Olympics
NO MORE UNILATERAL ACTS, OLYMPICS BIDDING CITIES TO HOLD REFERENDUM
BY LIAM MORGAN
Cities interested in bidding for future editions of the Olympic Games will be asked to hold a referendum before they can be considered as a candidate following a spate of defeats for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), according to Australia’s John Coates.
Coates, the chairman of an IOC working group tasked with devising changes to the troubled bidding process, told reporters here that the requirement is likely to be included in the Olympic Charter when alterations to the document are approved at the Session next week.
The Australian IOC member claimed this would be a “simple way” to arrest the trend of cities withdrawing from the race after losing a public referendum.
An initial field of seven for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, a tepid campaign which will come to a conclusion when the IOC membership votes to award the Games to either Milan Cortina or Stockholm Åre on Monday (June 24), was whittled down to the final two after a series of withdrawals.
Bids from Calgary, Sion in Switzerland and Innsbruck in Austria were all scuppered by referendum defeats.
Calgary, which hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, became the ninth straight Olympic bid city to lose a referendum when its residents voted against the candidacy in a plebiscite in November.
The series of reforms proposed by the group, including that Olympic bids should be widened beyond one host city and that a flexible timeline on the awarding of the Games should be installed, are expected to be given the green light by the Session when it takes place from Monday to Wednesday (June 26).
Two “Future Host Commissions” – one for the Simmer Olympics and one for the Winter Games – will be established to replace the Evaluation Commission and will be given considerable power by the IOC as it will recommend cities or a single candidate to the Executive Board.
“The commission will say, if you want to come to us and you’re from a country or region that is going to require a referendum, then you get that out of the way first before you make your proposal,” Coates said.
“It is not unreasonable to say that before we consider you, you have to satisfy us that you have the public and Government support and, consistent with that, if you are from a country that requires a referendum, come to us after you’ve had it.
“We don’t like to see candidates being considered and then withdrawing.”
Coates also confirmed members of the commission would be removed from the panel if their city or country is among those to express an interest in hosting the Games.
This rule will be included in changes to the charter put forward to the Session, Coates added.
Executive Board members will not be permitted to sit on either commission.
IOC President Thomas Bach claimed today that the Session will remain the “ultimate decision-maker” when it comes to awarding the Games and the new targeted approach would respect the “magic” of the event.
Bach said that the IOC was not looking to restrict the number of candidates and insisted the IOC itself is a “loser” when cities end their bid for the Games.
“You could also count in some cases at least the IOC among the losers,” he said.
“If you have this ongoing discussion on do we continue a candidature, what are the implications, do we withdraw and the referenda situation, for example – this is not a very comfortable position for the IOC.
“These losers that lost just one election, for us it is even more difficult because according to the political landscape we are living in this moment, you lose this candidate for the next election and then the next one after that.
“It has an exponential effect.
“You have to look to the future and there minimising the number of potential candidatures cannot be the purpose.”
A total of six recommendations were made by the five-member working group – which also includes Slovakia’s IOC Athletes’ Commission vice-chair Danka Bartekova, Argentina’s Gerardo Werthein, Lydia Nsekera of Burundi and Li Lingwei of China – to the Executive Board last month.
Bach said these have been “made more concrete” by the panel and they had been “translated into potential amendments to the Olympic Charter”.
– insidethegames
Nigeria’s Super Falcons will face a confident and free-scoring Comoros side in the next round of the women’s football qualifiers for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games after the island nation completed a staggering 30-0 aggregate demolition of Sudan.
Comoros sealed their passage to the next stage with a 13-0 victory in the second leg of their first-round tie, having already recorded a commanding win in the opening match. The result saw the Coelacanthes score an extraordinary 30 goals across the two legs without conceding a single goal.
The emphatic triumph has generated excitement around the rapidly improving Comoros women’s national team, but a much sterner examination now awaits against Africa’s most successful women’s football nation.
Nigeria, ten-time African champions and one of the continent’s traditional powerhouses, enter the next round as overwhelming favourites. However, Comoros’ remarkable scoring exploits against Sudan suggest they will arrive with growing confidence and belief.
