IOC EB Changes Venue; 200,000 Protest in Rio; Kuwait Suspension Avoided?

11/27/2012

Change of Venue for EB

The IOC Executive Board meeting scheduled for Dec. 4 and 5 has a new venue.

Now taking place at the Lausanne Palace, in downtown Lausanne, the meeting was originally supposed to take place at Chateau d'Vidy, IOC headquarters.

The move is due to the Nov. 11 flooding at Vidy, IOC communications director Mark Adams confirms to Around the Rings.

The announcement was made on Tuesday.

Possible Kuwait Suspension Avoided

The Kuwait Olympic Committee may not be suspended by the IOC Executive Board after all.

A report in the Kuwait News Agency said the country’s parliament passed a sports law that would protect the NOC’s autonomy. On Friday, the IOC said the deadline for approving the law had passed, and the EB would consider suspending the NOC.

In a statement to KUNA, Kuwait IOC member and NOC president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah thanked the sports minister for passing the law and said “the new decree ensures Kuwaiti athletes’ right to partake in international sporting events under the flag of their state.”

NOCs that are suspended by the IOC are not allowed to compete under their own flag.

A spokesperson said the IOC is studying the development.

200,000 Protest in Rio

The governor of Rio de Janeiro state is one of the 200,000 people protesting a new oil revenue distribution law on the desk of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for approval.

Under the law, the federal government would give a more equal distribution of the country’s oil wealth, most coming from the state of Rio.
In response, some 200,000 people stormed the state capital protesting the move.

But Sergio Cabral said he thinks President Dilma Rousseff will veto the bill.

“It represents a loss of [$1.9 billion] for the state in 2013. Without this money the state will be crippled, there will be no Olympics or World Cup,” he was quoted by Brazilian media.

Rousseff has until Friday to veto the law, which passed Brazil’s congress earlier this month. Rio authorities have vowed to appeal the law if she does not veto it.

... Briefs

... Polish Olympian and MP Jagna Marczulajtis-Walczak said she is confident the Polish government will approve a bid for the 2022 Olympics. “I have already had talks with the Minister of Sport and the Prime Minister, and they seem convinced about this idea,” she told Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. Krakow would serve as main host for the Winter Games. 

... Jacques Rogge and the British Olympic Association are the two biggest names to win the 2012 Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports Creativity Awards, issued by the Dubai Sports Council. A statement says Rogge was selected for his tenure as IOC president and the BOA earned its honor “for fulfilling its mission in transforming British lives through the power of Olympic values along with the recent success of Team GB at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.” The Qatar National Olympic Committee and Olympic and Parlaympic gold medalists from the Muslim world were also selected as award winners. The award ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2013.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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