Citing Pandemic, China Withdraws as Host of 2023 Asian Cup

Saturday, 14 May, 2022

China relinquished its right to host soccer's 2023 Asian Cup on Saturday in the latest cancellation of the country's sports hosting duties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Asian Football Confederation praised Chinese soccer officials for making “this very difficult but necessary decision in the collective interests of the AFC Asian Cup.”

The 24-nation tournament was due to be played in 10 cities in mostly newly built stadiums in June and July of next year.

The four-yearly Asian Cup is traditionally played in January and February. Qatar (2011) and Australia (2015) hosted the tournament when it was played in January, while the 2019 event in the United Arab Emirates was held from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1.

China was due to host the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou in September but that was postponed along with nearly all international sports events in the country. China did host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing though under a strict lockdown for athletes and officials with few fans able to attend.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3644821/citing-pandemic-china-withdraws-host-2023-asian-cup.

Ronaldo Announces Death of Baby Son

Tuesday, 19 April, 2022

Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez announced on Monday that their newborn baby son has died.

Ronaldo revealed in a social media post last October that the couple were expecting twins.

In a post released on the Manchester United forward's Twitter account, they confirmed the birth of a baby girl.

"It is with our deepest sadness we have to announce that our baby boy has passed away. It is the greatest pain that any parents can feel," Ronaldo and Rodriguez said in a jointly-signed statement.

"Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness. We would like to thank the doctors and nurses for all their expert care and support.

"We are all devastated at this loss and we kindly ask for privacy at this very difficult time."

The couple, who met during Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid, have a four-year old daughter together, while Ronaldo has three other children.

"Your pain is our pain, Cristiano," Manchester United tweeted. "Sending love and strength to you and the family at this time."

Real Madrid also responded saying on their web page that the club, "its President and its Board of Directors deeply regret the death of one of the children that our beloved Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner, Georgina Rodriguez, were expecting. Real Madrid joins the grief of the whole family and wants to show them all our love and affection."

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3599691/ronaldo-announces-death-baby-son.

Ukrainian Athletes Join Military after Russian Invasion

Wednesday, 2 March, 2022

Less than two weeks ago, Dmytro Pidruchnyi was competing at the Winter Olympics in Ukraine's national colors. Now he's wearing a military uniform and ballistic helmet.

Pidruchnyi is a world champion in biathlon, which combines skiing and shooting, and a three-time Olympian. He returned home from Beijing last week just before Russia launched its invasion of his country.

“I'm currently in my hometown Ternopil serving in the National Guard of Ukraine,” he posted on Instagram on Tuesday under a picture in uniform. “This photo was taken during air alarm.”

Pidruychnyi also made a memorial statement for Yevhen Malyshev, a 19-year-old former athlete on Ukraine's junior biathlon team. The exact circumstances of Malyshev's death are unclear, but the International Biathlon Union said Wednesday he “died this week serving in the Ukrainian military.”

Pidruchnyi is one of many athletes who have joined up with the Ukrainian armed forces.

Tennis player Serhiy Stakhovskiy had been taking some time away from the game after retiring in January following the Australian Open. When Russia invaded, he returned to Ukraine from his home in Hungary and joined up.

“I’m still not sure how I’ve done it. I know that it’s extremely hard on my wife. My kids don’t know that I’m here,” Stakhovsky, who spent nearly two decades on the tennis tour, told the BBC on Tuesday. “They don’t understand war. They’re too little to understand what’s going on.”

Former boxing world champion Vasyl Lomachenko has joined a territorial defense unit, he posted on social media, and world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has also been pictured holding a rifle. Usyk is originally from Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Two other former champions, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, have symbolic non-combat roles in Ukraine's defense. Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv and Wladimir is a trusted adviser.

Other athletes are watching from afar.

Figure skater Olga Mikutina was born in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border. The city has come under heavy assaults from Russian air and ground forces.

While competing for Austria at the Olympics, the 18-year-old skater said she was trying to block out thoughts of the military buildup near her home city. Now after the invasion, she is posting pictures of the damage to Kharkiv and what she terms a “call for Russian rebellion” against President Vladimir Putin.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.

Link: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3506966/ukrainian-athletes-join-military-after-russian-invasion.

Belarus sprinter feels safe, looks to future in Poland

August 12, 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — After all the turmoil of the last week, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya finally feels safe. The Belarusian Olympic sprinter who found refuge in Poland to avoid punishment at home after criticizing team officials at the Tokyo Games says she now hopes to focus on how to keep up a world-class running career.

Speaking in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press at the Olympic Center in Warsaw, the 24-year-old runner said she has already asked Polish officials to help her resume training. “Life changed in one day, and now we are starting it from scratch in a new country,” she said, speaking with her husband, Arseni Zdanevich, by her side. “We are planning to stay in Poland and continue our careers here.”

"We have turned to the Ministry of Sports, turned to the Polish athletics national team, with issues regarding a coach, a group and a place where I can train and many other issues regarding the continuation of my sports career here in Poland,” she said.

She emphasized that she and her 25-year-old husband, an athletics trainer who also has been her coach, feel that it would be a waste to abandon an online training program they launched in Belarus. “We had so many ideas, we planned it to a tiny detail,” Tsimanouskaya said. “We have put a lot of time and effort in it and we would like to keep it going.”

