Mohamed Bin Hammam, banned Asian soccer president has launched an appeal against his lifetime ban by FIFA but said he did not expect to win his case just yet due to the bias against him.

The 62-year-old Qatari was given a lifetime ban from soccer by the world governing body last month after being found guilty of bribing Caribbean officials during his bid to oust incumbent FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

In a statement on his personal blog, the former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president said that he had appealed after FIFA released the motivated decisions of the Ethics Committee, who banned him, last week.

“I have submitted my case to the FIFA Appeals Committee, not hoping for justice to prevail but as a protocol to enable me to obtain access to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS),” the Qatari said.

“After all, the panel from the Appeals Committee is decided by my opponent and in this case, as previously, the judge is the rival. Therefore, I should not exaggerate hope for a fair decision.

“Going through the motivated decisions, we found them to be deeply flawed and raises grave doubts on whether any decision-making body of FIFA has sufficient independence to ensure a fair decision based solely on evidences and applicable laws.

“Based on our experiences, we expect the appeal process and decision to take approximately two months, not because this time is necessarily needed but more due to FIFA’s tactical games and abuse of power, as evident throughout this case.”

Acting president AFC president Zhang Jilong of China, last month said after their executive committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur that they would not be able to replace Bin Hammam until after May 30.

The Rugby World Cup 2011 has been appointed its official market intelligence agency, physician IFM Sports Marketing Surveys (IFM SMS) by the International Rugby Board (IRB).

IFM SMS will provide all the official figures for the event on global media audiences and sponsor exposure, medstore and the consumer impact of the event in the major rugby-playing nations.

In line with other major events, IFM SMS will work in close collaboration with the rights holding broadcasters and independent auditing agencies to assess the dedicated live, highlights & repeat programming audiences for the event across multi-media channels, including digital platforms such as online and mobile viewership.

The IRB is the latest in a string of new business wins for IFM SMS which also recently secured deals with the Solheim Cup and the FA of Wales.

Paul Deighton the chief executive of LOCOG has issued a statement suggesting relations between the London 2012’s organising committee and Rio 2016 committee has not been affected following a Rio 2016 employee stealing files.

A Rio 2016 official downloaded files without consent and was subsequently fired. She claimed she was only following orders but this was quickly refuted. 

Deighton said in a letter: “The unauthorised copy of files from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) did not result in any major security breach or the compromise of any personal data. The case involved only a very small number of people and it was dealt with efficiently and effectively by the senior management at the Rio 2016T Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“This episode in no way reflects the actions or behaviour of the vast majority of the Rio 2016 Team who we have become firm friends with. All documents were quickly returned and there has been no impact on the close relationship we have always enjoyed with Rio 2016 Team, the Mayor and the Governor of Rio, and the Government of Brazil.

“We will continue to share any information our Rio 2016 colleagues and wider stakeholders would like us to in the same way other OCOGs and Governments have generously given their time and expertise to us. We believe Rio will host a great Games in 2016 and are delighted to help in any small way we can. We continue to have workshops, visits, telephone calls and knowledge transfer sessions with all departments and we are looking forward to the IOC Debrief session in Rio in November.”

“But it does not stop there. We are at the disposal of Rio 2016 Team and their partners and want to share our structures, our experiences, our plans and our lessons with our counterparts in Rio. There is much that we can share and we have nothing but respect, friendship and cooperation with the Rio 2016 Team.

“After all we share the belief that the Olympic movement and sport can make a difference to the lives of people, young and old, wherever they might live in the world. It is our belief in this that unifies us in wanting to make each Games better than the last, ensuring the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movement.”

ICEdot, ampoule an emergency identification and notification service, announces its partnership with Red Frog Events, Producer of the Warrior Dash and Event Medical Staffing Solutions (EMSS), to provide its ICEdot event service for the remaining 2012 Warrior Dash races.

The Warrior Dash, an extreme 5K with obstacles, is the world’s largest running series and will use EMSS to staff the race with first responders who are trained in using the ICEdot service.

