Governing Bodies
African sports journalists body, AIPS condemns hosting of Rugby Africa in France
The International Sports Press Association (AIPS) has condemned the decision of Rugby Africa to host its continenal championship outside the continent.
In a press release by the professional body representing the international sports media, with more than 9,500 members worldwide, AIPS frowns at the taking of the championship, the rugby equavalent of soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations, to Paris.
“I believe the decision made by the president of Rugby Africa to host the African qualifiers for the Rugby World Cup in provincial France, rather than keeping it on the African continent is completely wrong, and sends a highly disturbing message to all Africans, especially the young populace and the continent’s rising rugby community”, remarked Mitchel Obi, the Nigerian president of Africa’s wing of AIPS.
Continuing, Obi remarks: “People will rightly be asking themselves why the most prestigious rugby tournament on the continent is being moved away and played in Europe, when there are plenty of alternative locations within Africa that are perfectly well-equipped to host it.
“Playing the tournament in France not only deprives African audiences of watching world-class rugby on their doorstep, it also denies local economies of much-needed income from a high-profile event that would have driven the tourism and hospitality industries, and increased international exposure and investment.
“Moreover, it is not even ‘France’ as a whole that is hosting this vital African tournament. No, the Rugby Africa Cup 2022 is to be played in ‘Région Sud’, a region of France that ranks seventh-lowest in terms of population, and is the furthest away from the capital, Paris.
“The games will be played in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille – a city that is the beating heart of France’s football scene, but is hardly known for its love of rugby.
“The signing ceremony announcing the award of the tournament to ‘Région Sud’ was a perfect illustration of how insignificant this tournament is in the minds of the sport’s administrators.
“France’s Minister of Sport was notable by his absence. So too the president of the French Rugby Federation. Instead, the main dignitaries in attendance were the president of ‘Région Sud’ and the mayor of Aix-en-Provence – a town with a population of 143,000 football fans.
“The Rugby Africa Cup has shrunk from a celebration of an entire continent, down to an unfancied provincial event in a distant sphere lacking the colour and charm of a welcoming host.
“At best, it is depressing and patronizing for the players and fans of African rugby. At worst, it is an insult to the whole continent of Africa. It reinforces the stereotypical depictions that Africa still endures in Western media, so it is incredibly disappointing that Rugby Africa’s president – an African himself – has chosen to follow this path.
“The main reason he has given for his decision to host the competition in France rather than Africa seems to center around ‘mediatization’ and visibility – with the argument being that events hosted in Africa are somehow less accessible to international audiences.
“But one only needs to look at some of the events already being hosted in Africa to see that argument is absurd. In fact, the opposite is true. More international sporting events than ever are turning to Africa for hosting duties.
“Even the International Olympic Committee is coming to Africa, with the Youth Olympics Games to be held in Senegal in 2026 – the first time any Olympic competition will hold on the continent.
“Over the next five years Africa will host a wealth of prestigious international sporting events:
- The 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games (Dakar, Senegal, 2026)
- UCI Road Cycling World Championships (Rwanda, 2025)
- Cricket World Cup (South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, 2027)
- Jeux de la Francophonie (Kinshasa, DRC, 2023)
- Africa Cup of Nations (Côte d’Ivoire, 2023)
- Africa Games (Accra, Ghana, 2023)
- African Beach Games (Tunisia, 2023)
- Netball World Cup (South Africa, 2026)
- The 22nd CAA African Senior Athletics Championships (Mauritius, 2022)
- Mediterranean Games (Algeria, 2022)
“Incidentally, 3650 athletes will take part in this year’s Mediterranean Games in Algeria, while fewer than 200 will be on show at the Rugby Africa Cup. So, this is clearly not about scale, logistics or infrastructure.
“Anyone suggesting that Africa is ‘not ready’ or is in some way unsuited to hosting major global sporting events is reinforcing old colonial stereotypes of arrogance and entitlement. It is a laughable thought. The world has moved on and knows the promise which Africa holds as the choice host of events.
