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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2032: Brisbane ● As had been previously leaked, Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) was announced Thursday as the first commercial partner of the 2032 Brisbane organizing committee.
The company is Australia’s largest bank, originally created as a government bank in 1911 and fully privatized in 1996.
The agreement has implications for the International Olympic Committee, where it has been reported that JPMorgan Chase is in discussions about becoming a TOP sponsor. The presence of CommBank would necessarily limit JPMorgan Chase rights to just the 2028 Los Angeles Games, absent an ultra-creative work-around to allow both to share the Olympic Rings after 2028.
● International Olympic Committee ● IOC President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) spoke to the EU Sport Forum in Paphos, Cyprus in a recorded video message, emphasizing the importance of sport autonomy, including:
● “Sport – and the Olympic Games in particular – offer the opposite of the division we see in this world. They offer a rare space where people meet not as adversaries, but as fellow human beings. A much-needed space of peaceful competition.”
● “The athletes reminded us what excellence, friendship and respect look like in a world that sometimes forgets these values. They showed us what humanity can be at its very best, inspiring generations around the world with the Olympic spirit.
“Athletes can only inspire us if they are able to compete. They can only do so if we keep sport strictly neutral ground. If politics does not take over on the field of play. For all of us, this means that we must protect the autonomy of sport. So that we can tell all the athletes, no matter where they come from: yes, you can compete freely, without political interference beyond your control.”
● “And so I call on the EU and its Member States to stand by these principles that you have recognised so often: respect the autonomy of sport and support the political neutrality of the IOC and of the Olympic Games. Because only then can the power of sport truly unfold.”
There was no indication in this message of any change in the IOC’s stance on Russia and Belarus, which currently has encouraged International Federations to return youth and junior athletes to international competition, but not senior-level athletes or teams.
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The IOC announced a team of 25 athletes to serve as “Athlete Role Models” for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar (SEN) in October. These included Americans Christopher Bak for rowing and Ricardo Torres Jr. for boxing.
● Athletics ● Kenyan distance star Rhonex Kipruto, now 26, the one-time road world-record holder at 5 km and 10 km, is a confirmed doper according to a decision announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Thursday announcement of the decision on his appeal of a six-year sanction for blood doping ended with a reduction in his ban to five years:
“The CAS Panel considered the scientific evidence and expert opinions submitted by the Parties and found that the Athlete’s blood profile was the result of blood manipulation, constituting a doping infraction. …
“The Panel also reviewed the six-year period of ineligibility that was imposed, made up of four years for an intentional ADRV [doping violation] plus two years for aggravating circumstances. The aggravating circumstances submitted by World Athletics included several instances of blood doping and that the Athlete engaged in a deliberate and sophisticated doping regime. The Panel determined that, bearing in mind the principle of proportionality, the aggravating circumstances warrant an additional period of ineligibility of one year instead of two.”
His results, including the world-record runs in 2020, were nullified. However, his ban will now end on 10 May 2028, prior to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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The bankruptcy plan for Grand Slam Track was approved Thursday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and will now proceed with the filing of claims from those owed money and the distribution of the amounts available from primary investor Winners Alliance.
A separate action by the committee for unsecured creditors is still alive and will be heard later as to whether it will be allowed to proceed.
● Football ● New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill complained on X about the cost of hosting FIFA World Cup 2026 matches:
“FIFA is charging fans up to $10,000 for a single ticket to the final.
“They’re charging over $200 for ‘premium’ parking at the American Dream Mall – while eliminating parking at MetLife Stadium. They’re set to make $11 billion off of the World Cup overall.
“But New Jerseyans should foot a $48 million bill for transportation costs? Not happening.”
In a second post, she added: “I’m not going to burden New Jersey taxpayers with that bill for years. FIFA must cover the cost of transportation. But if they don’t – I’m not going to let New Jersey come out on the losing end of this.”
Instead, while the rate plan for New Jersey Transit is to be announced on Friday, it has been reported at more than $100 per person for each of the eight matches, compared to the usual fare of $12.90. FIFA replied in a statement:
“We are quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach today on fan transportation. The original FIFA World Cup 2026 Host City Agreements signed in 2018 required free transportation for fans to all matches.
“Recognizing the financial strain this placed on the host cities, back in 2023 FIFA adjusted the Host Agreement requirements across all host cities as follows: All Match Ticket holders and accredited individuals shall be able to access transport (public or additionally planned transport) at cost to allow travel to Stadiums on match days.”
New Jersey Transit chief executive Kris Kolluri told NJ.com. “It will cost us $48 million. We will charge FIFA fans for those tickets, and it will not be subsidized by our commuters.”
● Sport Climbing ● World Climbing, the international federation for sport climbing, confirmed a major increase in prize money across the 13 IFSC World Cup events, with 38 individual events now set to pay €20,000 per event, down to eight places: €6,000-4,000-2,800-2,000-1,600-1,400-1,200-1,000. (€1 = $1.18 U.S.)
This is way up from the €11,700 per event in 2024; some 2025 events used this higher prize payout. This will total €760,000 for the World Cup, plus another €90,000 for nine speed-relay events to a rise to €850,000 in all. Another €9,000 will be distributed to World Climbing Series Rankings seasonal winners.
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