The Warrior Dash is an adventure race that tests participants’ strength and endurance with a 5K, staggered with twelve obstacles throughout the course. Due to the nature of the race, there is the possibility of unpredicted injury and Warrior Dash is taking the precaution to make participants’ emergency information easily accessible in the event of an emergency. By utilizing the ICEdot events service, Warrior Dash is ensuring that they are taking all precautionary and safety measures that they can take when it comes to the safety of their participants.

“Warrior Dash is excited to align with ICEdot and believes that this will help increase the safety of our participants, which is our number one priority,” said Race Director Kendra Alley.

The ICEdot event service protects race participants by syncing their name, emergency contact and any health information they want communicated in an emergency with their bib number. In case of an emergency, first responders on the scene text the number located on the participant’s bib to instantly receive their emergency profile.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Warrior Dash and EMSS. Warrior Dash consistently exceeds the standards in race organization and EMSS is the premiere event medical service. It’s an honor to have both of these organizations use our service as it sets a clear precedent that there are no limits when it comes to participant safety,” said Chris Zenthoefer, ICEdot CEO.

Event Medical Staffing Solutions is the nation’s leading provider of event medical services, specializing in athletic and motorsport events and concerts. EMSS has been providing emergency medical professionals for Warrior Dash events since August 2009. Going forward, all EMSS medical professionals will be trained to use the ICEdot event service.

“The ICEdot technology gives EMSS access to the most critical time-sensitive information in the case of an emergency at a Warrior Dash race,” said Adam Scull, Vice President of EMSS. “We are now able to completely bypass the time consuming steps of linking an injured participant’s bib number to their name, locating the participant’s medical records and notifying emergency contacts. ICEdot allows medical attention to be provided quickly and accurately.”

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff has hit back at Sepp Blatter’s call for the opening match to be held in Rio after work on nine of the stadium projects for the World Cup will be completed next year she says.

“We are monitoring the execution of works. The renovation and construction of stadiums are on pace,” Rousseff said in her weekly address on Tuesday, according to O Globo Esportes, in response to criticism of delays in the preparation of the 12 host venues.

Brazilian sports minister Orlando Silva has previously promised that 10 stadia would be ready for the Confederations Cup, which is played in June 2013, and all 12 World Cup venues by the end of that year. 

FIFA remains concerned about the sluggish modernisation programme for the host stadia and various transport upgrades, particularly airports. 

But last month the FIFA president expressed confidence the projects would be delivered on time.

The biggest worry appears to be construction of the new Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paolo that is slated to host the World Cup opener.

But Sao Paulo’s World Cup leader Gilmar Thaddeus has promised that the city will deliver on its pledges for the 2014 tournament.

“We are working seriously, fulfilling all the commitments made to receive the opening match,” Thaddeus was quoted in the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo.

Blatter had earlier this week suggested the opening match of the World Cup could be played at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro which is currently undergoing a major facelift for the tournament.

“Brazilian football is Rio. And for the world, Rio is the most attractive city to open the World Cup without any doubt at all,” Blatter told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

What is certain is that Corinthians’ 65,000-seater will not be finished in time to host matches at the 2013 Confederations Cup. 

FIFA will choose the venue for the World Cup opener at its executive committee meeting in Zurich, Oct. 20 to 21.

Sergey Bubka kept his place as vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), along with London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, having earlier in the day thought his vice-presidency position was to be taken away from him after receiving the lowest votes.

The vote had been re-run after technical problems with the electronic voting system had emerged earlier in the day at the world governing body’s Congress during the election for the treasurer.

Following what IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss described as “crisis talks” during the lunch break, the electronic system was abandoned and a manual method used instead.

But only after there had been a further delay when a photocopier being used to prepare voting papers broke down.

Each of the 200 countries was then called up one-by-one to cast their votes into the ballot box.

In the first go Bubka had polled only 118 of the 199 votes in the election for the vice-president and was the one out of the five candidates who failed to get one of the four places.

The Ukrainian had trailed Qatar’s Dahlan Jumman Al Hamad and Canada’s Abby Hoffman, who both got 175, the United States’ Bob Hersh with 171 and Coe, with 167.

Even after it was held again, confusion continued with the scrutineers initially having to try to reconcile a discrepancy of two votes and needed to do a recount, which took nearly an hour.

