennial. The National Football League (and its teams) was reported to gross $17.04 billion in 2021, with about $11 billion for Major League Baseball in 2022 and more than $10 billion for the National Basketball Association in 2021-22.)

= FIFA World Cup vs. Olympic Games: Audience =

Money is one measure; what about the audience, and in specific, the worldwide viewing audience on television and other devices?

Both FIFA and the IOC have commissioned viewing studies of their mega-events, and while the World Cup is expanding, the Olympic audience has shrunk of late:

FIFA World Cup:
● 2010: 3.20 billion on television
● 2014: 3.19 billion on television
● 2018: 3.57 billion total viewers
● 2022: FIFA said “approaching five billion”

Olympic Games:
● 2012: 3.6 billion on television; 1.2 billion digital users
● 2016: 3.2 billion on television; 1.3 billion digital users
● 2020: 3.05 billion total viewers

The studies for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were both done by the same firm: Publicis Sport & Entertainment. Please note the Olympic audience figures for TV and digital in 2012 and 2016 are not discrete and there is quite a bit of overlap.

= FIFA World Cup vs. Olympic Games: Participation =

Here we see the enormous differences in these events, despite their similarity in funding and audience. Please note FIFA defines what is widely known as the “World Cup” as the “World Cup Finals” as it is the final tournament of teams which have qualified over a two-year period.

Athletes and teams/qualification:
● FIFA World Cup: About 5,500 players from 211 members
● Olympic Games: Estimated 100,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees

Athletes and teams/main event:
● FIFA World Cup: 832 players on 32 national teams (1,248 in 2026)
● Olympic Games: 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees

Hours of competition:
● FIFA World Cup: 128 from 64 matches of two hours each
● Olympic Games: 3,800 from 17 days, in 32 sports at Tokyo 2020

These numbers bring out the contrast between the events, especially in that the World Cup builds from teams in group-stage play to a crescendo as countries are eliminated and the final decides the ultimate, single championship that is the most-watched event.

The Olympic Games is exactly the opposite, with the biggest single audience for the Opening Ceremony, in which every country attending the Games is showcased. After that, the audiences splinter into events of choice, with athletics, gymnastics and swimming the most popular, but with 339 events in 32 sports in Tokyo – all shown live – there was plenty to choose from for more than 17 days.

Which is the best?

There is no way for the ascending FIFA World Cup to displace the Olympic Games in that for fans in more than 200 countries around the world, athletes from their nation participate almost daily in the Olympics. Only 32 countries competed in the 2018 World Cup and even with expansion to 48 in 2026, it’s still only a fraction of the countries in the Games.

But FIFA has had success now with staging World Cups in places the IOC has not gone. The World Cup has been held in Africa – South Africa in 2010 – and now in the Middle East, in Qatar. Both of those countries have either bid for, or want to bid for, the Olympic Games, but the pressure on a single city or metropolitan area to host 30-plus sports over 17 days is far greater than the World Cup schedule of not more than four matches a day.

The Olympic worldwide broadcast audience has thinned by about 15% since London in 2012 and there are high hopes for Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028 as magnets to draw fans back in. But for FIFA, the future seems limitless after a difficult, but ultimately brilliant tournament that concluded with one of the most memorable games in sports history.

Rich Perelman
Editor

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: FIFA World Cup Final classic goes to Argentina; Europe takes 44% of the prize money; U.S. swimmers top World 25 m Champs medal table!

Rich Perelman

December 19, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1218 messi wcup 750 (tasnim news) — Champion at last: Argentina's superstar striker Lionel Messi (Photo: Tasnim News Agency via Wikipedia)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Argentina wins spectacular World Cup Final on penalties
2. Argentina victorious, but Europe takes 44% of prize money
3. European Super League rebuffed at European Court of Justice
4. World Short-Course Champs finish with 13 world records!
5. World Athletics’ Coe happy about ‘22, planning new 2026 event

The FIFA World Cup came to a spectacular end with a heart-stopping final, as Argentina took a 2-0 lead into the 80th minute and looked like sure winners, only to have France tie it and then both sides got a goal in extra time to end 3-3. Led by superstar striker Lionel Messi, Argentina then won on penalty kicks, 4-2, for its third World Cup title. Although Argentina won the title, Europe won most of the prize money, collecting $192 million out of the $400 million on offer, and only the African, European and South American qualifiers had winning records against other confederations. An important advisory opinion at the European Court of Justice stated that federations like FIFA and UEFA can be both regulators and event operators, allowing them to protect their programs against challenge from the European Super League. The World Short-Course Championships in swimming finished in Australia, with the U.S. topping the medal table amid world (25 m) records in 13 different events! World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said the World Championships in Eugene had a $237 million economic impact, and that a new, worldwide event is being cooked up for 2026, when no Worlds or Olympics is scheduled to take place.

1.
Argentina wins spectacular World Cup Final on penalties

What looked like a rout for 80 minutes turned into a classic as Argentina gave up a 2-0 lead in the final moments of the FIFA World Cup Final in Doha, but finally prevailed on penalties after a 3-3 tie after extra time before 88,966 at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Argentina took control right from the start, living in the French zone and putting pressure on French keeper Hugo Lloris. The ball rarely left the French zone, and in the 23rd minute, striker Angel Di Maria dribbled around forward Ousmane Dembele and into the box, but was brought down by Dembele for a clear penalty.

Of course it was superstar Lionel Messi taking his 29th career penalty for Argentina and he stutter-stepped, then sent a clean, left-footed shot into the right of the net with Lloris moving the other way. It was his 24th conversion and his 12th career World Cup goal – tying him with Brazilian icon Pele for fifth-most all-time – and a 1-0 lead.

Then they struck again, with Messi flicking the ball from the midfield down the right side to midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who was running free toward the box. As the French defense closed in, he sent a perfect cross from right to left and Di Maria finished into the far right side of the net for a 2-0 lead at the 36-minute mark.

At this point, Argentina had 64% of the possession and a 6-0 lead on shots. The half quietly at 2-0, with Argentina controlling the ball 59% of the time and still with a 6-0 shot advantage.

The French needed to get going in the second half, but it was more of the same. The Argentina defense was smothering, and France was not credited with a shot until the 68th minute! Argentina threatened multiple times, including what looked like a Mac Allister breakaway in the 63rd that was shut down by a diving Lloris, who came out to meet the challenge.

But it changed in a second, in the 79th. Substitute French striker Randal Kolo Muani was sprinting towards the Argentina goal along the left side in the 79th, but was dragged down by defender Nicolas Otamendi in the box for an obvious penalty.

And it was Kylian Mbappe, silent all game, who took it and sent a left-footed rocket into the net in the 80th to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Now the French were all on offense. Sub forward Kingsley Coman won the ball from Messi at midfield and sent it to the middle for midfielder Adrien Rabiot who found Mbappe on the left side of the box. Then Mbappe sent a pass into the middle for sub striker Marcus Thuram, who returned it perfectly and Mbappe ripped it into the right side of the net for the – unbelievable – 2-2 tie after 81 minutes. The French scored twice in about 90 seconds, with Mbappe taking the tournament scoring lead with his seventh goal.

The Argentines, just as in the quarterfinal against the Netherlands, gave up a two-goal lead in the final 10 minutes.

Now it was game on again and now it was the French were energized and Argentina trying to hang on. Mbappe just missed connecting with Kolo Muani on a header in the 84th. Four minutes later, Thuram went down in the box, but got a yellow card for diving, instead of a penalty. Rabiot’s shot at 90+4 was saved by the suddenly-under-siege Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez and covered after bouncing loose in front of goal.

At 90+7, Messi had one more chance and sent a missile from the top of the box – dead center – that was sent over the crossbar by Lloris with his left hand. Extra time.

Both sides were cautious to start, but Argentina got great looks right at the end of the first period, with a Lautaro Martinez shot blocked and then a Gonzalo Montiel shot blocked on the rebound. At the very end of the period, another Martinez shot went just wide to the left.

But Argentina got a breakthrough in the 108th, with a Martinez shot saved by Lloris, but rebounded right to Messi, who netted it for the 3-2 lead, and his seventh goal of the tournament. But France was not done, and in the second extra period, Mbappe sent a hard shot to goal off of a deflection of a corner kick, that was elbowed by Montiel in the box for a penalty, which Mbappe crushed into the left corner for a hat trick and a 3-3 tie in the 117th.

The action got hotter from there. Kolo Muani just missed a header on a feed from Mbappe in the 120th, then Martinez saved a point-black try from Kolo Muani on a kick save in the 123rd and Lautaro Martinez sent a header wide for Argentina in the 124th. But it ended 3-3. Argentina’s possession edge was down to 54-46%, but with a 20-10 edge on shots and 10-5 in shots on goal.

In the shoot-out, Mbappe and Messi made their penalties to start, but then Martinez saved Coman’s try and Aurelian Tchouameni’s shot went wide to the left, while Argentina’s German Pezzella and Leandro Paredes made theirs for a 3-1 lead. Koko Muani made his, but Argentina won it on Montiel’s shot to the left of goal for a 4-2 win and the World Cup title.

It’s Argentina’s third title, adding to their 1978 and 1986 triumphs and the first for Messi in his fifth World Cup. He had been part of Argentina’s loss in the 2014 final in Brazil to Germany, but scored in all five of his World Cup appearances and now has – at age 35 – 13 career World Cup goals in 26 matches, equal-fourth all-time.

France failed in its attempt to win back-to-back World Cups, not done since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. In fact, the French were the first to make to back-to-back finals since Brazil in 1998 and 2002.

Star striker Mbappe became the second player to record a World Cup Final hat trick, previously done only by England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966. Mbappe, only 23, now has matched Brazil’s Pele with 12 career goals in 14 career matches, now equal-sixth all-time.

2.
Argentina victorious, but Europe takes 44% of prize money

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has a prize purse of $440 million, divided by placement, so the payouts included:

● $42 million (1st): Argentina
● $30 million (2nd): France
● $27 million (3rd): Croatia
● $25 million (4th): Morocco

● $17 million (quarters): Brazil, England, Netherlands, Portugal
● $13 million (round of 16): Australia, Japan, Portugal, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United States

● $9 million (group stage): Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Iran, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Tunisia, Uruguay, Wales

By region, Europe was the big financial winner:

● $192 million: Europe, from 13 qualifiers
● $77 million: South America, from four qualifiers
● $66 million: Asia, from six qualifiers
● $65 million: Africa, from five qualifiers
● $40 million: CONCACAF, from four qualifiers

On the field, African, Europe and South American teams had winning records against other confederations, but Asia and CONCACAF teams didn’t fare as well (records shown as W-L-T):

Africa: 9-8-3 overall
● 7-5-3 in group-stage matches
● 2-3 in playoff matches

Asia: 7-13-1 overall
● 7-10-1 in group-stage matches
● 0-3 in playoff matches

Europe (against non-European opponents): 18-15-7 overall
● 12-10-7 in group-stage matches
● 6-5 in playoff matches

North & Central America and the Caribbean: 3-7-3 overall
● 3-6-3 in group-stage matches
● 0-1 in playoff matches

South America: 11-5-2 overall
● 6-4-2 in group-stage matches
● 5-1 in playoff matches

The tournament awards included:

● Golden Ball for best player: Lionel Messi (ARG)
● Golden Boot for top scorer: Kylian Mbappe (FRA): 8 goals
● Golden Glove for best keeper: Emiliano Martinez (ARG)
● FIFA Young Player Award: Enzo Fernandez (ARG)
● FIFA Fair Play Award: England

Mbappe won the Silver Ball and Luka Modric (CRO) won the Bronze Ball awards and Messi was the Silver Boot winner for his seven goals in the tournament.

3.
European Super League rebuffed at European Court of Justice

The European Football Union (UEFA) and FIFA got a boost from the Court of Justice of the European Union, with the Court Advocate General issuing an opinion on Thursday that rejects the European Super League Company (ESLC) position that these governing bodies cannot be both regulators and competitors in the market:

“[T]he mere fact that a sports federation performs the tasks both of regulator and of organiser of sporting competitions does not entail in itself an infringement of EU competition law. Although a structural separation as advocated by ESLC consisting in entrusting the exercise of the regulatory powers to an independent body with no connection to any undertaking active on the market concerned could eliminate any conflict of interests, it is not the only and necessary solution.”

The opinion emphasized the “European model” of sports in which teams can be promoted and relegated, as opposed to the “American model” of fixed leagues with entry only by the purchase of a franchise. The opinion noted the incompatibility of a mostly fixed-team league with the other competition systems existing in European football now:

“[A] competition with the characteristics of the ESL could have a negative impact on the principle of equal opportunities, which is one component of the fairness of competitions. Thanks to their guaranteed participation in the ESL, certain clubs could book significant additional revenue, whilst continuing at the same time to participate in national competitions in which they would face other clubs which would be unable to generate revenue on a comparable scale, let alone on a permanent and constant basis. The guaranteed revenue from permanent participation at the highest level may be regarded as a significant competitive advantage in financing the acquisition and the remuneration of new players, which is a decisive parameter of competition. The fact that there are currently significant disparities between the clubs taking part in UEFA’s competitions would not be capable of justifying an increase in those disparities.”

The opinion also rejected the ESLC’s position that the position of UEFA (and FIFA) as the governing body makes them a monopoly that cannot be allowed:

“From the perspective of competition law, an undertaking (or an association of undertakings such as UEFA) cannot be criticised for attempting to protect its own economic interests, in particular in relation to such an ‘opportunistic’ project that would risk weakening it significantly. …

“I take the view that the non-recognition by FIFA and UEFA of an essentially closed competition such as the ESL could be regarded as inherent in the pursuit of certain legitimate objectives … in that the purpose of that non-recognition is to maintain the principles of participation based on sporting results, equal opportunities and solidarity upon which the pyramid structure of European football is founded.”

The opinion did outline how a new football league could be established:

“[I]t is clear that [UEFA] approval is not necessary in order for a third party, ESLC for example, to organise a new football competition. As has been stated in point 75 of this Opinion, there is no legal obstacle capable of preventing the clubs participating in the ESLC initiative from setting up and organising freely their own competition, outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem. The approval of those federations is thus required only in so far as the clubs participating in the ESL wish to remain affiliated to UEFA and to continue to participate in the football competitions organised by it.”

Such a league which would not have any of the famous franchises on which the European Super League concept is founded negates the entire concept.

The opinion is advisory and a final ruling is expected in early 2023, but observers fully expect the Court Advocate General’s view to be maintained. It may well be the death blow to the European Super League concept being kept alive by just three – Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Juventus – of its 12 original members.

The Associated Press noted, “The court’s opinion was also a win for governing bodies of Olympic sports whose annual income can be less than the individual salary of many soccer players in Europe and are vulnerable to commercial rivals.”

4.
World Short-Course Champs finish with 13 world records!

The 16th FINA World 25 m Championships concluded in Melbourne with a final, brilliant day of swimming, with world short-course records in three events and the U.S. coming out on top of the medal table.

The American team held a 27-23 edge over Australia going into Sunday’s races, but won nine medals to three for the hosts to finish with a total of 36 (17-13-6) to 26 for Australia (13-8-5). The highlights:

● The U.S. got a 50-100-200 m sweep from Ryan Murphy, who won the 200 m Back in 1:47.41, just ahead of teammate Shaine Casas (1:48.01). It’s the first time one person has swept all three of the men’s Backstroke events at a Short-Course Worlds.

● The U.S. set world records in the men’s and women’s 4×100 m Medleys to finish the meet. The women went first and Lilly King, Katie Douglass, Claire Curzan and Torri Huske finished in 3:44.35, just ahead of Australia (3:44.92) and lowering the 2020 mark set by the U.S. of 3:44.52.

The men got a big lead from Murphy and Nic Fink, but Trenton Julian and Kieran Smith could not match Australian speed and the two teams tied in the men’s final, both breaking the old world mark of 3:19.16 by Russia in 2019, by finishing in 3:18.98.

● Nic Fink won the 50 m Breast in 25.38 – an American Record – to go along with his 100 m Breast title, wins in two relays and two more relay silvers for six total medals!

● Canada’s Maggie MacNeil won her third gold of the meet with a world-record 54.05 in the 100 m Fly, adding to her 50 m Fly gold (tied with Huske) and her 50 m Back win (and world record). Huske was second in 54.75; she finished with seven total medals (4-3-0).

● South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, proving he’s still a terror at age 30, won the men’s 100 m Fly in 48.59 for his second win (also the 200 m Fly). He now owns 20 World Short-Course medals, including 12 golds, from 2010-22.

● Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte won the women’s 50 m Breast in 28.50, just off her 28.37 world mark in the semis, with U.S. star King third in 29.11.

● Australia’s lone individual gold on Sunday was a 1:59.26 win for Kaylee McKeown in the 200 m Back; she also won the 100 m Back, just as she did at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The U.S.’s Curzan was second in 2:00.53.

● In the men’s 200 m Free, Korea’s Sun-woo Hwang won in 1:39.72 and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey won the women’s race in 1:51.65.

The championships saw records in 13 events, with two records – and two $25,000 bonuses – for MacNeil in the 50 m Back and 100 m Fly, plus the 50 m Breast (Meilutyte) and 10 relays!

The big medal winners had seven each, led by Douglass (5-2-0), Australia’s Emma McKeon (4-3-0), Huske (4-3-0), Australian sprint star Kyle Chalmers (3-3-1) and Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan (3-3-1). Murphy also won five golds to tie Douglass, but had six medals (5-1-0) overall.

5.
World Athletics’ Coe happy about ‘22, planning new 2026 event

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR) told reporters in an end-of-the-year chat that while the economic impact of the federation’s four 2022 championships reached an estimated $316 million – $237 for the Eugene Worlds – that’s just part of the story for a sport which he called one of “only two real global sports. There’s us and football,” noting the then-ongoing FIFA World Cup.

Coe wanted to note the reach of the World Athletics competition programs, which he said included 13,000 athletes from 159 countries that competed in the Diamond League and the 162 Continental Tour meets worldwide. Including the four championship events – indoor and outdoor World Championships, the Team Race Walks and World U-20s – more than a billion people watched track and field on television or by streaming. And the future is bright:

“We’re in good shape. Probably better shape than I thought we’d be in when a few weeks into the role. We went through the hard yards, actually the hard years, where we rewrote, well, we just redesigned the sport.”

Coming up next year is another World Athletics Championships, in a new stadium in Budapest (HUN), a World Cross Country Championships in Australia next February and a new, World Road Racing Championships in Latvia in September.

Coe also has his eye on 2026, a year with no scheduled outdoor Worlds. But that’s an opportunity, as Coe explained:

“I didn’t want the athletes to slide off the radar screen for one year in every four. I wanted them to have the opportunity to really showcase. We’re still working on the format, much to be discussed, much to be agreed upon. But it is, again, indicative of the direction we want to take the sport, which is building profile for the athletes, riding more competition opportunities and unashamedly putting more money in their pockets.

“So there’ll be a focus on the new format, particularly around prize money.”

Coe’s second term will conclude in 2023, but he hinted that he will likely run for another four-year term, saying “I enjoy my job, you know.”

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● A remarkable scene in St. Moritz (SUI) for the women’s World Cup tour, with Olympic Downhill champ Sofia Goggia of Italy smashing a gate on Friday and finishing second to teammate Elena Curtoni, 1:09.40 to 1:09.69, with Swiss Corinne Suter third (1:10.13) and Americans Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin fifth and sixth.

Goggia broke two fingers and went to Milan for surgery and to have her left hand set in a cast, but was back for Saturday’s second Downhill with her poles taped to her glove with yellow duct tape! No problem; she won in 1:28.85, ahead of Ilka Stuhec (SLO: 1:29.28) and Kira Weidle (GER: 129.37). Shiffrin, the seasonal World Cup leader, was fourth in 1:29.46.

Sunday’s Super-G was all Shiffrin, as she won in 1:13.62, beating Curtoni (1:13.74) and France’s Romane Miradoli (1:14.02). For the amazing Shiffrin, still just 27, it was her 77th World Cup win and fifth in a Super-G as she continues to climb the World Cup all-time wins ladder, now five behind fellow American Lindsey Vonn (82).

The men’s tour started in Val Gardena (ITA) with the first win of the season for 2021 World Downhill champ Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT), over reigning World Cup champ Marco Odermatt (SUI), 1:25.44 to 1:25.55. Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde got his fourth win of the season in Saturday’s Downhill in 2:02.35, over Johan Clary (FRA: 2:02.70). American Travis Ganong tied for seventh and Jared Goldberg was ninth.

The skiing moved to Alta Badia (ITA) on Sunday for Giant Slaloms, with Lucas Braathen (NOR) getting his second win of the season in 2:36.35, ahead of teammate Henrik Kristoffersen (2:36.37) with Odermatt third (2:36.45). There’s another Giant Slalom on Monday.

● Athletics ● Another doping positive, this time for Kenyan-born cross-country star and Steeplechaser Aras Kaya of Turkey, who tested positive for Erythropoietin (“EPO”) in September. This normally carries a four-year suspension, but Aras admitted the violation and accepted a three-year ban as of 22 September 2022.

Kaya, 28, was a 2016 Olympian for Turkey in the Steeplechase and the European silver medalist in that event. He won European cross-country titles in 2016 and 2019 and a silver in 2021.

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Cup circuit was in Annecy (FRA) with a full program, but no change at the top of the men’s podium, as Norwegians won all three races and now seven in a row this season.

Five-time Olympic gold medalist Johannes Thingnes Boe extended his win streak this season to five in the 10 km Sprint, winning in 22:52.2 (0 penalties) over teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid (23:09.8/0) and Benedikt Doll (GER: 23:31.0). But Laegreid took over in the 12.5 km Pursuit (29:44.1/1), with another Norwegian – Vetle Christiansen (30:08.7/2) second and Boe third (30:19.9/2). Sunday’s 15 km Mass Start was a win for Johannes Dale of Norway (35:02.2/2), with Laegreid second (35:02.5/2) and Boe third (35:12.8/3).

The women’s results were more mixed, with Swedes Anne Magnusson and Linn Persson 1-2 in the 7.5 km Sprint (21:04.7/0 to 21:17.5/1). Sweden’s Elvira Oeberg won the 10 km Pursuit (29.42.4/0) over Lisa Vitozzi (ITA: 30:02.8/2) and Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser took the 12.5 km Mass Start in 33:54.1/1) for her second win of the season over France’s Julia Simon (34:06.4/2).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The U.S. portion of the IBSF World Cup tour concluded with racing in Lake Placid, New York and some surprises.

There was little surprise in seeing two-time Olympic champ Kaillie Humphries team with Jasmine Jones for the U.S.’s first two-women win this season, in 1:54.93, just ahead of German stars Laura Nolte (Beijing Olympic gold, 1:55.05) and Kim Kalicki (2022 European champ, 1:55.52). It was her 29th World Cup win in the two-women sled and she is the only driver to win a medal in all three races so far this season.

Humphries picked up another medal in the women’s monobob, where she is the Olympic champ, but was second to Nolte, 2:01.31 to 2:01.42, with Germany’s Lisa Buckwitz third (2:01.92).

The shocker came in the men’s racing, with double Olympic winner Francesco Friedrich looking unbeatable in the first two races of the season in both two-man and four-man. But he was second in both in Lake Placid, with countryman Johannes Lochner – the Beijing silver medalist – winning the two-man in 1:51.88 to 1:52.20 for Friedrich, with Swiss Michael Vogt third (1:52.26).

In the four, Britain’s Brad Hall scored his first World Cup win in 1:50.36 to 1:50.37 for Friedrich, with Christoph Hafer (GER: 1:50.45) third.

Britain scored another win in the men’s Skeleton with Matt Weston finishing in 1:48.16, ahead of Olympic champ Christopher Grotheer (GER: 1:48.32), while fellow German (and four-time World Champion) Tina Hermann (1:51.06) led a 1-2 with teammate Susanne Kreher (1:51.37). American Kelly Curtis was third in 1:51.39.

● Cross Country Skiing ● American star – and three-time Olympic medalist – Jessie Diggins made more history on Sunday in Davos (SUI) with her 14th career World Cup win, this time in the 20 km Freestyle in 48:32.2. Norway’s Ingvild Oestberg was 5.5 seconds back in second and American Rosie Brennan was third (+11.2) for her seventh career World Cup medal.

The day prior, Diggins finished second in the Freestyle Sprint to Swiss Nadine Faehndrich by just 0.24, 2:36.24 to 2:36.48!

The men’s Sprint was won by Federico Pellegrino (ITA:2:14.21), just ahead of reigning World Cup champ Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (2:14.46), but Norway won its eighth race in 10 in the men’s World Cup this season in the 20 km Freestyle with Simen Hegstad Krueger leading a sweep in 42:12.3, ahead of Hans Christer Holund (42:34.6) and Sjur Roethe (42:36.8).

● Freestyle Skiing ● The Moguls skiers were at Alpe d’Huez in France, with 2017 World Champion Ikuma Horishima (JPN) getting his first win of the season, over Beijing gold medalist Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 82.66-80.85. American Cole McDonald was third (75.27).

The Dual Moguls went to Horishima again, over Benjamin Cavet (FRA) in the final. Australia’s Jakara Anthony, the Beijing 2022 gold medalist, won her third straight World Cup competition, again over PyeongChang 2018 winner Perrine Laffont (FRA), 79.70-75.81. Elizabeth Lemley of the U.S. was third for her second medal of the season (75.74).

Japanese teen Anri Kawamura won Saturday’s Dual Moguls over Laffont, with Anthony winning the Small Final for bronze.

At Copper Mountain in Colorado, Halfpipe and Big Air events were on for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix as well as the FIS World Cup.

The men’s Big Air title went to Norway’s Birk Ruud at 192.00, over Timothe Sivignon of France (184.25), giving Ruud – the Beijing 2022 gold medalist – a sweep of the only two events on the program this season!

Canadian star Megan Oldham won the women’s Big Air, 176.00-172.00 over Swiss Mathilde Gremaud, the Beijing ‘22 Slopestyle winner. The seasonal winner was Tess Ledeux of France, the Beijing ‘22 silver medalist.

The Halfpipe World Cup season opened with a win for American Birk Irving, the 2021 Worlds bronze medalist, 93.75-92.50 over Canadians Brendan MacKay and Noah Bowman (91.00), with two-time Olympic medal winner Alex Ferreira of the U.S. fourth.

Canada scored a 1-2 in the women’s Halfpipe, with Beijing ‘22 bronze medalist Rachael Karker winning (89.50), Amy Fraser second (85.25) and Estonia’s 2019 World Champion Kelly Sildaru third (82.00).

● Ice Hockey ● The 2022-23 Rivalry Series between the U.S. and Canadian women continued this week, in Henderson, Nevada, with Canada winning its first game in four tries, 3-2.

The U.S. had a 1-0 lead on Amanda Kessel’s first period goal, but Canada struck back with two in the second by Jamie Lee Rattray and Blayre Turnbull. The U.S. tied it in the third on a Hilary Knight score, but Sarah Nurse got the winner with 4:56 to play for the 3-2 final.

Game five in the series comes Monday in Los Angeles, the last match for 2022.

● Luge ● The FIL World Cup circuit was in Park City at the Utah Olympic Park, with Italy and Germany dominating the track.

Italian veteran Dominik Fischnaller, the Beijing 2022 bronze medalist, won the men’s Singles in 1:30.068, beating Germany’s 2010-14 Olympic champ, Felix Loch (1:30.253) and 2018 PyrongChang Olympic gold medalist David Gleirscher (AUT: 1:30.272). Fischnaller also took the Sprint title, beating Gleirscher and Loch, 27.552-27.640-27.682.

Germany’s Beijing silver medalists Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken won the men’s Doubles (1:26.789), with teammates (and three-time Olympic champs) Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt third (1:26.867), but Wendl and Arlt came back to take the Sprint with Eggert and Benecken second, 31.862 to 31.872.

Another German sweep in the women’s Singles, with 2018 Olympic silver medalist Dajana Eitberger winning over America’s 2019 Worlds bronze medalist Emily Sweeney – her third silver of the season – by 1:26.471 to 1:26.610, with 2021 World Champion Julia Taubitz third (1:26.619). In the Sprint, Taubitz was the fastest at 31.717 with Eitberger second (31.816) and American Brittney Arndt third (31.902).

The women’s Doubles saw the second straight win for Andrea Votter and Marion Oberhofer (1:28.302), but Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Kipp get their third win of the season in the Sprint in 32.195, with Votter and Oberhofer close at 32.322.

● Nordic Combined ● The FIS World Cup tour continued in Ramsau (AUT), with the same stars atop the podium once again.

Defending World Cup champ Jarl Magnus Riiber led a Norwegian 1-2 on Friday, in the 97 m jumping and 10 km race, finishing in 24:15.4 to 24:23.3 for Jens Luraas Oftebro, with German Vinzenz Geiger third (24:23.4). But Geiger came back on Saturday to get his 10th career World Cup win, in 25:06.0, ahead of 2021 World Champion Johannes Lamparter (AUT: 25:11.0) and Riiber (25:12.1).

The women was a continuation of the domination of Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen, who won both races – 97 m hill and 5 km – in 14:31.0 on Friday and 14:45.7 on Saturday, winning by about a minute each time. She won all four races this season.

● Short Track ● The second weekend of competition at the Halyk Arena in Almaty (KAZ) was another triumph for three-time Olympic gold medalist Suzanne Schulting, who won the first race of the women’s 500 m and the 1,000 m races. She now has six World Cup wins on the season, easily the most. She was joined by countrywoman Yara van Kerkhof, who won her first World Cup title in the second women’s 500 m. Canada’s Worlds silver winner Courtney Sauralt won the women’s 1,500 m for her second win of the season.

American Kristen Santos-Griswold was second to Schulting in the 1,000 m, picking up her fifth medal of the season.

Korea’s Ji-won Park was the big winner on the men’s side, taking the 1,000 m and 1,500 titles for his fourth and fifth wins on the season. Home favorite Denis Nikisha won the second 500 m race – his first World Cup win in six seasons – then proposed to his girlfriend on the ice! (She said yes.) Poland’s Diane Sellier won the first men’s 500 m race, his first World Cup victory.

● Ski Jumping ● Coming into the fourth stop on the FIS World Cup tour, Poland’s Dawid Kubacki and Slovenian Anze Lanisek had won five of the six events this season.

No change in Engelberg (SUI), as Lanisek and Kubacki were 1-2 on Saturday off the 140 m hill – 320.3 to 317.0 – and then Kubacki won on Sunday, with Lanisek third, 300.4 to 293.7, with Austria’s Manuel Feller getting second (297.2).

Kubacki continues as the seasonal leader over Lanisek, 650-576, with a break until the famed Four Hills Tournament begins on the 29th.

● Snowboard ● The Halfpipe and Big Air World Cups were featured at Copper Mountain, Colorado, with three-time World Champion Scotty James (AUS) taking the Halfpipe title over Beijing bronze medalist Jan Scherrer (SUI) in a brilliant competition, 99.00-96.25. The women’s Halfpipe was a win for Spain’s Beijing runner-up, Queralt Castellet, over Canada’s Elizabeth Hosking, 89.75-88.75.

The men’s Big Air winner was Norwegian veteran Marcus Kleveland (184.25), who out-scored American two-time Olympian Chris Corning (172.50). Japan’s Mari Fukada won her first World Cup medal in the women’s Big Air, scoring 155.75 to turn back American Hailey Langland (151.50).

In SnowCross in Cervinia (ITA) earlier in the week, Olympic champ Alessandro Hammerle took the first competition on Friday, ahead of fellow Austrian Jacob Dusek and Germany’s Martin Noerl. France’s Loan Bozzolo won Saturday’s race, with Noerl second; the German is the only one to score a medal in all three races this season.

France’s Beijing silver medalist Chloe Trespauch won the first race for women on Friday, leading a 1-2 with countrywoman Manon Petit-Lenoir, with Britain’s Charlotte Bankes third. But Bankes, the 2021 World Champion, won on Saturday, ahead of Josie Baff (AUS), with Trespeuch getting the bronze.

Parallel Giant Slaloms were held in Carezza and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, with 2021 World silver winner Andreas Promegger (AUT) winning the men’s race in Carezza, ahead of Dario Caviezel (SUI). Michelle Dekker (NED) won the women’s race over Aleksandra Krol (POL).

In Cortina, Roland Fischnaller (ITA), the 2015 World Champion defeated Promegger for the men’s gold, while Slovenia’s Gloria Kotnik, 33, won her first World Cup medal in winning the women’s race, over Germany’s 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Ramona Theresia Hofmeister.

● Speed Skating ● The fourth World Cup of the season was the second in a row held at the Olympic Oval in Calgary (CAN), with another break-out performance for American teen Jordan Stolz.

Still just 18, he won the men’s 1,500 m in the World Cup season opener in Norway in November and added three medals in Calgary, including another win, this time in the 1,000 m in 1:06.72, just 0.30 from the American Record set by two-time Olympic 1,000 m champ Shani Davis back in 2009. He beat Olympic gold medalist Thomas Krol (NED), who finished second in 1:07.16.

Stolz also won a silver in the 500 m, lowering his own American Record from 34.11 to 34.08, behind Korean Jun-ho Kim’s 34.07 winning time. And Stolz collected a silver in the 1,500 m in 1:43.19, behind Olympic champ Kjeld Nuis (NED), who won in 1:42.59.

In the distance races, Olympic bronze winner Davide Ghiotto (ITA) won the 10,000 m in 12:45.10 and Olympic champ Bart Swings (BEL) took the Mass Start in 7:33.20, with American Ethan Cepuran fifth in 7:22.84.

The women’s racing saw three wins for the Dutch, with 2022 triple gold medalist Irene Schouten winning the 5,000 m in 6:48.06 and the Mass Start in 8:08.74. Olympic 1,000 m silver winner Jutta Leerdam won that event, beating gold winner Miho Takagi (JPN), 1:12.53 to 1:13.19. American Kimi Goetz won the bronze in 1:13.58.

Korea’s Min-sun Kim won the 500 m in 36.96, ahead of Takagi (37.26) and Olympic champ Erin Jackson of the U.S. (37.35), with Goetz sixth (37.43). Takagi finally got a win in the women’s 1,500 m in 1:52.08, with U.S. star Brittany Bowe fourth in 1:53.25 and Goetz ninth in 1:54.61.

The World Cup circuit stops for now and will conclude with two more meets in Poland in February.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: FIFA sets staggering $11 billion revenue goal for 2023-26; World Cup ‘26 format to be revisited; Zelensky asks IOC to isolate Russia

Rich Perelman

December 17, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. FIFA Council sets stunning budget of $11 billion for 2023-26
2. The 2026 World Cup format is now to be re-visited
3. Argentina & Messi duel France & Mbappe in World Cup title game
4. Ukraine’s Zelensky engages with IOC and FIFA for help
5. Griner says she wants to resume WNBA career in 2023

The FIFA Council met on Friday, prior to the final two matches of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and set a hard-to-believe revenue goal of $11 billion for the 2023-26 time frame, during which the Women’s World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand next year, but especially the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. FIFA took in $7.5 billion, despite the pandemic, from 2019-22. Because of the drama of the group-stage matches in Qatar, the planned program of 16 groups of three for the 2026 World Cup will be revisited, perhaps to have 12 groups of four. Sunday’s World Cup final will pit the four top scorers at this year’s World Cup against each, with defending champion France fielding co-scoring leader Kylian Mbappe (five goals) and Olivier Giroud (4) against Argentina’s Lionel Messi (5) and Julian Alvarez (4). France is trying to become the first back-to-back winners since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach to maintain the isolation of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions, while the Ukrainian legislature passed sanctions against 55 Russian athletes and a Ukrainian coach working in Russia. American basketball star Brittney Griner said she wants to continue her WNBA career in 2023 with the Phoenix Mercury, while thanking everyone who helped with her release from Russian captivity.

The U.S. continues to lead the medal table at the FINA World 25 m Championships in Melbourne, but has only a 27-23 lead going into Sunday’s final day.

1.
FIFA Council sets stunning budget of $11 billion for 2023-26

The FIFA Council met in Doha on Friday, with the sensational report afterwards by President Gianni Infantino (SUI) that the budget for the forthcoming four-year period of 2023-26 will be $11 billion, up from $7.5 billion for 2019-22.

Infantino began his news conference with recognition of the success of the tournament:

“I want to highlight and stress, of course, is the praise for, the unanimous praise of the FIFA Council for this World Cup, for the unique, cohesive power that this World Cup has shown. …

“For the first time ever, teams from all the continents moved to the knockout phase, showing that there is something happening when we speak about football becoming truly global, becoming truly global, for the first time, an African team, Morocco, an Arab team as well, reaching the semi-final stage of the World Cup.”

He said that the cumulative match attendance was 3.27 million, with two matches to go and “we are approaching the five billion mark in terms of viewing figures.” He also noted that “1.7 million attended the FIFA Fan Festival, an average of almost 80,000 a day.”

As for the money:

“And looking forward, ahead, the FIFA Council approved a budget for the next four-year cycle, which will foresee a revenue of 11 billion [USD]. So the last four-year period had a budget of 6.44, I think, we made 7.5; the next cycle has a budget of 11 billion revenues and almost 10 billion [9.7] will go directly back, of course, to football.”

The $7.5 billion revenue total from 2019-22 compares quite favorably with the International Olympic Committee’s $7.6 billion in revenue for the 2017-2020 (-2021) period, but the $11 billion projection for 2023-26 is startling. Asked how the figure is to be believed, Infantino said:

“Let me say, we are bullish on the power of football, so to say. About what we believe that the impact of football – or soccer, as it’s called where we are going to play the next World Cup, or at least in a part of the countries – we are more than bullish, we are convinced that the impact of the game will be massive.

“It has been be massive here, it will be incredible in North America, three huge countries – Mexico, United States, Canada – organizing the event, 48 teams, 50% more, so from 32 to 48, more games, revenues will go up in terms of broadcasting, in terms of sponsorship, and in terms of ticketing and hospitality. Let’s not forget that we will play in huge stadiums in North America, stadiums which are normally used for American football, so 80-90,000; 70,000 is almost the smallest capacity, but then with a lot of attractions for fans, so we are expecting five million, five-and-a-half million fans traveling specifically for these events and we are convinced that football will be booming in North America because we will start working immediately as of the 19th of December for that World Cup, when it comes to the men’s. …

“But as you say, a 50% increase in revenues is certainly something to be proud of when it will have happened, already to be proud to be putting out in the books and getting approved as a budget.”

And Infantino was not shy about his view of the future of football, especially in the U.S.:

“We are convinced that football will become the number one sport in North America, or maybe the no. 2 to start with, and with time …”

Time will tell.

2.
The 2026 World Cup format is now to be re-visited

Infantino made mention of the conundrum that the success of the 2022 World Cup has caused and its impact doing forward. During his news conference, he added:

“There is one element, since you mentioned it, which allows me to make a little remark. As you might remember, we have been approving a 48-team format with 16 groups of three, of which the top two would move to the knock-out phase of 32 and then 16, eight, four and two.

“I have to say that after this World Cup, and the success of the groups of four, and looking at as well some other competitions like the Euro, for example, where you have 24 teams and the top two plus the best third ones go to the next group stage, I mean, here, the groups of four have been absolutely incredible in the sense that to the last minute of the last match, you would not know who goes ahead.

“I think we have to revisit or at least re-discuss the format, whether we go for 16 groups of three or 12 groups of four. This is something that will certainly be on the agenda in the next meetings.”

He also announced the creation of a new series of competitions, a “FIFA World Series” of matches to take place in even years in March – beginning in 2024 – bringing together small tournaments of four teams from different continents, to ensure that more teams have a chance to play countries outside their own geographic area.

Asked about why FIFA did not allow the “OneLove” armbands to be worn during the tournament, Infantino was specific about football’s role:

“We have to give to all these people a moment of time in their life where they can forget about their own problems, and enjoy football.

“And between, after, all the time, between competitions, during competitions outside of the match and the field of play, everyone can express his views and opinions the way he wants, but let’s give this moment of joy to those who want to enjoy the game.”

Infantino also reported the decision of the FIFA Council as regards his term in office. Infantino was elected in a special FIFA Congress in 2016 to serve out the remainder of the term of Sepp Blatter (SUI), who was re-elected in 2015. The Council declared that the partial term of 2016-19 does not count against the three-term limit for the FIFA President, so Infantino’s re-election in 2023 will be for a second term and he can run for a third term in 2027; he is 52 at present.

3.
Argentina & Messi duel France & Mbappe in World Cup title game

History is very much on the line Sunday with the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar, where two long-time powerhouses, Argentina and France, meet for fourth time in World Cup play.

France is the defending champion from 2018 and is trying to be the first to repeat since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Les Blues have won twice, in 1998 and 2018 and lost in the 2006 Final to Italy on penalty kicks.

Argentina also has two World Cup wins, in 1978 and in 1986, and made the final in 1990 and 2014. The build-up (victories by penalty kicks shows as wins):

Argentina (5-1):
● Lost to Saudi Arabia, 2-1
● Defeated Mexico, 2-0
● Defeated Poland, 2-0 (Won Group C)
● Defeated Australia, 2-1
● Defeated Netherlands, 2-2 (4-2 penalty kicks)
● Defeated Croatia, 3-0

France (5-1):
● Defeated Australia, 4-1
● Defeated Denmark, 2-1
● Lost to Tunisia, 1-0 (Won Group D)
● Defeated Poland, 3-1
● Defeated England, 2-1
● Defeated Morocco, 2-0

Both teams have superstar leaders – and scorers – with Argentina’s Lionel Messi (35) and France’s Kylian Mbappe (23) at five each to lead the tournament, and Julian Alvarez (ARG) and Olivier Giroud (FRA) both have four. Messi has 11 career World Cup goals in 25 matches across five World Cups, while the younger Mbappe is rising fast, with nine goals in just 13 matches.

Each team has been inventive offensively, but stingy on defense:

Argentina in 6 matches:
● 12-5 on goals, 80-34 on shots, 58% possession

France in 6 matches:
● 13-5 on goals, 92-60 on shots, 63% possession

Despite both being offense-minded and used to having the ball, both showed in the semifinals they could play defense. Croatia held the ball for 61% of possession against the Argentines and lost; same for Morocco.

Both Argentina and France are first-half stalwarts. France has out-scored its opponents by 5-0 in the first half so far and for Argentina, it’s 5-1. Argentina is tough right after the second half starts, scoring five goals to two from minutes 46-69, but the French have closed brilliantly, scoring six goals to one for its opponents from 70 minutes on.

These teams met in the very first World Cup back in 1930 in Uruguay, with Argentina winning, 1-0. The second meeting came in 1978 as Argentina was on the way to the title, and winning 2-1 in the group stage. France scored a win in 2018 – on the way to the title – winning 4-3 off of two goals from Mbappe and one each from Antoine Griezmann and Benjamin Pavard.

4.
Ukraine’s Zelensky engages with IOC and FIFA for help

Sports and politics do mix as far as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is concerned.

Zelensky has been busy over the past week, first speaking with IOC President Thomas Bach (GER) last week, in which appreciation was expressed for the $7.5 million in relief funding that the IOC has rounded up, to ensure Ukrainian athletes can continue to train – mostly outside the country – during the continuing war with Russia.

However, the IOC statement on the call further reported:

“In the call, the Ukrainian President requested the full isolation of Russia and Russians from the world community. From his point of view, this must also apply to athletes. In this context, the IOC President explained the unifying mission of the IOC and the Olympic Games enshrined in the Olympic Charter, and thanked President Zelensky and the Ukrainian government for their approval of United Nations resolution A/77/L.28 passed by consensus on 1 December 2022 by the UN General Assembly, which supports the unifying and conciliative nature of sports events, their contribution to peace, the political neutrality of the Olympic Movement and the autonomy of sports organisations.”

Zelensky tweeted afterwards:

“Talking with @iocmedia President Bach I noted the support for [Ukranian] athletes. Urged to contribute to rebuilding [Ukrainian] sports objects destroyed by [russian Federation]. Upset with the intention to return RF’s & [Belarus]’s athletes to world competitions. As long as RF destroys peaceful life – only isolation.”

A day before, on Tuesday (13th), the Ukrainian legislature passed a measure titled, “On the application of special economic personal measures and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to athletes of the Russian Federation and other states”.

The bill names 55 Russian athletes and a Ukrainian coach currently working in Russia, identified as “systematically and actively support the war against Ukraine, legitimize the military invasion and genocide of Ukrainians by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”

Ten-year sanctions are included, including refusal to admit them into Ukraine, blocking any assets they have in Ukraine and other punishments. The list includes – among others – chess world champion Anatoly Karpov, figure skater Kamila Valieva, rhythmic stars Dina and Arina Averina, two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Evgeny Rylov, three-time Olympic cross-country skiing gold medalist Alexander Bolshunov and more.

Zelensky also asked FIFA to allow him to share a message of peace prior to the World Cup Final on Sunday, but was turned down.

5.
Griner says she wants to resume WNBA career in 2023

In an Instagram post on Friday, a now-freed Brittney Griner said she wants to resume her basketball career next season. Her post included:

“It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn. I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help. …

“As I transition home to enjoy the holidays with my family, I want to acknowledge and thank the entire [Post-Isolation Support Activities] staff and medical team at the San Antonio Fort Sam Houston Base. I appreciate the time and care to make sure I was okay and equipped with the tools for this new journey.

“I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury this season, and in doing so, I look forward to being able to say ‘thank you’ to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon.”

She also stared her desire to help still-imprisoned American Paul Whelan to return home as well.

Griner, now 32, has played her entire professional career with the Mercury and over nine seasons, has averaged 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. She has been an eight-time WNBA All-Star, two-time scoring champ and All-WNBA First Team selection three times, to go along with Olympic golds with the U.S. in 2016 and 2020.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Third Place: Croatia 2, Morocco 1 ● Way back on 23 November, Croatia and Morocco played to a 0-0 tie in the opening match of Group F. Things changed a lot between then and Saturday, when a goal was scored in the seventh minute!

After Morocco played stiff, tight defense for all of their matches until forced to open up in the semifinal against France after being behind in the fifth minute, the Atlas Lions appeared to thinking about offense again at the start of the third-place match and paid the price.

A brilliant header from defender Ivan Perisic found the masked Josko Gvardiol right in the middle of the box and his flying header flew straight into the goal in the seventh for a 1-0 lead. But the game did not change much, as Morocco staged a sensational comeback just two minutes later, as Croatia failed to clear a free kick and it sailed right to the middle of the penalty area and was headed in by defender Achraf Dari for the 1-1 tie!

The scoring wasn’t done and there were chances on both sides, and then off a failed clearance, Croatian striker Marko Livaja sent the ball to the left side where forward Mislav Orsic right-footed a laser to the far side of the goal and over the outstretched arm of Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou that hit goal post and bounced in for a 2-1 lead in the 42nd. The Croatians ended the half with 59% of possession and an 8-4 edge on shots, and it appeared more goals were coming.

But they weren’t. The game settled down in the second half, with Croatia more disciplined on defense and Morocco unable to make the right connections close to goal. There were numerous questions asked of Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim, especially on a couple of possible penalty situations, but the video review booth did not ask him to review them.

The Croatians ended with 51% possession and 12 shots to nine for Morocco and third place, four years after they made the final in Russia, going 6-2-6 (W-L-T) over the last two World Cups. Morocco, even with the loss, covered themselves in glory by being the first African (and Arab) side to made it to the semis.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Swimming ● The 16th FINA World 25 m Championships are heading for the close in Melbourne (AUS), with the U.S. and Australia in a close race for the top spot on the medal table.

With only Sunday’s events remaining, the Americans lead with 27 totals medals (13-9-5) to 23 for Australia (11-7-5), and Italy (5-5-2) third with 12.

The U.S. gotten its wins from:

● Kieran Smith: men’s 400 m Free
● Ryan Murphy: men’s 50-100 m Back
● Nic Fink: men’s 100 m Breast
● Men’s 4×200 m Free, including Smith

● Lilly King: 100 m Breast
● Kate Douglass: 200 m Breast, 200 m Medley
● Dakota Luther: 200 m Fly
● Torri Huske: 50 m Fly (tie for gold)
● Hali Flickinger: 400 m Medley
● Women’s 4×50 m Free, including Huske and Douglass

● Mixed 4×50 m Medley (with Murphy, Fink, Douglass and Huske)

This gives Douglass four golds and Murphy and Huske three golds each so far; Fink defended his 2019 World Short-Course title in the men’s 100 m Breast.

Australia has two wins in the men’s events, with Rio 2016 Olympic champ Kyle Chalmers in the 100 m Free and in the 4 x 50 m Free, but has been terrific in the women’s events. Lani Pallister won the distance triple in the 400-800-1,500 m Freestyles, Emma McKeon won the 50-100 m Freestyles, Kaylee McKeown took the 100 m Back and Australia has wins in the women’s 4×100 m Free, 4×200 m Free and 4×50 m Medley. So far, Pallister and McKeon have four golds each, including the relays.

There have been eight world records in relays, in the men’s 4×100 m Free (Italy), 4×200 m Free (U.S.), 4×50 m Medley (Italy), women’s 4×100 m Free (Australia), 4×200 m Free (Australia) and 4×50 m Medley (Australia), plus the Mixed 4×50 m Free (France) and 4×50 m Medley (U.S.).

The one individual world marks set so far were in the women’s 50 m Back for defending champion Maggie MacNeil of Canada (25.25) and in the women’s 50 m Breast semis for Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte (28.37).

There are two other double gold medalists through Saturday, with Italy’s distance superstar Gregorio Paltrinieri winning the 800 m and 1,500 m Freestyles and Japan’s Daiya Seto winning the 200 m Breast and 400 m Medley. The medley win was especially historic, as it’s his sixth short-course Worlds win in a row: 2012-14-16-18-20-22! And he’s still only 28.

The craziest race might have been the men’s 50 m Back final, where the usual start beep was then followed by three longer beeps, indicating a false start. But there was no rope to be dropped to stop the swimmers and three of the eight racers stopped, but five – including favorites Murphy and Australia’s Isaac Cooper – swam the whole race, with Cooper winning in 22.49.

The eventual decision was to re-swim the race about 45 minutes later, with Murphy winning in a slower time (as expected) and Cooper second, 22.64-22.73.

The championships close on Sunday.

● Weightlifting ● The IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bogota closed on Friday (16th), with China topping the medal table as expected, with 12 total medals (for combined lifts), including six wins, three silvers and three bronzes. Host Colombia was second with eight (2-2-4) and Thailand was third (6: 2-2-2).

The men’s 109 kg and +109 kg classes were in familiar hands, with Uzbekistan’s 2016 Olympic 105 kg gold medalist Ruslan Nurudinov winning at 109 kg for his second Worlds gold (also in 2013). He lifted a total of 397 kg to best Georgia’s Giorgi Chkheidze (389 kg).

In the +109 kg category, it was once again the world’s strongest man, Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze winning, at 466 kg combined for his sixth straight world title, in 2015-17-18-19-21-22, to go with his Olympic golds in 2016 and 2020. He was pushed by Gor Minasyan, the long-time Armenian star who now lifts for Bahrain, with 462 kg and Armenia’s Varazdat Lalayan (461 kg).

China took the women’s 81 kg and +87 kg titles, with Xiaomei Liang winning at 81 kg with a combined 270 kg total, ahead of teammate Zhouyu Wang (266 kg). Olympic champ Wenwen Li won the +87 kg division at 311 kg, way ahead of Britain’s Emily Campbell (287 kg). American Sarah Robles, a former World Champion in this class, was second in the Snatch event at 127 kg, but finished fourth with a combined total of 282 kg.

Norway’s Solfrid Koanda won the women’s 87 kg class at 260 kg.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Athletics ● Florida State high hurdler Trey Cunningham and Kentucky sprinter Abby Steiner won the men’s and women’s Bowerman Award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Cunningham won the NCAA titles in the indoor 60 m hurdles and the outdoor 110 m hurdles and posted the no. 2 marks in collegiate history in both, at 7.38 and 13.00. He then went on to finish second in the U.S. nationals and won a silver at the World Athletics Championships.

Steiner was the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion in the women’s 200 m and set collegiate records of 22.09 indoors and 21.80 outdoors. She won the U.S. title at 200 m and won World Athletics Championships golds in the 4×100 m and 4×400 m relays.

● Basketball ● Sad news of the passing of Billie Moore, one of the most outstanding women’s coaches in history, at 79 in her Fullerton, California home after a struggle with cancer.

Moore was among the pioneering coaches when women’s collegiate basketball began expanding quickly in the AIAW, the women’s college association prior to 1982, when NCAA women’s competitions began. Moore won national championships at Cal State Fullerton in 1970 (one year prior to the AIAW) and at UCLA – with stars Ann Meyers and Denise Curry – in 1978. She finished at UCLA in 1993 and had an overall record of 436-196 across 24 seasons.

She memorably coached the 1976 U.S. Olympic women’s team to a silver medal in Montreal, giving a significant boost to the women’s game at the international level.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Morocco controls, but France scores in 2-0 World Cup win; Zelensky rails against Russians at Paris ‘24; 9% of athletes injured at Tokyo 2020

Rich Perelman

December 15, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1214 us 4x50 medley relay WR (fina) — A world-record bonus for U.S. swimmers (l-r) Nic Fink, Kate Douglass, Torri Huske and Ryan Murphy from the 4x50 m Mixed Medley Relay at the FINA World 25 m Championships in Australia (Photo: World Aquatics)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. FIFA World Cup: France holds off Morocco, wins 2-0
2. Autopsy: Grant Wahl died of an aortic aneurysm
3. Ukraine’s Zelensky rails against Russian participation at Paris 2024
4. Tokyo Olympic athlete injury rate in line with prior Games
5. Olympic champ Jorgensen back to triathlon

Defending champion France is headed back to the FIFA World Cup championship match after a 2-0 win over a game Morocco team that dominated possession and had multiple chances to score, but could not get a goal. It was the first time in the tournament that France posted a shutout, and Les Blues will play Argentina on Sunday for the title. An autopsy on popular football writer Grant Wahl showed that he died due to an “undetected ascending aortic aneurysm” according to his wife, who gave appreciation for his rapid return from Qatar to FIFA and U.S. authorities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky protested the International Olympic Committee’s continuing discussions on finding a way to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition in view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He called for Russia’s “complete isolation” in international affairs, including sports. A study led by the IOC found that about 9.15% of athletes competing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 suffered injuries of some type, in line with prior Games, and that a very low level of illness was seen, affecting only about 3.9%. The most injury-prone sports were boxing and BMX racing. Rio 2016 Olympic women’s triathlon champ Gwen Jorgensen announced she is returning to the sport after trying distance running. But she will be concentrating on making the U.S. Mixed Team Relay squad for Paris, not competing in the Olympic-distance triathlon as she did before.

1.
FIFA World Cup: France holds off Morocco, wins 2-0

The expectation was that France, with its offensive weapons, would control its semifinal with Morocco and need to hold off speedy counterattacks from the Atlas Lions. The game turned out to be exactly the opposite, but the French prevailed anyway, 2-0.

Morocco had possession to start the match, but as soon as the French touched the ball, a shriek of disapproving whistles explored from the overwhelmingly pro-Morocco crowd of 68,294 in the Al Bayt Stadium.

The wall of whistles did not deter the French, who found some magic in the fifth minute. A lead pass broke the Moroccan defense and striker Antoine Griezmann was racing down the right side and crossed the ball into the middle. That led to a shot by striker Kylian Mbappe that was blocked, then a second shot and the rebound popped out to the left, where defender Theo Hernandez rose and sent a left-footed shot on a bounce that raced past keeper Yassine Bounou and a defender and into the net for a 1-0 lead. It was only the second goal scored against Morocco in the tournament and the first an opposing player!

The game was surprising end-to-end, with Morocco forward Hakim Ziyech making French keeper Hugo Lloris lunge for a shot that went just wide in the 17th, and then France roared back and all-time goal scorer Olivier Giroud hit the left post with a drive, also in the 17th. Mbappe’s shot in the 36th was saved and came back to Giroud in the middle of the box and he missed wide to the left.

Off a corner in the 44th, the ball bounded to the left and defender Jawad El Yamiq sent a brilliant bicycle kick to the goal, touched by Lloris and then hitting the left post and bouncing away.

Morocco had 56% of possession in the half, but the French had nine shots to five, and the lead. Being down a goal required Morocco to play the most offense it has shown in the tournament and they had excellent opportunities, but could not convert.

The second half was all-Moroccan pressure from the start, as they swarmed the French zone, with the French counter-attacking when available, a complete reversal of Moroccan play in the tournament up to this game.

Dangerous run after dangerous run challenged the French defense, but then the French erupted, with a clearance after another desperate defensive stand. The ball moved into the Moroccan zone, played by Mbappe to substitute striker Marcus Thuram to his left, who dribbled in and gave it back to Mbappe in the middle of the box. Five defenders closed in, but Mbappe swung to his right and closer to goal, then his pass was deflected right to a charging Randal Kolo Muani, who entered the game just seconds before. Muani finished with the right foot and it was 2-0 for France and a place in the final.

There was a wild exchange in front of the French net at 90+4, with midfielder Azzedine Ounahi pivoting near the endline, up to the French goal, then having his shot blocked, spinning in front of the goal where he had another shot blocked and finally to sub striker Abderrrazak Hamdallah right in front of goal, whose shot was blocked and then cleared.

But the French defense held, however precariously – its first shutout of the tournament – and moves them a step closer to being the first repeat champions since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Morocco ended with 61% possession and had 13 shots to 14 for France, but on the scoreboard, it wasn’t that close.

Morocco will face Croatia in the third-place game on Saturday, while the title game comes Sunday with two two-time winners, Argentina and France.

2.
Autopsy: Grant Wahl died of an aortic aneurysm

Soccer writer Grant Wahl’s wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, posted a notice on Wahl’s Substack site on Wednesday, which included:

“Grant arrived home Monday, December 12, and this transition was handled with the utmost care and sensitivity. This was an international matter that required coordination from multiple agencies domestically and internationally, and there was full cooperation from everyone involved. Our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in repatriating Grant, in particular the White House, the U.S. Department of State, FIFA, U.S. Soccer and American Airlines.

“An autopsy was performed by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office. Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium. The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death.”

She told CBS News, “It’s just one of these things that had been likely brewing for years, and for whatever reason it happened at this point in time.”

A memorial service is being planned.

Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup in Qatar and had obtained medical assistance on 5 December after complaining of a cold and then feeling even worse. He was told he probably had bronchitis and felt better after getting some antibiotics and cough syrup, but collapsed at his press tribune seat near the end of the Argentina-Netherlands quarterfinal game on 9 December. He was given immediate medical attention and taken to a hospital, but did not revive.

3.
Ukraine’s Zelensky rails against Russian participation
at Paris 2024

In response to the Declaration of the Olympic Summit, in which the International Olympic Movement and other leaders of the Olympic Movement agreed to explore avenues to return Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutrals to international competition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replied to IOC President Thomas Bach with disdain.

Zelensky protested that Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Podznyakov was invited to the event, noting that “since February, 184 Ukrainian athletes have died as a result of Russia’s actions.” And he added:

“One cannot try to be neutral when the foundations of peaceful life are being destroyed and universal human values are being ignored.

“A just response to such actions can only be the complete isolation of the terrorist state in the international arena. In particular, this applies to international sporting events.”

The IOC asked for International Federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes since the February invasion of Ukraine, but has repeatedly said it needs to find a way – at some time in the future – to bring the world together through sport.

Most federations have complied, but some sports – notably cycling, judo and tennis – have allowed Russians and Belarusians to compete as neutrals. The International Boxing Association, whose President is Russian Umar Kremlev, is suspended, but is allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete in national uniforms and colors.

4.
Tokyo Olympic athlete injury rate in line with prior Games

A study published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that injuries affected 9.15% of athletes attending the Games and that 3.9% fell ill during the Games period.

