Opposition politicians in Australia are opposed to the tax. "We have almost arrived at the Athens Olympics and the Government is still justifying a tax that should have been scrapped after the Sydney 2000 Games," according to Opposition transport spokesman Martin Ferguson.

The head of the Tourism Taskforce, Christopher Brown said, "The fact this Olympic levy remains in place is completely dishonest." "The circus has left town and the tax dogs are still barking four years later."

Soaking the Olympic guest isn't exclusive to Australia.

Jim Bradley, a member of the Salt Lake city council, who lost runs for both the Governor of Utah and Mayor of Salt Lake City, said in 1999 that Salt Lake City should raise its hotel and car taxes as high as possible. "We have to raise the car rental tax as high as we can possibly do it, even shamelessly high, to generate revenue. We have to look at opportunities like that to just screw 'em."  

Whatever happened to being a gracious host?

Atlanta reportedly minimized crime data to grab 1996 games

February 21, 2004

Add another footnote to the unfortunate embarrassment of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. 

A report commissioned by Atlanta's new police chief, Richard Pennington, has concluded that the city of Atlanta consistently under-reported crimes from the time Atlanta began to bid for the 1996 Olympic Games until 2002, when Pennington took office.

The effort was said to be part of Atlanta's attempt to improve its image during the bidding process, according to the Associated Press.

Police chief Pennington said, "I don't want to alarm the citizens or have them think that when they walk out on the streets, they're going to be mugged, shot or robbed because that's not the case," Pennington said. "The reason that I brought this to light is to educate the public that there's a lot of work to be done."  

The audit was paid for by the Atlanta Police Foundation, an organization that raises money to supplement the police department budget.

Pennington reportedly plans to ask for a fifteen percent increase in department staffing based on the findings of the report.  

Nigeria to host African Universities Games this spring

February 19, 2004

The Federation Africaine du Sport Universitaire (FASU) has announced that Nigeria will host the African University Games from April 14 to 22 of this year.

The games have not been held since 1978 when they were hosted by Nairobi.

Nigeria announced last year that they would be interested in reviving the African University Games, using the new and renovated facilities from the 2003 African Games in Abuja.

However, the games will be held in the north of Nigeria, in Bauchi, and not Abuja. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi will be the host university, using Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, swimming pool, gymnasium, with some sports being played at the Federal Polytechnic school.

Organizers have announced they are expecting a total of 3,000 participants, including officials, from 55 nations. 

Seven sports will be included in the games for both men and women: athletics, badminton, basketball, judo, squash, swimming, table tennis and wrestling.  A football competition will be held for men only. 

Mercedes Benz has signed on to sponsor the games.

Cameroon will host its own national universities games, scheduled to open April 26th.

The annual Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland University Games begin this weekend at the University of Botswana and run from February 22-29.

February 19, 2004

The Corporate Sport Organisation (CSO) the owners and organizers of the World Medical and Health Games, announced a change of venue last month for the 2004 games, without announcing a reason.

A press release by the CSO this month now reveals that the games were moved from Turkey after the terrorist attacks in Istanbul last November.  A discussion ensued after the attacks as to the safety of the region, and the games were moved from Antalya and Belek, Turkey to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Other games are still scheduled for Turkey and Istanbul.  The EurAsia Corporate Games, sponsored by Sport For Life, Inc. are still scheduled to be held in Istanbul May 28-30, 2004, according to the groups web site.

Plans for the 2005 World University Games to be held in Izmir are also continuing.

February 18, 2004

Rendez-Vous 2006 has now announced that the Labatt Breweries is the new sponsor for their 2006 games.

The group announced that they had signed a sponsor at the end of January, but were not prepared to reveal the name until this week.

Labatt will provide funding for the next three years.  The sponsorship is the first private sponsor signed by the games. The rest of the supporters have been government or government related sources such as the the Canadian federal Government, the Province of Quebec, City of Montreal, Tourism Montreal, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

February 18, 2004

Allens Arthur Robinson has been selected over several other firms as the official law firm to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.  

The firm has worked on the Rugby World Cup, World Cup Cricket, The Melbourne Cup, Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne and the 2000 Olympic Games.  The firm will provide services and advice to the existing 2006 games legal staff on contracts, trademarks, copyright and other games legal issues.