“As the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) in Africa, we have particular concerns about the ability of African sports journalists to access and effectively cover the Rugby Africa Cup in such a remote location. We have urgently reached out to Rugby Africa and to World Rugby to ask what is being done to help them secure visas, flights, and accommodation.
“As the governing body and the custodians of the game, World Rugby could and should have intervened in Rugby Africa’s decision to host an African tournament on a different continent. By 2050, a quarter of the world’s population will be African, and the sport is growing faster here than it is anywhere else. The future of world rugby is Africa. And it needs protecting – including from the President of Rugby Africa, if need be.
“Sadly the decision to award hosting duties for the Rugby Africa Cup 2022 to a provincial area of France was not and never made with the best interests of African rugby at heart.
“It is sincerely regrettable that the leadership of Rugby Africa made this miserable decision without deserving consultations with key Stakeholders and partners who over the years have stretched themselves to add value to the growth of the game in the continent. Here we are reminded of the lack of a vital reach and consultation with Rugby Africa’s main official sponsor (APO Group) whose Founder and Chairman, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard is evidently at a loss with a decision entirely without merit and support even for any die-hard enthusiast.
“I earnestly hope such distinguished partners won’t lose their appetite to pad and lift the game inspite of this wrong patch.
“Notably, the entire family of Sports Journalists across Africa and all those who care passionately for the health and growth of Rugby in the continent insist on the need to bring and keep home the Gold Cup where it rightly belongs and finds its shine.
“President Babbou must change gear without delay and forget his provincial French fancies.”
Kirsty Coventry became the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most powerful person in sport, on Monday in a handover ceremony with her predecessor Thomas Bach.
The Zimbabwean is the first woman and African to head the body, and at 41, the youngest since Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who is credited with founding the modern-day Olympics.
Coventry accepted the Olympic key from Bach, who, like her, is an Olympic champion — he won a team fencing gold in 1976 and she earned two swimming golds in 2004 and 2008.
Stepping down after a turbulent 12-year tenure, Bach expressed his confidence that the Olympic movement was “in the best of hands” and Coventry would bring “conviction, integrity and a dynamic perspective” to the role.
Coventry, who swept to a crushing first-round victory in the election in Greece in March, leans heavily on her family.
Aside from her parents, who were present at the ceremony in Lausanne, there is her husband Tyrone Seward, who was effectively her campaign manager, and two daughters, six-year-old Ella, who Bach addresses as “princess”, and Lily, just seven months old.
“Ella saw this spider web in the garden and I pointed out how it is made, and how strong and resilient it is to bad weather and little critters,” said Coventry, who takes over officially at midnight Swiss time Monday (2200 GMT).
“But if one little bit breaks it becomes weaker. That spider web is our movement, it is complex, beautiful and strong but it only works if we remain together and united.”
‘Pure passion’
Coventry said she could not believe how her life had evolved since she first dreamt of Olympic glory in 1992.
“How lucky are we creating a platform for generations to come to reach their dreams,” she said to a packed audience in a marquee in the Olympic House garden, which comprised IOC members, including those she defeated, and dignitaries.
“It is amazing and incredible, indeed I cannot believe that from my dream in 1992 of going to an Olympic Games and winning a medal I would be standing here with you to make dreams for more young children round the world.”
Coventry, who served in the Zimbabwean government as sports and arts Minister from 2019 to this year, said the Olympic movement was much more than a “multi-sport event platform.”
“We (IOC members) are guardians of this movement, which is also about inspiring and changing lives and bringing hope,” she said.
“These things are not to be taken lightly and I will be working with each and every one of you to continue to change lives and be a beacon of hope in a divided world.
“I am really honoured to walk this journey with you.”
Bach, who during his tenure had to grapple with Russian doping and their invasions of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Covid pandemic, said he was standing down filled with “gratitude, joy and confidence” in his successor.
“With her election it sends out a powerful message, that the IOC continues to evolve,” said the 71-year-old German, who was named honorary lifetime president in Greece in March.
“It has its first female and African to hold this position, and the youngest president since Pierre de Coubertin. She represents the truly global and youthful spirit of our community.”
