It emerged yesterday, ed March 24, that the chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA) Lord Moynihan and CEO Andy Hunt had been barred from board meetings of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) due the dispute over the 2012 Olympics financial surplus.

The BOA is fighting for a share of revenues in the Paralympics, as well as the Olympics, after LOCOG and the International Olympic Committee have claimed that the finances from the two should remain separate. The BOA appealed their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the IOC backed LOCOG in the row.

The London 2012 organising committee stated that it had invited the BOA to nominate replacements for Moynihan and Hunt while the duo “are individually and actively involved in pursuing a dispute against LOCOG”. The statement added: “The BOA is ably represented on the LOCOG board by HRH the Princess Royal, Sir Craig Reedie, Sir Philip Craven and Adam Pengilly.”

The BOA released a statement late on Thursday which responded: “We do not feel a similar action is necessary and we are not taking the same steps as LOCOG. We continue to welcome British International Olympic Committee members, all of whom are LOCOG directors, and their contributions in the interests of the athletes and the success of the Games.”

The BOA added: “This decision by LOCOG will have no bearing on our primary responsibility, which is to prepare Team GB for the London 2012 Olympic Games.” The latest development has come ahead of an important few days for London 2012, with the IOC set to visit the city to inspect preparations and the International SportAccord Convention, a major gathering of International Federations, due to take place early next month.

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) have announced that the Columbus Eagles FC have joined the league for the 2014  season.

“We are pleased to have the Columbus Eagles FC join our women’s competitive league for the 2014 season. We expect that Columbus will provide an excellent, competitive team that will represent the Columbus area well.” said the League Commissioner, Jerry Zanelli.

The Columbus Eagles FC will provide Columbus women’s soccer fans an opportunity to join the growing women’s soccer movement in the United States. The WPSL is one of the highest levels of women’s soccer in the US surpassed only by the professional National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The Eagles will be playing in the Great Lakes division of the Mid-West Region of the WPSL. Other teams in the Great Lakes division include Detroit, Dayton, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Ukraine are to undergo a preliminary feasibility study on a 2022 Winter Olympic bid to be submitted by the State Agency for Investment and National Projects.

KYIV Post reports Ukraine has to complete sports infrastructure between 2012 and 2021, pills including the Borzhava ski resort in Liviv region. There are also plans to build transport infrastructure including airports, highways and railway facilities.

“The construction of accommodation infrastructure, including Olympic villages and an international media centre, is also important”, said a press release.

The bid would be funded by private investors and through state and local budgets.

A government resolution says the Cabinet of Ministers should receive proposals within a month for the determination of a central executive government agency responsible for the coordination of activities on the preparation and support of the bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the right to stage the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the measures to be taken to prepare the infrastructure required for the Games.

Following the completion of the Olympics, healing the £40m London Aquatics Centre will serve the local area, catering for all levels of swimming ability from families to people with disabilities and school children.

With moveable floors capable of reducing the depth for swimming lessons it is hoped the two 50m pools and diving pool at the Aquatic Centre will encourage more people to swim more often.

The centre will offer an activity programme including a range of aquatic fitness sessions, a learn to swim programme, coaching in water polo, synchronised swimming, diving and sub aqua.

Not only will the centre be a great asset for local communities and schools, it will also offer visitors the chance to use the Olympic facilities for the same price as the average local pool or sports centre.

Earlier in March, 300 local schoolchildren tested the centre’s water, with swimmers aged between 9 and 18 years old competing in a number of races at the annual Six Host Borough Swimming Championship.

The event, organised by the Olympic Park Legacy Company and Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), gave the community their first taste of their new swimmingfacility.

Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said: “The Host Borough Swimming Championships was a taste of things to come. The atmosphere was electric and the excitement of the young swimmers was evident as soon as they entered the centre. We want all local children to experience this when the centre reopens after the Games.”

With an anticipated 800,000 visitors a year, the Aquatics Centre will be a London legacy and a place where the UK’s best sporting talent can swim and train.

GLL Managing Director, Mark Sesnan added: “Not only is this a world class venue designed to host international sport, it also aims to nurture sporting talent at grass roots level and encourage healthy living.”

Together with GLL and Olympic Park Legacy Company, Sport England is currently working with the Amateur Swimming Association, five London boroughs and the University of East London to develop a strategy and usage programme that will allow swimmers and divers to progress from recreation to international performance.

