LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Ongoing uncertainty about letting Russian athletes try to qualify for the Paris Olympics affects “less than half” of its 32 sports, the umbrella group of Summer Games governing bodies said on Friday.
Those sports have an urgent need for more clarity from the International Olympic Committee with qualification events pending less than 17 months before the opening ceremony in Paris.
Most sports bodies are still imposing a year-old ban on Russia and its military ally Belarus because of their war in Ukraine — a ban recommended by the IOC citing the security of athletes before shifting its position as Paris nears.
In January, the IOC asked sports bodies to find ways for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals.
“There are two issues for us,” Association of Summer Olympic International Federations executive director Andrew Ryan said on Friday after a meeting of its council. “The clock is ticking. We can’t just leave it open forever before there’s a decision.
“The other is, if we’re going to include Russian athletes, neutral ones, what is the definition of neutrality? I don’t think it is very easy to find that.”
The seven-member ASOIF council representing the Paris sports met for the first time since the IOC said it hoped to find a way for athletes who have not actively supported the war to return to international competition as neutrals.
IOC president Thomas Bach has said history will be on its side for trying to bring athletes together in peace and not discriminating based just on a person’s passport.
The backlash in Ukraine has been led by President Volodymyr Zelensky and past and current Olympic medalists who insist Russia must be excluded from Paris. The host city mayor Anne Hidalgo has said there should be no Russian delegation if the war continues.
Though some countries in northern Europe and the Baltics have talked of boycotting Paris, a statement last week from 35 nations — including the United States, Britain and Germany — urged the IOC to define a “workable ‘neutrality’ model” for athletes.
One IOC-backed option for Russians and Belarusians to compete in Asian qualifying events was already rejected by World Archery, whose president took part in Friday’s meeting.
“Each sport has different realities,” Ugur Erdener told reporters. Archery cited the nature of the sport’s knockout format and balance of continental entries to the Olympics.
There are questions if team sports and combat sports could accept even neutral athletes. Ukraine boycotted an Olympic qualifier in judo last year when Russians were allowed to compete as neutrals.
Russia already missed the chance to qualify in soccer from Europe and would be unlikely to qualify anyway in sports such as golf and field hockey.
“It doesn’t actually apply to 32 (sports),” ASOIF’s Ryan said of the complex range of challenges facing “less than half” its members.
“Under the current conditions it’s all unclear,” he said, adding Russians and Belarusians currently “don’t compete for their own good as much as anything, and then when we get some answers from the IOC we can explore.”
The IOC executive board chaired by Bach next meets on March 28-30 in Lausanne.
Paris Olympics sports bodies seek IOC clarity on Russia
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Paris Olympics sports bodies seek IOC clarity on Russia
- Most sports bodies are still imposing a year-old ban on Russia and its military ally Belarus because of their war in Ukraine
- “There are two issues for us,” Association of Summer Olympic International Federations executive director Andrew Ryan said
Boxing stars Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois face off at Tower Bridge in London
- Dubois currently holds the IBF belt, but Joshua will be looking to become a three-time world champion in the division
LONDON: Fans got their first glimpse of two of the biggest names in boxing four days ahead of the highly anticipated Riyadh Season Card Wembley Edition fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois on Monday.
Joshua and Dubois faced off for the first time at a media event held near the iconic London landmark of Tower Bridge.
It was the first event in a week of build-up for a night of boxing at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, where the two British boxers will fight it out for the International Boxing Federation heavyweight title.
Dubois currently holds the belt, but Joshua will be looking to become a three-time world champion in the division.
The event is the first Riyadh Season boxing event to be held in the UK and the second time outside Saudi Arabia following the success of the first event in Los Angeles in August.
Also on Monday, Anthony Cacace and Josh Warrington faced off, who are set to fight for the IBF super featherweight title.
Fans also got to see Joshua Buatsi and Willie Hutchinson, who will compete for the World Boxing Organization interim light heavyweight title, face off.
They also saw Tyler Denny who fights Hamzah Sheeraz, Mark Chamberlain who takes on Josh Padley, and a face-off between Josh Kelly and Ismael Davis, who stepped in to replace Liam Smith after Smith sustained an injury.
Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final
- “Something big is coming,” Neuer told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s opening clash with Dinamo Zagreb at home
- “The most important thing is the final in Munich. We want to go there and everything else is secondary”
BERLIN: Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said Monday his side were fully focused on the Champions League season, with this year’s final to be held at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
“Something big is coming,” Neuer told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s opening clash with Dinamo Zagreb at home.
“The most important thing is the final in Munich. We want to go there and everything else is secondary.
“We know what this final means to the city, the fans and the players. Our motivation is simply very high.”
Six-time European champions Bayern come into the season after their first trophyless campaign in 11 seasons, with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen winning a league and cup double.
In the Champions League, Bayern were eliminated in the semifinals by eventual winners Real Madrid, who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley to lift the trophy.
Neuer and fellow Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who both won the 2013 and 2020 Champions League finals, are the only two players in the squad to remember the 2012 home final, which they lost on penalties to Premier League side Chelsea.
Mueller went on social media on Monday, telling followers “the road to Munich starts tomorrow.
“I’m very excited. Let’s enjoy the best football in Europe.”
Manager Vincent Kompany, set to coach his first match in the Champions League, told reporters “the fans can dream.”
“The most important thing for me is that we show it on the pitch. We have a difficult game tomorrow. The important thing is that we play well and win tomorrow.”
Bayern have won every one of their Champions League openers since 2002 when they lost 3-2 to Deportivo La Coruna, which was the prelude to their first and only group stage elimination.
