Kenya’s plan to hold the London 2012 Olympics trials for a select part of the East African country’s team in the United States have come under criticism by former athletes, who argue that there is no need to depart from the tradition of holding national trials for every single distance.

Athletics Kenya Chairman Isaiah Kiplagat confirmed last week that five male and female athletes would partake in the Diamond League 5,000 and 10,000 meters races in Eugene, Oregon with the top three earning a spot on the Olympic team, whilst the remainder of the team will be selected at trials in Nairobi.

Kiplagat said: “We want to select a strong team for the Olympics because we have not won a (gold) medal in these two events (since 1988). We have therefore decided to take as many as 20 athletes to Oregon, where we shall pick the best runners.”

Paul Tergat, five-time world cross country champion and former marathon world record holder, countered such notions by suggesting that all trials should take place in Kenya. The two-time Olympic silver medallist said: “Kenya is a sovereign state and it makes little sense to conduct part of an Olympic trials outside the country.

“We have always done our trials and selected winning teams here. I don’t understand why we have to take our trials to America.”

His sentiments were reiterated by another leading former athlete, Martin Keino, implying that by not having trials in its homeland, it only serves to take away from the local community. Keino added: “It is unique in the sense that it is the convergence of as many as 20 of the world’s top distance athletes fighting for just three spots through a rigorous system of selection.

“The men’s 5,000m and 10,000m races are generally some of the most exciting races at an Olympic trials here in Kenya. Not to hold these events in such important trials is to deny thousands of fans their only opportunity to watch their stars in person before the Games.”

 

The Premier League will continue their pursuit of pubs who breach copyright following the High Court decision on Friday to overturn the conviction against Karen Murphy, the landlady of Portsmouth’s Red, White & Blue pub.

Murphy had been prosecuted after setting up a Greek decoder card to show English top-flight matches from an overseas satellite feed. Murphy won an appeal to the European Court of Justice in October, and the decision was endorsed by the High Court on Friday.

Although Murphy successfully argued that the use of foreign goods and services must be permitted under European law, Lord Justice Kitchin’s decisions at the High Court have reinforced the League’s rights under separate intellectual-property statutes, and the league is determined to carry on taking action against pubs who use foreign feeds.

“The law gives us the right to prevent the unauthorised use of our copyrights in pubs and clubs when they are communicated to the public without our authority,” said the League in a statement on Friday.

“[Publicans who] use European Economic Area foreign satellite systems to show Premier League football on their premises without our authority and outside the scope of our authorisation make themselves liable to action in both the civil and criminal courts.”

Premier League investigators make repeat visits to suspected pubs to gather evidence. Cease-and-desist letters follow and, after another visit by investigators, criminal proceedings will ensue.

The courts’ penalties have, in the past, extended to four-figure fines and the award of legal costs to the Premier League.

However, due to the criminal nature of breaches, publicans would also be risking their alcohol licences. A League source explained: “We are still pursuing convictions on those using non-EEA cards as well. There’s a database and we know who we are going after.

“The usual culprits are in the North East, the North West, the West Midlands and north London. Some of them will be high-profile places.”

Euroview, who are a major supplier of set-top boxes and cards has declared its intention to “invest in the development of new technology that will allow a risk-free solution” to the clampdown.

It is clear the League remains vulnerable to the exploitation of loopholes in the law. One might be that Murphy was using a Greek residential and not a commercial decoder card intended for Greek pubs.

by Ismail Uddin

The window for reselling unwanted Olympic and Paralympic seats began online this morning at 09.00 GMT.

The digital market place is available through the LOCOG website and is open until Friday, ailment February 3rd.

The window will enable all sellers to recoup the full face value of their tickers provided there is a willing customer.

As soon as a request to sell is submitted, the tickets will be made available to purchase online.

There will be another opportunity to resell in April if any tickets remain unsold during this window.

This may well be unnecessary given the demand for tickets last year which saw 22 million applications for just 3 million tickets and with only football tickets still available.

For those who remain empty handed in the fight to secure tickets in this window, there will also be a final batch of 1.2m extra tickets released in April which have been delayed whilst seating numbers are confirmed in stadia.

The scheme is UK based only. Any British citizens who purchased tickets through official overseas vendors, must contact the individual retailer if they want to resell.

The world’s most prestigious cycling event, Tour de France, has struck a deal with Qatar Airways that will see the carrier become an official transport partner of the event.

Qatar Airways will transport the cyclists from Grenoble to Orly, near Paris, for the final stage of the Tour, a journey which had previously been made by TGV high-speed train.

Tour de France organisers ASO, who arranged the deal with Qatar Airways, has had strong links in Qatar for a while, with the company organising and operating the Tour of Qatar cycling race since 2002. Qatar Airways is the official airline of the race.

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airlines chairman, said of the deal: “This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our passion for sport.