The project was led by the IOC’s Medical and Scientific Department, which tracked 11,315 athletes at the Games, using reports from National Olympic Committee medical teams and visits to the Olympic Village Polyclinic and other medical sites operated by the Tokyo organizing committee.

The reporting included only about 53% of the NOCs, so the figures are likely somewhat understated, but all medical encounters with the Tokyo medical teams were recorded. The highest incidence of injury came in:

● 27.1% in boxing
● 27.1% in BMX racing in cycling
● 22.2% in BMX Freestyle in cycling
● 21.0% in skateboarding
● 18.5% in handball

The lowest injury rates were in diving, road cycling, rowing, open-water swimming and shooting, all less than 2%. After adjusting for participation levels, “there was no
difference in overall injury incidence between women” and men. Women had a higher risk of injury than men in artistic gymnastics, but lower in softball (vs. baseball) and in boxing.

Most of the injuries were minor, with 44% impacting the athlete for less than a day, but 24% for 1-7 days, 11% from 8-28 days and 9% for even longer. Also, the story showed that 58% of injuries came during competition, 34% during training and 7% during warm-up or cool-down periods. BMX cycling had more than 10% of injuries keeping riders out for more than a week.

The overall injury picture for Tokyo – just over 9% – was similar to that seen at Rio 2016 (8%), London 2012 (11%) and Beijing 2008 (10%).

The extensive anti-Covid procedures in Tokyo not only prevented any impact from the pandemic, but also helped to keep overall illness rates down:

“The overall incidence of illness (3.9 illnesses per 100 athletes) was the lowest we have recorded in the Games; lower than in PyeongChang 2018 (9.4), Rio 2016 (5.4), Sochi 2014 (8.9), London 2012 (7.2) and Vancouver 2010 (7.2).”

The highest illness rates:

● 7.8% in open-water swimming
● 7.7% in artistic swimming
● 7.4% in skateboarding
● 7.4% in karate
● 7.3% in triathlon
● 7.3% in athletics

There were no illnesses recorded for athlete in 3×3 basketball, mountain biking and
modern pentathlon.

There were 78 incidents of heat-related illness, a great concern going into the Games, but 88% suffered no time away from their sport.

5.
Olympic champ Jorgensen back to triathlon

“I’m coming back to triathlon.”

That was Rio 2016 Olympic champ Gwen Jorgensen of the U.S., announcing on YouTube on Tuesday that she is returning to the sport after a dalliance with distance running. However:

“Don’t get too excited, though. I’m not doing long-course, which is what you guys, a lot of you want me to do. …

“What I’m really excited about is Mixed Team Relay. I wasn’t able to do that at the 2016 Olympics, it wasn’t an event at the Olympics yet, so it’s now an Olympic event and I was super inspired at Tokyo, watching Team USA get a silver medal in the Team Relay, so that is what is really motivating me to come back to triathlon.”

Jorgensen, now 36, is a mother of two sons as well as a two-time Olympian, finishing 36th in London in 2012 (partially due to a flat tire in the cycling segment) and then won gold in Rio in 2016. She also won two World Triathlon World Championships titles in 2014 and 2015. She left triathlon to return to distance running, logging a best of 2:36:23 at the 2018 Chicago Marathon, a 10,000 m best of 31:55.68 in 2018 and a 5,000 m best of 15:08.28 in 2021. She finished ninth in the 2021 Olympic Trials 5,000 m, but did not finish in the 10,000 m.

Jorgensen added, “each individual does a super-short triathlon that takes like 20 minutes total. It’s super-fast, super-quick. I’m also getting older and a lot of times they say that you lose your speed when you get older, but I think that’s a myth and I want to prove that wrong.”

The Mixed Team Relay joined the Olympic program in Tokyo and has two men and two women who each compete in a 300 m swim, 6.6 km bike segment and 1 km run, before tagging off to a teammate. It’s far shorter than the individual Olympic triathlon, which starts with a 1,500 m swim, then a 40 km bike segment and a 10 km run. Jorgensen has no illusions about her prospects:

“The Olympics are coming up really quick and the timeline is super-short. There is a qualifying event in August of 2023 and for me to even get on that start line is going to be super-difficult, so I’m probably going to be forced to race earlier than I’d like to, before I’m fit and before I’m totally ready, but I’ve just got to dive in and get it started.”

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Swimming ● The second day of the FINA World Short-Course (25 m) Championships in Melbourne (AUS) was a good one for the U.S., with three golds and a world record, one of two set on the evening.

The U.S. record performance came in the first event, the Mixed 4×50 m Medley, with veteran star Ryan Murphy on backstroke, then Nic Fink on breast, Kate Douglass on fly and Torri Huske on anchor, finishing in 1:35.15. That crushed the 1:36.10 from the Netherlands from 2010. Italy won silver (1:36.01) and Canada took the bronze (1:36.93).

Murphy, the 2016 Rio Olympic winner in the 100-200 m Back events, then came back to win the men’s 100 m Back in a meet record of 48.50, moving to no. 2 on the all-time (short-course) list. Italy’s Lorenzo Mora was well back in second at 49.04. It’s Murphy’s sixth career World Short-Course gold.

After winning six medals (3-0-3) at the 2022 FINA (50 m) Worlds, sprinter Torri Huske won her first individual Worlds Short Course gold, tying with Canadian star Maggie MacNeil in the women’s 100 m Fly final in 24.64. China’s Yufei Zhang was third (24.71); Claire Curzan of the U.S. tied for fifth in 24.92.

Australia continued its strong meet in front of the home crowd, with Lani Pallister winning the 800 m Free to go along with her 400 m Free gold on the first day. She touched in 8:04.07, ahead of Erika Fairweather (NZL: 8:10.41), who was second in the 400 m Free, and Japan’s Miyu Namba (8:12.98). American Leah Smith was fourth (8:14.24) and Jillian Cox sixth (8:20.95).

Kaylee McKeown, Australia’s 100-200 m Backstroke gold medalist in Tokyo, won the 100 m Back in Melbourne in 55.49, just ahead of teammate Mollie O’Callaghan (55.62). The U.S.’s Curzan tied for the bronze with Ingrid Wilm of Canada (55.74 for both); American Isabelle Stadden was eighth in 57.20.

Australia got a third gold and another world relay record in the women’s 4×200 m Freestyle, finishing in 7:30.87 – with Pallister on anchor – erasing the Dutch mark of 7:32.85 from 2014 and way ahead of silver winner Canada (7:34.47). The U.S. quartet of Alex Walsh, Hali Flickinger, Erin Gemmell and Smith was third in 7:34.70, with Gemmell’s leg of 1:52.23 the fastest of the night.

Brazil’s 42-year-old Nicholas Santos won the men’s 50 m Fly title in a meet record of 21.78, for his sixth career Worlds Short-Course gold and 12th overall, in what he says will be his final race. He was the clear winner, ahead of Noe Ponti (SUI: 21.96) and Szebasztian Szabo (HUN: 21.98).

The meet continues through Sunday.

● Weightlifting ● Qatar and Egypt triumphed on day nine of the IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bogota (COL), and the U.S. won its first combined-weight medal of the competition.

In the women’s 76 kg class, Egypt’s Sara Ahmed swept the field, winning the Snatch (113 kg), Clean & Jerk (148 kg) and the combined total at 261 kg. It’s her second career Worlds medal after a silver at 71 kg in 2018. American Mattie Rogers, won her fourth career Worlds silver in her third different weight class, finishing second in all three lifts, at 109 kg (Snatch), 138 kg (Clean & Jerk) and 247 kg (Combined). Rogers previously win silvers at 69 kg in 2017, 71 kg in 2019 and at 76 kg in 2021. Korea’s Su-hyeon Kim was third (245 kg).

Tokyo Olympic 96 kg champ Fares El-Bakh (QAT) moved up to 102 kg for the 2022 Worlds and made only three of his six lifts, but that was enough to win. He completed two Snatch lifts with a best of 174 kg for fifth and only took one attempt in the Clean & Jerk, but lifted 217 kg for second in the event and first overall with 391 kg. It’s his first Worlds gold, after a 94 kg bronze in 2017 and silvers in 2019 and 2021 at 96 kg.

Just one kg back was Iran’s Reza Dehdar, the 2019 bronze winner, at 490 kg; he topped the Snatch competition at 177 kg. Armenian Samvel Gasparyan was third (389 kg); Americans Wesley Kitts and Ryan Sester finished eighth (379 kg) and 14th (368 kg), respectively.

The championships continue through Friday.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Athletics ● A letter from World Athletics chief executive Jon Ridgeon (GBR) issued Monday (12th) informed all national federations that for performances to qualify for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest (HUN), the competition in which they are held must be listed on the World Athletics Global Calendar.

The requirement, approved by the World Athletics Council, begins with meets on 1 March 2023 and after, for which Global Calendar status must be applied for 60 days in advance … meaning 1 January for a meet on 1 March of next year.

So, for example, for the Texas Relays, coming on 29 March, for marks to count at that meet for Worlds qualifying and world rankings, it must be applied for by 29 January 2023. It does not apply for meets which are already a part of the World Athletics Continental Tour or the Diamond League.

But it does apply to U.S. collegiate meets of all kinds, and the various smaller, springtime invitational meets held in Florida, California and elsewhere. Naturally, there is a fee – $25 – and access to the Global Calendar must be coordinated by national federations, meaning USA Track & Field in the United States.

PoleVaultPower.com’s Becca Peter sounded the alarm on Twitter, noting in a thread,

“Major changes are coming to the @WorldAthletics ranking system, and we are at risk of the majority of track meets in the United States not counting for rankings or qualifying.”

● Football ● A security guard at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has died, after a “serious fall” at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Doha.

John Njau Kibue, 24, from Kenya was injured on 10 December, according to the organizing committee, falling after the Argentina vs. Netherlands quarterfinal:

“We regret to announce that, despite the efforts of the medical team, he sadly passed away in hospital on Tuesday 13 December, after being in the intensive care unit for three days.”

The company that Kibue worked for at the event, Al Sraiya Security Services, has not contacted the family, according to Reuters. It’s the fourth reported death at the FIFA World Cup so far; the other three were news media, from the U.S., Britain and Qatar.

The 7 December incident at a Brazilian team news conference in which a cat which jumped on the dais and was dropped by press officer Vinicius Rodriguez to the stage apron has been followed by a lawsuit against the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

The National Forum for Animal Protection and Defense of Brazil and other animal-rights organizations announced the action, asking for a fine of one million Reals (~$189,437 U.S.), a public apology and a program to train CBF staff in environmental protection and animal care.

The federation said Wednesday that it had no knowledge of a filing.

A joint report from the National Women’s Soccer League and its players association concerning player abuse within the league found widespread problems:

“The NWSL has increased efforts to eradicate misconduct, embraced greater accountability, and experienced a cultural shift regarding behaviors that are no longer tolerated.

“However, there is substantial work to be done. To that point, during this investigation, the Joint Investigative Team received reports of ongoing misconduct at more than half the League’s clubs.”

In addition to problems previously reported at clubs in Chicago, Louisville, Portland and Washington, D.C., issues were noted at the North Carolina Courage, Houston Dash, OL [Seattle] Reign, Orlando Pride and NY/NJ Gotham FC.

Recommendations included, “strengthening anti-harassment policies, developing and enforcing guidelines that address appropriate interactions between club staff and players, developing and implementing trainings that reflect and address player and staff experiences, coordinat[ing] with clubs and U.S. Soccer to improve and centralize hiring practices, enhance[d] reporting and investigation procedures and prioritiz[ing] DEI initiatives to create a more inclusive environment for all players and staff.”

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Argentina schools Croatia, 3-0, in World Cup semi, as U.S. ratings up 84% for playoffs; IOC quietly ends 50-year ban on Vince Matthews

Rich Perelman

December 14, 2022

tsx pix 2020-531 collett & matthews '72 (wikipedia) — Wayne Collett and Vince Matthews on the men's 400 m victory stand at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich (Photo: Associated Press via Wikipedia)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. FIFA World Cup: Argentina out-classes Croatia, 3-0
2. U.S. World Cup playoff broadcast ratings up 84%!
3. Russian national gymnastics coach lies about USA gymnastics stance
4. IOC ends 50-year ban on Vince Matthews, but nothing more
5. U.S. 400 m star Randolph Ross suspended for three years

The expected FIFA World Cup semifinal battle between Argentina’s offense and the Croatian defense was in fact a display of Argentine power as Lionel Messi scored on a penalty and assisted brilliantly on one of two goals by Julian Alvarez during a convincing, 3-0 win in Doha. France and former colony Morocco will play in the second semifinal today. Through the round-of-16 and the quarterfinals, the combined English (FOX) and Spanish (Telemundo) broadcast coverage has drawn big audiences, with the playoff-match average at 8.65 million, up just about 84% over the group-stage average of 4.71 million. The Russian news agency TASS ran two amazing stories on Monday, claiming that the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee supports Russian re-entry into international competitions as neutrals, a complete mis-representation of comments by USOPC Chair to reporters during a Monday briefing. The Russian national gymnastics coach claimed USA Gymnastics supports this position, which was flatly refuted by the federation’s spokesperson. The International Olympic Committee acknowledged that it will allow the accreditation of Munich 1972 men’s 400 m champ Vince Matthews at a future Olympic Games, effectively rescinding the lifetime ban placed on him and silver medalist, the late Wayne Collett, after their medal-ceremony protest. Current U.S. 400 m star Randolph Ross, a member of the gold-medal-winning Tokyo Olympic 4×400 m relay, was suspended for three years as a result of three “whereabouts” failures in April and June of this year; he will be eligible again in mid-2025.

1.
FIFA World Cup: Argentina out-classes Croatia, 3-0

The 2018 World Cup runner-ups, Croatia, presented a disciplined, difficult defense that had only conceded three goals in five matches at the Qatar World Cup. But with inspired play from superstar striker Lionel Messi and running mate Julian Alvarez, two-time champs Argentina scored three in the first 69 minutes of Tuesday’s semifinal, and won, 3-0.

The game started tense, close and physical, with neither side getting consistent penetration, and like so many times before, it changed in an instant, with Messi involved.

A long lead pass down the middle of the field found Alvarez one-on-one on goal vs. Croatian keeper Dominik Livakovic in the 32nd minute. Alvarez’s pop-up shot was cleared by defender Dejan Lovren, but Livakovic clobbered Alvarez with his right leg, bringing him down for a clear foul, a yellow card and a penalty.

The penalty taker, of course, was Messi and he buried the shot with a left-footed missile into the top right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 34th. It was Messi’s fifth goal of the tournament and his 23rd penalty conversion for his country in 28 tries.

Alvarez, however, wasn’t done and in the 39th, he got the ball in space just behind the midfield line and took off. He dribbled the length of the field, running straight for goal and with defender Nahuel Molina cutting in front of him – and taking the attention of two defenders – Alvarez sent a shot that deflected off defender Josip Juranovic, came back to Alvarez, then off defender Borna Sosa, bounced up to Alvarez again and he right-footed it into the goal for a 2-0 lead. It’s the first time Croatia has given up more than a single goal in a game in the tournament.

Croatia had 62% of the possession, but Argentina led, 5-4, on shots and four on goal to none. And it could have been worse, with midfielder Alexis Mac Allister’s header in the 42nd barely saved by Livakovic.

Argentina applied more pressure in the second half, with some good chances, and Croatia had a look at goal in the 62nd off a header from Lovren.

But the issue was fully decided in the 69th, as Messi dribbled down the right side, spun defender Josko Gvardiol around, turned the corner and then crossed the ball to the center of the field where it was met by Alvarez, who finished into the right side of the net. 3-0; game over.

The Croatians ended with 61% of possession and had a 12-7 edge on shots, but the Argentines had seven shots on goal – with three in the net – to two. Messi is now even with France’s Kylian Mbappe as the tournament’s top scorer with five goals.

Argentina is on to its sixth World Cup final, having won in 1978 and 1986.

The second semi pits defending champion France against the surprise of the tournament, Morocco, at the Al Bayt Stadium at 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday, or 2 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. The build-up:

France (4-1):
● Defeated Australia, 4-1
● Defeated Denmark, 2-1
● Lost to Tunisia, 1-0 (1st in Group D)
● Defeated Poland, 3-1
● Defeated England, 2-1

Morocco (4-0-1):
● Tied Croatia, 0-0
● Defeated Belgium 2-0
● Defeated Canada, 2-1 (1st in Group F)
● Defeated Spain, 0-0 (3-0 penalty kicks)
● Defeated Portugal, 1-0

It’s the first time that an African team – or an Arab team for that matter – has made it to the World Cup semis. As with Argentina and Croatia, the match features the sensational French offense – keyed by World Cup co-scoring leader Mbappe (five goals) – against Morocco’s defense, and its speedy counter attacks which have given its opponents fits:

France in 5 matches:
● 11-5 on goals, 78-47 on shots, 55% possession

Morocco in 5 matches:
● 5-1 on goals, 39-45 on shots, 39% possession

The one goal Morocco has given up was an own goal under pressure from Canada in the first half of its final group-stage game. So, it has not conceded a second-half goal at all across five matches, and with its counter-attacking style, has fewer total shots than its opponents (39-45), it has more shots-on-goal: 13-9.

The French are looking for their fourth World Cup final after wins in 1998 and 2018, and a 1-0 loss to Italy in 2006. No one has successfully defended a World Cup title since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, and France has never faced Morocco in a World Cup match. They have been on offense throughout the tournament – except for the Tunisia match, when many starters were rested – out-scoring opponents 4-1 in the first halves and 7-4 in the second halves. And five of its goals came after the 70-minute mark.

There is also a historical backdrop to this game, as Morocco was a French “protectorate” – colony – from 1912-56. France, using mostly backups, already lost in Qatar to another prior “protectorate” in Tunisia, which it ruled from 1881-1956.

2.
U.S. World Cup playoff broadcast ratings up 84%!

American viewers are paying much closer attention to the elimination rounds of the FIFA World Cup compared to the group stage.

Nielsen figures for English-language telecasts on FOX and broadcast and streaming totals for Telemundo’s Spanish-language coverage for the round-of-16 and quarterfinal matches averaged 8.65 million viewers combined, a sterling 83.7% higher than for the group-stage combined average of 4.71 million.

The U.S.-Netherlands match on 03 December attracted a combined audience of 16.875 million, second only to the U.S.-England match (20.146 million) on the post-Thanksgiving Friday. But even after the U.S. was eliminated, audiences stayed strong for the quarters:

● 13.775 million for France-England on 10 December;
● 11.140 million for Argentina-Netherlands on 9 December;
● 9.124 million for Morocco-Portugal on 10 December;
● 7.581 million for Croatia-Brazil on 9 December.

It helps to have the English-language matches on FOX rather than FS1; the over-the-air rating have been about double what the cable channel draws.

By comparison, the France-England match approached the weekend NFL ratings, which were led by the CBS and FOX early-window games at 31.473 million combined, then the FOX late-window games at 24.028 million and NBC’s Sunday Night Football at 15.757 million. The ESPN Monday Night Football match-up of New Orleans and Tampa Bay drew 11.273 million.

3.
Russian national gymnastics coach lies about USA Gymnastics stance

An astonishing headline in the English-language service of the Russian news agency TASS read:

“Russian coach says USA Gymnastics backs participation of Russia’s athletes in tournaments”

The sub-head declared:

Then the story, which included three startlingly false paragraphs at the start:

“MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. Russia’s head gymnastics coach Valentina Rodionenko on Monday said USA Gymnastics supports allowing Russian athletes to participate in international competitions.

“She made the comment after United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chairwoman Susanne Lyons said on Monday that Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris under a neutral status.

“‘USA Gymnastics from the start was in favor of us taking part in international competitions,’ Rodionenko told TASS. ‘They thought and now think that our absence sets world gymnastics back. Now we see that people from the US Olympic committee, who aren’t involved in politics, are in solidarity with the gymnasts.

“’It’s becoming ever more obvious to all figures in the world of sports that the merit of the Olympics will diminish significantly if the strongest athletes don’t show for the competitions. The countries that are Russia’s rivals in sports are also interested in our participation. We have a lot to offer, and I’m not talking just about artistic gymnastics,’ she said.”

A USA Gymnastics spokesperson responded Tuesday that “USA Gymnastics has made no such statement and has taken no position regarding the participation of Russian athletes.”

As for U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Board Chair Susanne Lyons, she never at any time during Monday’s news conference that Russia and Belarus should be allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Games under any conditions, including neutrality. What Lyons did say was that the talks at the Olympic Summit were only conceptual. And she was clear about Russia:

“Russia has shown, I think, time and again, that they are not necessarily always following the rules that we would like to see followed, so the decisions that the Summit made this weekend are really not about allowing Russia or Belarus – the countries – to participate again. There was a lot of discussion about whether athletes who happen to have been born in those countries, and have passports from those countries, have a pathway whereby they can compete as clean [from doping] and neutral athletes going forward.

“And I think there is a fair amount of desire over time for that to be able to happen because our mission is to bring the world together in peace through sport. So prohibiting individual athletes from competing, from having the right to compete, is hard for the Movement to tolerate. At the same time, that doesn’t mean that people are in any way ready to forgive and forget some of the past behavior from Russia.

“So the discussion was not about lifting any sanctions whatsoever from Russia or Belarus; those sanctions remain firmly in place, and as a reminder, those sanctions include not having any competitions in those countries, and if those athletes were to return as neutrals, there could be no display of flags, of anthems, no national colors nor country name for any participating athletes.”

The false reporting in Russia of Lyons’ comments about the Olympic Summit discussions and not about the USOPC’s position, extended to four-time Olympic Biathlon relay gold medalist (1968-80) Alexander Tikhonov, who told TASS:

“They’re proposing participation without the flag.

“If I was deciding this question, I would think it over, there is time until 2024, but without our own flag we will be humiliated, the whole world can laugh at us. If they take such a step, they understand that there is no competition without Russia, the interest of the press and TV is falling. But we still have a year and a half before the Olympics, and they want to humiliate us beforehand.”

Observed: This is the more of the current Russian internal theme of “we’re so important, the sports world can’t do without us.” No word on whether Tikhonov, now 75 and who was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in 2007 (but received immediate amnesty), had taken (or passed) a doping test prior to his interview.

4.
IOC ends 50-year ban on Vince Matthews, but nothing more

“We can confirm that the IOC will accept any accreditation request from the USOPC for Vince Matthews for any future Olympic Games.”

That’s the message from the International Olympic Committee about the quiet-as-possible removal of a lifetime ban on two-time Olympic gold medalist Mathews, who was at the center of a largely-forgotten protest on the awards stand at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

American Wayne Collett had won the Olympic Trials men’s 400 m and was the favorite coming into the Games in the men’s 400 m, ahead of former UCLA teammate John Smith and Mathews. Smith suffered an hamstring injury three weeks prior to the Games and did not finish in the final. Collett, in lane three, saw Smith pull up in lane six and was affected, and Matthews – in lane two – was running the race of his life and finished with a lifetime best of 44.66 and the gold medal.

Collett, as he recalled years later, “woke up” around the final turn and surged for silver in 44.80 with Kenyan Julius Sang third. On the podium, Matthews and Collett stood together on the top step, casually, chatting during the playing of the national anthem.

There were jeers and whistling, and Matthews told Garry Hill of Track & Field News afterwards, “It’s hard for Wayne or I to come to a thing like the Olympic Games, whether it’s in Germany, Greece or on the moon and forget about the conditions we left at home. … No, it wasn’t really a protest. Most protests are planned. The thing with Wayne and I, we just got up there and it was more or less a spontaneous thing.”

Said Collett, who later was the competition manager for wrestling with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Games, “I think maybe the white people, or the establishment, or whatever you want to call them, have a very casual attitude towards the blacks. They don’t seem to care too much about us unless we make a little bit of noise and embarrass them.” Both were banned for life by the IOC after the Munich medal ceremony, losing a chance at a second gold in the 4×400 m.

While the raised-fist salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the men’s 200 m victory stand in Mexico City in 1968 has become iconic, Matthews and Collett have been largely forgotten. But not by Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees chief Brian Lewis (TTO), who wrote letters and lobbied continuously to have Matthews’ ban rescinded; Collett passed away from cancer in 2010, at age 60.

Lewis said in an interview, he viewed the IOC’s accession to re-admitting Matthews, but noted, “They haven’t explicitly said the ban has been lifted but what they have said, you can draw your conclusions from that … [I am] mindful that the IOC and Olympic Movement is a complex network of stakeholders that in their consideration would have to take on board the legal advice etc.”

Why did he pursue the matter?

“It was an injustice. It was glaring. I wondered why USA Track and Field, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee did not take it up, but I can’t answer that. I can’t speak for people.

“I would hope or believe that if it were a Caribbean athlete, somebody would pick up the cause.”

There is no doubt that Lewis will.

5.
U.S. 400 m star Randolph Ross suspended for three years

The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Tuesday a three-year suspension of American 400 m star Randolph Ross, the 2021 world leader at 43.85 and a gold medalist on the U.S. 4×400 m relay in Tokyo:

“This is the outcome of the Case Resolution Agreement which the AIU and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have reached with Ross after the 21-year-old admitted the ADRVs under Rule 2.4 (three Whereabouts Failures in a 12-month period) and under Rule 2.5 (Tampering or Attempted Tampering with any part of Doping Control by an Athlete) of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules. …

“Ross admitted to AIU representatives that he altered a system-generated email (confirming an apparent update to his Whereabouts information for the relevant period) to try and avoid a third Whereabouts Failure within a 12-month period. This third potential Whereabouts Failure took place on 18 June 2022.”

Ross won his second straight NCAA men’s 400 m title on 10 June 2022 in a seasonal best of 44.13, then qualified for the U.S. team at the 2022 World Championships with a third-place finish at the USATF nationals on 25 June, in what turned out to be his last race of the year.

He was not available for an out-of-competition test on 18 June, his third “whereabouts” failure since April (!), triggering a provisional suspension. His results from 18 June on – at the USATF nationals – have been nullified and he is suspended until 1 July 2025.

In a lengthy interview with Track & Field News, Ross said his planned move for a senior season at Tennessee – where his father, Duane, is now the coach – is probably off and he plans to finish his finance degree at North Carolina A&T and get a realtor’s license. And as for the suspension:

“Might be better off for me in the long run. I finally get a chance to sit down. I mean these past 2-3 years have been indoor collegiate, outdoor collegiate, then post-collegiate for the Worlds, the Olympics. Basically it’s been non-stop running for the past 2-3 years. This would be a good time to shut it down, take a break, and then by the time we do get back, I’ll be 24. So that’s like the prime age for runners? Then we’ll be ready to go and we’re already running 43 now, so we’ll just wait to see what happens then.”

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Swimming ● The first day of the 16th FINA World 25 m Championships in Melbourne (AUS) got off to a hot start on Tuesday with two world 25 m records in relays and two wins for the swimming-made host country.

The first world mark came in the women’s 4×100 m Free, with the Australian quartet of Mollie O’Callaghan, Madison Wilson, Meg Harris and Emma McKeon winning in 3:25.43, smashing the old mark by the Netherlands in 2014 (3:26.53). The U.S. was second with an American Record of 3:26.29 – also under the old world record – from Torri Huske, Kate Douglass, Claire Curzan and Erika Brown. Canada won the bronze in 3:28.06.

The men’s 4×100 m Free followed with another record-setting performance, this time for Italy, which finished in 3:02.75,erasing the U.S. mark of 3:03.03 from 2018, with Alessandro Miressi, Paolo Conte Bonin, Leonardo Deplano and Thomas Ceccon. Australia finished second in 3:04.63 and the U.S. squad of Drew Kibler, Shaine Casas, Carson Foster and Kieran Smith won bronze in 3:05.09.

Australia’s Lani Pallister won her first Worlds gold in the women’s 400 m Free, pulling away from Erika Fairweather (NZL) in the last 150 m, 3:55.04 to 3:56.00. American Leah Smith was third (3:59.78), winning her sixth short-course Worlds medal and second in this event (also a silver in 2016). Erin Gemmell of the U.S. was sixth in 4:01.82.

The U.S. went 1-2 in the women’s 200 m Medley, with Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Douglass racing to an American Record of 2:02.12, the no. 2 performance in history and just 0.26 behind the world record. Alex Walsh, the 2022 World Champion, was second in 2:03.37 and Australia’s Kaylee McKeown – the Olympic 100-200 m Back champ – was third in 2:03.57.

Rio 2016 Olympic 1,500 m Freestyle champ Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) won that event for the second time at the short-course Worlds in 14:16.88, ahead of Damien Joly, who set a French record of 14:19.62. Norway’s Henrik Christiansen took bronze (14:24.08), with Americans Charlie Clark and David Johnston finishing seventh and eighth (14:33.93 and 14:35.27).

South Africa’s Matt Sates won the men’s 200 m Medley in 1:50.15, moving to no. 2 all-time in the event behind American Ryan Lochte’s world mark of 1:49.63. Carson Foster of the U.S. won the silver in 1:50.96, just as he did in the 2021 short-course Worlds. Canada’s Finlay Knox set a national record of 1:51.04 in third.

The meet continues through Sunday.

● Weightlifting ● Day seven of the IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bogota (COL) saw a former Colombian lifter return to his old country and win a world title.

In the men’s 96 kg division, Lesman Paredes – who was born in Cali (COL) and won the 2021 world title at 96 kg – changed his affiliation to Bahrain and became eligible in July. He defended his championship, but for his new country, lifting a combined total of 397 kg. Kazak Nurgissa Adiletuly won silver at 383 kg and current Colombian Jhor Moreno took the bronze (380 kg).

The women’s 71 kg class saw Romania’s Loredana Toma also win a second world title, but this one was five years after her 2017 victory in Anaheim at 63 kg. In Bogota, she set a world mark for the Snatch at 119 kg and was fourth in the Clean & Jerk, but still totaled 256 kg for the gold medal. China’s Tiantian Zeng lifted 253 kg for second, with Ecuador’s Angie Palacios getting bronze at 252 kg. American Olivia Reeves was fifth (245 kg, but a bronze in the Clean & Jerk) and teammate Katherine Vibert was seventh (242 kg).

The tournament continues through Friday.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Olympic Games 2032: Brisbane ● The Olympic organizing committee in Australia hired American Cindy Hook as its chief executive, selected from 50 candidates.

Hook had been the head of advisory and auditing firm Deloitte’s Asia-Pacific practice and had worked in the U.S. and Australia previously. She was in Sydney from 2009 in the audit side of the practice and was the head of the company’s Australian operations before moving to Singapore. She will begin work in February.

● Olympic Winter Games 2022: Beijing ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced an agreement by the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) that Germany’s Daniela Maier and Swiss Fanny Smith would share the bronze medal in the women’s Freestyle Ski Cross final.

Smith actually crossed the line in third place, but was then penalized for a foul against Maier on the run-in. The FIS Appeals Committee held up a protest by Smith – moving Maier to fourth – but the IOC had not changed the official results, with Maier as the bronze medalist.

The agreement, concurred in by the IOC, gives both women the bronze.

● Aquatics ● The new “World Aquatics” federation is the 16th international federation to use the “world” prefix, according to suoer-statistician and Olympedia co-founder Dr. Bill Mallon (USA).

In addition to the current Olympic-program federations in archery, athletics, curling, dance sport, rugby, sailing, skateboarding, taekwondo, triathlon and aquatics, there is the World Baseball Softball Confederation, World Bowling, World Croquet, World Karate, World Lacrosse, and World Squash.

Now you know.

● Athletics ● World 800 m record-holder and twice Olympic champion David Rudisha of Kenya survived a plane crash last Saturday, suffering only minor injury after the small plane with six aboard made an emergency landing shortly after take-off.

● Boxing ● The IOC has made clear that it has grave concerns, among other things, about the financial sustainability of the International Boxing Association due to its heavy financial reliance on a sponsorship of the Russian energy giant, Gazprom.

At its Congress in Abu Dhabi (UAE) last week, the IBA agreed to renew the Gazprom deal, with federation chief Umar Kremlev (RUS) bringing up the subject in his closing remarks, not as part of the regular agenda:

“Our general sponsor is Gazprom. Two years ago, we signed an agreement with them for $50 million. And this has helped us reform IBA, this has helped us settle the debts and this has helped us become independent. And thanks to this financing, we have been able to help many national federations, many athletes in participating in the world championships. This also allowed us to have prize money, both at the continental and at the world championships and also to ensure the participation of national federations that otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to send their teams. They turned to IBA and IBA is helping them to participate in the championships, that is thanks to our general sponsor.

“I would like to ask you the question. This year, the contract runs out; the contract was signed for two years. National federations, do you agree to extend the contract with our general sponsor, so that we would be able to continue helping? I want you hear your opinion.

“Do we have anyone who is against that? Is everyone for this? Does everyone agree to extend the contract with Gazprom? Why am I asking you? Because I only do what the boxers tell me to, what you will tell me. The most important thing for me is what your opinion is about the development of our international association, because you are the ones developing boxing. It is thanks to you that the international association exists and I want to agree [that] all my actions with you, for you to express your opinions, for us to hear you out, so that all the decisions are made with you as one boxing family.”

There was no reply other than applause from the audience.

Earlier in the presentation, the IBA balance sheet as of 30 June 2022 showed reserves of CHF 4.47 million and CHF 23.64 million in total assets. The presentation on sponsorship and marketing showed on Gazprom and the newly-signed equipment sponsor Sting from Australia. IBA targets for sponsorship were shown in the categories of automotive, energy drinks and time keeping. A ring supplier is also desired.

But it appears that Gazprom is in for $25 million a year, for at least some additional years, regardless of the IOC’s opinion.

● Figure Skating ● Although scheduled against NFL games at 4 p.m. Eastern time, the ISU Grand Prix Final in Turin last Sunday (11th) maintained its usual audience on Sunday, drawing 796,000 viewers on NBC, right in line with the viewing totals from each of the highlight shows from each of the prior Grand Prix events.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: USOPC’s Lyons says long path ahead for any Russian return; Argentina vs. Croatia in World Cup semi; FINA morphs into “World Aquatics”

Rich Perelman

December 13, 2022

Out with the old (FINA) and in with the new: World Aquatics.

The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.

Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support.

To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here!

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. USOPC Chair Lyons says only talks planned, no quick Russian return
2. Paris 2024 board approves revised €4.38 billion budget
3. First World Cup semi pits Argentina vs. Croatia Tuesday
4. FINA Congress changes name to World Aquatics
5. USATF office overrides Board choice of marathon trials site

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chair Susanne Lyons told reporters on Monday that the International Olympic Committee is looking for a pathway to return Russian and Belarusian athletes to competition, but strictly as “neutral” athletes who have been adequately tested for doping and who wear no identification or colors of their country. But she noted that the process is only in the talking stages now and that the IOC wants only to re-admit athletes “who had not actively supported the conflict.” The Paris 2024 organizing committee board of directors approved an increase in the budget to €4.38 billion (about $4.62 billion U.S.) as expected, thanks to increased revenue expectations from sponsors and ticketing, but also money from governments for the Paralympic Games, sports and anti-doping lab equipment. Tuesday will see the first FIFA World Cup semifinal, matching Argentina’s offense – including star Lionel Messi – against Croatia’s dogged defense. The FINA Congress, meeting in extraordinary session in Melbourne, Australia, approved a change-of-name of the organization to World Aquatics. Runner’s World reported that the USA Track & Field National Office selected Orlando, Florida as the site for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, setting aside the recommendation of its own Board for Chattanooga, Tennessee, the second time in the last three editions the headquarters had ignored membership or Board recommendations.

1.
USOPC Chair Lyons says only talks planned,
no quick Russian return

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee held its last Board meeting of the year last week and Chair Susanne Lyons and chief executive Sarah Hirshland briefed reporters on Monday morning. But most of the questions were about Lyons’ attendance at the Olympic Summit in Lausanne last Friday, and the resulting Declaration that outlined a possible way back to competition for Russian and Belarusian athletes through events in Asia rather than Europe.

Lyons, however, tried to emphasize that immediate action was not the goal:

“[W]hat the Summit unanimously agreed to was to allow the [International Olympic Committee] to have dialogue, and to have some consultation with all key stakeholders to see how, when, if, that could happen. …

“I think the conversation was really more the conceptual level of, what is, first of all, our role as a Movement. We have always said that our role is to engender peace through unity in sport and there are conflicts – most of them not as egregious as the one currently happening in Ukraine – but there are conflicts around the world every day. There are countries at war every day. And if people begin to kind of decide that they want to boycott things, to do a tit-for-tat – you didn’t come to our Games, so we’re not going to come to your Games – very quickly, the whole fabric of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement falls apart.

“And that’s really what the nature of the conversations were. How do we find a way to begin to find a path to reunification, not necessarily by welcoming the countries back in, but by finding a way for their athletes to participate as clean and neutral athletes.

“But that really was the nature of the conversation. There was absolutely regard and understanding and sympathy for the situation that continues in Ukraine and a lot of unhappiness and anger toward those who have perpetrated that. But at the same time, we don’t want to hold the individual athletes accountable for the actions of their governments.”

Although the discussion was about the concept of a return to competition, the issue remains Russia and its ally, Belarus. Lyons explained:

“So, Russia has shown, I think, time and again, that they are not necessarily always following the rules that we would like to see followed, so the decisions that the Summit made this weekend are really not about allowing Russia or Belarus – the countries – to participate again. There was a lot of discussion about whether athletes who happen to have been born in those countries, and have passports from those countries, have a pathway whereby they can compete as clean [from doping] and neutral athletes going forward.

“Now you may remember, that was a little loosey-goosey last time [allowing ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games], and I think everyone at the Olympic Summit was very clear that there’s only a pathway back for these individual athletes if they are competing as clean and neutral in every possible way.”

And Lyons acknowledged the difficult task for the IOC and its stakeholders not to make a mockery of the sanctions as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues:

“In the past, when they competed as ‘neutrals,’ it was still with the same colors, it still had the word ‘Russia’ in it, there was absolute agreement in the room this would have to be strict neutrality; what that would be, I don’t know, but it could not include – the sanctions are very specific – it can’t be the colors, it can’t be the name of the country. So I think a stricter neutrality would have to be maintained.

“They also talked about the athletes have to have – this is going to be impossible to figure out how they would monitor it – but the athletes are supposed to have, you know, on their own, not have been supporting the actions of their government in terms of their offense against Ukraine.

“So, that was discussed; I don’t know how they could possibly really know whether an athlete is or is not supportive of their government actions, but there was at least an agreement that they would want to have athletes who had not actively supported the conflict.”

Hirshland noted that the USOPC is continuing to monitor the situations of the Kamila Valieva (RUS) doping case now in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the IOC Executive Board’s announcement of the revised process for the selection of a 2030 Winter Games host:

● “It is so important that the figure skating Team Event athletes who competed in Beijing get the resolution they deserve. Recall we still have a wildly successful team of athletes who have not yet been awarded a medal and while they aren’t sure what color that medal will be, we have their backs, we’re anxiously awaiting for the day when they get those medals and the celebration that comes with it. They are top-of-mind for us, every day.”

● “We came out of that [Winter Games] news, and the announcements from the Executive Board meeting incredibly, incredibly encouraged. As you know, we have been working quite closely with the Salt Lake City-Utah organization for the Games and I think we all, collectively, had a smile on our faces as we came out of that news.

“Salt Lake and the Utah region is so well positioned to be considered, long-term and over not just looking at ‘30 and ‘34, but even longer than that. It is a region and a part of the country here that will always be ready to host these Games. So we’re excited about that, we’re encouraged by the news. We have and will continue to remain flexible and nimble and adaptive, as the IOC modifies its timelines and schedules, but as Salt Lake and the Utah folks would tell you, that Salt Lake is ready, and we too at the USOPC are ready and eager and feel incredibly encouraged and confident about what’s in store for us on the Winter Games front.”

Hirshland also noted that the Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics actually had its first meeting last Friday (9th) and is ramping up for its work in 2023.

For Lyons, it was her last USOPC Board meeting as she prepares to leave 12 years of service as a Board member and as the interim chief executive between the exit of Scott Blackmun and the hiring of Hirshland. Gene Sykes, who was the chief executive of the LA28 bid effort, takes over as the new USOPC Chair on 1 January.

2.
Paris 2024 board approves revised €4.38 billion budget

As expected, the Paris 2024 Board of Directors approved the third edition of the organizing committee’s budget at €4.38 billion (~$4.616 billion U.S. today) to correspond with rising costs, but also with some expansion in available revenue.

The budget adopted in 2020 was for €3.9 billion; the revenue comparisons:

● IOC contribution: €1.219 billion in 2020; €1.238 billion now (+1.6%)
● Sponsorships: €1.088 billion in 2020; €1.226 billion now (+12.7%)
● Ticketing: €1.165 billion in 2020; €1.423 billion now (+22.1%)
● Licensing: €127 million in 2020; €130 million now (+2.4%)
● Government: €100 million in 2020; €171 million now (+17.1%)
● Other: €204 million in 2020; €193 million now (-5.4%)

The added revenues in sponsorships and ticketing have allowed an increase in security funding of €35 million, with the contingency funding maintained at €200 million. The organizers met their goal of having 80% of the originally targeted sponsorship total contracted by the end of 2022.

Some of the increases due to inflation and supply-chain issues were met by increased public funding for the Paralympic Games – from €100 million to €171 million – and €40 million of Games “legacy” costs will be taken up by the national and Paris-region governments to cover sports equipment, anti-doping lab equipment and other projects.

3.
First World Cup semi pits Argentina vs. Croatia Tuesday

Now down to the final four, the first semifinal of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has two-time champion Argentina facing 2018 runner-up Croatia at the Lusail Iconic Stadium at 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday, or 2 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. How they got here:

Argentina (4-1):
● Lost to Saudi Arabia, 2-1
● Defeated Mexico, 2-0
● Defeated Poland, 2-0 (Won Group C)
● Defeated Australia, 2-1
● Defeated Netherlands, 2-2 (4-2 penalty kicks)

Croatia (3-0-2):
● Tied Morocco, 0-0
● Defeated Canada, 4-1
● Tied Belgium, 0-0 (2nd in Group F)
● Defeated Japan, 1-1 (3-1 penalty kicks)
● Defeated Brazil, 1-1 (4-2 penalty kicks)

Argentina should be used to the Lusail Stadium by now; this will be the third time it has played there, vs. none for Croatia. If the first five games are any guide, the match will be played with Argentina’s offense testing Croatia’s rock-solid defense:

Argentina in 5 matches:
● 9-5 on goals, 71-22 on shots, 62% possession

Croatia in 5 matches:
● 6-3 on goals, 55-66 on shots, 46% possession

Croatia will also have no trouble defending and then going to penalty kicks; in their World Cup history, the team is 4-0, beating Denmark and Russia in 2018 and then Japan and Brazil in Qatar. Argentina is almost as good, at 5-1 all-time in World Cup games decided by penalties.

And look for late strikes from Croatia, which has scored three of its six goals from the 70-minute mark onwards; Argentina has been outscored, 3-2, in late goals in its five games.

The teams have met twice at the World Cup before: a 1-0 win for Argentina in 1998 in group-stage play and a 3-0 Croatia win in the group stage in 2018.

Argentina star striker Lionel Messi now ranks equal-8th all-time in World Cup scoring with 10 total goals (in 24 appearances) and four in this tournament; he has scored in five different World Cups. Midfielder Andrej Kramaric leads Croatia with two goals, both against Canada.

The sharpies have the odds at -128 for Argentina (stake $100 to win $128), while Croatia is +375, a big underdog … just the way they like it.

Defending champion France will face Morocco in the second semi on Wednesday, with the final coming on Sunday (18th).

The International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS) Web site noted a third media death during the World Cup in Qatar, this time Qatari photographer Khalid al-Misslam, 44, of Al-Kass Television “passed away suddenly” – apparently from a heart attack – on Sunday, according to his employer Alkass, the eight-channel Qatar sports network.

American Grant Wahl passed away on Friday and Britain’s ITV Technical Director, Roger Pearce, 65, also died in November, in Qatar for the World Cup.

Wahl’s body was returned to the U.S. on Monday and State Department spokesperson Ned Price said an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.

FIFA reported that all World Cup players were tested for doping at least once prior to the tournament, with 2,846 conducted since January, and “every player in the squads of the eight quarter-finalists being tested on average four and a half times since January 2022.”

FIFA itself has carried out 1,433 tests, including 369 in Qatar during the tournament so far.

Data from payments processor Visa through the group stage of the World Cup showed that 47% of spending at the event was for merchandise, 36% for food and drinks and just 11% for the few tickets that remained available.

The top match for total spending was Saudi Arabia vs. Mexico on 30 November; the match which had the highest average transaction was the U.S.-Iran match on 29 November at $29.

In addition to the “OneLove” captain’s armbands which were proposed by several European teams to wear at the Qatar World Cup, a separate proposal was being formed by Qatari officials for an armband reading – in English – “No place for Islamophobia” and featuring a Palestinian headscarf pattern.

Sky News reported, from an unnamed senior Qatari official:

“Prior to the start of the tournament, Qatar, and some of the other Muslim-majority teams, were in advanced discussions regarding whether the players could wear armbands raising awareness for the growing movement of Islamophobia.

“When the armband proposal was eventually discussed with FIFA, they were told that it violated FIFA’s rules and would not be allowed.

“The teams accepted the decision but were disappointed that an important issue such as this, which negatively impacts the millions of Muslims around the world, was not being given a platform during the first World Cup to be hosted in a Muslim-majority region.”

The other teams apparently consulted included Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

4.
FINA Congress changes name to World Aquatics

A FINA Extraordinary Congress just ahead of the World 25 m Championships in Melbourne (AUS) confirmed a new constitution for the organization that will see an Independent Aquatics Integrity Unit begin work on 1 January 2023.

Term limits were also approved, along with an expansion of the governing Bureau to add women (to now be 38% of the total).

But the big change was in the branding of the federation, as proposed by President Husain Al-Musallam (KUW):

“I can tell you that there is a strong feeling that we should change our name. FINA is our past, and we should look back to much of the past with a bright affection, but our future must begin here today.

“If we are going to have a name change, then of course – it’s a big question – what should be the new name? I always believe in listening to the experts, and we brought in Martin Group, which specialize in building brands. They suggested many different options for a new name.

“The proposed names were tested, among athletes, coaches, administrators, fans, and many others. One name has come out, clearly, on the top. This is the name that I recommended to you today. It is the name that I hope will become our new identity for the generations to come.

“So I know you are keen to find out what is this new name. The clear recommendation is that our new name should be ‘World Aquatics’.”

Aquatics now joins archery, athletics, rowing, rugby, sailing, taekwondo, triathlon, the World Baseball-Softball Confederation, World Karate and World Skate among current and recent Olympic-sport federations in using the “world” prefix before their sport names.

The new constitution, which included the name change, was approved by 175-4, with four abstentions.

The Congress also approved the financial report, which showed a 2022 forecast of a loss of $32.6 million due to the heavy cost of the 2022 World Championships, but a projected surplus of $6.66 million in 2023 and $36.75 million in 2024 due to an expected $36.00 million share of the IOC’s television revenues from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Athlete and federation financial support is going up and is projected at $170 million over the eight years of 2016-24, up to $12.28 million for 2024. Reserves totaled $101.52 million at the end of 2021, with a projection to reach $125 million in 2024.

The new branding program will be rolled out in stages, expected to be fully implemented by the middle of 2023.

5.
USATF office overrides Board choice of marathon trials site

A Runner’s World story posted Monday notes that the 9 October 2022 minutes of the USA Track & Field Board of Directors included an “advisory vote” to recommend the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials be awarded to Chattanooga, Tennessee, but “Final approval still remains with the USATF National Office” as required by USATF regulations.

On 8 November, however, it was announced that the Trials will be going to Orlando, Florida.

This is the second time in the last three editions that the USATF National Office has selected a site other than that proposed to it by either the Long Distance Running Committees or the USATF Board of Directors. The 2016 event was recommended to go to Houston, but Los Angeles was chosen instead and ended with a hot and difficult race that was poorly attended in the downtown area.

The selection event for 2020 went to Atlanta, which received high marks for organization and for efforts to deal with projected heat and humidity.

A question about the decision was raised by reporter Sarah Lorge Butler, and she was referred to USATF Board Chair Mike Conley, who sent back an e-mailed reply that included

“The USOPC is looking into the matter and until I hear back from them I have no comment.”

The USOPC actually owns the rights to the “Olympic Trials” name by federal law and must approve site designations by national governing bodies. Moving sites is hardly new; in addition to the marathon race moves, the track & field selection meet for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was originally given to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California, but later rescinded and handed to Eugene, Oregon and the new Hayward Field (where it was held in 2021).

The Runner’s World story said that subsequent to the Board vote to recommend Chattanooga, its bid was disqualified and no one would say why.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Swimming ● The World Aquatics (!) World 25 m Swimming Championships have begun in Melbourne, Australia, with the U.S. and Australia expected to headline the medal table.

Winners from 2021 in 12 of the men’s events and 11 of the women’s events are entered:

Men:
● Freestyle: Ben Proud (GBR, 50 m), Alessandro Miressi (ITA, 100 m), Sun-woo Hwang (KOR, 200 m);

● Backstroke: Shaine Casas (USA, 100 m), Radoslaw Kawecki (POL, 200 m);

● Breaststroke: Nic Fink (USA, 50 and 200 m);

● Butterfly: Nicholas Santos (BRA, 50 m), Matteo Rivolta (ITA, 100 m), Alberto Razzetti (ITA, 200 m);

● Medley: Daiya Seto (JPN, 200 and 400 m).

Women:
● Freestyle: Siobhan Haughey (HKG, 100 and 200 m), Bingjie Li (CHN, 400 and 800 m);

● Backstroke: Maggie MacNeil (CAN, 50 m), Louise Hansson (SWE, 100 m);

● Breaststroke: Qianting Tang (CHN, 100 m);

● Butterfly: MacNeil (100 m), Yufei Zhang (CHN, 200 m);

● Medley: Sydney Pickrem (CAN, 200 m), Tessa Cieplucha (CAN, 400 m).

The prize pool is $2.16 million, with event prizes of $10,000-8,000-7,000–6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000, and a $25,000 bonus for world short-course records.

The competition will continue through Sunday.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● World Games 2022: Birmingham ● The World Anti-Doping Agency published its follow-up report from the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.

The report noted that the event had about 3,450 athletes from 99 countries, competing in 34 sports. The budget was tight and the event ended with a considerable loss, so the total of 288 in-competition tests (8.3% of athletes) was not surprising. There were also 96 samples taken in out-of-competition tests. No doping violations were reported.

The testing itself was done by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency under contract from the International Testing Agency, with analysis at the WADA-accredited lab in Salt Lake City, Utah.

● Athletics ● The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Friday a cheating scheme in the fabrication of results:

“Following a year-long investigation, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has charged senior officials of the Albanian Athletics Federation for alleged breaches of the World Athletics’ Integrity Code of Conduct relating to the submission to World Athletics of a competition result for Albanian long jumper, Izmir Smajlaj, which contributed to him securing a universality place to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.”

The specific incident was the reported 8.16 m (26-9 1/4) performance by Smajlaj, a seasonal best by four inches and a lifetime best – his first in two years – by two inches. He finished 18th in the qualifying at Tokyo, jumping 7.86 m (25-9 1/2).

World Athletics released a study report earlier this month that documented “abusive comments sent to athletes via social media” during the 2022 World Athletics Championships.

Accounts of 461 athletes – about a quarter of all the competitors in Eugene last summer – were monitored on Instagram and Twitter from 10 July to 1 August. In all, 427,764 posts were captured for analysis, with “59 targeted discriminatory posts were identified coming from 57 unique authors, with 27 of the 461 tracked athletes receiving targeted abuse.”

Almost 60% of the abuse was on Twitter and the study noted, interestingly, “Abuse tended to be driven by events outside of competition – athletes were targeted over controversies associated with athletics, but not necessarily driven by results in the stadium.”

The leading types of abuse were sexualization (29%), slurs (20%) and racism (19%). Did anything happen? Yes:

“59% of abusive posts were deemed to warrant intervention from the social platforms, with 5% considered so egregious that World Athletics is considering further sanctions against these individuals, including sending evidence and reports to national law enforcement agencies.”

● Esports ● A Bloomberg report published last week noted significant financial stress in the esports industry “as funding sources dwindle and signs abound that athletic competition via video games doesn’t have anywhere near the earning potential investors anticipated.”

Instead of quickly turning profits, professional esports projects have continued to show losses, and “after a boom five years ago, several prominent esports teams and organizations, particularly in the U.S., are contracting, the result of a broad economic downturn, a venture capital industry that’s no longer willing to accept growth without profits and a crypto meltdown that has undercut a significant source of backing.”

This has implications for the Olympic Movement, which has been drawing closer and close to the online gaming industry as a future element of the Olympic Games. The IOC will be hosting its first Olympic Esports Week in Singapore from 22-25 June 2023.

● Figure Skating ● U.S. Figure Skating announced Tracy Marek, a 19-year veteran of marketing with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers as its new chief executive, beginning in January 2023.

She rose to be the Cavaliers’ Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for all marketing, brand and creative strategy. She’s well versed in major events, including the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, for which she led the branding, vision, community preparedness and visibility efforts.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Russian athlete re-entry routed through Asia; soccer writer Grant Wahl’s death in Qatar; IBA head Kremlev lambasts IOC (again)

Rich Perelman

December 12, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1211 snyder, kyle uww wcup 750 — The clincher: Rio 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Snyder won the decisive match at 97 kg to give the U.S. a 6-4 win over Iran for the UWW World Cup men's Freestyle title. (Photo: UWW)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Olympic Summit foresees Russian athletes qualifying through Asia
2. U.S. soccer writer Grant Wahl dies at World Cup in Qatar
3. FIFA’s Wenger says no biennial World Cups, but more in winter!
4. IBA’s Kremlev calls IOC criticisms “P.R. for the mass media”
5. U.S. men triumph over Iran for wrestling World Cup win in Iowa

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach of Germany has said again and again that he does not think athletes should be penalized for the actions of their national governments, and that goes for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the IOC’s Olympic Summit in Lausanne on Friday, a discussion about Russian and Belarusian athletes led to a possible plan to have them compete in Asian qualifiers for Paris 2024 instead of Europe, where they have traditionally competed. A tragedy at the FIFA World Cup, where noted soccer writer Grant Wahl died Friday after collapsing at his press tribune seat while covering the Argentina-Netherlands quarterfinal. He was treated at his seat almost immediately and was taken to a hospital, but passed at age 48. The man who proposed the idea of a FIFA World Cup every two years, FIFA executive Arsene Wenger, now says the idea is dead, but that future World Cup in the wintertime are possible, especially if the tournament is to be played in Africa. At the International Boxing Association’s Global Boxing Forum in the UAE, federation chief Umar Kremlev ripped the IOC, saying, “we are independent. Don’t dictate things to us, don’t tell us how to live properly” and that the IOC’s criticisms of the federation are “only P.R. for the mass media.” The U.S. men’s wrestling team won an impressive 15th Freestyle World Cup victory over Iran in front of a happy home crowd in Coralville, Iowa, with Rio Olympic champion Kyle Snyder clinching the title with a victory at 97 kg.

1.
Olympic Summit foresees Russian athletes
qualifying through Asia

The International Olympic Committee convened its 11th “Olympic Summit” on Friday, with leaders of the International Federations and National Olympic Committees and a published declaration that outlines a new roadmap to bring Russian athletes back into international competition: Asia.

The third paragraph was the tip-off, notably “The vast majority of the participants agreed that the sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian states and governments, as those responsible for this blatant breach of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter, must remain firmly in place.” Usually, declarations are unanimous. But with Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov in the room, that wasn’t going to happen. Then this:

“In the course of the debate, [Randhir Singh of India] the Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) stated that, on the Asian continent, the reasons for the protective measures no longer exist. The OCA offered to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in competitions in Asia under its authority, while respecting the sanctions in place.

“Representatives from the IFs welcomed this initiative, stating that, for some IFs and for hosts of their competitions, the same reasoning would apply, and that therefore there should not be a one-size-fits-all solution, but that each IF should carefully evaluate for its sport whether the reasons for the protective measures still exist.”

IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) said last week that Russians and Belarusians are continuing to compete as neutrals in tennis and on North American professional teams, such as in the National Hockey League; this is also true in road cycling. And in 2023, the Asian Games will be a significant qualifier for Paris 2024, and will be held in Hangzhou (CHN) from 23 September-8 October, where Russian and Belarusian athlete safety can be guaranteed by the Chinese government.

This would be a non-starter in Europe, where Ukraine is a member of the European National Olympic Committees group.

The outcome was for the idea to be explored, but with the IOC in control:

“The IOC to lead the further exploration of the OCA initiative concerning the participation of athletes who are in full respect of the Olympic Charter and the sanctions. This initiative to be discussed in the next round of IOC consultation calls with the IOC Members, the athletes’ representatives, the International Federations and the National Olympic Committees.”

Nothing is going to happen immediately, not until March at the earliest, and will depend on the situation of the war in Ukraine. But shifting Russian (and Belarusian) participation to Asia, at least for now, could solve the IOC’s angst over not allowing athletes to compete, while the Russian and Belarusian states are penalized by not having events there, or team identification.

The Ukrainians were, of course, furious. Reacting to Bach’s comments after the IOC Executive Board meetings last week – and re-stated in the declaration – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted last Thursday:

“Since February, Russia has killed 184 Ukrainian athletes. And now Mr. Bach is quoting Emmanuel Macron as allegedly saying “sports should not be politicized” and athletes from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus should be treated equally. Using sports to whitewash war crimes is sickening.”

2.
U.S. soccer writer Grant Wahl dies at World Cup in Qatar

An unbelievably sad incident at the 2022 World Cup, as long-time Sports Illustrated and independent soccer writer Grant Wahl passed away while covering the Argentina-Netherlands quarterfinal on Friday (9th).

Wahl, just 49, had been covering his eighth World Cup when he was stricken near the end of the match:

“Yahoo Sports soccer reporter Henry Bushnell was present at Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands match and observed Wahl seemingly unconscious in his press box seat during extra time at Lusail Stadium. Medics worked on Wahl for approximately a half-hour before taking him out on a stretcher.”

Martin Mazur (ARG), writing on the AIPS Web site, reported:

“It took a matter of seconds, less than 30, for paramedics to come. The chairs of the media desks were immediately removed by other journalists, to give doctors space to work. Soon there was a stretcher ready for evac and an intravenous drip was placed next to his desk. While the game was on extra time, paramedics were there trying to save his life. More of them kept coming.”

The Qatar 2022 organizers said:

“He fell ill in the Lusail Stadium media tribune, during last night’s quarter-final match between Argentina v Netherlands. He received immediate emergency medical treatment on site, which continued as he was transferred by ambulance to Hamad General Hospital. …

“We are in touch with the US Embassy and relevant local authorities to ensure the process of repatriating his body is in accordance’s with the family’s wishes.”

Wahl had written about being under stress on his Substack newsletter just days prior:

“My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you.

“What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.

“I didn’t have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno.”

His wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, tweeted:

“I am so thankful for the support of my husband @GrantWahl’s soccer family & of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight.

“I’m in complete shock.”

He joined Sports Illustrated in 1996 and wrote for the magazine for 24 years, covering soccer, of course, but also famously profiled then-Akron (Oh.) St. Vincent-St. Mary High junior LeBron James in “The Chosen One” in 2002.

He left the magazine in 2020 and set up his own newsletter, Futbol with Grant Wahl, and had already been a center of attention early in the tournament, when he was detained by security personnel when he entered the 21 November Wales vs. U.S. match wearing a T-shirt with a soccer ball surrounded by concentric circles in rainbow colors, in support of LBGTQ rights; he was eventually released and received apologies from the organizing committee and FIFA.

Yahoo! News reported on an Instagram post from Wahl’s brother Eric, who claimed “My brother was healthy. He told me he received death threats. I do not believe my brother just died. I believe he was killed. And I just beg for any help.”

