Reports have clarified that the accident at the construction site of the new National Stadium in Abuja, Nigeria, did not involve the stadium or stadium tunnel, but a trench cave-in across the road where a pedestrian bridge is being built.

Dr. Albert Ikomi, Chairman of the task force on the stadium, recently gave journalists and officials of the federal ministries of sports, works and housing, a tour of the progress of the facility.

Asian Games Preparations

All across Asia athletes are in training for the Asian Games upcoming in Busan, Korea.

Korea will be hoping to use the home field to its advantage. At the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, the only other Asian games held in Korea to date, the hosts had their best performance ever, nearly toppling China in the gold medal race and winning the overall medal count. In 1986 China won 94 gold, 82 silver and 46 bronze to Korea's 93 gold, 55 silver and 76 bronze. Korea finished ahead 224 to 222 in the total medals race.

But, the 2002 competition will be fierce, as every nation is preparing in its own way for improved performances at the games.

China has set a goal of winning half of the gold medals in shooting at the Games according to Xu Haifeng, the Chinese coach and Olympic champion.

In the Philippines, former Southeast Asian Games star swimmer Eric Buhain was named chair of the Philippine Sports Commission in January. Buhain said his immediate priority is to make sure athletes are training for the Asian Games.

Buhain's first business was to assist in arranging time for athletes to have time away from military duties to train for the games.

According to the Philippine Olympic Committee some 500 of the 900 athletes training for spots on Asian Games teams are in the military. The POC asked the military that these athletes be given time to train for the games.

After meeting with Buhain, the Armed Forces agreed to a compromise with the Philippine Sports Commission and have made the necessary arrangements. The athletics and boxing squads are made up entirely of enlisted men.

The Philippines are hoping to improve on their performance from the last Asian Games in Bangkok when they brought home a just one gold medal.

Iran has announced that they will be sending women to the games to compete in shooting, boating, taekwondo, karate and athletics field events.

In Thailand, the Taekwondo Association of Thailand has been hit with controversy with several national team members refusing to compete in the trials for the Asian Games saying that the trials were arranged on short notice with no time for them to prepare. The trials went ahead and the Association chose 22 athletes for extended training.

In boxing, Thailand has just signed Cuban coach Ismael Salas to help Thailand's boxers prepare for the Asian Games. Thailand was trying to sign Cuban coach Juan Fontanils who coached the Thai boxers at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but Fontanils, was asking for nearly three times the salary as Salas.

Indonesian medallists from the Indonesian National Sports Games and South East Asian Games have entered into intensive training camps in Indonesia. The majority of athletes are training in Jakarta. A few are training overseas.

In May, The Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) will hold a medical screening for its athletes monitor their physical and mental shape. 173 athletes were tested in January, only 152 are still in training for the games.

Malaysia is sending athletes to Germany and China to prepare for the Asian Games.

Zimbabwe leaning towards Commonwealth Participation over Boycott

April 18, 2002

The government of Zimbabwe is still considering whether or not to participate in the upcoming Commonwealth Games, but opinions are leaning toward participation.

Some Zimbabweans have been calling for a the boycott of the games in response to Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth Councils over election irregularities.

Others feel that a boycott would only hurt the athletes and sports in the nation.

The Sport and Recreation Commission of Zimbabwe has spoken out against any boycott and the Government, through the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Lotteries and Gaming Fund, last week donated $7 million which will go towards athletes' preparations.

Zimbabwe is eligible for the games. Mike Hooper, the Commonwealth games chief executive has stated that, "the suspension that has occurred is only from the councils of the Commonwealth, not from the Commonwealth itself." "Zimbabwe remains a member of the Commonwealth and as a Commonwealth nation they are invited to participate at the Commonwealth Games."

Meeting to decide future of South American games

April 17, 2002

The South American Sports Organization (ODESUR) will meet April 18 in Asuncion, Paraguay, to discuss the immediate future of the 2002 South American Games.

Violence in Bogota, Colombia has forced the postponement of the games that had been scheduled for this spring.

The Olympic Committee of Peru was approached this past week as an alternate site but announced that without government support and authorization they can not host the games.

Brazil is still being mentioned as a possible alternate site with events spread across the nation in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Manaus.

Afro-Asian Games idea to be revived yet again?