Employees from the firm are frequent competitors in the Queensland Corporate Games and the New South Wales Corporate Games.

February 17, 2004

The Philippines picked up another gold medal today from the 2003 South East Asian Games, when Vietnamese organizers revised results from the men's 4X200 meter swimming relay. The Philippine delegation had filed an appeal, which was finally decided this past week.

The initial results listed the Philippine team as having been disqualified. However, the head of the swimming events announced that there had been a "mistake made by Omega", the timing system, and the Philippines have now been awarded first place in the race.

The change moves Malaysia to the silver medal position, Singapore will now get the bronze, and Thailand will be left without medals in the event, having been bumped to fourth position.

This is the second shifting of medals from the games. Drug infractions caused several medals to change hands last month.

Islamic Games for 2004?

February 17, 2004

The Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation, part of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has once again announced it will be hosting Islamic Solidarity Games, now in 2004.

Originally scheduled for 2005, the organizers announced that invitations have been sent out for the games to be held in Saudi Arabia April 8th to 20th of this year.  However, there is no information about the events on the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation web site.

Fifty-seven Muslim nations have been invited according to the announcement, and as many as 10,000 athletes may participate.

Events are scheduled for the Saudi Arabian cities of Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Taif.

February 17, 2004

Chris Hayes of Anchorage has been named as the sport manager for the 2006 Arctic Winter Games to be held on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

Mr. Hayes has worked for the Anchorage School District, and has directed teams, tournaments, camps and programs throughout Alaska in volleyball, basketball, swimming, and soccer.

Hayes will be responsible for organizing all 20 Arctic Winter Games sports in 2006.

Malaysia still wary of 2010 Asian Games bid

February 16, 2004

Malaysia has said that it wants to bid for the 2010 Asian Games, while at the same time giving indication that it wants the bid on its terms, not on the terms as set out by the Olympic Council of Asia.

Mainly at issue is a licensing fee of $15 million (US) to be paid to the OCA, which the OCA says it will use for "marketing the games."

Malaysian sports officials connected with the bid are concerned because it would be government money spent on the games, and that they would not be able to give account themselves for how the OCA spent the money it was given.

Also at issue is that one third of the money from any revenues from the organizers marketing the games must be paid to the OCA.

China, Jordan and South Korea are also hoping to bid for the games.

Malaysia has mentioned that it does not want to compete for the games. Instead it is hoping that Jordan will drop its bid, because of their proximity to Qatar, the 2006 games host, and that South Korea and China will also drop their bids, because they have already hosted the Asian Games. 

1995 African Games venues suffering from neglect

February 16, 2004

The nation of Zimbabwe is suffering from numerous problems; staggering inflation, mass emigration, labor instability, race warfare and an autocratic leader.  They've also removed themselves from the Commonwealth. 

In light of that, it comes as no surprise that the stadiums and venues built for the 1995 All-African Games are in disrepair, and are hardly being used.

Ndamu Sandu of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper wrote last week that several of the venues that were intended to leave a sporting legacy for Zimbabwe's youth and athletes, are not being used, and are in a poor state of repair.

A swimming complex in Chitungwiza with three pools, a children's pool, practice pool and competition pool have just dark green dirty water in the bottom and can not be used for swimming.  

The facility is actually being rented out to a pre-school, private college, a church organization and a bar.

The Magamba Hockey stadium is also unusable, with the Astroturf in disrepair and teams abandoning the field to play on grass.

Zimbabwe's Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) are responsible for the facilities, but have not been provided with money from the federal budget.

The Hockey Association of Zimbabwe wanted to control the hockey facility, and raise funds for its upkeep, but the SRC refused.

February 16, 2004

India and Pakistan have announced further plans for the first ever Punjab Games between the two countries.

Pakistan's team will be called Punjab East and India's team Punjab West.

Athletics, basketball, cycling, field hockey, kabaddi, shooting, swimming, tug of war, volleyball  weightlifting and wrestling are on the preliminary list to be included in the games.

The Games are planned for December 5 - 11, 2004. 

Australian Federal budget may have room for 2006 Games  

February 16, 2004              

Australia's proposed federal budget, scheduled to be released in May, may have money to help cover several 2006 Commonwealth Games related items.

