Olympics
Russia, sidelined from world events, plans pre-Olympics games with South Africa, Brazil and others
Russia, sidelined from many international sports events over the war in Ukraine, said on Thursday it would organise a competition next year for members of the BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Speaking at the Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said athletes from BRICS countries would be invited to take part in the event in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan next June.
“We are developing new types of competitions,” RIA news agency quoted him as saying. “I stress again: we are not creating an alternative to the Olympic Games and so on. We are a self-sufficient country.”
The BRICS Games, which Matytsin said would feature 25 disciplines, will take place just a month before the start of the Olympics in Paris.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in March issued a set of recommendations for international sports federations to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to return as neutrals after they were banned in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year
The IOC has yet to take a final decision on those athletes’ participation at the Paris Games, but IOC President Thomas Bach has said that they should not be punished for their governments’ actions.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been allowed to compete as neutrals at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China to help them earn points to qualify for the Paris Olympics, angering some countries that think they should not be granted a pathway to the Games.
Russian authorities argue that it is discriminatory to ban the country’s athletes from the Games and deprive them of their national symbols such as their flag or anthem.
Matytsin had previously announced Russia’s plans to relaunch the multi-sport World Friendship Games next autumn.
Those competitions were first organised in 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other socialist states that boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
-Reuters
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
NFF Communication director unfolds 20 Points of a 20-hour ordeal on Libyan soil
African football legends, Adebayor and Aubameyang condemn Libya’s treatment of Super Eagles
BREAKING! CAF wades into the Libya-Nigeria Airport episode
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Players boycott Libyan national team
-
AFCON5 days ago
Billiat’s penalty seals Zimbabwe’s 1-0 win over Namibia
-
AFCON1 week ago
Eguavoen unfolds Super Eagles’ squad for back-to-back duel with Libya
-
AFCON7 days ago
Facts & Figures as AFCON 2025 qualifiers enter Matchday 3
-
AFCON6 days ago
AFCON 2025 in Morocco: Everything you need to know
-
AFCON5 days ago
Libya’s captain, Faisal Al-Badri alleges poor treatment in Nigeria
-
Uncategorized7 days ago
CAF compels Kwasi Appiah to step down from Ghana FA
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Fastest World Cup final scorer is dead!