Now the date is set for October, 2003. The place, New Delhi, India, the event, the First Afro-Asian Games.

The Games were postponed from November 2001, which were previously scheduled for November 1999. Prior to that the games were scheduled for 1991, 1985 and 1983, but to date have still never been held. The games are to bring the best teams and individuals from Asia and Africa together. Prior to the 2001 Games postponement, Cairo, Egypt was mentioned as host for future a 2005 Afro-Asian Games.

ANOCA will help African Games and hire women

The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) will add another $50,000 to the $200,000 already given to the Organizing Committee for the 2003 All African Games. ANOCA is not responsible for funding the games, but wants to contribute to make the games as good as possible.

ANOCA president, Alpha Ibrahim Diallo, also said that ANOCA needs to improve its record and include women in the organization and committees of ANOCA. According to Diallo, ANOCA is currently the only sports organization in Africa without a woman administrator.

Diallo also announced the appointment of a former International Olympic Committee (IOC) official, Fekrou Kidane as an Advisor of ANOCA in-charge of Special projects and humanitarian activities.

West Asian Games Results

Host Kuwait, picking up most of its medals in karate, gymnastics, fencing, swimming and athletics, pulled away from the rest of the eleven nation West Asian Games field to top the medals table in the second West Asian Games.

Asian Games Comebacks in Vogue

Earlier this month, South Korean Shim Kwon-ho, a Greco-Roman wrestler who retired after winning a second straight Olympic gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games, announced he was coming out of retirement. Shim won the Greco-Roman 48kg class gold medal at both the 1994 and 1998 Asian Games. His goal is to win a third Asian Games gold medal. If successful, Shim would be the first Korean to claim a third consecutive gold in wrestling at the Asian Games.

Meanwhile, another former champion, 66 year old bodybuilder Ching Teng Soon of Singapore, has announced he is also coming out of retirement to train for the Asian Games. Mr. Soon was crowned "Mr. Asia" some 40 years ago. This is the first time bodybuilding will be included in the Asian Games.

He has been training six days a week, hoping to qualify for September's Asian Games in Busan.

Ching will be the oldest competitor at the Singapore National Championships on April 28, when the Asian Games team is chosen, but he is confident. "Yes, there are a lot of young bodybuilders now. But with training, I can match them. I will give them a good fight. I just have to practice the posing again."

He resumed training four years ago but just informed his family of his Asian Games aspirations this year. His 57-year-old wife says, "I thought, so old already, how to compete with the young ones? But, when we married in 1965 he was already competing. So, it is okay. It's his interest."

SEA Games approves preliminary sports list

Twenty-one sports have been approved for the 2003 Southeast Asian Games to be hosted by Vietnam. Fifteen more events are still on a list for possible inclusion. The South East Asian Games council will decide on those sports in meetings in October.

The current approved list is: Athletics, Aquatics, (Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, and Water Polo), Badminton, Basketball, Bodybuilding, Canoeing, Cycling, Football, Gymnastics (and Rhythmic Gymnastics), Handball, Judo, Karatedo, Pencak Silat, Sepak Takraw, Shooting, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Wrestling and Wushu.

The 15 events being considered for approval: Archery, Boxing, Chess, Diving, Fencing, Iron Ball, Muay Thai, Rowing, Shuttlecock Kicking, Snooker, Squash, Ten Pin Bowling, Weightlifting, and Yachting.

City of Manchester Stadium nearing completion

The main stadium for the Commonwealth Games, Manchester City Stadium, is nearing completion, but in what is becoming a commonplace approach, the stadium will be "temporary", with 38,000 seats, for the Games and will undergo extensive remodeling and completion after the games close.

April 16th has been announced as the date the stadium will open. The stadium will be only partially enclosed, and the track will only be used for three or four track and field meetings, including the Games, before being torn out immediately after the Games.  The stadium will also be used for  Rugby sevens and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

 The Stadium is to be turned over to the Manchester City Football Club who will increase the capacity of the Stadium to 48,000 by removing the track and lowering the field some 10 meters.

Bizarre eligibility twist means Scotsman can not run for Scotland

Charles Robertson-Adams, a 23 year-old hurdler who has competed for Scotland on numerous occasions over the past decade, has been told by the Commonwealth Games Council of Scotland, that he is not eligible to compete for Scotland in the upcoming Commonwealth Games.