“There couldn’t be a better time to announce this news. Earlier this week Qatar Airways was voted the world’s top airline company.”

According to the New York Times, health US billionaire property developer Donald Trump, famed for his role in the American Apprentice TV show, reportedly contacted the owners of Major League Baseball (MLB) side the New York Mets about two weeks ago to set up a meeting to talk about potentially buying a majority stake in the team.

Trump said today, February 16, that he had called current owner Fred Wilpon to arrange the meeting, which has yet to take place, the newspaper reported.

The owners of the Mets said Jan. 29 that they may sell as much as 25 percent of the team to raise money to settle a lawsuit stemming from Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The owners are being sued for as much as US$1 billion over their financial dealings with Madoff, the Times said.

MP & Silva has agreed a deal for the international media rights distribution of the FIVB Club World Volleyball Championship 2010, featuring eight of the world’s top men’s teams and six of the leading women’s teams.

This year, world volleyball’s top club competition has been expanded to include a women’s tournament, for the first time since 1994. Men’s and women’s matches will alternate throughout the event, which runs from 15 to 21 December in Doha, Qatar. The tournament will have a round-robin format to determine the overall ranking and classification before semifinals and final.

Under the terms of the agreement, MP & Silva will undertake the global media distribution responsibilities – with the exception of Middle East and North Africa – for all telecommunication platforms and formats, including terrestrial free-to-air television, satellite and cable television, IPTV, mobile television, mobile, and internet and broadband television.

Paul the octopus, who shot to fame during this year’s FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa for his flawless record in predicting game outcomes, has died, his aquarium in Germany said today.

“Management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre were devastated to discover that oracle octopus Paul, who achieved global renown during the recent World Cup, had passed away overnight,” the aquarium said in a sombre statement.

Paul beat the odds during the FIFA World Cup by correctly forecasting all eight games he was asked to predict, including Spain’s 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final.

Paul’s body is now in cold storage while the aquarium decides “how best to mark his passing.”

“We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds and erect a modest permanent shrine,” said Sea Life manager Stefan Porwoll.

“While this may seem a curious thing to do for a sea creature, Paul achieved such popularity during his short life that it may be deemed the most appropriate course of action.”

International law firm Norton Rose has become the exclusive legal advice partner of Munich’s bid committee to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, it has been announced.

The firm will provide support to the German city’s bid to host the Games during the candidate city phase, where it faces competition from Annecy, France and PyeongChang, South Korea.

Munich 2018 CEO, Willy Bogner, said: “Norton Rose’s support comes at exactly the right time to boost our preparation of the bid book. We need a large number of contracts and guarantees with local authorities, so we will make full use of their extensive legal expertise.

“This partnership will enable us to continue uniting every level of German society, from individuals to governments, from local businesses to international corporations, in passionate support of Munich’s bid to host the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

“With Norton Rose we have won a partner with a highly influential international network. During the candidate city stage, these international contacts will be an invaluable asset in helping us tell our story all over the world.”

Dr Alexander Von Bergwelt, managing partner of Norton Rose in Germany, added: “Norton Rose is a sports-minded law firm. Naturally, we support Munich’s application to host the Winter Games in 2018. We have local roots and a global presence, with our network of 30 offices all over the world and our lawyers cover all relevant areas of legal expertise.

“This allows us to provide optimal support to the bid committee, particularly drafting the bid book, which will form an important basis for selecting the 2018 host city.”

Canada and England have been announced as the latest hosts for the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series. 

Langford in British Columbia will welcome the women’s competition to its shores as it hosts round four of the series on April 18-19, 2015 at the Westhills Stadium, Langford, British Columbia. The penultimate round of the series visits London where the action comes to the Twickenham Stoop on the same weekend as the men’s HSBC Sevens World Series.

In keeping with the last two seasons, the 2014/15 series will kick off in 7he Sevens Stadium in Dubai on December 4 and 5 alongside the men’s series.

With the Road to Rio getting even shorter, the women’s series will again return to Brazil just over a year out from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Sao Paulo will play host to the event on February 7 and 8.

Teams will travel to the United States the following month where Atlanta will host round three of the tournament in Kennesaw State University on March 14 and 15.

With their women’s sevens side now a consistent feature at the top end of the women’s standings, Canada will welcome the series to Langford on April 18 and 19.

The last two rounds of the series will be contested in Europe with London hosting the fifth round at the Twickenham Stoop, with the final to be played next door in front of massive crowds at Twickenham Stadium.

Like last season, the series will conclude in the Netherlands as part of the Amsterdam Sevens.

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “The level of competition in the Women’s Sevens World Series is at an all-time high, and has been helped by the prospect of taking part in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.”

“We now have Canada and London added to the bill for the coming season and given the appetite for quality Rugby and the Sevens Game, I have no doubt that they will be excellent hosts when they welcome the women’s series to their shores next year.”