Tsimanouskaya said she and her husband feel secure in Poland, where they arrived separately last week on humanitarian visas. “We are definitely safe now because we are under protection,” she said. The runner recalled the harrowing, confusing moments when she sought Japanese police help at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, when she was being forced by Belarus officials to leave the Summer Games early and return home.

“They didn't understand first what happened to me,” the runner said of the police. “They thought that I was unwell or lost something. And then I wrote that I was being forcibly taken out of the country and I don't want that to happen.”

She used her phone to translate the desperate plea for help after her grandmother warned her not to return to Belarus. The drama began after Tsimanouskaya criticized her team officials, saying on Instagram that she was put in the 4x400 relay even though she had never run in the event. She was then barred from competing in the 200-meter race that she expected to run in and told to pack her bags.

At home, the standoff set off a massive backlash in state-run media, deepening Tsimanouskaya's fears that she would face reprisals if she returned. When she used Google apps to translate her plea to Japanese police, a suspicious Belarusian official asked what was going on. She told him she forgot something at the Olympic village and needed to return.

Tsimanouskaya described the feeling of safety she finally had after Japanese police took her away from team officials. “I think I already felt secure at the airport when I was with the police,” she said. “I realized that I turned to the police, they are protecting me and my life isn't in danger. I was being constantly escorted, I felt nervous and sometimes my hands were trembling, but I wouldn’t say that I felt unsafe. The only place which would be unsafe for me is Belarus.”

The standoff again drew global attention to the repressive environment in Belarus, where authorities have unleashed a relentless crackdown on dissent following President Alexander Lukashenko’s being handed a sixth term after the Aug. 9, 2020 presidential vote that the opposition and the West saw as rigged.

Huge protests rocked Belarus, and authorities responded by arresting more than 35,000 people and beating thousands. They have ramped up the clampdown in recent months, raiding hundreds of offices and homes of independent journalists, activists and all those deemed unloyal.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for 27 years, has denounced his opponents as Western stooges. Asked about Tsimanouskaya at a marathon news conference Monday, he claimed that "she wouldn’t have done it herself if she hadn’t been manipulated.”

Tsimanouskaya said she had been apolitical before the standoff at the Tokyo Games and deliberately refrained from signing petitions challenging the authorities, fearing that would bring harm to her husband and her parents.

She said she had problems with sports officials after posting a message against violence on Instagram and was told she would face dismissal from the country's national team if she did it again. After the airport standoff, her husband said they decided to move to Poland after talking to their parents.

“After consulting with them, we decided that it’s dangerous to return to Belarus at the moment,” he said. "And we decided that I will follow my wife to support her in a new country and build a sports career in Poland. You know, I was more worried for my wife than myself. I believed that they could use me to hurt her somehow.”

Tsimanouskaya and Zdanevich said they badly miss their parents but talk to them on Zoom and hope they could visit Poland someday. They had to leave their dog and cat at their apartment in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, since Zdanevich had to flee quickly, so they asked neighbors and friends to take care of them.

The runner also hopes to sort out a problem with eBay that annulled all bids when she tried to auction a silver medal she has from 2019 to raise money to help Belarusian athletes punished for their political views.

“I was deprived of a chance to take part in the Olympic Games in my event and (eBay) effectively denied me an opportunity to help athletes,” Tsimanouskaya said, voicing hope that the company will correct its mistake and allow her to auction her medal.

And she hopes that Belarus will one day become a democracy. “I hope that a time will come soon when Belarus could be free and people will have freedom of speech,” she said.

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Belarus Olympic runner who feared going home lands in Poland

August 05, 2021

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who feared for her safety at home after criticizing her coaches on social media, flew into Warsaw on Wednesday night on a humanitarian visa after leaving the Tokyo Olympics, a Polish diplomat confirmed.

Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said the 24-year-old athlete had arrived in the Polish capital after flying in from Tokyo via Vienna, a route apparently chosen to confuse those who would endanger her safety. In a statement, the diplomat said he “wanted to thank all the Polish consular & diplomatic staff involved, who flawlessly planned and secured her safe journey.”

The plane that she was traveling on from Vienna was directed to a separate airport building in Warsaw used by government officials. Police vans were seen all over the airport. Passengers from the flight told reporters that one young woman was left on board as they exited the plane and were put on buses to the main terminal.

Tsimanouskaya later was seen with a top Belarusian dissident in Poland, Pavel Latushko, in a photo taken just after her arrival inside the airport building. “We are glad that Kristina Timanovskaya managed to get to Warsaw safely!” Latushko said on Twitter, adding he hopes she will be able to return to a “New Belarus” and continue her career there.

In a dramatic weekend standoff at the Tokyo Games, Tsimanouskaya said Belarus team officials tried to force her to fly home early after she criticized them. She urged the International Olympic Committee to look into the dispute and some European countries stepped in to offer assistance.

It's not clear what's next for the runner — either in her sporting life or her personal one. Before she left Japan, she said she hoped to continue her running career but that safety was her immediate priority. Her husband fled Belarus this week shortly after his wife said she would not be returning, and Poland has also offered him a visa.

“We are very happy that she is here safe,” said Magnus Brunner, a top Austrian government official, after Tsimanouskaya's plane arrived in Vienna on Wednesday afternoon. “But she is scared about her future and about her family.”