Eligibility rules set by the Commonwealth Games Council of Scotland require that an athlete be born in Scotland, or born in the UK with at least one parent born in Scotland, or a resident of Scotland three of the five years prior to the Games or resident in Scotland for the years prior to the games.

Robertson-Adams has been ranked on the national lists in Scotland in his event, the 400 meter hurdles, since 1991, and is funded by Scotland's sport lottery, is the current Scottish champion, and also the Scottish record holder! Though he qualifies for funding and the lists he does not meet the specific criteria set up by the Council.

Robertson-Adams father was born in Ghana, but the family moved to Scotland when he was two months old.  Charles was born in Liverpool, spent some of his early years in Zambia, and then moved with his family back to Scotland. He currently lives and trains in Liverpool.

Robertson-Adams is eligible to compete for Scotland in events under the authority of the Scottish Athletics Federation, but not, under the current state of the rules, the Commonwealth Games Council of Scotland.         

African Military Games ready to go.

April 14, 2002

The Moi International Sports Centre, in Nairobi, Kenya will be the central venue for the first All Africa Military Games hosting both the Opening and Closing ceremonies. Kenyatta University is serving as the Games village.

Some 3,000 officials and athletes expected for the games, the first for the continent. 

Eleven sports are on the schedule: athletics, basketball, boxing, golf, handball, hockey, judo, soccer, swimming, taekwondo, and volleyball.

The Kenyan hosts are hoping that a successful games might lead to hosting other larger games.

South American Games update

After one change of location and a month's postponement, the South American Sports Organization has now canceled the South American Games that were to take place in Bogota, Colombia in early May.

Several nations including Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay had decided not to come to the games due to the upsurge in violent acts in Colombia this year.

Sports officials will meet later this month to discuss the possibility of new dates and a new location for the games.

Sao Paolo, Brazil has expressed interest in the 2006 Games.

Dominicans now said to support Pan-Am Games

Earlier this year a poll reported that nine out of ten Dominicans did not support the 2003 Pan-American Games to be held in Santo Domingo.

A new poll initiated by Hoy newspaper in March now shows that 65 percent of Dominicans support the Games. 53 percent believe that the games will be economically beneficial for the country.

Athens 2004 mascots provoke varied responses.

The organizing committee for the 2004 Olympic Games revealed their mascots for the games and immediately received quite a reaction.

Phevos and Athena, named after Greek gods, and based on historic designs of Greek toy dolls, were not met with unanimous acclaim.

The Greek newspaper Express said, "two vague figures...with big feet but without character, fighting spirit, spirituality or feeling." The Eleftherotypia paper liked the names but not the design. The Kathimerini wrote that the mascots looked somewhat like the Simpsons cartoon characters.

One paper, Ta Nea, said the mascots had made a good first impression. "The first gold medal of 2004 goes to Phevos and Athena."

View the new mascots at www.athens.olympic.org

South American Games postponed one month

In an extraordinary session last month of the Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR), South American Sports officials decided to postpone the 2002 South American games. Concern has been expressed by several countries over political unrest and violence in Colombia, and the safety of the athletes. The games have been moved back to May 3-12. The unrest continued in early April when a car bomb exploded in the city of Villavicencio, killing twelve and injuring more than sixty.

West Asian Games finally underway

After much difficulty, the second edition of the West Asian Games has finally opened in Kuwait. The games had originally been scheduled for Lebanon, which withdrew over a year ago when they could not afford the games. Several news sources and calendars then listed Busan, Korea as host, before Kuwait City was finally confirmed. Once Kuwait was given the games, a controversial decision was made to drop all women's sports from the games under a provision of the regional sports organizations which allows cultural and religious reasons to be applied to the nature of the events. Shooting, volleyball, water polo, table tennis were also dropped for men to make the games more efficient. Finally, the games were scheduled for October 2001 but postponed after the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York city in September 2001.

A highly politicized Opening Ceremony before a crowd of 18,000 began the games. The ceremony was centered around a theme of the struggle in Palestine and the "occupied territories", and the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein over a decade ago.

Pictures of martyrs and Palestinian funerals were projected on the huge stadium screen, while children dressed as Palestinian freedom fighters danced on the field and an Arabic opera told the story. Fireworks ended the show.

