IOC details advice to let Russia, Belarus athletes return

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach gestures during an IOC executive board meeting where the issue of Russian athletes will be discussed, in Lausanne, on Mar. 28, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 28 March 2023
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IOC details advice to let Russia, Belarus athletes return

  • That decision will be taken “at the appropriate time,” IOC President Thomas Bach said
  • The Russian Defense Ministry has said more than 20 of the country’s medalists at the Tokyo Olympics staged in 2021 held military ranks

GENEVA: Some Russian athletes can soon return to international sports, although their status for next year’s Paris Olympics is still up in the air.
The International Olympic Committee recommended Tuesday that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus should be allowed to return to competition under a neutral status as long as they have no military links. But the IOC, facing increased pressure to ban Russia and Belarus from the Paris Olympics because of the war in Ukraine, held off on deciding whether they can compete at next year’s Summer Games.
That decision will be taken “at the appropriate time,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. When it comes to other events, including Olympic qualifiers, it will be up to each individual sport’s governing body to make the final decision on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes can take part.
While the IOC said Russia and Belarus should remain barred from team sports such as soccer and basketball, it still defied repeated calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to exclude all Russian athletes while his country is being occupied and attacked. But athletes from Russia and its military ally Belarus who have actively supported the war in Ukraine, or are “contracted to the military or national security agencies”, should not be cleared to compete as neutral individuals, Bach said.
The Russian Defense Ministry has said more than 20 of the country’s medalists at the Tokyo Olympics staged in 2021 held military ranks. Of the 71 medals won in Japan, 45 were by athletes affiliated with the Central Sports Club of the Army.
In team sports, Russia and Belarus “cannot be considered” for a return, Bach said at a news conference after what he said was a unanimous agreement among the 15-member executive board.
Team events in other sports, such as relays or mixed doubles or team all-around in gymnastics, should also be off limits, the IOC said in a document explaining its guidance.
“There is definitely discrimination in this,” veteran Russian gymnastics coach Valentina Rodionenko said in comments reported by RIA Novosti, adding that with “conditions like these, they understand very well that Russia itself will not agree to them.”
In the guidance document, the IOC said it would like Russians and Belarusians to be known as Individual Neutral Athletes with the French acronym AIN.
They should wear uniforms that are either entirely white or a single color, and can’t have a team logo. Athletes should be barred from displaying their national flags on social media or making statements “that may be prejudicial to the interests of the competition, its integrity or the participant’s neutrality,” the 5-page document stated.
The IOC’s recommendations “do not concern” the Paris Games that opens in 16 months’ time.
“The IOC will take this decision at the appropriate time at its full discretion,” said Bach, adding that “we are not kicking it down the road” when asked if the IOC was effectively buying time for the war to end.
The individual Olympic sports must now decide the entry and eligibility conditions for their events, which include ongoing qualifiers for the Paris Olympics and beyond to the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games.
Some Olympic sports, such as track and field and gymnastics, have established independent integrity units that earned wide respect. The position of some sports bodies which have strong sporting, commercial and political ties to Russia is less clear.
The suggested conditions are stricter than when Russia was under sanctions for doping cases at each Winter and Summer Games since 2018. In those events, uniforms in national colors could be worn and music by Tchaikovsky was played when Russian athletes won gold medals.
The IOC also said that event organizers should not fly Russian or Belarusian flags and should try to prevent spectators bringing national flags into venues. Four fans with Russian flags, including one with an image of President Vladimir Putin, were evicted after they flew them at the Australian Open tennis event in January.
The IOC advice presented Tuesday marks a profound shift in sport’s position on Russia and Belarus following a near-total exclusion by most governing bodies.
Within days of the war starting in February last year, the IOC urged sports bodies to isolate Russia and Belarus. It cited an “extremely grave violation” of the Olympic Truce in place for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, plus the integrity and security of sports events, including the unfairness that Russians could train in peace while Ukrainians athletes’ lives were disrupted.
In January, the IOC formally announced it would seek a “pathway for athletes’ participation in competition under strict conditions”, with a view to letting Russians and Belarusians try to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Bach has repeatedly pointed to advice from independent UN-recognized human rights experts that excluding athletes based only on their passports would be discrimination.
On Tuesday, Bach said one factor that changed IOC thinking is some sports having already reintegrated neutral Russians and Belarusians, such as tennis and cycling. Soccer’s exclusion of Russian teams by FIFA and UEFA was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
Zelensky has consistently called for all Russian athletes and teams to be excluded. His call is backed by some governments and Olympic bodies in Europe and elsewhere.
“A slap in the face of Ukrainian athletes,” the sports minister of Bach’s native Germany, Nancy Faeser, said Tuesday in reaction to the IOC announcement. “Those who let the warmonger Russia use international competitions for its propaganda are damaging the Olympic idea of peace and international understanding.”
Russian Olympic Committee president Stanislav Pazdnyakov told the Tass agency the guidelines would block athletes from competing: “The decision is a farce, the basic principles of the Olympic Charter are being breached.”
Ukrainian athletes, including past and current Olympic medalists, have also publicly disagreed with the IOC’s stated “unifying mission” to bring the world together peacefully in sport.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said there should be no Russian delegation at her city’s Olympics if the war in Ukraine continues.
Bach was once close to Putin ahead of the steroid-tainted 2014 Sochi Winter Games in the first year of his IOC leadership, and reminded reporters Tuesday that last year he withdrew an Olympic honor from the Russian president.
Asked if he had communicated recently with Putin, Bach replied: “A clear ‘no.’”