At the Vienna airport, the runner was protected by Austrian police officers, public broadcaster ORF reported, and stayed in the transit area. Tsimanouskaya flew first to Austria instead of directly to Poland on the advice of Polish authorities for security reasons, said Vadim Krivosheyev of the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation.

The drama began after Tsimanouskaya’s criticism of how officials were managing her team set off a massive backlash in state-run media in Belarus, where the government has relentlessly stifled any criticism. The runner said on Instagram that she was put in the 4x400 relay even though she has never raced in the event. She was then barred from competing in the 200 meters.

She accused team officials of hustling her to the Tokyo airport but she refused to board a plane home and was protected by Japanese security. The officials “made it clear that, upon return home, I would definitely face some form of punishment,” Tsimanouskaya told the AP in a videocall from Tokyo on Tuesday. “There were also thinly disguised hints that more would await me.”

The sprinter called on international sports authorities “to investigate the situation, who gave the order, who actually took the decision that I can’t compete anymore.” She suggested possible sanctions against the head coach.

Reached by phone, Dzmitry Dauhalionak, the head of Belarus’ delegation at the Tokyo Olympics, declined to comment. The standoff has drawn more attention to Belarus' uncompromising authoritarian government. When the country was rocked by months of protests following a presidential election that the opposition and the West saw as rigged, authorities responded by arresting some 35,000 people and beating thousands of demonstrators. In recent months the government has orchestrated a strong crackdown on independent media and opposition figures.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who led the Belarus National Olympic Committee for almost a quarter century before handing over the job to his son in February, has a keen interest in sports, seeing it as a key element of national prestige.

And his government has shown it is willing to go to extreme lengths to target its critics. In May, Belarus authorities diverted a European passenger jet to the capital of Minsk, where they arrested an opposition journalist on board.

In the AP interview, Tsimanouskaya expressed concern for her parents, who remain in Belarus. Her husband, Arseni Zdanevich, left for Ukraine shortly after the drama began. Poland has since issued him a humanitarian visa.

Amid Tsimanouskaya's rift with team officials, two other Belarusian athletes announced their intention to stay abroad. Heptathlete Yana Maksimava said she and her husband, Andrei Krauchanka, who won silver in the decathlon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, would remain in Germany.

“I'm not planning to return home after all the events that happened in Belarus,” Maksimava said on Instagram, adding that “you can lose not just your freedom but also your life” in her homeland. Western leaders have condemned Tsimanouskaya’s treatment by Belarusian authorities.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Belarusian officials’ attempt to force Tsimanouskaya to return to Belarus for exercising free speech as “another act of transnational repression.” “Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated,” Blinken said on Twitter.

While Tsimanouskaya said she hoped to continue her sporting career, she could face lengthy procedures if she wants to compete under a different flag. Tomasz Majewski, vice president of the Polish Athletics Association and twice an Olympic gold medalist in the shot put, voiced fears that Tsimanouskaya “will lose the best period of her career" if she changes citizenship.

“These are complicated matters. We know that there will be clear objections from the home team, which will probably make it difficult or even seek the disqualification of the athlete,” he said.

Euro 2020 opening marks return of mega-scale sports events

June 11, 2021

ROME (AP) — Postponed by a year, the biggest sporting event since the coronavirus brought the world to a halt kicks off Friday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome — a milestone both for European and world sports.

The opening match of soccer's European Championship will be played in the capital of Italy, the first country outside Asia to get struck by the pandemic and the first in the world to implement a nationwide lockdown.

The tournament represents a major step forward on the path toward recovery after one of the darkest chapters in the continent’s history since World War II. More than 1 million Europeans have died in the pandemic, including almost 127,000 Italians.

“After everything that’s happened, now the situation is improving, I think the time has come to start providing fans with something to be satisfied about,” said Italy coach Roberto Mancini, who tested positive for COVID-19 in November but was asymptomatic.

The tournament was postponed last March when countries were scrambling to contain virus outbreaks and major sporting events around the world were canceled or put on hold. Many worry that it’s still not safe to bring tens of thousands of fans together in stadiums across Europe, but organizers hope measures including crowd limitations, staggered arrival times for fans, social distancing rules and lots of hand sanitizer will help prevent a resurgence of virus infections, which have dropped sharply in Europe in recent months.

In Rome, fans entering the stadium are required to bring documentation showing they have been vaccinated against the virus, tested negative in the 48 hours before the match or already had the disease.

The world of sports is watching. If everything goes smoothly, Euro 2020 can give a confidence boost for other major sporting events, like the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to open on July 23 — also a year late. If it doesn't, it would be a serious setback that could have ramifications beyond soccer.

The virus already has had an impact on the tournament, which for the first time is not being hosted by one or two nations but is spread out across the continent with matches in 11 cities. Spain captain Sergio Busquets tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the team’s first match against Sweden in Seville on Monday. Another Spain player tested positive, as did two of Sweden’s players. The Spanish squad was getting vaccinated Friday.

Russia winger Andrey Mostovoy then became the first player to be cut from a national team on Friday after testing positive. Italy's opening match against Turkey will bring together the biggest crowd in the country since it went into a full lockdown 15 months ago, even though the stadium will be filled to only 25% of its capacity.

