The Annecy Anti-Olympic Committee, an organisation based in Annecy who opposed their bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, claimed that “the citizens of Annecy have won” after the French town lost heavily in the voting, securing just seven votes at last week’s decision in Durban, South Africa.

The committee has also said that bid leader Charles Beigbeder should return his Légion d’honneur, one of the most privileged honours in France. 

A spokesperson for the group said: “Mr Beigbeder should send back his Légion d’honneur, which he deserves no more.

“Those responsible for this fiasco should face the consequences.”

“The Anti-Olympic committee is not hiding its pleasure and pride in contributing to this success.

“We have achieved our goal and the success of mobilising citizens to this cause is incontestable.

“Annecy and Haute-Savoie are liberated.”

They were also highly critical of the US$43m spent on Annecy’s bid, which they say “could have been better spent elsewhere”.

Annecy’s bid was dogged by a number of setbacks, including the revelation in the weeks leading up to the final decision in a survey that half of Annecy residents were against the campaign to win the right to host the Winter Olympics.

“We thank the members of the International Olympic Committee who heard us and understood that Annecy did not want these Games,” said the spokesperson.

The likes of Welsh soccer stars Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have been assured that they will not be banned from the international game if they play for Britain at London 2012, as the Home Nations begin to soften their stance on letting their players take part in the Olympic tournament.

In a significant development, the English Premier League players, with Tottenham and Arsenal respectively, met with officials from the Football Association of Wales (FAW) last month to discuss taking part in the Games amid earlier threats that they faced the prospect of ruining their international careers if they took part.

The FAW laid out their objections to why they were opposed to young icons representing Team GB and that they feared it could jeopardise the independence of Wales to take part in tournaments like the World Cup and European Championships. 

But they admitted to Bale and Ramsey that there was nothing they could do legally to prevent them playing.

FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford told Wales on Sunday: “We have an open dialogue with players and we’ve used that to ensure they are aware why we have taken the stance we have.”

The meeting followed news that another of Wales’ best young players, Swansea City’s 21-year-old midfielder Joe Allen, wants to play for Britain at the Olympics next year with the player stating: “I’ve obviously been a fan of the Olympics aside from the football that’s played there.

“It’s obviously a massive event and personally I’d be excited to be a part of that.

“I’m similar to Gareth really and I think most players would see the chance to play in an Olympics as something positive and something to look forward to.”

Players in Northern Ireland are also beginning to eye the prospect of playing for Team GB.

Jim Shaw, the President of the Irish Football Association (IFA), admitted that he would rather Northern Ireland players did not make themselves available for London 2012 but there was nothing that they could do if they did.

Shaw added: “I can understand players wanting to play for a GB team but our view is clear.

“We cannot legislate for players wanting to play in the team, if that is their choice I doubt whether we could stop them but it it is not something we will encourage or support.

“We must consider the IFA’s interests in this matter and it would be very wrong if we didn’t do that. 

“We have to protect our interests.”

Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson and British Olympic Association (BOA) chairman Colin Moynihan have been active recently in trying to ensure that players from the Home Associations will not be discriminated against and prevented from playing for Britain at London 2012.

A BOA spokesman stated: “Our position continues to be that the selection criteria should be broad enough to, at a minimum, allow for the consideration of players from each of the Home Nations.

“This model is used very effectively in other team sports, such as hockey and basketball.

“When you see comments such as those that have been offered by players during the past few weeks expressing strong support for Olympic participation, you appreciate just how important and special this opportunity is.”

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) has announced a partnership with Red Bull Media House for the 2014 season.

The IFSC grants exclusive rights to the live stream of two of Bouldering events on Red Bull TV: the Boulder World Cup in Innsbruck (AUT), symptoms on May 16-17, doctor and the Boulder World Championship in Munich (GER), on August 21-23.

Under the terms of the agreement, the media company will have exclusive rights to the live streaming of two IFSC events on Red Bull TV: First, the finals of the IFSC Boulder World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, the fourth boulder competition and the second solo boulder World Cup of the 2014 season, on May 17. Second, they will be covering the finals of the IFSC Boulder World Championship in Munich, Germany on August 23.