Saudi’s Abdullah Abkar claims 200m silver at Asian Games

Updated 16 sec ago
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Saudi’s Abdullah Abkar claims 200m silver at Asian Games

HANGZHOU: Saudi runner Abdullah Abkar won the fourth Saudi medal of the 19th Asian Games when placing second in the men’s 200m at the Olympic stadium in Hangzhou.

Abkar led from the gun but was pipped on the line by the fast-finishing Ueyama Koki of Japan who took gold in a time of 20.60, Abkar had to settle for silver with a time of 20.63.

The Saudi basketball team has qualified for the quarterfinals, in Hangzhou, after defeating Hong Kong 95-72.

Saudi Arabia were without Marzouq Al-Muwallad, who had returned home following the death of his brother.

Saudi runner Issa Ghazwani advanced to the final of the 800m after finishing first in his semifinal in a time of 1:48.98.

The Saudi 4x100m relay team, Sultan Al-Khaldi, Abdulaziz Atafi, Hamoud Alwani and Mahmoud Hafiz, exited the games after finishing fifth in a time of 40.34.

Sami Alyami set a new personal record in the 800m, finishing third in his semifinal with a time of 1:49.56, but failed to advance to the final.

The Saudi archery team of Abdulaziz Al-Rawdhan, Bilal Alawadhi and Majdi Al-Sobhi exited the games at the quarterfinal stage after losing to Iran.

The Saudi archers, along with Sara Bin Saloom and Shaden Al-Marshoud in the women’s, exited the men’s individual competition.


Former World Series champion Dennis Cook named manager of Baseball United’s Falcons franchise

Updated 02 October 2023
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Former World Series champion Dennis Cook named manager of Baseball United’s Falcons franchise

  • Former MLB pitcher Dennis Cook to team with ex-New York Yankees slugger and Baseball United co-owner Nick Swisher, who will serve as the franchise’s honorary general manager
  • Swisher, who was recently in Dubai for the launch of the Falcons franchise, will also play a role as a color analyst for Baseball United’s television broadcasts

DUBAI: Baseball United, the first-ever professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and Indian subcontinent, has announced that former Major League Baseball World Series champion Dennis Cook will lead the Abu Dhabi-based Falcons franchise as their first-ever manager.

Cook embarks on this journey armed with 15 years of experience at the MLB level, as well as recent coaching experience at Northwestern University. Cook pitched for several MLB teams, including the San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, and New York Mets. He won a World Series title with the Florida (Miami) Marlins in 1997.

Cook will team with Baseball United co-owner and former New York Yankees All-Star Nick Swisher, who will serve as the team’s honorary general manager. Swisher also won a World Series title in 2009. The two former MLB stars will work to create a winning culture at one of the Middle East’s first-ever professional baseball franchises.