In Rome and elsewhere in Italy, most virus restrictions have been lifted. A midnight curfew and a requirement to wear a mask outside one’s home are the most tangible ways in which the pandemic still affects the daily lives of citizens.

AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf contributed to this report.

"Super Fan" prepares for Tokyo Olympics without foreign fans

April 12, 2021

TOKYO (AP) — Kyoko Ishikawa was a back-packing Japanese student in Barcelona in 1992 when she says a “miracle happened.” She managed to buy a ticket to the opening ceremony of Spain's historic Olympics.

She said she had only “pocket money” with her — maybe $50 — when some local men offered her a ticket for that price. The real price might have been 10 times that much, she isn't sure. “You came all the way from Japan, so have fun,” she recalled them saying.

"I immediately grabbed that ticket and ran straight into the stadium. When I stepped into the venue and looked around, I got a shock as if struck by lightning.” The rest, as they say, is history. Ishikawa, who is president of an IT company, has attended every Summer Olympics since then, becoming famous as an unofficial “International Olympic Cheerleader.” She relishes joining in with fans from everywhere to cheer for their athletes.

Her cheering style at Olympic venues is well-known among the Japanese. She wears the traditional Japanese costume for festivals and a headband that says “Victory" written in Japanese. In her hands she holds folding fans emblazoned with the Japanese flag.

But Tokyo will be very different. There will be no fans from abroad to entertain: Local organizers have barred tourists because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Local residents are expected to be allowed into venues, but in limited numbers.

Naotoshi Yamada, who was known in Japan as “Uncle Olympics," died in 2019. He had attended every Summer Olympics since 1964, easily identifiable as the cheering face of Japan. Ishikawa said she first met Yamada at a baseball game in Barcelona and served as his “deputy” ever since. Now she is on her own, and in very unusual circumstances. But her mission will be the same: to cheer for athletes from around the world on behalf of fans who could not attend.

She said she views the Olympics as a way “for children and young people to experience the importance of diversity and identity.” She said that was her initial impression when she first entered Barcelona's Olympic stadium and saw “the energy created by the melting pot” of many different people.

“The opportunity to have that experience will be gone this time,” she said. “I feel very disappointed.”

Spectators from abroad to be barred from Tokyo Olympics

March 20, 2021

TOKYO (AP) — Spectators from abroad will be barred from the Tokyo Olympics when they open in four months, the IOC and local organizers said Saturday. The decision was announced after an online meeting of the International Olympic Committee, the Japanese government, the Tokyo government, the International Paralympic Committee, and local organizers.

The move was expected and rumored for several months. Officials said the risk was too great to admit ticket holders from overseas during a pandemic, an idea strongly opposed by the Japanese public. Japan has attributed about 8,800 deaths to COVID-19 and has controlled the virus better than most countries.

“In order to give clarity to ticket holders living overseas and to enable them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” the Tokyo organizing committee said in a statement.

About 1 million tickets are reported to have been sold to fans from outside Japan. Organizers have promised refunds, but this will be determined by so-called Authorized Ticket Resellers that handle sales outside Japan. These dealers charge fees of up to 20% above the ticket price. It is not clear if the fees will be refunded.

“We could wait until the very last moment to decide, except for the spectators," said Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the organizing committee. "They have to secure accommodations and flights. So we have to decide early otherwise we will cause a lot of inconvenience from them. I know this is a very tough issue.”

IOC President Thomas Bach called it a “difficult decision.” “We have to take decisions that may need sacrifice from everybody,” he said. The financial burden of lost ticket sales falls on Japan. The local organizing committee budget called from $800 million income from ticket sales, the third largest income source in the privately finance budget. Any shortfall in the budget will have to be made up by Japanese government entities.

Overall, Japan is officially spending $15.4 billion to organize the Olympics. Several government audits say the actual cost may be twice that much. All but $6.7 billion is public money. About 4.45 million tickets were sold to Japan residents. Organizers are expected next month to announce the capacity at venues, which will be filled by local residents.

The ban on fans from abroad comes just days before the Olympic torch relay starts Thursday from Fukushima prefecture in northeastern Japan. It will last for 121 days, crisscross Japan with 10,000 runners, and is to end on July 23 at the opening ceremony at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

The relay will be a test for the Olympics and Paralympics, which will involve 15,400 athletes entering Japan. They will be tested before leaving home, tested upon arrival in Japan, and tested frequently while they reside in a secure “bubble” in the Athletes Village alongside Tokyo Bay.

Athletes will not be required to be vaccinated to enter Japan, but many will be. In the midst of Saturday's meeting, Bach and others were given a reminder about earthquake-prone northeastern Japan — and Japan in general.

A strong earthquake shook Tokyo and triggered a tsunami warning as Bach and others made introductory remarks before the virtual meeting. The strength was put a 7.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey and the location was in northeastern Japan, an area hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

“I think the screen is shaking. Have you noticed the screen is shaking,” Tamayo Marukawa, Japan's Olympic minister, said as she made her presentation from Tokyo talking remotely to Bach visible on a screen in Switzerland. "We’re actually in the midst of an earthquake right now.”

Officials there said there were no immediate reports of damage.

Ozil leaves Arsenal for Turkey's Fenerbahce

January 18, 2021

Footballer Mesut Ozil confirmed at the weekend that he is leaving Arsenal for Turkish club Fenerbahce. The 32-year-old, who has Turkish roots, arrived in Istanbul yesterday to have a medical and complete the deal.

