Akshay Kumar to join Special Olympics Torch run

New Delhi, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar will participate Sunday in the Global Law Enforcement Torch Run here for Special Olympics World Winter Games.

Akshay is the celebrity supporter and brand ambassador for the event that is being organised prior to the world games.

Called the Flame of Hope, the torch will pass through Delhi Dec 21. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will flag it off.

Special Olympics is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of the society through sports training and competition.

The games will be held in Boise, Idaho, US, Feb 2-13 next year.

Source: www.bollywoodworld.com

IOC calls for quick decision on 2012 venues

LONDON: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) expects all of the venues for London 2012 to be decided by next March. Uncertainty still surrounds the venues for at least two sports as London organisers re-think plans to use costly temporary structures that will leave no lasting legacy.

Recession jolts world of sports Fencing and volleyball have already been switched while a decision is yet to be made on badminton and shooting, both of which were to be staged at temporary venues. "We have asked that, at least in March, all of that will be closed so that we know where all the venues are," Gilbert Felli, the IOC's Olympic Games director, said.

Felli was speaking after an IOC board meeting in Lausanne to review London's preparations for the Games. Earlier this year leading accountants KPMG were commissioned by the Government to provide a report into whether significant cost savings could be made by finding alternatives to using four temporary venues.

KPMG's initial findings said basketball, to be held in a 12,000-seat temporary venue in the Olympic Park, and equestrian events, to be staged in nearby Greenwich Park, should not be changed.

However, the 6,000-seat temporary arena to be used for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics is still under review with Wembley Arena a possible venue for badminton.

The plan to stage shooting at the historic Woolwich Barracks has been criticised by the sport's own governing body who say its will leave no lasting legacy.

The harsh economic climate has hit the 2012 Games hard with the Government forced to release 95 million pounds ($142.3 million) of contingency funding so that construction work on the Olympic village can continue.

Earlier this week, Olympic Minister Tessa Jowell did not rule out the Government having to make good a 250 million-pound shortfall in the village project as Australian developer Lend Lease struggles to raise private investment.

Source: http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Other_Sports/Others/IOC_calls_for_quick_decision_on_2012_venues/articleshow/3824179.cms

IOC must be realistic to survive credit crisis: Rogge

LAUSANNE (Switzerland): The International Olympic Committee will be able to sustain any blows from the global financial crisis but will need to be realistic and flexible, President Jacques Rogge said on Thursday.

The IOC recently ended a half-century partnership with the European Broadcasting Union over the Games' broadcasting rights for the 2014-2016 Games, saying other bidders were offering more money.

It has also delayed awarding the US TV rights for the 2014/16 Games package until financial conditions improve to get a better deal.

"The IOC is in a position to weather the storm but we have to be realistic and flexible and be ready for anything that might come," Rogge said at the end of an Executive Board meeting. "We are in a mode for lean Games."

He said the end of the partnership with the EBU, which accused the IOC of having surprisingly high financial expectations, was dictated by market conditions.

"The reality is that there were companies in the market that have given more money than the EBU has done at this stage," he said. "It appeared the EBU was not the highest bidder."

"The IOC is doing exactly what UEFA and FIFA is doing and maybe there is a new landscape in Europe," he said.

He also defended the IOC's decision not to clinch a deal with US broadcasters for 2014/16 Games TV rights because of the crisis.

"We are waiting for the best economic circumstances to be present to negotiate," he said.

"We can wait for as long as needed, we have a big cushion of time," he said of the deal which for the two-Games package of Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 netted some $2.2 billion.

Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro are in the running to host the 2016 Games with a decision set for October, 2009.

Rogge did not rule out getting a deal even after the city has been chosen, potentially improving Chicago's chances given US broadcasters would be more interested in paying a higher price to broadcast home Games.

The IOC has also been locked in discussions with the US Olympic Committee over its share of sponsorship and TV revenues and Rogge said he hoped a deal could be reached soon.

The IOC wants to reduce the committee's share of TV rights revenues and top sponsor income with the Americans staunchly refusing to accept any cuts.

The USOC under long-standing agreements receives about 13 per crnt of US broadcasting rights revenues and about one fifth of the IOC's top sponsors programme worth close to a billion dollars as most of the companies investing in the Games in the past were from the United States.

The IOC has called the size of the share immoral given it exceeds the combined total of all other national Olympic committees and several non-American companies are nowadays major IOC sponsors.

Rogge said he would propose "to finalise discussions" by the end of March during an IOC executive Board meeting in Denver.

It is estimated the row could negatively impact Chicago's hopes of winning the bid if it dragged on into the summer.

Source: http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/IOC_must_be_realistic_to_survive_crisis_Rogge/articleshow/3825744.cms