Governing Bodies
Six days into the Tokyo Games, athletes are returning home!
It has only been six days since the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games but already athletes are starting their return trips as strict Covid-19 measures in Japan forbid any extended stays to soak up more of the Games atmosphere.
Teams normally stay on for a few days after their events have ended to take in the closing ceremony celebrations, watch other sports and party with other athletes.
This time, however, stringent health measures are forcing a quick return home well before the end of the July 23-Aug 8 sports extravaganza.
Athletes must arrive no earlier than five days before their competition starts and fly back within 48 hours of completing their sports to minimise the risk of infection and the spread of the virus among the local population.
Australia’s softball team departed for Sydney on Wednesday (July 28), as part of the first group of team Australia’s athletes to leave Tokyo, and will go into a 14-day quarantine back home.
“While the team is vaccinated and have been tested every day while at the Games, like every returning Australian, they will remain in quarantine for 14 days and will undergo regular testing,” said Australian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Matt Carroll.
“The team return and quarantine has been an integral part of our planning for these Games.”
By next weekend, some 250 Australian athletes and officials of a team of more than 850 will be back home.
For German kayak gold medallist Ricarda Funk, who is leaving on Thursday, the Games were a huge success but she barely had time to soak up the atmosphere at the athletes’ village, usually known for its active social life as more than 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries live there.
Funk said: “It’s definitely sad because these are my first Olympic Games and I really wanted to enjoy the Olympic Village and the Olympic feeling a bit more.
“Especially because in the first days I was focusing on the competition and I couldn’t really relax. So in my last day here I’m trying to really take it all in.”
Athletics, the biggest sport at the Games in terms of the number of athletes taking part, does not start until Friday.
Olympic host city Tokyo recorded 3,177 new coronavirus on Wednesday, authorities announced, hitting a daily record high for a second straight day as a spike in infections puts pressure on hospitals.
The Games were postponed last year due to the pandemic and opinion polls have consistently shown that the majority of Japanese are against holding the Games during the pandemic.
-Reuters
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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