Ozil told Turkish NTV yesterday that he is "very happy, very excited" to be joining Fenerbahce and would "wear the shirt with pride".

He was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying that he is a Fenerbahce fan. "That is why I am very happy to be coming to Turkey to play for the club. I'm very excited. God gave me the chance to wear this shirt as a Fenerbahce fan. God willing, I will wear it with honor and do everything I can for the team."

The German-born World Cup winner has faced almost a year of frustration at Arsenal after apparently being frozen out by manager Mikel Arteta. Ozil was omitted from Arsenal's English Premier League and Europa League squads at the start of the current season. The last time he played for Arsenal was in a 1-0 win over West Ham on 7 March last year.

Despite the long break from first team football, Ozil insists that he is match fit, telling NTV, "I haven't played a match in a while, but I am physically fit, I have no issues." He pointed out that he had continued to train with the first team at Arsenal throughout his prolonged absence from the match day squad.

Ozil's contract with the London club was due to expire at the end of the 2020/21 season. He has reportedly agreed to a £285,000-a-week pay cut to join Fenerbahce on a free transfer. However, he will scoop a £4.5m signing bonus on top of a £225,000 reward if Fenerbahce qualify for the Champions League, as well as £445,000 if the club wins the Turkish Super League.

According to Turkish media reports, the former German international player is signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with the Istanbul side, which is currently second in the league behind Besiktas.

It is not yet clear what squad number Ozil will wear. His preferred number 10 is currently worn by striker Mbwana Samatta. He tweeted "67" with a heart emoji yesterday, prompting his Twitter followers to conclude that it is his new shirt number. Al Jazeera, however, noted that the digits correspond to the first two numbers of the post code of Zonguldak in Turkey, where the player's family come from.

Source: Middle East Monitor.

Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210118-ozil-leaves-arsenal-for-turkeys-fenerbahce/.

Russia can't use its name and flag at the next 2 Olympics

December 17, 2020

GENEVA (AP) — Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Lausanne-based court halved the four-year ban proposed last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency in a landmark case that accused Russia of state-ordered tampering of a testing laboratory database in Moscow. The ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years.

Russian athletes and teams will still be allowed to compete at next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as world championships including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, if they are not banned for or suspected of doping.

One win for Russia is the proposed team name at major events. The name “Russia” can be retained on uniforms if the words “Neutral Athlete” or equivalents like “Neutral Team” have equal prominence, the court said.

The burden of proof was also shifted away from Russian athletes and more toward WADA when their doping history is vetted for selection to the Olympics or other sporting events. Russian athletes and teams can also retain the national flag colors of red, white and blue in their uniforms at major events. That was not possible for Russians at the past two track world championships.

Even with those concessions, the court's three judges imposed the most severe penalties on Russia since allegations of state-backed doping and cover-ups emerged after the 2014 Sochi Olympics. WADA president Witold Bańka hailed the court's decision despite its preferred ban being cut to two years.

“The (CAS) panel has clearly upheld our findings that the Russian authorities brazenly and illegally manipulated the Moscow Laboratory data in an effort to cover up an institutionalized doping scheme,” Bańka said in a statement.

The case centered on accusations that Russian state agencies altered and deleted parts of the database before handing it over to WADA investigators last year. It contained likely evidence to prosecute long-standing doping violations.

The CAS process was formally between WADA and the Russian anti-doping agency, which refused to accept last year's four-year ban. The Russian agency, known as Rusada, was ruled non-compliant last year — a decision upheld Thursday by the three judges.

Rusada was also ordered to pay WADA $1.27 million to cover investigation costs, plus it was fined $100,000 and ordered to pay 400,000 Swiss francs ($452,000) toward legal costs. The Russian agency can appeal the sanctions to the Swiss supreme court in Lausanne.

The acting CEO of Rusada, Mikhail Bukhanov, said at a news conference in Moscow “it appears that not all of the arguments presented by our lawyers were heard." The judges' 186-page ruling is expected to be published by CAS in the next few weeks.

In a brief extract in the court's statement, the judges said their decision to impose punishments less severe than WADA wanted “should not, however, be read as any validation of the conduct of Rusada or the Russian authorities.”

The ruling does allow Russian government officials, including President Vladimir Putin, to attend major sporting events if invited by the host nation’s head of state. When a four-day hearing was held in Lausanne last month, 43 Russian athletes and their lawyers took part as third parties arguing they should not be punished for misconduct by state officials not working in sports.

Giving WADA the lab database by a December 2018 deadline was a key condition for Rusada being reinstated three months earlier when a previous expulsion from the anti-doping community was lifted. WADA investigators in Moscow eventually got the data one month late. Evidence of doping tests and emails appeared to have been deleted or changed, and whistleblowers like former lab director Grigory Rodchenkov were implicated.

WADA investigators went to Moscow two years ago to collect the database and begin verifying evidence that would help sports governing bodies prosecute suspected doping violations dating back several years.

Although Russia would be stripped of hosting world championships in the next two years, events can be reprieved. Governing bodies have been advised to find a new host “unless it is legally or practically impossible to do so.”

Russia is scheduled to host the 2022 world championships in men's volleyball and shooting. The president of the shooting federation is Vladimir Lisin, a billionaire with close ties to the Kremlin. Last year, the International Olympic Committee described the database tampering as “flagrant manipulation” and “an insult to the sporting movement.”