The state of Victoria has requested about 130 million dollars in assistance.  The federal budget may provide about 100 million dollars for all aspects of security, immigration, customs, as well as ceremonies, the Queen's baton relay and for volunteer support.

Pakistan making up for lost time?

February 12, 2004

Pakistan, having suffered through several postponements and near cancellation of the South Asian Federation Games, which has pushed that event back from 2001 to 2004, seems to be making an extra effort to make up for lost time. The SAF Games are now scheduled to take place from March 29 to April 7, 2004.

In addition, Pakistan is currently hosting their first edition of Pakistan Universities Games, until the 15th of this month with 3,000 athletes from 70 universities participating.

The Punjab Olympic Association has also announced that they will be organizing the first ever Pakistani Inter Provincial Games, March 14 to 15 in Lahore, with competition in eleven sports. These national level events will hopefully provide some current expertise which can be applied to the running of the SAF Games.

Pakistan has hosted very few international multisport competitions, notably the 1989 South Asian Federation Games, and a small test version of the Muslim Women's Games in 1996.

Dunedin again mentions winter games proposal

February 12, 2004

The city of Dunedin, New Zealand continues to ponder future options for international games. Earlier this week organizers made mention of a possible bid for the World Masters Games. The same organizers are have also brought up an idea that they first put forward last summer (or their winter) for a winter masters games.

The preliminary suggestion has been made to hold winter masters games of an international scale in August of 2005.

If successful, the games would continue to be held during the odd numbered years, while the summer games are held in the even numbered years.

IPC inspecting Athens preparations

February 12, 2004

The International Paralympic Committee is currently in Athens inspecting preparations for the Paralympic Games to be held in Athens September 17-28.

The IPC will be inspecting all aspects of the organization from venues to media services to transportation to food and will issue a statement at the end of the visit on Friday.

Thinking forward to the Winter Paralympic Games in Turin in 2006, dates have been preliminarily set for the games from March 10-19. A new section on the torino2006.org web site has been opened up dedicated to the Paralympic events.

Premier Bracks extends John Landy's Governorship

February 11, 2004

Victoria's Premier Steve Bracks has extended Governor John Landy's term for another 3 1/2 years.

The extension is specifically so that Landy can remain governor during the time of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. Premier Bracks said, "I'd like him to be there as Governor and be involved in some of the key events and activities." Landy will remain as Governor until April 7, 2006.

Landy, won the silver medal in the 1954 Empire Games mile, and the bronze medal in the 1500 meters in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Landy was the second man to run a mile in under four minutes, held the world record in the 1500 meters and mile runs, and is highly regarded in Australia, the state of Victoria and around the world.

Dunedin pondering World Masters Games bid?

February 10, 2004

At the close of the 2004 New Zealand Masters Games, director Aaron Joy told reporters that he would like to see Dunedin, New Zealand host a World Masters Games in the future.

Dunedin has hosted eight editions of the New Zealand Masters Games since 1990, with 7000 athletes at this year's games. The World Masters Games can be substantially larger.

For a World Masters Games, Dunedin would upgrade its airport, and would need to add hotel space. The games would likely be scheduled when university residence hall space would be open.

Dunedin has invested substantially in sports facilities while serving as hosts of the New Zealand Masters Games.

The earliest World Masters Games for Dunedin would be in 2009, but Sydney, Munich, Copenhagen, Montreal, and Shiga Japan, are all considering bids for those games.

Organizers of the New Zealand Masters Games and the Pan Pacific Masters Games also announced that there will be more cooperation between the two events.

The New Zealand Masters games are seeing competition this year from the South Pacific Masters Games which are being held in Hamilton, New Zealand from February 14-22 and the South Island Masters Games held last year. The New Zealand Masters Games, which are open to athletes from around the world, were held January 31- February 8.

Athletes on Trial

February 10, 2004

Two athletes vying for Olympic berths are also fighting legal battles to remain eligible to compete in the Olympic Games.

In the United States, synchronized swimmer Tammy Crow, has been given a 90 day sentence for two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Crow was behind the wheel last year when she slid off an icy road, accidentally killing her boyfriend and another passenger.

The judge has delayed her sentence until after the Olympic Games. Crow had to have her arm reconstructed with a metal plate, but recovered from her injuries to be preliminarily selected for the games, but the US Olympic Committee may still decide whether she will or will not compete in Athens.

