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Russia, US, Iran to create coalition to declare war on IOC - The Independent
TERT.AM
20:18 - 24.02.13
The attempt to throw out wrestling, one of the original Olympic
sports, from the Games has sparked an international row resulting in
the unlikeliest of coalitions, with Russia, the United States and Iran
joining forces to declare war on the International Olympic Committee,
The Independent writes.
All three are influential wrestling nations mightily peeved that they
are in danger of being jocked off the 2020 Games. The Cold War may be
long gone but who could visualise the Russian president, Vladimir
Putin, better known for throwing his weight around on the judo mat,
making up a tag team with the former US defence secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, who himself had an 11-year career as a wrestler, in an
attempt to put the armlock on Jacques Rogge?
Moreover, they have Iran as an ally egging them on, supported by calls
from the Indian and Turkish prime ministers and the president of
Brazil in a remarkable grip-and-grapple protest movement.
Whether this astonishing alliance can register three falls or a
submission over the IOC depends on the outcome of the Committee's
Executive Board meeting in St Petersburg from 29-31 May.
There they will have to throw their hat into the ring with the seven
other sports - baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, squash, sport
climbing, wakeboarding and wushu - currently bidding for inclusion on
the 2020 programme, in making presentations to the IOC.
Following this, the Board will recommend three sports on which the
full membership can vote in Buenos Aires in September. Wrestling's
prospects were not looking healthy, but now some big guns are being
fired on its behalf.
Wrestling is one of the very foundations of the Olympic movement, both
ancient and modern, dating back to 704 BC. Ironically it was part of
the original pentathlon, the modern version of which was favourite for
the proposed chop when the Executive Board met in Lausanne recently.
But a fiercely argued case by Juan Antonio Samaranch, a vice-president
of the International Modern Pentathlon Union and son of the former IOC
president of the same name, apparently helped save it.
What might influence the IOC now is the fact that the sport has
brought together arch foes America and Iran in the common cause,
alongside Russia -a feat the United Nations can only dream of. Knowing
Rogge's passion for achieving such international unity through sport,
wrestling's cause may not be lost, the author of the article notes.
Some believe the uncertain future of sports like wrestling could be
avoided if the IOC changed their charter and moved some indoor contact
sports (such as wrestling, boxing, judo and taekwondo) to the winter
Games. This would lighten an overloaded summer Games programme and
also add TV interest in the winter Games, which are a turn-off for
those nations who don't spend half their year skiing down mountains.
TERT.AM
20:18 - 24.02.13
The attempt to throw out wrestling, one of the original Olympic
sports, from the Games has sparked an international row resulting in
the unlikeliest of coalitions, with Russia, the United States and Iran
joining forces to declare war on the International Olympic Committee,
The Independent writes.
All three are influential wrestling nations mightily peeved that they
are in danger of being jocked off the 2020 Games. The Cold War may be
long gone but who could visualise the Russian president, Vladimir
Putin, better known for throwing his weight around on the judo mat,
making up a tag team with the former US defence secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, who himself had an 11-year career as a wrestler, in an
attempt to put the armlock on Jacques Rogge?
Moreover, they have Iran as an ally egging them on, supported by calls
from the Indian and Turkish prime ministers and the president of
Brazil in a remarkable grip-and-grapple protest movement.
Whether this astonishing alliance can register three falls or a
submission over the IOC depends on the outcome of the Committee's
Executive Board meeting in St Petersburg from 29-31 May.
There they will have to throw their hat into the ring with the seven
other sports - baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, squash, sport
climbing, wakeboarding and wushu - currently bidding for inclusion on
the 2020 programme, in making presentations to the IOC.
Following this, the Board will recommend three sports on which the
full membership can vote in Buenos Aires in September. Wrestling's
prospects were not looking healthy, but now some big guns are being
fired on its behalf.
Wrestling is one of the very foundations of the Olympic movement, both
ancient and modern, dating back to 704 BC. Ironically it was part of
the original pentathlon, the modern version of which was favourite for
the proposed chop when the Executive Board met in Lausanne recently.
But a fiercely argued case by Juan Antonio Samaranch, a vice-president
of the International Modern Pentathlon Union and son of the former IOC
president of the same name, apparently helped save it.
What might influence the IOC now is the fact that the sport has
brought together arch foes America and Iran in the common cause,
alongside Russia -a feat the United Nations can only dream of. Knowing
Rogge's passion for achieving such international unity through sport,
wrestling's cause may not be lost, the author of the article notes.
Some believe the uncertain future of sports like wrestling could be
avoided if the IOC changed their charter and moved some indoor contact
sports (such as wrestling, boxing, judo and taekwondo) to the winter
Games. This would lighten an overloaded summer Games programme and
also add TV interest in the winter Games, which are a turn-off for
those nations who don't spend half their year skiing down mountains.