European Cup-winning former Villa striker Shaw dies aged 63
- The forward died after recently going into hospital following a head injury suffered in a fall
- “Aston Villa Football Club is deeply shocked and profoundly saddened to learn that Gary Shaw, one of our European Cup-winning heroes, has passed away,” a statement said
LONDON: Former Aston Villa striker Gary Shaw, who helped the club to their shock European Cup triumph in 1982, died on Monday aged 63.
Shaw was a member of the Villa side that won the First Division title in 1981 and then memorably stunned German giants Bayern Munich in the European Cup final 12 months later.
The forward died after recently going into hospital following a head injury suffered in a fall.
“Aston Villa Football Club is deeply shocked and profoundly saddened to learn that Gary Shaw, one of our European Cup-winning heroes, has passed away,” a statement said.
“Gary was one of our own, a talented striker who delighted supporters with his goalscoring exploits which helped fire Villa to success in the 1980s. Individual accolades would also follow for a player who was idolized by many on the terraces.
“He passed away peacefully earlier today surrounded by his family, who asked Aston Villa to release a statement on their behalf.”
Shaw’s death came on the eve of Villa’s first match in the Champions League for 41 years.
Unai Emery’s side face Young Boys in Switzerland on Tuesday and the Villa manager urged his team to win the match in tribute to Shaw.
“My condolences to the family and all the supporters at Villa,” said Emery, whose team will wear black armbands for the fixture in Bern.
“We have a memory always, in our training ground a picture of 1982 and the European Cup. He was a protagonist of that. My condolences to them.
“Yes, I think it’s sad and we can use it as motivation.”
Shaw joined Villa as an apprentice and went on to score 79 times in 213 appearances, including 20 goals in their 1981 title-winning campaign.
He was named PFA Young Player of the Year after Villa’s first English title since 1910.
Shaw scored three goals in Villa’s run to European Cup glory, including a crucial quarter-final strike against Dynamo Kiev.
Peter Withe’s winner against Bayern in Rotterdam lifted the team to previously unimaginable heights, with Birmingham-born Shaw savouring the triumph more than most.
Yet within a year of Villa’s epic victory, Shaw suffered a knee injury in a match against Nottingham Forest that curtailed his progress and ultimately saw him retire from the game after six operations.
He left the club in 1988 for spells in Denmark and Austria, before ending his career in 1992 after short stints at Walsall, Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury.
Shaw later worked as a statistical analyst and a matchday ambassador for Villa.
Tunisia's Jabeur to miss rest of year with injury
- Jabeur missed the recent US Open due to the injury
PARIS: Ons Jabeur will miss the rest of the 2024 WTA season with a shoulder injury, the Tunisian announced on Monday.
The three-time Grand Slam runner-up has struggled for form and fitness this year, slipping to 22nd in the world rankings.
Jabeur missed the recent US Open due to the injury and has not played since a heavy defeat by Naomi Osaka in Toronto in early August.
“This year has been extremely hard for me and as athletes, we know that recovery is part of the journey,” she said on social media.
“Due to my ongoing shoulder injury, my medical team and I’ve made the difficult decision to step off the tennis circuit for the rest of the season.”
The 30-year-old said she would be back on court for the start of the 2025 campaign in Australia.
Simba say goalkeeper attacked after CAF Cup match in Libya
- “It was scary. I saw Aishi being struck for no reason by a policeman and bottles and other objects hurled at our players,” said the official
- “Aishi is shaken but okay. He is receiving treatment in the changing room“
JOHANNESBURG: Aishi Manula, the goalkeeper of Tanzanian club Simba, was struck by a policeman after a stormy CAF Confederation Cup qualifier in Libya on Sunday, an official from the visiting team told AFP.
The second round, first leg against Al Ahly Tripoli ended 0-0 in a packed 45,000-seat Tripoli stadium and Simba players dashed for cover at full-time as plastic bottles were flung at them.
“It was scary. I saw Aishi being struck for no reason by a policeman and bottles and other objects hurled at our players,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
“Aishi is shaken but okay. He is receiving treatment in the changing room. I also witnessed some Ahly players attacking the referee and his assistants.”
Both clubs are regular CAF competition campaigners with Ahly making a ninth appearance in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League and Simba a seventh.
Simba are considered potential title challengers in the Confederation Cup, which has been dominated by north African clubs with 16 titles from 21 editions.
Zamalek of Egypt are the current title-holders after edging Renaissance Berkane of Morocco on away goals in the last final.
South African coach Fadlu Davids recently took charge of the Dar es Salaam outfit after being assistant coach of Moroccan league and cup double winners Raja Casablanca last season.
Another first leg in Libya produced a thriller with Al Hilal Benghazi snatching a 3-2 victory over Al Masry of Egypt after trailing twice in the eastern city.
Salah Mohsen put Masry ahead in each half, but two goals from Mohammed al Shiteewi, either side of one from Faisal al Badri, set up an intriguing September 22 return match in Alexandria.
Dynamos of Zimbabwe look set to reach the group stage for the first time, at the third attempt, after a 1-0 win over Orapa United of Botswana in Francistown.
But the most popular club in the southern Africa nation left it late to build an aggregate lead as Valentine Kadonzvo scored with just two minutes of regular time remaining.
Zimbabwe have no international-standard stadium so Dynamos must play Orapa twice in neighboring Botswana.
Burundi outfit Rukinzo are in a similar situation to Dynamos with no suitable venue in the landlocked central African nation.
They opted to face record three-time Confederation Cup winners CS Sfaxien twice in Tunisia, and did well to restrict the home side to a 1-0 win through an early Mohamed ‘Cristo’ Dhaoui goal.