Observed: Wahl’s death is a tragedy, but also a reminder that media coming to cover major events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games, are not there for a vacation. He was writing on his Substack site multiple times a day and doing a podcast every other day and that’s a heavy workload, away from home in a strange time zone, room, food and so on. He passed while doing his life’s work, but it may have been too much of a good thing.

But in a time of imploding media institutions, that’s the life of an independent journalist, working to keep his $60-a-year subscribers happy. It’s not easy, not easy at all.

3.
FIFA’s Wenger says no biennial World Cups, but more in winter!

The concept of an every-two-years FIFA World Cup is dead, according to its primary proponent, former Arsenal manager and FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, Arsene Wenger (FRA).

Speaking to the French all-sports daily L’Equipe – where he pitched the idea of a biennial World Cup in October of 2021 – Wenger explained:

“I had been asked to think about it and I thought it was not a bad idea. But such a development required a complete review of the qualifying calendar.

“We are not heading towards that today, rather towards four-year cycles alternating with a World Cup, the Women’s World Cup, which is becoming more and more important, the Euros and the Club World Cup, which will be inevitable.”

Wenger also noted that the placement of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the winter may be repeated in the future:

“If we want to democratize football, we will have to go to African countries where it is impossible to play a World Cup in the summer.

“We can see it with this edition in Qatar, a World Cup in the winter works.

“Of course, many players did not have the usual time to prepare physically but at least they all approached this competition with real mental freshness, which has not always been the case in the past. I remember teams starting a World Cup psychologically tired because their preparation period had gone badly.”

4.
IBA’s Kremlev calls IOC criticisms “P.R. for the mass media”

The third Global Boxing Forum, presented by the International Boxing Association, was held with more than 250 delegates assembled in Abu Dhabi (UAE). As promised, one of the main themes of the event was the return of boxing to the Olympic program in 2028, as it was not included in the LA28 initial sports program by the IOC.

Olympic silver medalist and multi-time pro champion Roy Jones, Jr., a dual U.S. and Russian citizen, talked about the pro-IBA protest he led in front of the IOC headquarters in Lausanne this past week:

“I knocked on the door at the Olympic House, and they opened it to me. They invited me in and talked to me, and I am grateful for that. Having said that, I just want the IOC to understand that boxers and IBA are inseparable, and if they support the boxers, as they claim, they have to support IBA.”

In the post-Forum news conference, Kremlev was asked at length about boxing’s Olympic situation vis-a-vis the IOC, and he had a lot to say; highlights (per the interpreter on the IBA’s video feed):

● “We respect the International Olympic Committee. We respect their opinion and the recommendations that they provided us. We have executed them, pretty much 100% of the recommendations have been implemented, as far as finance, refereeing and judging are concerned. Of course, there are still things to work on.”

● “We have hundreds of millions of people that we represent. These hundreds of millions of people will go there. They will follow Roy Jones, they will follow [Coaches Commission chair] Gabriele [Martelli (MLT)] and we are ready for that. … And I am really thankful to the boxers from around the world , and the coaches for uniting in millions, hundreds of millions of them are ready to actually go to Lausanne, and next year, we might just see that.”

● “What does the Olympic Charter exist for? To protect athletes, not to dictate to international associations how to live. Currently, IBA engaged independent sponsors. They are working, they are helping boxers, they’re handing out prize money. We should support such international associations and the International Olympic Committee is just an association like ourselves. We don’t report to anyone. We’re independent. And everyone must understand that.”

● “I guess there some people in the top echelons of the International Olympic Committee, some officials, that are bringing this [mis] information, maybe there are people like that. Again, I am not prepared to accuse anyone of anything, but taking facts into account, it sure looks like that.

“Because the recommendations that were provided by the International Olympic Committee, in two years, we have executed all the recommendations: about refereeing, about reforms, we have renewed the entire management, so the entire board of directors was renewed. All the people are new, they have nothing to do with the past, and at the same time, we have boxers in the board of directors, because I always say that boxing should be managed by boxers. [Former AIBA head] C.K. Wu [TPE] was a non-boxer, and he didn’t know how to do it.”

● “And I would also like to say to the International Olympic Committee that they have no right – I mean, they can issue recommendations to us – but they have no right to dictate to us how to live. Not a single other organization should interfere or meddle in the business of our association. Every country has its own culture, right? If another country meddles in the culture of the other country, says ‘this is not the right way to live, you have to live this way’, that would be incorrect, right? Because every country is independent, and we are independent. The International Boxing Association, we are independent. Don’t dictate things to us, don’t tell us how to live properly.”

● “I am confident that in the nearest future, they [the IOC] will make the correct decision, I am talking about the IOC, and these unclear accusations will simply cease. And that’s the same accusations that never change, they are the same. I think it’s only P.R. for the mass media.

“That’s it, there are no facts. So the General Secretary [IOC Director General Christophe de Kepper (BEL)] today, or actually yesterday, I think, they sent a letter with a request to tell us what exactly they don’t like. We’re saying, we do we need to deal with some public statements and declarations? Let’s meet and let’s create a group. We are open. Why don’t you come to us, or we will come to you, tell us who we need to work with and we will work with them, and everything will be corrected together.”

● “I am confident that all the national federations and all the boxers will support us and together, we will move forward and boxing will be represented at the Olympics and we will be defending that together. I have no doubt about that.

“And I really don’t think anyone would dare to violate this wonderful sport, boxing. Boxing is the king of sports. The Olympics started with boxing. The history of the Olympics is all about boxing. And what the international association does is their business.”

On Sunday, there was an IBA Ordinary Congress held in Abu Dhabi, where the assembly of 112 delegates – 85 in person and 27 online – voted to declare ex-president Wu persona non grata at the IBA.

Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, who had led an investigation of the problems under AIBA, told the Congress, “IBA is changing significantly, there’s been observable progress within the organization.”

In contravention of the IOC’s sanctions, amendments to the IBA Constitution were approved that, among other things, allow athletes affiliated with a suspended national federation to compete, and under their national flag and anthem, but without any symbols of the suspended federation.

Whether any of this will satisfy the IOC remains to be seen.

5.
U.S. men triumph over Iran for wrestling World Cup win in Iowa

There was another national-team World Cup taking place over the weekend, but in the U.S. instead of Qatar. The UWW World Cup for men’s and women’s Freestyle was on in Coralville, Iowa, with a seemingly-inevitable clash between the U.S. and Iran to decide the men’s tournament outcome.

Held since 1973, the tournament has most recently belonged to the Iranian men, who won six in a row from 2012-17, including beating the U.S. in the final in 2015 and 2017. The U.S. won the 2018 edition – held in Iowa City – over Azerbaijan and then had to settle for third in 2019 after losing to Iran in a group match, 5-5, on criteria.

But in 2022, the U.S. fielded a strong team and was ready for the challenge, winning the final by 6-4, but with plenty of twists and turns.

After opening wins by Zane Richards over Reza Momenijoujadeh at 57 kg (6-1) and Seth Gross at 61 kg over Ebrahim Elahi (10-0 technical fall), Iran scored a win by Rahman Amouzad against Yianni Diakomihalis in a rematch of the 2022 World 65 kg Championships final, 5-4, to close to 2-1.

After Alec Pantaleo’s challenge at 70 kg that he was out of bounds when 2021 Worlds 65 kg silver medalist Amir Yazdani turned him at the buzzer for a 5-4 win, the call was reversed and Pantaleo got a 4-3 victory. The U.S. went up by 3-1 and was looking good. But Iran got a tough win from U23 Worlds 74 kg champ Mohammad Firouzpour over Jason Nolf (2-1) and then a 6-6 win on criteria from Ali Savadkouhi over six-time world champ Jordan Burroughs at 79 kg. All tied at three wins each.

But the U.S. was ready and Zahid Valencia defeated Alireza Karimi, 5-3, at 86 kg; Nathan Jackson out-fought Amir Firouzpour at 92 kg (8-4) and then Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder clinched the title with a 5-0 shutout of two-time Worlds 92 kg champ Kamran Ghasempour.

The final match was a 6-1 win for Amir Masoumi over Hayden Zillmer of the U.S. at 125 kg to make the final score, 6-4.

The U.S. defeated Mongolia in the first round by 7-3, then Georgia by 10-0, while Iran stormed past Japan, 9-1, and the All-Word Team by 6-4 to reach the final. The All-World Team won the bronze medal by beating Georgia, 8-2.

In the women’s tournament, Ukraine was the surprise winner, defeating China by 6-4 in the final, after edging favored Japan (5-5, criteria) in their third-round match. The U.S. women fell to China, 8-2, on Saturday, but defeated the All-World Team, 6-4, to qualify for the bronze-medal match, but lost, 7-3, to Mongolia to finish fourth.

It was Ukraine’s first win in the 19 editions of the Women’s Freestyle World Cup and an inspiring story, as USA Wrestling invited the Ukrainians to prepare at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for two weeks prior to the event. Japan’s women had won the last five World Cups in a row.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

What promise to be historic semifinals are set (victories on penalty kicks shown as wins):

● 13 Dec. (Tue., 2 p.m. Eastern time) at Lusail Iconic Stadium: Argentina (4-1; goals 9-5) vs. Croatia (3-0-2; goals 6-3).

● 14 Dec. (Wed., 2 p.m. Eastern time) at Al Bayt Stadium: Morocco (4-0-1; goals 5-1) vs. France (5-1; goals 11-5).

Argentina and France have both won the World Cup twice, and Croatia is in the semifinals for the second straight tournament. Morocco, of course, is blazing a new trail for Africa by reaching the semis.

Early odds have Argentina a -133 favorite, while Croatia is +230; France is a major favorite at -182 and Morocco is given little chance at +700.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Weightlifting ● The 2022 IWF World Championships continued in Bogota (COL), with the host nation scoring popular wins in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

In the men’s 67 kg class, Colombia’s Francisco Mosquera, the 2017 World Champion at 62 kg, won his fifth career Worlds medal with a victory at 325 kg, just ahead of Tokyo Olympic champ Lijun Chen (CHN), with Thai Weeraphon Wichuma third (323 kg).

Fellow Colombian Yenny Alvarez was the Worlds silver medalist in the women’s 59 kg class in 2021 and moved up to gold in 2022. She lifted a combined total of 234 kg to beat Tokyo Olympic champ Hsing-chin Kuo (TPE: 232 kg) and Canada’s Tokyo winner at 64 kg, Maude Charron (231 kg).

Indonesia’s Rahmat Erwin Abdullah defended his 2021 Worlds gold at 73 kg by winning the Snatch, Clean & Jerk (with a world-record 200 kg lift) and the overall competition at 352 kg, leading a one-two with countryman Rizki Juniansyah (347 kg) and Kazak Alexey Churkin third (343 kg).

China won its third gold of the championships in the women’s 64 kg class, as 17-year-old Xinyi Pei lifted a combined total of 233 kg. That was well clear of silver medalist Rattanawan Wamalun (227 kg) and Colombia’s Natalia Llamosa (224 kg) in third.

Sunday had two men’s classes, with China’s two-time Worlds medalist Dayin Li winning at 81 kg, lifting 372 kg, ahead of 2017 Worlds 77 kg runner-up Rejepbay Rejepov (TKM: 366 kg) and Woo Jae Kim (KOR: 357 kg).

Venezuela’s Keydomar Vallenilla – the Tokyo Olympic silver winner at 96 kg – took the 89 kg crown, ahead of 2019 Worlds 81 kg bronze medalist Brayan Rodallegas (COL: 381 kg) and Huanhua Liu (CHN: 381 kg). Bulgaria’s Karlos Nasar set a world Clean & Jerk record of 200 kg, but had failed in his three Snatch attempts. American Nathan Damron finished fifth at 370 kg.

The IWF Worlds continue through the 16th.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● The men’s circuit was in Val d’Isere (FRA) with Switzerland’s reigning World Cup champ Marco Odermatt in great form, winning Saturday’s Giant Slalom in 2:03.62, just ahead of Austrian Manuel Feller (2:05.02) and Zan Kranjec (2:05.67). It’s Odermatt’s third win this season in the first six races!

Feller was second again in Sunday’s Slalom, timing 1:38.98, behind Norway’s Lucas Braathen (1:38.14) – who scored his third career World Cup win – with Swiss vet Loic Meillard third (1:39.12).

The women’s tour was in Italy in Sestiere, with a win for the home fans as Marta Bassino took her sixth career World Cup win in the Giant Slalom at 2:28.89, followed by Swede Sara Hector (2:29.00) and Slovenian star Petra Vlhova (2:29.29). American Mikaela Shiffrin was sixth (2:30.85) and Paula Moltzan was eighth (2:30.96).

Swiss star Wendy Holdener – twice an Olympic Slalom medal winner – got her second win of the season in Sunday’s Slalom in 1:56.29, with Shiffrin second (1:56.76) and Olympic Slalom champ Vlhova third (1:56.99). Moltzan was fifth (1:57.36). Shiffrin continues as the overall season leader.

● Archery ● The World Archery Indoor series continued with the Taipei Archery Open, with the home team sweeping the men’s Recurve medals with Chun-Heng Wei defeating Yu-Yang Su in the final, 6-4. Dutch star Gaby Schloesser won the women’s Recurve title with a 6-0 win in the final over Shilin Liu (TPE).

● Biathlon ● Stop no. 2 for the IBU World Cup was in Hochfilzen (AUT), but no change at the top as Norwegian star Johannes Thingnes Boe – the three-time World Cup overall champion – won his third race in a row in the 10 km Sprint.

Boe timed 23:04.0 (0 penalties), with France’s Emilien Jacquelin second (23:47.0/1), and Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid (23:50.9/1), who also won his third medal of the season.

On Sunday, Boe made it four in a row in the 12.5 km Pursuit, winning in 33:50.7 (2 penalties), routing the field, with Laegreid second (34:38.6/2) and Jacquelin third (35:04.6/3).

German Denise Hermann took her 10th career World Cup win in the 7.5 km Sprint in 20:07.1 (0), followed by Marketa Davidova (CZE: 20:25.2/1) and France’s Julia Simon (20:27.2/1). It’s Hermann’s fifth Sprint win.

Simon moved up to gold in the 10 km Pursuit on Saturday on 29:56.7 (1), comfortably ahead of Ingrid Tandrevold (NOR: 30:16.3/1) and Davidova (30:24.8/2). Simon now has medals in three straight races and the overall World Cup lead after two of nine stages.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation held its first World Push Championships since November 2013, in Lake Placid, New York. The U.S. did well, with wins by Kristopher Horn and Adrian Adams taking the gold in Two-Man (14.94), and the Four-Man (14.55), adding London 2012 men’s 4×400 m relay silver medalist Manteo Mitchell and Martin Christofferson.

American Mystique Ro won the women’s Skeleton competition (15.37), with China’s Zheng Yin taking the men’s victory (14.04).

Lisa Buckwitz (GER) won the women’s Monobob Push title (17.24), with Canada’s Cynthia Appiah second (17.34) and Kaysha Love of the U.S. third (17.39). And Buckwitz then teamed with Neele Schuten to win the Two-Women title at 16.14. Americans Riley Compton and Emily Renna (17.02) were third.

● Cross Country Skiing ● Stop no. 3 on the World Cup tour was in Beitostolen in Norway, with home favorite Pal Golberg, 32, continuing on a tear. He fell during the Classical Sprint on Friday and finished fourth behind France’s Richard Jouve (2:36.37) and Italian Simone Mocellini (2:36.67). But there was no stopping Golberg in Saturday’s 10 km Classical, where he got his ninth career World Cup win in 23:55.6, ahead of Didrik Toenseth (NOR: 24:03.2) and Andrew Musgrave (GBR: 24:05.9). Golberg continues as the seasonal World Cup leader.

Swedish stars had won five of the six World Cup races coming in, but Swiss Nadine Faehndrich won the Classical Sprint in 2:57.31, beating Lotta Undes Weng (NOR: 2:58.24) and Johanna Matintalo (FIN: 2:58.73). Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen won the Classical 10 km on Saturday in 26:56.3, with Norway’s Anne Kjersti Kalvaa second (27:09.0).

● Curling ● Lots of drama at the Grand Slam of Curling Masters in Oakville, Ontario (CAN), with Canada’s 2022 Olympic bronze medalist Kerri Einarson skipping her rink to a 6-5 win in the women’s final against fellow Canadian (and 2017 World Champion) Rachel Homan, and snapping Homan’s 15-match win streak in Grand Slam play. Einarson was down, 4-3, in the sixth end, but produced two points to take the lead and then won it in the ninth after being tied at the end of eight.

Scotland’s Beijing silver medalist Bruce Mouat’s rink faced 2022 Worlds bronze winner Joel Retornaz (ITA) in the men’s final, with Retornaz taking a 4-0 lead with single points in the first four ends and cruising home with a 6-2 victory.

● Cycling ● The UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup circuit was in Gold Coast (AUS) for competition in Park, with the home fans happy to see a win for Olympic gold medalist Logan Martin in the men’s final, over European champ Anthony Jeanjean (FRA) and Rim Nakamura (JPN), with Americans Marcus Christopher and Justin Dowell finishing 4-5.

China went 1-2 in the women’s final, with Jiaqi Sun taking the gold, followed by Huimin Zhou. American Hannah Roberts, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, was third and teammate Perris Benegas fourth.

● Fencing ● The FIE World Cup was back in action, with four tournaments: an Epee Grand Prix in Vancouver, men’s Foil in Tokyo, women’s Foil in Belgrade and a Sabre Grand Prix in Orleans.

In Vancouver, the men’s title went to Hungary’s Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Gergely Siklosi, who defeated 2018 World Champion Yannick Borel (FRA) in the final, 15-12. Italy’s Giulia Rizzi won her first career women’s Grand Prix gold, 15-9, over two-time Worlds bronze medalist Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG).

The women’s Foil in Belgrade (SRB) was a battle of stars, with Italy’s 2018 World Champion Alice Volpi winning the title with a 15-6 final victory over 2022 European Champion Leonie Ebert (GER). Ebert had defeated Tokyo Olympic champ Lee Kiefer of the U.S., 15-13, in the semis; Kiefer and Francesca Palumbo (ITA) shared the bronze.

Kiefer joined with Jackie Dubrovich, Zander Rhodes and Maia Weintraub for a silver in the Team event, falling to Italy in the final, 45-22.

Italy’s 2022 Worlds silver medalist Tommaso Marini won the men’s foil in Tokyo (JPN), defeating France’s Maxime Pauty, a Tokyo Team told medalist in the final, 15-13. The American men’s team of Miles Chamley-Watson, Nick Itkin, Alexander Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt won over Japan, 45-31, for their second Team victory of the season.

The Sabre Grand Prix in Orleans (FRA) saw Italy’s Martina Crisico out-last Tokyo Olympic bronze winner Manon Apithy-Brunet (FRA) in the women’s final, 15-14, for her first Grand Prix gold. Hungarian star – and three-time Olympic champ – Aron Szilagyi won the men’s title, 15-10, over Georgia’s 2022 Worlds bronze medalist Sandro Bazadze.

● Figure Skating ● The ISU Grand Prix season ended with the Final in Turin (ITA), with Japan the big winner, but the U.S. winning a medal in all four events.

Reigning World Champion Shoma Uno (JPN) won the men’s final, leading both the Short Program and the Free Skate and scoring 304.46 points, ahead of teammate Sota Yamamoto, 22, who got a lifetime best of 274.35 to win silver. American teen star Ilia Malinin, now 18, had a rough time with his Short Program (fifth), but rallied to score second in the Free Skate and move up to third overall, scoring 271.94.

Japan also took the women’s title, with Sheffield and Espoo Grand Prix winner Mai Mihara the most steady, finishing second in the Short Program and winning the Free Skate to score 208.17. First-day leader Kaori Sakamoto – the 2022 World Champion – led after the short Program, but multiple falls led to a sixth-place finish in the Free Skate and she dropped to fifth overall. That opened the door for American Isabeau Levito, who was second in the Free Skate and moved from fifth to second overall, scoring 197.23. Worlds silver winner Leona Hendrickx (BEL) got third at 196.35.

Japan’s Worlds silver medalists Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara took the Pairs competition, winning both the Short Program and the Free Skate and scoring 214.58. That was just enough to edge 2022 World Champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier from the U.S. (213.28). Fellow Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe were sixth (162.91).

The Ice Dance title went to Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, the 2021 Worlds bronze medalists, who won both the Rhythm Dance and Free Dance, totaling 215.64. The 2022 Worlds bronze winners, Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates were close in second at 211.94, with Americans Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker finishing fifth (198.06).

● Freestyle Skiing ● After a cancellation in November, the FIS World Cup in SnowCross opened in Val Thorens (FRA) on Thursday and Friday, with Beijing Olympic champ Sandra Naeslund looking for her fourth career World Cup title.

She’s off to a good start, winning both races, finishing ahead of Canada’s Sochi 2014 Olympic champ Marielle Thompson in the first event, with Swiss Talina Gantenbein third. In the second event, she won over another Canadian, Hannah Schmidt, with Damiela Maier (GER) third. Naeslund, still just 26, now owns 30 World Cup race wins and has won 10 World Cup races in a row!

The men’s first-race winner was Johannes Rohrweck of Austria, his second career World Cup win, ahead of Tobias Mueller (GER), who won his second-ever World Cup medal. Swiss veteran Jonas Lenherr was third. On Friday, Austria scored again, this time with Mathias Graf, winning his first World Cup medal. France’s Youri Duplessis Kergomard was second – winning his second career World Cup medal – and Swiss Marc Bischofberger was third.

The second World Cup for Moguls was in Idre Fjall (SWE), with American Nick Page scoring his first career win, and an impressive one over Olympic champ Mikael Kingsbury of Canada, 81.06-79.86, with Beijing gold medalist Walter Wallberg (SWE) third (78.98). It was the first Moguls World Cup win by an American since Bradley Wilson in February of 2016!

Kingsbury won Sunday’s Dual Moguls, defeating Filip Gravenfors in the final for his 76th career World Cup victory, with Page finishing third over fellow American Cole McDonald.

The women’s Moguls was a familiar showdown, with Beijing Olympic gold medalist Jakara Anthony (AUS) winning at 81.75, ahead of Japan’s teen star Anri Kawamura (80.020 and France’s 2018 Olympic champ Perrine Laffont (76.08). The U.S. went 4-5 with Olivia Giaccio (74.99) and Elizabeth Lemley (73.49).

The Dual Moguls saw Lemley defeat Kawamura in the gold final, with Laffont finishing third over Anthony. For the 16-year-old Lemley, it was her first World Cup medal and first win!

● Luge ● The third stop on the FIL World Cup tour was in Whistler (CAN) and saw the return to the podium of two-time men’s Olympic champ Felix Loch (GER).

Now 33, Loch compiled a two-run total of 1:39.619 to edge Austrian Wolfgang Kindl (1:39.653) and Italian Dominick Fischnaller (1:39.689). Kindl has now been second in all three races this season and Fischnaller second in the last two. Tucker West was the top American, in fifth (1:39.914).

The Beijing 2022 men’s Doubles silver medalists, Germany’s Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken won their first World Cup medal of the season, winning in 1:16.554, ahead of teammates (and three-time Olympic gold medalists) Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (1:16.605). Season-opener winners Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schopf were third (1:16.740). The best American sled was Zachary Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander in eighth (1:17.021).

The women’s Singles title went to European silver medalist Madeleine Egle of Austria for her third win in a row this season (1:17.137), with 2021 World Champion Julia Taubitz (GER) moving up to second from third in the first two races (1:17.161). American Summer Britcher was seventh (1:17.447).

The new women’s Doubles had Italy’s Andrea Votter and Marion Oberhofer as the winners (1:17.912), completing their move from third in the season opener, to second last week and now, a victory. Austrians Selina Egle and Lara Michaela Kipp, who won the first two races, were second in 1:17.953. Americans Britcher and Emily Sweeney finished fourth (1:18.222).

● Rugby Sevens ● Both the men’s and women’s series were in Cape Town (RSA), with the host South African men and only ones to go undefeated in pool play. In the playoffs, New Zealand stomped the U.S., 33-17, in the semis and Samoa upended the South Africans, 10-7. It was Samoa taking the title, 12-7, for its first tournament win of the season over New Zealand in the final, with the U.S. third, 22-14 winners over South Africa.

In the women’s tournament, the same teams were on the podium, but in a different order from the opener in Dubai (UAE). This time, it was New Zealand defeating Australia in the final, 31-14, while the U.S. women were third again, 20-12 winners over Ireland.

● Short Track ● Korea and Canada led the ISU World Cup in Almaty (KAZ) with wins in five of the eight individual events.

Tae-Sung Kim won the men’s 500 m in 40.898, and teammates Kyung-Hwan Hong (2:13.570) and Ji-Won Park (2:20.340) won the two 1,500 m races. Dutch star Jens van’T Wout broke up a sweep with a 1:26.074 win in the 1,000 m, ahead of 2022 Worlds 1,500 m silver winner Pascal Dion (CAN).

Canada got two wins in the women’s skating, with 2022 five-time Worlds silver medalist Kim Boutin taking the 500 m in 43.020, and Courtney Sarault winning the 1,000 m in 1:32.671. Beijing Olympic 1,000 m champ Suzanne Schulting (NED) won the first 1,500 m in 2:26.253 over Korea’s Olympic champ Min-Jeong Choi (2:26.356) and Belgian Hanne Desmet won the second race in 2:26.692, ahead of Sarault. American Kristin Santos-Griswold was third in the 500 m and fourth in the first 1,500 m; Corinne Stoddard of the U.S. was third in the 1,000 m.

● Ski Jumping ● The World Cup tour was in Titisee-Neustadt (GER) with two competitions for men off the 142 m hill and one for women.

The men’s Friday event was the second win of the season for Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek (272.8), ahead of Poland’s 2019 World Champion Dawid Kubacki (271.5) and Germany’s 2021 Olympic Normal Hill silver winner Karl Geiger (269.2).

On Sunday, Kubacki came on for his third win of the season, scoring 309.7, ahead of Lanisek (284.0) and three-time World Champion Stefan Kraft (AUT: 283.1).

Germany’s Katharina Althaus took her second win and third medal of the season in the women’s 142 m competition, winning at 269.3, ahead of Silje Opseth (NOR: 260.9) and Ursa Bogataj (SLO: 258.1).

● Snowboard ● The second of four Big Air World Cup tournament was on in Edmonton (CAN), with home favorite Jasmine Baird (CAN) taking the women’s victory with 159.50 points for her first career World Cup gold. She easily outdistanced Evy Poppe (BEL: 146.50) and two-time Olympic fourth-placer Reira Iwabuchi (JPN: 143.25).

The men’s Big Air final saw Australia’s Valentino Guseli, 17, score 172.50 to win his first World Cup win. American Chris Corning, the 2019 World Slopestyle champ, was second (172.00) and Canadian Nicolas Laframboise (168.00) third.

The Snowboard Parallel competition program opened in Winterberg (GER) on Sunday, with Alexander Payer (AUT) defeating Tim Mastnak (SLO) in the gold-medal final, with German Stefan Baumeister third.

Sabine Schoeffmann won her fifth World Cup individual title and completed Austria’s sweep with a win in the women’s final over 2019 World Champion Julie Zogg (SUI), and Austria picked up its third medal as Daniela Ulbing got third.

● Speed Skating ● The third stage of the ISU World Cup was in Calgary (CAN) for the first of two meets, with five wins for the leading power in the sport, the Netherlands.

The Dutch won three men’s events, including the 1,000 m by 34-year-old Hein Otterspeer in 1:07.284, with Beijing Olympic silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) second in 1:07.307 and American Jordan Stolz fourth in 1:07.344.

Wesley Dijs (NED) won the 1,500 m in 1:42.390, ahead of China’s Zhongyan Ning (CHN: 1:42.957) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Kjeld Nuis (NED: 1:43.027). Beijing 5,000-10,000 m silver medalist Patrick Roest won the 5,000 in 6:05.600; American Ethan Cepuran was eighth in 6:17.717.

Debreuil won the 500 m in 34.017, with Stolz seventh in 34.477. Italy’s Andrea Giovannini took the Mass Start final in 7:53.040.

The two Dutch women’s winners included Jutta Leerdam, the Beijing Olympic silver medalist, in the 1,000 m in 1:12.828, with American Kimi Goetz finishing second in 1:13.532 and teammate (and Beijing bronze medalist) Brittany Bowe was 11th in 1:14.814. Triple Olympic gold medalist Irene Schouten won the Mass Start in 8:33.700, with Mia Kilburg of the U.S. second in 8:33.790.

Korea’s Min-sun Kim won the 500 m in 36.972, with Beijing gold medalist Erin Jackson of the U.S. in 37.451. Olympic 1,000 m champ Miho Takagi (JPN) won the 1,500 m (1:52.549), and Norway’s Ragne Wiklund took the 3,000 m in 3:56.937.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

FIFA WORLD CUP: Morocco in dreamland (and semifinals); France holds off England, 2-1, continue repeat title hopes

Rich Perelman

December 11, 2022

The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.

Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support.

To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here!

≡ QATAR 2022 ≡

There is such a thing as home-field advantage. And in an Arab state – Qatar – the first Arab team to make it as far as the World Cup semifinals – Morocco – held its nerve and defeated Portugal, 1-0 before a frenzied, pro-Morocco crowd of 44,198 at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.

Defending champion France is still in position to be the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962, with a taut, 2-1 win over England. The French played mostly on defense and found just enough offense to win, and survived a missed penalty kick by English star striker Harry Kane – who made one early in the second half – in the 84th minute.

The semis will feature two European teams, a South American team and an African team. It’s the first time since 2002 that anyone other than European or South American teams have filled the semifinals; then it was co-host South Korea, now Morocco.

● Quarterfinals: Morocco 1, Portugal 0 ● No African team and no Arab team had ever made it as far as the World Cup semifinals, but Morocco’s intense defending, its team speed and a perfect cross-and-head near the end of the first half were enough to beat Portugal, 1-0.

Portugal possessed the ball for long stretches, but could not score. Neither could Morocco, although its counterattacks were dangerous; striker Youssef El-Nesyri’s header just over the bar in the seventh minute showed their scoring potential.

While Portugal regularly played with six or seven men in front of the ball on defense, Morocco had all 10, making finishing plays and runs to the mouth of goal impossible. And on another counter, and off of a corner, defender Yahya Attiat-Allah sent a perfect cross into the box and with Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa coming out to challenge, El-Nesyri’s header flew right past him and into the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.

That’s how the half ended and that’s essentially how the game ended, with a lot of twists and turns in between. Portugal was on offense continuously from then on, but produced nothing but frustration.

A Bruno Fernandes shot hit the crossbar in the 45th minute. Super striker Cristiano Ronaldo came on for Portugal in the 51st, but was unable to find the net. Fernandes sent a blast just over the crossbar in the 64th. Off a turnover, Joao Felix sent a curling shot that Moroccan keeper Yassine Bounou was barely able to block over the crossbar in the 84th. Ronaldo, on a contested sprint in stoppage time (90+1), had his shot saved by Bounou.

Then things really got crazy, as substitute midfielder Walid Cheddira picked up a yellow card for a hard foul at 90+1 and another at 90+3, so Morocco was down to 10 men. Even so, Portugal’s only strong chance to score was a missed header by defender Pepe at 90+7 and the game ended with delirium for the mostly-Moroccan fans in the Al Thumama Stadium.

In its five matches in Qatar, Morocco drew with Croatia, 0-0; beat Belgium, 2-0; beat Canada, 4-1 (with an own goal); beat Spain on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie, and beat Portugal, 1-0. They’re hard to beat if you can’t score.

● Quarterfinals: France 2, England 1 ● No defending World Cup champion had reached even the semifinals of a subsequent World Cup since Brazil in 1998, when it lost to France, 3-0, after winning in 1994. Now the French, winners in 2018, will get a chance after a difficult 2-1 win over England at the Al Bayt Stadium.

The English controlled possession from the start, but the French got the lead in the 17th, off an Antoine Griezmann pass from the right side of the box to midfielder Aurelian Tchouameni, who sent a right-footed rocket from beyond the top of the box, bending into the left corner through a crowd of English defenders. Wow!

But England continued with pressure. French keeper Hugo Lloris had to make a big save on a Harry Kane break-through on goal in the 22nd, coming off his line, and that was almost knocked in on the rebound. Kane got another blast away in the 29th that Lloris had to punch away for a corner. And so it went, with England holding 58% of possession and a 5-3 edge on shots, but losing, 1-0.

The second half was more of the same, with England possession and France looking for chances in a game which became more and more physical. That paid off in the 52nd, as Tchouameni fouled English forward Bukayo Saka for a penalty in the 52nd and Kane buried it into the left corner of the French goal for the tie.

And the English kept coming. A Kane shot was saved by Lloris in the 62nd, and defender Harry Maguire left the left post with a header in the 70th. But France found moments, and after two good rushes at English keeper Jordan Pickford in the 75th, France had a corner in the 78th. Griezmann sent a seeing-eye cross from near his sideline all the way to the front of goal, where it found striker Olivier Giroud – France’s all-time goals leader – who headed it between two defenders and into the net for a 2-1 lead.

Two minutes later, however, French defender Theo Hernandez fouled England midfielder Mason Mount and another penalty was called. This time, however, Kane skied it over the goal and left England down, 2-1.

Mount missed another chance in the 88th as his try at goal sailed high, and then substitute striker Marcus Rashford just missed a goal on a free kick at 90+11 that sailed over the crossbar. France survived in a game with 24 fouls, including 14 by the French, and three yellow cards. England ended with 57% possession and 16 shots to eight (8-5 on goal), but it was not enough.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

The semifinals are set (victories on penalty kicks shown as wins):

● 13 Dec. (Tue., 2 p.m. Eastern time) at Lusail Iconic Stadium: Argentina (4-1; goals 9-5) vs. Croatia (3-0-2; goals 6-3).

● 14 Dec. (Wed., 2 p.m. Eastern time) at Al Bayt Stadium: Morocco (4-0-1; goals 5-1) vs. France (5-1; goals 11-5).

This will be the third World Cup meeting between Argentina and Croatia, with the series tied at 1-1. Argentina won, 1-0, in France in 1998 and Croatia routed Argentina, 3-0, in group-stage play in Russia in 2018.

The France-Morocco match will have a historical backdrop, as the French had control of Morocco as a “protectorate” – colony – from 1912 to 1956, long before any of the current players were born. But the Moroccan team – and their crowd – will know about it.

The Associated Press reported that FIFA has opened disciplinary hearings against both Argentina and the Netherlands after their quarterfinal match turned physical at the end on Friday.

The Argentine bench came onto the field to control the Dutch team as it tied the match late in stoppage time, and then more confrontations after Argentina won on penalty kicks. A total of 48 fouls were called in the game – 30 on the Netherlands – and 14 yellow cards were handed out (8 for Argentina and 6 for the Dutch, including three at the end of the penalty kicks.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has already fined Saudi Arabia CHF 15,000 twice for team misconduct from its matches against Argentina (22 November) and Mexico (30 November).

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

FIFA WORLD CUP: Croatia shocks Brazil on penalties! Argentina over the Dutch on penalties in stunning quarterfinals

Rich Perelman

December 10, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1209 croatia flag 2012 (roger goraczniak) — The Croatian checkerboard in a second straight World Cup semifinal? Yes! (Photo: Roger Goraczniak via Wikipedia)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ QATAR 2022 ≡

The first FIFA World Cup semifinal is set, with Croatia and Argentina playing on the 13th (Tuesday) at the Lusail Iconic Stadium for a chance at the championship after both Friday quarterfinals went to penalty kicks.

The Croatians improbably tied the game in the 117th minute and then won on penalties, 4-2, while Argentina was forced to penalties after losing a 2-0 lead with 17 minutes left in regulation. But they are going on: Croatia for its second straight semifinal and Argentina back after last making it this far in 2014.

● Quarterfinals: Croatia 1, Brazil 1 (Croatia wins on penalty kicks, 4-2) ● Like a cat with nine lives, Croatia came back from a seeming defeat to tie Brazil in the final three minutes of extra time and then won, 4-2, on penalty kicks to move into the World Cup semifinals for the second tournament in a row.

The first half started with Brazil in possession and on the attack, but few opportunities to do much against stout Croatian defense. The same was true for Croatia, which had some promising build-ups but not close to scoring.

Croatian keeper Dominik Livakovic made a brilliant save on Vinicius Junior in the 48th, but Brazil was called offsides, then Neymar Junior had a direct shot at goal in the 55th, which Livakovic blocked. In the 65th, midfielder Lucas Paqueta got a weak shot on a bounding ball in the box but Livakovic punched it away at point-blank range.

But the first 90 minutes ended 0-0, with possession evenly split, but with Brazil taking 14 shots to six and a 7-0 edge on shots-on-goal. Of Croatia’s five games, three were 0-0 at the end of 90.

Brazil kept pushing in the first extra-time period, but Croatia had an excellent chance in the 103rd, with striker Bruno Petkovic streaming down the left side and sending a perfect cross to the middle of the field for midfielder Marcelo Brazovic, who pounded a shot that went over the crossbar.

Then everything changed in a moment. Another Brazilian build-up saw Neymar push into the middle of the box, then passed to Paqueta deep in the box, who gave it right back, but a little behind him. Neymar got control, pushed to the right, got around Livakovic and slammed the ball into the net from a deteriorating angle at the right side of the net at 105+1. It was Neymar’s 77th goal for Brazil, tying him with the iconic Pele for the most in Brazilian history, and Neymar’s eighth in 12 World Cup games.

Brazilian shots were up to 19-7 and 10-0 on goal after the first extra period. The Croatians had to get a goal in the next 15.

And out of nowhere, late in the period, a Croatian break saw a pass by forward Mislav Orsic to Petkovic at the top of the box resulted in a left-footed strike that deflected and flew past Alisson for the 1-1 tie in the 117th.

The extra periods ended with possession even, shots favoring Brazil by 20-9 and 10-1 on goal: Croatia’s only shot on goal was their score.

Now the penalty kicks, and the die was cast early, as Livakovic saved Rodrygo’s first try for Brazil, while Nikola Vlasic, Lovro Majer and star midfielder Luka Modric all made theirs. Brazil closed with conversions from Casemiro and Pedro, but after Orsic converted Croatia’s fourth in a row, Marquinhos had Livakovic going the wrong way, but hit the left post, closing the door on the favored Brazilians.

The last World Cup triumph for Brazil was in 2002, and the Selecao have now lost in four of their last five quarterfinals – 2006-10-18-22 – all to European teams.

● Quarterfinals: Argentina 2, Netherlands 2 (Argentina wins on penalty kicks, 4-3) ● Another overtime stunner, with the Dutch coming back from 2-0 down with seven minutes left in regulation.

A tactical first half came down to a moment of individual brilliance for Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. Dribbling well out from the Dutch goal, he moved from the right side of the field to the center, then sent a perfect through-pass past three defenders and into the path of a charging defender Nahuel Molina, who right-footed it past Dutch keeper Andries Noppert for a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute.

The Dutch had 57% of possession in the half, but Argentina was better on offense, getting five shots to one and the 1-0 lead.

The second half was more of the same, cautious possession, waiting for a break. Argentina got what looked like a decisive moment in the 71st, when Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries fouled defender Marcus Acuna at the edge of the box for a penalty. Messi converted in the 73rd and the Netherlands looked dead at 0-2, with 17 minutes left.

But 10 minutes later, the two Dutch substitute strikers got going as Steven Berghuis found the 6-6 Wout Weghorst for a header on the right side of the penalty area and a powerful header flew into the far left edge of goal to close the deficit to 2-1.

Argentina’s leisurely play with the lead suddenly turned against them, as referee Antonio Mateu (ESP) added 10 minutes of stoppage time, and the Dutch needed all of it. A final push saw Weghorst fouled at the top of the box and a free kick awarded to the Netherlands. Everyone lined up, looking for a curving shot at goal from substitute midfielder Teun Koopmeiners, but instead, the ball was fed through the wall and Weghorst controlled it and left-footed it into the goal for a stunning 2-2 tie at 90+11!

It was only the second shot on goal for the Dutch and both were goals.

The extra time periods were cautious, but Argentina almost scored in the 115th, when an Enzo Fernandez cross from the right side was well struck by Lautaro Martinez right in front of goal, but deflected off the face of defender Vigil van Dijk. Argentina continued to pour on the pressure, with sub midfielder Angel Di Maria trying to bend a corner into the goal that was punched away by Noppert, and Fernandez hit the post on a long-range strike in the 121st.

The Netherlands finished with 52% possession, but Argentina had the edge on shots 14-6 and 5-2 on shots-on-goal.

In the shoot-out, Argentine keeper Emiliano Martinez saved the first from van Dijk to his right, and the second, from Berghuis to his left, while Messi and Gonzalo Montiel made theirs for a 2-0 lead. Weghorst scored again, as did Luuk de Jong, while Argentina’s Fernandez missed and it was 3-3. But Lautaro Martinez left no doubt in the final round and Argentina walked off a 4-3 winner.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

It’s going to be hard to equal Friday’s drama, but the last two quarterfinals come Saturday:

● 10 Dec.: Morocco (3-0-1; goals 4-1) vs. Portugal (3-1; goals 12-5)
● 10 Dec.: England (3-0-1; goals 12-2) vs. France (3-1; goals 9-4)

France is the defending champion and England reached the semis in 2018. Portugal last reached the semis in 2006, and Morocco has never gotten this far before. If Morocco should win, it would be the first African semifinalist ever in the World Cup.

The semifinals will be played on the 13th and 14th and the final on 18 December.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Brittney Griner released and returns to U.S.; boxing fed slams IOC criticism; cat thrown out of Brazil World Cup news conference!

Rich Perelman

December 9, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1208 brazil cat at news conf 750 — Brazil press officer Vinicius Rodriguez drops a guest cat from the dais of a news conference with striker Vinicius Junior (Photo: SportTV screen grab via Twitter)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Griner swapped for Russian arms merchant; returns to U.S.
2. Int’l Boxing Association: “We will not accept” IOC criticism
3. Qatar received almost 766,000 FIFA World Cup visitors so far
4. Cat thrown out of Brazil World Cup news conference by its fur!
5. Coe: building the track & field fan base “is more challenging”

American basketball star Brittney Griner was swapped for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout on Thursday, in an agreement assisted by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with Griner flown to Abu Dhabi for transfer to the U.S. The International Boxing Association lashed out at the International Olympic Committee for Wednesday’s comments chastising the federation, but saying that it had no problem with boxing or boxers. A document from Qatar’s organizing committee for the 2022 FIFA World Cup says that almost 766,000 foreign visitors have come to the country – so far – for the event, well short of the 1.2 million it had said it expected, but pretty impressive for a country of 2.9 million. At a Wednesday Brazilian team news conference in Doha with striker Vinicius Junior, a cat jumped onto the dais, but was quickly removed and dropped about three feet to the stage below by the Brazilian team’s press officer, apparently with no damage to the cat. World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe gave a very interesting interview in Monaco at the World Athletics Awards, explaining the federation’s goals for 2023 and its effort to raise the sport’s profile.

The FIFA World Cup resumes on Friday and Saturday with the quarterfinals.

1.
Griner swapped for Russian arms merchant; returns to U.S.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner of the U.S. was released from Russian captivity on Thursday in exchange for the U.S. release of convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been serving a 25-year sentence that began in 2012.

Griner was detained on 17 February for “drug smuggling” of cannabis oil, which she admitted she errantly packed in her luggage. She was convicted in August and her appeal was denied in October. She was transferred to a penal colony in November.

A statement from WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert included:

“There has not been a day over the past ten months where we all haven’t had Brittney Griner on our minds and in our hearts and that has now turned into a collective wave of joy and relief knowing that she will soon be reunited with her family, the WNBA player community, and her friends. …

“Our hope is that Paul Whelan and every wrongfully detained American will be returned home safely and as soon as possible.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry, of course, was more concerned about the release of Bout, telling the news agency TASS:

“As a result of the efforts made, we managed to agree with the American side to arrange an exchange of Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner. The Russian citizen has been returned to his homeland.

“[The exchange] was successfully completed at the airport of Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Washington was categorically refusing to engage in dialogue on putting the Russian national on the exchange scheme. Nevertheless, the Russian Federation continued to actively work towards the release of our fellow countryman.”

A joint statement of the foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates took the credit for the deal, including:

“The ministries said the success of the mediation efforts was a reflection of the mutual and solid friendship between their two countries and the United States of America and the Russian Federation.

“They also highlighted the important role played by the leaderships of the two brotherly countries in promoting dialogue between all parties.

“The statement confirmed that Abu Dhabi received, on 8th December, American citizen Brittney Griner by private plane from Moscow, after the Russian authorities released her, in conjunction with the reception of Russian citizen Victor Bout on a private plane from Washington, after the U.S. authorities released him, in the presence of specialists from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“Both America and Russia claimed their citizens, in preparation for transfer to their countries.

“The UAE and Saudi Arabian foreign ministries expressed the thanks of their respective governments to the governments of the U.S. and Russia for their cooperation and response, and for the joint mediation efforts made by the leaderships of the two countries.”

Griner was reportedly being flown to San Antonio for medical attention and support services for individuals who have been in foreign isolation.

TASS also reported that both Griner and Bout “were pardoned prior to the exchange procedure, and therefore there is no need for them to serve their sentences in their home countries.”

Whelan, convicted of espionage, is still being held in a Russian penal colony, and is also considered by the U.S. to be wrongfully detailed since 2018. A TASS report noted that “Negotiations about his exchange are ongoing.”

2.
Int’l Boxing Association: “We will not accept” IOC criticism

A day after International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) criticized the International Boxing Association, but explicitly said he is not criticizing boxing or boxers, the IBA posted an unhappy, three-page reply, that included:

● “We continue to be punished for a culture of corruption that was created and nourished by some of the individuals from the IOC’s upper echelon,” referring to former AIBA President C.K. Wu (TPE), who was also an IOC member.

● “We will not accept this artificial divide and conquer rhetoric that somehow the IBA and the athletes are separate, it is simply not true and any attack on the IBA is a direct attack on the stakeholders of our sport, the athletes. Sanctions towards IBA are sanctions against its boxers, as we are inseparable.”

● “The IOC creates a problem for each solution we provide.”

● “Denying the fact of IBA’s significant progress is simply an egregious error in not acknowledging the truth of the matter. IBA is not creating a PR picture that does not exist; in fact, we are simply communicating our progress and steps towards it. Not acknowledging it, raises the fair question of why. All the IOC criticism is done in a manner to discredit the leading experts who have worked on the previous reports and investigations within the Olympic movement, which is deplorable.”

● “We are now forced to publicly ask for details on what governance shortfalls will quench the IOC’s continued thirst to persecute our organization and its athletes.”

● “[T]he Olympic Charter doesn’t read that person’s nationality should stop them from being able to democratically serve their organization,” a reference to the election of Russian Umar Kremlev as IBA President.

● “These are IBA’s facts. IBA is looking forward to receiving the facts from the IOC in terms of what has not been achieved by IBA in order to avoid any ambiguity in the IOC’s PR.”

It’s a bold statement, but does not address the IOC’s oft-repeated issues concerning the way in which the IBA held its elections, transparency in its finances and its dependence on debt relief from a sole source – the Russian energy giant Gazprom, – plus its future financial stability without Gazprom and aspects of its refereeing and judging which have still not satisfied the IOC.

The question of whether boxing (and modern pentathlon and weightlifting) will be included in the Los Angeles 2028 sports program are to be decided in 2023.

3.
Qatar received almost 766,000 FIFA World Cup visitors so far

Reuters reported that 765,859 international visitors had come into Qatar for World Cup matches through 7 December, according a report from the organizing Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

The report noted that more than half of these visitors have departed already, as all but eight of the original 32 teams have been eliminated. The total is impressive, especially for a country with a population of just 2.9 million, but well short of the estimate of 1.2 million visitors. Some more visitors are expected to come in for the final few games.

According to the report, some 3.09 million tickets were sold through the 7th, used by 1.33 million ticketholders. Actual stadium attendance was 2.65 million through the first 52 matches.

FIFA has handed down fines for three incidents at the World Cup, with the Croatian Football Federation fined CHF 50,000 (CHF 1 = $1.07) for the “use of words and objects to transmit a message that is not appropriate for a sports event … in relation to the behaviour of Croatian supporters during the Croatia v. Canada FIFA World Cup match on 27 November.”

The Football Association of Serbia was fined CHF 20,000 “in relation to a flag displayed in its dressing room on the occasion of the Brazil v. Serbia FIFA World Cup match on 24 November” in which Kosovo – now an independent country – was shown as part of Serbia, with the words “we do not surrender.”

Bad behavior on the field was also penalized, with the Saudi Arabian Football Association fined CHF 15,000 each (CHF 30,000 total) for rough play, notably “a total of six [yellow card] bookings received by Saudi players … during the FIFA World Cup matches against Argentina and Mexico on 22 November and 30 November.”

The story of Qatar’s Stadium 974, created in part from 974 shipping containers, is moving into another chapter after hosting six matches at the Arab Cup and seven at the World Cup. Opened on 20 November 2021 and closed after Monday’s Brazil-South Korea game on 5 December, the 44,409-seat facility is being disassembled and readied for shipment to Uruguay!

The concept is for the stadium to be reassembled in Uruguay and used – hopefully – as a venue for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Uruguay is bidding for in conjunction with Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. Uruguay was the site of the first World Cup, back in 1930.

A Philippine worker died in Qatar in recent days near a World Cup training site, but was apparently not involved in any World Cup activities. The Qatar government is looking into the incident for any work-safety violations; protests over migrant worker pay, conditions and safety have dogged the tournament since it was awarded to Qatar in 2010.

Spain’s loss to Morocco on penalty kicks in the Round of 16 cost manager Luis Enrique, 52, his position, as the Spanish national football federation fired him on Thursday. Luis de la Fuente, 61, the head of Spain’s U-21 program was named as the new coach.

4.
Cat thrown out of Brazil World Cup news conference by its fur!

In one of the most unusual FIFA World Cups in history, one of the most unbelievable moments in the history of news conferences.

A Brazilian team news conference with striker Vinicius Junior on Wednesday was interrupted by a stray cat which jumped onto the table and was corralled by Brazilian team press officer Vinicius Rodriguez.

After a few moments, however, Rodriguez picked up the cat by its back fur and dropped it to the stage apron below – about three feet – stunning the assembled media, as well as Vinicius Junior. The scene was picked up on the live broadcast from Brazil’s SportTV – here – and the news conference continued.

The Russian Free Press reported, “The cat landed on its paws and appeared to be unharmed” and Rodriguez told TASS, “The cat is fine, don’t worry. He feels great.”

Some of the media who attended Thursday’s Brazil news conference welcomes Rodriguez by meowing, perhaps another FIFA World Cup first.

It should be noted that the cat was not wearing any kind of accreditation badge or other World Cup credential that would admit him to the news conference.

5.
Coe: building the track & field fan base “is more challenging”

Fascinating interview with World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe (GBR) from the International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS), on the sidelines of the federation’s World Athletics Awards. Coe spoke at length about 2022 and the future of the sport; some highlights:

● “Building that fan base in track and field is more challenging, because it isn’t a game. And you don’t always have such big, tribal, national rivalries. … Yes, everybody gets behind their country, but track and field fans are more in a way… they’re more “Catholic” about life. … they’re very much more into the sheer quality of what they’re watching, regardless in a way of what the flag is on the sign.”

● “We’re looking at formats, we’re looking at the competition calendar, the diary, we’re looking at the ability to work with the athletes so that they can help build their own profile, wanting us to give them content that they’re able to post. So it works both ways. And that’s a lot of those conversations, interestingly, have been taking place here with the athletes.”

● “[W]e have a responsibility to protect female sport, but to do it in a sensible, thoughtful and inclusive way. So the position that we took with [differences in sex development], for instance, wasn’t to stop anyone. The first principle was not to stop people competing. It was to try and make sure that if they were competing, it was on as level playing fields as you can possibly manage. We are currently reviewing that position. The Health and Science Teams will report back after a period of consultation and the importance of following the science.”

He also spoke at some length about the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene:

“We had a challenge around visas, getting in and out of America in the best of times is not an easy process for many of us. Eugene is a very small town. It’s inevitable that, in performance terms, they were the most successful championships we have ever had. If you look at the world records and the area records, national records, personal bests, some of those – Sydney McLaughlin’s world record and Mondo Duplantis, Noah Lyles – these were extraordinary performances.

“But I think that there’s no doubt that it is unlikely we will ever go back to a smaller community. For a World Championships, the stadium was beautiful, purpose-built for the championships – but it was small. It made life complicated for the media, it made life complicated in terms of the number of seats that were available, that weren’t just accredited seats. What did we get out of Eugene? We had a presence in the United States and every Olympic sport wants its presence at a World Championships in the United States.”

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

The World Cup resumes on Friday and Saturday with the quarterfinals (records reflect penalty-kick victories as wins):

● 09 Dec.: Croatia (2-0-2 W-L-T: goals 5-2) vs. Brazil (3-1: goals 7-2)
● 09 Dec.: Netherlands (3-0-1; goals 8-2) vs. Argentina (3-1; goals 7-3)

● 10 Dec.: Morocco (3-0-1; goals 4-1) vs. Portugal (3-1; goals 12-5)
● 10 Dec.: England (3-0-1; goals 12-2) vs. France (3-1; goals 9-4)

The semifinals will be played on the 13th and 14th and the final on 18 December

With the Round of 16 completed, let’s update the region vs. region records in Qatar (records shown W-L-T, with penalty-kick advancements counted as wins):

Africa:
● 5 teams qualified ~ 2 to Round of 16 ~ 1 to Quarterfinals
● 7-5-3 record in group stage ~ 19-17 on goals ~ 152-167 on shots
● 1-1-0 record in Round of 16 ~ 0-3 on goals ~ 16-21 on shots

Asia:
● 6 teams qualified ~ 3 to Round of 16 ~ 0 to Quarterfinals
● 7-10-1 record in group stage ~ 19-30 on goals ~ 176-239 on shots
● 0-3-0 record in Round of 16 ~ 3-7 on goals ~ 26-49 on shots

Europe:
(Statistics vs. non-European teams)
● 13 teams qualified ~ 10 to Round of 16 ~ 5 to Quarterfinals
● 12-10-7 record in group stage ~ 46-30 on goals ~ 335-323 on shots
● 3-1-0 record in Round of 16 ~ 7-2 on goals ~ 49-46 on shots

North America:
● 4 teams qualified ~ 1 to Round of 16 ~ 0 to Quarterfinals
● 3-6-3 record in group stage ~ 9-22 on goals ~ 115-130 on shots
● 0-1-0 record in Round of 16 ~ 1-3 on goals ~ 17-11 on shots

South America:
● 4 teams qualified ~ 2 to Round of 16 ~ 2 to Quarterfinals
● 6-4-2 record in group stage ~ 14-8 on goals ~ 163-82 on shots
● 2-0-0 record in Round of 16 ~ 6-2 on goals ~ 32-13 on shots

Asia and CONCACAF had no teams in the final eight and the surprise of the tournament has been Africa, which not only has Morocco in the quarters, but finished with a winning record in the Group Stage, along with Europe and South America.

CONCACAF came into the tournament with teams ranked 13th (Mexico), 16th (U.S.), 31st (Costa Rica) and 41st (Canada), but none made it to the quarters. The African teams were ranked 18th (Senegal), 22nd (Morocco), 30th (Tunisia) 43rd (Cameroon) and 61st (Ghana), but advanced three to the elimination rounds and Morocco to the quarters.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Weightlifting ● The IWF World Championships roll on in Bogota (COL), with two Olympic champions winning their weight classes on Wednesday.

In the men’s 61 kg class, China’s Fabin Li won his second world title to go along with his Tokyo Olympic triumph, lifting a combined 312 kg, including a world-record Clean & Jerk lift of 175 kg. That was well clear of two-time Olympic silver winner Eko Yuli Irawan (INA: 300 kg) and China’s Yueji He (296 kg). American Hampton Morris was 15th at 275 kg.

Philippine star Hildyn Diaz followed up on her Tokyo Olympic triumph at 61 kg with a world title in Bogota, lifting a combined total of 207 kg, winning both the Snatch and Clean & Jerk segments. It’s her fourth Worlds medal, but first gold! Colombia’s Rosalba Morales won the silver (199 kg) and Mexico’s Ana Gabriela Lopez was third (198 kg). American Shayla Moore finished fourth at 194 kg.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● The IOC is working diligently to extend the “umbrella” of the Olympic Games to the qualifying events, with a special logo and added, online telecasts of competitions not otherwise being covered.

IOC chief Bach mentioned during Wednesday’s news conference that about 100,000 athletes will compete in roughly 3,000 qualifying events for 10,500 slots at the Games, or about a 10:1 ratio.

● Archery ● Pretty rare to be a national federation to be expelled from an international federation, but World Archery announced:

“The Federacion Mexicana de Tiro con Arco is no longer recognised as World Archery’s national member association in Mexico following an official notice issued to the country’s sports minister Ana Gabriela Guevara and CONADE.

“It is in response to the outcome of a judicial case against the former president of the federation, Efi Sanchez, who has been jailed for misuse of public funds.”

World Archery is requiring “establishment of a brand-new organisation that fully complies with the principles of good governance.” Mexico has been highly successful in archery, winning two women’s Olympic medals in 2012 and a Mixed Team bronze in 2020.

● Athletics ● Rio 2016 Olympic 4×400 m relay gold medalist Gil Roberts, 33, was suspended for 16 months by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for the presence of anabolic agents andarine and ostarine from a May 2022 out-of-competition test, and another warning about supplements:

“Following an investigation into the circumstances of his case, USADA determined that Roberts’s positive test was caused by his use of a dietary supplement that did not list any prohibited ingredients on the label.” Roberts’ ban began on 3 June 2022.

Roberts has a lifetime best of 44.22 from 2017, but ran very little in 2020 and was eliminated in the heats at the 2021 Olympic Trials in the 400 m.

Olympic writer Karen Rosen notes that the first day of the 2023 Wanda Diamond League Final at Hayward Field in Eugene will fall on the same day – Saturday, 16 September – as a University of Oregon football game being played at nearby Autzen Stadium against Hawaii.

It will raise the question of whether Eugene’s track fans are also Ducks football followers, but in any case, parking could be at a premium!

● Sport Climbing ● Bach was asked about whether the IOC had maintained contact with the situation of Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi, whose loose wearing of her headscarf at the Asian Championships in Korea in October exposed her to possible criminal penalties under Iranian law. A recent report stated her family’s home had been torn down; Bach explained:

“In fact, the international federation has been in constant contact with her over all the time [since the Asian Championships], and this contact was also used with regard to this most recent allegation, where, then, we have checked with the international federation [IFSC] and with the Iranian NOC, and we have received from both the same information, so far, that it appears that this is about a construction permit there, and that this incident took place some months before the competition in Seoul, this means some months before October.

“This is the information we have and we continue to monitor the situation. Again, via the international federation, who are very close to the athlete and we are using our channel to the Iranian NOC.”

The IFSC announced on Wednesday (7th) that Rekabi was one of four athletes selected for the “Women in Sport High Performance Pathway” (WISH), designed to expand the number of female coaches at the Olympic Games, and supported by the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity program.

● Tennis ● Per Britain’s Daily Mail:

“The [British] Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has been threatened with expulsion from the ATP Tour and fined $1million (£822,000) by the men’s circuit for their decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players earlier this year.”

The Women’s Tennis Association has also sanctioned the LTA, which has appealed. For its part, the LTA said in a statement:

“The ATP appear to regard this matter as a straightforward breach of their rules – with a surprising lack of empathy shown for the situation in Ukraine, and a clear lack of understanding of the unique circumstances the LTA faced.

“The financial impact of both this fine and the WTA’s fine will have a material impact on the LTA’s ability to develop and host tennis in this country. For example, we had intended to host a number of ATP Challenger level events to give more opportunities to lower ranked players in the first quarter of 2023 and will now not be able to do this, particularly given the possibility of further fines.