IFSC Marketing and Communications Director, Anne Fuynel, commented, “This is the first time that the IFSC is partnering with Red Bull Media House. It shows that Sport Climbing has grown very fast, attracts a large worldwide community as well as the young generations, and shares relevant values with our new partner: a dynamic lifestyle characterized by freedom, constant striving for precision, challenging goals and breathtaking sensations.”

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has ruled that Pyeongchang will not be allowed to share hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics with North Korea, even if a political consensus between the two feuding nations is reached, after speculation grew yesterday.

Rogge, who was attending the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly here, claimed that it would be against the Olympic Charter and they were not prepared to amend it so the Games could be shared.

Rogge said: “The IOC awards the Games to one city in one country.

“As far as spreading venues between the two countries, that’s something we do not consider under the current Olympic Charter.

“We’re not going to change the Olympic Charter because otherwise you complicate the organisation.”

The idea had first been raised by·South Korean opposition leader Sohn Hak-kyu during a visit to Pyeongchang earlier this week.

But Rogge did back the idea of a united Korean team, which is gaining popularity. 

A recent poll showed more than half of South Koreans support the idea.

Another idea is for the two Koreans to march together in the Opening Ceremony as they did at Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004.

Of this, Rogge said: “There could be symbolic actions together like the joint parade or, why not, the participation of a joint team. This is something we could consider and will also have a very symbolic effect. 

“But don’t expect the IOC to spread the venues between the two countries.”

Rogge’s appearance in the Japanese capital coincided with a press conference in Seoul where South Korea’s Culture Minister Choung Byoung-gug began laying out the early plans for Pyeongchang’s preparations.

These included establishing an Organising Committee within three months, a timeframe which is two months sooner than necessary under the Host City contract that Pyeongchang signed last week.

Choung said: “We will all be preparing to successfully host the Winter Games so South Korea can make a new leap as a sports power through the event following its hosting of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosted with Japan.”

Choung added that South Korea will also legislate a promised special law to support the event and will establish a special Government committee to oversee preparations. 

He also revealed plans to stage Korean cultural performances featuring both traditional and modern artists at major cities across the world every year from 2012 to 2018, using Pyeongchang 2018 as an opportunity to increase global awareness of Korea.

The London Olympics sustainability watchdog has reported that next year’s Games is on track to be sustainable, but will fall short of its renewable energy targets.

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 said carbon emissions from the Games was likely to be reduced by 50 per cent, stating that a targeted 20 per cent of this would come from renewable energy. However the report revealed that only 9 per cent of this would come from renewable energy.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said it had to find other ways to reduce the event’s carbon footprint while new safety rules and design changes led the ODA abandoning plans for a wind turbine at the Olympic Park in east London last year.

Shaun McCarthy, who chairs the sustainability watchdog, said the scrapping of the wind turbine was the main reason why renewable energy targets would not be met.

The ODA is instead investing more than £1m (US$1.6m) in measures like insulation and draft-proofing in local houses and schools in order to achieve the reduction in carbon emissions.

McCarthy stated: “It is regrettable that the renewable energy industry could not come up with the answers. But this is a sensible solution to reduce carbon emissions.

“We are incredibly close to our ultimate goal of a sustainable Games, which would make London 2012 a unique entry in the annals of Olympic and Paralympic history,” he added.

The ODA’s Richard Jackson confirmed that providing renewable energy to the site was a big challenge, saying: “Beyond the huge sustainability benefits already delivered, we also set ourselves challenging targets on carbon reduction and renewable energy.

“Despite exhaustive efforts we have not been able to find a cost-effective solution to deliver a large percentage of renewable technology on the park.”

It is now 15 months until the Games’ opening ceremony and London Assembly Green Party member Darren Johnson has criticised the missing of the renewable energy target, adding: “This really is a miserable result.