Bach, who choked back tears at one point during his valedictory speech, was praised to the rafters by Coventry, who was widely seen as his preferred candidate of the seven vying for his post.
After a warm embrace, she credited him with teaching her to “listen to people and to respect them,” and praised him for leading the movement with “pure passion and purpose.”
“You have kept us united through the most turbulent times.
“You left us with many legacies and hope, thank you from the bottom of my heart for leading us with passion and never wavering from our values.”
-AFP
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Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry took over the leadership of the International Olympic Committee from Thomas Bach in a ceremony on Monday with the 2028 Los Angeles Games already threatening to fill her in-tray to overflowing.
Coventry, who starts her eight-year spell officially on Tuesday as the most powerful sports administrator in the world, became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the Olympic ruling body in March.
Much of the discussion during campaigning focused on the IOC’s need for change in its marketing strategies with several top Olympic sponsors having left in the past 12 months.
However, with Los Angeles hit by protests against immigration raids, and relations tense between state and city officials, and the U.S. government, the 2028 Games have become the major talking point in the movement that would ordinarily be focusing on next year’s Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
Coventry has long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a leading swimmer at Auburn University in Alabama. That will prove useful ahead of LA 2028, and she has said she will seek to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Games.
Coventry will also need to find time to help secure the long-term finances of the movement. The IOC, which generates billions of dollars in revenues each year in sponsorship and broadcasting deals for the Olympics, has secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More contracts are expected for both periods.
COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Coventry is also expected to continue the IOC’s plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors at the Olympics with the organisation’s finances in a robust state and the privately-funded LA Olympics a good place to start.
Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, beating six other candidates, making history for the African continent, with the IOC having been ruled for 131 years by European or North American men.
Her background and being the first female president will be assets in a diverse IOC membership and the international makeup of Olympic stakeholders.
On Monday she was handed the golden key to the IOC by Bach, who was the organisation’s president for 12 years.
“I am really honoured I get to walk this journey with you. I cannot wait for anything that lies ahead,” Coventry said in her address to IOC members and other Olympic stakeholders.
“I know I have the best team to support me and our movement over the next eight years.”
Coventry will hold a two-day workshop this week to get feedback from members on key IOC issues.
“Working together and consistently finding ways to strengthen and keep united our movement that will ensure that we wake up daily… to continue to inspire,” she said.
A seven-time Olympic medallist, Coventry won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 Athens Games and in Beijing four years later.
“With her election, you have also sent a powerful message to the world: the IOC continues to evolve,” Bach said in his speech. “With Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic movement will be in the best of hands.”
-Reuters
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Penalties scored when a player accidentally touches the ball twice must be retaken, world soccer’s lawmaking body IFAB has said after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez had his spot kick disallowed in a Champions League last-16 match.
During a tense shootout with Real Madrid in March, Argentine forward Alvarez slipped and the VAR spotted that his left foot touched the ball slightly before he kicked it with his right.
Although Alvarez converted the penalty, the goal was chalked off and Atletico went on to lose the shootout and were eliminated from the Champions League.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said the correct decision was made under the current laws but IFAB (International Football Association Board) has said that in such cases the penalty must be retaken.
Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid – Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain – April 14, 2025 Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo
“(When) the penalty taker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet simultaneously or the ball touches their non-kicking foot or leg immediately after the kick: if the kick is successful, it is retaken,” IFAB said in a circular.
“If the kick is unsuccessful, an indirect free kick is awarded (unless the referee plays advantage when it clearly benefits the defending team). In the case of penalties (penalty shootout), the kick is recorded as missed.”
The decision to disallow Alvarez’s penalty left Atletico boss Diego Simeone livid and the club’s fans outraged.
IFAB added that if the penalty taker deliberately kicks the ball with both feet or deliberately touches it a second time, an indirect free kick is awarded or, in the case of shootouts, it is recorded as missed.
The new procedures are effective for competitions starting on or after July 1, but IFAB said it may be used in competitions that start this month.
-Reuters
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