“Dennis is an amazing addition to our Baseball United team,” said Kash Shaikh, CEO, chairman, and majority owner of Baseball United. “He’s a proven winner, with meaningful contributions to a lot of winning ball clubs for a decade and a half during his MLB career. Since then, he’s stayed wired into the game at the amateur, professional, and international levels. You can feel his passion in every conversation, and he will be an amazing ambassador for the game here in the UAE. I can’t wait to see him on the field leading the Falcons.”

Cook pitched over 1,000 innings at the MLB level, amassing more than 60 wins and over 700 strikeouts, shifting from starter to relief pitcher for the majority of his career. Cook was also a good hitter and is No. 2 on the list of Major League All-Time Best Hitting Pitchers between 1973 and 2003 (with 100 or more at-bats).

On the international stage, Cook served as Team Sweden’s head coach in 2010.

“I’m honored to be named the manager of the Falcons,” said Cook. “It’s been so exciting watching Baseball United develop, and it’s a blessing to now be a central part of this journey. I’m truly grateful to Kash, John Miedreich (executive vice president of baseball operations), and the entire team for giving me the opportunity to be part of something incredibly special. The credentials of this ownership group are outstanding, and we have the right people to execute this remarkable vision. I can’t wait to work alongside Nick to help make the UAE proud.”

Swisher, who was recently in Dubai for the launch of the Falcons franchise, will also play a role as a color analyst for Baseball United’s television broadcasts.

“I continue to be grateful for the opportunities that Baseball United has awarded me,” said Swisher. “As an investor and co-owner, my goal was to be an active participant in the creation and growth of this league. Now, not only will I be able to call the games from the broadcast booth, but I’ll be able to help shape the roster of one of our flagship franchises. The best part — I get to partner with Dennis to make it all happen.”

The Falcons will start play during Baseball United’s first season, slated to begin in November of 2024.


Al-Ittihad’s match against Iran’s Sepahan cancelled due to Qassem Soleimani busts in stadium

Al-Ittihad’s match against Iran’s Sepahan has been officially cancelled due to busts of Quds Force commander
Updated 02 October 2023
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Al-Ittihad’s match against Iran’s Sepahan cancelled due to Qassem Soleimani busts in stadium

  • Match against Saudi club called off over pitchside banners and busts honoring dead warlord Qassem Soleimani

JEDDAH: A furious row erupted on Monday after an Iranian football club tried to use a match against Saudi opponents for political propaganda.

The AFC Champions League match at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan between Sepahan and Jeddah team Al-Ittihad was called off when the Iranian club refused to remove political banners and busts of the late Revolutionary Guard warlord Qassem Soleimani from the edge of the pitch.

Al-Itiihad staff and some players noted the busts and banners at an initial pitch inspection, and reported the issue to the referee and observers from the Asian Football Confederation. AFC rules explicitly outlaw the use of a football match to promote a political message. Confederation officials asked Sepahan staff to remove the offending propaganda, but they refused.

After requesting a delay of half an hour to assess the situation, the Saudi team and staff left the stadium to head to the airport and back to Saudi Arabia.

The confederation said Monday’s second round group stage match had been “canceled due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances. The AFC reiterates its commitment toward ensuring the safety and security of the players, match officials, spectators, and all stakeholders involved. This matter will now be referred to the relevant committees.”

Saudi Arabia and Iran signed a Chinese-brokered agreement in March to resume diplomatic relations after seven years of tension. Home-and-away football matches between Saudi and Iranian teams resumed only in September, after being played at neutral venues since 2016.


NBA, Mavericks and Timberwolves to engage with youth players in UAE

Updated 02 October 2023
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NBA, Mavericks and Timberwolves to engage with youth players in UAE

  • ‘Jr. NBA Week’ will return to Abu Dhabi and bring together more than 2,500 youth and 250 coaches from the local community and region
  • The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 presented by ADQ will feature the Mavericks and Timberwolves facing off twice at Etihad Arena

ABU DHABI: The National Basketball Association has announced a series of social impact programming for youth, coaches and basketball stakeholders that will be hosted in collaboration with the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 presented by ADQ.