In addition, the Aquatic Centre will also be used to host major events with Triathlon England and British Swimming planning to use the venue regularly. In March this year London bid to host the 2016 LEN European Swimming Championships at the Aquatics Centre.

Sepp Blatter, President of world soccer’s governing body FIFA, says he will step down from his post in 2015, if he is re-elected for a fourth term in June.

The 75-year-old has been head of world football’s governing body since 1998 but is being challenged by Asian confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Blatter told a UEFA Congress today, March 22: “You know I aspire to another four years. [But] these will be the last years for which I stand as candidate.”

The new president will be elected at a FIFA Congress which starts on 31 May, with Qatari Bin Hammam vowing to increase FIFA’s decision-making power and spread its considerable wealth.

The presidential challenge is the first that Blatter has faced since Issa Hayatou took him on – and lost – in 2002.

Bin Hammam is also currently attending the Congress for European football’s governing body, UEFA, as the candidates lobby federation presidents for their vote on 1 June in Zurich, with UEFA’s 53 member countries representing more than a quarter of the 208 FIFA voters.

BBC’s Sports Editor, David Bond claimed: “This is a significant announcement.

“It’s the first time Blatter has said this in this campaign for [the next] presidential candidancy.

“Clearly it’s a message to UEFA president Michel Platini, who would like to take over from Blatter in 2015. Platini is crucial to both candidates.

“This might just help swing Platini’s support behind Blatter.”

Bin Hammam is likely to want eight years in office but has said he would be interested in cutting a deal with Platini to oust Blatter.

The winner needs a two-thirds majority of valid votes cast in the first ballot, or a majority in the second.

Blatter spoke of the upcoming elections: “We are in extra-time. Let’s wait and see what the outcome will be.”

Australian Football League (AFL) club St Kilda has announced Michael Nettlefold will step down as chief executive of the team.

Nettlefold, discount who has filled the position since 2009, sale sale will stay on until the Saints can find a suitable replacement.

“We have a number of major initiatives in place that are on the way to fruition,” he said.

“This meant a commitment for another long period and on reflection I felt the time was right for me to transition out of the position.”

During his time in charge, the Saints moved their training and administration base from Moorabbin to Seaford and hosted the first AFL game for points played overseas – in Wellington, NZ – this year.

They also played in the 2009-10 grand finals under Ross Lyon, before Lyon left to join Fremantle at the end of 2011 and the Saints replaced him with Scott Watters.

Since then, they have fallen to ninth last year and 16th this season, with just five wins.

Nettlefold played 43 games for the Saints between 1979-83 before ending his playing career with Fitzroy and later served as a Saints director for eight years.

His resignation comes after the recent election of a new president, Peter Summers.

Japanese sports equipment and apparel company, Mizuno has become a sponsor of Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

The company joins Asics, Descente, JTB and Kinki Nippon Tourist as sponsors of the city’s bid for the games.

The former President of Mizuno, Masato Mizuno, is Chief Executive of the Tokyo 2020 bid.

Mizuno’s current President, Akito Mizuno, said Mizuno Corporation will share its experience to support the Bid Committee, and will do anything possible to help bring the 2020 Games to Tokyo.{jcomments on}

The UK government has said there are reasons for rejecting UK visa applications amid concerns in China about the number of rejections for visas to attend the Olympics.

At the opening of the London 2012 international media centre, pilule a journalist from Xinhua, anabolics a major Chinese news agency, store asked the Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson, why Chinese ticket holders were being refused visas to enter the UK to attend The Games.

The topic is being widely debated in China and is trending on has become a hot topic in China, trending on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of twitter).

It has been reported that some of the most respected Chinese citizens who had already bought tickets for London 2012 were finding their visa applications had been rejected and many of them did not know why.

Robertson said anybody’s visa application could be refused and each case needed to be looked at individually

“Anybody can be denied, but they are rejected for a reason…that can be investigated,” he said.

According to Home Office statistics, more than 10,000 Chinese nationals were refused UK visas in 2011. But 95 percent of 2011 Chinese applications, 205,000 people, were approved for a visa.

Of those applications, 90 percent were granted within eight working days.

“There has been no change in the rules for the Olympics, everything is the same and every application is considered on its merits,” a Home Office spokesman said.

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