On Thursday, the IOC merely noted the verdict, adding it would consult sports governing bodies and the International Paralympic Committee “with a view to having a consistent approach in the implementation of the award.”

Russia's Kremlev defies Olympic concern to win boxing vote

December 12, 2020

GENEVA (AP) — Umar Kremlev of Russia was elected president of the troubled International Boxing Association on Saturday despite concerns of Olympic officials about his candidacy. The governing body, known as AIBA, said Kremlev won more than 57% of the vote in a five-candidate contest involving 155 national federations.

The International Olympic Committee last year stripped the AIBA of its responsibility to organize boxing at the Summer Games amid concerns over the integrity of Olympic bouts, governance and finance.

It is far from clear that Kremlev’s victory will help solve AIBA’s main challenge — regaining that recognition before the Paris Olympics in 2024. Boxing will take place at the Tokyo Olympics which open next July, but the IOC has cut AIBA out of organizing the men’s and women’s tournaments and qualifying events next year.

“The question of recognition of AIBA will only be reviewed after the (Tokyo) Olympic Games," the IOC said Saturday in a statement noting Kremlev's victory. IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed this week that AIBA had been made “well aware” of the Olympic body’s concerns about some candidates, who he did not identify but was understood to include Kremlev.

“I am the most clean candidate," Kremlev said in translated comments at a virtual news conference broadcast from Moscow. “There is no concern about my candidacy and my history.” The IOC had been skeptical about Kremlev's offer last year to clear AIBA’s $16 million debts if the sport’s Olympic status was retained. Kremlev has been head of the Russian Boxing Federation since 2017.

“Getting rid of AIBA’s debt will be the first priority,” Kremlev told voters on Saturday, in a statement released by the governing body based in Lausanne, Switzerland. “My administration will aim to raise $50 million within two years, all of which will be used to rebuild AIBA.”

Kremlev said at the news conference he would begin announcing agreements with sponsors next week, and predicted it would take three or four months to enact reforms that could persuade the IOC to reinstate AIBA.

Kremlev will complete the presidential term of Gafur Rakhimov, who American authorities allege is involved with international heroin trafficking. Rakhimov has denied wrongdoing. Rakhimov resigned months after being elected two years ago by AIBA members who defied IOC warnings not to pick him.

Kremlev's win was sealed when the contest was down to three candidates. He got 86 votes against 45 for Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands and 19 for AIBA's interim president, Mohamed Moustahsane of Morocco.

Russians are now presidents of three governing bodies of Summer Games sports. Billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Vladimir Lisin lead fencing and shooting, respectively. Usmanov is known to have a good relationship with Bach, a German lawyer who won a gold medal in fencing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Usmanov spent $8.8 million at auction last year on a document written in the late-19th century by IOC founder Pierre de Coubertin, and donated it to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

Asked Saturday if he could enlist Usmanov's help to rebuild AIBA's relationship with the IOC and Bach, Kremlev acknowledged: “We are friends. But I am not going to benefit from my personal connections.”

1952 Helsinki: The Cold War comes to the Olympics

August 02, 2020

The United States and the Soviet Union formed an uneasy pact to help turn back Nazi Germany during World War II. Less than a decade later, most global events were seen as part of the Cold War between the two super powers, including the Olympics.

The Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland set a record for countries (69) and participants (nearly 5,000), numbers boosted by the USSR's first appearance in the games as a communist nation. The Soviets felt winning medals — and blocking the Americans in the process — could boost their profile on the world stage while espousing the superiority of their way of life.

In 1951, the USSR produced the equivalent of $8.2 billion in today's money on sports equipment. It was part of an effort designed to, not just close the gap on the Americans, but surpass them. They nearly did. The U.S. topped the medal table with 76 thanks to dominance in track, followed closely by the Soviets’ 71 thanks to a serious haul on the wrestling mat. The competition began an athletic tug-of-war at the world's largest sporting event that continues seven decades later. Either the Americans or the Russians have finished with the most medals at each of the last 17 Summer Olympics, the U.S. doing it nine times and their counterparts eight.

The USSR was still a mystery to much of the world in 1952. Details of the country's athletic progress were sketchy in the West. Reports of world records and eye-popping performances all came from the highly-filtered government-controlled media. The decision for all Soviet bloc nations to live in an Olympic village separate from Western nations only deepened the mystery.

Then the USSR surprisingly invited Westerners — including Americans — to enter the communist Olympic Village. The Soviets even hosted a swanky dinner for members of the U.S. Olympic delegation replete with vodka and whitefish caught in the Volga River, toasting goodwill under paintings of Joseph Stalin and the Politburo.

“We can't reciprocate,” an unnamed American official told The Associated Press. “We simply don't have the money.” The Americans did hold onto their edge in the medal standings, but just barely. And over the course of two weeks in a city less than 500 miles from the Arctic Circle, the Soviets sent a very loud message that they were very much ready to challenge the U.S. for global athletic supremacy.

Of course, back in the USSR, it would have been easy to think the country had dominated every event. When three Russian women took gold, silver and bronze in the discus, it was front-page news in Moscow. The stories, by the way, carried no mention of American Walt Davis winning gold in the high jump or that U.S. runner Charlie Moore's world record in the 400-meter hurdles.