The games run from April 3-12 with some 1,500 athletes competing in 10 events; athletics, basketball, diving, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, karate, squash, and swimming.

The games are smaller than the first edition in 1997. The former Soviet Union republics of central Asia have withdrawn and formed their own organization.

Iraq is not participating in the games. This years participating nations include; Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen.

Zimbabwe may boycott, or be banned from Commonwealth Games

Political strife within Zimbabwe is throwing its participation in the upcoming Commonwealth Games into question.

The Council of the Commonwealth last month suspended Zimbabwe for one year over electoral irregularities and Robert Mugabe's controversial win. The European Union and the United States both imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.

Australia's prime minister, John Howard, is now mentioning the possibility of the Commonwealth suspension extending to the Commonwealth Games. Canada and New Zealand have been involved in the discussions, which led one Harare newspaper, the Herald, to label the proposals as racist, and coming from white dominated nations. Canadian representatives are not yet behind any ban from the games. The Herald also called for all of Zimbabwe to unite as a counter measure to boycott the Commonwealth Games.

Any verdict on the matter would need to be made by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The current suspension cover only Commonwealth council activities not sport.

Commonwealth games-relay baton arrives in Africa

On a brighter note, the Queens Baton is working its way through Africa. After stopping in Nigeria the baton will be in Kenya on April 9th, then on to Tanzania and Uganda.

The Queen's Jubilee Baton Relay began its journey at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day on March 11 before heading to Canada and the rest of the Commonwealth.

Singapore may bid for 2010 Commonwealth Games

Singapore has commenced a feasibility study to investigate the possibility of hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Singapore has held three editions of the South East Asian Games, (1973, 1983 and 1993), the largest in 1993 had some 3000 athletes from 9 nations, and is currently scheduled to host the 2007 South East Asian Games. Singapore also hosted the 1989 World Transplant Games with 28 nations. The Commonwealth Games would be the largest multisport undertaking for the nation.

Other nations, Canada (Halifax, London), New Zealand, (Christchurch), Nigeria and India have all expressed at least a casual interest in hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The 2006 Commonwealth games were awarded to Melbourne, Australia when other suitors, such as Wellington, New Zealand, Barbados and Durban, South Africa, slowly abandoned their bids.

Alaska tops Arctic Winter Games

The 2004 Arctic Winter Games will be held in Wood Buffalo, Northern Alberta.

African Military Games entries confirmed

Military sports teams from thirty-two African nations have confirmed their entries for the first ever All African Military Games to be held in Nairobi, Kenya this month. The opening ceremony will be April 17th at the Moi International Sports Center.

Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau were unfortunate late minute cancellations but will send observers.

African Games Stadium Collapse kills three

The collapse of an entrance tunnel has killed three workers at site of the new African Games stadium being built in Abuja, Nigeria. The three workers were inspecting the tunnel when it collapsed. Concern regarding safety issues at the site has increased in recent months as workers rush to meet the deadlines set for the Stadiums completion. Work was suspended for a period of time in honor of the three workers killed: Julius Anyanwu, Alhaji Shuaibu and Raphael Orabufor.

Duisburg 2005 World Games plans on schedule

Representatives of the International World Games Association (IWGA) and of the Organizing Committee of the World Games 2005 (DOC), met in March to discuss plans for the event. Twenty-six sports will be included in the games with Mountaineering and Sumo wrestling included on the provisional program, and Aikido, Field Hockey (indoor) and Handball (beach) will be invited to be part of the invitational program.

The IWGA Executive Committee decided earlier this year to expand the number of sports included in the games and increase the limit of 2500 athletes (which had been applied to the last several games) to 3000 athletes so that more sports could be included in the games.

See the World Games web site at www.worldgames2005.de

Governments Should Not Be Involved in Funding Sport

An article in the Herald, (Harare, Zimbabwe) quotes veteran sports administrator Tommy Sithole of the NOC of Zimbabwe as stating that governments should not be involved in the funding of sport in any country.

Instead, Sithole said, the government must create conditions that enable the flowing in of sponsorship for sport. He said corporate participation in sport would raise the profile of the games and make sports a multi-million dollar industry. "I do not believe in expecting the government to pour money into sports. "Some people might not agree with the view but I believe in the government creating the environment for those who can put money into sport to do so," said Sithole.