The Coelacanthes dominated both encounters from start to finish, displaying clinical finishing and defensive solidity that left Sudan with no answer. Their tally of 30 goals over two matches represents an astonishing average of 15 goals per game.
For Nigeria, the fixture will mark the beginning of another quest for Olympic qualification after missing out on the women’s football tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Super Falcons, who recently impressed in their international friendly victories over Senegal in Ikenne, boast vastly greater experience and pedigree than their upcoming opponents. The nine-time Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions have consistently been among the continent’s strongest teams and remain Africa’s highest-ranked women’s national side.
Comoros coach Youssouf Abdallah has described his team’s performances against Sudan as evidence of the progress being made within the squad, but the encounter with Nigeria will provide a true measure of their development.
While Comoros’ record-breaking victory has captured attention across African football, the challenge of overcoming Nigeria represents a significant leap in quality. The Super Falcons have traditionally dominated lower-ranked African opponents and will be expected to continue their march towards a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The dates for the second-round qualifiers are expected to be confirmed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the winners advancing further in the race for a place at the Olympic Games in the United States.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will begin their campaign for a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games from the second round of the African qualifiers after being granted a bye in the opening stage.
The draw, conducted on Wednesday in Cairo by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), placed Nigeria among 29 higher-ranked teams exempted from the first round of the series.
The Super Falcons will take on the winner of the first-round clash between South Sudan and Comoros in their opening fixture of the qualifiers.
A total of 35 nations are competing for just two available slots allocated to Africa for the women’s football tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, underlining the intensity and high stakes of the qualification process.
The qualifiers will be contested over five knockout rounds on a home-and-away basis, leaving little room for error as teams battle for continental representation on the global stage.
The first round involves the six lowest-ranked teams—Sudan, Mauritius, Djibouti, South Sudan, Madagascar and Comoros—based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings. Winners from this stage will advance to face each other again before the 29 seeded teams, including Nigeria, enter the fray.
Nigeria will be aiming to consolidate their status among Africa’s elite women’s football nations, having qualified for the most recent Olympic tournament alongside Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Although the Super Falcons boast a notable Olympic pedigree, having made their debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and subsequently appearing at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024, qualification has not always been easy.
The 16-year gap between their last two participations in Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024 illustrates the tough time they have endured in the qualifying series.
With the women’s football event at Los Angeles 2028 set to feature 16 teams—including hosts the United States—Nigeria’s path to qualification is expected to be demanding.
Attention will now shift to the preliminary encounter between South Sudan and Comoros, as Nigeria’s technical crew intensify preparations ahead of their second-round entry point.
For the Super Falcons, the mission is clear: successfully navigate a rigorous qualifying campaign and secure a return to the Olympic stage in 2028.
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Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will on Wednesday discover their route to the football event of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when the Confederation of African Football conducts the official draw in Cairo.
The draw ceremony, scheduled for April 29 at CAF headquarters in Egypt, will set in motion Africa’s qualifying campaign for the women’s football tournament of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
A total of 35 countries, including Nigeria, will participate in the race for just two tickets allocated to Africa for the Olympic football event, which will take place from July 11 to 29, 2028.
Alongside Nigeria, other contenders include continental heavyweights such as South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Zambia, as well as a wide range of emerging nations from across the continent.
The full list of participating teams also features Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
According to CAF, the qualification series will be played over five rounds, gradually narrowing the field to the two teams that will fly Africa’s flag at the Olympics in the United States.
For Nigeria, Africa’s most successful women’s national team, the qualifiers present another opportunity to reaffirm their continental dominance and secure a return to the Olympic stage after recent mixed fortunes in global competitions.
The Super Falcons, nine-time African champions, are expected to be among the top seeds when the draw is conducted, a factor that could influence their early-round opponents.
Wednesday’s ceremony in Cairo will therefore provide clarity on the fixtures, timelines and potential hurdles facing Nigeria and other contenders as the road to Los Angeles officially begins.
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