ZAPOTEK ZIPS

The breakout star of the Games wasn't an American or a Soviet. It was a 29-year-old staff captain in the Czech Republic Army who ran as if he was in deep agony and his next step would be his last.

Yet Emil Zatopek cared little about form or even proper running decorum while winning the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon, a race he'd never run before he set an Olympic and World record by covering the 26.2-mile distance in 2:23:03. Early on in the marathon Zatopek asked British runner Jim Peters if his pacing was right. When Peters told Zatopek it was, Zatopek took off and cruised to victory by more than 2 1/2 minutes.

Zatopek — whose wife Dana Zatopkova won gold in the javelin — blew off the media after the race and headed back to the Olympic village for a nap.

MAGNIFICENT MATHIAS

American Bob Mathias was just 17 when he won the decathlon at the 1948 London Olympics. He stamped himself as the world's greatest athlete at age 21 when he defended his gold medal by posting a record score of 7,887 points over two days and 10 events in Helsinki. He then promptly retired.

“This is for sure,” Mathias said. “There's nothing left.”

Maybe on the track, but not in life. Mathias went on to dabble in acting before serving four terms as a Republican Congressman representing California's 18th district, just south of the Bay Area.

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Long before hi-tech swimsuits and dolphin kicks became a thing, the pool at the 1952 Games showcased just how fast the sport was progressing.

During the modest-sized meet — there were only 11 events compared to 34 at the 2016 Summer Olympics — eight Olympic records were set. The Hungarian women dominated, winning seven out of 15 medals.

AP Corporate Archives contributed to this report

Qatar interested in hosting Olympics, possibly in 2032

July 27, 2020

Qatar, the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, announced on Monday it would also like to stage the Olympics, possibly in 2032.

The Gulf Arab state’s Olympic committee said it submitted a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to join the phase of “continuous dialogue” about hosting a future Games.

Oil-rich Qatar is increasingly keen to host major sporting events and has already welcomed world athletics championships, though scorching desert temperatures during parts of the year have caused some anxiety in the sports world.

“It is this proven track-record and wealth of experience, along with our desire to use sport to promote peace and cultural exchange, that will form the basis of our discussions with the Commission,” Qatar Olympic Committee President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said in a statement.

The Olympics have never been hosted in the Middle East, and Qatar will be the first nation in the region to host soccer’s biggest showpiece.

It has invested billions of dollars in preparing for the 2022 soccer World Cup. However, human rights groups have criticized the treatment of migrant workers.

The Qatari government has said it does not tolerate unscrupulous treatment of workers.

Qatar’s Doha had also unsuccessfully bid for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

“The IOC… welcomes the interest recently expressed by Qatar, which is the latest country to enter the new dialogue phase,” the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.

The IOC has changed the bidding process in recent years to reduce costs and make it more attractive to interested cities, who now enter into an initial discussion with the IOC to see whether the Olympics would be a fit for them.

“These are ongoing, non-committal discussions that are not necessarily related to a specific edition of the Olympic Games or the Youth Olympic Games, and are an opportunity to explore a project without committing extensive time and resources,” the IOC said.

There is no deadline for a decision to be made, though usually cities are given at least seven years in advance to prepare for hosting the Games.

Several other countries have expressed an interest in the 2032 summer Olympics including Indonesia, Australia, India, and Germany, among others.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200727-qatar-interested-in-hosting-olympics-possibly-in-2032/.

Tokyo Olympics rescheduled for July 23-Aug. 8 in 2021

March 30, 2020

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics will open next year in the same time slot scheduled for this year's games. Tokyo organizers said Monday the opening ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021 — almost exactly one year after the games were due to start this year.

“The schedule for the games is key to preparing for the games," Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said. “This will only accelerate our progress.” Last week, the IOC and Japanese organizers postponed the Olympics until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year's games were scheduled to open on July 24 and close on Aug. 9. But the near exact one-year delay will see the rescheduled closing ceremony on Aug. 8. There had been talk of switching the Olympics to spring, a move that would coincide with the blooming of Japan's famous cherry blossoms. But it would also clash with European soccer and North American sports leagues.

Mori said a spring Olympics was considered but holding the games later gives more space to complete the many qualifying events that have been postponed by the virus outbreak. “We wanted to have more room for the athletes to qualify,” Mori said.

After holding out for weeks, local organizers and the IOC last week postponed the Tokyo Games under pressure from athletes, national Olympic bodies and sports federations. It's the first postponement in Olympic history, though there were several cancellations during wartime.

The Paralympics were rescheduled to Aug. 24-Sept. 5. The new Olympic dates would conflict with the scheduled world championships in track and swimming, but those events are now expected to also be pushed back.

“The IOC has had close discussions with the relevant international federations," organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said. "I believe the IFs have accepted the games being held in the summer.” Muto said the decision was made Monday and the IOC said it was supported by all the international sports federations and was based on three main considerations: to protect the health of athletes, to safeguard the interests of the athletes and Olympic sport, and the international sports calendar.

“These new dates give the health authorities and all involved in the organisation of the Games the maximum time to deal with the constantly changing landscape and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the IOC said. “The new dates ... also have the added benefit that any disruption that the postponement will cause to the international sports calendar can be kept to a minimum, in the interests of the athletes and the IFs.”