“We will carefully consider our response and we await the outcome of our appeal against the WTA’s decision and sanction.”

It has been reported that the Lawn Tennis Association plans to ban Russian and Belarusian players in 2023 if Russian forces remain in Ukraine.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: IOC says no change in Russia and Belarus bans; Winter Games 2030 selection and future rotation related; big U.S. World Cup ratings!

Rich Perelman

December 8, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1207 bach news conf 750 — International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) at Wednesday's news conference (Photo: IOC video screen grab)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. IOC’s Bach says Russia situation discussed, but no changes
2. IOC is upset with boxing’s federation, not the boxers
3. Possible Winter Games rotation and double-allocation are related
4. U.S. World Cup viewing up 19.9% for English & Spanish combined
5. Qatar excitement has FIFA considering new formats for 2026

The International Olympic Committee wrapped up three days of Executive Board meetings with President Thomas Bach of Germany explaining that during a four-hour discussion of the situation involving Russia and Belarus, no changes have been made to the IOC’s position on sanctions. Bach also made it clear that boxing as a sport is not the focus of the IOC’s concerns, but the International Boxing Association is, a good sign for the sport’s continuation in the Olympic program for 2028. The new consideration of a possible naming of hosts for both the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games is related to the IOC’s idea that due to the need for “climate reliability” for winter sport, a rotation of permanent host cities could be considered; naming two hosts soon would give the IOC time to figure out the rotation concept in detail. The FIFA World Cup is proving popular on television in the U.S., with average audiences in English and Spanish combined up 19.9% over 2018, and the viewing of U.S. matches at a higher rate than anything on television except the NFL. FIFA is now considering three options in the format for the expanded 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., noting that the earlier-announced 16 groups of three is only one option. If splitting the tournament into two 24-team brackets or using six groups of four, the World Cup would expand from 64 matches in Qatar now to 104 in four years!

1.
IOC’s Bach says Russia situation discussed, but no changes

“There is no change in our position, and I am afraid I have to explain it again.”

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) noted during a Wednesday news conference following three days of Executive Board meetings that a four-hour discussion had been held earlier in the day concerning Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine and the IOC’s position.

He responded to questions looking for any movement toward Russian reinstatement by restating his position:

“What we said, always said, and said today again, and said all over again, the sanctions have to remain in place. And there is no change at all. And what we have always also said is, that with regard to the protective measures, with regard to the athletes, that we have to explore ways to overcome this dilemma, to live up to our mission.

“And this has been clear from 24th February. Already then, we were talking about the ‘heavy heart’ and that we have to overcome it. So there is no change at all. The breach of the Olympic Charter by the governments and states persist, and therefore the sanctions persist.”

Bach went to some length to explain that in addition to the sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian governments – requesting no hosting of events there and no use of country name, flag or anthem – that the “protective measures” asking for no Russian or Belarusian participation, or exclusively as neutrals, are not simply about athlete safety, but protecting international sport from being dictated to by national government policies:

“The other question is, what about the athletes: do we still need the protection of the integrity of the international events? These reasons always have to be analyzed , and there, you know, I can also give some examples how differently this was handled and how far political interference went, even in one sport. …

“We had this participation of Russian and Belarusian in the U.S. Open in tennis. We have Russian athletes participating in the NHL. They all have, obviously, their working permit, they are playing, they are cheered upon by the fans, you know, everybody happy.

“On the other hand, we had at Wimbledon, the British government interfering and forcing the Wimbledon organizers to exclude Russian and Belarusian players from playing. This is the situation we are in and this is the situation we have to overcome so that the international competitions can really be comparable and can be fair and just for everybody.”

He added later, answering another question:

“Governments should not decide, on political grounds, who is participating in which sport event.

“The qualification for sports events must be on sporting merits, and not on political interference. This is, by the way, you know, against all the commitments these governments – and there, the British government, unfortunately, is not the only one – that made their approval in the meantime three or four U.N. resolutions in the last couple of years and the latest one on 1st of December, where these governments voted for resolution by consensus where they say that they respect the Olympic Charter, which is the political neutrality of the IOC, where they emphasize the conciliative nature of sports events, where they support the autonomy of sport, and then to take a decision – a political decision – on a sports competition is clearly not in line with these resolutions and these commitments, and not in line with the mission of international sports, because if this would continue, then sport competitions and the international sports system would be gone.”

Bach also emphasized that athletes who misbehave and introduce politics into the competitions must themselves be subject to penalties:

“Whatever is happening with regard to athletes in their participation, the sanctions remain in place. Then, of course, if somebody would infringe on these sanctions, then, they would be sanctioned.

“Participation must happen on sporting merits, and respecting the rules of sport. And if somebody is infringing on these rules of sport, sanctions must – will – and have followed. We have seen Russian athletes displaying this infamous ‘Z’ sign and they have been sanctioned and have been excluded from competitions. This is how our system works: it means sporting merits and respect for the rules of sport. Who has no sporting merit cannot come and who is not respecting sport cannot not come.”

This was a reference to Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, banned for a year after wearing a pro-invasion ‘Z’ on his uniform at the FIG Artistic Apparatus World Cup in Doha (QAT) last March.

2.
IOC is upset with boxing’s federation, not the boxers

Bach also gave the clearest declaration yet that the IOC’s continuing suspension of the International Boxing Association is about the federation and not about the sport:

“What we are discussing is not so much about boxing, and the boxers, it is about the governance of this sport. It’s about the federation, as it is right now and of it would be about boxing and the boxers, there would have been no boxing in Tokyo. And there would be no boxing in Paris.

“The Executive Board is fully conscious of the social values and the globality of boxing as a sport and is taking this into account, and has been taking this into account with regard to all these decisions of having, despite the suspension of the federation (boxing) in Tokyo and despite the huge problems in the federation still ongoing, also in Paris, So this is what we are concentrating on now, but again, I think this message should go to all the boxers, but it’s not about them, but it’s about the governance of their federation, which stands in their way.”

This is good news for boxing relative to its possible inclusion on the program for Los Angeles in 2028. But Bach slammed the IBA again in a later comment, adding:

“These issues have to be addressed in a way of substance and by facts and not by some P.R. efforts, but by measures of substance, and there, we will keep monitoring, and let’s see what’s going to happen.”

3.
Possible Winter Games rotation and double-allocation are related

The IOC Executive Board made headlines on Tuesday with the report of a discussion with the Future Host Commission about new approaches to the Olympic Winter Games, including a possible double allocation of the 2030 and 2034 editions and, given concerns about “climate reliability,” that even a possible rotation among a set of semi-permanent host cities could be considered.

It turns out the two are related. Bach explained on Wednesday:

“The way it was presented by the Commission … I perceived it in the way that the Commission is saying, by a double allocation, we would win some time to then establish a sound rotation system. So this, then, would follow the allocation for 2030.”

It’s all up in the air right now, but climate concerns may be pushing the IOC to consider a long-time recommendation to concentrate the Games in a few existing locations that could handle the repeat business. The difficulty with this idea starts with the availability of an Olympic Village, which is handled in the U.S. by the use of university student residences, an option not widely available elsewhere.

4.
U.S. World Cup viewing up almost 20% for English and Spanish combined

With a few days since the close of the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, the viewing numbers are coming in, with very good reports for U.S. viewing in both English and Spanish:

● FOX reported that the 48-match group stage attracted an average of 2.638 million viewers on FOX and FS1, an impressive 35% increase over the 1.958 million average from Russia in 1998.

● Telemundo reported a “total audience delivery” – TV and streaming – averaging 2.07 million viewers on Telemundo and Peacock, with a few matches that took place concurrently on Universo. This is a 5% bump from 2018, which averaged 1.97 million viewers.

The combined total is a 4.708 million per-match average, up 19.86% from 2018 in Russia.

Better figures are now available for the U.S. matches, including the Round-of-16 game against the Netherlands, for the English and Spanish broadcasts combined:

● 21 Nov. (Mon.): 11.236 million for U.S.-Wales
● 25 Nov. (Fri.) : 20.146 million for U.S.-England
● 29 Nov. (Tue.): 15.863 million for U.S.-Iran
● 03 Dec. (Sat.): 16.875 million for U.S.-Netherlands

That’s an average of 16.03 million – combined – for the four matches, which compares very favorably against every other sport on U.S. television except the NFL. Sunday’s early NFL window (1 p.m. Eastern) drew a combined 37.10 million on CBS and FOX for regional coverage; the CBS second game (4 p.m. Eastern) did 23.41 million. The Sunday Night Football broadcast on NBC had 18.13 million for Indianapolis and Dallas.

The U.S. World Cup match average did surpass the college conference championship games, with the SEC drawing 10.89 million for LSU vs. Georgia on CBS, the Big 10 getting 10.70 million on FOX for Purdue-Michigan, and ABC drawing 9.41 million for the Big 12 title game with Kansas State and TCU.

Behind the U.S., Mexico drew well – especially on Telemundo – from Qatar, with an average of 9.18 million:

● 22 Nov. (Tue.): 8.139 million for Mexico-Poland
● 26 Nov. (Sat.): 13.438 million for Mexico-Argentina
● 30 Nov. (Wed.): 5.973 million for Mexico-Saudi Arabia

The only other match to do more than 10 million viewers combined was the Thanksgiving Day game between Brazil and Serbia, which drew 11.181 million almost evenly between English (6.187 million) and Spanish (5.694 million). Next best was the Round-of-16 game between Argentina and Australia, which had 9.927 million U.S. viewers.

The least-interesting match of the World Cup? That was 495,000 combined viewers for Canada and Morocco on 1 December.

5.
Qatar excitement has FIFA considering new formats for 2026

Qatar’s 2022 World Cup will be the last with 32 teams, as the tournament will expand to 48 for the 2026 World Cup to be played in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

The projected format for 2026 had been 16 groups of three – to be played in 16 different stadia – with the two top in each group to advance to a 32-team tournament. But the gripping results of the group stage in Qatar, in which all eight came down to the final day to clarify who would advance, is confirming the need for a new look at the format.

FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, former French coach Arsene Wenger, said Sunday that new options are being considered. In addition to the 16×3 format:

● 12 groups of four teams, with the top two in each moving on (24) and the eight “best” third-place teams advancing to an expanded elimination round of 32.

● Creating essentially two tournaments of 24 teams each, with six groups of four in each advancing to an elimination round of 16 on each side, and the winners of each “half” meeting in the final.

Said Wenger, “I will not be able to decide that, it will be decided by the FIFA [Council], and I think it will be done in the next year.”

The original 16×3 scenario was going to expand the World Cup from the current 64 total matches to 80, but either the 12×4 or 24×2 formats would create 104 matches in all, a financial, tourism and publicity bonanza for FIFA, the stadiums and potentially for the local communities.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) praised the 2022 World Cup – so far – in a video posted Wednesday:

“Record-breaking figures on TV; we already had over two billion viewers, which is really incredible. Figures published at the end of the group stage showed a cumulative attendance of 2.45 million for the first 48 games, while the first knockout round featured a total of 28 goals over the eight games played; the most there has ever been since the round of 16 was introduced in 1986.”

Cumulative attendance at the Fan Festival in Doha has surpassed one million.

Mario Ferri, 35, the Italian activist who ran onto the field wearing a Superman shirt that said “Free Ukraine” on the front, “Respect for Iranian Women” on the back and carried a rainbow flag during the group-stage game between Portugal and Uruguay, said he was released from Qatari custody after just a half-hour due to the intervention of Infantino.

Now back home, Ferri told Reuters, “Gianni Infantino is intelligent; Falco is free, no problem in Qatar.” He said the FIFA President came to where Ferri was being held and arranged for his release. Ferri claims to have created on-field protests 11 times, and this was his third at a World Cup, after 2010 and 2014.

Avaaz, a Swiss protest group, created mobile billboards that toured Infantino’s home town of Brig (SUI) on Wednesday, reading “Infantino: your family were migrants,” “Thousands like them were victims of this World Cup,” and “Compensate them now.”

For a guest comment on some of the questions raised by hosting the FIFA World Cup in Qatar by University of Lausanne Professor of Public Management at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration, Jean-Loup Chappelet, click here.

No matches on Wednesday or Thursday; the World Cup will resume on Friday and Saturday with the quarterfinals (records reflect penalty-kick victories as wins):

● 09 Dec.: Croatia (2-0-2 W-L-T: goals 5-2) vs. Brazil (3-1: goals 7-2)
● 09 Dec.: Netherlands (3-0-1; goals 8-2) vs. Argentina (3-1; goals 7-3)

● 10 Dec.: Morocco (3-0-1; goals 4-1) vs. Portugal (3-1; goals 12-5)
● 10 Dec.: England (3-0-1; goals 12-2) vs. France (3-1; goals 9-4)

The semifinals will be played on the 13th and 14th and the final on 18 December.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Weightlifting ● The 2022 IWF World Championships continue in Bogota (COL), with the lighter weights, and another gold for Thailand.

In the men’s 55 kg class, Theerapong Silachai, 19, came from fourth after the Snatch to win the Clean & Jerk event and take the victory at 265 kg. He led an Asian sweep, with Ngo Son Dinh (VIE) second at 260 kg and Yon-ho King (KOR) third, also at 260. Gabe Chhum of the U.S. was 10th at 238 kg.

China’s Huihua Jiang won her third world title at 49 kg – also in 2015 and 2019 – by lifting a combined 206 kg, winning both the Snatch and Clean & Jerk golds. Tokyo silver winner Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (IND) took silver at 200 kg and Tokyo Olympic champ Zhihui Hou (CHN: 198 kg) was third.

American Hayley Reichardt scored a bronze in the Clean & Jerk lift, but finished fifrth overall (194 kg); teammate Jourdan Delacruz was seventh (191 kg).

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Doping ● Dr. Werner Franke, the German biologist who played a key role in uncovering the East German state doping scheme, passed at age 82 on 14 November in Heidelberg.

With his wife, former East German Olympic shot putter and discus thrower Brigitte Bernendonk, Franke was able to assemble documents that described the use of anabolic steroids as part of a state-sponsored plan launched in 1974, although doping in East Germany had been going on in the 1960s.

Franke and Benendonk’s 1991 book, Doping Dokumente: Von der Forschung zum Betrug, made the documentation public and exposed the now-infamous program. Franke was a long-time professor of cell and molecular biology at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.

● Taekwondo ● The long-running appeal by U.S. star Steven Lopez – two time Olympic gold medalist in 2000 (68 kg) and 2004 (80 kg), now 44 – and brother and coach, Jean Lopez over a ban by World Taekwondo, was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The decision restored the standing of both Lopez brothers immediately. They were declared permanently ineligible by the U.S. Center for SafeSport in September 2018 for sexual abuse, but that finding was overturned in early 2019. World Taekwondo subsequently imposed its own sanctions, and the Lopezes appealed. According to the Court:

“[I]in the absence of any relevant applicable disciplinary or ethics rules implemented or published by WT at the time of the alleged violations, the CAS Panel was not in a position to sanction the appellants, even if the Panel was to assume that they had committed an infraction.

“Indeed, the Panel observed that WT charged the appellants based on its 2011 Code of Ethics, which entered into force on 15 September 2011, but that all relevant incidents for which the appellants were charged allegedly occurred before 15 September 2011 and were therefore not sanctionable on the basis of the 2011 Code of Ethics.”

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

VOX POPULI: The Cup is full

Jean-Loup Chappelet

December 7, 2022

Happy to share a guest opinion from Jean-Loup Chappelet (SUI), Professor of Public Management at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) of the University of Lausanne. His opinions, of course, are his own.

The men’s football World Cup is now underway in Qatar. Beyond the fundamental issues of environmental sustainability and the human rights of residents and visitors (e.g. construction workers, LGBTQ+ people,), it once again raises the question of why stage risky and extremely costly mega sports events if public opinion is likely to vilify the host country, a risk that is particularly great when that country has an autocratic government.

There is of course the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but here the criticism (from participating teams, from cities refusing to set up fan zones, and from the media) was so overwhelming that FIFA found it necessary to ask people to concentrate on the football. Even the Emir of Qatar, with the help of paid social media, intervened to insist on the Middle East being allowed the right to host major events (whatever they cost). In fact, for the last 20 years this tiny country (smaller than New Jersey) has had a policy of attracting and staging major sport events at
the cost of millions and to the joy of sport federations that were struggling to find hosts for their championships. This policy has resulted in Qatar being attributed numerous world championships, including triathlon (2006), volleyball (2011), squash (2012), swimming (2014), handball (2015), fencing (2017), gymnastics (2018), and athletics (2019), as well as the Asian Games (2006 and 2030). The 2022 World Cup — attributed 12 years ago — crowns an unequalled series that lacks only the
Summer Olympic Games (despite two bids).

Saudi Arabia has recently adopted a similar policy and should host the 2034 Asian Games and the 2029 Asian Winter Games (!). Other cities (Chicago), regions (Scotland), and countries (Denmark) introduced policies based on hosting sports events many years ago, but they are increasingly focusing their efforts on more reasonable events that can be staged using existing facilities, as the IOC now recommends for the Olympic Games. Recurring events are another prized target because they enable areas to build expertise and because they can gradually turn into heritage events (e.g., the Boston Marathon and U.S. Open).

Sports events need to become more sustainable, that is, they must provide economic and social benefits while reducing their environmental impact. A sports event’s largest environmental impact is caused by travel, as participants and spectators often come from far afield and they often travel by plane, due to the lack of alternatives (see the 2022 U.N. Climate Change Conference: COP 27). In fact, the best event from an environmental point of view would be one that did not happen. Therefore, to continue bringing people together for sports events, they must fulfil two requirements: They must do everything possible to reduce or compensate for the impacts of transportation, waste, energy production, etc., and they must ensure economic and social impacts benefit the largest possible number of host area residents and not just a few “winners” such as the tourism sector. They must also have positive social impacts, such as promoting volunteerism and creating other intangible legacies. These are the criteria against which future sports events will be judged and accepted or rejected.

Will football once again work its magic during the coming days? Will it make people forget the economic, social, and environmental aberrations of the 2022 World Cup? It is by no means certain. It could, on the other hand, mark a salutary turning point in the much-needed debate on public policies to attract large-scale events owned by private sport organizations.

[≡The Sports Examiner encourages expressions of opinion – we really do – but preferably based on facts. Comments may be sent to [email protected] We do not guarantee publication of any comment, but all comments submitted will be considered and your submission implies your agreement to publication (and light editing if needed to meet our grammatical and punctuation standards) at our sole discretion. Please include your name and hometown on any comment submitted for publication.≡]

TSX REPORT: Morocco stuns Spain and Portugal routs Swiss in Qatar; IOC says boxing federation still failing, and no 2030 Winter Games election in 2023!

Rich Perelman

December 7, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get TheSports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Morocco makes history for Africa and Arabs in Qatar
2. No 2030 Winter Games award in 2023 as IOC evaluates climate impact
3. IOC slams IBA as still unfit to manage Olympic boxing
4. Paris 2024 budget now to be €4.38 billion, but revenues are also up
5. Heptathlete Taliyah Brooks files suit vs. USATF to invalidate waivers

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar had some history on the field as Morocco defeated Spain on penalty kicks (3-0) after a 0-0, making it the first Arab country to make it to the quarterfinals and only the fourth African team in history. Portugal routed Switzerland, 6-1, with Goncalo Ramos, 21, getting the first hat tricks of the tournament. At the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board meeting, it was decided that the 2030 Winter Games host would not be decided in 2023 and a completely new approach to the event – possibly including rotating host cities – will be considered for the future. The IOC also sent a letter to the International Boxing Association that its reforms are far short of what the IOC has asked for and the federation, at present, will not be involved in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Boxing, as a sport, might be. Details of a 10% increase in the Paris 2024 budget were revealed, including the impact of inflation and more money coming in than planned in sponsorships and tickets. The 2024 Games is now expected to cost the organizing committee €4.38 billion (about $4.59 billion U.S.), which does not include construction costs being borne by the French government. U.S. heptathlete Taliyah Brooks, who did not finish at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene die to the high heat, has filed suit against USA Track & Field to invalidate its waiver of liability, in order to be able to sue the federation for damages. This is going to take a while, but has the potential to re-shape the events industry in the U.S.

1.
Morocco makes history for Africa and Arabs in Qatar

Finally, a historic breakthrough on the field, and at the first FIFA World Cup to be held in an Arab country, an Arab team has progressed to the quarterfinals.

Despite having only 23% of possession during the game, Morocco held Spain scoreless over 120 minutes and then won the penalty shoot-out by 3-0 as the first Spanish penalty hit the post and two were saved by keeper Yassine Bounou.

Morocco is only the fourth African team to make it to the quarters, beginning with Cameroon back in 1990, then Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010. And it is the first Arab country to make it this far, a sporting legacy to go with the geopolitical ramifications of the World Cup being played in Qatar.

In the second match, Portugal’s superstar scorer Cristiano Ronaldo was benched in favor of 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos – playing in his fourth international match – who scored the first hat trick of the 2022 tournament, with electrifying goals in the 17th, 51st and 67th minutes en route to a 6-1 win over Switzerland.

Portugal is into the quarters for the first time since 2006 and the third time ever (also in 1966). Their attacking style will be a considerable contrast to Spain.

So, the quarterfinals will have five European teams – down from seven in 2018 – two from South America in Argentina and Brazil, and Morocco.

After 13 days of group-stage play and four more days of elimination matches, the World Cup finally takes a breather for two days, with the quarters coming on Friday and Saturday (records reflect penalty-kick victories as wins):

● 09 Dec.: Croatia (2-0-2 W-L-T: goals 5-2) vs. Brazil (3-1: goals 7-2)
● 09 Dec.: Netherlands (3-0-1; goals 8-2) vs. Argentina (3-1; goals 7-3)

● 10 Dec.: Morocco (3-0-1; goals 4-1) vs. Portugal (3-1; goals 12-5)
● 10 Dec.: England (3-0-1; goals 12-2) vs. France (3-1; goals 9-4)

The semifinals will be played on the 13th and 14th and the final on 18 December.

2.
No 2030 Winter Games award in 2023
as IOC evaluates climate impact

The much-anticipated report of the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games to the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board did not focus on the selection of a host for 2030 Games, but about climate change.

And now, everything appears to be up for grabs:

● The selection of a 2030 host will not be decided in 2023, but perhaps in 2024. For now, there is no timetable;

● Considerable concern over “climate reliability” and the availability of actual snow for biathlon, skiing and snowboard events at a narrowing number of potential hosts;

● “[A] proposal that hosts would need to show average minimum temperatures of below zero degrees [C, or 32 F] for snow competition venues at the time of the Games over a 10-year period”;

● “The idea of rotating the Olympic Winter Games within a pool of hosts”;

● A possible requirement that, according to IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi (SUI), that “for the future, we should aim to target a host that can display all venues to be existing, or temporary” that would apply at least to the outdoor biathlon, skiing and snowboard events.

So the Future Host Commission was asked for further study and a return report to the Executive Board.

After prior explicit declarations to the contrary, “[t]here was also a discussion about a double award for 2030 and 2034, to create stability for winter sports and the Olympic Winter Games. No conclusion was reached, since this needs more exploration.”

Does this mean new bidders could come in now? Yes.

Observed: That the 2030 host will not be selected in 2023 could create chaos in the bidding process. Perhaps Spain will come back in. Will Vancouver get a new look from the Province of British Columbia?

Will the expanding bribery and rigged-bid scandal at the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee impact public support for Sapporo’s bid? Will its budget continue to increase?

For Salt Lake City, the situation is more subtle. It already has all existing venues, so that won’t change. A selection in 2024 would cut one year of staff and office costs from its ledger, which will help. It will give the LA28 folks another year of a clear field for its marketing efforts, but also gives a potential Salt Lake City 2030 Games less time to find domestic sponsorship opportunities.

One advantage that Salt Lake City can press is its continuing parade of national and international winter-sport events and athlete training programs being held at the Utah Olympic Park, the Olympic Oval and elsewhere. That’s the kind of expertise which cannot be duplicated and with a shorter run-up to a 2030 Games, could be the decisive card in a “safe hands” play to ensure the Winter Games is well cared for into the next decade.

As with Brisbane for the 2032 Olympic Games, stability is looking better and better as an attraction for the IOC, and could place Salt Lake City in a permanent rotation!

3.
IOC slams IBA as still unfit to manage Olympic boxing

One day after a demonstration was mounted in front of Olympic House in Lausanne by former pro boxing champ Roy Jones, Jr. and about 100 friends to lobby for boxing to be reinstated for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the International Boxing Association as the worldwide governing body, the IOC Executive Board said they aren’t interested.

The Executive Board sent a letter to the IBA, all National Olympic Committees and all national boxing federations that included:

“The IOC has been monitoring the activities of the International Boxing Association (IBA) for several years now and is periodically considering whether the suspension of its recognition by the IOC could be lifted. The issue is not about the sport of boxing or boxers, but IBA and its practices and activities. While some indications concerning the reorganisation of the administration of boxing were received, there are multiple signals that the drastic change of culture requested by the IOC in order to lift the suspension of IBA’s recognition has not been implemented. As a result, the IOC is not in a position today to reverse its stance with regard to the suspension of IBA’s recognition.”

And specifically about 2028, the letter stated:

“If a decision had to be taken today regarding the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, the IOC EB would not be able to recommend the IOC Session to include boxing in the sports programme under the authority of the IBA as IBA has not demonstrated that it has successfully addressed the ongoing concerns around its governance, its financial transparency and sustainability and the integrity of its refereeing and judging processes.”

It’s important to note the two references to the IOC’s issues with the IBA and not boxing or boxers. The IOC successfully managed the boxing qualifications and Olympic tournament in Tokyo, and is ready to do so again for Paris in 2024. But with the IBA? No.

As further proof, the Executive Board also approved the qualification process for Paris 2024, relying on the continental multi-sport games in 2023 – Asian Games, European Games, Pan-American Games, Pacific Games and a tournament to be determined in Africa – and two world qualification tournaments in 2024. The idea is to give boxers potentially three chances to qualify.

The IBA, for its part, is holding a Global Boxing Forum this weekend in Abi Dhabi (UAE), to decide its next steps.

4.
Paris 2024 budget now to be €4.38 billion,
but revenues are also up

The FrancsJeux.com site outlined the specifics of the revision of the Paris 2024 budget to be confirmed by its Board next Monday (12th). The current edition shows €3.9 billion (~$4.08 billion U.S. today), rising to €4.38 billion (~$4.59 billion U.S.) thanks to inflation, supply-chain issues and revisions to the Games plan.

The specific inflation impact is forecast at €196 million, but the other €242 million added on are simply added costs.

However, revenues are also, happily, rising. Domestic sponsorships, long targeted at €1.1 billion, are projected to include €127 million more (so €1.227 billion in total), with about 10 more partners to be signed.

The ticketing and hospitality forecast of €1.165 billion is also being increased by €143 million (to €1.308 billion) by increasing prices on some of the high-demand sessions and making more tickets available by reducing seats reserved for officials and press.

Public funding from state and local sources is also being increased by €111 million, mostly for support of the Paralympic Games (from €100 to €171 million), plus €12 million for sports equipment that will also be used after the Games, €8 million for the anti-doping lab and €5 million for transportation support.

A major savings was made by eliminating free public transport for ticket holders, which has been widely available in the past. But it saves €45 million! And old traditions like opening the Olympic Village two weeks prior to the Games are being shelved, now to open on 18 July, with the Opening Ceremony on 26 July. Training sites will open just seven days ahead of the start of each sport. And so on.

5.
Heptathlete Taliyah Brooks files suit vs. USATF to invalidate waivers

A complaint filed on 29 November in the Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis is challenging the validity of waivers used to shield sports event operators – and many others – from liability, and if successful, could pose a serious legal liability challenge to events across the United States. Filed by Indianapolis-based Kroger, Gardis & Regas, it begins:

“Plaintiff, Taliyah Brooks, by counsel, brings this Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against Defendant USA Track & Field, Inc. (“USA Track & Field,” “USATF” or “Defendant”), seeking (1) a declaratory judgment that a purported waiver, release, assumption of risk and indemnity agreement (the “Alleged Indemnity Agreement” or “AIA”) which, if enforceable, would prevent her from suing for damages suffered at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Time Trials in Eugene, Oregon in June, 2021 (the “U.S. Olympic Trials” or the “Olympic Trials”), is unenforceable as a matter of law and equity and (2) an injunction preventing USATF from enforcing the AIA against Taliyah Brooks.”

Brooks, now 27, won the 2021 Texas Relays heptathlon in March with a lifetime best of 6,252 points and stood third on the U.S. performer list going into the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. In Eugene, temperatures soared, but Brooks was in fourth place after the long jump at 4,908, just 11 back of Erica Bougard in third – and a potential Olympic berth – with the javelin and 800 m left.

The complaint states that temperatures in Eugene on the first day of the heptathlon reached 103 degrees (F) and were forecast to reach 108 F on the second day, and although there were requests for a change in schedule due to the heat, none were made to the heptathlon (although some other events were re-scheduled).

Brooks took one practice throw in the javelin and collapsed, but got up. Then, according to the complaint:

“Next, Taliyah attempted to walk towards the stands. As she crossed the track, Brooks collapsed a second time, falling to the track, where she remained, unconscious, motionless and unattended, her fall unbroken.

“Eventually, Taliyah was reached by a credentialed individual who is not believed to be a physician and accompanied by a few other individuals who stood by with no medical equipment, no ice or cooling devices, no stretcher or wheelchair, and nothing to insulate Taliyah from the extreme heat of the track surface. Taliyah lay unconscious on the hot track while a worker radioed for assistance.”

She was eventually placed in a wheelchair and escorted off the track, unconscious; “After Taliyah was taken off the track it is believed that she was eventually immersed in water to reduce her core temperature and she regained consciousness.”

The essence of the complaint is that “at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials USATF failed and breached its duty in relation to virtually every single health and safety related duty listed above that it owed and had assumed towards Taliyah Brooks and her fellow competitors in the two-day women’s heptathlon event.”

However, USATF’s insurer has pointed to a mandatory waiver of rights, a legal tool which has been widely used for decades to shield event producers from liability. There is apparently no evidence that Brooks actually signed the waiver, but the complaint is asking to have the waiver itself declared illegal for a variety of reasons and:

“Taliyah Brooks is entitled to a declaratory judgment that the AIA and any and all exculpatory provisions sought to be enforced against her through any documents or alleged agreements tendered by USATF are unenforceable and Taliyah Brooks is entitled to an injunction enjoining the enforcement of any and all such exculpatory provisions.”

The request is directly to the Court to invalidate the waiver (permanently) so that Brooks can sue USATF (and perhaps others) for damages. If she is successful – and this may take years – it will change the way events of all kinds are staged in the U.S. and could keep some programs for even taking place. For that reason, it’s an important case to follow.

Brooks competed in only one heptathlon in 2022, the USATF Nationals in Fayetteville, Arkansas on 6-7 May and finished ninth at 4,291.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Morocco 0, Spain 0 (Morocco wins on penalty kicks, 3-0) ● Spain’s possession strategy failed on Tuesday, as it held the ball for 77% of the game – including extra time – against Morocco, but was sent home after having all three of its penalty kicks hit the post or saved.

The victory for Morocco sends it to the quarterfinals for the first time ever and is the first African quarterfinalist since Ghana in 2010 (and the fourth ever). It is the first Arab country to reach the World Cup quarters and was wildly cheered on by a huge majority of fans in the Education City Stadium.

The game was Spain in possession and Morocco looking for counterattacks, which were few and far between. Both sides managed just one shot on goal in the first half (Spain had a 7-4 edge on total shots) and after 120 minutes, Spain had 13 total shots to six.

Forward Walid Cheddira had a chance close to the Spanish goal in the 86th, but Spanish keeper Unai Simon was able to corral the shot. Morocco keeper Yassine Bounou saved a possible goal off a free kick by Spanish defender Rodri at 90+4 and Simon saved a point-blank challenge from Cheddira in the 104th.

But it went to penalty kicks and after Pablo Sarabia’s first shot hit the post, Bounou saved the next two from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets. Meanwhile, Morocco converted its first two, Simon saved the third and Achraf Hakimi scored with a shot to the center of the goal to give Morocco the win and some history in Qatar.

The Spanish have now lost Round-of-16 games in back-to-back World Cups and have not won one since 2010, when they won the tournament.

● Portugal 6, Switzerland 1 ● The first surprise came when Portugal announced that superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo would not start, with 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos in his place, for just his fourth appearance with the national team.

No problem, as Ramos turned on forward Joao Felix’s pass into the left side of the box and sent a sudden, left-footed rocket into the Swiss goal, just inside the left post, in the 17th for a 1-0 lead.

Portugal continued to threaten and then the 39-year-old defender Pepe headed an in-swinging corner from Bruno Fernandes into the goal, flying it past Swiss keeper Yann Sommer in the 33rd.

The Swiss almost scored in the 38th, after Portugal keeper Diogo Costa made a save, but the ball fell to Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler for a header – with Costa out of position – that was cleared by defender Diogo Dalot. Five minutes later, Ramos was on a breakaway for Portugal, but Sommer was able to save his shot across the goal with his left hand. Portugal had 53% of possession in the half and a 6-4 edge on shots.

More Portuguese pressure in the second half to a third goal in the 51st, thanks to a perfect cross from the right side from Dalot right to the near post to a running Ramos, who tapped it past Sommer for his second score and a 3-0 lead that broke the back of the Swiss.

Now the rout was on, as defender Rafael Guerreiro took a Ramos lead pass, dribbled down the left-hand side and scored on a rifle shot into the far right corner in the 55th, now 4-0. The Swiss got one back in the 58th, off a corner that bounced off of Ramos’ head, then fell to the far post and defender Manuel Akanji left-footed it into the goal for 4-1.

Ramos came back with another goal – the hat trick – in the 67th, taking a pass from Felix from the top of the box that put him one-on-one on goal and he chipped it in for 5-1. At 90+3, substitute striker Rafael Leao scored his second of the tournament from the left side of the box on a right-footed rainbow into the right side of the goal for the 6-1 final.

Portugal had only 52% of the possession and a 14-10 edge on shots, but 9-3 on goal. Wow.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● International Olympic Committee ● The 11th “Olympic Summit” is being held on Sunday (11th), bringing together – in-person and online – some of the leaders of the Olympic Movement, including National Olympic Committees, International Federations, associations and more.

On the list for 2022 is Russia’s National Olympic Committee President, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, a controversial selection given the continuing war in Ukraine, but in line with the IOC policy that the only people to be punished should be government officials.

He will attend, along with Chinese NOC chief Zhidan Gao and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee outgoing Board Chair Susanne Lyons and incoming Chair Gene Sykes.

● National Olympic Committees ● The IOC Executive Board continued the suspension of the Guatemalan NOC in view of government interference issues that have not been resolved.

The North Korean NOC has been on suspension since 2021 because it did not send a team to the Tokyo 2020 Games. That will be lifted as of the end of this year.

For Afghanistan, the situation is critical, and the Executive Board “expressed its serious concern and strongly condemned the latest restrictions imposed by the Afghan authorities on women and young girls in Afghanistan, which prevent them from practising sport in the country.

“Despite the repeated commitments from the Afghan NOC and sports authorities to ensure full compliance with the Olympic Charter and the Fundamental Principle of non-discrimination, and to send mixed teams to international sports competitions, in particular the Olympic Games Paris 2024, the latest developments prompted the IOC EB to urge the relevant authorities in Afghanistan, including the Afghan NOC and the Afghan Directorate of Physical Education & Sports, to take immediate action at the highest level to reverse such restrictions and ensure safe access to sport for women and young girls in the country.”

If the situation does not improve, the Executive Board agreed to consider banning the country from future Games, but will continue to support individual Afghan athletes through the Olympic Solidarity program.

On Monday, the Human Rights Watch organization urged the IOC to suspend the Afghanistan NOC “until women and girls can once again play sport in the country.”

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The U.S. Olympic Endowment, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s investment arm formed from the surplus from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, announced its 2022 award winners on Monday, to be presented on 16 December in New York:

● Six-time Olympic fencer and 1984 Sabre bronze medalist Peter Westbrook, 70, to receive the George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award, as a contributor who has displayed qualities of leadership, ethical conduct, and dedicated responsibility during a longstanding commitment to sport.

● U.S. Junior Pairs champion Paul George, the head of the U.S. Figure Skating Foundation and contributor to many others, for the William E. Simon Award, “given to an individual or group who has made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of the Olympic and Paralympic movements.”

● Three-time Team Handball Olympian Cindy Stinger, a longtime USOPC executive and current manager of the U.S. Olympians & Paralympians Alumni Association, will be the honoree of the General Douglas MacArthur Award, given “to an individual who has exhibited exemplary service to the USOPC and to athletes.”

● Cycling ● The 2022 UCI Track Champions League concluded in London (GBR) on Sunday, with Sprint and Endurance winners decided, including Jennifer Valente of the U.S.

The men’s Sprint title went to Australian Matthew Richardson, the 2022 World Sprint silver medalist, scoring 183 points (in Sprint and Keirin races) across five stops to edge Olympic champ Harrie Lavreysen (NED: 181) and Stefan Botticher (GER: 136).

The men’s Endurance program had Scratch and Elimination races across five rounds, with Claudio Imhof (SUI) and Sebastian Mora Vedri (ESP) both scoring 125 points, but Imhof winning on a better finish in the final (Elimination) race.

France’s 2022 World Sprint gold medalist Mathilde Gros won the women’s Sprint (& Keirin) class, piling up 140 points vs. 127 for Canada’s Tokyo Olympic Sprint champ Kelsey Mitchell and 122 for Olympic Keirin winner Shanne Braspennincx (NED: 122).

Valente, the Tokyo Olympic Omnium gold medalist, edged Britain’s two-time Omnium World champion Katie Archibald, 161-158 in the Endurance division, with fellow American Lily Williams fifth (95).

● Rowing ● The World Rowing Awards were announced on Sunday, with France’s Double Sculls World Champions Matthieu Androdias and Hugo Boucheron taking the Men’s Crew of the Year, and the unbeatable – Olympic and World Champions – Romanian Double Sculls team of Simona Radis and Ancuta Bodnar named the Women’s Crew of the Year.

The Thomas Keller Medal, named for the famed longtime head of World Rowing, was given to New Zealand icon Mahe Drysdale, the Olympic gold medalist in the men’s Single Sculls in 2008 and 2012 and bronze medalist in 2016.

● Shooting ● While much recent attention was given to the closely-contested election for the ISSF Presidency, the ISSF President’s Cup competition was taking place in Cairo (EGY) and concluded on 4 December.

Serbia’s Tokyo Olympic runner-up Damir Mikec defeated German star Christian Reitz in the men’s 10 m Air Pistol, 17-9, and Olympic champ Jean Quiquampoix (FRA) won the 25 m Rapid-Fire Pistol over Rio 2016 champ Reitz, 35-34. India’s Rudrankksh Patil won the 10 m Air Rifle title over Danilo Sollazzo (ITA), 16-8, with the 50 m Rifle/3 Positions win going to Petr Nymbursky (CZE).

France’s Camille Jedrzejewski defeated 2010 World Champion Zorana Arunovic (SRB) in the women’s 10 m Air Pistol final, 16-12, and Germany’s 2022 European Champion Doreen Vennekamp out-scored Jedrzejewski, 31-27, in the 25 m Pistol final. French star Oceane Muller won the 10 m Air Rifle final over Lucie Brazdova (CZE), 16-10, and Germany’s Anna Jansen won the 50 m Rifle/3 Positions in a tight match with Anjum Moudgil (IND), 16-14.

The Shotgun titles went to Tokyo Olympic runner-up Jesper Hansen (DEN) in men’s Skeet, Croatia’s Rio 2016 gold medalist Josip Glasnovic in Trap (over the U.S.’s 2022 World Champion Derrick Mein, 6-4), 2018World Champion Caitlin Connor of the U.S. in women’s Skeet and Italian Jessica Rossi, the 2012 Olympic champ, in women’s Trap.

● Weightlifting ● The 2022 IWF World Championships are underway in Bogota (COL), with Thai star Thanyathon Sukcharoen winning her second straight title in the women’s 45 kg division, listing a combined total of 182 kg. Teammate Chayuttra Pramongkhol won silver (180 kg) and Colombia’s Manuela Berrio took the bronze (170 kg). The championships continue through the 16th.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Brazil stomps Korea, 4-1 and Croatia penalty-kicks Japan; IOC could invite more than one 2030 Winter bidder to “targeted dialogue”

Rich Perelman

December 6, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1205 iba demo at IOC HQ 750 (iba) — Former pro boxing champ Roy Jones Jr. leading a demonstration to retain boxing on the 2028 Olympic program in front of the IOC headquarters on Monday (Photo: International Boxing Association)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Enjoying our coverage? If so, please consider a donation to help cover technical costs for 2023. Thank you for your support. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Brazil looks like Brazil in 4-1 romp while Croatia wins on penalties
2. U.S. vs. Netherlands draws 16.55 million viewers combined
3. IOC could invite more than one bidder for “targeted dialogue” for 2030
4. Roy Jones, Jr. leads demonstration for boxing’s 2028 inclusion
5. Int’l Testing Agency closes London 2012 re-tests, adding 73 positives.

The FIFA World Cup completed its third day of four in the Round of 16, with Brazil looking unstoppable in a 4-1 win over South Korea and Croatia edging Japan on penalty kicks (3-1) after a 1-1 tie. FIFA’s disciplinary group opened an inquiry into possible sanctions for the Uruguayan federation and four of its players after they accosted match officials at the conclusion of their final group-stage match against Ghana. The U.S. men’s team loss to the Netherlands on Saturday drew an American audience – in English and Spanish combined – of 16.55 million on FOX and Telemundo, second only to the U.S.-England match. The International Olympic Committee’s staff director for the Olympic Games said that more than one bidder for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games could be invited to the “targeted dialogue” phase, a departure from the process used for the selection of 2032 Olympic host Brisbane. A group of 100-plus demonstrators assembled in front of the IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Monday, led by former pro boxing champion Roy Jones, Jr., to urge inclusion of boxing in the 2028 Olympic program in Los Angeles; the International Boxing Association made no claim of responsibility for the event. The International Testing Agency announced the closure of its re-testing of samples from the London 2012 Olympic Games, in which 73 positives were uncovered and 31 medals withdrawn, the most of any Olympic Games in history.

1.
Brazil looks like Brazil in 4-1 romp while Croatia wins on penalties

The FIFA World Cup Round-of-16 matches on Monday saw the exit of the last Asian teams in the tournament, as Japan lost on penalty kicks vs. Croatia and Brazil out-classed South Korea, 4-1.

The results give Europe at least five of the quarterfinalists with a possible sixth available on Tuesday as Portugal plays a surprising and skilled Morocco team. The final Round-of-16 match will be an all-European affair between Portugal and Switzerland.

South America has two of the final eight, with Argentina and Brazil qualifying decisively, with the Brazilians looking brilliant in a 4-0 first-half display, then settling for a 4-1 final.

Friday’s quarterfinals are now set, with the Netherlands facing Argentina and Croatia vs. Brazil. England will play France in one quarterfinal on Saturday. The semifinals will be on 13-14 December and the championship match on the 18th (Sunday).

The FIFA disciplinary folks are busy, informing the Uruguayan Football Association that it and four of its players are being investigated for violations of FIFA’s fair-play rules.

At the conclusion of the final group-stage match between Uruguay and Ghana – won by Uruguay, 2-0, but insufficient to advance them to the elimination rounds, referee Daniel Siebert (GER) was hounded by Uruguayan players furious that a penalty was not awarded for a Ghanian foul late in the match.

The behavior of defender Jose Gimenez, striker Edinson Cavani, keeper Fernando Muslera and defender Diego Godin is being reviewed, especially for surrounding Siebert and the assistant referees as they walked off the field.

Further, the Uruguayan federation will be subject to sanction relating to FIFA Disciplinary Code Article 11 (offensive behavior and violation of the principles of fair play), Article 12 (improper conduct of players and officials) and Article 13 (discrimination). The actions of the four players will be reviewed for violations of Articles 11 and 12.

It was also reported that FIFA is reviewing Serbian behavior relating to “incidents” in its 3-2 loss to the Swiss in the final Group G game. The specifics were not, as usual, specified, but in-match announcements asked fans to “stop all discriminatory chants and gestures.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) promised that the organization would work to continue the labor reforms achieved in Qatar and met with International Labor Organisation Director-General Gilbert Houngbo (TOG) on Sunday. Said Infantino:

“We have been engaging with the ILO for a number of years and we want to make sure our fruitful cooperation will continue in the future. The strengthening of the relation of FIFA and the ILO is also part of the legacy of the FIFA World Cup 2022, namely via the Legacy Fund that we will create, and which will be dedicated to workers throughout the world.”

A Memorandum of Understanding between FIFA and the ILO is anticipated, setting out the nature of their cooperation going forward.

2.
U.S. vs. Netherlands draws 16.55 million viewers combined

Strong viewing of the Round-of-16 match between the U.S. Men’s National Team and the Dutch on Saturday at 10 a.m. Eastern time, with 16.55 million watching in either English or Spanish, on television on streaming:

● FOX reported 12.966 million watching or streaming in English, including 596,850 (4.6%) on its streaming services.

● Telemundo’s Spanish-language coverage of the game drew a total audience of 3.58 million.

The total of 16.546 million is the second-most for a U.S. match at this World Cup:

1. 20.091 million on 25 Nov.: U.S. vs. England
2. 16.546 million on 03 Dec.: U.S. vs. Netherlands
3. 15.513 million on 29 Nov.: U.S. vs. Iran
4. 11.161 million on 21 Nov.: U.S. vs. Wales

The top U.S. markets for FOX were Cincinnati, St. Louis, Washington, D.C.. Kansas City and Austin. More information on how the U.S. men’s game stacked up against other weekend sports offerings will be available later in the week.

The Associated Press reported that the in-person attendance for Saturday’s Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase game at London’s O2 Arena between Michigan and Kentucky – won by Kentucky, 73-69, with a Maine-Marist game held earlier – was held down due to a timing clash with England playing Senegal in the Round of 16.

John Doleva, President of the Basketball Hall of Fame said “Two years ago, we were supposed to be here” – but had to postpone due to the pandemic – “and now the World Cup. We’ve certainly had our hurdles.”

Michigan coach Juwan Howard said, “I’m sure a lot of folks were at home or in pubs watching the football match. Overall, it would have been great if we had could have had more fans.”

Not when England is playing!

3.
IOC could invite more than one bidder for “targeted dialogue” for 2030

The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Director for the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi (SUI) threw a curveball into the selection process for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games, being sought by Sapporo, Salt Lake City and Vancouver, during a Monday news conference after the first day of the IOC’s Executive Board meeting:

“You can have more than one [bid] starting with the targeted dialogue, you can then have different options going into the Session. This process is really designed for the parties to look into the projects, into minute details every step of the way.”

This would be a change from the process used for the 2023 Olympic Games, where Brisbane (AUS) was the only bidder asked to essentially work with the IOC to complete a Host City Agreement and be named as the host. Dubi continued:

“The targeted dialogue, between now and then, mostly it’s about the guarantees, and you know, sometimes, the guarantees prove extremely hard to assemble, in which case it can be one of the city deciding that they don’t wish to continue, or it can be, indeed, a decision by the IOC as well prior to a submission to the Session.

“So here, really, everything is open, but it is indeed an option to have more than one going into targeted dialogue and then once it’s unfolding, the result is then a proposal from the [Executive Board] to the Session.”

This is a reference to Vancouver’s situation, in which the Province of British Columbia – and therefore, the federal government – have declined to provide support for the Games project. More details were not available, since the Future Hosts Commission will be reporting on Tuesday about its view of the current situation.

But it opens the possibility for Sapporo and Salt Lake City to both be asked for further work, and even the option of a competitive vote in the 2023 Session next fall in India.

Dubi was also positive about the Paris 2024 update given on Monday, saying “It was a very solid report from Paris today that we heard.”

He further noted that the budget exercise for Paris continues to look for savings, including tweaking the dates of venue availability for training. The organizing committee’s projected revenue totals appear to be moving higher than projected, which will allow for some flexibility.

The final struggle over venues appears to also be over, with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) giving provisional approval to the use of the multi-use Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille for preliminary matches, subject to further engineering on climate controls.

4.
Roy Jones, Jr. leads demonstration for boxing’s 2028 inclusion

Continuing a strategy to play offense rather than defend, Seoul 1988 Olympic Light Middleweight silver medalist Roy Jones, Jr. organized a demonstration in front of the IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Monday to urge the IOC to include boxing in the 2028 Olympic program.

Jones, a dual American and Russian citizen, circulated an announcement on the rally, which included:

“A peaceful demonstration under the motto ‘No Olympics without boxing, No boxing without IBA’ took place today in Lausanne. The powerful crowd led by Roy Jones Jr was chanting in front of the Maison Olympique.

“More than 100 boxers and coaches from six countries took part in the demonstration. In addition to Switzerland and neighbouring Germany and France, Poland, Malta and Israel came to Lausanne to support the sport of boxing.”

Jones said, “I addressed the IOC in my [October] letter, but received no reply. Then I came to their doors and I knocked. I’ll do whatever it takes as my next steps to be heard. Boxing should remain at the Olympics, and I’ll do everything for it. It’s high time we stopped injustice.”

The International Boxing Association claimed no relationship to the event, saying in a post, “The International Boxing Association (IBA) acknowledges and gives its appreciation to the boxers and coaches from six countries who took part in a peaceful demonstration in front of the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne.”

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said during the news conference:

“Yes, there was a demonstration today outside, by supporters of IBA. And we heard their concerns; we had a team [that] went down; in fact, I think they were even invited into the offices and we had a discussion, a very constructive discussion, we heard what they had to say.”

The Executive Board did not discuss the situation of current 2028 outsiders boxing, modern pentathlon and weightlifting on Monday, but is scheduled to do so later.

5.
Int’l Testing Agency closes London 2012 re-tests, adding 73 positives

At the close of the London 2012 Olympic Games, a modest total of nine anti-doping violations had been registered. In the 10 years since, however, a comprehensive re-test program conducted by the International Testing Agency found 73 additional violations for a total of 82, the most ever in a single Olympic Games.

On Monday, the ITA announced:

“The ITA has now finalised the re-analysis program for London 2012, the most comprehensive of its kind for an edition of the Olympic Games. Ensuring that the program was led efficiently and intelligently, samples were selected according to an extensive risk assessment that considered a variety of determinants, including the physiology of the respective sports, individual factors pertaining to athletes as well as country risk levels and any accessible information stemming from investigations. Based on these risk criteria, a total number of 2’727 samples were re-analysed.”

The 73 additional positives led to the “withdrawal” of 31 medals won by dopers (8-14-9) in weightlifting (18), athletics (10), wrestling (2) and canoeing (1). The changes in results caused the re-allocation of 46 medals (8-16-22), in the same four sports. Beyond these sports, there were also single additional doping violations in cycling, rowing, swimming and volleyball.

The countries implicated in the added doping positives included Russia (21), Belarus (11), Ukraine (7), Kazakhstan and Turkey (5), Romania (4), Armenia and Azerbaijan (3), Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova and Uzbekistan (2 each) and one each for Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia. Of the added 73 positives, 58 were from former republics of the USSR.

Interestingly, in the re-analysis program, the most-tested athlete samples came from the U.S., with 230 (no positives), followed by Russia (216), Great Britain (174; no positives), China (155; no positives) and Australia (122; no positives),

The most re-tested sports were athletics (540), aquatics (483) and cycling (170). Weightlifting produced a staggering 36 positives in 135 re-tests!

The ITA is now focused on re-tests from the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, and will then move on to Rio 2016 re-tests.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Croatia 1, Japan 1 (Croatia wins on penalties, 3-1) ● Japan had come from behind in both of its group-stage wins, but flipped the script this time by going up, 1-0, in the 43rd minute on Monday. Forward Ritsu Doan sent a long pass from the right side into the box, where it was volleyed off the head of defender Maya Yoshida, then off defender Josko Gvardiol and landed at the feet of Daizen Maeda, who scored with the left foot past Croatian keeper Dominik Livakovic.

But the game was tied in the second half, as defender Dejan Lovren sent a long cross from the right side of the field to the middle of the box, where it was headed – with authority – by forward Ivan Perisic into the far right corner of the goal for a 1-1 tie in the 55th.

Both teams had chances, but the game became more and more static as extra time approached. And in the extra 30 minutes, there were only a couple of meaningful chances, and the game went to penalties. Croatia ended with 58% possession and up 17-13 on shots.

Croatia, which won its Round of 16 and quarterfinal games at the 2018 World Cup on penalties, was more than ready, as Livakovic saved the first penalty try from forward Takumi Minamino, and the second from midfielder Kaoru Mitoma, both low shots that he could get to with his body. Meanwhile, midfielder Nikola Vlasic and midfielder Marcelo Brozovic both scored for a 2-0 advantage. Striker Takuma Asano scored on Japan’s third try and sub strriker Marko Livaja missed, but another Livakovic save on another low ball from Yoshida allowed sub forward Mario Pasalic to end it and he did, for a 3-1 win on penalties.

Of the four Croatian penalty takers, three were substitutes. On to the quarters. Japan failed, for the fourth time, to advance beyond the Round of 16.

● Brazil 4, South Korea 1 ● The favored Brazilians only scored three goals in their three group-stage matches, but they were on fire from the start against the Koreans.

The first strike came in the seventh minute, as Raphinia crossed from the right endline through the middle – past two Brazilians running to goal – and found striker Vinicius Junior, who had the time line up and drill a right-footed laser into the goal.

A few minutes later, Brazil’s Richarlison was fouled while trying to win the ball in the box, resulting in a penalty. It was Neymar, back from missing two games with an ankle injury, who stutter-stepped and then rolled the ball into the right side of the net for a 2-0 edge in the 13th.

In the 29th, Richarlison brought down a ball outside the box with three head taps and then a pass to maintain possession to defender Marquinhos. He moved it to the top of the box to defender Thiago Silva, who found a streaking Richarlison, cutting in front of the goal and sending a left-footed shot into the far left corner; 3-0. That was special.

The fourth goal came in the 36th, as another Brazilian break saw Vinicius Junior drive down the left side and into the box, then pop a pass backwards to the oncoming midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who sent a right-footed shot bounding into the Korean goal.

The half ended at 4-0, with Brazil holding 57% of possession, but a 10-4 lead on shots and a 4-0 lead on samba dances after goals. Korea had only a couple of chances, the best being Hee-chan Hwang’s curling blast from outside the box in the 17th that was saved – at full extension – by Brazilian keeper Alisson.

The second half started with a great Korean chance in the 47th, as striker Heung-min Son sent a blast from the left side that was knocked away by Alisson’s shoulder. Brazil maintained control, but Korea swarmed the Brazilian goal in the 68th, but could not score on a Hwang shot, then finally got a goal on a powerful strike from on top of the box from midfielder Seung-ho Paik that ran to the far right of the goal in the 76th.

Brazil ended with 57% possession and an 18-8 edge on shots. It was Brazil’s eighth straight Round-of-16 win, but will face a very difficult test against Croatia in the quarters.

The last of the Round of 16 games come on Tuesday, with Morocco vs. Spain and Portugal vs. Switzerland:

Game 7: 10 a.m. Eastern time:
● Morocco (Group F-1): 2-0-1 ~ goals: 4-1
● Spain (Group E-2): 1-1-1 ~ goals: 9-3

Asia’s three teams have been eliminated from the tournament and Morocco is the last African team remaining, coming to the Round of 16 as the surprise winners of Group F. It’s the fifth World Cup for Moroccans, who are 0-1 in Round of 16 games, having lost, 1-0, to West Germany in 1974. Spain, the 2010 champions, lost to Japan, 2-1, and had to settle for second in its group, but produced seven goals against Costa Rica in its opener. This is the 12th straight World Cup for Spain and in that run, are 4-3 in Round of 16 games and have not won once since taking the World Cup title in 2010.

The two teams did meet in the group stage in Russia in 2018, a 2-2 tie.

Game 8: 2 p.m. Eastern time:
● Portugal (Group H-1): 2-1 ~ goals: 6-4
● Switzerland (Group G-2): 2-1 ~ goals: 4-3

Portugal has participated in six straight World Cups, but is only 1-2 in Round of 16 match-ups in 2006 (won), 2010 (lost) and 2018 (lost). The Portuguese scored three goals against Ghana, then two against Uruguay and one vs. South Korea, so the trend is downwards. The Swiss are typically stingy, beating Cameroon, 1-0, losing to Brazil, 1-0, and then going crazy against Serbia to win, 3-2. The two sides have never met at the World Cup; Switzerland has not progressed past this round since making the quarterfinals in 1954, and it 0-4 in Round of 16 games. But the last three were close: on penalties after a 0-0 draw in 2006, 0-1 in 2014 and 0-1 in 2018.

The tournament will take its first days off this week, with two quarterfinals each on Friday and Saturday.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Athletics ● World Athletics announced that World Champions Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. were its World Athletes of the Year.

Both won world titles and set world records during 2022: Duplantis in the men’s vault and McLaughlin-Levrone in women’s 400 m hurdles.

The Rising Stars awards were given to Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos and US sprinter Erriyon Knighton. Vilagos won her second World U-20 Championships gold and then a silver at the 2022 European Championships, while Knighton set a World U20 record of 19.69 in the 200 m and was the Worlds 200 m bronze medalist.

The International Fair Play Committee’s Fair Play Award was given to vaulters Holly Bradshaw (GBR and Tokyo bronze medalist) and eventual winner (and Tokyo Olympic champ) Katie Nageotte of the U.S.:

“Bradshaw injured herself after her pole snapped during the pole vault warm-up session. Her fellow competitor Nageotte immediately went over to support her. Knowing she would no longer be able to contend for a place in the final, Bradshaw withdrew from the competition, thus allowing another athlete to advance. Bradshaw received a lot of abuse on social media for withdrawing, but Nageotte again offered support by taking to Twitter in defence of her competitor.”

At the USA Track & Field Annual Meeting in Florida over the weekend, former world triple jumper record holder Willie Banks was re-elected as the federation’s nominee to the World Athletics Council.

Banks’ profile within World Athletics has been rising and he chaired the federation’s development team on its long-range plans.

A four-year fight over the role of the USATF Board vs. its membership was settled – at least for now – by the passage of a compromise package of by-laws which are designed to allow the Board to manage the day-to-day business operations and the membership to retain authority over matters which impact them directly.

USATF announced awards for the best World Championships track performer to 400 m hurdles world-record holder McLaughlin-Levrone, for the best Worlds field performer to vault winner Nageotte and to Worlds heptathlon bronze medalist Anna Hall for “Breathrough Performer of the Year.” Sprint icon Allyson Felix received the 2022 USATF Legacy Award for her lasting impact on the sport.

Sign of the times? From Athletics Canada’s Twitter feed:

“CONFIRMED: The NACAC Cross Country Championships, scheduled for January 21, 2023 in El Salvador has been cancelled due to a lack of participating nations.”

Sad news that Tony Waldrop, who electrified the track and field world with a 3:55.0 indoor mile world record in 1974, passed on 3 December, at age 70. Waldrop was a two-time NCAA Indoor champion for North Carolina in 1973-74 and won the 1975 Pan American Games gold at 1,500 m in 1975. But he skipped the 1976 Olympic Trials in order to complete his Ph.D. in physiology, beginning a long career in academia that climaxed as President of the University of South Alabama from 2014-21.

● Weightlifting ● Although the International Weightlifting Federation has new officers and a new board, it has not shaken the plague of doping. The International Testing Agency announced four “apparent” doping violations on Saturday, just a couple of days before the 2022 World Championships opened Monday in Bogota (COL):

● Ahmed Emad Mohamed (EGY: men’s 77 kg) for Human Growth Hormone;

● Ruslan Kozhakin (UKR: men’s 89 kg) for trimetazidine, a hormone and metabolic modulator;

● Bohdan Taranenko (UKR: men’s +109 kg) for trimetazidine;

● Zacarias Bonnat (DOM: men’s 81 kg) for SARMS RAD 140, an alternative to anabolic steroids, which is also banned. .