Crow is currently scheduled to serve her jail sentence after the Olympic Games are over.

In Australia, two-time Olympic gold medallist in shooting, Michael Diamond, found himself in a predicament when he lost his gun license, and was not allowed to participate in early shooting trials for the games.

The penalty was part of court proceedings after he had been accused by his former lover of assault. After six months of investigation, Diamond was cleared earlier this month of all charges, and the gun suspension has been lifted.

In an agreement with the Shooting Association Council of Australia Diamond will be allowed to participate in a last chance shoot-off to see if he can make the team. Diamond will undoubtedly be rusty after not having a chance to practice for several months.

Bosnia celebrates Sarajevo's 20th Olympic anniversary 

February 9, 2004

The Olympic committee of Bosnia is scheduled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1984 Olympic Winter Games to day in Sarajevo.

IOC president Jacques Rogge is scheduled to attend the festivities. 

The Olympic Committees of Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and Montenegro are to sign an agreement intending to promote cooperation through sport and 

The celebration is to be held in Zetra Hall, one of many sport facilities and Olympic Venues that were destroyed during the conflicts in Bosnia.  

Moscow Utah Youth games distracted by Moscow Bombing

February 8, 2004

The camaraderie and friendship being experienced by Muscovites and Utahns at the Moscow Utah Youth Games in Utah was disrupted by the news that a suicide bomber had attacked a Moscow subway line, killing dozens and injuring scores more.

The visitors from Moscow were all able to check in on family and friends and none were reported to be among the victims.

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, had been in Utah for the start of the games, traveled to Washington D.C. and was scheduled to return to Utah, cancelled that trip to return to Moscow to deal with issues there.

The youthful Utah athletes were far outpaced by their Muscovite friends in the sporting events. The city of Moscow has a much larger population than the state of Utah.

Even the inspiration of having Olympic champion wrestler Rulon Gardner (who beat three time Olympic Champion Alexander Karelin in Sydney) light the games flame at the opening ceremony wasn't enough to inspire Utah to victory.

Was it a strange coincidence that the movie "Miracle on Ice" was being released at the time of the games?   Perhaps the Moscow skaters used the memory of that 1980 defeat for motivation.  They ended up beating the Utah team, 11-0, 17-0 and 18-3.

North American Indigenous Games Update

February 7, 2004

The North American Indigenous Games Council have settled on a three year interval for holding the North American Indigenous Games, and have decided to begin a plan that alternates the games between Canada and the US every three years.

The games began in 1990 and to date, four of the five editions have been held in Canada, with intervals of three, two, two, and five years. The 1999 games were to be held in Fargo, North Dakota, but were cancelled, leaving a five year gap between the 1997 and 2002 editions.

Buffalo, New York has already been named the 2005 North American Indigenous Games host, and the bidding has been opened for the 2008 games. The NAIG council received four intents to bid, from Windsor-Essex County, Ontario; Kahnawake-Montreal, Quebec; Regina Saskatchewan and from British Columbia.

Three cities in British Columbia, Cowichan on Vancouver Island, Chilliwack and Kamloops in the interior are hoping to be chosen as the BC representative next month.

The NAIG council is scheduled to choose the 2008 host sometime in the fall of 2004.  

West Asian and Arab Games back on the schedule?

February 3, 2004

The Gulf News in Dubai is reporting that both the Arab Games and the West Asian Games will be on the schedule for 2004.

No other sources confirm this on the calendar however.

Both games have been troubled with scheduling and organizational problems. The Arab Games were cancelled last year after the earthquake in Algeria.

Some news sources mention West Asian Games for football only, being held in either Kuwait or Iran. 

SASF Approves SAF Games Title Sponsor concept

February 1, 2004

  The South Asian Games Federation have voted to allow South Asian Federation (SAF) Games organizers to sign a title sponsor for the games. 

The deal was already in the works, and it is expected that Pakistan will sign a games sponsor within 10 days.

Some of the meeting was devoted to discussion the situation with Nepal, the host of the inaugural games in 1984 and the last SAF games in 1999.  Political infighting within the Sports ministry and the Nepalese Olympic Committee led to the committee being dissolved.  The IOC then announced that Nepal must re-instate a legal Olympic committee or be suspended.  The suspension would cover the SAF, Olympic and any other games until the committee has been re-established. 