In the end Bubka, the 1988 Olympic pole vault champion and world-record holder, who is considered the rising star of sports administration, had his political ambitions rekindled by scraping through as the fourth of the five candidates.

The biggest loser in the re-run was Hoffman, who polled only 122 votes in the second ballot, which was topped by Hersh with 175. Hamad got 171 and Coe 169, with Bubka receiving 159. A total of 201 votes were cast with two being invalid.

At the previous election in Osaka four years ago Bubka had finished top of the poll in the same election and been appointed as the senior vice-president.

Diack, contrary to what he had said earlier, did call for a re-run of his own election even though he was the only candidate.

On this occasion, he polled 169 votes with 29 against out of the 198 valid votes cast.

It was hardly a day when the IAAF reinforced its claim to be the number one Olympic sport and showed that it was a forward-thinking organisation.

But Diack claimed it had no reason to feel ashamed.

“I’m not embarrassed by the election,” he said.

“Technology has failed us and we had to go back to manual voting. This was just a technical glitch and we just have to live with it.”

Others were less forgiving of the situation.

“I’ve won General Elections and I’ve lost General Elections in about a quarter of the time,” said Coe.

The person with the most reason to complain was Hoffman, who thought she had been elected as the IAAF’s first female vice-president only to have it snatched away at the last second.

“The whole election process was a pretty messy affair,” she told insidethegames.

The 64-year-old Canadian 1966 Commonwealth Games 880 yards champion and former director general of Sports Canada did not buy into the theory that she had only been elected initially thanks to problems with the electronic voting system.

“Whatever the dynamics was underpinning the elections in the morning, when I had enough votes to be elected, it was a completely different dynamic in the afternoon,” she said.

“The reality is that the one [election] in the afternoon was the one that counted.

“But I’m not happy obviously about how things unfolded during the day.”

Hoffman believes that once reality set in among the delegates that they had voted in a woman ahead of such a high-profile figure as Bubka it led to a change of mind.

“Some people could say that the idea of having a female vice-president seemed like a good idea but when the prospect of it became a reality it wasn’t so appealing,” she said.

“I lost over 50 votes between the morning and the afternoon – was that the result of technical issues or something more that went on?

“But I think it’s quite clear to everybody that Sergey Bubka, having been the odd man out in the morning, pulled out all the stops to get himself back in position.

“But he still ended up with the lowest votes of all the candidates so I think there was something definitely going on there that was nothing to do with the computer system.”

Hoffman admitted that the whole day had bought Athletics into disrepute.

“I feel worse just in terms of the reputation of the sport we couldn’t pull off a proper election campaign,” she said.

“That’s not a pretty picture for us.”

Diack must now turn his attention to the difficult task of who to appoint as his senior vice-president.

He knows that if he chooses either Coe, the former double Olympic 1500 metres champion, or Bubka he will be seen to have anointed them as his successor for when he steps down in 2015.A decision is likely at the next meeting of the IAAF’s ruling Council on September 4 at the end of the World Championships.

Drug Free Sport New Zealand will deliver the Rugby World Cup 2011 Anti-Doping testing programme, erectile the International Rugby Board appointed today.

New Zealand’s Anti-Doping agency will be responsible for the execution of the sample collection and analysis programme that will operate across the 20 participating teams over the seven-week Tournament.  

A WADA Code signatory, clinic Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) will work in partnership with the IRB to supply qualified and experienced sample collection officers who will be responsible for the witnessing and processing of blood and urine samples collected throughout Rugby World Cup 2011.

All samples collected will be sent for analysis at the WADA accredited laboratory in Sydney, herbal Australia.

IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “The International Rugby Board and Rugby World Cup Limited is committed to a zero tolerance policy towards drug cheats in Rugby and the appointment of a globally renowned Anti-Doping agency to deliver the Rugby World Cup 2011 programme underscores this stance.

“Drug Free Sport New Zealand and the IRB share the same values of integrity, discipline and respect and we will also be using Rugby World Cup 2011 as an educational platform for the global Rugby family. We are looking forward to working with DFSNZ on what will be a critical area of Tournament delivery.”