Kozhakin was sixth at the 2022 European Championships at 89 kg, and seventh at the 2021 Worlds; Taranenko won a World Junior bronze medal earlier this year at +109 kg, and Bonnat was the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist at 81 kg.

Mohamed’s positive test came during the African Championships in October; the other three failed out-of-competition tests. Not good news for the sport.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: France and England lead traditional powers into World Cup quarters; Valencia Marathon winners Kiptum and Beriso now top-3 all-time!

Rich Perelman

December 5, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1204 kiptum 20153 valencia 750 — Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum wins his debut marathon in Valencia in 2:01:53, the no. 4 performance in history! (Photo: Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Marathon)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Traditional powers on collision course – so far – at Qatar World Cup
2. Kiptum (2:01:53!) and Beriso (2:14:48!) brilliant in Valencia
3. USATF Championships for 2023 heading back to Eugene
4. Paris 2024 Olympics move Tour de France finale to Nice
5. German Olympic Federation approves Olympic bid project

Half of the quarterfinal match-ups at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar are set, with Argentina to face the Netherlands and France to meet England. Despite all the hoopla about improving football in Africa and Asia, the quarters could end up with six European teams and two South American teams … maybe. At the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Marathon in Spain, unheralded Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won the men’s race – in his debut – in a sensational 2:01:53, and Ethiopian Amane Beriso tool the women’s title in 2:14:48, both moving to no. 3 all-time! USA Track & Field announced the 2023 nationals would be in Eugene … again, while the promised “Diamond League-level meets” will be existing meets in Bermuda, Los Angeles and New York. With the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, it’s impossible to finish the Tour de France on the Champs Elysses, so the race is heading south and will conclude in Nice. The German National Olympic Committee approved a plan to explore a bid for – at the earliest – the 2034 Winter or 2036 Olympic Games, including an eventual public referendum. A 2036 Games would come a century after the infamous Nazi propaganda project of 1936.

1.
Traditional powers on collision course – so far – at
Qatar World Cup

After all of the buzz from the group stage, the FIFA World Cup appears to be coming back to showdowns between traditional powers with half of the Round of 16 games now complete.

Two-time winner Argentina will play three-time finalist Netherlands in one quarterfinal, with defending champion France playing 1966 winner England in another, following the weekend’s elimination of the U.S., Australia, Poland and Senegal.

Waiting for their turn now are powers Brazil (playing South Korea) and 2018 runner-up Croatia (playing Japan) on Monday and Tuesday matches featuring Spain (playing Morocco) and Portugal (playing Switzerland).

Europe had seven of the eight quarterfinalists in 2018 and all four semifinalists, and UEFA could get six of the eight spots in 2022, if Croatia and Spain win. With Argentina in, Brazil is favored in its game and would give the South Americans the other two berths.

The football on the field is now becoming more important – for the final two weeks of the tournament – than the hubbub over migrant workers and Qatar’s view of gay rights, which were co-equal stories with the actual matches during the group stage.

Interestingly, FIFA’s Arsene Wenger (FRA), its Chief of Football Development, told a news conference on group-stage technical evaluations on Sunday that a major challenge for teams in 2022 was the lack of preparation time, since many players came right from their league play to Qatar, without the usual, lengthy pre-World Cup training camps. And he added:

“The teams who were not disappointing with their first game performance – because when you got to the World Cup you know you have not to lose the first game – are the teams with experience, they have results in the former tournaments, like France, like England, like Brazil, they played well in first game.

“And the teams as well who were mentally ready … had the mindset to focus on competition and not on political demonstrations.”

As for the tournament as a whole so far, Wenger summed up FIFA’s view:

“How well will it be organized? What will the experience of the fans be? Will it be possible to watch more than one game per day? And, I must say, this experience has been unique. I have seen the feedback we have from the fans is exceptional, and the TV audiences have never been higher, going through the roof. That means this World Cup has created a huge interest, despite all the negative publicity we got before.”

2.
Kiptum (2:01:53!) and Beriso (2:14:48!) brilliant in Valencia

Whether it’s the flat courses or the shoes or actually good training and racing, this has been one of the greatest years in marathoning, punctuated by two brilliant, fast wins at the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Marathon in Spain on Sunday. Winners Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) and Amane Beriso (ETH) became the third-fastest men’s and women’s marathoners in history.

Kiptum, 23, a 58:42 half-marathoner running his debut marathon, was with a large front pack at the half in 1:01:42. World Champion Tamirat Tola (ETH) took the lead and began trimming the field, and then Kiptum started pushing and by 30 km, he, Tola and Gabriel Geay (TAN) were the remaining contenders. Kiptum ran away with a 14:01 split to 35 km and was clear to the finish in 2:01:53, now no. 3 all-time, with the no. 4 performance!

Geay was second in a lifetime best of 2:03:00, then Alexander Mutiso (KEN: 2:03:29 lifetime best), Tola (2:03:40) and Kaan Kigen Ozbilen (TUR: 2:04:36). Wow. The all-time performance list:

1. 2:01:09 ~ Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2022/Berlin
2. 2:01:39 ~ Kipchoge 2018
3. 2:01:41 ~ Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2019
4. 2:01:53 ~ Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) 2022/Valencia
5. 2:02:37 ~ Kipchoge 2019

The women’s race was just as stunning, with all the attention on Ethiopia’s Letsenbet Gidey, the 2022 World 10,000 m champ and 5,000 m-10,000 m-Half Marathon world-record holder, making her marathon debut.

But Gidey had company at halfway, passed in 1:07:18, with fellow Ethiopian Beriso, 31, running her ninth career marathon, and coming in with a best of 2:20:48 from 2016.

The pace may have been more than Beriso could be expected to handle, but she began to pull away from Gidey just before 35 km and cruised in at 2:14:58, moving Beriso to no. 3 all-time, with the no. 3 performance ever:

1. 2:14:04 ~ Brigid Kosgei (KEN) 2019
2. 2:14:18 ~ Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) 2022/Chicago
3. 2:14:58 ~ Amane Beriso (ETH) 2022/Valencia
4. 2:15:25 ~ Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 2003
5. 2:15:37 ~ Tigist Assefa (ETH) 2022/Berlin

Gidey was second in the fastest debut marathon ever in 2:16:49, now no. 6 all-time. The top 12 finishers all got personal bests, with Sheila Kiprotich (KEN) third in 2:17:29 (no. 11 all-time), Tadu Teshome (ETH) fourth in 2:17:36 (now no. 12 all-time) and Kenya’s Fancy Chemutai fifth in 2:18:11. It was the first time four women finished under 2:18.

At the USA Track & Field National Marathon Championships, held in conjunction with the California International Marathon in Sacramento, ex-Northern Arizona star Futsum Zeinasellassie won the men’s title in 2:11.01, ahead of Jacob Thomson (2:11:52).

Paige Stoner took the women’s race, finishing in a lifetime best of 2:26:02 – no. 4 on the U.S. list for 2022 – with Lauren Hurley second in 2:27:41.

3.
USATF Championships for 2023 heading back to Eugene

USA Track & Field announced its major-events schedule for 2023 at its annual meeting in Florida, with the indoor nationals in Albuquerque and the outdoor nationals – and World Championships selection meet – once again in Eugene:

● 16-18 Feb.: National Indoor Champs in Albuquerque
● 06-09 Jul.: National Outdoor Champs in Eugene
● 07-09 Jul.: National U20 Outdoor Champs in Eugene

The reaction to Eugene hosting for the eighth time in the last 14 editions was mixed. World men’s 100 m champ Fred Kerley tweeted: “When we going to la New York or miami” and then added a second tweet: “Texas”.

During the World Athletics Championships in Eugene last July, USATF chief executive Max Siegel promised an upgraded series of Diamond League-level competitions in the U.S. The schedule announcement specified a domestic indoor schedule of three familiar meets and five existing outdoor meets plus the Pre Classic. The announcement included:

Indoor:
● 28 Jan.: Dr. Sander Invitational in New York
● 04 Feb.: New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston
● 11 Feb.: Millrose Games in New York

Outdoor:
● unknown: USATF Throws Festival in Tucson
● 21 May: USATF Bermuda Grand Prix in Bermuda
● 26 May: USATF Distance Classic in Los Angeles
● 27 May: USATF LA Grand Prix in Los Angeles
● 24 Jun.: USATF NYC Grand Prix in New York

The Diamond League Final in 2023 will be held on 16-17 September in conjunction with the Pre Classic, also in Eugene.

4.
Paris 2024 Olympics move Tour de France finale to Nice

Since its debut in 1903, the Tour de France has not always finished in Paris itself, but always close by. But that makes little sense for 2024, as the French capital will be in the midst of preparations for an even larger event, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, to begin on 26 July.

With the 2024 Tour de France scheduled to finish on 21 July, the race owners, the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) announced that the race would finish, for the first time, in the southern city of Nice, with the final stage to begin in the Principality of Monaco:

“This new finish, conditioned by the logistical imperatives that will already block the Champs-Elysees just a few days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is accompanied by a significant sporting challenge as the last stage will be an individual time trial.”

Monaco is hardly a new destination for the race, having been included as early as 1939 and in five more editions since then; the last time was in 2009. Nice was part of Le Tour in 1906, was the starting point in 1981 and 2020. The Champs-Elysees finish has been standard at Le Tour since 1975.

A good move by ASO, staying away from Paris as the Games approach. Perhaps an opportunity to start the event– on 29 June – in Paris, which has not happened since 2003.

5.
German Olympic Federation approves Olympic bid project

“The assembly unanimously endorsed a resolution on a multi-stage strategy process for a possible bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Miriam Welte and Oliver Stegemann presented a ‘road map’, the first stage of which in the coming year will include a nationwide series of discussion forums with supporters, critics and stakeholders from business, politics, culture and other areas of society. In an open-ended and transparent process, the question of possible details such as when, where or how should be discussed and why.”

On Saturday, the DOSB – the National Olympic Committee of Germany – General Assembly agreed to begin the process of assembling an Olympic bid, with the immediate targets the Olympic Winter Games in 2034 or the Olympic Games in 2036.

DOSB President Thomas Weikert said afterwards that a formal decision on preparing an actual bid for a Games will depend on the outcome of the consultation process and a referendum of some type to be taken in 2024. Weikert was re-elected for a second term as President by a 434-4 margin.

As is now the norm, the idea would be to offer a bid with competitions in more than one city and possibly in multiple parts of the country. Germany hosted the Olympic Games twice previously, with the infamous Nazi Games in 1936 and the terrorist-plagued Munich Games in 1972. It hosted Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936.

Formal German bids since the Munich Games have been made for the Olympic Games of 2000 (Berlin) and 2012 (Leipzig), and Winter Games for 1992 (Berchtesgaden) and 2018 (Munich). There has been considerable debate about the wisdom of trying to host a 2036 Olympic Games, exactly 100 years after the Nazi spectacular of 1936, one of the reasons the DOSB will be seeking a wide buy-in through its discussion process in 2023.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

Day two of the quarterfinals saw two of the game’s most popular nations advance to a delicious face-off on 10 December, with defending champion France to face England. These two ancient rivals have only played twice in World Cup history and not for a long time; England won, 2-0, en route to the 1966 World Cup title and again, 3-1, in the group stage in 1982.

The legend of French star Kylian Mbappe continues to grow, now with nine World Cup goals in 11 games, at just 23 years old. Can he be stopped?

● France 3, Poland 1 ● The defending champion French were on offense most of the first half, but could not score.

The half appeared ready to end scoreless, but then France struck in the 44th minute. Superstar midfielder Mbappe sent a perfect pass into the box to striker Olivier Giroud, who finished with the left foot into the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead. The goal gave Giroud 52 for his international career, the most in French history, breaking a tie with long-time star striker Thierry Henry.

Poland had its chances, especially in the 38th, when French keeper Hugo Lloris managed to save a point-blank shot from midfielder Piotr Zielenski and then defender Theo Hernandez cleared a rebound strike from forward Jakub Kaminski.

The French continued on offense in the second half, with the Poles threatening occasionally. In the 74th, a French fast break saw Giroud push the ball to midfielder Ousmane Dembele on the right side, who drew the defense to him, then sent a cross to an all-alone Mbappe on the left side, and he lined up a rising, right-footed rocket that flew into the net for a 2-0 lead, and the issue was decided.

Mbappe then applied the finishing touch at 90+1, taking a pass from sub striker Marcus Thuram on the left side of the box and sending a laser to the far right side of the goal for a 3-0 lead. For Mbappe – at age 23 – the goal was his ninth in the World Cup, in 11 games; by comparison, Brazilian icon Pele scored seven in his first two World Cups and 12 in 14 career World Cup games.

In the 98th, France was called for a hand ball in the box and Polish star Robert Lewandowski took the penalty, shutter-stepped and Lloris made the save easily. But Lloris came off his line early and on the second attempt, Lewandowski stutter-stepped again and rolled it into the left side of goal for the 3-1 final.

The French ended with 55% of possession and a 16-12 edge on shots. On to the quarters.

● England 3, Senegal 0 ● English fans had concerns, as the Senegalese attack in the group stage had created five goals, with speed and power to spare. But there was no need to worry.

The first half started slowly, with Senegal making determined forays that looked quite dangerous, especially a 32nd minute shot from striker Boulaye Dia from the left of goal – off an England turnover and a clever feed by midfielder Ismaila Sarr – that was saved by English keeper Jordan Pickford. But they couldn’t score.

The English were looking for opportunities and shortly thereafter, striker Harry Kane started a breakout, passing to midfielder Jude Bellingham, whose cross from left to right found Jordan Henderson charging toward goal for a left-footed shot that gave England a 1-0 lead in the 39th.

More Senegal turnovers led to more English fast breaks. Bellingham started another in stoppage time, passed ahead to forward Phil Foden, who crossed to Kane, leaving him one-on-one on goal and his right-footed shot was into the net for a 2-0 lead on the final play of the first half, at 45+3.

England had 65% of possession and just a 4-3 edge on shots, but had a two-goal lead. The lead expanded to 3-0 in the 58th, with Kane gaining possession and getting the ball to Foden on the left side, who sent a sensational cross to a sprinting striker Bukayo Saka, who chipped the ball into the net. Very impressive.

The English ended with 61% of possession and a 10-8 edge on shots, but a huge edge on making their chances count.

On Monday, Japan will meet Croatia and Brazil will play South Korea in the third of four days of quarterfinals:

Game 5: 10 a.m. Eastern time:
● Japan (Group E-1): 2-1 ~ goals: 4-3
● Croatia (Group F-2) : 2-1 ~ goals: 4-1

The surprise winner of Group E, Japan, came back from behind to beat Germany (2-1) and Spain (2-1) is in its seventh straight World Cup finals, but never progressed beyond the Round of 16, losing in 2002-10-18. All four of its goals have come in the second half. Croatia was the 2018 runner-up, but is consistently underrated. It beat Canada 4-1 and played 0-0 ties with Morocco and Belgium, showing a stiff defense, but some trouble scoring. It made it past the group stage for the first time in 2018.

Game 6: 2 p.m. Eastern time:
● Brazil (Group G-1): 2-1 ~ goals 3-1
● South Korea (Group H-2): 1-1-1 ~ goals 4-4

Five-time champion Brazil won its first two games by 2-0 and 1-0, then substituted nine of its players in a 1-0 loss to Cameroon. The Brazilians have awesome offensive weapons, and have won seven straight Round of 16 games; it last lost a game in this round in 1990. The South Koreans made a miracle comeback to defeat Portugal to finish 1-1-1 in its group and are 1-1 all-time in Round of 16 games, advancing to the third-place match in 2002 and losing in this round in 2010.

Tuesday’s final Round of 16 matches will have Morocco vs. Spain and Portugal vs. Switzerland.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS men’s World Cup tour was in Beaver Creek, Colorado for speed events, with one Downhill canceled due to very heavy snow. But the course was clear for Saturday’s Downhill, won by Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who won the season’s earlier Downhill at Lake Louise (CAN) on 26 November. Kilde timed 1:42.09 to take his 15th career World Cup win, ahead of reigning World Cup overall champ Marco Odermatt (SUI: 1:42.15). American Ryan Cochran-Siegle was seventh (1:43.15).

Sunday’s Super-G was almost a repeat, with Kilde winning in 1:10.73, followed by Odermatt (1:10.93), with French star Alexis Pinturault third (1:11.03).

The women’s circuit was in Lake Louise for two Downhills and a Super-G, with Italian star Sofia Goggia – the 2018 Olympic winner and 2022 silver medalist – taking both Downhills. She won Friday’s race in 1:47.81, just 0.04 ahead of Swiss Corinne Suter, the Beijing 2022 winner, then took Saturday’s run in 1:28.96, with Nina Ortlieb (AUT: 1:29.30) second and Suter third (1:29.33). Goggia now owns 19 World Cup wins in her career, 14 in Downhills.

On Sunday, Suter – a two-time Worlds Super-G medalist – won in 1:20.75, barely ahead of Cornelia Huetter (AUT: 1:20.77) and Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR: 1:20.91).

● Beach Volleyball ● The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour had its final Elite 16 tournament of the season, in Torquay (AUS), with an All-American final on the women’s side.

Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng were clear winners for the second week in a row (and third time this season), defeating fellow Americans Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles by 21-17 and 21-11. Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar took the bronze medals by outlasting Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, 14-21, 21-19, 15-13.

The men’s event had an Australian finalist, but Thomas Hodges and Zachary Schubert were defeated by France’s Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, in two marathon sets, 22-20 and 23-21, for their first medal of the season. Italy’s Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri took the third-place match from Americans Paul Lotman and Miles Evans, 21-15, 11-16.

● Biathlon ● The 2022-23 IBU World Cup opened in Kontiolahti (FIN), with Olympic 15 km Mass start silver medalist Martin Ponsiluoma (SWE) taking the men’s 20 km Individual race in 49:36.5 (1 penalty), well ahead of Niklas Hartweg (SUI: 50:13.7/0). Beijing 2022 Sprint winner Johannes Thingnes Boe (23:09.0/1) won the 10 km Sprint for his 57th career individual World Cup victory, beating teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid (23:19.5/0).

Boe, a three-time World Cup overall champion, also won Sunday’s 12.5 km Pursuit in 32:44.4 (3), over teammate Laegreid (33:03.6/2) and France’s two-time Worlds winner in the event, Emilien Jacquelin (33:31.7/2).

The PyeongChang Olympic women’s 15 km Individual winner, Swede Hanna Oeberg was once again the best in that event, winning in 43:53.8 (1), more than 30 seconds up on Ingrid Tandrevold (NOR: 44:30.3/0). Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser won the 7.5 km Sprint, beating Lisa Vittozzi (ITA), 20:39.5 (0) to 20:56.8 (1).

France’s Julia Simon won her fifth career World Cup in the 10 km Pursuit in 31:13.0 (0), beating Italy’s 2020 World Champion Dorothea Wierer (31:24.9) and Swede Elvira Oeberg (31:34.7/1).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The IBSF World Cup moved to Park City, Utah this week, but the change of venue meant nothing to Germany’s double Olympic champion Francesco Friedrich, who continued his rampage, winning both the Two-Man and Four-Man races.

Driving with Thorsten Margis aboard this time, Friedrich took the Two in 1:35.82, ahead of Britain’s Brad Hall, runner-up for the second week in a row in 1:36.08. American Frank Del Duca, with Hakeem Abdul-Saboor aboard, was seventh in 1:36.97. Friedrich took the Four in 1:33.62, leading a German sweep ahead of Johannes Lochner (1:33.85) and Christoph Hafer (1:33.86). Del Duca had the top American sled, again in seventh (1:34.36).

Friedrich won seven of eight World Cup races last season in both sleds and is undefeated (4/4) so far this season.

The women’s Monobob was a win for American Kaillie Humphries, the Olympic champ, in 1:42.93, ahead of Lisa Buckwitz (GER: 1:43.24). German Kim Kalicki won the Two for the second week in a row, in 1:37.37, with Leonie Fiebig aboard, beating teammate Laura Nolte (1:37.60), with Humphries (and Jasmine Jones) third in 1:37.69.

In Skeleton, Beijing Olympic champ Christopher Grotheer (GER) won the men’s race in 1:36.26, with Korea’s Seung-gi Jung second for the second week in a row (1:36.43). Mirela Rahneva (CAN) won her first race of the season in the women’s division in 1:38.42, ahead of four-time World Champion Tina Hermann (GER: 1:38.52).

● Cross Country Skiing ● The second stop on the FIS World Cup tour was in Lillehammer (NOR), with the home team continuing to dominate the men’s action. Norwegian men won all three events at the first event in Finland, and stayed strong in Lillehammer, as Iver Tildheim Andersen (21:12.6), Didrik Toenseth (21:15.4) and Hans Christer Holund (21:21.7) swept the medals for Norway in the 10 km Freestyle on Friday.

Superstar Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won his fourth World Cup race of the season (out of five so far) in the Freestyle Sprint in 2:56.45, ahead of two-time Olympic Sprint silver winner Federico Pellegrino (ITA: 2:57.20) with Norway’s Even Northug third (2:57.68). Sunday’s 20 km Mass Start Classical was another Norwegian sweep, with Pal Golberg winning his fourth medal in six races this season in 48:14.5, with Sjur Roethe second (48:15.4) and Martin Nyenget third (48:15.6).

Sweden won all three women’s events last week and Emma Ribom won her second straight Sprint – this time in Freestyle – in 3:20.40, ahead of teammate Maja Dahlqvist (3:20.57), with American Jessie Diggins fourth (3:22.64).

But Diggins was all over the 10 km Freestyle on Friday, winning her 13th World Cup gold in 23:49.5, well ahead of German Katharina Henning (23:53.3).

Swede Frida Karlsson won her second World Cup gold of the season on Sunday in the 20 km Classical Mass Start in 53:51.9, just ahead of Tiril Udnes Weng (NOR: 53:52.5) and Ebba Andersson (SWE: 53:53.1). Diggins was ninth (53:57.4).

● Freestyle Skiing ● The Moguls and Aerials seasons opened in Ruka (FIN) with familiar stars on the podium.

Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury, the greatest Moguls skier of all time, scored his 72nd career World Cup win in the men’s division at 84.50, followed by Japan’s two-time World Champion Ikuma Horishima (80.48) and Matt Graham (AUS: 80.12), with American Nick Page fourth (80.05).

The women’s Moguls was won by Australia’s Olympic gold medalist, Jakara Anthony, scoring 81.69 points to edge PyeongChang 2018 winner Perrine Laffont (FRA: 78.33) and 18-year-old Anri Kawamura (JPN: 78.33) in a tie for second, with Americans Olivia Giaccio and Jaelin Kauf fourth and fifth (77.98 and 77.33).

Sunday’s Aerials saw Switzerland go 1-2 in the men’s final, with Pirmin Werner winning with 126.24 points to 123.98 for teammate Noe Roth. Canada’s Lewis Irving was third (109.29). American Chris Lillis was fifth (97.74).

Australia Danielle Scott won the women’s Aerials, scoring 99.05, ahead of Marion Thenault of Canada (90.59), with American Kalia Kuhn fourth (78.30).

● Judo ● The Tokyo Grand Slam attracted many top stars just a year after the Olympic tournament was held there. Japan claimed nine Olympic golds and was looking for more, ending with 12 wins in the 14 classes!

This was not an Olympic re-run, but new stars, with five men’s winners, including Joshiro Maruyama at 66 kg, Soichi Hashimoto (2022 Worlds silver medalist) at 73 kg, Kenya Kohara (81 kg, beating Olympic champ Takanori Nagase), Kosuke Mashiyama (90 kg) and Hyoga Ota at +100 kg.

Japanese fighters swept all seven divisions of the women’s tournament. The winners included two Olympic champs: Uta Abe at 52 kg and +78 kg star Akira Sone, plus Kano Miyaki (48 kg), Haruka Funakubo (2022 Worlds silver medalist at 57 kg), Miku Takaichi (63 kg), Saki Niizoe (Worlds bronze medalist at 70 kg) and Rika Takayama at 78 kg.

Japan won an astonishing 39 medals; the only victors from elsewhere were Korea’s Seung-beom Jeon in the men’s 60 kg and Italy’s Gennaro Pirelliin the men’s 100 kg.

● Luge ● The FIL World Cup opened in Innsbruck (AUT), with the home team on top of the podium in both women’s events.

Madeleine Egle took the Singles race in 1:19.188, just ahead of American Emily Sweeney (1:19.404) – the 2019 Worlds bronze medalist – and 2021 World Champion Julia Taubitz (GER: 1:19.436). Egle also won the Sprint, with Sweeney right behind, in 29.908 to 29.927.

The new women’s Doubles discipline saw Austria’s Selina Egle and Lara Michaela Kipp win the inaugural World Cup race, in 1:20.019, with Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (GER) second in 1:20.195. Americans Summer Britcher and Sweeney were fifth (1:20.550). Egle and Kipp also took the Sprint in 30.219, with Britcher and Sweeney fourth (30.384).

Austria’s Nico Gleirscher won the men’s Singles and led an Austrian sweep, with Wolfgang Kindl second and Jonas Mueller third, in 1:39.283, 1:39.327 and 1:39.378. American Jonathan Gustafson was fifth in 1:39.950. Gleirscher also won the Sprint, ahead of Kindl (32.599-32.611).

The men’s Doubles was another Austrian sweep (!), starting with Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schopf (1:18.915), then Beijing ‘22 bronze medalists Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller (1:18.994) and Yannick Mueller and Armin Frauscher (1:18.998). Zachary Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander were the top Americans, in eighth (1:19.100). Mueller and Frauscher won the Sprint in 29.822.

● Nordic Combined ● Both the men and women were competing in Lillehammer (NOR) this week, with more Norwegian victories. Four-time defending World Cup champ Jarl Magnus Riiber won two races last week, but this time it was teammate Jens Luraas Oftebro who led the 100 m hill jumping and then finished the 10 km segment in 24:04.7 to win, with Riiber second (24:14.2).

Sunday’s 140 m hill and 10 km race was a triumph for Riiber, his third of the season, beating Oftebro, 24:49.2-25:36.7.

The women’s races were more gold for Norway, as Gyda Westvold Hansen continued her dominance, winning on Friday and Saturday (both 100 m hill and 5 km race) in 14:27.1 and 14:14.6. She won seven of eight World Cups last season, so that’s now nine of 10.

Italy’s Annika Sieff (15:38.6) and Ida Marie Hagen (NOR: 15:36.2) won the silvers, but were both well behind the winner.

● Rugby Sevens ● The HSBC Sevens Series was in Dubai (UAE) for men and the season opener for the women.

France and the U.S. were the only 3-0 teams in men’s pool play, but the French lost in the quarterfinal playoffs to New Zealand (20-0) and the U.S. was tripped up by Ireland in the semis by 12-7. It was South Africa which edged Samoa and then New Zealand to get to the final and defeated the Irish, 21-5, to take the title. New Zealand beat the U.S. for bronze, 31-12.

In the women’s tournament, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland were 3-0 in pool play, but the U.S. shut down the Irish, 5-0, in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis against New Zealand. The Black Ferns dispatched the Americans, 36-0 and moved on to face Australia, a 38-5 winner over France. The final was a battle, but a win for the Aussies, 26-19, with the U.S. third, thanks to a 21-19 win over France.

● Ski Jumping ● Only the women were in action, also in Lillehammer (NOR), with 2018-22 Olympic silver winner Katharina Althaus (GER) taking Saturday’s competition off the 98 m hill with 260.1 points, ahead of Austrian stars Eva Pinkelnig (250.2) and reigning World Cup champ Marita Kramer (242.3). Jumping off the 140 m hill on Sunday, Norway’s Silje Opseth got he second win of the season, scoring 259.6 to 252.1 for teammate Anna Odine Stroem, with Pinkelnig third (250.9).

● Snowboard ● The SnowCross season began in Les Deux Alpes in France, with Saturday’s races postponed to Sunday. Germany’s Martin Noerl took the men’s final for his fifth career World Cup gold, beating Italy’s Beijing 2022 bronze medalist Omar Visintin to the line, with Canada’s Beijing silver medalist Eliot Grondin third.

Australia’s Josie Baff scored an upset in the women’s final, winning over two-time Olympic medalist Chloe Trespauch (FRA) and France’s Lea Casta. It was the first career World Cup medal for the 19-year-old Baff.

● Speed Skating ● The ISU Four Continents Championships was held in Quebec City (CAN), with a few stars present, but mostly emerging skaters.

However, Beijing Olympic men’s 1,000 m silver medalist Laurent Debreuil of Canada was on top of the podium twice, winning the 500 m (34.462) and the 1,000 m (1:09.278). Korea’s 2022 Olympic silver winner Jae-won Chang took the Mass Start race in 8:15.770, just ahead of teammate and Beijing bronze medalist Seung-hoon Lee (8:15.840).

Canadian Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu won the 1,500 in 1:44.666, and Vitaliy Chshigolev (KAZ) won the 5,000 m in 6:22.815.

Korea’s Youth Olympic Games star Min-sun Kim swept the women’s 500 m (38.141) and the 1,000 m (1:16.066), while Canada’s Beijing Team Pursuit gold medalist Valerie Maltais won the 3,000 m (4:02.150) and the Mass Start (9:14.700). Nadezhda Morozova (KAZ) won the 1,500 m in 1:56.378.

● Swimming ● Olympic stars Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith highlighted the U.S. Open in Greensboro, North Carolina, winning nine events between them.

Ledecky swept the women’s 200-400-800-1,500 m Freestyles, taking the 200 m Free on Friday (1:56.74) and the 1,500 m Free (15:44.13) on Saturday. Smith, 20, the two-time World Champion in Backstroke, won five events in all, including the 100 m Back in 57.95 – the no. 3 performance of 2022 – and the 200 m Back in 2:05.28, the no. 6 performance of the year. She added the 100 m Fly in 57.65 and the 200 m Fly in 2:07.30 to the 200 m Medley she won earlier in the meet.

Canada’s 16-year-old star, Summer McIntosh, second to Ledecky on Thursday in the women’s 400 m Free, came back to win the 400 m Medley in a World Junior Record4:28.61, the no. 4 performance of all time!

Tokyo Olympic 400 m Medley gold medalist Chase Kalisz won both the 200 m and 400 m Medley; his 200 m Medley time of 4:10.09 is the no. 12 performance of 2022. Other multi-event winners included Lithuania’s Aleksas Savickas, who won the men’s 100 m and 200 m Breast in 1:00.54 and 2:09.68, and 17-year-old American Daniel Diehl in the men’s 100 m and 200 m Back, in 53.07 and 1:56.41.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

FIFA WORLD CUP: Dutch school U.S. on finishes for 3-1 win; Messi’s early goal and Aussie mistakes help Argentina to 2-1 win

Rich Perelman

December 4, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ QATAR 2022 ≡

The FIFA World Cup elimination round started on Saturday with two taut games, both won by traditional powers Netherlands and Argentina, over the U.S. and Australia, respectively. The Dutch finished their chances with goals, while the Americans were frustrated, unable to convert their opportunities.

Australia gave away a silly goal in the second half to go down 2-0 and despite a goal of their own in the 77th minute, they could not find an equalizer. The Dutch and Argentina will meet in the quarterfinals.

Sunday’s matches include defending champion France against a defensive-minded Polish team and Group B winners England facing a very dangerous Senegal.

≡ Saturday’s matches ≡

● Netherlands 3, United States 1 ● An experienced Dutch squad, expected to contend for the World Cup title, let the U.S. control possession, but made the most of their chances and outclassed the Americans for a 3-1 victory in the Round of 16.

The Americans were on offense from the opening kick and star midfielder Christian Pulisic got an immediate look at goal in the third minute. Midfielder Tyler Adams sent a looping ball from the top of the box that found Pulisic all alone at the left of goal, but his left-footed shot was saved off the leg of 6-8 Dutch keeper Andries Noppert.

The U.S. controlled possession, but the Dutch countered in the 10th minute and a perfect Denzel Dumfries pass from the right side into the middle of the box found the charging Memphis Depay for a line-drive finish past American keeper Matt Turner and a 1-0 lead.

The Dutch were happy to sit back and defend against the continuing U.S. attacks, looking for a counter when available. Tim Weah sent a blast in the 43rd that Noppert had to push away and it appeared the pressure would continue.

But a breakaway at 45+1 saw essentially a repeat of the first goal, as Dumfires fired a cross from the right side again, but this time to fast-closing midfielder Daley Blinn, who rifled his shot past Turner for a 2-0 edge on the final play of the first half. The U.S. had 63% of possession, but trailed on shot (3-5) and on the scoreboard.

The second half started the same way. Off a corner, U.S. defender Tim Ream had the ball bound to him right in front of goal, but his touch wasn’t enough to keep Noppert from blocking it in the 49th. A minute later, the Dutch tried for a third cross-and-strike goal, as Dumfries sent another cross from the right side, but Blinn’s shot was saved by Turner. Turner had two more saves in the 71st to keep the U.S. alive.

The U.S. looked dead, but then it changed in a heartbeat. Off a corner in the 76th, sub DeAndre Yedlin passed to Pulisic on the right, who popped the ball into the middle of the box and sub striker Haji Wright barely touched it, but it was re-directed into the goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. Wright then had a golden chance in the 77th when a long ball left him racing with Noppert for possession, but the Dutch keeper got there first.

In the 81st, the Dutch ended the argument on another cross leading to a goal, this time from the left side as Blinn found Dumfries on the right side of Turner and he sent a left-footed laser into the net for the 3-1 final.

The U.S. ended with 58% of possession and had 17 shots to 11 for the Netherlands (8-6 on shots-on-goal), but it was hardly enough. Where the Dutch scored on their chances, the U.S. did not and the need for a better finisher is apparent. The U.S. will be one of the hosts of the 2026 World Cup and has the building blocks to be special. The Dutch are trying to win now.

The American loss eliminates the only CONCACAF team to reach the knock-out round.

● Argentina 2, Australia 1 ● While Argentina didn’t make past the Round of 16 in 2018, it was a solid favorite to do so here, but it was far from easy.

The first half was, for the most part, slow. Australia had plenty of possession, but did not seriously threaten and the Argentines had 61% of possession, but were methodical rather than brilliant.

Then Messi made the magic he is famous for in the 35th. Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister looped the ball from beyond the box to defender Nicolas Otamendi, who flicked it to Messi, who sent a left-footed, seeing-eye shot that went through multiple bodies and into the left side of the goal for a 1-0 lead. The half ended with just three shots total: two for Argentina and one for the Socceroos.

A FOX Sports stat that popped up after Messi’s goal: Argentina is 41-3-5 at the World Cup when scoring first. That looked like a sure bet early in the second half, when Aussie keeper Mathew Ryan was challenged by midfielder Rodrigo De Paul after taking a backwards pass, the ball rolled free and was pounced on by forward Julian Alvarez, who rolled it into the goal for a 2-0 lead in the 57th. Game over?

There was plenty of fight left in Australia and they got back into it in the 77th, when midfielder Craig Goodwin’s rocket from just beyond the left side of the box deflected off Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez and flew into the goal to make it 2-1.

The game was wide open now and both sides made dangerous runs, especially Australian defender Aziz Behich in the 81st, but his shot was blocked. The Aussies pressured until the whistle blew at 90+8 and Argentina moved on, but just barely. Argentina ended with 61% of possession – although it didn’t feel that way in the final 20 minutes – and had a 14-5 edge on shots.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

The quarterfinals continue through Tuesday, with two matches on Sunday:

Game 3: 10 a.m. Eastern time:
● France (Group D-1): 2-1 ~ goals 6-3
● Poland (Group C-2): 1-1-1 ~ goals: 2-2

The French are defending champions and looked unbeatable in wins over Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1), but then rested most of their stars and lost to Tunisia by 1-0 in the group finale. Poland was shut out against Mexico (0-0), defeated Saudi Arabia by 2-0 and then was shut out again (0-2) against Argentina. Can they score against France? In the last six World Cups, the French have been champions twice, runner-ups once and have won four Round of 16 games in a row. The only World Cup match between the two was a 3-2 win by Poland for the bronze medal in 1982.

Game 4: 2 p.m. Eastern time:
● England (Group B-1): 2-0-1 ~ goals: 9-2
● Senegal (Group A-2) : 2-1 ~ goals: 5-4

The national anxiety attack that is English football faces another test against Senegal, which is playing its third World Cup elimination match in its history. England won Group B, beating up on Iran (6-2), playing a scoreless tie with the U.S. and beating Wales, 3-0. England is 3-1 in World cup Round of 16 games this century and reached the third-place game in Russia in 2018. But the Senegalese have speed and power, losing their opener to the Dutch on two late goals, then beating Qatar (3-1) and Ecuador (2-1).

Monday’s matches have the last two Asian teams in the tournament, with Japan vs. Croatia and Brazil vs. South Korea.

FIFA posted a variety of statistics on the 48-match group stage that ended Friday, with 2.45 million spectators attending the games, about 96% of capacity.

The FIFA Fan Festival passed the one million mark in attendance, with an average of 70,000 entries per day. Applications for the Hayya Card, required to go anywhere in the World Cup, are at 1.66 million, and accreditations for the tournament so far are 174,499. The top countries in terms of Hayya Card applications are Saudi Arabia (77,106), India (56,893) and the U.S. (36,236).

The volunteer corps for the World Cup is about 20,000, with 3,000 from outside Qatar.

Qatar’s policy on spectators wearing politically-messaged shirts, hats or scarves has been quite stiff, but Reuters reported it has not been enforced much for those with pro-Palestinian apparel, while protests against the Iranian government has been mostly squelched:

“The contrast was laid bare this week outside the Al Thumama stadium. On Thursday, security ushered through hundreds of fans draped in flags, hats and scarves showing support for Palestine ahead of the Morocco v Canada match.

“Two nights earlier, security at the same stadium confiscated items showing support for Iranian protesters, forcing fans to remove T-shirts and some flags ahead of Iran’s crunch match against the United States.”

The Executive Director of the recognized fan-matters group Football Supporters of Europe, Ronan Evain, told Reuters, ‘What we see in the end is that FIFA has lost control of its own tournament.’”

Football is serious business in Argentina and the International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS) reported that a KLM flight out of Buenos Aires, headed to Amsterdam on 30 November, demonstrated this once again.

The flight was delayed for about an hour, which allowed the passengers to watch the first half of the Argentina vs. Poland match in Group C, which the Argentines needed to win to advance. The scene:

“Staff members from the shops at Ezeiza Airport had all left their positions to watch the game with the passengers. There are screams, cursing, and arguments. We are inside an airport, but this is more like a football stadium.

“The second half was much more difficult. Boarding was open, but many simply did not want to board. Those that were inside the plane quickly discovered that they didn’t have wifi and mobile data was not working. Nobody had an old radio. It was (almost) a complete blackout.”

Passengers who had received calls from family and friends forwarded the details of Argentina’s 2-0 victory to cheers from those seated in the plane, waiting for take-off. Finally, the captain came on and announced the scores and that both Argentina and Poland had advanced.

Although the World Cup is on, the repercussions of the abuse scandal within the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) are continuing. On Thursday, it was confirmed that Chicago Red Stars owner Armin Whisler had retained advisors to facilitate the sale of his controlling share of the team.

The Red Stars was one of the teams identified as allowing player abuse, notably by its coach, as documented in an independent report commissioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The team’s players had asked for Whisler to sell his ownership stake in October.

The almost-but-not-absolutely-dead European Super League continues to rile the football world, with a study of Spain’s La Liga finances by the advisory firm KPMG estimating the league could implode if the Super League were to commence.

La Liga commissioned the review, which indicated that the current value of the league is estimated at €3.316 billion (~$3.49 billion U.S.), but with FC Barcelona and Real Madrid in a Super League:

“The existence of a Super League played in midweek would slash that value by 1.662 billion euro [to €1.654 billion or $1.74 billion U.S.] while if LaLiga was forced to become a midweek competition the impact is forecast to be even greater – with a reduction of 1.8 billion euro [to €1.516 billion or $1.60 billion U.S.] – a drop of 55 per cent.”

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

FIFA WORLD CUP: Brazil and Portugal lose, but still win groups; U.S. face Dutch on Saturday as knock-outs start

Rich Perelman

December 3, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1202 korea advance-flag (kfa) 750 — The joy of advancement! (Photo: Korean Football Association)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ QATAR 2022 ≡

More upsets at the FIFA World Cup, where group leaders Portugal and Brazil both rested some of their stars and both lost, but still finished atop their groups. The stunning wins for South Korea (2-1 over Portugal) and Cameroon (1-0 over Brazil) advanced only the Koreans, who eliminated Uruguay, which soundly beat Ghana, 2-0 (but needed a third goal to advance on goal differential).

In a rough-and-tumble game, Switzerland defeated Serbia, 3-2, to advance as the second team from Group G.

The group stage is over and the serious business of the elimination games begins with the Round of 16 on through Tuesday. Saturday’s match-ups include Netherlands and the U.S. and Argentina and Australia.

≡ Friday’s Matches ≡

● Group G: Cameroon 1, Brazil 0 ● The Brazilians rested most of their starters and used nine new players for this match, and immediately dominated possession, but could not score. They had chances, but forward Gabriel Martinelli missed a rising shot at 45+1 in perhaps the best opportunity of the half.

The Brazilians enjoyed 68% of possession, and had 10 shots at goal, but had to weather a creative Cameroon charge at 45+3 as Bryan Mbeumo headed a cross right at goal, but Brazilian keeper Ederson was able to slap it away. It was the first shot-on-goal against Brazil in the tournament so far.

Brazil was hard after a goal to start the second half, but Cameroon keeper Devis Epassy looked like a circus acrobat, swatting away shots and rebounds. He hit his head on a goalpost in the 58th minute off a corner that was headed by defender Bremer, but stayed in.

The Brazilian challenges kept coming, although the Indomitable Lions were able to mount a couple of dangerous chances – especially due to their speed – in the second half. In stoppage time, midfielder Jerome Ngom Mbekeli took a pass from midfield, sprinted down the right side and sent a perfect cross into the box that was redirected into the goal by striker Vincent Aboubakar at 90+2, to give Cameroon a 1-0 lead!

Aboubakar ripped off his shirt in celebration, earning him a yellow card and then a red card since he already had received one yellow, and leaving Cameroon to defend with 10. But the Brazilians could not score, with shot after shot on goal and suffered a 1-0 loss.

It was a glorious way for Cameroon to go out, with its first World Cup win since 2002. Brazil lost in a World Cup group match for the first time since 1998, ending a 17-match unbeaten string. The Brazilians ended with 65% possession and a 21-7 edge on shots, but none that found the net.

● Group G: Switzerland 3, Serbia 2 ● The Swiss (1-1) needed at least a draw and 0-1-1 Serbia had to win and hope Brazil beat Cameroon. Both sides had their offenses going from the start, with Swiss forward Xherdan Shaqiri scoring on a left-footer in the 20th from the right side – just inside the near post – off a feed from the middle of the box from midfielder Dijbril Sow.

But Serbia came right back, with a brilliant header from Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring in the 26th, redirecting – with power – a perfect lead pass from midfielder Dusan Tadic. The Serbs went up, 2-1, just nine minutes later, after Dusan Vlahovic got on to a deflected ball in the box and sent left-footed shot from left to right that rumbled past Swiss keeper Gregor Kobel.

The Swiss, who had scored one goal in two games coming up, tied it at 2-2 in the 44th minute as defender Silvan Widmer sent a perfect pass to the front of the box for a Breel Embolo tap-in to the left corner of the net. Possession in the first half was 50-50 and the Swiss had nine shots to seven for Serbia.

More offense in the second half, as Switzerland got on top with a Shaqiri pass into the box that was back-passed by midfielder Ruben Vargas to wide-open midfielder Remo Freuler, who finished with a left-footed cross to the right side of the goal for a 3-2 lead in the 48th minute.

But that was it and the game became increasingly physical, with a total of 32 fouls and 11 yellow cards, including seven on the Serbs and a scuffle in stoppage time. The game ended with Serbia holding 54% of possession, but the Swiss had 14 shots to 12 and a 7-4 edge on shots actually on goal. The Swiss finished the group at 2-1 and six points, behind Brazil by just one goal.

● Group H: South Korea 2, Portugal 1 ● The Portugese had already qualified to advance, having defeated Ghana and Uruguay, but the Koreans needed to win to have a shot at advancing. And Korean hopes dropped when forward Ricardo Horta scored from the right side of the box in the fifth minute.

But the Koreans stayed focused and worked relentlessly, getting the equalizer in the 27th when Young-gwon Kim scored into the center of the net as the ball bounced around in the box off a corner. Portugal had more chances, but the half ended 1-1, with Uruguay having a 10-6 edge on shots and 56% of possession.

As the second half wore on, the Koreans knew they needed a win and got stronger and stronger offensively, repeatedly making hard runs into the Portuguese zone. But nothing came of it until 90+1, when Heung-min Son led a fast break from his own zone and sent a pass into the middle of the box. A sprinting Hee-chan Hwang emerged and blasted a shot from right to left that found the left corner of the goal for a 2-1 lead that held up. The Koreans exploded with emotion when the game ended, and then again when it became clear they would advance to the elimination round for the first time since 2010.

Portugal had 62% of the possession in the game, but shots were even at 13-13, meaning the Koreans had seven second-half shots to get three for Portugal. Pressure paid off.

● Group H: Uruguay 2, Ghana 0 ● Uruguay’s situation going into this game was dire. After a 0-0 tie with South Korea and a 2-0 loss to Portugal, Uruguay had not scored a goal and had to win to have any chance of advancing and even then, had the problem of goal differential to consider. Ghana was 1-1 and could advance with a win and possibly a draw.

But after a scare, Uruguay took control and squashed Ghana’s hopes. Keeper Sergio Rochet saved a penalty against Ghana striker Andre Ayew in the 21st minute, then striker Luis Suarez’s shot was saved, but bounced to forward Giorgian de Arrascaeta who headed it in in the 26th for a 1-0 lead.

Suarez was in front of the Ghana goal again in the 32nd and sent a looping pass to de Arrascaeta to his left and he scored again on a powerful volley right to the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage. Uruguay had 58% of possession and a 5-3 lead in shots in the half.

Both sides had second-half chances, but Uruguay was fine as long as Korea and Portugal were tied in the other game, which would mean that Uruguay advanced. Then came the murmur in the Al Janoub Stadium when Korea scored at 90+1, meaning Uruguay and Korea would be tied with four points each and both would have a goal differential of zero. Then, Korea’s four total goals to Uruguay’s two would eliminate Uruguay. So the Uruguay offense went into hyper-drive with eight minutes of stoppage time available, needing to score one more goal.

The game ended with a 50-50 split on possession and Uruguay with a 12-10 edge on shots, but it was not enough. The Uruguay bench was screaming for penalties to be called on runs into the box by strikers Darwin Nunez and Edinson Cavani, but none were given and defender Jose Gimenez and Cavani received yellow cards for chasing referee Daniel Siebert (GER) into the field exit tunnel.

Uruguay failed to advance out of the group stage for the first time since 2002.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

The elimination matches are upon us and the Round of 16 begins on Saturday:

Game 1: 10 a.m. Eastern time:
● Netherlands (Group A-1): 2-0-1 ~ goals: 5-1
● United States (Group B-2): 1-0-2 ~ goals: 2-1

The U.S. is 1-4 in World Cup Round of 16 games going back to 1934. Its only win was a 2-0 whitewash of Mexico in 2002. The Netherlands is 4-1 against the U.S. all-time, all in friendlies.

The Dutch have played eight Round of 16 matches from 1974-2014, winning six, but did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Game 2: 2 p.m. Eastern time:
● Argentina (Group C-1): 2-1 ~ goals: 5-2
● Australia (Group D-2) : 2-1 ~ goals: 3-4

Argentina has competed in 12 straight World Cup final tournaments in a row and was eliminated in this round in 2018. Prior to that, it had won four Round of 16 games in a row.

This is only the second time Australia had made the elimination round – also in 2006 – when the Socceroos lost to Italy, 1-0. Australia has never faced Argentina at the World Cup, but was the only team to make it to the elimination round this year with a negative goal differential.

The winners of these games will advance to the quarterfinals on 9 December. Sunday’s games include England vs. Senegal and France vs. Poland, with the winners to meet on 10 December.

With the group stage and 48 matches concluded, a good time for a quick report card on the five continental groups that sent teams to Qatar:

Africa:
● 5 teams in and 2 qualified to the Round of 16
● Group Stage record: 7-5-3, and 4-1 in the third round of matches
● Group Stage offense: 19-17 goals, 152-167 on shots, 44% possession

Asia:
● 6 teams in and 3 qualified to the Round of 16
● Group Stage record: 7-10-1, and 3-3 on the third round of matches
● Group Stage offense: 19-30 goals, 176-239 shots, 40% possession

CONCACAF:
● 4 teams in and 1 qualified to the Round of 16
● Group Stage record: 3-6-3, but 2-2 in third round of matches
● Group Stage offense: 9-22 goals, 115-130 shots, 47% possession

Europe:
(record and statistics against only non-European teams)
● 13 teams in and 8 qualified to the Round of 16
● Group Stage record: 12-9-7 vs. non-European teams
● Group Stage offense: 45-28 goals, 322-310 shots, 57% possession

South America:
● 4 teams in and 2 qualified to the Round of 16
● Group Stage record: 6-4-2, and 2-2 in the third round of matches
● Group Stage offense: 14-8 goals, 163-82 shots, 57% possession

Europe had 10 qualifiers to the final 16 in 2018, out of 14 entries, and South America had four in the playoffs in Russia, plus one for Asia and one for CONCACAF. Africa and Asia – with five qualifiers combined – have shown the most improvement so far.

Asia’s three elimination-round qualifiers is its most ever; it had two in 2002 – when it was also the host – and 2010. The two for Africa equal the most ever, also in 2014. Europe’s eight is down from 2018, but better than the six qualifiers it had in 2010 and 2014. For CONMEBOL (South America), two qualifiers for the playoffs is its worst showing since 2002 (also 2); it had five qualifiers in 2010 and 2014.

The takeaway is that, in terms of on-the-field performance, where the World Cup is played matters a lot.

“The success so far of the ongoing FIFA soccer World Cup has emboldened the Qataris and strengthened their resolve to host the Olympics.”

Reuters and others reported on Friday that Qatar officials believe the World Cup has gone smoothly enough for the country to be in a good position to bid for the 2036 Olympic Games, the next one available. Reuters quoted an unnamed source:

“The success so far of this World Cup puts Qatar in a strong position – they have shown they can do this… it is a proof of concept.

“They hosted the Asian Games in 2006; and will be hosting them again in 2030. All of the infrastructure is here – the stadiums, the metro, the new airport.”

However, the heat in Qatar would certainly push an Olympic Games well off the International Olympic Committee’s preferred July-August timeframe. The next three Games have been awarded to Paris in 2024, Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. The Games have never failed to be placed in Europe after two consecutive Games elsewhere.

The International Olympic Committee recently said that it was in discussions with 10 different cities about future hosting possibilities.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Japan and Morocco win World Cup groups (what?); 15.5 million watch USA-Iran; USATF’s Siegel defends $3.8 million pay

Rich Perelman

December 2, 2022

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 - Previews — USATF chief executive Max Siegel at the 14 July pre-World Athletics Championships news conference in Eugene, Oregon (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Crazy day in Qatar: Japan, Morocco win; Germany, Belgium out
2. World Cup: Belgian, Mexican coaches out; 15.5 million watch USA-Iran
3. USATF’s Siegel strongly defends $3.8 million pay for 2021
4. Shooting federation selects new Sec-Gen, apologizes for no election results
5. Ledecky and Costa take second wins at U.S. Open

The 2022 World Cup took a decided turn away from European domination on Thursday as Belgium and Germany were ousted in the group stage and Groups E and F were won by upstarts Japan and Morocco. As a result of the outcomes over the past couple of days, the coaches for Belgium and Mexico both announced that they were done with their roles. Additional broadcast data showed that some 15.5 million Americans watched the U.S. vs. Iran match in English (FOX) and Spanish (Telemundo) combined, better than just about everything else on TV these days except the NFL. USA Track & Field chief executive Max Siegel strongly defended his $3.8 million compensation in 2021 in an interview, but his comments raise questions as well. The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) was silent for a full day after incumbent Vladimir Lisin of Russia was defeated for the presidency by Italy’s Luciano Rossi, but woke up on Thursday and also announced that a new Secretary General has been appointed to replace Lisin ally Alexander Ratner. At the U.S. Open swimming championships in North Carolina, U.S. superstar Katie Ledecky and Brazil’s Guilherme Costa added the 400 m Free to their 800 m Free wins on Wednesday.

1.
Crazy day in Qatar: Japan, Morocco win; Germany, Belgium out

European supremacy in football was seriously eroded over the past two days, as defending World Cup champion France, and highly-regarded Denmark and Poland all lost on Wednesday, and bluebloods Spain, Germany and Belgium came up short on Thursday.

In the final matches in Group E, Japan stunned Spain, 2-1, with two goals early in the second half and won the group with a 2-1 record and six points. The Spanish (1-1-1) ended up second and advanced, but only on goal differential – +6 vs. +2 – over Germany, which defeated Costa Rica, 4-2, and also had a 1-1-1 mark (four points).

Belgium was considered a tournament co-favorite coming in, but once again was unable to showcase the firepower its players had previously shown, finishing with a 0-0 tie against 2018 runner-ups Croatia. The Belgians ended up scoring one goal in their three matches and left with a 1-1-1 record and four points. Morocco, on the other hands, tied Croatia (0-0), beat the Belgians by 2-0 and beat Canada (2-1) to top the group with seven points, with Croatia second (1-0-2: 5).

The final group matches come on Friday, with Serbia (0-1-1: 1 point) against the Swiss (1-1: 3) and already-qualified Brazil (2-0: 6) against Cameroon (0-1-1: 1) in Group F, and Ghana (1-1: 3) vs. Uruguay (0-1-1: 1) and already-advanced Portugal (2-0: 6) facing South Korea (0-1-1: 1).

Most of the Round of 16 has been set now:

Upper bracket:
● 3 December: Netherlands vs. U.S. and Argentina vs. Australia
● 5 December: Japan vs. Croatia and Brazil vs. Group H no. 2

Lower bracket:
● 4 December: England vs. Senegal and France vs. Poland
● 6 December: Morocco vs. Spain and Portugal vs. Group G no. 2

The quarterfinals will be held on the 9th and 10th.

2.
World Cup: Belgian, Mexican coaches out; 15.5 million watch USA-Iran

The Telemundo Spanish-language audience for the U.S.-Iran match was reported at 3.5 million (television and streaming), so the game drew more than 15.513 million fans on the 29th, second only to the 20.091 million for the U.S vs. England game on the 25th, a holiday Friday for many people.

Thus, for the three American matches at the World Cup so far, the average audience for English and Spanish telecasts combined has averaged 15.588 million, easily better than nearly everything else in sports in the U.S., excepting NFL games.

As teams fall out of the World Cup, so do coaches. Two high-profile team leaders already leaving their teams are Belgium manager Roberto Martinez (ESP) and Mexican manager Gerardo Martino (ARG).

Martinez said: “My situation is very clear. This is the end for me.

“Whatever the result of this tournament, I took the decision before the World Cup. It’s all about long term. Since 2018, I could have taken many jobs. I don’t resign, it’s just ending like this.”

The Royal Belgian Football Association said in a statement:

“We are extremely disappointed after the early exit of our national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar because we have failed and thereby let down the people of Belgium who supported our team all the way through.”

Martino said after Mexico’s exit from the tournament:

“I am the first responsible for this terrible disappointment and frustration that we have. As the person in charge, it causes a lot of sadness, I fully assume responsibility for this great failure.

“My contract ended as soon as the referee blew the final whistle and there is nothing more to be done.”

Mexican national teams director Jaime Ordiales said in a Thursday news conference:

“We’re embarrassed and we have to apologize. It’s necessary to face this failure and this makes us responsible to have to show the professional embarrassment that we have.”

More embarrassment as FIFA opened a second inquiry into anti-gay chants from Mexican fans during Mexico’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia:

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Mexican Football Federation due to chants by Mexican supporters during the Saudi Arabia v. Mexico FIFA World Cup match played on 30 November.”

A prior investigation was announced for the same issue after Mexico’s 0-0 draw with Poland in its opening match on 22 November. FIFA has previously sanctioned the Mexican federation (FMF) with a fan ban for a World Cup qualifying match in 2021.

3.
USATF’s Siegel strongly defends $3.8 million pay for 2021

Brilliant interview by Ken Stone of the Times of San Diego, asking USA Track & Field chief executive Max Siegel about his $3,819,264 pay for 2021 as disclosed on the federation’s IRS Form 990 tax return.

Siegel spoke to Stone on Tuesday, saying “This frankly is the worst week of my life,” referring to the criticism he has received. But he also strongly defended his compensation, saying “Have you seen one gold medalist in there that’s been critical of me?”

He responded to the allegation that the landmark deal from Nike that began in 2014 was brought in without his help, saying:

“That’s simply not true. And I don’t care what people say. … Nike was not going to stick around” and added, “As I’ve said to everyone before, if they want to go back to $16 million a year and have 100% of nothing – yeah, go ahead.

“The eight years before I got here, the organization’s actual revenue was about $129 million. Since I’ve been here [it’s been] $359 million. Those are just facts. That’s not my hyperbole, right?”

He also said he expects his employment agreement with USATF to be extended to the end of 2024, when he will be 60. He is attending the USATF Annual Meeting in Florida which closes on the 4th.

Observed: An evaluation of Siegel’s resolute defense of his compensation requires some perspective.

● First, what Siegel is paid is up to the USATF Board of Directors and that’s where the complaints should go. There is a significant issue with the “independent” members of the Board, since they are not elected, but are chosen by the existing Board, a clear conflict of interest.

● Second, his figures on revenues since he was appointed in 2012 and the eight years prior are not exactly right, but still better than before. Using USATF financial statements for the seven years prior to his tenure and a quoted figure for the eighth, USATF had $125.41 million in revenues from 2004-2011 combined. Revenues in 2010, under Doug Logan – who also negotiated a deal with Nike – were $19.34 million and in 2011, with Mike McNees as interim CEO, $19.08 million.

In Siegel’s first eight years – the same time frame as prior to his arrival for comparison – USATF revenues rose to $289.22 million combined, so more than double.

But it is worthwhile to note that revenues in Siegel’s first two years were $23.41 million in 2012 (an Olympic year) and then back to $19.59 million in 2013, before the Nike deal kicked in in 2014, with a $15 million signing bonus that raised USATF’s revenues to $35.05 million.

Since 2014, USATF revenues have not reached the $35 million level except in the Olympic years of 2016 and 2020 and were down to $34.63 million for 2021.

● Third, Siegel’s deferred compensation that was tied to the Nike deal is only part of the story. The USATF financial statements for 2014 note a “sponsorship negotiation commission” expense – related to the Nike deal – to an outside entity for more than $22 million, to be paid into 2039.

If Siegel’s role was so crucial to Nike’s sponsorship, why is the “separate third party” receiving more than $22 million in commissions over the life of that deal?

4.
Shooting federation selects new Sec-Gen, apologizes for no election results

The International Shooting Sports Federation held a Congress on 30 November and elected Italy’s Luciano Rossi as President, 136-127, over Russian Vladimir Lisin.

Nothing was posted on the ISSF Web site.

On Thursday (1st), a notice was posted that started with:

“We apologize that no information from yesterday’s election for the new president could be found on the website.

“The ISSF executive committee has a new president: Luciano Rossi.”

Now back to work, the results of the other positions were also posted Thursday, with Germany’s Willi Grilli “confirmed” as the new Secretary General of the federation, replacing Alexander Ratner, a former Russian and now German citizen, who was closely aligned with Lisin and sent a controversial letter lobbying for Lisin’s re-election the week prior to the vote.