The SASF also voted to allow football matches in Peshawar, after earlier indications said this would not bee the case.

Chief Organiser, Gen. Arif Hasan, told journalists that there would be drug testing at the games, "for the first time."  Testing has been implemented at the games before, three athletes tested positive in the 1999 games in Kathmandu.

This years thrice-postponed games are scheduled to run from March 29 to April 7 in Islamabad.

Don't turn the SEA Games into a farce

February 1, 2004

Sports authorities across South East Asia are responding angrily to the preliminary list of sports that the Philippines have proposed for the 2005 games, some saying that the sports will turn the games into a farce.

The preliminary proposal names 22 sports, with Philippine organizers leaving room for up to 32 sports to be included in the games. NOCs have until February 17th to protest the list, and the final sports list is due out in March.

However, the preliminary list leaves off such sports as football, cycling, badminton, shooting, tennis and table tennis, Olympic sports all, but adds events that the Philippines expects they will do well in such as ten pin bowling, dance sport, baseball, boxing for women, triathlon and arnis, a local martial art.

It would be the very first time that football had not been included in the SEA Games in the 45 year history of the biennial event.

Malaysia Football Association vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad said, that the decision was not good for the sport of football in the region, for the SEA games and that the SEA games federation should take a serious look into the matter.

The secretary of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, P. Ganga Rao, said the games should not be made a mockery.

“Two of the world's biggest badminton powerhouses (Malaysia and Indonesia) are from the South-East Asian region. On top of that, this is an Olympic sport. I think the time has arrived to put a stop to all this. Sports that have gained recognition at world level should be fixed in the SEA Games. There should a ground rule for this. This charade must come to an end,” said Ganga, quoted in Malaysia's Star, newspaper.

Other voices from the SEA nations are crying out not to turn the games into a circus. The problem has increased in recent years, with host nations adding local or regional sports in which they are sure to sweep all of the medals.  Some have complained that this strategy takes away from the regional development of athletes to compete in sports that are included in the Asian Games and Olympic Games.

Vietnam Games added fin swimming and shuttlecock kicking to the games list in 2003, and predictably, won most of the medals in those sports that are more widely practiced in Vietnam than in other nations.

An attempt to stop the arbitrary adding and removing sports to the games was passed at meetings in 2003, with the number of participating nations needed to be an official SEA Games sport raised from three to five.  However the rule was deferred for the 2003 games because Vietnam was a first time host.

The preliminary list currently stands at: aquatics, athletics, archery, arnis, baseball,  basketball, billiards and snooker, boxing,  bowling, chess, dance sport, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, judo, rowing and dragon boat, softball, taekwondo, triathlon (with duathlon), wrestling and wushu.   

Great Britain to lose another historic venue?

February 1, 2004

Scottish news sources are writing about the possible demise of another storied international games venue, this time the intimate 16,000 seat Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh, the host stadium of both the 1970 and 1986 Commonwealth Games. London's Wembley Stadium has been torn down and is being rebuilt, but will lose some of its storied grandeur.  The stadium is the second to be built on the site, the original stadium was torn down to make way for the 1970 Commonwealth Games version of Meadowbank.

Scottish track fans are hoping that the memories of Scottish heroics at Meadowbank can at least be preserved.

Several options are being considered. The Meadowbank facility sits next to other small facilities, which would most likely be kept. The site could have another stadium built on it, another site in the city could be chosen, or the Edinburgh City Council could still choose simply to refurbish the facility.

The stadium, which was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, and cost just 2.8 million pounds at the time has been showing its age.

Scottish Olympic champion Allan Wells expressed his displeasure at the thought that the Meadowbank stadium might be torn down.

Date Changes for February games

February 1, 2004

Three games in February have changed their previously announced dates.

The Moscow Utah Youth Games are being held one week earlier than was originally announced. The new dates are January 30 to February 7.

The International Police Winter Games had scheduled some events in February and some in March. Now all of those events will occur between February 29 and March 6.

The Arctic Winter Games have moved the announced day of the Opening Ceremony forward by one day from February 29 to February 28.

With the last two changes, this makes the International Police Winter Games the only known games ever to open on February 29, a leap day. It was previously announced that the Arctic Winter Games would have been the first games to open on a leap day.