Governing Bodies
Drug cheat takes Olympic oath at Tokyo 2020
Belarus has appointed convicted drugs cheat Ivan Tsikhan as its team captain for the delayed Olympic Games here, where the country’s controversial President Aleksandr Lukashenko warned its athletes would be the target of political pressure.
The 44-year-old hammer thrower has been appointed to the honorary role following a vote by the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (NOCRB) Athletes’ Commission.
Tsikhan was stripped of the Olympic silver medal he had won at Athens 2004 after a re-test of his sample in 2012 from those Games showed traces of banned anabolic steroids.
As a result of his 2012 re-test, Tsikhan was also stripped of the gold medals he had won at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki and the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg.
Despite this, Tsikhan read out on oath on behalf of Belarus’ athletes in front of Lukashenko where he said: “I promise that during the Olympic Games in Tokyo we will compete fairly and without doping.”
There had been doubts that Belarus would even be able to compete under their own flag at Tokyo 2020 following allegations that the NOCRB had politically discriminated against athletes for taking part in protests aimed at Lukashenko following his controversial re-election last August, which has sparked widespread protests in the country.
Lukashenko and his son Viktor, who succeeded him as NOCRB President in February, are both banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from attending Tokyo 2020 as a result, although the threat of Belarus being suspended appears to have receded.
Aleksandr Lukashenko took the opportunity at a farewell before the team left for Japan to attack the IOC and other International Federations who have stripped Belarus of hosting rights for major events.
“I want to tell you that your sporting achievements are not only a personal triumph,” he said.
“Today they are akin to other kinds of victories, up to political ones.
“However, sport became a bargaining chip in politics a long time ago, unfortunately.
“Your successes should become a response to those people who first took everything they could from the country, and now wish it and you defeat.
“A response to those states that are strangling or trying to strangle us with sanctions.
“Expectations are very high.
“Of course, you understand it.
“But this burden is no heavier than the challenges you have already overcome.
“I know in detail what you have had to go through.
“But you stood your ground.
“The main and decisive step remains.
“You have faced it all.
“You took these attacks like true athletes, showing patience, will and courage.
“You still need these qualities now in order to defend the honour of our Belarus in sporting arenas in Tokyo.
“You know that your rivals will be incredibly strong.
“Restrictions related to public health and increased control by various structures will also create certain difficulties.
“Pressure with political overtones is not excluded either.”
Belarus is set to be represented by 109 athletes in 20 sports at Tokyo 2020.
Since making its debut in the Summer Olympics at Atlanta in 1996 following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Belarus has won at least one gold at every Games.
Its best performance came at Beijing 2008 when the team won a total of 14 medals, including three gold.
The medallists included Tsikhan, winner of a bronze which he was initially stripped of following a positive test for testosterone, before having it restored following a successful appeal because of an error made by the laboratory in China.
His team mate Vadim Devyatovskiy, winner of the silver in the hammer, also tested positive for testosterone but was allowed to keep the medal because the same error was made by the laboratory.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport took the highly unusual step of warning this did not mean they were cleared of suspicion, insisting the verdict “should not be interpreted as an exoneration”.
Tsikhan, who controversially replaced Devyatovskiy as President of the Belarus Athletic Federation last September, promised that the athletes would make proud their country proud.
“We know that during the Olympic Games the entire country, the entire nation will support us and root for us,” he said.
“We also understand the responsibility and hopes the country pins on every athlete and coach on the team.”
-insidethegames
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By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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