Among the nine other members of the Executive Committee, in addition to Rossi, are four Vice Presidents, including six-time Olympic medal winner Kim Rhode of the U.S.

5.
Ledecky and Costa take second wins at U.S. Open

The second night of the U.S. Open in Greensboro, North Carolina, saw a re-match of the women’s 400 m Freestyle final with American star Katie Ledecky again out-dueling Canadian teen Summer McIntosh, 3:59.71 to 3:59.79.

McIntosh, 16, actually had the lead going into the final turn, but Ledecky came on stronger to the touch, in the no. 7 and equal-8th performances of the year in the event. McIntosh had beaten Ledecky in the 400 m Free in the short-course FINA World Cup in Toronto in October, but Ledecky added the win to the first-night 800 m Free title.

Brazil’s Guilherme Costa, the 2022 Worlds 400 m Free bronze medalist, also completed the 400-800 m Free double, winning in 3:48.13.

U.S. stars Chase Kalisz and Regan Smith won the men’s and women’s 200 m Medleys in 1:56.52 and 2:10.40, respectively, a lifetime best for backstroke star Smith, now no. 18 for 2022. The 50 m Free sprints went to David Curtiss in 21.92 and Gabi Albiero in 25.06.

The meet continues through Saturday.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group E: Japan 2, Spain 1 ● Spain started the day on top of the group, but needed at least a tie to advance. And the Spanish got on top early with their patented passing game. Off a blocked shot, defender Cesar Azpilicueta sent a perfect lead into the box that was headed in by striker Alvaro Morata in the 11th minute for a 1-0 lead.

Spain completed 526 passes in the half and had 83% of possession, but only a 5-2 edge in shots as Japan kept the score to 1-0.

Then, everything changed, as substitute striker Ritsu Doan took a header from midfielder Junya Ito on the right side and sent a left footed strike whistling off keeper Unai Simon in the 48th to tie the match.

Then it happened again, as Doan got possession in the box, and sent a right-footed shot past the left side of the goal that appeared to be out, but was kicked back into the field of play by Kaoru Mitoma and then kneed into the goal by a charging Ao Tanaka. The goal went to video review and was ruled good for a 2-1 Japanese lead in the 51st minute. Essentially a replay of the early-second-half comeback by the Japanese against Germany in their opening win, also in the Khalifa International Stadium eight days earlier!

Japan stayed aggressive, but never exposed its back line to danger, marking Spain closely. The Spanish pressed hard and had chances, but failed to score; if they had tied the game, Japan would have ended up third in the group and Spain and Germany would have advanced.

Spain controlled the ball for 82% of the game and had a 12-6 edge on shots, but lost the game. They will advance as the second-place team in the group, with Japan beating Germany and Spain – who picked that? – to win Group E.

● Group E: Germany 4, Costa Rica 2 ● Germany had to win and needed help from Spain to advance. Controlling almost all of the possession early, the Germans took an early lead with a goal from forward Serge Gnabry in the 10th minute on a header off of a cross right to the front of the goal from defender David Raum.

The Germans has a 71-29% edge in possession in the half and out-shot Costa Rica, 12-1, but that meant nothing when Yeltsin Tejada scored in the 58th from right in front of the goal.

Then midfielder Joel Campbell hit a long free kick from the left side to the far right side of the box, headed forward by defender Kendall Watson and hit defender Niklas Sule, falling to Juan Pablo Vargas in front of goal, who got enough of a touch on it to roll past German keeper Manuel Neuer in the 70th for a 2-1 lead!

But the Germans came right back, applying pressure and defender Joshua Kimmich heading the ball to midfielder Niclas Fullkrug in the box, who forwarded it to substitute striker Kai Havertz for a 2-2 tie in the 73rd.

Havertz scored again in the 85th with Gnabry sending a cross from the right side to Havertz’s foot and he finished for a 3-2 lead. In the 89th, Kimmich sent a ball into the box that came down to Leroy Sane, who chested it to Fullkrug for the finish and a 4-2 final.

Germany ended with 68% of possession and a 32-7 edge on shots (!), but its 1-1-1 record was worth four points and third place on goal differential to Spain, +6 vs. +1. It’s the second straight World Cup in which the Germans failed to get out of the group stage.

● Group F: Croatia 0, Belgium 0 ● No. 2-ranked Belgium flamed out of the 2022 World Cup with a goalless performance against a tough Croatia team that will move on as the runner-ups in Group F.

After a 1-0 win over Canada and a 2-0 loss to Morocco, Belgium had to win, but ended up scoring only one goal in the tournament and missed multiple chances in Thursday’s game.

Neither side was credited with a shot on goal during the first half, but both had chances that were blocked or went wide. Croatia was awarded a penalty that was reversed for offsides after a video review.

Star striker Romelu Lukaku came in for the second half and had an immediate impact, but could not score, hitting the right goalpost with an open net in front of him on a rebound in the 60th minute, sent a header over the bar in the 63rd and had a tap-in saved in the 90th minute by Croatian keeper Dominik Livakovic.

Meanwhile, the Croatians were repeatedly challenging Belgian keeper Thibaut Cortois, but he refused to be beaten. But with the tie, Croatia advanced to the elimination round and Belgium, which was eliminated in the Euro 2020 quarterfinals last year, leaves the tournament after reaching the quarterfinals in 2014 and finishing third in 2018.

The Belgians had 52% of possession and a 16-11 edge on shots.

● Group F: Morocco 2, Canada 1 ● Morocco remained in dreamland in Qatar with a 2-1 win over Canada that won the group for the North Africans, moving into the elimination round for the second time ever and first time since 1986.

They got on top of the game right away, with forward Hakim Ziyech getting a unbelievable goal in the fourth minute with a left-footed chip from about 40 yards out that floated over the head of Canadian keeper Milan Borjan who had come out to the box of the box for a failed clearance.

In the 23rd, striker Youssef En-Nesyri took a long lead pass down the right side from defender Achraf Hakimi, split two defenders and then rifled a shot from the right side of goal just inside the post and under Borjan for a 2-0 lead that looked insurmountable.

Canada got one back in the 40th minute on an own goal by defender Nayef Aguerd, as Canada’s sent a hard cross into the box from the left side that caromed off the defender and into the Morocco goal and the half ended, 2-1.

A Moroccan goal in the 48th was called back for offsides and Canada almost got an equalizer in the 72nd as a header by midfielder Atiba Hutchinson hit the crossbar and just missed landing behind the goal line. But there was no second-half scoring and the game ended, 2-1.

The Canadians had 59% of the possession and Morocco led in shots, 6-5, but Canada’s mistakes were the difference.

Canada was in the World Cup for only the second time, after losing all three games in 1986. They scored two goals in total (none in 1986), but the attacking style seen in winning the CONCACAF qualifying tournament appeared only rarely in Qatar.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● International Olympic Committee ● The Olympic Golden Rings Awards honor the best in broadcasting and the Beijing 2022 recipients were honored on Wednesday (30th) in Lausanne.

Among the honorees was NBC, which earned a Best Athlete Profile Silver (on cross-country skier Jessie Diggins), a gold for Best Example of Inclusion and Equality for its profile on bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, a silver for Best Feature and Documentary (“The Ride of Their Lives”), a silver for Best Social Media and Fan Engagement and a gold in Best On-Air Promotion for its “Superfan” promo.

U.S.-based Warner Bros. Discovery, which held the European rights, won a bronze for Best Olympic Programme for its record audience totals; a gold for Best Innovation and Set Design and a bronze for Best Social Media and Fan Engagement.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The USOPC announced its inaugural Team USA Collegiate Impact Awards, recognizing the universities who contributed the most athletes to the American teams for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.

For Tokyo 2020, 475 American Olympians and 122 Paralympians competed collegiately, at a total of 223 schools. The top producers:

● Olympic Gold Award: Stanford (35 U.S. Olympians and 19 medalists)
● Olympic Silver Award: UCLA (21 U.S. Olympians and 14 medalists)
● Olympic Bronze Award: Florida (14 U.S. Olympians and 10 medalists)
● Paralympic Gold Award: Illinois (20 U.S. Paralympians and nine medalists)

For Beijing 2022, 85 Olympians and 17 Paralympians competed for 54 schools; the top producers:

● Olympic Gold Award: Minnesota (12 U.S. Olympians and eight medalists)
● Olympic Silver Award: Wisconsin (five U.S. Olympians and five medalists)
● Olympic Bronze Award: Boston College (five U.S. Olympians and three medalists)
● Paralympic Gold Award: New Hampshire (four U.S. Paralympians and four medalists)

Additional Collegiate Impact Awards were given for support in eight specific sports, including Diving (University of Texas), Fencing (Notre Dame), Ski & Snowboard (Utah), Softball (UCLA), Swimming (Georgia), Track & Field (Oregon), Water Polo (Stanford) and Wrestling (Penn State).

● Figure Skating ● A special honor for Maia and Alex Shibutani, the brother-sister Ice Dance stars who won 2018 Olympic bronzes in Ice Dance and the Team Event, and World Championships medals for Ice Dance in 2011 (bronze), 2016 (silver) and 2017 (bronze): election to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, in the Class of 2023.

They will be inducted, along with longtime head of the U.S. Figure Skating Foundation, George Taylor, on 28 January 2023 during the U.S. nationals in San Jose.

● Football ● In the aftermath of the player abuse scandal at the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League, owner Merritt Paulson announced Thursday that he would sell his ownership interest in the Thorns, but not in the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, of which he is also the owner. He said in a statement:

“I regret the role our organization played in the failures identified by the investigations. Despite these challenges, the Portland Thorns have a bright future ahead and a lot left to accomplish.

“To fully realize that potential, I believe it is in best interest of the Thorns to have a new owner so that the Club can operate at the league level with a fresh voice to be a driving force for the NWSL. This has been a difficult decision for me, but I believe this is the best way to position the Thorns for continued success during this next chapter of the NWSL and the sport.”

U.S. Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis, who led two Americans teams to the FIFA Women’s World Cup title, in 2015 and 2019, was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

She was elected in the “Builders” category, which includes referees, coaches, and owners and administrators; only coaches were eligible in this selection. Ellis will be inducted in the Class of 2023 ceremony on May 6.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Argentina, France, Australia and Poland move on at World Cup; good World Cup first-week ratings; Russia T&F return moving ahead

Rich Perelman

December 1, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement. ★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Argentina up from the dead, move on with France, Australia, Poland
2. FOX averaging 4.88 million viewers in World Cup’s first week
3. Russia on road to World Athletics reinstatement, maybe
4. Italy’s Rossi defeats Russia’s Lisin for ISSF Presidency
5. BCW survey finds “dialogue” preferred to elections of event hosts

The drama continues to build at the FIFA World Cup, as Argentina came back from losing a shocker to Saudi Arabia to win its group, while Mexico beat the Saudis, but came up a goal short of advancing. France and Australia advanced from Group D. The World Cup audience in the U.S. has been quite good, with FOX averaging 4.88 million on its telecasts, FS1 at more than 1.5 million and Telemundo at about 2.5 million. The U.S. games are outdrawing everything outside of the NFL. The World Athletics Council heard a positive report from its Russia Task Force that reforms are taking hold and a recommendation to end the seven-year suspension could come in March. But the ban over the war in Ukraine remains. At the International Shooting Sports Federation Congress in Egypt, Italian Luciano Rossi edged Russian billionaire Vladimir Lisin for president, by nine votes, removing the last Russian leader of an International Federation. A survey of 100 cities involved in bidding for major events showed that 56% preferred the new, less costly “dialogue” method of selection compared to direct elections.

1.
Argentina up from the dead, move on with
France, Australia, Poland

Superstar Lionel Messi and Argentina looked like they might be dead at the 2022 World Cup after a come-from-ahead, 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia on the third day of the tournament. But in its following two games, it shut down Mexico and Poland by a combined 4-0 score and won Group C with six points.

Mexico, which had scored no goals in the tournament, stormed past Saudi Arabia, 2-1, and looked like it would score perhaps a half-dozen times. But the late Saudi goal at 90+5 kept them from advancing on goal differential, -1 to 0 against Poland.

In Group D, France rested some of its top players for most of the game against Tunisia, and lost by 1-0 on a 58th-minute goal by Wahbi Khazri and a stout defense against a frantic French attack in the final minutes.

Australia overcame a surprisingly weak Denmark team – ranked no. 10 in the world coming in – and won by 1-0, with Matthew Leckie scoring in the 60th minute. The Danes managed just one goal in their three games.

On Thursday, Spain (1-0-1: four points) will face Japan (1-1: 3) in Group E, along with Costa Rica (1-1: 3) vs. Germany (0-1-1: 1). In Group F, the very disappointing, no. 2-ranked Belgians (1-1: 3) – who have scored one goal thus far – will play Croatia (1-0-1: 4) and need to win to advance. Morocco (1-0-1: 4) will play winless Canada (0-2: 0 and one goal so far), probably needing to win to move on.

The final group matches will be played Friday, with the elimination round starting on Saturday.

2.
FOX averaging 4.88 million viewers in World Cup’s first week

The U.S. audience is strong for the FIFA World Cup, with FOX, FS1 and Telemundo all showing good ratings for the first full week of the tournament:

● 4.88 million average for 12 matches on FOX (English)
● 1.57 million average for 16 matches on FS1 (English)
● 2.57 million average for 24 matches on Telemundo (Spanish)

(The Telemundo figure is somewhat overstated due to a lack of information for the four matches that aired at 5 a.m. Eastern time.)

The U.S. team is, of course, the most popular attraction, with FOX figures available for the final group match with Iran:

● 21 Nov.: 11.161 million vs. Wales (combined)
● 25 Nov.: 20.090 million vs. England (combined)
● 29 Nov.: 12.013 million vs. Iran (FOX only)

The FOX audience for U.S.-Iran peaked at 15.6 million in the final moments, when the U.S. was hanging onto a 1-0 lead. The three American matches on FOX averaged 11.755 million, which beats just about everything except the NFL (although Michigan at Ohio State drew 17.14 million on Saturday the 26th, also on FOX).

The other big draw, of course, was Mexico, especially on Telemundo. Its first match against Poland drew 4.6 million total on Telemundo (3.509 million on FOX) and 8.9 million against Argentina (4.132 million on FS1). That’s 13.03 million for the Argentina game combined!

The next favorite is Brazil, which drew a mammoth audience on Thanksgiving of 6.187 million against Serbia at 2 p.m. Eastern on FOX and 5.7 million on Telemundo for a combined 12.88 million.

Skiing and skating were also on this past week, with 825,000 watching Sunday’s highlights package from the ISU Grand Prix in Espoo (FIN) on NBC.

The early-season FIS Alpine World Cup races for women from Killington, Vermont drew a respectable 594,000 on Saturday on NBC and 488,000 on Sunday.

3.
Russia on road to World Athletics reinstatement, maybe

On Wednesday, the World Athletics Council heard the latest report from the Russian Task Force head by Rune Andersen (NOR), which was encouraged by the latest actions of the All-Russia Athletics Federation. The Task Force report noted:

● “In October/November 2022, an independent audit was carried out of RusAF’s progress against the requirements in the Reinstatement Plan approved by Council in March 2021. RusAF passed that audit, subject to taking two remedial measures …”

● “Under Acting President Irina Privalova, the current RusAF leadership team has embedded a new culture of good governance and zero tolerance for doping throughout the organisation.”

● “Following positive changes at senior leadership level, RUSADA also appears to be working effectively at an operational level. In particular, it has developed a test distribution plan that includes more than 2,000 domestic tests of Russian track & field athletes per year, most of which are out-of-competition tests.”

● “The Taskforce is not naive, however. It acknowledges that widespread and sustainable cultural change will likely take many years to embed, and regions and stakeholders will inevitably proceed at different paces and with different degrees of support for that change. Furthermore, RusAF remains subject to the oversight and control of the Russian Government, and the Taskforce notes with concern the decision of the RUSADA disciplinary commission not to publish its findings in the case of ice-skater Kamila Valieva, which indicates that not all parts of the domestic anti-doping framework are operating as robustly and independently as they should.”

The Task Force expects to make a final recommendation concerning Russia in March 2023, and a plan is in place for the Athletics Integrity Unit to take over the Task Force’s responsibilities, with a full-time staff working in the Russian federation’s offices in Moscow. It also notes, however, that any significant future breach of the post-reinstatement conditions “will trigger a Council proposal that Congress expels RusAF permanently from membership of World Athletics.”

That’s the good news for Russia, which has been on suspension by World Athletics since 2015. On the other hand, the report also stated:

“In March 2022, in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Council decided to exclude Russian and Belarussian athletes, support personnel and officials from World Athletics Series events until further notice, but said that the Taskforce should nevertheless continue its work monitoring and overseeing RusAF’s attempts to meet the reinstatement conditions. The Taskforce reminds Council that the Taskforce’s consideration of progress of the reinstatement plan has no bearing on any Council decision on RusAF arising from the war in Ukraine.”

A discussion on the doping situation in Kenya took place, but no action was taken against Athletics Kenya in view of the commitment of $5 million by the government to help stem the tide of cases.

An information session was held on the ongoing revision of the World Athletics regulations for athletes with Differences in Sex Development and for Transgender athletes. A revised set of regulations will be offered for Council approval next March.

The Council also assigned the World Athletics Relays to its original host, Nassau (BAH) for 2024, a meet with significant qualifying implications for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

4.
Italy’s Rossi defeats Russia’s Lisin for ISSF Presidency

The last Russian head of an Olympic International Federation was defeated in his bid for a second term as President of the International Shooting Sports Federation at the ISSF Congress in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Wednesday.

Italian Luciano Rossi, who had lost by four votes (148-144) in 2018, defeated incumbent Vladimir Lisin of Russia, by 136-127.

Said Rossi, “I am naturally delighted with this result. Certainly with this result today my determination and passion for the sport of shooting is rewarded.

“I thank everyone, in particular my family and those who enthusiastically voted for me. But I also thank those who did not vote for me because I truly intend to be everyone’s President for the relaunch of our sport and for the democratic management of the International Federation.”

Lisin, a billionaire, had contributed millions to the ISSF himself, but the federation remained divided on his leadership. He was the only Russian to head an Olympic-program IF, as fellow billionaire Alisher Usmanov had previously “stepped back” from his role as elected head of the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

ISSF Secretary General Alexander Ratner, a former Russian and now German citizen, had written and circulated a letter in three languages last week harshly criticizing Rossi and supporting Lisin in the election, is expected to be replaced during Thursday’s session.

American star Kimberly Rhode, who won medals in six straight Olympic Games in trap and skeet, was elected as one of four ISSF Vice Presidents.

5.
BCW survey finds “dialogue” preferred to elections of event hosts

Is the new “dialogue” style of sports-event bidding better or worse than straight-out competitive elections? The communications giant Burson Cohn & Wolfe asked that question of 100 worldwide cities (no breakdown was given as to countries) involved in bids today.

The direct question between “dialogue” and elections was fairly clear, with 56% preferring the “dialogue” style to 31% who liked elections and the remainder having no preference. One voter commented, “A transparent, constant dialogue is always preferable. But this can be placed in a traditional bidding context as well.”

The main benefit of the “dialogue” system was the ability to interact – instead of just react – with the rights holder, with 32% noting the opportunity to influence the event requirements and 32% appreciating the learning curve possible in such a system. The lowered cost was favored by 24% and 11% noted that losing was not made public.

The positives of elections were “Transparency in the decision-making process” for 31% and “Clear timeline for the process” for 29%. Said one respondent, “Traditional bidding process has the benefit of ‘keeping everyone honest’ but history is littered with many examples where this has not been the case.”

Asked whether your city missed out on bidding for an event because it did not know about the process, 66% said “Never” or “Rarely” and 20% did not know. Only 14% were asleep.

Winning a competitive bid does generate more attention to the event for 64% of the respondents, with one commenting “Excitement is generated by the act of winning a competitive bid because it is a sign that other cities also value the event.”

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group C: Argentina 2, Poland 0 ● A draw would suit Poland fine, but the Argentines were in possession and had six shots in the first 30 minutes.

And it looked good for Argentina when a penalty was called on Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny against superstar striker Lionel Messi. But Messi’s hard shot to his right in the 39th minute was punched away cleanly by Szczesny, his second saved penalty in the tournament thus far! The half ended scoreless, with Argentina leading on shots, 12-2, and with 66% of possession.

The second half started the same way, with Argentina on offense and just a minute in, midfielder Alexis MacAllister sent a right-footed blast into the Polish net off defender Nahuel Molina’s cross for a 1-0 lead.

Argentina kept up the pressure and in the 67th, forward Julian Alvarez got a goal from the center of the box off a through-ball by midfielder Enzo Fernandez to increase the lead to 2-0. At that point, Argentina had 19 shots to Poland’s 4.

Poland’s only answer was the continued brilliance of Szczesny, who saved 11 shots as Argentina piled up a 23-4 shots edge and had 73% possession for the game. Losing by 2-0 proved to be enough for Poland to get to the elimination stage for the first time since 1986.

For Argentina, one of the pre-tournament favorites, they survived their shocking first-game loss to the Saudis, convincingly defeating Mexico and Poland by 2-0 scores. They are still very, very dangerous.

● Group C: Mexico 2, Saudi Arabia 1 ● Mexico needed to win to advance out of the group, which it had done in its past seven World Cup appearances from 1990-2018, but had not yet scored a goal in its two games. And they were on offense right away, generating shots by midfielder Luis Chavez (2), and forwards Alexis Vega, Orbelin Pineda and Hirving Lozano in the first half-hour, while controlling 71% of possession.

Mexico dominated the half, with 69% of possession and a 11-4 shots advantage, but nothing on the scoreboard. The second half started with more Mexican fireworks, with more shots at the Saudi goal and off a corner, defender Cesar Montes flicked the ball toward the front of the goal and striker Henry Martin kicked it in for a 1-0 lead in the 47th.

Then, suddenly, Chavez sent a curving free kick off the wall from 30 yards out and into the corner of the net in the 52nd minute for his first-ever international goal; 2-0! Lozano scored again in the 56th, but was offsides and the game remained, 2-0.

The Saudis needed to at least tie the game to advance, but the Mexican offensive avalanche continued, up 17-8 in shots and 7-1 in shots-on-goal by the 70th minute. There was no let-up, with Uriel Antuna’s goal in the 87th was called back for offsides.

But Mexico could not get a third goal, despite an unrelenting offensive push that ended with 26 shots to 10 and 61% of possession. But a late defensive breakdown allowed a give-and-go with midfielders Salem Al-Dawsari and Hattan Bahbri that ended with a Al-Dawsari goal at 90+5 that made the final 2-1.

That late goal turned out to be the difference, as both Poland and Mexico finished with 1-1-1 records and four points, but Poland had a goal differential of zero to minus-one for the Mexicans.

● Group D: Tunisia 1, France 0 ● The French were already through to the Round of 16 after winning their first two games, but although dominating play, were unable to score and lost on Wahbi Khazri’s goal in the 58th minute.

Tunisia actually scored in the eighth minute on a header by defender Nader Ghandri, but he was offside and the first half ended scoreless. Khazri, who was born in France, dribbled the ball down the middle, got just inside the box and sent a left-footed, skipping shot straight to the right corner of the French goal for a 1-0 lead.

France rested some of its stars, but many of them came in past the 60-minute mark and its attack became more focused. But they could not score against the packed-in Tunisian defense.

However, midfielder Antoine Griezmann appeared to tie the game at 90+8, but was offsides as the ball was played in, preserving the shutout and giving the Tunisians an emotional win.

France had 66% of the possession and led in shots, 10-5, but ended up winning the group at 2-1 and six points.

● Group D: Australia 1, Denmark 0 ● After a tie and a loss, Denmark needed a win to advance out of the group but Australia (1-1) might have been able to get through with a draw.

The Danes, the Euro 2020 semi-finalists and ranked no. 10 worldwide, were on the ball in the first half and had 65% of possession and a couple of shots on goal, keeping Aussie keeper Mathew Ryan busy. But it was 0-0 until Australian midfielder Matthew Leckie took a long lead pass from striker Riley McGree in the middle of the field, dribbled inside, reversed, then sent a low line-drive from left to right into the far corner of the Danish net in the 60th for a 1-0 lead.

As the game went on, Denmark got weaker and could not mount a serious challenge for the tie, despite ending with 69% of possession and a 13-8 edge in shots. The 1-0 win propels Australia into the Round of 16 with six points (2-1), while the Danes scored one goal in three matches and ended 0-2-1 (W-L-T).

The Danes wore their red home jerseys and did not bring out their highly-publicized, black “color of mourning” jerseys to highlight their concerns over migrant labor conditions in Qatar. Denmark was perhaps the most strident team in the tournament in highlighting Qatar’s labor policies, but are now – to their amazement, no doubt – on the way home.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Basketball ● The Class of 2022 was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the FIBA headquarters in Mies (SUI) on Wednesday. Nine individuals from women’s basketball were inducted as part of a focus on the women’s game, including two Americans: star center Lisa Leslie and University of Connecticut and U.S. Olympic Team coach Geno Auriemma.

The other inductees include players Robin Maher (AUS), Catarina Pollini (ITA), Jurgita Streimikyte-Virbickiene (LTU) and Mame Maty Mbengue (SEN), and coaches Antonio Carlos Barbosa (BRA), the late Milan “Ciga” Vasojevic (SRB) and Maria Planas (ESP).

● Football ● One of the stories of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been the stunning expansion of stoppage time, in some cases to 11-12 minutes beyond the normal 45 minutes of each half. FIFA Referees Committee chair Pierluigi Collina (ITA) explained that actual playing time had decreased to perhaps 50 minutes – out of 90-plus – in matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia:

“If we look back at Russia, the average amount of stoppage time was six and a half minutes.

“There was a maximum of six substitutions there compared to the ten we have now, and if we adapt that accordingly with the four extra substitutions, we can assume one extra minute. So we’ve gone from the equivalent of seven and a half minutes in Russia to ten minutes in Qatar, which is not a dramatic change, but it offers us the possibility to have an average of almost 59 minutes of actual playing time. We’re quite happy with this result.”

● Swimming ● The four-day, long-course U.S. Open began on Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina, with Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky easily taking the women’s 800 m Free on opening night in 8:13.90, the no. 7 performance of the year (she has five of the top six). She won by 23.99 seconds over fellow American Michaela Mattes (8:37.89).

Brazil’s Guilherme Costa won the men’s 800 m Free in 7:54.10, well off his seasonal best of 7:46.90. The meet continues through Saturday.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: U.S. beats Iran, 1-0, to advance at World Cup; 400-500 killed in World Cup build-up? USATF revenues skid, but Siegel gets $3.8M

Rich Perelman

November 30, 2022

tsx pix 2022-325 pulisic, christian 750 (ussf) — American star Christian Pulisic was the difference in the U.S.'s 1-0 win over Iran in the World Cup (Photo: U.S. Soccer Federation)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. U.S. advances to World Cup eliminations, as do England, Senegal, Dutch
2. UEFA and South America only confeds with winning records so far
3. Qatar admits 400-500 World Cup deaths, but figure walked back
4. GAISF, formed in 1967 to protect sports federations, dissolved
5. USA Track Field tax form shows revenues down, Siegel gets $3.8 million

The final matches in FIFA World Cups groups A and B saw the Netherlands and Senegal advance to the elimination round as well as England and the U.S., which defeated Iran, 1-0, in a tense match in Qatar. As with the 2018 edition, European teams continue to dominate the action, and among the five continental confederations participating in the World Cup, only the Europeans and South Americans have winning records through the first two round of group matches. The Secretary General of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for the organization of the World Cup said that between 400 and 500 people died on World Cup projects, but the statement was quickly walked back by the Supreme Committee press office, which said that figure referred to the total number of work-related deaths in the country from 2014-20. The Global Association of International Sports Federations, at one time a leading voice for sport in the Olympic Movement, voted to dissolve itself, leaving the International Olympic Committee even more firmly in control. USA Track & Field posted its Federal tax return for 2021, showing that chief executive Max Siegel was paid more than $3.8 million, moving forward bonuses not due until 2024. The federation’s revenues remained flat and have not kept up with inflation since 2014.

1.
U.S. advances to World Cup eliminations, as does England, Senegal, Dutch

The U.S. Men’s National Team scored two goals in three FIFA World Cup matches, but it was enough to earn two draws and a tense, 1-0 win over Iran on Tuesday, advancing to the elimination rounds as the second team out of Group B (1-0-2 W-L-T).

England won the group with a 2-0-1 record, beating Wales by 3-0 on Tuesday and will face Senegal, the second team from Group A next Sunday. The Senegalese (2-1) won their final Group A game with a goal in the 70th minute to eliminate Ecuador (1-1-1), 2-1.

The Netherlands skipped past Qatar, 2-0, to win Group A to 2-0-1 and will play the U.S. on Saturday.

Coming Wednesday are the final games in Groups C and D:

● Group C: Everything is still up for grabs, with Poland (1-0-1: 4 points) facing Argentina (1-1: 3), while Saudi Arabia (1-1) will play Mexico (0-1-1: 1). Any of the four could advance, and Argentina could overcome its shocking opening loss to the Saudis by winning its match.

● Group D: France won its first two games outright and will win the group, as it plays Tunisia (0-1-1: 1 point), which is still mathematically alive, but has to beat the French. Australia (1-0-1: 4) faces Denmark (0-1-1: 1), which needs a win to have any chance of advancement.

Groups E and F will play on Thursday (1st), with Spain (4 points) facing Japan (3) and Costa Rica (3) against Germany (1) in Group E. Disappointing Belgium (1 point) needs to win in its final Group F match against Croatia (4) to advance, while Morocco (4) plays hard-lick Canada (0-2: 0).

2.
UEFA and South America only confeds with winning records so far

Europe (UEFA) dominated the 2018 World Cup in Russia, sending 10 teams to the Round of 16, six to the quarterfinals and had all four semifinalists. It may turn out the same way in Qatar, but the Europeans have not been as dominant in 2022 through the first two rounds of the group stage.

In matches through the first two rounds only (records shown W-L-T), traditional powers UEFA and CONMEBOL (South America) are the only continental confederations with winning records thus far:

● Africa: 5 qualifiers: 3-4-3 overall, and 1-3-3 vs. Europe

● Asia: 6 qualifiers: 4-7-1 overall, and 2-3-0 vs Europe

● CONCACAF: 4 qualifiers: 1-4-2 overall, and 0-3-3 vs. Europe

● Europe: 13 qualifiers: 11-6-9 overall and 10-5-7 vs. non-Europeans

● South America: 4 qualifiers: 4-2-2 overall and 2-1-1 vs. Europe, thanks to Brazil’s two wins over Serbia and Switzerland.

On Tuesday, Groups A and B sent Netherlands and England on to the elimination round, with Wales the first European team eliminated. France, Portugal and Brazil have already clinched a spot in the playoffs as well.

For comparison, UEFA teams – with 14 qualified – were 17-6-5 through the first two rounds in Russia in 2018 and 15-4-3 against non-European squads.

3.
Qatar admits 400-500 World Cup deaths, but figure walked back

On the syndicated “Piers Uncensored” program, the British host Piers Morgan asked Hassan Al-Thawadi, the Secretary General of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy:

“What is the honest, realistic total do you think of migrant workers who died from/as a result of work they’re doing for the World Cup in totality?”

The response was, “The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500. I don’t have the exact number. That’s something that’s been discussed.”

Among the jumble of numbers thrown around by various groups concerning Qatar and the World Cup, that’s a new one, but far less than the 6,500 figure reported in February 2021, which was compiled from various government figures covering all migrant-worker deaths in Qatar since it won the hosting rights for the World Cup in December 2010.

However, it was a lot higher than the Qataris have announced, and a Supreme Committee statement after the interview included:

“The Secretary General told Piers Morgan’s ‘Uncensored’ programme that there were 3 work-related deaths and 37 non-work related deaths on the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s projects.

“This is documented on an annual basis in the SC’s public reporting and covers the 8 stadiums, 17 non-competition venues and other related sites under the SC’s scope.

“Separate quotes regarding figures refer to national statistics covering the period of 2014-2020 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities.”

Morgan asked Al-Thawadi about the recognition that the migrant-worker situation had to change once the World Cup was assigned to Qatar:

“I think, overall, the need for reform in itself dictates that, yes, improvements have to happen. And just so we’re clear, this was something that was recognized before we bid. The improvements that have happened isn’t because of the World Cup. These are improvements that we knew we had to do, because of our own values, improvements that have to happen whether it’s in terms of health and safety standards, whether it’s in terms of improving accommodations standards, whether it’s in terms of dismantling the kafala system.

“Now, what the World Cup did, the World Cup served as a vehicle, as an accelerator, as a catalyst, because of the spotlight which we recognized early on was going to be shed. It caused a lot of these initiatives, not only in terms of improvement in the legislation, but in the enforcement of it as well.”

4.
GAISF, formed in 1967 to protect sports federations, dissolved

The Global Association of International Sports Federations, meeting in an Extraordinary General Assembly, voted by 70-22 to dissolve itself.

The group, originally known as the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (also GAISF), was created to be “[t]he united voice of sports, protecting the interests of International Federations.” It was, for several decades, a major force in international sport and the pathway for federations to become recognized as worldwide sports and possible additions to the Olympic Games program.

But as the position of the International Olympic Committee has become stronger over time, thanks to its funding by television rights sales and corporate sponsorships, GAISF’s position became weak. In 2015, then-GAISF President Marius Vizer (ROU), also the head of the International Judo Federation, opened the body’s massive Sport Accord conference by telling IOC President Thomas Bach (GER):

“Mr. President, stop blocking the SportAccord strategy in its mission to identify and organise conventions and multi-sport games. Do not try to create a theory around which sports are and are not eligible for multi-sport games. …

“Do not try to impose upon the organisers of SportAccord events guidelines on how to distribute funds generated and earned by ourselves. Do not interfere in the autonomy of the sport organisations.”

GAISF did create the World Mind Games in 2008 and 2012, World Urban Games (2019) and the World Combat Games in 2010, 2013 and in Riyadh (KSA) for 2023. But none became a stand-alone success that propelled the organization forward. The Sport Accord convention has been a success, beginning in 2003, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic has not been held since 2019.

The many sports federations will now be represented by organizations recognized and overseen by the IOC:

● Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF);

● Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF);

● Association of Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) for sports recognized by the IOC, but not part of the permanent Olympic program;

● Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) for all others.

The dissolution announcement also noted that “SportAccord, which will take on many of the activities of GAISF, will commence, including a revised governance structure with the Association of IOC Recognised International Sport Federations (ARISF) and Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sports (AIMS) becoming members alongside the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF).”

Observed: If this sounds like an inside-politics development within the Olympic Movement, it is. But it is noteworthy as it underscores the central power of the IOC and especially its financial resources over almost every – but not all – international federations, excepting FIFA of course.

5.
USA Track Field tax form shows revenues down,
Siegel gets $3.8 million

Although the USA Track & Field financial statements for 2021 had already been posted, the federation’s Federal Form 990 annual tax return was available on its Web site and while reactions to chief executive Max Siegel’s $3.76 million cash pay, the financials showed a 7.5% drop in revenues.

In fact, USATF has been financially stuck in neutral since Nike began its massive sponsorship upgrade in 2014. Here are the USATF annual revenues since 2010, with Siegel starting as chief executive in April 2012:

● 2010 ~ $19.45 million
● 2011 ~ $19.08 million
● 2012 ~ $23.41 million
● 2013 ~ $19.59 million
● 2014 ~ $35.05 million ($15M sponsor bonus from Nike)
● 2015 ~ $32.48 million (sponsors $22.47M)
● 2016 ~ $37.34 million (sponsors $23.09M)
● 2017 ~ $35.09 million (sponsors $23.20M)
● 2018 ~ $34.47 million (sponsors $22.62M)
● 2019 ~ $34.32 million (sponsors $21.98M)
● 2020 ~ $37.47 million (sponsors $21.09M)
● 2021 ~ $34.63 million (sponsors $20.21M)

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee contributed $5.47 million to USATF in 2020 and $5.84 million in 2021. Sponsorships and the USOPC accounted for 75.2% of revenues. Events and related programs earned $3.94 million, or 11.4%.

USATF revenues have not even kept up with inflation; in 2014, it earned $35.05 million and came in at $34.63 million in 2021.

As for Siegel, his $3.76 million pay for 2021 includes “deferred bonus” amounts which were specified in 2018, believed to be tied to the monster Nike sponsorship deal. The 2018 financials stated “CEO current year reported compensation includes contractual deferred bonuses payable over a period of seven years through 2024. For accounting purposes, these bonuses were deemed earned in the current and prior years, but they will not be paid until the future years stated in the employment contract.”

Siegel received $500,000 in 2020 which was previously reported as deferred, but $2.5 million of previously-deferred bonuses in 2021, against a specified total of deferred comp (including retirement contributions) of $3,027,250 in the 2018 statements.

Chief Operating Officer Renee Washington saw her compensation jump to $1.64 million, including $1.01 million in “other reportable compensation” for which no details were provided.

USATF provided a statement to Runner’s World regarding Siegel’s salary:

“The CEO is evaluated yearly and is judged on overall organizational performance. The board is extremely pleased with Max’s performance. The organization’s success on and off the field of play has been historic under his leadership and we are poised to continue that trajectory. The USATF Board is comfortable with Max’s salary level and as a part of this year’s evaluation, we will do a deep dive with an outside firm to analyze his salary based on his level of expertise and how it compares to organizations with similar or smaller operating budgets.”

Observed: Three-time Olympic gold medalist Tianna (Madison) Bartoletta crystalized the issue perfectly on Twitter:

“I just want to point out that this salary had to be voted on and approved by the board of directors. So this whole ‘Max is bad’ refrain doesn’t take into account that 24 people (including peers in the [Athlete Advisory Committee]) okay’d this. Don’t just, ‘ask Max’ that’s not how it works.”

The USATF Board, the same one which demoted elected President Vin Lananna, is responsible for Siegel’s pay, but also for the lack of growth in the federation’s revenues. Just using inflation, $35.05 million in 2014 is worth about $44.12 million in 2022. By that standard, USATF’s revenues are down, effectively, 21.5%.

At USA Swimming, the other major – but much less visible – medal producer for the United States at the Olympic Games, revenues jump in Olympic and FINA World Championships years:

● 2016 ~ $45.84 million ~ Olympic year
● 2017 ~ $43.09 million ~ Worlds year
● 2018 ~ $34.81 million
● 2019 ~ $46.48 million ~ Worlds year
● 2020 ~ $36.39 million
● 2021 ~ $42.53 million ~ Olympic year (delayed)

Its chief executive, Tim Hinchey, received $1.037 million in salary and bonuses for 2021.

It is also noteworthy that Siegel’s bonuses, according to USATF’s financial statements, were due to be paid through 2024. Payments for 2022-23-24 were advanced to 2021; why?

With the USATF Annual Meeting coming up this week from 1-4 December in Florida, delegates may want to ask their Board reps – and Siegel and Washington – about what will be done to expand the sport’s revenue and profile, especially now that the excitement of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene has passed.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group A: Netherlands 2, Qatar 0 ● Cody Gapko scored his third goal in three games for the Dutch in the 26th minute for the first goal in a decisive win.

The Netherlands won Group A with a 2-0-1 record and seven points. Gapko’s goal gave the Dutch a 1-0 lead at halftime and the lead increased to 2-0 on a Frenkie de Jong goal in the 49th minute after a Memphis Depay shot was blocked.

The Dutch got a third goal in the 68th from Steven Berghuis, but it was disallowed after a video review.

The Netherlands had 63% of possession and a 13-5 edge on shots. Qatar finished 0-3 in the group.

● Group A: Senegal 2, Ecuador 1 ● The winner was going to advance in this game and Senegal was pushing hard from the start. There was no score until the 44th minute when forward Ismaila Sarr was fouled by Piero Hincapie while charging toward goal, and then converted the penalty for a 1-0 lead.

Ecuador went on the offensive in the second half and a long corner found defender Felix Torres, who headed the ball to his left, where midfielder Moses Caicedo popped it into the goal to tie the match in the 67th.

That energized Senegal, which got a free kick on the Ecuador zone in the 70th minute that was headed off Ecuador star Enner Valencia and found defender Kalidou Koulibaly on the right side of goal and he volleyed it home for what turned out to be the winning goal.

Ecuador pressed, but could not get an equalizer and Senegal advanced out of the group. Ecuador enjoyed 61% of the possession in the game, but Senegal had 14 shots to nine.

● Group B: England 3, Wales 0 ● There was no score in the first half, but the English were clearly in control and struck twice early in the second half on back-to-back goals from Marcus Rashford in the 50th minute and Phil Foden in the 51st.

After Foden won a free kick on the left side in the 49th, Rashford sent a curving strike into the top right corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 50th. Then after winning the ball back, striker Harry Kane sent a cross all the way across the field to the back post and Foden kicked it in for a 2-0 edge.

England got a third goal in the 68th minute, as Rashford dribbled to his left and then sent a hard, low ball through the legs of Welsh keeper Danny Ward for the final score.

The English controlled the ball for 65% of the time and had 18 shots to seven for Wales, which managed only one goal on its three games at the World Cup.

● Group B: United States 1, Iran 0 ● The Americans needed to win and were the aggressors from the start, trying to break down a packed-in Iranian defense. There were chances, especially for Tim Weah on a header in the 28th and then a Weah blast that went over the goal in the 33rd.

Iran rarely came forward and the U.S. continued to press, when a seeing-eye pass from Weston McKennie in the midfield found Sergino Dest on the right side of the penalty area in the 38th minute. He sent a perfect header to the front of the goal and found a charging Christian Pulisic, who right-footed the ball into the net as he crashed into keeper Edouard Mendy.

Pulisic was laboring badly on the sideline and the U.S. played with 10 men for about five minutes, when Pulisic came back on, albeit not at full speed. He left at halftime and had suffered a pelvic contusion, but says he will play on Saturday.

Weah scored again on a seeing-eye shot from the left side at 45+6, but was ruled offsides. The Americans had 61% of possession and a 9-0 lead in shots in the half.

The U.S. started well in the second half, but went into a defense-first mode after 60 minutes and barely held on for the win. Striker Saman Ghoddos missed a chance in the 65th minute when his shot went over the net and wide to the right.

There was the occasional foray on offense for the U.S., with Yunus Musah smashing a shot over the Iranian net in the 68th, but it was mostly a defensive effort through 90 minutes and nine minutes of stoppage time. Coach Gregg Berhalter brought in defenders Shaq Moore and Walker Zimmerman in the 82nd minute to place five across the back, and they helped hold on to the lead.

Some late Iranian theatrics, asking for penalty shots, were ignored by Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lopez and the U.S. escaped with the win and advanced. The Americans ended with 51% of possession and a 12-4 edge on shots.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Olympic Games 1928: Amsterdam ● A controversial statue of Dutch athlete Frist van Tuyll van Serooskerken, who was also the first chair of the Dutch Olympic Committee, will be allowed to remain in the stairwell of the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium.

The statue depicts van Tuyll van Serooskerken giving a Roman-style salute, which is now recognized as the infamous German Nazi salute, with the right arm extended straight from the shoulder. It was moved by stadium officials earlier this year after a study established it is inextricably tied by the public to the Nazis, even though it was erected in 1928, prior to the Nazi takeover of Germany in 1933.

The removal to the stairwell was challenged by a conservation group, but a District Court ruled that it can remain there “in order to prevent the monument from causing misunderstanding among visitors because of its association with the Hitler salute.”

● Archery ● The 2022 Pan American Championships were held in Santiago (CHI) last weekend, with the U.S. winning multiple medals, but no golds.

In the Recurve (Olympic) Division, Brazil’s Marcus D’Almeida, the 2021 Worlds silver medalist, won the men’s title by 7-3 in the final over Cuba’s Hugo Franco. Mexico’s Ana Vazquez, a 2021 Worlds Team silver medalist, won the women’s final, with American Casey Kaufhold taking the bronze.

Mexico won the team events for men, women and mixed pairs; the U.S. won a bronze in the men’s division, lost in a shoot-off in the women’s championship final (28-27) to settle for silver and won the Mixed Team silver, but lost, 6-0, to Mexico in the final. Kaufhold ended with three medals in all: two team silvers and an individual bronze.

● Athletics ● Rio 2016 Olympic Hassan Mead was suspended for three years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for use of the testosterone substitutes Ostarine and Ligandrol, found during an out-of-competition test in October 2022. Per the USADA:

“Mead retired on November 8, 2022. Therefore, his period of ineligibility will continue until Mead returns from retirement and serves the remainder of his period of ineligibility. In addition, Mead has been disqualified from all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to October 17, 2022, the date his positive sample was collected.”

Mead finished 11th in the Rio 2016 5,000 m final and made three World Championships teams, finishing 11th in the 5,000 m in 2019 and 15th in the Worlds 10,000 m races in 2015 and 2017. He retired with bests of 3:37.65 for 1,500 m (2016), 13.02.80 in the 5,000 m (2014) and 27:32.49 in the 10,000 m in 2017.

● Cycling ● The UCI Track Champions League is ongoing, with three of five stops completed and the circuit moving to London for the final stages this weekend.

Thus far, the men’s Sprint leader is Dutch star Harrie Lavreysen, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sprint champ, with 111 points, to lead Matt Richardson (AUS: 109) and Stefan Botticher (GER: 86). The Endurance leader is Swiss Claudio Imhof (80), ahead of Mathias Guillemette (CAN: 74).

France’s Mathilde Gros, the 2022 World Sprint Champion, leads the women’s Sprint standings with 83 points to 74 for Colombian star Martha Bayona. American Jennifer Valente, the Tokyo 2020 Omnium winner, leads the Endurance table at 98 points, just one ahead of Britain’s Katie Archibald, the two-time World Champion in the Omnium.

The UCI reported that a sports science study from the first two events collected data on 43 different metrics. Of note was the duel between Archibald and Valente in the Scratch in Berlin, where Archibald reached a heart rate of 200 beats per minute (to win) to 190 for Valente. Gros was even better, reaching 204 beats per minute in the Keirin race at the second stop in Berlin.

● Football ● Agence France Presse reported that FIFA had approved banners supporting Iranian protestors, but even so, such items were not allowed into Tuesday’s World Cup match with the U.S. in Qatar.

The AFP report stated that it had seen a document from FIFA that included:

“FIFA allows messages promoting human rights and FIFA’s position is that ‘Women, Life, Freedom’, or the name or likeness of Mahsa Amini, are permitted. Conversely, in accordance with FIFA rules on objects prohibited to spectators, objects bearing political, insulting or discriminatory messages are prohibited. This also applies to flags of non-official countries, which can be considered as a political message.”

Reuters reported:

“Early in the second half, a group of fans briefly held up letters spelling Mahsa Amini’s name, to applause from Iranian supporters around them. Security personnel took their signs but allowed them to remain in their seats.”

It also noted that several fans were either accosted or removed by security officers for apparel with protest slogans on them.

● Volleyball ● The man who stole Olympic volleyball setter Jordyn Paulter’s Tokyo 2020 gold medal is a career criminal who pled guilty on Monday. Jordan Fernandez of Anaheim, California was sentenced to 364 days in jail and two years of probation, but was freed after already serving 179 days and getting 179 days off for good conduct after being arrested in June.

The medal was found in a plastic trash bag by a woman walking her dog in June, and turned into police. Fernandez pled guilty to first- and second-degree burglary, among other charges.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Brazil and Portugal clinch World Cup playoff spots; U.S. team not involved with Iran protest post; Kenya worried about World Athletics suspension

Rich Perelman

November 29, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1128 berhalter-adams news conf wales 750 — U.S. Men's National Team coach Gregg Berhalter (l) and captain Tyler Adams at a World Cup news conference in Qatar.

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Brazil and Portugal go through; U.S. must beat Iran to advance
2. U.S. team had nothing to do with online Iran protest post
3. Paris 2024 ticket sale process to begin on 1 December
4. Vancouver 2030 bid still alive, at least as far as IOC is concerned
5. Kenya trying to stave off possible World Athletics suspension

Another wild day at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar as heavyweights Brazil and Portugal won their matches to advance to the Round-of-16 playoffs that will start on 3 December. The U.S. men face Iran on Tuesday needed to win to advance, but a Monday news conference was all about the social-media posts that temporarily featured an Iranian flag without its Islamic Republic symbols in the middle. Coach Gregg Berhalter said the team and the coaches knew nothing about it; it was done by U.S. Soccer. The Paris 2024 organizers unveiled the Olympic ticket purchase process, with ticket “packs” to go on sale in February and March and individual tickets to be sold starting in May. Although denied provincial funding required for its bid to go forward, the Vancouver 2030 Winter Games bid group met with the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission online last week. The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee are trying to get the British Columbia government re-engaged, but have had no luck so far. In Kenya, the minister of youth, sports and arts has written to World Athletics in an effort to keep from having Kenya suspended due to its unending list of doping violations. The Kenyan government has committed $5 million over the next five years to the effort, but the situation has risen to a crisis status.

1.
Brazil and Portugal go through; U.S. must beat Iran to advance

Tournament bluebloods Brazil and Portugal both managed tightly-fought victories on Monday, going to 2-0 in group play and clinching spots in the Round of 16 prior to their third group match.

In Group G, Brazil (2-0 W-L) advanced with a tightly-contested, 1-0 win over Switzerland (1-1) and Cameroon and Serbia (both 0-1-1) fought to a wild, 3-3 draw. That means Serbia needs to beat Switzerland on Friday (2nd) and hope that Cameroon can’t beat Brazil. If Cameroon can win, it will also have four points and goal differential with Serbia or Switzerland could come into play.

In Group H, Portugal (2-0) out-fought Uruguay, 2-0, to move to the elimination round, with Uruguay now 0-1-1. Ghana won a crazy match from South Korea by 3-2, and is now 1-1 while the Koreans fell to 0-1-1. On Friday, Ghana will play Uruguay, with Ghana advancing with a win. Uruguay could get to four points with a victory, as could the Koreans if they can defeat Portugal, and then goal differential comes in.

The final matches in Group A and B will be held Tuesday, with Ecuador (1-0-1: 4 points) facing Senegal (1-1: 3), and the Netherlands (1-0-1: 4) playing Qatar (0-2: 0). The Dutch need to win to be sure of advancing, as does Ecuador, but Senegal could win the group with a win and a Dutch defeat or draw.

In Group B, England has four points (1-0-1) and plays Wales (0-1-1: 1), and needs at least a draw to advance. Iran (1-1: 3) and the U.S. (0-0-2: 2) will play, with the Iranians possibly advancing with a draw, but the U.S. moving on only if they win. A Wales win over England, however improbable that is, and an Iran draw with the U.S. will require goal differential to separate the English, Welsh and Iran.

2.
U.S. team had nothing to do with online Iran protest post

The U.S. Men’s National Team’s social-media accounts posted a graphic of the World Cup Group B standings, with Iran’s flag shown – for 24 hours – with only its colors and not its Islamic Republic symbols in the middle.

But the team itself had nothing to do with it. Per coach Gregg Berhalter at a Monday news conference:

“The players and the staff knew nothing about what was being posted.

“Sometimes things are out of our control. We believe that it’s going to be a match that the result will depend on who puts more effort in, who executes better on the field. And we’re not focused on those outside things. All we can do on our behalf is apologize on behalf of the players and the staff, but it’s not something that we are part of.

“We had no idea about what U.S. Soccer put out; the staff, the players had no idea. And for us, our focus is on this match. I don’t want to sound aloof or not caring by saying that, but the guys that worked really hard for the last four years, we have 72 hours between England and Iran, and we really are just focused on how to get past Iran and [how] we can go to this knockout stage of the tournament.

“Of course, our thoughts are with the Iranian people … the whole country, the whole team, everyone, but our focus is on this match.”

Berhalter added:

“Sport is something that should bring people together, bring countries together.

“When you look at the Olympics, to see all those countries competing at the same time, is a wonderful event. The World Cup is very similar, where people come from all around the world. Fans come from all around the world, and you get to compete on the field, as brothers, so sport does have the ability to do that.”

CNN reported that it was the U.S. Soccer Federation which posted the symbol-less Iranian flag for 24 hours to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.”

The Iranian Tasnim News Agency tweeted on Sunday:

“By posting a distorted image of the flag of the Islamic Republic of #Iran on its official account, the #US football team breached the @FIFAcom charter, for which a 10-game suspension is the appropriate penalty. Team #USA should be kicked out of the #WorldCup2022.”

3.
Paris 2024 ticket sale process to begin on 1 December

The procedure to buy Olympic Games tickets has often been complicated and irritating, something the Paris 2024 organizing committee is trying to fix. And it has at least partially succeeded with its Monday announcement of the ground rules for buying the first group of tickets, to be made available in February. According to Paris 2024:

“For the first time in Olympic history, tickets will be sold exclusively on a single, centralised and digital platform which will be open to all fans at the same time.

“Through this platform, nearly 10 million tickets will be available for the Olympic Games, with one million of these priced at just €24 and almost half priced at €50 or less for the general public. Paris 2024 is committed to accessible and affordable Games, and these ticket prices are available across the 32 sports on the Olympic Games programme that are for sale (with the exception of surfing which will not be sold).” (€1 = $1.03 today)

Sales will be made in stages, with only “ticket packs” sold between 13 February and 15 March 2023 and then individual tickets available from 11 May 2023. Both sales periods will require registration and a lottery:

● Pack sales: Buyers must register between 1 December 2022 and 31 January 2023 to get into a lottery for a time slot to buy tickets. Those selected will be scheduled for access to the ticketing site for a 48-hour period between 13 February and 15 March to buy tickets from three different sessions of sport, with up to six tickets per session. That’s what you can buy, in a variety of price ranges, with 80% of all sessions available for this sale period.

The opening and closing ceremonies will not expected to be part of this sale, nor will some high-demand finals sessions.

● Single sales: The second phase will require a new lottery – from 15 March to 23 April – with those chosen being able to buy tickets in a designated time slot beginning on 11 May 2023.

An absolute maximum of 30 tickets for the Games will be allowed for each “account.” Tickets for the Paralympic Games will go on sale in mid-2023.

4.
Vancouver 2030 bid still alive, at least as far as IOC is concerned

The Canadian-based GamesBids.com site reported Friday that despite having been shunned by the British Columbia provincial government for needed funding to stage a 2030 Olympic Winter Games, the Vancouver bid group, led by four First Nations, made a video presentation to the International Olympic Committee last week.

The Vancouver team met via Zoom with the IOC’s Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, explaining their proposal for about an hour. But it is clear that the project cannot go forward without financial support from British Columbia, on which national government support for hosting the Games is contingent.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee have asked for further talks in a 21 November open letter to provincial officials, which included:

“[W]e expected the next step to be a face-to-face meeting with all parties to discuss the costs and benefits, priorities, and possibilities. The B.C. government has not yet given any of the parties, despite attempts by us and the Nations, an opportunity to have this discussion.

“We recognize the size, complexity, and expense of any project of this nature, and respect that the B.C. government has the right not to support projects for its own reasons. … We invite the Province, under the leadership of its new Premier, David Eby, to sit down with all parties and fully explore the potential of this project – together.”

No response has been reported from Eby; per GamesBids.com:

“A poll released this week by Research Co. revealed that 57 percent across the province agree with [B.C. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Lisa] Beare’s decision to essentially end the bid while only 29 percent oppose it.”

5.
Kenya trying to stave off possible World Athletics suspension

Reuters reported last Friday that the Kenyan government has asked World Athletics not to suspend it in view of a rash of doping cases involving its athletes.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, Ababu Namwamba, tweeted last week:

● “The government is taking firm measures to protect and uphold the integrity of athletics and sports in general. Our commitment is zero tolerance to doping.”

● “We will not allow a few unethical criminal elements to soil Kenya’s hard-earned premium pedigree as a top athletics nation that prides itself on competing and winning clean. We must defeat doping and its perpetrators.”

● “I ascribe to Abraham Lincoln’s wisdom of rather losing honorably than cheating. It’s more honorable to lose than cheat.”

In a statement, Namwamba noted that the Kenyan government has committed to additional anti-doping funding of $1 million per year for five years, but also:

“We are therefore alarmed and saddened by the increase in Kenyan athletes using doping agents, which has tragically resulted in the most unfortunate downgrading of Kenya’s premium status and led to classification as a ‘Category A’ violator under the World Anti-Doping Rules in Athletics. This is despite the existing legal framework enacted to tame the doping vice.”

He also reported on a message from World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR), with Namwamba stating:

“In his communication to me this week, Coe praised the government’s action and plan in the fight against the threat of doping.

“‘I welcome the additional resources provided by the Government of Kenya in the fight against doping. The only way we can reduce the magnitude of this problem is the collective commitment of all sports stakeholders in Kenya.’”

Reuters stated that 55 Kenyans are currently banned and eight more provisionally suspended by the independent Athletics Integrity Unit. Kenya’s The Standard reported in a 13 November story that the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has additionally sanctioned 22 athletes and nine other active cases, none of which had been made public, but the site posted the list.

Further, coach Noah Busienei said that bribes are paid to keep athlete names from being publicized. He was quoted:

“They give kickbacks so that an athlete cannot be named. Some athletes have been asked to pay Sh7 or Sh8 million [$57,166 to $65,333 U.S.] not to be named. Such athletes feign injuries or claim to be on maternity leave.

“It is shocking that an athlete wins a big race, makes good money and then proceeds on maternity leave while in top form. It is normally the other way around.

“Many managers are simply out to make money. Let us avoid these brokers handling our athletes. That is when we will have a lasting solution.”

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group G: Cameroon 3, Serbia 3 ● Monday’s opening game was crazy, with three goals in each half and Cameroon coming back from a 3-1 deficit to get a tie (and a point).

Serbia had the best chances early, but Jean-Charles Castelletto scored for Cameroon in the 29th minute when a corner kick bounded off multiple heads and fell at his feet at the far right side of the goal.

But the Serbs responded with a goal in stoppage time as defender Strahinja Pavlovic headed in midfielder Dusan Tadic’s free kick from about 35 yards out at 45+1 for the tie. Two minutes later, Cameroon failed to clear and midfielder Andrija Zivkovic passed to forward Sergej Milinkovic-Savic at the top of the box and his left-footed shot found the corner of the net for a 2-1 halftime lead.

Just eight minutes into the second half, Serbia went up 3-1 on a brilliant, four-pass sequence that finally saw Zivkovic set up striker Aleksandar Mitrovic for a right-footed laser right in front of goal that whizzed by keeper Devis Epassy in the 53rd.

But Cameroon was hardly fazed and although Vincent Aboubakar appeared to be offside on a long lead pass from Castelletto, his bounding ball over the head of Serbian keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic found the net in the 63rd to close the deficit to one; the goal was awarded only after a video review. Just three minutes later, Cameroon was on another fast break, with Aboubakar sending a pass to his left to Maxim Choupo-Moting who scored on a left-footed drive to tie the game!

Both sides continued to attack, but there was no more magic. Serbia ended with 59% of the possession and 15 shots to 13, but was left wondering about the offsides call on Aboubakar’s goal.

● Group G: Brazil 1, Switzerland 0 ● A packed-in Swiss defense was going to make it difficult for Brazil to score, especially with playmaker Neymar out with an injury. The half ended 0-0, with the Brazilians frustrated and the Swiss making an occasional offensive foray. Brazil’s Vinicius Junior had one excellent chance in the 27th minute, but it was saved by Swiss keeper Yann Sommer.

But the intensity increased in the second half and a breakaway run and goal by Vinicius Junior in the 64th minute was wiped out for a video review which showed striker Richarlison was offsides at the start of the play.

Brazil kept coming and Richarlison had a chance on a tight angle at the corner of the Swiss goal in the 72nd minute that was blocked and a Bruno Guimaraes blast in the 81st was saved. But substitute midfielder Rodrygo fed star midfielder Casemiro in the middle of the box in the 83rd and he sent a line drive into the far right side of the net for the only goal of the game.