“I know the organisers have had some difficulties but quite frankly this should never have been allowed to happen. It makes a mockery of the idea of a green Olympics,” he added.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association has agreed a broadcast partnership with NBC Sports Group and Universal Sports Network

NBC, apoplectic NBCSN and Universal Sports Network will combine for a record 25+ hours of coverage of the FIS 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships, hospital including live coverage of every event for the first time in history. The World Championships are expected to showcase athletes from over 70 nations, remedy with an estimated 750 million worldwide television viewers and an onsite media and broadcast entourage of 1,500.

“The partnership with NBC, NBCSN and Universal Sports represents a tremendously innovative breakthrough for skiing and snowboarding in the U.S. One of our goals for the Championships is to elevate ski racing, and skiing in general, to a new level around the nation,” said Vail Valley Foundation President Ceil Folz. “The extensive domestic broadcast coverage presents us with a wonderful vehicle to accomplish that. Congratulations to the USSA for its vision and dedication to making this a reality.”

NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product, Universal Sports Network and the USSA Network on YouTube will combine to provide comprehensive live streaming coverage. The Feb. 2-15, 2015, World Championships will feature the best alpine ski racers in the world, including U.S. Ski Team Olympic stars like Ted Ligety, Bode Miller, Andrew Weibrecht, Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso.

“This World Championships in Vail/Beaver Creek provides us a very unique opportunity to carry the momentum of our record performances in Sochi. We’ve jumped at that opportunity by investing in both the rights and live broadcasts of every event on NBC, NBCSN or Universal Sports. Through this investment, and the great partnership with NBC Universal and its Emmy Award-winning production team, we are proud to deliver the very best coverage possible to our fans and give this event and our athletes the opportunity to shine,” noted USSA Chief Marketing Officer Michael Jaquet.

NBC Sports Group will utilize its Olympic production crew and commentators across NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. A record six hours of coverage is planned for NBC with 8.5 hours on NBCSN and 13 for Universal Sports. NBC Sports Live Extra will live stream all coverage airing on NBC and NBCSN via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

“We’re thrilled to be part of the unprecedented coverage that will bring more hours of the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships to skiing fans on more platforms than ever before,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and NBCSN.

Mr Alp Berker, pharmacy ed Director of Sport for Istanbul 2020 – the bid company for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games – has confirmed as a speaker for this month’s must-attend Stadia & Arena Istanbul 2013 event.

Mr Berker will open Wednesday morning’s session focused on Turkey’s burgeoning sports sector with a presentation on their Olympic plans and joins the long and ever-growing list of the industry’s elite confirmed to attend this event, pill the sports-venue & live entertainment sector’s most comprehensive and high-level conference and exhibition.

With only a limited number of places now remaining at Stadia & Arena Istanbul 2013, please ensure to register online today at: www.saevents.uk.com and secure your place at this unmissable event.

If you need any further information or would like to speak to a sales representative direct to book your place, then please call Katie McIntyre on Tel: +353 (0) 44 9335212 or email: Katie@aladltd.co.uk

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organisers have revealed that they are planning a “hot snow” programme to overcome any warm weather that may affect their event.

The previous 2010 Vancouver winter games organisers were forced to fly and truck-in snow due to a shortage at the event. Fears that Sochi, apoplectic a Black Sea port city in southern Russia, enjoying a Mediterranean-type climate, may hit the same problems have been allied by organising chief Dmitry Chernyshenko.

In an interview with the BBC he stated: “We have a solid [weather] programme. The climate is a challenge, but the organisers have a strong programme to avoid any risk of cancellation of events because of the weather.”

He said that their “hot snow” programme would provide reliable snow cover in Sochi even at temperatures of up to +15 degrees.

Mr Chernyshenko said the organisers hoped to store enough snow from the previous winter season in case February 2014, when the games are being held, should prove to be unusually warm.

The organising head went on to say that there would also be much work to predict the weather, and if necessary to manage the cloud cover by artificial means.

“Rain is the enemy,” he said, but pointed out that there were numerous scientific institutes in Russia with decades of experience in tracking and observing weather patterns in mountainous areas.

“The Ministry of Defence in Moscow also has the technology to dissolve the [rain] clouds.”