The week of activities, which will be highlighted by the return of Jr. NBA Week to Abu Dhabi following its debut in 2022, will run from Monday Oct. 2 until Sunday, Oct. 8 and reach more than 2,500 youth and 250 coaches from the UAE and across the Middle East and Europe. 

Jr. NBA Week will feature youth clinics and basketball development programming focused on teaching the game, promoting health and wellness, and empowering the next generation of players, coaches and referees, and will feature appearances by Mavericks and Timberwolves players and coaches, NBA and WNBA legends, and USA Basketball Youth and Sport Development coach director, Don Showalter.

The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023 will feature the Mavericks and the Timberwolves playing two preseason games at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, Oct. 5 and Saturday, Oct. 7.

The event follows last year’s preseason games between the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks, which marked the league’s first games in the Arabian Gulf.  


Blitzers, Pearls, Thunderbolts and Marvels register wins in ILT20 Development Tournament’s opening weekend

Updated 02 October 2023
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Blitzers, Pearls, Thunderbolts and Marvels register wins in ILT20 Development Tournament’s opening weekend

  • Six squads finalized through a Player Draft are competing in the 18-match contest in Dubai
  • Preparations for DP World ILT20 season 2 in full swing following the success of first edition

DUBAI: The Blitzers, Pearls, Thunderbolts and Marvels have recorded impressive wins in the opening weekend of the ILT20 Development Tournament.

The contest is aimed at providing an opportunity for UAE players to grab 13 spots still up for grabs in the DP World ILT20 season two.

In the tournament opener, player of the match Usman Khan’s unbeaten 68 off 52 balls (nine fours, one six) ensured a comfortable seven wicket win for the Blitzers. The 115-run chase was delivered without any major hiccups, with 20 balls to spare.

Earlier, the Marvels lost opener Mayank Choudhry on the tournament’s very first ball, and struggled to get going in their innings after being asked to bat first. Young all-rounder Aayan Afzal Khan top-scored with 24 runs while captain Basil Hameed scored 20. Uzair Khan and Muhammad Zubair took three wickets each as the Marvels were bowled out for 114 in 18.1 overs.

The Pearls recorded a 19-run win against the Dynamos in the second match on Saturday — a competitive 151 for eight in their 20 overs. Asked to bat first, the Pearls were well served by their opener Aryansh Sharma who scored a blazing 63 off 41 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes. All-rounder Zawar Farid (player of the match) had a memorable game as he first contributed 26 useful runs with the bat in a 42-run fifth wicket partnership with Aryansh before taking four wickets with the ball.

The Dynamos got off to a flying start but failed to maintain the momentum as wickets fell at regular intervals. Opener Samal Udawaththa top scored with 28, and Muhammad Shahdad made a 23-run contribution. Zawar gave away a mere 20 runs in his 3.4 overs for his four wickets. Adhitya Shetty was also impressive with the ball, at three for 27.

In the opening match on Sunday and third of the tournament, Asif Khan’s 87 not out (59 balls, six fours, six sixes) for the Braves went in vain as the Thunderbolts powered through the 166-run chase for the loss of five wickets.

The Braves were asked to bat first and posted a competitive 165-run total on the back of Asif’s blazing innings, the opener hitting some lusty blows to propel his side past the 160-run mark. Junaid Shamzu smashed 31 off 10 balls (two fours, three sixes) in an unbroken 65-run alliance with Asif.

The Thunderbolts chased down the runs courtesy of an unbeaten 19-ball 45 by Ansh Tandon. The left-hander hit two fours and five sixes in his brilliant innings. Captain Rohan Mustafa scored 43 off 36 balls (six fours), and the Thunderbolts completed the chase with three balls left. Haider Ali took two wickets.

The Marvels registered their first win when they defeated the Pearls by seven wickets in the second match on Sunday. Batting first, the Marvels could only manage a paltry 121-run total. Player of the match Muhammad Zuhaib and Aayan Afzal Khan took four and three wickets respectively as the Marvels struggled to get going.

The 122-run chase was duly completed by the Marvels in 17.2 overs. Opener Mayank Choudhry top-scored with 47 off 49 balls (five fours, one six), and captain Rahul Chopra scored an unbeaten 31 off 23.