The Brazilian defense kept the Swiss without a shot the rest of the way and ended with 54% of the possession and 13 shots to six for Switzerland (which had none on goal).

● Group H: Ghana 3, South Korea 2 ● This was a furiously-played match, with Ghana seemingly in control, but the Koreans fighting back, right to the final whistle. Forward Jordan Ayew’s free kick in the 24th minute found defender Mohammed Salisu in the box for a turnaround strike and a goal, and Ghana got a second as Ayew sent a ball into the box that was headed in by forward Mohammed Kudus in the 34th.

The Koreans regrouped at the half and came out with a ferocious attack and almost scored in the 53rd on a Gue-sung Cho header that was saved, but Cho connected on midfielder Kang-in Lee’s cross to the front of goal in the 58th to cut the deficit to 2-1. Then defender Jin-su Kim saved a ball going out of bounds at the endline and sent a perfect cross into the box that Cho found again to tie the game in the 61st!

Ghana fought back and pressured the South Korean goal, with Inaki Williams missing the net in the 68th, then Ayew sent a cross into the box that Williams missed and Kudus smashed from the right side of goal and into the net for a 3-2 lead. Korea came back again and again, even through 10 minutes of stoppage time, but could not score again. The Koreans ended with 63% of possession and a 22-7 advantage in shots, but it didn’t help. Ghana won its first World Cup match since 2010.

● Group H: Portugal 2, Uruguay 0 ● Uruguay also packed in the defense, focusing on superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo and held the Portuguese scoreless through the first half. Portugal had excellent ball possession in the second half and a turn-and-shoot by attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes from the left side of the box in the 54th minute lofted its way toward the Uruguay and appeared to graze Ronaldo’s head for a 1-0 lead, but the goal was eventually credited to Fernandes instead.

Uruguay pushed hard on offense, but the Portuguese defense would not yield, although Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani got close in the 58th and forward Maximiliano Gomez hit the post from long distance in the 75th. As time wound down, Portuguese ball control was excellent, with continued pressure on the Uruguayan goal.

Fernandes was on the attack again and as Uruguayan defender Jose Gimenez fell backwards, he touched the ball with his hand – in the box – which turned into a penalty shot after video review. Fernandes buried the penalty for his second goal and the 2-0 final. Portugal had 60% of possession and a 15-11 edge on shots.

A fan ran onto the field with a rainbow flag and a T-shirt that said “respect for Iranian women” and “save Ukraine,” but was quickly removed.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Olympic Games 2020: Tokyo ● The Hakuhodo advertising agency – the second-largest in Japan – as well as the smaller Tokyu Agency and event producers Same Two Inc. and Fuji Creative Corporation had their offices searched on Monday as part of the expanding Tokyo 2020 bribery and bid-rigging scandal.

Nine companies – including these four – and a consortium were awarded contracts to produce test events for the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and then to manage one or more venues during the Games, with a total contracted value of at least ¥20 billion (about $143.56 million U.S. today). So far, the country’s three largest ad agencies have all been searched.

● Pan American Games ● Pan Am Sports announced Monday that Asuncion (PAR) will host the 2025 Junior Pan Am Games. The Pan Am Sports Extraordinary General Assembly voted for Asuncion over Santa Maria (COL) by 32-16.

● Athletics ● The Jamaican sprint great Asafa Powell announced his retirement following his 40th birthday on 23 November. He preceded Usain Bolt’s rise to fame and set or tied the 100 m world record four times from 2005-07, first lowering the mark to 9.77, then running 9.77 twice more in 2006 before a 9.74 mark at Rieti (ITA) in 2007.

Powell won an Olympic gold on the Jamaican 4×100 m relay in 2016 and World Championships golds in the 4×1 in 2009 and 2015. His best individual finishes were bronzes in the men’s 100 m at the 2007 and 2009 Worlds and he finished fifth (2004), fifth (2008) and seventh (2012) in three Olympic finals.

He had an amazing 98 races in which he ran 9.99 or better with legal wind, the most in history, plus six more that were wind-aided. His first came in 2004 and his last in 2016. He continued competing into 2021, with his last recorded 100 m race a second-place finish in 10.07 at a meet in Clermont, Florida in May.

● Boxing ● The International Boxing Association announced a “collaboration agreement” with the World Boxing Association, headed by Panamanian Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, Jr. The statement included:

“The agreement includes cooperation in the development of amateur athletes and their integration into professional boxing through specific programs.

“The parties aim to create single regulations for amateur and professional boxing including boxers’ medical safety and well-being management, coaches’ development, and accordance with technical and competition rules.”

● Fencing ● The International Fencing Federation (FIE), meeting on Saturday in Lausanne (SUI), voted 104-30 (with one abstention) to continue the ban on Russian and Belarusian fencers in all FIE competitions. The next opportunity to consider the matter again will come in March of 2023.

● Football ● With alcoholic beverages illegal in public spaces in Qatar – including during the World Cup – police and security officers have their hands full. One told the Russian news agency TASS about smuggling efforts:

“Attempts occur at almost every match. Fans are attempting to use hidden flasks in binoculars, telephone chargers and musical instruments. They also pour alcohol into bottles from other beverages. We are working attentively nevertheless.”

Monday’s news conference with the U.S. men’s team in Qatar was dominated by questions from Iranian media, many apparently pro-government. Captain Tyler Adams was asked, “are you okay to be representing the U.S., meanwhile, there’s so much discrimination happening against Black people in America?”

Adams gave an impressive reply, including:

“There’s discrimination everywhere you go. One thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years, and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the U.S., we’re continuing to make progress every single day. Growing up for me, I grew up in a white family with obviously an African-American heritage and background as well.

“So I had a little bit of different cultures. And I was very, very easily able to assimilate in different cultures. So not everyone has that ease and the ability to do that. And obviously, it takes longer to understand and through education, I think it’s super important, like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. So yeah, it’s a process, I think as long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing.”

Mark Dreyer, who writes about sports in China, tweeted over the weekend:

● “This is amazing. Due to the backlash from Chinese fans seeing unmasked crowds in Qatar, Chinese TV is now replacing live crowds shots during games and instead cutting to close-ups of players and coaches.”

● “I literally just spent the past two hours watching parallel feeds of the Brazil-Switzerland game and there were FORTY-TWO times where CCTV avoided showing crowd/fan close-ups. I saw ONE crowd close-up on CCTV (of former Brazilian players) at the start of the game. That’s it.”

This is possible as right-holding broadcasters have a choice of multiple feeds to choose from to show to their home audiences.

● Shooting ● In 2018, Russian billionaire Vladimir Lisin won the International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) presidency by a 148-144 vote against Italy’s Luciano Rossi in a testy campaign in which Rossi said death threats were made against him.

At the same General Assembly meeting, ex-Russian and now German citizen Alexander Ratner was elected as Secretary General.

Now, Lisin and Rossi are both candidates for the ISSF Presidency once again at Wednesday’s General Assembly in Sharm El Sheikh (EGY), with Ratner sending a remarkable message to the national federations, which was also posted in three languages on the ISSF Web site.

Rather than playing a neutral role, Ratner offered his personal views on the election, praising Lisin for introducing new competition formats, and “[o]rganizing and sponsoring final tournaments for the athletes with prize money coming from his personal means” and

“Much attention has been paid to development. The President, as promised, created a multimillion dollar-Fund based on his own funds. 93 national federations from all continents, including 42 European ones, were among the beneficiaries of the Fund’s programs.”

As for Rossi, Ratner recalled his ethics suspension in 2017 for conflicts of interest and claimed that Rossi advanced no proposals or innovations in 20 years as a member of the ISSF Executive Committee. He then sneers:

“[I]t should be noted with disgust that Mr. Rossi decided to politically instrumentalize the dramatic and tragic events in Ukraine for his personal benefit by spreading false allegations and at the same time ignoring both ISSF’s exemplary way to implement the IOC recommendations and President Lisin’s well-known anti-war position. This cannot remain unanswered. …

“Mr. Rossi … chose to discredit a candidate based on nationality while also degrading to fabricated slander.”

Observed: Is this the proper role for an International Federation Secretary General, sent six days prior to the federation’s General Assembly? It may or may not help Lisin in the short run with the forthcoming election, but calls into question the ISSF’s own election regulations.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Morocco beats Belgium, Costa Rica upsets Japan in Sunday shockers; U.S. men support Iran protests; 20 million watched USA-England!

Rich Perelman

November 28, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Sunday shockers for Costa Rica and Morocco scramble groups
2. U.S. men step into politics with one-day Iranian flag protest
3. USA-England match draws impressive 20 million viewers in U.S.
4. Arab “fans” harass Israeli reporters at World Cup
5. Tokyo 2020 bribery scandal leads to search of Dentsu

A stunning Sunday saw two more FIFA World Cup groups thrown into confusion as no. 2-ranked Belgium was decisively beaten by Morocco, 2-0, and Costa Rica – which lost to Spain by 7-0 – edged Japan, 1-0. Both Groups E and F won’t be decided until their final match day on 1 December. However, Canada was eliminated in Group F. Politics is all over this World Cup and the U.S. Men’s National Team got into it by posting a Group B table on its social-media accounts that showed an Iranian flag without the symbols of the current Islamic government for 24 hours. This was a symbolic gesture to support protesters against the government; Iran has protested to FIFA. The U.S.-England draw last Friday drew a big holiday audience in the U.S. of 20 million for the English and Spanish-language telecasts combined. Arab fans have been harassing Israeli journalists and broadcasters covering the World Cup, responding to mic flags with Hebrew letters; one “fan” said, “There is only Palestine. There is no Israel.” The Tokyo 2020 bribery scandal concerning sponsorships and a “rigged” selection for producers of test events and venue management expanded with searches of the ad giant Dentsu in Tokyo, an event-management company which produced some of the events and an ex-Tokyo 2020 staff member.

1.
Sunday shockers for Costa Rica and Morocco scramble groups

The Qatar World Cup, played in a country no one expected to host, has turned into a tournament that no one can predict. After Japan conquered Germany, who thought the Blue Samurai would lose to Costa Rica, 1-0? And highly-regarded Belgium looking so listless in a 2-0 loss to Morocco?

Croatia eliminated Canada by 4-1 and Spain and Germany fought to a 1-1 draw in the other games, leaving both groups up for grabs going into their third games on Thursday (1st).

In Group E, Spain (1-0-1: W-L-T) still leads, with four points, ahead of Japan and Costa Rica (both 1-1: 3 points), followed by Germany (0-1-1: 1). Spain can advance with a draw or better against Japan, but a Japan draw and a German win over Costa Rica would give Germany and Japan each four points and it would come down to goal differential (currently Japan at 0 and Germany at -1). Costa Rica could get through with a win over Germany (!), and even a draw would give them four points, but they are at -6 in goal differential.

In Group F, Croatia looked every bit like a trophy contender after a 4-1 thrashing of Canada, and has four points, even with surprising Morocco, with both now 1-0-1. Belgium is still in the hunt with three (1-1), but Canada has been eliminated at 0-2. Croatia and Belgium will clash on 1 December, while Morocco has Canada.

Monday brings the final set of second-round group games with Brazil (1-0) vs. Switzerland (1-0) and Cameroon (0-1) vs. Serbia (0-1) in Group G. South Korea (0-0-1) will play Ghana (0-1) and Portugal (1-0) will face Uruguay (0-0-1) in Group H.

2.
U.S. men step into politics with one-day Iranian flag protest

Regardless of how far they get in the World Cup, Iran will be one of the remembered teams in the tournament, thanks to its win over Wales and the political swirl around it due to the widespread protests at home against the ruling regime.

The U.S. Men’s National Team, which faces Iran on Tuesday to decide which will go through to the elimination round, got into the act on Saturday, as reported by The Associated Press:

“The Twitter account of the U.S. men’s team displayed a banner with the squad’s matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The same could be seen in a post on its Facebook and Instagram accounts laying out the point totals so far in its group.”

A U.S. spokesman confirmed, saying “We wanted to show our support for the women in Iran with our graphic for 24 hours.”

An Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) story included a complaint from Iranian Football Federation adviser Safiollah Fagahanpour that “measures taken regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran flag are against [FIFA] law” and that “They must be held responsible. Obviously they want to affect Iran’s performance against the U.S. by doing this.”

3.
USA-England match draws impressive 20 million viewers in U.S.

The highly-anticipated U.S.-England match at 1 p.m. Eastern time on a mostly-holiday Friday (25th) drew an outstanding 19.977 million viewers between English and Spanish-language viewers in the United States.

FOX Sports’ English-language coverage averaged 15.377 million viewers, said by FOX to be the largest English-language audience for a soccer match in the U.S. ever, surpassing the 14.510 million for the 1994 World Cup’s Italy-Brazil final from the Rose Bowl. Peak viewing came at 3:30 p.m. Eastern – near the end of the match – at 19.646 million. The top markets were in Kansas City, Hartford, Boston, Dallas and Washington, D.C.

FOX also had a record Thanksgiving Day, as its Dallas vs. New York NFL broadcast attracted a regular-season record 42 million viewers.

The Spanish-language telecast on Telemundo delivered a total audience of 4.6 million, including streaming, and was the second-most-viewed game of the tournament to date, behind Brazil-Serbia, which drew 5.7 million.

Telemundo also noted that the Mexico vs. Poland match on Thursday drew a total audience of 4.6 million, equaling the U.S. and England.

4.
Arab “fans” harass Israeli reporters at World Cup

With the first World Cup held in an Arab country, one of the obvious flash points would be how Israeli fans and news media would be treated. FIFA arranged a special service to fly Israeli and Palestinian fans on combined flights from Tel Aviv to Doha, noteworthy since Qatar and Israel have no diplomatic relations.

Special arrangements were also made to have Israeli consular officials on hands to assist its citizens in case of difficulties, and Israeli fans were coached to maintain a low-key presence at the World Cup (Israeli did not qualify to compete).

Israeli news media, however, are quite visible and have been harassed. Britain’s Mirror reported:

“Moav Vardi, the head of the foreign news desk at Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11, was confronted by a fan wearing a Saudi Arabia top following the nation’s two-goal defeat by Poland on Saturday.

“Vardi was told by the fan in front of the TV camera: ‘It is Palestine, there is no Israel. Go please. You are not welcome here. This is Qatar, this is our country – you are not welcome here. There is only Palestine. There is no Israel.’”

Raz Shechnik, a correspondent for a leading Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, told the Mirror:

“Listen, we didn’t want to write these things. We always thought that we, the journalists, are not the story. Certainly not in the biggest event of world sports next to the Olympics. But after ten days in Doha, it is impossible not to share with you what we are going through here.

“We feel hated. We feel the hostility and we feel unwelcome. How did a friendly Qatari tell us at first glance when he asked and answered that we were from Israel? ‘I would like to say welcome to you. But you are really not blessed. Fly away from here as fast as possible.’ So clear and smooth. And he is another ‘host’, not some Lebanese fan who is passing by. Now let’s not pretend huh?

“Take it wherever you want from here. It’s a great World Cup, right, but we’ll leave here with a very bad feeling. On the other hand, what fun it will be to return to our country. We have no other country.”

Britain’s London-based Jewish News wrote:

“Channel 13’s sports reporter Tal Shorrer said he has been abused or verbally assaulted more than 50 times in the four days he has been in Qatar, mostly while doing his work covering the World Cup.

“Shorrer said just a few minutes before speaking to Jewish News over the phone, an Argentinian fan pushed him when he saw the Hebrew letters on Shorrer’s microphone, shouting, ‘you are killing babies.’

“‘The best way to describe our experience so far is unpleasant. Almost every time we go on air we see fans coming up behind us with Palestinian flags, yelling ‘free Palestine’. We have also heard people calling us murderers, saying we aren’t welcome here, and that our microphone is red from blood,’ Shorrer said, referring to his red Channel 13 microphone.”

While Ohad Hemo, a reporter for Channel 12, has also been harassed, he noted that “as far as the Qatari authorities go, we are treated very well.”

5.
Tokyo 2020 bribery scandal leads to search of Dentsu

The expanding bribery scandal regarding sponsorships and test-event and venue management contracts for the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee reached worldwide advertising agency giant Dentsu on Friday (25th), as its headquarters office was searched.

Japanese prosecutors executed searches of Dentsu, event management company Cerespo, which produced five of the pre-Olympic test events, and the home of a member of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committees. Officials from Japan’s fair-trade oversight agency also joined in the searches. Kyodo News reported:

“Rigging is suspected in the 26 open bids held in 2018 for the rights to plan 56 test events. These were awarded to nine companies, including Dentsu and Cerespo, as well as a consortium.

“The amount of the contracts totaled more than 500 million yen ($3.6 million), with the price of each ranging from 4 million yen to 60 million yen, according to sources familiar with the matter.

“The nine companies and one consortium eventually won contracts without a tender process to run the test events and competition venues during the Tokyo Games. The contracts were much bigger, possibly worth tens of billions of yen.”

Dentsu won bids for five test events for about ¥80 million (~$575,022 U.S.) and Cerespo also was selected for five, paying about ¥116 million (~$833,783).

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group E: Costa Rica 1, Japan 0 ● The first shock of the day came as Costa Rica, which had given up seven goals to Spain, kept Japan in check throughout, playing five across the back and blocking every entry pass.

Although on defense most of the match, Costa Rica had a few chances and changed the game in the 81st minute. Midfielder Yeltsin Tejeda took possession of an errant Japanese pass, sent the ball to defender Keysher Fuller about 18 yards away from goal and he sent a left-footed shot towards the top of the left side of the net that brushed off keeper Shuichi Gonda and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

That stood up as the winner against a hard push by Japan in the final minutes and sent the group into chaos. Japan ended with 57% of possession and a 13-4 edge on shots; in fact, the only Costa Rican shot on goal was Fuller’s game-winner.

● Group E: Spain 1, Germany 1 ● The Germans were desperate for at least a point after losing to Japan. The first half was a back-and-forth affair with some good Spanish chances, but the Germans struck on defender Antonio Ruediger’s header in the 40th minute, but it was called offside. Spain dominated possession, as expected (68%), but only had a 4-3 edge in shots.

Both sides had chances at the start of the second half, but Spain finally broke through in the 62nd, as Jordi Alba’s pass from the left side was perfectly timed with striker Alvaro Morata, who flicked it to the near post and into the net, just past German keeper Manuel Neuer.

The Germans pressed and pressed, but couldn’t score. Undaunted and determined, a run down the right side in the 83rd minute by defender Lukas Klostermann led to a pass to midfielder Leroy Sane, beyond the top of the box. He pushed the ball into the box, with two Germans in pursuit. Midfielder Jamal Musiala touched it, but it rolled to substitute striker Niclas Fuellkrug, who pounded it into the left corner of the net for a 1-1 tie.

Both teams tried for the winner, with Sane sprinting down the left side in the 95th minute and looking to have a clear shot at goal, but Spanish keeper Unai Simon came out and forced the ball out of bounds. The Spanish finished with 64% of possession, but the Germans had 11 shots to seven for Spain.

The draw means both teams still have work to do to advance to the knock-out round.

● Group F: Morocco 2, Belgium 0 ● The Red Devils came into the World Cup as one of the favorites and ranked no. 2 on the world, but they were anything but sharp in a 1-0 opening win over Canada. They were listless against Morocco.

The game was 0-0 through the half – although Morocco lost a goal in stoppage time to video review – and it looked like neither side might score, but the Moroccans were quicker to the ball and appeared more enthusiastic. And it paid off in the 73rd minute, when Abdelhamid Sabiri scored a brilliant goal off a free kick, starting close to the endline and curling the ball into the net, past a stunned Thibaut Cortois, the Belgian keeper, for a 1-0 lead.

And the Belgians just could not get quality opportunities on offense, and forward Hakim Ziyech took advantage on a counterattack, running to the right endline and sending a quality cross in front of the goal where it was knocked in by substitute striker Zakaria Aboukhlal at 90+2 for the 2-0 final. It was Morocco’s first win at a World Cup since 1998.

Belgium had 67%, but it meant nothing, as the sides both had 10 shots. The Associated Press reported rioting in Brussels following the loss, as well as post-match violence in Antwerp.

● Group F: Croatia 3, Canada 1 ● The Canadians started in dreamland with their first-ever World Cup goal just 1:10 in, as midfield star Alphonso Davies scored on a header off a right-side cross from midfielder Tajon Buchanan for a 1-0 lead.

And Canada stayed on offense, controlling the game for the first half-hour, but then the lights came on for Croatia, the 2018 World Cup runner-ups. They began to press the Canadian defense, which was initially saved by keeper Milan Korjan, but a pass to the left side of the goal by Ivan Perisic to fellow forward Andrej Kramaric resulted in a left-footed shot that tied it in the 36th minute.

Croatia continued on offense and scored again as defender Josip Juranovic fed the ball past the Canadian backline to striker Marko Livaja for a right-footed laser that found the left side of the net for a 2-1 halftime lead.

Canada started strongly again on the second half, but Croatia simply overwhelmed the Canadian defense as the half wore on. Kramaric got his second goal of the night and a 3-1 lead in the 70th off a Perisic cross and the game was decided. Korjan was game in goal, but a bad defensive error by Kamal Miller in stoppage time allowed striker Mislav Orsic to break away and feed midfielder Lovro Majer for an easy goal at 90+4 for the 4-1 final.

Canada ended with 52% of possession, but Croatia had 13 shots and 10 on goal compared to eight for Canada and just two on goal. The Canadians were eliminated from the tournament, but get a $9 million payout for making it to the World Cup.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ≡

● Triathlon ● Bermuda’s Tokyo Olympic champion Flora Duffy won her fourth World Championship title by running away from Britain’s Geogia Taylor-Brown on the final two laps in Abu Dhabi (UAE) for a 1:53:24 to 1:54:28 victory in the final World Triathlon Series race of the season. .

German Laura Meissner took third place for her first World Triathlon Series medal, with American Taylor Knibb fourth (after a fall on her bike), 1:55:59 to 1:56:40.

Duffy ended with 5,105.63 seasonal points, with Taylor-Brown at 5,081.25. Americans Knibb and Taylor Spivey were 3-4 at 4,179.23 and 3,889.44.

The men’s race was much closer, with France’s Leo Bergere winning in 1:44:14 to 1:44:25 for American Morgan Pearson, who started the run 41 seconds down, but chopped all but 11 seconds off with the fastest split in the field. Belgium’s Jelle Geens was third (1:44:34). American Matthew McElroy was 10th (1:45:26).

Bergere won the seasonal title with 4,741.89 points to 4.721.41 for Britain’s Alex Yee, who finished fourth in Abu Dhabi by three seconds, where third place would have won the title.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Alpine Skiing ● The women’s FIS World Cup tour was in Killington, Vermont for a Giant Slalom and Slalom, with Swiss skiers taking gold twice (with a tie).

Beijing 2022 Super-G gold medalist Lara Gut-Behrami won the Super-G in 1:44.08, coming from third to first on the second run. Italy’s Marta Bassino came from fifth to second (1:44.15) in round two, while first-run leader Sara Hector of Sweden ended up third (1:44.28). American Mikaela Shiffrin was 13th.

Sunday’s Slalom ended in a tie between Beijing bronze medalist Wendy Holdener (SUI) and Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE) in 1:42.97, with Katharina Truppe (AUT: 1:43.19) third. Shiffrin finished after taking the fastest first run, but was only 27th on the second.

The men’s circuit is also in North America, at Lake Louise in Canada, with Norwegian star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde taking his 14th career World Cup win in Saturday’s Downhill in 1:47.98, ahead of Daniel Hemetsbuerger (AUT: 1:48.04) and reigning World Cup champ Marco Odermatt (SUI: 1:48.08). Ryan Cochran-Siegle was the top American, in ninth (1:49.10).

Odermatt and Kilde were back on the podium for Sunday’s Super-G, with the Swiss claiming his 13th career World Cup gold in 1:32.53, followed by Kilde (1:32.90) and Austria’s Matthais Mayer (1:33.31).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The seasons may change, but the results stay the same. At the IBSF World Cup opener in Whistler (CAN), German ace Francesco Friedrich won both the Two-man and Four-man races once again.

Friedrich and Alexander Schueller won the Two-man in 1:42.22 across two runs, Friedrich taking his 15th win in the last 16 World Cup races (and four in a row). Britain’s Brad Hall was second (1:42.33) and Johannes Lochner (GER: 1:42.68) was third.

Friedrich’s fours sled won in 1:41.56, ahead of Hall (1:41.98) and Canada’s Taylor Austin (1:42.37).

The women’s Monobob was a first World Cup gold for Canada’s Bianca Ribi (1:50.89), ahead of veteran Cynthia Appiah (CAN: 1:51.16) with American Kaillie Humphries – the Beijing 2022 Olympic champ – in 1:51.18. Germany’s Kim Kalicki, a two-time Worlds silver medalist, won the Two-woman race with Anabel Galander in 1:45.93, beating Melanie Hasler (SUI: 1:46.130 and Humphries and Emily Renna of the U.S. (1:46.34).

American Nicole Vogt was sixth in Monobob and seventh in the Two-woman, with Jasmine Jones aboard.

Britain’s Marcus Wyatt won the men’s Skeleton (1:45.44) by 0.01 over Korean Seunggi Jung (1:45.45) with Matt Weston (GBR) third in 1:46.10. Hannah Niese of Germany won the women’s race, beating Hallie Clarke (USA) and Brogan Crowley (GBR), 1:47.40 to 1:47.58 for Clarke and Crowley in a tie.

● Cross Country Skiing ● The FIS World Cup season opener was at the Nordic festival in Ruka (FIN), with a show of power by Norway in the men’s events and Sweden in the women’s.

Three-time and current World Cup champ Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo led Norwegian sweeps in two of three men’s events, and won all three himself! He led Even Northug and Pal Golberg in the Classical Sprint (winning in 2:26.00), then won over Golberg and Martin Nyenget in the 10 km Classical (21:46.1) and then took the 20 km Freestyle Pursuit (45:30.6) by beating Golberg (+0.7) and Federico Pellgrino (ITA). That’s eight medals out of nine.

Sweden went 1-2 in all three women’s events. Emma Ribom (2:49.22) and Johanna Hagstrom were 1-2 in the Classical Sprint; Ebba Andersson (24:49.6) finished ahead of Frida Karlsson in the 10 km Classical and then Karlsson (49:55.3) won the 20 km Freestyle Pursuit over Andersson. Norway’s Tiril Weng was third in the Sprint and Pursuit and German Katharina Henning was third in the 10 km Classical.

American Rosie Brennan was seventh in the 10 km Classical, and sixth in the Pursuit, with Jessie Diggins 10th.

● Figure Skating ● The Grand Prix of Espoo in Finland was the last “regular season” stop for the ISU Grand Prix, with American teen sensation Ilia Malinin claiming his second win of the season, scoring 278.39 points. He moved up from second after the Short Program and was well ahead of Shun Sato (JPN: 262.21) and Kevin Aymoz of France (255.69).

Malinin hit his famed Quad Axel in the Free Skate, along with four more quads and a triple Flip-triple Axel at the finish, to score 192.82 in the Free Skate:

“I’m still in shock at how was I was able to perform. I was a little mad after yesterday’s performance. I was really hoping that today I would forget about it and gain my confidence again, just to make sure that I am able to be in control of everything. I definitely put it out there.”

Japan’s Mai Mihara also won her second Grand Prix title, scoring 204.41 to edge 2022 Worlds silver medalist Leona Hendrickx (BEL: 203.91) with Mana Kawabe (JPN: 197.41) third. Americans Lindsay Thorngren and Bradie Tennell finished sixth and eighth.

Italy’s Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini dominated the Pairs, scoring 189.74 to 170.75 for Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert (GER: 170.75). Americans Anastasiia Smirnova and Danylo Siianytsia were fourth (165.12).

Canadian stars Piper Gilles and Paul Poirer took the Ice Dance title at 219.49, well clear of Americans Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (202.46), with fellow Americans Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko fourth (188.80).

The Grand Prix Final is next, from 8-11 December in Turin (ITA).

● Football ● The National Soccer Hall of Fame announced the election of defender DaMarcus Beasley, striker Landon Donovan and forward Lauren Cheney Holiday, to be inducted on 6 Mat 2023.

Beasley was a star defender and midfielder for the U.S. Men’s National Team, logging 126 appearances from 2001-17 and played in four World Cups, and scored 17 international goals. Donovan was a dangerous forward who also played in the midfield and scored 57 goals (and had 58 assists) in international play across 157 caps, including three World Cup appearances. He also played 15 seasons in Major League Soccer and finished as a six-time champion, retiring as the league’s all-time scoring leader.

Cheney Holiday was a star at UCLA before joining the National Team, where she played in 133 games and was a member of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions and Olympic gold-medal teams in 2008 and 2012.

● Nordic Combined ● The season opener was in Ruka (FIN) as part of its Nordic festival, with the discipline under pressure to get more public interest in order to stay on the Olympic program. One way to do that is with stars, and Norway’s four-time defending World Cup champion Jarl Magnus Rieber won two events out of three.

The first event was jumping off the 142 m hill and then a 5 km race, with German Julian Schmid getting his first World Cup win in 12:02.2, over Ryota Yamamoto (JPN: 12:08.0) and fellow Norwegian Jens Oftebro (12:13.2). Rieber came on to win the second event, with a 10 km race, finishing in 24:26.7 to 24:37.1 for Schmid, with Oftebro third again (24:39.1). Sunday’s event was a Mass Start 10 km race, followed by jumping, and another win for Rieber (156.3 points for jumping), over Matteo Baud (FRA: 151.6) and Yamamoto (152.9).

● Ski Jumping ● The second men’s event of the season was also in Ruka, with Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek winning here for a second consecutive year, scoring 312.8 points on Friday to best three-time World Champion Stefan Kraft (AUT: 311.5) and Poland’s two-time Worlds gold medalist Piotr Zyla (300.7).

On Sunday, Kraft scored 304.5 points but settled for a tie with Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud (his 14th World Cup career win) with Japan’s Naoki Nakamura 294.9 winning his first individual World Cup medal in third.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

FIFA WORLD CUP: France advances; Australia, Poland, Argentina all back in the hunt for Round of 16

Rich Perelman

November 27, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1126 mbappe-t. hernandez FRA — Two stars of France's 2-1 win over Denmark: Kylian Mbappe (l) and Theo Hernandez (Photo: Equipe de France)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ QATAR 2022 ≡

Second-round matches were held in Groups C and D, with France set to advance, but everything else up in the air with one round of matches set to go:

● Group C: Poland is now 1-0-1 (W-L-T) and leads with four points, ahead of Argentina (1-1: 3) and Saudi Arabia (1-1: 3), and Mexico (0-1-1) fourth with one point. Everything is still up for grabs in the final matches on Wednesday (30th).

● Group D: France (2-0-0) has six points and will advance to the Round of 16. Australia (1-1) has three points, with Denmark (0-1-1) and Tunisia (0-1-1) both with one. The final matches in this group will also be played on the 30th.

Sunday has matches in Groups E, with Japan (3 points) facing Costa Rica (0) and Spain (3) playing Germany (0), and Group F, with Belgium (3) against Morocco (1) and Canada (0) vs. Croatia. (1)

≡ Saturday’s Matches ≡

● Group C: Poland 2, Saudi Arabia 0 ● After a scoreless tie with Mexico, Poland desperately needed a win, but the Saudis were the aggressors in this match from the start. The Poles scored first, however, after a shot by defender Matty Cash was saved, then a second attempt by star forward Robert Lewandowski failed, but Lewandowski tracked the ball down at the endline and sent a perfect pass back to midfielder Piotr Zielinski in front of the net, and he buried it in the 39th minute for a 1-0 lead and the only goal of the half.

The game was physical, with 33 fouls called and 18 against Poland, and in the 43rd minute, defender Krystian Bielik was called for a penalty. But striker Salem Al Dawsari’s try for goal was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, as was the rebound shot by Mohammad Al Burayk, which was blocked over the goal. The half ended 1-0.

The Saudis kept up the pressure in the second half, with double shots at goal in the 51st, 55th and 60th minutes, but no goals. An Arkadiusz Milik header hit the crossbar for Poland in the 63rd, and Lewandowski hit the post in the 66th. Then Lewandowski, playing aggressively, took possession from Abdulelah Al-Malki on a clearance and smashed the ball into the goal from about six yards out for a 2-0 in the 82nd minute that clinched the match. It was super-scorer Lewandowski’s first-ever World Cup goal.

The stat sheet showed the Saudis with 64% of the possession and a 16-9 edge on shots, but nothing to show for it.

● Group C: Argentina 2, Mexico 0 ● This was do-or-die for Argentina, after stunning loss to the Saudis in their opening match. But the game was physical and the defenses were stiff and despite chances on both sides, the half ended 0-0.

It was superstar Lionel Messi who broke the deadlock, taking a pass from Angel Di Maria in the middle of the field, about 25 yards out and sending a swift, seeing-eye shot with the left foot that whipped past Mexican keeper Memo Ochoa in the 64th for a 1-0 lead. Argentina continued on the attack and substitute midfielder Enzo Fernandez sent a curving blast over Ochoa’s outstretched left hand and into the net in the 87th for the 2-0 final.

Argentina ended with 58% of the possession and a 5-4 edge on shots that underlined – along with 34 fouls – the tightly-played nature of this game. The Argentines had to have a won and they got one; their future is again in their hands.

● Group D: Australia 1, Tunisia 0 ● In another physical game, in which 31 fouls and three yellow cards were handed out, Tunisia had the best of possession and play, but could not score for the second straight match.

As in their first game against France, the Aussies took the lead fairly early, this time on a header by forward Mitchell Duke, who headed a bounding pass from midfielder Craig Goodwin to the far side of the net in the 23rd minute for a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t appear that one goal would hold up, but the Tunisians just could not complete their plays in the Australian end. Shots went wide, shots were blocked and Aussie keeper Mathew Ryan made four saves to maintain the shutout and cinch Australia’s first World Cup win since 2010.

Tunisia ended with 58% of possession and 14 shots to nine for Australia, but it didn’t help.

● Group D: France 2, Denmark 1 ● Could France crack a tough Danish defense that had shut down Tunisia? Superstar midfielder Kylian Mbappe caused a lot of problems in the first half, but the Danish defense – and especially keeper Kasper Schmeichel – were equal to the challenge and maintained a scoreless tie through the half.

But the French kept getting closer and closer and finally broke through in the 61st, as Mbappe and defender Theo Hernandez executed a perfect give-and-go, with Hernandez crossing the ball back to Mbappe at the left side of the net and he punched it in through traffic.

However, that only fired up the Danes and they swarmed the French zone. A Christian Eriksen corner in the 68th was headed by defender Joachim Andersen toward the middle of the penalty area and found the head of fellow defender Andreas Christensen, whose shot flew into the goal for a tie.

The game did not settle down at all and both sides had chances, and French keeper Hugo Lloris was busy fending off multiple Denmark chances. But the French pressure was relentless and midfielder Andre Greizmann sent a diagonal, line-drive cross from the right side at the top of the box right to the left corner of the goal and Mbappe was there; the ball caromed off his thigh and into the net for a 2-1 lead in the 86th minute. That’s how it ended.

The French held on and at 2-0, secured their place in the knock-out round. The Danes actually had 52% of the possession, but the French mounted a 21-shot attack on Schmeichel, while Denmark managed 10 shots and only two on goal.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Football Association of Serbia due to a flag displayed in their dressing room on the occasion of the Brazil v Serbia.”

The inquiry arose from a dressing room image seen on social media platforms of a flag which shows the now-independent country of Kosovo as part of Serbia. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 and joined both FIFA and UEFA in 2016.

Hajrulla Ceku, Kosovo’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, tweeted:

“Disgraceful images from Serbia locker room, displaying hateful, xenophobic and genocidal messages towards Kosova, while exploiting FIFA World Cup platform.

“We expect concrete actions from FIFA considering that the Kosovo Football Federation (FFK) is a full FIFA and UEFA member.”

The Associated Press reported raw emotions between pro-government fans and protestors at Iran’s matches against England and Wales, with Qatar security officials taking away flags which are different from the country’s approved national flag.

Iran has been rocked by protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September after an arrest for not wearing the hijab (headscarf) appropriately.

The AP noted “Shouting matches erupted in lines outside the stadium between fans screaming ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ and others shouting back ‘The Islamic Republic!’”

An Iranian woman who lives in Spain and attended the 2-0 win over Wales, “said Qatari police ordered her to scrub off the names of Iranian protesters killed and arrested by security forces that she had written on her arms and chest, at the behest of Iranian government supporters. At the game, just traces of ink remained on her skin that was rubbed raw.”

In a related development, former Iranian national team player Voria Ghafouri was arrested Thursday after a training session with his club team for comments which “tarnished the reputation of the national team and spread propaganda against the state.”

Ghafouri has been publicly critical of the Iranian government and its crackdown following the death of Amini.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

FIFA WORLD CUP: Senegal and Iran post wins while Netherlands and Ecuador (1-1) and U.S. and England (0-0) are drawn

Rich Perelman

November 26, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1125 usa flag vs england (ussf) — U.S. Soccer supporters were out in force in Qatar for Friday's match with England (Photo: U.S. Soccer Federation)

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ QATAR 2022 ≡

The second round of matches in Groups A and B of the 2022 FIFA World Cup were held on Friday, with host Qatar eliminated in Group A and everyone still in contention in Group B:

● Group A: Netherlands and Ecuador are both 1-0-1 (W-L-T) and have four points, with Senegal at 1-1-0 and three. Qatar (0-2-0) will not advance out of the group. Ecuador and Senegal will play Tuesday (29th), with Ecuador advancing on a draw and Senegal advancing with a win. The Netherlands will face Qatar and needs at least a draw to be sure of advancing.

● Group B: England is atop the group at 1-0-1 (four points), with Iran now second at 1-1-0 (three points), the U.S. third (0-0-2: two points) and Wales fourth (0-1-1: one point). England will play Wales, needing a draw or a win to be sure of advancing, while the Welsh might get through with a win. The U.S. must win against Iran on Tuesday to advance to the elimination round, but the Iranians might get through with a draw (depending on what happens in the other game).

Saturday’s games include Group C, with Poland (0-0-1) vs. Saudi Arabia (1-0) and Argentina (0-1) vs. Mexico (0-0-1). In Group D, Tunisia (0-0-1) plays Australia (0-1) while France (1-0) faces Denmark (0-0-1).

≡ Friday’s Matches ≡

● Group A: Senegal 3, Qatar 1 ● The host Qatar team played spirited football from the start, but a mistake led to Senegal’s first goal on the way to a 3-1 win.

Defender Boualem Khoukhi failed to clear a pass into the box and Senegal striker Boulaye Dia scored in the 41st minute for the only goal of the first half. Senegal then took the air out of the game early in the second half with another goal in the 48th minute when Ismail Jakobs’ corner found the head of striker Famara Diedhiou for a 2-0 lead.

But Qatar midfielder Mohammed Muntari scored the country’s first-ever World Cup goal with a fabulous score on a header off defender Ismail Mohamad’s cross in the 78th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1. But substitute striker Bamba Dieng got Senegal’s third goal with a right-footed smash from the middle of the box in the 84th for the 3-1 final.

Senegal had 55% of the possession and a 13-10 edge on shots.

● Group A: Netherlands 1, Ecuador 1 ● The Dutch didn’t score until the 84th minute of their opener against Senegal, but Cory Gapko – who scored that first goal – got a feed from Davy Klassen and pounded in a left-footed rocket from the left side in the fifth minute to put the Dutch up, 1-0. Plenty of time for more, but no more goals were coming for the Orange.

This is was pretty physical game, with 27 total fouls and 15 on the Netherlands, who knew exactly where Ecuador’s star striker Enner Valencia was at all times. He still got three shots off in the first half and then capitalized on a rebound off of a Pervis Estupinan shot and scored past Dutch keeper Andries Noppert in the 49th for the 1-1 tie.

Ecuador kept attacking, with only the occasional Dutch shot, but the score ended even. The Dutch had 54% of possession, but Ecuador had an astounding 15 shots to just two for the Netherlands.

● Group B: Iran 2, Wales 0 ● This was a wild game that saw no score through 90 minutes, but with Welsh keeper Wayne Hennessey red-carded in the 86th minute, leaving them playing with 10 for the remainder of the match.

Midfielder Ali Gholizadeh scored for Iran in the 15th minute, but the goal was nullified on video review for offsides, with Iran continuing to press the offense throughout the first half. More of the same in the second, as Sardar Azmoun hit the right post in the 51st and Gholizadeh hit the left post a minute later.

But Hennessey was sent off after coming well out in the field and clobbering striker Mehdi Taremi, leaving Wales a man short.

That mattered in stoppage time, as an Iranian charge resulted in three blocked shots, but led to Roozbeh Cheshmi’s right-footed blast from outside the box to the right corner of the net at 90+8 and then Ramin Rezaeian finished a fast break with a right-footed pop-up from the center of the box at 90+11 for the 2-0 final.

The Welsh had 62% of the possession in the game, but the Iranians were the aggressors, with 21 shots to 10 and six on goal to three.

● Group B: England 0, United States 0 ● Was mighty England as good as its six-goal explosion against Iran? Which U.S. team would show up? The aggressive one from the first half of the Wales match, or the less-energetic second half side?

Happily for the Americans, the energy was high and the result kept the U.S. in the hunt to advance. The English attack was frustrated again and again by midfielders Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah, and midfielder Christian Pulisic made run after run into the England zone to create pressure.

On offense, McKennie had a right-footed blast in the 26th minute go over the crossbar and Pulisic had a shot hammer the bar in the 33rd minute. Even without a successful finish, the U.S. was unrelenting on runs into the English zone and ended with seven corners.

England’s star striker Harry Kane had a first-half blast toward the goal blocked by Walker Zimmerman and his header at 90+4 went wide to the left. U.S. keeper Matt Turner made three saves, especially on a first half stoppage-time shot by Mason Mount that he pushed away.

The possession chart showed England with 55% of the possession, but the U.S. had 10 shots to eight for the English. Shots-on-goal however were three for England just one for the U.S.

The 0-0 final was the fifth scoreless draw in the tournament so far, closing in on the record of seven, done four times previously (last in 2014).

≡ Thursday’s Matches ≡

● Group G: Switzerland 1, Cameroon 0 ● A very tightly contested match was decided by a 48th-minute goal from Swiss striker Breel Embolo, who was born in Cameroon.

Embolo took a perfect cross from midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri right in front of goal and sent a swift, right-footed shot into the net, but refused to celebrate given his heritage. And it turned out to be the only goal of the game, after Cameroon had been on offense for most of the first half. Bryan Mbeumo’s 10th-minute shot from inside the penalty area was saved and the rebound was booted over the net by Karl Toko-Ekambi on one of Cameroon’s best chances.

The match stats reflected the close nature of the game, as the Swiss ended with 51% of possession and Cameroon got off eight shots to seven for the winners.

● Group G: Brazil 2, Serbia 0 ● As expected, no. 1-ranked Brazil was on offense from the start and superstar Neymar Jr. almost scored an unbelievable goal from a corner with a curving ball in the 14th minute that was punched away by Serbian keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic!

The half ended scoreless as Serbia packed in the defense and challenged Brazil’s stars, committing eight fouls. Brazil had 59% of the possession and led in shots, 4-1.

The second half started with 12 minutes of continuous pressure from Brazil, but no goals. After a Serbian counter, Brazil came back with more and Alex Sandro hit the post with a powerful strike from 25 yards out in the 60th minute and the pressure was back on.

Minutes later, Neymar dribbled into the middle of the box, then sent the ball left for a quick strike by Vinicius Jr. that Milinkovic-Savic saved, but left the rebound in front for Richarlison to clean up with his right foot for a 1-0 lead in the 63rd.

Serbia had a chance at goal in the 71st off a corner that bounced off multiple heads before it bounded outside of the penalty area and Darko Lazovic shot it over the net.

But then the game was decided on a spectacular, scissor-kick strike by Richarlison with the right foot from in front of the net in the 73rd. A pass by Vinicius into the middle bounded off Richarlison, dropped to the ground and then the Brazilian star swung his right leg to the ball, that sailed just over the shoulder of Serbian defender Milos Veljkovic and into the net.

Neymar suffered a right ankle injury and will not play in the next match against Switzerland and may miss the group finale vs. Cameroon. Brazil finished with 59% possession and 22-8 on shots, with 10 on goal. Dominant.

● Group H: Uruguay 0, South Korea 0 ● There was no score and almost no offense in the Group H opener, as only one shot on goal was credited in the entire match!

Uruguay’s Diego Godin his the post on a header in the 43rd minute and Fede Valverde’s cannon shot in the 90th minute also found the woodwork in the best chances to score for Uruguay.

Uruguay had 56% of the possession and out-shot Korea by 10-7, but had only one shot actually on goal and the Koreans had none. Both will be difficult to score on in Qatar.

● Group H: Portugal 3, Ghana 2 ● What started as a defensive battle turned into a wild, back-and-forth scoring festival in the last 20 minutes with Portugal’s Rafael Leao scoring what turned out to the game-winner in the 80th minute.

Much of the focus was on Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who had chances in the 10th minute, 13th minute and scored in the 31st, but was called for a foul. The half ended scoreless, with Portugal enjoying 62% of possession and had a 7-0 edge on shots.

The game got increasingly physical in the second half. Ronaldo was pushed in the back by Ghanan defender Mohammed Salisu in the penalty area in the 62nd minute and converted the penalty with a crisp right-footer just over keeper Lawrence Ati Zigi in the 65th. The goal gave Ronaldo a record of scoring in five different World Cups. Game over, right?

The party was just getting started, as a cross from Ghanan midfielder Mohammed Kudus sent a cross from the endline to the left of goal into the middle of the box that caromed between the legs of Portugal’s Danilo Pereira and right to striker Andre Ayew, who finished with the right foot to tie the match in the 73rd and set off a wild celebration among Ghana’s fans right behind the Portugal goal.

Ayew came out four minutes later and while still being congratulated by his teammates, saw Joao Felix take long pass from Bruno Fernandes and score off a dribble and a shot from the right of goal in the 78th minute for a 2-1 Portugal lead. And just two minutes later, Fernandes led a fast break down the middle of the box and passed to Leao on his left, who finished with the right foot for a 3-1 lead.

But Ghana kept on coming, and got to 3-2 on a Osman Bukari header in the 89th, but could not do more and had to take the loss. Portugal ended with 62% possession and an 11-9 lead in shots. There were 33 fouls in the game.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

What fans and reporters can and can’t do continues to be a story in Qatar:

● Britain’s Daily Express newspaper reported on Friday:

“England fans have been asked not to dress up in crusader costumes in order to avoid upsetting Muslims at the World Cup in Qatar after a couple of supporters were seemingly led away by security this week. … footage shared on Twitter appeared to show two England fans wearing chain mail and helmets being turned around by officials prior to Monday’s victory over Iran.

“Crusader costumes run the risk of offending the locals in Qatar, with the best-known Crusades taking place between 1095 and 1291 when Christian armies fought to seize Jerusalem and the surrounding area from Islamic rule.”

● The Football Association of Wales posted a notice on Twitter Thursday that “In response to the FAW, FIFA has confirmed that fans with Rainbow Wall bucket hats and rainbow flags will be allowed entry to the stadium for @Cymru’s match against Iran on Friday.

“All World Cup venues have been contacted and instructed to follow the agreed rules & regulations.”

The “Rainbow Wall” is a Welsh LGBTQ supporter’s group and there were some reports that Rainbow Wall hats and flags had not been allowed in the stadium for the 1-1 tie with the U.S.

● Accredited Argentine television host Joaquin Alvarez from the El Trece channel was conducting a live interview with a wheelchair-bound fan in a residential complex in Doha when his cameraman was told by Qatari officials to point the camera elsewhere.

The crew eventually completed the interview later – from the back of a car – but Alvarez said during the program:

“The person who stopped the filming got out of a van and told us in a very rude way we couldn’t film any more because we were in a private place. I told him we were showing something nice but they told us we had to go and there was a moment when they even wanted to take our equipment off us.” In a later social media post, he added:

“We had a bad experience and what happened was totally unfair because we had all our permits and everything in order. It’s in the past now, another anecdote.”

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Mexican Football Association due to chants by Mexican supporters during the Mexico v. Poland FIFA World Cup match played on 22 November.”

No further details were available, but the Mexican Football Federation has previously been sanctioned for chants considered to be anti-gay made by its fans during goal kicks.

FIFA also announced, on Tuesday, an inquiry into “chants by Ecuadorian supporters during the Qatar v. Ecuador FIFA World Cup match played on 20 November.” Reuters reported on Thursday that the Ecuadorian federation has asked its fans to refrain from further “homophobic slurs” aimed at Chile, which challenged Ecuador’s right to be in the World Cup over a potentially-ineligible player, winger Byron Castillo. The federation’s statement included:

“The Ecuadorean Football Federation calls on Ecuador fans accompanying ‘the Tri’ in Qatar 2022 to avoid all types of offensive, insulting and discriminatory songs.”

ESPN reported that an unspecified number of World Cup fans, who rented converted shipping containers in specially-arranged “fan villages” came and found their accommodations unavailable as they were not finished. A spokesman for Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy said:

“We are aware that a number of fans have faced delays checking into select fan village accommodation due to owner and operator negligence. …

“While these sites are managed by independent commercial entities, rectifying these issues remains the utmost priority for the Supreme Committee. Full refunds are being offered to fans severely impacted by this issue as well as alternative accommodation which will be free of charge for the duration of their stay.”

FIFA reported that attendance in the first-round matches totaled 94% of capacity, with more than 3,000,000 tickets now sold for the tournament.

Perhaps just as stunning – or even more so – was a FIFA tweet that the television audience in Japan for the Blue Samurai’s 2-1 win over Germany reached 26.19 million (in a country of 125.7 million people) and that during the match, 71.3% of all televisions that were on were tuned to the match!

From the European Parliament:

“On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in Qatar. MEPs highlight that the Gulf state won the FIFA World Cup bidding process amidst credible allegations of bribery and corruption. They deplore the deaths of thousands of migrant workers primarily in the construction sector who helped the country prepare for the tournament, as well as all those injured. …

“To protect athletes and fans and put an end to sportswashing, international sporting events should not be awarded to countries in which fundamental and human rights are violated, and where systematic gender-based violence is prevalent.

“With an estimated more than 2 million foreign nationals making up some 94% of the country’s workforce, the resolution welcomes the fact that, according to the International Labour Organization, the Qatari government has reimbursed USD 320 million to wage abuse victims through the so-called ‘Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund’. MEPs regret, however, that many workers in Qatar and their families have been excluded from its scope and call for the fund to be extended to include all those affected since the work related to the FIFA World Cup began, covering also workers’ deaths and other human rights abuses.

“They also call on FIFA to contribute to a comprehensive remediation programme for workers’ families as compensation for the conditions to which they have been subjected.”

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Almost 12 million U.S. viewers for USA-Wales in World Cup; Paris 2024 budget expands to 4.4 billion Euro; Japan stuns Germany, 2-1!

Rich Perelman

November 24, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. U.S.-Wales match draws 11.9 million-plus viewers in U.S.!
2. Paris 2024 budget expected to expand to €4.4 billion
3. Canadian Olympic and Paralympic groups ask B.C. reconsideration
4. Denmark Football Union angry, but not leaving FIFA yet
5. Kenyans and Ethiopians comprised 80% of AIU road-race tests

The first U.S. television viewing reports are coming in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and despite the early start times, Americans are tuning in quite strongly. Nearly 12 million watched some or all of the U.S. vs. Wales game last Monday, either on FOX in English or in Spanish on Telemundo. The Paris 2024 organizers expect to have a final budget approved of €4.4 billion, up about 10% from the December 2021 estimate, but are confident that it will be covered by better-than-estimated ticket sales and some more domestic sponsorships. The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee both asked the Province of British Columbia to reconsider its refusal to support the Vancouver bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games, but has not gotten any positive response so far. At the FIFA World Cup, Denmark’s football federation continues to criticize FIFA for not allowing the “OneLove” armband to be worn and wants to discuss future actions, even up to leaving FIFA. The Athletics Integrity Unit published a report on its new road-running testing initiative, which in 2021 tested 803 runners from 70 countries. Special attention was given to 313 top-level runners, of which 80% were from Kenya or Ethiopia.

1.
U.S.-Wales match draws 11.9 million-plus viewers in U.S.!

Although comprehensive data for U.S. World Cup viewership won’t be available until next week, information on Monday’s games was released on Wednesday with strong interest in the U.S. team playing in Qatar. The numbers (with dates and Eastern start times):

● 20 Nov. (Sun: 1058a): 3.071 million for Ecuador-Qatar on FS1
● 21 Nov. (Mon: 0742a): 1.388 million for England-Iran on FS1
● 21 Nov. (Mon: 1043a): 2.581 million for Netherlands-Senegal on FOX
● 21 Nov. (Mon: 0143p): 7.761 million for U.S.-Wales on FOX

That’s pretty good for early morning or afternoon air times, especially on Monday, and these figures do not include ratings for Spanish-language Telemundo, which also grabbed a lot of attention:

● 20 Nov. (Sun.): 4.1 million total audience for Ecuador-Qatar
● 21 Nov. (Mon.): 1.2 million total audience for England-Iran
● 21 Nov. (Mon.): 1.9 million total audience for Netherlands-Senegal
● 21 Nov. (Mon.): 3.4 million total audience for U.S.-Wales

So, for the U.S. and Wales, the combined FOX and Telemundo audience was more than 11.861 million viewers, not counting English-language steaming views. For comparison, the Monday Night Football match shown at 8 p.m. Eastern between Arizona and San Francisco drew 11.166 million viewers on ESPN. Not bad at all.

The “World Cup Tonight” show on FS1, shown daily at midnight Eastern time, drew just 75,000 viewers on Monday (21st), but 277,000 on Tuesday (22nd).

2.
Paris 2024 budget expected to expand to €4.4 billion

Inflation, supply chain issues and the inevitable unforeseen costs will require the Paris 2024 Olympic organizing committee to formally increase its budget from the current €3.9 billion (about $4.06 billion U.S. today) to €4.4 billion (~$4.58 billion) when its Board meets on 12 December.

Speaking after a meeting of the Paris 2024 Executive Committee, finance chief Fabrice Lacroix said that half of the increase is from inflation pressures and the remainder from increased (or unplanned for) costs in energy, cybersecurity, the opening ceremony to take place on the River Seine, personnel expenses and other items.

The good news is that the organizers expect to hit their €1.1 billion domestic sponsorship target (and maybe a little more) and that the €1.365 billion target for ticket and hospitality package sales will likely be exceeded. But it is anticipated that 2023 will bring expenses that will begin to draw on the €315 million in contingency reserves.

The organizing committee budget was projected at €3.8 billion in 2020, which rose to €3.9 billion at the end of 2021, and now what is expected to be the final figure of €4.4 billion. The Paris bid in 2016 projected organizing committee costs of €3.37 billion.

3.
Canadian Olympic and Paralympic groups ask B.C. reconsideration

As the 2030 Olympic Winter Games bid cycle moves along without them, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee issued an open letter, asking for the Province of British Columbia to reconsider its decision not to support the project.

COC President Tricia Smith, also a member of the International Olympic Committee, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:

● “We’re really hopeful that we can meet with all levels of government and the stakeholders to really have a full discussion about the bid, the pros and cons, who might take on what.”

● “If it doesn’t make sense then it doesn’t make sense, but we haven’t had that opportunity with everybody at the table to really have a hard look at this and see what we can do.”

● “And the federal government has advised us, the prime minister has advised, the province has to be on board first. They would come to the table if the province came to the table.”

● “We know that these Games would also address some commitments made by the federal government in terms of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. So it’s really action on reconciliation.”

However, Lisa Beare, the British Columbia Minister for Tourism, Sport and Culture, told the network on Tuesday that the door is essentially closed:

“The 2030 Olympic bid proposal includes billions of dollars in direct costs and potential guarantee and indemnity liability risks that could jeopardize the province’s ability to provide services for British Columbians.

“The province has the responsibility to weigh the benefits with the costs and possible risks of the project, and based on careful consideration, the province declined to support a bid.”

Smith and Canadian Paralympic Committee head Marc-André Fabien are hoping that new British Columbia Premier David Eby can be persuaded to look at the project again, but he has so far declined to show any interest. The bid budget asked for C$1.2 billion (~$749.2 million U.S.) in provincial support.

4.
Denmark Football Union angry, but not leaving FIFA yet

The Chair of the Danish Football Union, Jesper Moller, told a news conference on Wednesday that his federation has discussed leaving FIFA, along with others: and that discussions with other Scandinavian federations

“We have been clear about this for a long time. We have been discussing it in the Nordic region since August. I’ve thought it again. I imagine that there may be challenges if Denmark leaves on its own. But let us see if we cannot have a dialogue on things.

“I have to think about the question of how to restore confidence in FIFA. We must evaluate what has happened, and then we must create a strategy, also with our Nordic colleagues.”

Moller said that his federation would not support FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) for re-election, in which he is running unopposed.:

“There are presidential elections in FIFA. There are 211 countries in FIFA and I understand that the current president has statements of support from 207 countries. Denmark is not among those countries. And we’re not going to be either.”

Denmark has been one of the most strident critics of the selection of Qatar as the site of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and of FIFA’s decision not to allow the captains of seven European countries to wear a rainbow-themed “OneLove” armband at the World Cup.

Danish federation communications head Jakob Hoejer told Reuters that no action is imminent:

“Some media have made the misunderstanding that DBU will withdraw from FIFA.

“That was not said at the press conference. We’re critical and not satisfied and we’ll not vote for the present FIFA-president. We will discuss further actions with our Nordic and European colleagues.”

5.
Kenyans and Ethiopians comprised 80% of AIU road-race tests

The Athletics Integrity Unit published a detailed report on its road-racing testing activities for 2020 and 2021, showing a heavy concentration on Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes, but still testing competitors for 70 nations last year.

The goal “was to create a large pool of well-controlled professional road runners to help promote a level playing field and public confidence in the integrity of the sport.” The idea was to cover at least 300 top road runners, which was achieved despite difficulties presented by the pandemic.

The road-race testing project began in 2020, with 168 races in 50 countries helping to fund the “Road Running Integrity Programme,” with $1.32 million spent in 2020 and $1.38 million in 2021. At that level of funding, not everyone can be tested, but the AIU made an effort:

● 2020: 503 runners from 45 countries tested a total of 1,325 times
● 2021: 803 runners from 70 countries tested a total of 1,770 times

Special attention was paid to the top performers, identified as part of a “Registered Testing Pool” of 302 athletes in 2020 and 313 in 2021. No doubt who the targets were:

● 2020: 302 in the pool: 41% Kenya, 39% Ethiopia, 3% Bahrain and Japan, 2% U.S. and Uganda

● 2021: 313 in the pool: 41% Kenya, 39% Ethiopia, 3% Bahrain and Japan, 2% U.S. and Uganda

Samples were collected in out-of-competition (52%), pre-competition (22%) and in-competition (26%) settings. It’s a start and educational programs are being held in both Kenya and Ethiopia to stem interest in doping. But judging by the high number of positive tests, tampering and whereabouts sanctions, there is a long way to go.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group E: Japan 2, Germany 1 ● Anyone who saw Japan manhandle the U.S., 2-0, in a 23 September friendly in Dusseldorf (GER) knew that the Blue Samurai were going to be a problem at the World Cup. And they were a big problem for Germany.

The Germans made news during their team photo prior to the match, with a silent protest of covering their mouths after abandoning their plan for captain Manuel Neuer to wear a “OneLove” armband when FIFA stated that yellow cards would be given to those wearing unapproved uniform accessories. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser attended the match and did wear the OneLove armband.

