In a move by the IOC that apparently could block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic governing body has clarified its complex election rules before a deadline Sunday to enter the race.

A letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press was sent by the International Olympic Committee’s ethics commission to the 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to succeed Thomas Bach next year.

Details in the two-page letter dated Monday specified reasons why the likes of Coe, the 67-year-old president of track governing body World Athletics, would seem unable to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.

The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on election day, scheduled for March in Greece, “and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President,” the letter stated.

Coe’s IOC membership is conditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must leave in 2027 on completing the maximum 12 years in office.

Another expected candidate, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, also could have legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.

Members turning 70 can be extended only once for four more years, though such an approval for Coe by the IOC executive board also would still expire during a 2025-33 presidency.

The charter “makes no exceptions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other members,” stated ethics commission chairman Ban Ki Moon, the former United Nations secretary general, who signed the Sept. 9 letter.

Coe is widely considered a most qualified candidate to next lead the IOC. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.

The legal hurdles are stacking up just days before the IOC-set deadline for candidates to send a letter of intent to Bach, who will leave as president next year after reaching his 12-year term limit.

Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who is sports minister of Zimbabwe, and David Lappartient, the French president of cycling’s governing body, have seemed to have support from Bach in recent years.

Bach placed Lappartient to oversee a long-term project with Saudi Arabia, hosting the Esports Olympic Games, that was sealed in Paris.

Other candidates could include two of the four IOC vice presidents — Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Spaniard Samaranch, whose father was IOC president for 21 years until leaving in 2001.

Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is a potential candidate who could be the first president in the IOC’s 130-year history from Asia or Africa.

The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.

However, Coe’s strong positions in sports politics — against Russia on state-backed doping and the invasion of Ukraine, plus awarding $50,000 cash prizes for Paris Olympics gold medals from track’s share of Olympic revenues — have clashed with the IOC and leaders of other sports bodies.

The letter signed by Ban also suggested a conflict of interest between holding two presidential roles, of the IOC and a sports governing body.

This conflict could be resolved, the letter said, by having a vote after the IOC presidential election “for a change of membership status.”

Britain, however, no longer has a quota space for another IOC member elected as an individual. That’s because Hugh Robertson, the government’s Olympics minister at the time of the 2012 Summer Games, was elected in Paris in July.

The IOC needs a new president only because Bach said in Paris last month he would not seek to stay on by changing the statutory maximum of 12 years for the position.

The IOC has had nine presidents in its 130-year history. All have been men and none were from Africa, Asia or Latin America.

The candidates must come from the IOC membership that comprises invited members including royalty from the Middle East and Europe, a current head of state — the Emir of Qatar — former diplomats and lawmakers, industrialists, and leaders of sports bodies and athletes.

-AP

The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) is launching the CAF Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Academy for the 54 CAF Member Associations – a move that is aimed at elevating the standard of officiating in Africa.

Following CAF’s recent hosting of the most successful  Africa Cup of Nations that saw the quality of officiating being singled out, CAF is building onto this success with the innovative academy set to be rolled out between September and October 2024.

The CAF VAR Academy will train Elite Referees across the continent for international competitions and national championships on the use of VAR and ensure that Africa continues to produce elite referees, as seen in recent times.

CAF Technical Development Director, Raul Chipenda said the VAR Academy Programme is a practical step by CAF to improve the standard of match officiating in Africa and ensure that African referees are equipped to compete against the best in the world.

“In the last few months, CAF has had a strong bias in upskilling match officials on the usage of VAR that is why at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, our officials were rated amongst the best. But it does not help having a small group, we need a big pool.

“Officiating plays a critical role in the development of African football, as evidently seen in the success of the recent  AFCON. CAF actively oversees and supports a number of football development programmes and competitions across Africa and with that said, it is equally vital that match officials across Africa are adequately equipped with the latest officiating technology, means and education in order to remain on par with the existing pool of officials on the continent”, said Chipenda.

The CAF VAR Academy, which will be attended by elite referees across CAF’s 54 Member Associations will also be the first step in introducing VAR across the continent.

As part of its roll out programme, CAF will be embarking on a continental drive of conducting CAF VAR Academy workshops across its Zonal Unions in the next few months where 180 referees are expected to be reached.

CAF VAR ACADEMY 2024 WORKSHOP DATES: 

-CAF

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Nigeria football governing body, the NFF is 91 years today and just nine years to clock a century. Unfortunately, the body does not believe in its age, but hold on to a faulty belief that it is 79 years old, but with no actual birthday.

Founded 1945 is gleefully displayed on the crest of the NFF. Yet, it is not possible to pin point which date in 1945 the body was founded in 1945. Sports Village Square’s research unveils documented as well as verifiable evidences that what is today’s NFF was founded in Lagos as NFA on 21 August 1933.

No official of the NFF has come forward to defend their claim of the body being ‘founded in 1945’.

Their assumption emanates from the fact that the national cup competition, now called President Federation Cup, began in 1945 as ‘Governor’s Cup’.

This itself is a distortion of historical fact on Nigerian football as the first three editions of the competition was not even organised by the then NFA but by the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is now Lagos Football Association.

Verified archival materials have confirmed that the Nigerian football governing body was founded on Monday 21 August 1933 at house number 42, Broad Street Lagos. The building still exist, even with the same address.

Also, all the facts on the actual foundation date of the football governing body still exist and verifiable at the Nigeria National Archives at the University of Ibadan and also at The FA offices in London.

Despite overwhelming and documented evidences, it has been very hard, if not impossible, to get official recognition for the foundation date of the NFF.

The foundation meeting was held that day at the 42 Broad Street, in Lagos. The building which still exists today was then known as Health Office.

The founding officials were: Henry A. Porter as President while three Vice Presidents were appointed.

They were: Frederick Baron Mulford, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and Dr. Isaac Oluwole. The Secretary/Treasurer was James Mead who worked at UAC in Lagos.

The report of the foundation was published in the 25 August 1933 edition of the Daily Times.

Their first Annual General Meeting, as reported by  the Daily Times of February 22 1934, took place in Lagos on Monday 19 February 1934.

The meeting decided to seek affiliation with The FA in England. A check by the Sports Village Square at the offices of The FA in London was very revealing. The minutes of meeting of The FA on 4 June 1934 shows under item 10 that: “The Nigeria Football Association was admitted to membership under Rule 5 of the Rules of Association.”

The affiliation was also reported in the Nigerian Daily Times edition of 14 September 1934. Reputable FA in England could not have registered a non-existing body.

The various regimes of the NFA/NFF since 2003 have found it difficult to accept and effect the actual foundation date of the body. They are more concerned about a perceived global backlash they could receive for just realising the actual birth date of the Nigerian football governing body.

Regarding the assumption that the national competition started in 1945 and linking that to the foundation of the football governing body is an assumption based on fallacy.

Documented evidences discovered by Sports Village Square point to the fact that the Governor’s Cup was not a product of the then NFA but that of the Lagos and Districts Amateur Football Association (LDAFA) which is today known as the Lagos FA, the oldest football association in Nigeria having been established in 1932 by Henry A. Potter, the same man who founded the NFA the following year.

One day, it shall come to pass when the true foundation date will be acknowledged.