Once the match started, the Germans had control of play and went up, 1-0, on a penalty converted by midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. Germany scored again in stoppage time, but was ruled offside and the half ended, 1-0. But a souped-up Japan came out in the second half, and swarmed the Germans with relentless midfield play. After missing multiple chances, it paid off in a tying goal from Ritsu Doan in the 75th minute, on a left-footed put-back off a Takumi Minamino shot.

From there, the pressure increased and substitute striker Takuma Asano sent a seeing-eye shot with his right foot from a bad angle as he was running away from the right side of the German goal, but it somehow flew over Neuer’s head and under the crossbar for a 2-1 lead.

Leon Goretzka got a good look at 90+5 from 22 yards, but the ball sailed left and ended Germany’s chance at a tie. The Japanese ended with just 26% of the possession and had 12 shots to 26 for the Germans (and just four on goal). But they got three points that were, to say the least, unexpected … except for those who saw them in September.

After the match, in what is something of a tradition, some Japanese fans stayed behind and helped to clear trash from the stadium.

● Group E: Spain 7, Costa Rica 0 ● This was a rout from the beginning, as Spain scored in the 11th minute (Dani Olmo), had a 3-0 lead at half and won by 7-0. Striker Ferran Torres converted a penalty in the 31st minute and added another goal at 54 minutes.

The game was completely one-sided, with Spain controlling 82% of possession and passing the ball a staggering 1,056 times, completing 94%. Costa Rica committed 12 fouls, but that did not slow the Spanish at all, as they attempted 17 shots in the game to none (yes, none) for Costa Rica.

● Group F: Croatia 0, Morocco 0 ● Croatia was the runner-up at the 2018 World Cup and star striker Luka Modric is back, but neither side could convert in a 0-0 draw.

There were 27 fouls in the game and Croatia had 65% of the possession, but managed only five shots (two on goal) to eight for Morocco (two on goal). There weren’t a lot of chances, but Croatia’s Nikola Vlasic had a point-black shot blocked in first-half stoppage time and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi blasted a free kick in the 64th minute that was saved by keeper Dominik Livakovic.

● Group F: Belgium 1, Canada 0 ● Sometimes you do everything right, but it turns out wrong. Canada has to feel that way after dominating play against Belgium, one of the World Cup favorites.

The top qualifier from CONCACAF, the Canadians harassed the Belgians relentlessly, playing a high defensive line and using their speed to generate offensive opportunities. A hand-ball penalty was called against midfielder Yannick Carrasco in the ninth minute, but Alphonso Davies’ shot was saved by Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois. Two more penalties against Belgium could have been called, but were not.

Despite out-shooting Belgium by 15-4 in the first half, the Belgians took the lead in the 44th minute thanks to striker Michy Batshuayi, who got hold of a long pass from Toby Alderweireld, split two defenders for a 1-0 lead at half.

Canada kept up the pressure in the second half, but just could not score. Substitute striker Cyle Larin tried to tie it in the 80th minute with a terrific header, but Courtois caught it and ended the theat.

Belgium ended with 54% of the possession, but Canada had a stunning 22-9 edge in shots, although both sides had three on goal.

Thursday’s games will complete the first round of matches, with Switzerland vs. Cameroon and Brazil vs. Serbia in Group G and Uruguay vs. South Korea and Portugal vs. Ghana in Group H.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Archery ● World Archery announced the development of a free streaming platform to be called “archery+” to show events either not otherwise sold, or for territories where no rights-holder exists for the Hyundai Archery Cup or World Championships.

London (GBR)-based StreamViral will provide the technical aspects; and the “platform will initially leverage advertising and a freemium model over paid subscriptions,” expected to launch in early 2023.

● Modern Pentathlon ● One of the least commented-on elements of the recent UIPM Congress was a slide shared on Twitter that listed the federation’s corporate sponsorships projected for 2023 (listed first) and 2024:

● $150,000 and $100,000: Sirius Group
● $100,000 and $100,000: New Balance
● $50,000 and $50,000: Absolute Fencing
● $0 (2023) and $140,000: NT Ruddock Company

The totals are $300,000 for 2023 and $390,000 for 2024, with RAM Watches and Lufthansa also shown in the sponsor list, but for $0 (suggesting value-in-kind only).

Observed: That’s it? The fencing and running sponsors make perfect sense, but odd not to see some support from companies involved with swimming and laser pistols, the latter used in the climactic Laser Run event.

● Swimming ● A world short-course record in the 50 m Backstroke for Russian star Kliment Kolesnikov, the Tokyo 2020 100 m Back silver medalist. At the Russian Short Course Championships in Kazan on Wednesday (23rd).

Kolesnikov touched in 22.11, erasing Frenchman Florent Manaudou’s mark of 22.22 from 2014, and gives Kolesnikov three of the top four performances of all-time and five of the top 10. Russian swimmers cannot compete in FINA competitions – such as next month’s FINA short-course Worlds – but marks made under correct conditions are allowed to be submitted as records.

Swimmers are usually pictured in swimsuits, in training or in competition, but for a look at some of the top American swimmers in awards-show dress, FINA did a fun look at the “red carpet” of the USA Swimming Golden Goggles Awards at the New York Marriott Marquis earlier this week.

Michael Andrew in a bolo tie? Lilly King in a “disco cowboy suit” from Express at 50% off? Wow.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Brazilian state flag, uniforms and supermarkets all part of World Cup protest confusion; new Tokyo 2020 scandal over test events

Rich Perelman

November 23, 2022

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement. ★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. More confusion on “rainbow” flags, jerseys and armbands at World Cup
2. Budweiser to ship unsold World Cup beer to winning country
3. IOC preference for 2030 Winter Games not expected until 2023
4. Another Tokyo 2020 scandal, this time on test events
5. USA Swimming tabs Finke, Ledecky as Athletes of the Year

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar ramped up in intensity on Tuesday with a brilliant, shocking, 2-1 win by Saudi Arabia over tournament heavyweight Argentina and a clinical, 4-1 win by France over Australia. Off the field, confusion and protests continued over rainbow flags, including one from a Brazilian state that has nothing to do with LGBTQ rights, associations with a Belgian dance festival and more. Meanwhile, a day after Budweiser’s beer sales in the World Cup stadiums was shut down, the company tweeted that it would sent the unsold beer to the tournament’s winning country! The Salt Lake City bid committee for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games met with the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission via videolink and said it was ready to host in 2030 if the IOC wished to select it. However, the IOC’s site preference will now likely not be made until early 2023. Another scandal at the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee has popped up, this time over a rigged selection process for companies to produce the 26 test events held prior to the Games, involving contracts worth about $3.54 million in all. USA Swimming held its annual Golden Goggles Awards in New York, with 2022 World Champions Bobby Finke and Katie Ledecky winning the Athlete of the Year honors.

1.
More confusion on “rainbow” flags, jerseys and armbands at World Cup

“This guy wearing a white dress grabbed the flag, threw it on the ground and started stomping on it. I took my phone to record a video but he grabbed it from my hand and said he would only give it back if I deleted the video.

“Then an officer arrived and tried to intervene. He grabbed the phone from the other guy and ordered me to delete the video.”

That from Brazilian journalist Victor Pereira, who was leaving the Argentina-Saudi Arabia match on Tuesday with a flag of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, which includes a three-color rainbow over a yellow sun, a red cross at the bottom and a yellow star at the top. He was accosted by a Qatari fan, who apparently mistook it for a flag supporting LGBTQ rights – homosexuality is illegal in Qatar – with a security officer coming in quickly.

Pereira deleted the video from the phone as requested, since he needed it for his work, but uploaded a video on Twitter explaining the incident and posted a couple of videos recorded by others that showed part of the situation.

FIFA directed the Belgian team to modify their white (visitor) jerseys with the word “Love” stitched into the back of the collar.

The “Love” insignia is part of a collaboration from last June with the annual Tomorrowland electronic dance music festival held in Flanders and not related to the LGBTQ issues at the World Cup. However, in the FIFA Equipment Regulations, section 10.3.5 states that a “decorative item” on a uniform:

“[m]ust not … function as a trademark or include anything that gives the visual impression of a Manufacturer Identifier or Sponsor Advertising, or that creates an association with a Manufacturer, a sponsor, or other third party, or that constitutes a promotion or other commercial message of any kind”

and section 12.1 notes that

“Sponsor Advertising is not permitted on the Playing Kit or any other playing item of a Team representing a Member Association in a Competition or an International Friendly Match.”

The Belgians, one of the tournament favorites, plan to wear their red home jerseys for their three group-stage matches, but will cover the “Love” patch on their away jerseys if worn later in the tournament. Belgium opens with Canada on Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday, the German supermarket chain Rewe ended its sponsorship of the German Football Association (DFB), in view of its decision not to have team captain Manuel Neuer wear the “OneLove” armband under the threat of an immediate yellow card from FIFA.

Rewe chief executive Lionel Souque issuing a statement including, “We stand up for diversity, and football is also diversity. We live this position and we defend it. FIFA’s scandalous attitude is absolutely unacceptable.”

DFB spokesman Steffen Simon told the German newspaper Bild: “FIFA has forbidden us to make a sign for diversity and human rights. It has combined this with massive threats of sporting sanctions without specifying them. The DFB is checking whether this action by FIFA was lawful.”

Germany opens World Cup play against Japan on Wednesday.

The World Cup opener between Ecuador and Qatar, which aired on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time drew 3.071 million viewers on FS1, beginning a couple of hours ahead of NFL games at 1 p.m. Eastern The early window NFL games drew 15.26 million on CBS and 15.56 million on Fox.

2.
Budweiser to ship unsold World Cup beer to winning country

Give Budweiser credit for staying on message, after its in-stadium sales efforts for its alcoholic beers were eliminated two days prior to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. On Saturday, a day before the tournament opened, the official Budweiser account on Twitter showed a warehouse stacked with pallets of Budweiser and stated:

“New Day, New Tweet. Winning Country gets the Buds. Who will get them?”

An AB InBev statement included:

“We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

3.
IOC preference for 2030 Winter Games not expected until 2023

The bid process for the Olympic Winter Games in 2030 continued on Tuesday, with the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games making a presentation via videolink to the IOC Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games.

Bid chief executive Fraser Bullock was positive about the discussion:

“Our exchange with the Future Host Commission was very positive and encouraging. We feel the [International Olympic Committee] sees great value in our vision for the Games and we are optimistic about the Winter Games returning to America in either 2030 or 2034.

“With the previously announced delay in the [2023] IOC Session until fall, we anticipate that a decision to invite Preferred Hosts into a Targeted Dialogue may not be made until sometime in early 2023.”

It was all-hands-on-deck for the presentation, with Bullock, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, bid committee Chair Catherine Raney Norman, bid Chief of Athlete Experience Lindsey Vonn, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chair Susanne Lyons and USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland all speaking during the program.

Vonn touched on a sensitive point from Beijing 2022 and for the upcoming Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games, noting that all of the athletes will live in a single Olympic Village and not be separated by far-away skiing venues.

And Bullock underscored that Salt Lake City (and the U.S.) has no hesitation in taking on the next available Games:

“These interactions with the Commission have been a valuable two-way feedback tool. While this process is focused on 2030, we made it clear we are available to host in either 2030 or 2034, whenever it best meets the needs of both the Olympic and Paralympic Movements, as well as our Utah host communities.”

4.
Another Tokyo 2020 scandal, this time on test events

“Major Japanese advertising agency ADK Holdings Inc. has reported to the fair trade watchdog that it participated in bid rigging for the rights to organize test events for the Tokyo Olympics.”

That’s from the Kyodo News Agency, reporting on a new embarrassment from the Tokyo 2020 Games:

“ADK came forward after Tokyo prosecutors recently launched an investigation into bid-rigging allegations in connection with the test events, in addition to a scandal involving the alleged receipt by a former games organizing committee executive of nearly 200 million yen ($1.41 million) in bribes from five companies, including ADK.”

The Tokyo 2020 organizers adopted an unusual approach to its pre-Games test events, contracting them out to various companies, and then watching the contractors produce the competitions, rather than doing them directly.

ADK produced three of the reported 26 test events and was paid a combined total of about ¥104 million (about $736,580 U.S.):

● ¥28.90 million for wrestling (~$204,663 U.S.)
● ¥29.16 million for equestrian (~$206,504 U.S.)
● ¥45.79 million for gymnastics (~$324,273 U.S.)

Nine other companies, including ad giant Dentsu, also won contracts to produce test events, with the cumulative contracts totaling ¥500 million (~$3.54 million), and as small as ¥4 million and as high as ¥60 million.

A source told Kyodo that the 10 companies who produced test events also received contracts to manage – without competitive bidding – many of the competition venues during the Games.

ADK Holdings is already defending allegations of bribery for paying Tokyo 2020 Executive Board member Haruyuki Takahashi ¥47 million (about $332,908) over five years to ensure it was selected as a marketing agent for Tokyo 2020 sponsors.

5.
USA Swimming tabs Finke, Ledecky as Athletes of the Year

At USA Swimming’s annual Golden Goggles Awards in New York on Monday, World Champions Bobby Finke and Katie Ledecky were named as Athletes of the Year and also for the men’s and women’s Race of the Year, both in the 800 m Freestyle.

Finke, the Tokyo Olympic Champion at 800 m and 1,500 m, came back to win the 2022 World Championships in the 800 m and a silver in the 1,500 m. His 7:39.36 time in the Worlds 800 m final was the fastest in the world for 2022, and he ranked third in the 1,500 m at 14:36.70.

Ledecky took Worlds golds in the 400-800-1,500 m Freestyles and on the 4×200 m relay, giving her an astonishing 19 World Championships golds (and three silvers) in her career. She swam the world’s fastest times in 2022 in her Worlds wins in the 800 m and 1,500 m; she ranked second at 400 m and third at 200 m. It’s Ledecky’s eighth selection in nine years as the federation’s female Athlete of the Year, and fifth award for Race of the Year.

Nor surprisingly, the Coach of the Year went to Florida’s Anthony Nesty, who mentors both Finke and Ledecky, and was the U.S. men’s head coach at the 2022 Worlds.

The Perseverance Award went to Leah Smith, who won a Worlds bronze in the women’s 400 m Free and a 4×200 Free Relay gold a year after missing the U.S. Olympic Team for Tokyo. The Breakout Performer of the Year was Leah Hayes, who the bronze in the women’s 200 m Medley at the Worlds, setting a World Junior Record.

The Impact Awards were presented to two former presidents of USA Swimming, Carol Zaleski and Bill Maxson.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group C: Saudi Arabia 2, Argentina 1 ● The first total shock of the tournament came on day three, as Saudi Arabia came from a goal behind to defeat one of the tournament favorites in Argentina, 2-1.

The Saudis entered their sixth World Cup with a 3-11-2 record (W-L-T), and had a rough first half, as Argentina’s superstar striker Lionel Messi scored on a penalty in the 10th minute and Argentina lost three goals – from Messi and two from Lautaro Martinez – on offsides calls later in the half.

But early in the second half, striker Saleh Al-Shehri tied the match in the 48th minute and midfielder Salem Al-Dawsari gave the Saudis a lead in the 53rd with a fabulous, right-footed laser from the left side of the penalty box to the right corner of the net that glanced off the hand of keeper Emiliano Martinez.

Argentina attacked again and again and had 69% of the possession in the game and a 15-3 edge in shots. But it was not enough. Saudi Arabia had beaten Morocco and Belgium in 1994 and Egypt in 2018 for its only prior World Cup wins, while two-time World Cup champions Argentina hadn’t lost an opening World Cup match since 1990 against Cameroon. The loss ended a 36-match unbeaten streak for Argentina.

Saudi Arabia declared a public holiday on Wednesday.

● Group C: Mexico 0, Poland 0 ● Both teams had chances, but neither could score and the game turned on a sensational save by iconic Mexican keeper Memo Ochoa on a penalty shot by Polish star Robert Lewandowski in the 56th minute.

The penalty call on a shirt-pull was confirmed on video review, but super-scorer Lewandowski sent a seeing-eye shot to his right that Ochoa punched out with authority. Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny was the hero in the 64th minute, saving a header by Henry Martin that perhaps Mexico’s best chance in the game.

Mexico had 61% of possession in the game and out-shot Poland by 11-6, but both teams will settle for a point after seeing Argentina stunned earlier in the day.

● Group D: Denmark 0, Tunisia 0 ● Another scoreless draw, but with a lot of tension as highly-regarded Denmark was unable to punch in a goal against an aggressive Tunisian defense.

The Danes controlled the ball (61% possession in the game), but couldn’t find the right combination, with Andreas Cornelius’s header flying wide of the goal in the 70th minute with an open net in front of him their best chance.

Tunisia ended up with 13 shots to 11 for Denmark, but the Danes had five shots on goal to just one for the defense-minded Tunisians. The draw ended a four-game losing streak by Tunisia to European teams in World Cup matches.

● Group D: France 4, Australia 1 ● This game started with another shock, as Australian midfielder Craig Goodwin smashed in a cross from the left-hand side of goal off a brilliant pass from midfielder Mathew Leckie in the ninth minute for a 1-0 lead!

But the French were hardly fazed, coming back with two goals in five minutes. Defender Theo Hernandez sent a perfect, left-footed ball to the head of midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who knocked it in in the 27th minute for the tie. In the 32nd, it was a flick-on from star midfielder Kylian Mbappe that gave Rabiot the ball in space on the left side, and ran toward the goal, then passed to a wide-open Olivier Giroud right in front of the goal and he scored easily for the 2-1 lead.

The half ended that way, with Australia’s Jackson Irvine just missing a header in stoppage time that would have tied it, but the ball rolled off the goalpost and out of bounds. The French had 11 shots to four for Australia in the half and 61% possession.

Relentless French pressure in the second half resulted in Mbappe finally got a goal in the 68th minute on a header off a curling cross from the right side into the box from midfielder Ousmane Dembele that caromed off the goalpost and into the net. The Mbappe returned the favor from the left side, sending a ball to the head of Giroud for a 4-1 lead in the 72nd. Over. The French ended with 68% of possession and out-shot Australia, 23-4.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Sullivan Award ● The Amateur Athletic Union’s Sullivan Award for the nation’s outstanding athlete is down to five finalists:

● Jocelyn Alo (softball), two-time USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year at Oklahoma;

● Jordan Burroughs (wrestling), six-time World Champion and 2012 Olympic Champion;

● Ivan Melendez (baseball), Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award winner at Texas;

● Carissa Moore (surfing), five-time women’s World Champion and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist;

● Bryce Young (football), Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama.

The winner will be announced in a ceremony on 8 December in Santa Monica, California.

● Figure Skating ● The NBC highlights presentation of the ISU Grand Prix event in Sapporo (JPN) on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern, in direct competition with the NFL, drew a respectable 719,000 viewers with a 0.48 rating.

This is right in line with the viewership of the other Grand Prix event highlight shows on NBC this season, with 760,000 for Skate American on 22 October; 747,000 for Skate Canada on 30 October and 713,000 on 13 November for the MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield (GBR).

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: FIFA bans unapproved armbands, drone security for Paris ‘24 worries Interior Minister; no beer or spirits sponsorships in Scotland?

Rich Perelman

November 22, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1121 usa-wales (blinken) — The scene before kickoff of the Wales vs. U.S. match at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar (Photo: U.S. Department of State)

★ The Sports Examiner: Surveying, monitoring and explaining the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. FIFA bans non-approved armbands, threatens yellow card
2. French Interior Minister worries about drones at Paris 2024
3. Accredited football writer Wahl stopped for wearing rainbow shirt
4. Workers party at Qatar match at fan zone in a Doha stadium
5. Scottish Football concerned over alcoholic beverage sponsor ban

FIFA shut down the plan of seven European teams to have their captains wear a “OneLove” rainbow armband in favor of its own program of messaged armbands, telling the teams that wearers would be penalized with a yellow card. Also in Qatar as an observer is French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who said his security worries for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris center on drones. American football journalist Grant Wahl, in Qatar as an accredited writer, was detained by security personnel when he entered Monday’s Wales vs. U.S. match wearing a T-shirt with a soccer ball surrounded by concentric circles in rainbow colors, in support of LBGTQ rights; he was eventually released and received apologies from the organizing committee and FIFA. Reuters reported that a free fan festival was set up in Doha for migrant workers to watch the opening World Cup match – featuring Qatar – and that thousands attended. In Scotland, a government consultation on whether alcoholic-beverage sponsorships should be banned as part of a larger reduction in alcoholic-beverage marketing has the Scottish Football Association and others very concerned.

Oh yes, the FIFA World Cup continued, with the U.S. and Wales playing to a 1-1 draw, while the Netherlands defeated Senegal, 2-0, and England routed Iran, 6-2.

(For a transcript of FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s memorable Saturday news conference remarks, click here.)

1.
FIFA bans non-approved armbands, threatens yellow card

FIFA informed the teams who had planned to have their captains wear a multi-color “OneLove” armband for their 2022 World Cup matches that such actions would be contrary to FIFA rules. From the FIFA statement:

“Article 13.8.1 of the FIFA Equipment Regulations, which state: ‘For FIFA Final Competitions, the captain of each Team must wear the captain’s armband provided by FIFA.’ …

“FIFA is an inclusive organisation that wants to put football to the benefit of society by supporting good and legitimate causes, but it has to be done within the framework of the competition regulations which are known to everyone.”

FIFA is allowing captains to wear a “No Discrimination” armband for any of the matches, in addition to the armbands with varying (approved) messages made available for each round of the tournament.

The teams were informed that unauthorized armbands, such as the “OneLove” style, would result in a yellow card being issued to the wearer. A statement in reply from England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands included:

“FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play. As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games.

“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband. However, we cannot put our players in the situation where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.

“We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented – we wrote to FIFA in September informing them of our wish to wear the ‘OneLove’ armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response. Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.”

Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk said after the win over Senegal:

“I no longer want to answer political questions. This is the time to talk about football and not political issues. One thing is clear: we are not going to wear the armband if we’re getting a yellow card. I think we need to question whether this a correct action on the part of FIFA and you can answer that question.

“Virgil van Dijk after one match is to be given a yellow card! We are here to become World Champions and that is our purpose, which is why we’re not wearing the armband. All of us need to ask ourselves whether this is a proper action on the part of FIFA – that is crystal clear.”

2.
French Interior Minister worries about drones at Paris 2024

“Drones are the main terrorist threat of today and tomorrow.”

That from France’s Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, to Agence France Presse from Doha, where he is attending the FIFA World Cup, with a focus on lessons for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

He noted his concerns with dangers such as “a drone loaded with explosives that falls on a crowd, on an exposed team, on an opening ceremony like at the Olympic Games for example.

“When you organize an event like this, cyber attacks, the fight against drones, questions of terrorist threats, the flow of people are important subjects.”

Darmanin added that about 20,000 fans from France were expected in Qatar and that 225 French security staff were in the country as a preventative measure.

He also saw benefits in having a mega-event like the World Cup in unusual locations such as Qatar, as it “allows us to move certain countries like Qatar forward on labour laws and respect for the environment.

“If we only ever organize such events in Europe, it’s difficult to argue that they are global.”

3.
Accredited football writer Wahl stopped for wearing rainbow shirt

Veteran writer Grant Wahl, who has covered multiple World Cups, is in Qatar for the 2022 edition and went to the Wales-USA match on Monday wearing a black T-shirt picturing a soccer ball surrounded by seven concentric circles in color, forming a rainbow pattern, in support of LGBTQ rights.

As he reported on his Substack site, what followed was an “adventure”:

“When I arrived at the stadium media entrance to cover the United States-Wales World Cup game today wearing a rainbow soccer ball t-shirt supporting the LGBTQ community, the security guards refused to let me in, detained me for 25 minutes and angrily demanded that I remove my t-shirt.”

Wahl tweeted:

“Just now: Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales. ‘You have to change your shirt. It’s not allowed.’”

His phone was then taken by a security guard. Another guard said his shirt was political, which Wahl disagreed with. A third said he had to remove the shirt. No chance.

Wahl told friend Andrew Das, an assistant sports editor of the New York Times, what was going on, and Das was detained also. Wahl was then told to face a closed-circuit television camera, so he could be identified by others.

Das was released a little later, and a “security commander” came by, apologized, and told Wahl he was free to go, shirt and all. A FIFA representative also apologized later.

Wahl noted, “One of the security guards told me they were just trying to protect me from fans inside who could harm me for wearing the shirt.”

4.
Workers party at Qatar match at fan zone in a Doha stadium

A very special story from Reuters about the World Cup, but this time about how some of the country’s migrant workers were able to watch Sunday’s opening match:

“[T]housands of migrant workers gathered in a Doha stadium to watch the opening match of the first World Cup in the Middle East.

“The special fan zone set up at the industrial area on the city’s outskirts includes a stadium with a giant TV screen and another big screen set up outside for an overflow crowd. It sits adjacent to several worker camps where many of Qatar’s hundreds of thousands of low-income labourers live.”

Access to this stadium fan zone was free; one of the workers – from India – interviewed said he has signed up as a volunteer to work at a couple of matches, and will get to see the matches live. For some others who were interviewed, they said they send most of their earnings home to their families, making purchasing tickets an impossibility.

5.
Scottish Football concerned over alcoholic beverage sponsor ban

Scottish Professional Football League chief executive Neil Doncaster put it this way:

“We will take time to consider these proposals in far greater detail and respond in due course, but even at an initial stage, it is clear that the sporting, social and financial implications could be extremely grave.

“Sport worldwide depends to a very great degree on sponsorship, and drinks companies have a long and supportive history in the Scottish game. Their valuable financial contribution is hugely important to the wellbeing of our sport and its ability to support a range of social benefits. To remove that revenue stream, at a time when we are experiencing the most significant economic challenges for a generation, could have huge implications for clubs and Scottish sport more generally.”

He was responding to a Scottish government “consultation” on “Restricting Alcohol Advertising and Promotion” announced last Thursday, that is collecting information and responses through 9 March 2023. The project is designed to “take a whole population approach which aims to reduce alcohol consumption and therefore the risk of alcohol-related harms across the population. Although we recognise that there is no safe level of regularly drinking alcohol, we are looking to embed lower and safer consumption levels throughout the population.”

Sports sponsorship is clearly targeted, with one recommendation stating, “Stop alcohol sponsorship of events at which children may be present” and

“We want children and young people, as well as those in recovery and the wider population, to be able to attend and enjoy sporting events without seeing alcohol adverts or promotion.”

Ian Maxwell, chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, said “Scottish football is already restricted by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, which for more than 40 years has prohibited the sale of alcohol within football grounds. As a consequence, we cannot control consumption levels that take place outside of the stadium bowl and thus cannot be part of a data-led solution.

“We will contribute to the consultation to ensure a fact-based approach and to highlight the consequences of any legislation being imposed, not just financially, but in potentially being precluded from bidding for major football events, as well as other world-class, international sporting events where alcohol partnerships are an integral part of a diverse sponsorship portfolio.”

Interesting timing, of course, on the heels of the ban on beer sales inside Qatar’s World Cup stadiums by FIFA sponsor Budweiser. Doncaster noted that Dutch brewer Heineken N.V. is a sponsor of UEFA competitions in which Scotland competes.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

● Group A: Netherlands 2, Senegal 0 ● The Dutch had the best of the first half, but Senegal looked like it might steal the match in the final half until midfielder Cody Gapko turned the game with a header from Frenkie de Jong in the 84th minute for a 1-0 lead.

Senegal continued to press, but the Dutch defense was stout and Davy Klassen scored the final goal at 90+9 on a rebound from a Memphis Depay shot. The Dutch enjoyed 53% of the possession, but Senegal led in shots, 15-10.

● Group B: England 6, Iran 2 ● The English outclassed Iran, scoring three first-half goals and three more in the second in a 6-2 rout. After several early chances, Jude Bellingham scored on a header in the 35th minute, followed by Bukayo Saka (43rd) and Raheem Sterling (45+1). Sterling scored again at 62 minutes for a 4-0 edge, then Iran got a powerful goal from Mehdi Aremi in the 65th to close to 4-1. But Marcus Rashford scored six minutes later to increase the lead to 5-1 and Jack Grealish scored in the 90th to go to 6-1. Aremi was fouled in the box in stoppage time and converted the penalty at 90+13 for the final score.

England had a staggering 78% of the possession and led 13-8 in shots, with 23 fouls called in the game of them against Iran. Before the game, the Iranian team did not sing the national anthem, taken as a protest in the continuing political turmoil inside Iran.

● Group B: United States 1, Wales 1 ● The U.S. dominated the first half, but pressure from Wales in the second half led to a 1-1 tie in a lively, physical game.

The Americans, playing in their first World Cup since 2014, were on offense right from the start and almost scored in the ninth minute on a Wales own-goal due to a swarming U.S. offense, but keeper Wayne Hennessey made the save and then U.S. striker Josh Sargent hit the post on a subsequent header.

However, a Sargent knock-on to Christian Pulisic started a U.S. break in the 36th minute. Pulisic sped forward, then found a streaking Timothy Weah running towards the net and Weah flicked the ball with his right foot and beat Hennessey for a 1-0 lead. The Americans had 66% of the possession and a 3-2 lead in shots in the half and was in total control.

Wales, playing in its second World Cup final tournament – the last was in 1958! – was aggressive and in control for most of the second half. Defender Ben Davis headed a hard shot at the U.S. goal in the 64th, but American keeper Matt Turner was able to pop it over the goal and then substitute striker Kieffer Moore sent another close-in header over the bar seconds later.

Eventually, all the play in the U.S. zone paid off as star striker Gareth Bale was fouled in the box by U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman in the 81st minute for a penalty. And Bale rocketed his shot past Turner to tie the match.

The game was physical from the start and got more so as it wore on, with 25 fouls in the game and four yellow cards on the U.S. and two on Wales. There was 10 minutes of stoppage time and Bale almost found the net again from long range as Turner came 30 yards out of goal, but a foul by Kellyn Acosta – which earned a yellow card – saved the U.S.

The game ended with multiple players cramping, and the U.S. with 59% of the possession and six shots to seven for Wales. But both teams will take the point.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● Athletics ● French triple jump star Teddy Tamgho was sanctioned for competing during a period when he was suspended for doping, with a penalty of one year from 18 March 2015 to 17 March 2016 added to his already-served ban from 18 March 2014 to 17 March 2015.

Tamgho, 33, has not competed since 2019 and the new sanctions do not impact his World Indoor title from 2010 or his World Championships gold in 2013. He does lose the French national indoor title he won in February 2016.

Another inquiry into coaching methods, this time at the University of Colorado, as Runner’s World reported an ongoing independent investigation of the school’s famed cross-country program. The story explained that there have been “allegations by former athletes pertaining to body composition analysis, training methods, and overall culture.”

Multiple former Colorado athletes are being interviewed, with questions being asked about legendary head coach Mark Wetmore, assistant Heather Burroughs and head dietician Laura Anderson. The university acknowledged the investigation, but said it will make no comments until the completed report is provided.

● Football ● An appeal by former CONCACAF President Jack Warner (TTO) to keep him from being extradited to the U.S. to face U.S. charges on corruption was turned down by the Privy Council in London (GBR) last Thursday (17th).

The U.S. Department of Justice charged Warner, now 79, with wire fraud, racketeering and money-laundering in 2020, alleging receipt of $5 million in bribes and other crimes between 1998 and 2011. He was also part of a 2015 indictment and was barred for life by FIFA the same year. Now it appears he may be forced to defend himself in U.S. Federal Court.

● Modern Pentathlon ● The Pentathlon United athletes group is now worried about further changes in the sport’s format, beyond the change from riding to obstacle course, tweeting on Monday:

“@WorldPentathlon can you tell your community what was in the proposal for LA28 that has been sent to the IOC regarding fencing, considering there is no ranking round venue? What are you now doing to our fencing discipline?

“Is it true that our fencing discipline is being dismantled with no ranking round venue in LA28. Athletes will no longer fence every other competitor. So what is it going to be? The ladder system is a disingenuous representation of our fencing skills. But that’s what remains.”

Although not on the Los Angeles 2028 program at present, the LA28 bid – which assumed that the sport would be included – offered the versatile Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California as the pentathlon venue. It is slated to also host cycling (track), field hockey, rugby sevens and tennis; while the sports park does not include an indoor arena, the adjacent Cal State Dominguez Hills campus has the 2,802-seat Torodome gymnasium, which could be used for fencing.

● Softball ● The U.S. women swept the Pan American Championships tournament in Guatemala City (GUA) that finished on Sunday, defeating Canada by 12-1 and completing a perfect 9-0 record. The U.S. batted .527 for the tournament and won eight of its games by run-rule margins. Megan Faraimo won four games and Rachel Garcia won three on the mound.

● Table Tennis ● Pretty impressive audience figures from the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships in Chengdu (CHN) in early October, with more than 240 million unique viewers and a cumulative audience – on all platforms – of 467 million. Not surprisingly, the top markets were in China, Japan, Korea and other south Asian countries, but viewership in Europe was considered very good, as well as developing markets in Brazil, India and South Africa.

The World Team Championships was the first international sporting event to be held in China since the Beijing Olympic Winter Games in February.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

TSX REPORT: Infantino hammers media, critics at pre-World Cup news conference; FIFA revenue up $1 billion; WADA readying Russia doping agency review

Rich Perelman

November 21, 2022

tsx pix 2022-1120 infantino news conf 750 — FIFA President Gianni Infantino at Saturday's amazing news conference (Photo: FIFA video screenshot)

★ The Sports Examiner: Surveying, monitoring and explaining the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ Want TheSportsExaminer.com insights for your team? Yes! Click here for info on speaking, research and consulting from editor Rich Perelman. ★

★ To get The Sports Examiner by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

1. Infantino rips media coverage in pre-World Cup news conference
2. FIFA revenue rises to $7.5 billion for 2022, up more than 15%
3. Banka re-elected as WADA President, Russia’s status in review
4. Russian minister signals interest in Griner prisoner trade
5. World decathlon leader Scantling banned for three years

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is underway, with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino giving a stunning, one-hour talk on migrant rights, Qatari legal restrictions and the banning of beer in stadiums during his pre-event news conference on Saturday. He announced on Sunday that the federation’s revenue will reach $7.5 billion on 2022, about $1 billion more than anticipated. Poland’s Witold Banka was re-elected as President of the World Anti-Doping Agency and he outlined what promises to be a not-very-quick review of Russia’s status once its two-year sanction period ends in December. In Russia, a deputy minister expressed more interest in a prisoner swap with the U.S. that could include basketball star Brittney Griner. U.S. decathlon star Garrett Scantling, the world leader in 2022, was banned for three years for “whereabouts” failures and for tampering.

Oh yes, the FIFA World Cup finally started, with Ecuador schooling Qatar, 2-0.

1.
Infantino rips media coverage in pre-World Cup news conference

“This moral lesson-giving, one-sided, it’s just hypocrisy.”

In an extraordinary news conference on Saturday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) spoke to an estimated 400 reporters in advance of the 2022 FIFA World Cup for a solid hour before taking questions, pushing back against critics of the federation and of Qatar as the host country.

Infantino spoke from notes, but was not reading a written statement. In his usual, casual style, with a methodical delivery occasionally punctuated with a harder tone, he ran through just about the entire list of complaints that have been leveled at the about-to-start World Cup. He startled the assembly by starting with:

“Today, I feel Qatari. Today, I feel Arab. Today, I feel African. Today, I feel gay. Today, I feel disabled. Today, I feel a migrant worker.” And then he continued, with 37 minutes of unapologetic comments on FIFA and the migrant worker situation in Qatar:

● “So let’s start with the migrant workers, if you allow me. We have [been] told many, many lessons from some Europeans, from the Western world. I’m European – actually I am European – not just I feel European. I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years, before starting to give moral lessons to people.

“I came here six years ago and addressed the matter of migrant workers, straight on, at my very first meeting. How many of the European or Western business companies, who earn millions and millions from Qatar – or other countries in the region – billions, every year, how many of them have addressed migrant worker’s rights, with the authorities?

“I have the answer to you: none of them. None of them, because [that means changing] the legislation, which means less profit. Instead of one billion, well maybe you make only 900 million. But we did and FIFA generates much, much, much less than any of these companies, from Qatar.”

● “So, speaking about workers, I bumped into a migrant study, not a FIFA study, a Human Rights Watch study, one of these companies that I think is also criticizing certainly FIFA, certainly rightfully, many times, I guess. What that study says, basically, is because of the European migration policy, 25,000 migrants died since 2014, in eight years. A thousand, two hundred only this year. Human beings died.

“So if we take two steps back of this – I also wonder, but I always come back to that – why nobody ask for a compensation to be paid for the families of these migrants who died. Their life is not worth the same? “

● “So if you go two steps back and you look at this issue of migration, and the situation of hundreds of thousands of women and men from developing countries who would like to offer their services abroad, in order to help and to give a future to their families back home, well Qatar is actually offering them this opportunity. Hundreds of thousands of workers of developing countries come here, they earn 10 times more than what they earn in their home country and help their families to survive. And within a legal way.

“We in Europe, we close our borders and we don’t allow practically any worker from these countries, who earn obviously very low income, to work legally in our countries, because we all know there are many illegal workers in our European countries [in] living conditions which are also not really the best. …

“So I wonder why nobody recognized the progress that has been made, since 2016. The kafala system was abolished, minimum wages were introduced, heat protection measures were taken. ILO, international unions acknowledge that, but media don’t, or some don’t.”

Infantino spoke in detail about the main demands of human rights and labor organizations about a migrant help center, compensation for workers who did not receive their wages or were hurt or died, and long-term assurances that the changes already made are permanent. He described each in detail and summarized:

“So we have been seeing [1] there is a permanent office of [International Labor Organisation], or there will be – and we will be back, we will be here to check, don’t worry, because you will be gone – [2] compensation for workers who are not paid or who have accidents, exists, in very significant amounts, and [3] FIFA has a legacy fund for this World Cup.”

Infantino noted that Qatar already has a worker’s support and insurance fund that has paid $350 million in claims since 2018; this in response to calls for FIFA to pay $440 million or more to workers and families injured or killed in the construction of the World Cup stadiums. The Legacy Fund is not a new concept; it was reportedly established after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and $260 million has been contributed across the 2010-14-18 events.

He then launched into a discussion on “the LGBT situation”:

“I have been speaking about this topic with the highest leadership of the country, several times, not just once. They have confirmed and I can confirm that everyone is welcome.

“If you have a person here and there who says the opposite, well it’s not the opinion of the country. And certainly not the opinion of FIFA. This is a clear FIFA requirement; everyone has to be welcomed. Everyone who comes to Qatar is welcome, whatever religion, race, sexual orientation, belief she or he has. Everyone is welcome. This is our requirement and the Qatari state sticks to that requirement.

“Now you will tell me, ‘yeah, but this legislation which prohibit that and whatever’, you have to go to jail, I don’t know what. Yes, these legislations exist in many countries in the world. These legislations existed in Switzerland, when Switzerland organized the World Cup in 1954; I was not born yet.

“So again, like for the workers, these are processes. So what do you want to do about it? You want to stay home and hammer and criticize and say how bad they are: these Arabs or these Muslims or whatever, because it’s not allowed to be publicly gay? Of course, I believe it should be allowed, as FIFA President. But, I went through a process, I went through a process. If I ask the same question to my father, who is not here any more, he would probably have a different answer than me. And my children will have again a different answer than me. So if somebody thinks by just hammering and criticizing, and hammering and criticizing, we will achieve something, well, I can tell you it will achieve exactly the opposite. Because this will be viewed as provocation, and then if you provoke me, I react. And that’s bad.”

And he did not let up, addressing the media directly:

“The only thing I am asking you: engage, help, don’t divide, try to unite. The world is divided enough. We are organizing a World Cup. We’re not organizing a war. We organize a World Cup, where people who have many problems, everyone in his or her life, want to come and enjoy.

“Look at the city, it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful, it’s geared up, people are happy, to celebrate. They were happy when the teams come, and when the teams come, they go to see the teams and what do I read, ‘well, these people they don’t look like English so they shouldn’t cheer for English.’ Because they look like Indians. I mean, what is that? Can somebody who looks like an Indian not cheer for England or for Spain or for Germany? You know what this is. This is racism. This is pure racism. And we have to stop that.”

He also addressed the late ban on sales of beer in the World Cup stadiums, saying “I mean, honestly, if this is the biggest issue we have for the World Cup, I will sign immediately and go to the beach and relax until the 18th of December.” He indicated that AB InBev will continue as a FIFA sponsor through to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

He finished with:

“Don’t criticize Qatar, don’t criticize the players, don’t criticize anyone. Criticize FIFA, criticize me if you want, because I am responsible for everything, but let the people enjoy this World Cup.”

It was a stunning performance, but was immediately criticized, of course. An Amnesty International comment included:

“In brushing aside legitimate human rights criticisms, Gianni Infantino is dismissing the enormous price paid by migrant workers to make his flagship tournament possible – as well as FIFA’s responsibility for it. Demands for equality, dignity and compensation cannot be treated as some sort of culture war – they are universal human rights that FIFA has committed to respect in its own statutes.

“If FIFA is to salvage anything from this tournament, it must announce that it will invest a significant part of the $6 billion the organisation will make from this tournament and make sure this fund is used to compensate workers and their families directly.”

CNN reported comments from the human rights organization Equidem’s chief executive, Mustafa Qadri, who said in a statement: “History will not judge this moment kindly. Infantino’s speech was an insult to the thousands of hard-working women and men who have made the World Cup possible.

“He had a perfect opportunity to acknowledge that thousands of women and men from the poorest countries came to the richest only to face deception, exploitation and discrimination.

“Every day workers are contacting Equidem about unpaid wages, abuse and being terrified about speaking out for fear of retaliation from employers. There is a solution here: Infantino should establish a comprehensive compensation fund and demand Qatar establish an independent migrant workers’ centre so workers have a safe space to raise complaints and get the support they need.”

In fact, Infantino covered both of those suggestions in detail. Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Reddy, reporting from Qatar said in part:

“What absurd, offensive, misleading thing did he not say? This is extraordinary and unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. …

“It is an absolutely astounding address from the FIFA president and it’s probably even more astounding that he is being re-elected unopposed after being able to say stuff like this.”

2.
FIFA revenue rises to $7.5 billion for 2022, up more than 15%

The money continues to roll in, as FIFA President Infantino told the member associations on Sunday that the federation’s revenues will approach $7.5 billion for 2022, about $1.0 billion more than was expected.

Total expenses for 2022, which includes production of the World Cup and the establishment of a Qatar 2022 Legacy Fund following its end, will be about $6.5 billion, leaving a surplus of $1.0 billion. Infantino said that with this money “we can then invest in football immediately, starting from now and for the next cycle to make football grow even more around the world.”

Infantino also underscored the progress being made in moving money from FIFA’s Zurich headquarters out to the associations:

“[I]nstead of the $250,000 per year that you are receiving only in 2015 – so before my election in 2016 – today every association around the world receives $2 million a year as a minimum. … you can see the figures concretely, $8 million per association for the [four-year] cycle, plus $1.2 million for the travel and equipment contributions, $60 million for the confederations and $5 million for the zones or regional confederations.”

While nine European teams continue with plans to have their captains wear a multi-colored “OneLove” armband as a show of support for LGBTQ rights in Qatar, FIFA announced a social-messaging program in concert with UNESCO, the World Health Organization and world Food Programme.

Seven different messages will be promoted, one for each round of the tournament, starting with “#Football Unites The World” for the first set of group matches, with the slogans on captain’s armbands, on stadium scoreboards, on FIFA and United Nations digital platforms and elsewhere.

FIFA could issue fines to teams that wear armbands which are not approved.

The Qatar 2022 “Fan Leader” program, in which selected supporters from each participating country were provided with travel and accommodations at the World Cup, was slimmed down according to the TheGuardian.com. A message sent from the organizing committee included:

“Due to the recent developments in the media, we are keen to protect our visiting fans from the erroneous misinformed statements regarding ‘fans receiving payment for the trip’. Accordingly, the daily allowance will unfortunately no longer be issued. The allowance was intended as a small uplift on your own personal funds to assist with refreshments during your stay.”

3.
Banka re-elected as WADA President, Russia’s status in review

Poland’s Witold Banka and China’s Yang Yang were unanimously re-elected for their second (and final) three-year terms as President and Vice President of the World Anti-Doping Agency by the WADA Foundation Board, meeting in Montreal (CAN). Both will serve through the end of 2025.

The status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was a major feature of the Executive Committee and Foundation Board meetings, as the WADA sanctions – as modified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020 – will expire on 17 December 2020. Up next:

“WADA will launch a three-phase process. First, WADA Management will carefully assess whether RUSADA has met all the conditions of reinstatement as laid out in the CAS award. Second, once WADA Management considers that all conditions have been met, it will refer the matter to the independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) for its review. Third, following that review, if the CRC agrees with WADA Management that the conditions have been met, it will make a recommendation to the ExCo for its consideration.”

So nothing is going to happen quickly, which Banka emphasized:

“Trust in Russia’s anti-doping system is still very low. They have a lot of work to do to rebuild that trust. RUSADA remains non-compliant. The process for reinstatement does not end on 17 December – in fact, the process only starts on that date. Through the three phases of that process, compliance will be robustly assessed. We will need to verify each and every one of the reinstatement conditions. Verify means verify – not simply accepting anyone’s word for it.”

The WADA budget is growing, slowly but surely. It spent a record $42.178 million in 2021 and projects budgets of $46.5 million, $50.2 million and $53.0 million for the next three years. WADA now has 153 staff (from 59 countries) spread among six offices, with 129 at the headquarters in Montreal.

4.
Russian minister signals interest in Griner prisoner trade

“I want to hope that the prospect not only remains but is being strengthened, and that the moment will come when we will get a concrete agreement.

“The Americans are showing some external activity, we are working professionally through a special channel designed for this. Viktor Bout is among those who are being discussed, and we certainly count on a positive result.”

That’s Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, quoted on Friday by Interfax, referring to arms dealer Bout, caught by the U.S. in 2008 and convicted in 2012. He could be swapped for Russian-held American prisoners Paul Whelan or two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner.

This is a much warmer attitude towards an exchange from Russia than previously seen; the U.S. State Department has repeatedly complained that no serious response to American offers has been made. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said, “The Russian government’s failure to seriously negotiate on these issues in the established channels, or any other channel for that matter, runs counter to its public statements. Ultimately, here, actions speak louder than words.”

5.
World decathlon leader Scantling banned for three years

On 6-7 May this year, American Garrett Scantling, now 29, won the USA Track & Field national decathlon championship with a world-leading score of 8,867, moving him to no. 7 on the all-time list, and no. 3 all-time U.S.

He disappeared from competition after that, and now we know why.

Scantling has been suspended for three years, until 27 June 2025, meaning he will miss the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency:

“Within a 12-month period, Scantling accrued three Whereabouts Failures, the first on August 25, 2021; the second on January 24, 2022; and the third on April 9, 2022. Scantling was successfully tested nine times between his first Whereabouts Failure and his provisional suspension.

“The accumulation of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period constitutes a rule violation under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy, and the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code.

“During an investigation into his third potential Whereabouts Failure, Scantling also provided an altered email in defense of his third Whereabouts Failure, constituting a Tampering violation.”

Scantling was disqualified for all competitions after 27 June 2022, so his world-leading mark for 2022 will stand.

The sanction for a whereabouts failure is normally four years, but Scantling admitted the violation and accepted the sanction and received a one-year reduction. Scantling finished fourth in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic decathlon, but won’t have a shot at a worldwide medal until 2025 at the earliest.

≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

After all the shouting off the field, the opening match was played on Sunday, with host country Qatar looking lost throughout most of the first half and losing to Ecuador, 2-0, in Group A.

Ecuador, which finished fourth in the South American qualification tournament, was the aggressor from the start and got a goal in the third minute from striker Enner Valencia that was ruled offsides on a video review using a high-tech system that showed forward Michael Estrada’s right foot to be ahead of the play.

No matter, as Valencia was submarined by Qatari keeper Saad Al-Sheeb in the 15th minute for a penalty and Valencia calmly rolled the ball to the right side of the goal as Al-Sheeb went the other way in the 16th minute.

Valencia scored again with a brilliant header in the 31st minute off a cross from Angelo Preciado to the far side of the Qatar goal, for a 2-0 edge that looked like – and was – insurmountable.

Qatar showed glimpses of promise, with forward Almoez Ali missing a header that could have been a score in stoppage time at the end of the half, and a shot that went over the bar from substitute striker Mohammed Muntari in the 86th minute. But they rarely threatened.

Ecuador ended with 54% of possession, but it seemed to be much more than that. Ecuador was credited with six shots and three on goal, to five for Qatar, of which none were on goal.

The tournament gets fully underway on Monday, with three games, including the U.S. and Wales; all games are shown in the U.S. on FOX or FS1 in English and Telemundo in Spanish.

≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡

● Gymnastics ● The 36th FIG World Trampoline Championships concluded on Saturday in Sofia (BUL), with a startling end to China’s dominance of the men’s Trampoline competitoin.

The Chinese had won 11 individual titles in a row and had defending champion Langyu Yan back at the top of a three-man entry in Sofia. But none got out of the second qualification round and made it to the final. That opened the door for Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Dylan Schmidt of New Zealand, who won at 60.720, well ahead of France’s European Champion Allan Morante (58.710) and Yamato Ishikawa (JPN: 58.480).

Japan’s Hikaru Mori won the women’s title for the second time – also in 2019 – scoring 56.230. Defending champ Bryony Page (GBR) took the silver (55.950) and China’s Yicheng Hu (55.810) won her first Worlds medal in third. American Jessica Stevens (54.860) was sixth.

Portugal won the men’s Team title over France, and Americans Ruben Padilla and Tomas Minc went 1-3 in the Double Mini final, with Padilla moving up from silver in 2019. Spain won the men’s Double Mini team with the U.S. third.

China won the women’s Team title over Great Britain, and New Zealand’s Bronwyn Dibb won the Double Mini event over American Tristan van Natta, with Australia taking the Double Mini Team event over the U.S.

● Taekwondo ● The 25th World Taekwondo Championships – the first since 2019 – were held in Guadalajara, Mexico, with three wins for the home team and an American gold in the women’s division.

Mexico claimed world titles from men’s Heavyweight (+87 kg) Carlos Sansores, moving up from his 2019 silver; from Daniela Souza in the women’s Flyweight (49 kg) and in the women’s Welterweight class from Leslie Soltero (67 kg).

The U.S. for a win from Makayla Greenwood at 53 kg (Bantamweight), defeating China’s Ju Zuo in the final by two rounds to one.

China scored two wins, from Yushuai Liang in the men’s Bantamweight (63 kg) class and Zongshi Luo in the women’s Featherweight (57 kg) division. South Korea got men’s wins from Do-yun Kwon in the 68 kg Featherweight class (defeating Britain’s Olympic silver winner Bradly Sinden), and by Woo-hyeok Park in the 80 kg Welterweight division.

Serbian fighters won both Middleweight divisions! Nadica Bozanic took the women’s 73 kg title, defeating defending World Champion Da-bin Lee (KOR) in the final, and Mehdi Khodabakhski took the men’s 87 kg class.

The other men’s winners included Omar Salim (HUN: 54 kg), Daniel Quesada (ESP: 74 kg) and Tokyo Olympic champ Vito Dell’Aquila of Italy at 58 kg.

Belgium’s Sarah Chaari won the women’s Lightweight (62 kg) class to add to her World Junior title won earlier this year, and Svetlana Osipova won the Heavyweight (+73 kg) division for her first Worlds medal. Croatia’s Lena Stojkovic took the 46 kg “Finweight” title.

Mexico (3-1-2) and China (2-3-1) each won six medals for top honors, followed by South Korea, Serbia and Spain with five each. The U.S. had only the gold-medal performance from Greenwood.

≡ PANORAMA ≡

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics is moving forward, slowly. University of Baltimore law professor Dionne Koller said in an e-mail message:

“Members of the Commission have been sworn in and [co-chair Han Xiao] and I continue to work with relevant government agencies on essential infrastructure that will support our charge. We have a meeting scheduled in December, and once the Commission is ready and able to solicit public comments, we will issue notices and spread the word.”

The Commission was to have finished its work prior to last year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, but has been delayed. House Bill 8309 was introduced in July to amend the Commission’s end date to “Not later than September 30, 2023.” The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, but has not been acted on yet.

● Alpine Skiing ● A new season, but more record-setting wins for American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin at the iconic annual Slalom program at Levi (FIN), where the “prize” is a reindeer!

Actually, all the winner gets to do is to name a reindeer from the Ounaskievari Reindeer Farm, but it’s a great promotion for the Levi area, up close to the Arctic Circle.

On Saturday, Shiffrin was third after the first run, but poured on the speed on the second run to win with a combined time of 1:51.25, ahead of Anna Larsson (SWE: 1:51.41) and Beijing Olympic champ Petra Vlhova (SVK).

On Sunday, Shiffrin had the fastest first run and confirmed her status with the quickest second run to finish at 1:52.21, just 0.28 seconds ahead of five-time Olympic medalist Wendy Holdener (SUI: 1:52.49) and Vlhova (1:52.89).

The two wins in Levi give Shiffrin’s 76 career World Cup wins, now six behind fellow American Lindsey Vonn (82) for the most wins ever on the women’s side, and her 49th in Slalom, the most by anyone in a single event.

Shiffrin’s wins also passed Vlhova, at six reindeer to five! Shiffrin’s previous wins came in 2013 (and a reindeer she named “Rudolph”), 2016 (“Sven”), 2018 (“Mr. Gru”) and 2019 (“Ingemar”). She named her first reindeer of 2022 “Sunny” in honor of U.S. teammate Ava Sunshine’s World Cup debut and Sunday’s reindeer was named “Lorax” in honor of her late father.

● Archery ● The 2022-23 World Archery Indoor (18 m) World Cup series opened in Strassen (LUX) with the GT Open, with France’s Florent Mulot winning the men’s Recurve title over Sachin Gupta (IND) by 6-0 in the final, and Tokyo Mixed Team silver medalist Gaby Schloesser (NED) taking the women’s victory in a 7-1 final over France’s Jennifer Devaux.

● Basketball ● With wins at the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the 2022 EuroBasket, Spain took over the no. 1 spot in the FIBA men’s World Rankings from the U.S.

The rankings are based on a points accumulation over several years and with the U.S. making only the quarterfinals in the 2019 World Cup, Spain earned the top spot with 758.6 to 757.5 for the American men. Australia is third at 740.3. The U.S. had been ranked no. 1 since 2010.

● Bobsled ● Sochi 2014 bronze medalist Aja Evans, who rode with Jamie Greubel, was suspended for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for failing to take a doping test last March.

Evans, 35, “failed to submit to sample collection after being notified by a USADA doping control officer during an out-of-competition test on March 29, 2022.” The penalty is usually four years, but USADA reported that the missed test was due to negligence and not intentional. Her sanction period will end on 8 November 2024, so she could compete for a spot at the 2026 Winter Games if she wants to,

● Figure Skating ● The fifth of seven legs of the ISU Grand Prix was in Sapporo (JPN) for the annual NHK Trophy, with the host country winning two events and grabbing five medals in all.

Reigning World Champion Shoma Uno won the men’s title, scoring 279.76 points and coming up from second to win the Free Skate and his third NHK Trophy victory. Teammate and Short Program leader Sota Yamamoto was second at 257.85 and Junhwan Cha (KOR: 254.76) was third.

Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara were decisive winners in Pairs, piling up 216.16 points to finish well ahead of Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe of the U.S. (187.49).

Ye-lim Kim (KOR) took her first Grand Prix title with a 204.49-201.87 win over Japan’s current World Champion, Kaori Sakamoto. Rion Sumiyoshi (JPN) was third (193.12) and American Audrey Shin (189.00) was fourth. The Ice Dance title went to first-time Grand Prix winners Canada’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen (210.41) in an upset ahead of American stars Madison Chock and Evans Bates (209.13) and third-placers Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (191.10).

The Grand Prix ”regular season” concludes next week in Espoo (FIN), with the Grand Prix Final in Turin (ITA) on 8-11 December.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The first FIS World Cup in Slopestyle was held on Saturday in Stubai (AUT), with Norwegian star Birk Ruud once again on top of the podium.

Olympic Big Air champ Ruud scored 88.96 on his first run and no one could catch him. Swiss Andri Ragettli – the 2021 World Champion in the event – chased hardest, scoring 87.38 in round two, but had to settle for silver. Americans Colby Stevenson (the Worlds silver winner in 2021) and Alex Hall ended up 3-4 at 85.68 and 83.71.

Norway’s Johanne Killi scored her fourth career World Cup win in the women’s division, scoring 81.24 on her first run. That was enough to beat Estonia’s Beijing bronze medalist Kelly Sildaru (78.22) and American Grace Henderson (76.58), who won her first World Cup medal, at age 21.

● Ice Hockey ● The 2022-23 Rivalry Series between the U.S. and Canadian women’s teams – the best in the world – got off to a loud start this week with three games and good results for the U.S.

Coming off a silver-medal performance at the Beijing Winter Games, the U.S. women won the opened on 15 November with a 4-3 shoot-out win in Kolowna, British Columbia, and then grabbed a 2-1 win on the 17th in Kamloops, B.C.

Hannah Brandt, Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter scored for the U.S. in regulation time in the first game and Kendall Coyne Schofield and Carpenter scored in the second game, with Maddie Rooney in goal.

On Sunday in Seattle, the biggest crowd in USA Hockey women’s national team history for a home game – 14,551 – turned out to see a 4-2 American win. The game was 1-1 after the first, but the Abby Roque for a power-play goal early in the second, followed by a Knight score for a 3-1 lead, cut to 3-2 at the end of the period. Knight got a power-play goal with 12:23 to play in the game to make the final, 4-2. It’s the first time since 2019 that the American women have won three straight over Canada.

There are two more games in the series, coming on 15 December (in Las Vegas) and 19 December (in Los Angeles).

● Speed Skating ● The second stage of the ISU World Cup was in one of the sport’s most popular venues, The Thialf in Heerenveen (NED), with Dutch skaters leading the way with six wins.

Winter Olympic triple gold medalist Irene Schouten scored wins in the women’s 3,000 m (3:54.04) and Mass Start (8:30.34), two of the event she won in Beijing last February. Olympic 1,500 m bronze medalist Antoinette Rijpma (nee de Jong) won this time in 1:53.73, ahead of Olympic silver winner Miho Takagi (JPN: 1:52.92). Beijing silver medalist Jutta Leerdam (NED) won the 1,000 m over Beijing winner Takagi, 1:13.77 to 1:13.92, with American Kimi Goetz seventh in 1:15.14. The only women’s event not won by the Dutch was the 500 m, with Korea’s Min-sun Kim taking it in 37.21, with American Olympic champ Erin Jackson fourth (37.53) and Goetz eighth (37.84).

Dutch men won the distances, with Beijing runner-up Patrick Roest taking the 5,000 m in 6:04.36 and Bart Hoolwerf winning the Mass Start in 7:39.12. Canada scored wins from Laurent Dubreuil in the 500 m (34.34) and Connor Howe in the 1,500 m (1:43.38), with Howe beating Olympic champ Kjeld Nuis (NED: 1:43.64). China’s Zhongyan Ning took the 1,000 m in 1:07.86.

American teen star Jordan Stolz crashed out after 200 m in his first event, the men’s 1,000 m, then placed fourth in the 500 m (34.70) and ninth in the 1,500 m in 1:44.27. Stolz had been the sensation of the season opener in Norway, winning the 1,000 m and 1,500 m, but Nuis cautioned against loading too much on the 18-year-old too soon:

“Everybody is referring to him as the new [1980 Olympic legend] Eric Heiden, but he’ll have his setbacks too. Today he barely gets further than 200 m. It’s not like he’s just going to skate a track record here easily.

“It’s great that America has someone who can skate in the spotlight again, but leave the [bull] out and just let him skate his races, let him grow and he’ll be great for the future of skating.”

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 951-event International Sports Calendar for 2022-23 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!