Both Mori and Muto have said the cost of rescheduling the Olympics will be “massive” — local reports estimate billions of dollars — with most of the expenses borne by Japanese taxpayers. Muto promised transparency in calculating the costs, and testing times deciding how they are divided up.

“Since it (the Olympics) were scheduled for this summer, all the venues had given up hosting any other events during this time, so how do we approach that?” Muto asked. "In addition, there will need to be guarantees when we book the new dates, and there is a possibility this will incur rent payments. So there will be costs incurred and we will need to consider them one by one. I think that will be the tougher process.”

Katsuhiro Miyamoto, an emeritus professor of sports economics at Kansai University, puts the costs as high as $4 billion. That would cover the price of maintaining stadiums, refitting them, paying rentals, penalties and other expenses.

Japan is officially spending $12.6 billion to organize the Olympics. However, an audit bureau of the Japanese government says the costs are twice that much. All of the spending is public money except $5.6 billion from a privately funded operating budget.

The Switzerland-based International Olympic Committee is contributing $1.3 billion, according to organizing committee documents. The IOC's contribution goes into the operating budget. IOC President Thomas Bach has repeatedly called the Tokyo Olympics the best prepared in history. However, Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso also termed them “cursed.” Aso competed in shooting in the 1976 Olympics, and was born in 1940.

The Olympics planned for 1940 in Tokyo were canceled because of World War II. The run-up to the Olympics also saw IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda, who also headed the Japanese Olympic Committee, forced to resign last year amid a bribery scandal.

A virus rages, a flame goes out: Tokyo Games reset for 2021

March 25, 2020

(AP) Not even the Summer Olympics could withstand the force of the coronavirus. After weeks of hedging, the IOC took the unprecedented step of postponing the world's biggest sporting event, a global extravaganza that's been cemented into the calendar for more than a century.

The Tokyo Games, slated for 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries and at a reported cost of $28 billion, had been scheduled to start July 24. They will now be pushed into 2021 on dates to be determined.

They will still be called the 2020 Olympics — a symbolic gesture that the International Olympic Committee hopes will allow the games to “stand as a beacon of hope,” as it stated in delivering the news Tuesday.

“I don't think anybody was really prepared for this virus happening,” said American sprinter Noah Lyles, who had been primed to be one of the world's breakout stars in Tokyo. “You look over the history of the Olympics and see that it's usually war that's stopped the Olympics from happening."

Only World War I and World War II have forced the Olympics to be canceled; they were scrubbed in 1916, 1940 and 1944. Now, a microscopic virus that is wreaking havoc with daily life around the planet, to say nothing of its sports schedule, has accomplished what no other virus (Zika in 2016), act of terrorism (the killing of Israelis in Munich in 1972), boycott (1980 and 1984), threat of war (frequent) or actual world war itself has managed to do: postpone the games and push them into an odd-numbered year.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The global pandemic has sickened at least 420,000 people and killed more than 18,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Four-time Olympic hockey champion Hayley Wickenheiser, the first IOC member to criticize the body's long-held, dug-in refusal to change the dates, called the postponement the “message athletes deserved to hear.”

“To all the athletes: take a breath, regroup, take care of yourself and your families. Your time will come,” she wrote on Twitter. When will that time be? Nobody knows yet. It was a big part of the reason the IOC refused to announce a postponement that was becoming more inevitable with each passing day. Major sports organizations, including World Athletics and the gymnastics, track and swimming federations in the United States, were calling for a delay. So were major countries, including Canada, Brazil and Australia.

Even more compellingly, athletes were raising their voices. They were speaking to the unfairness of not being able to train, fearful that a trip out of the house could put them, or someone in their hometown, in jeopardy. And what of their competitors, some living halfway around the world, who might not have as many restrictions, and could be getting a leg up? There were fears about the eroding anti-doping protocols caused by virus-related restrictions and qualifying procedures that were disintegrating before their eyes.

“A bittersweet victory for athletes,” one group, Global Athlete, called the decision. “On one hand, their Olympic dreams have been put on hold. On the other hand, athletes have shown their power when they work together as a collective.”

With IOC President Thomas Bach guiding the process, the committee had said as recently as Sunday that it might take up to four weeks for an announcement to come. It took two days. But make no mistake, there are still weeks of difficult planning ahead.

Many of Tokyo's arenas, stadiums and hotels are under contract for a games held from July 24 to Aug. 9. Remaking those arrangements is doable, but will come at a cost. There are also considerations beyond the top-line price tag. Among them: The $1 billion-plus the IOC was to receive from broadcast partner NBC; the millions in smaller athlete endorsement contracts that are now in limbo; the budgets of the individual national Olympic committees; the availability of the 80,000 volunteers who signed up to help.

"People are having a problem calling off weddings, and calling off little tournaments, so imagine with all the billions of dollars that’s gone into this,” five-time Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings told The Associated Press. “They have a grieving process to go through. They have so many moving parts to think about.”

There’s also the matter of the international sports schedule. Nearly all 33 sports on the Olympic program have key events, including world championships, on the docket for 2021. Hayward Field at the University of Oregon was rebuilt and expanded at the cost of around $200 million to hold next year’s track and field world championships. Now that event will likely be rescheduled.

“Of course there's going to be challenges,” said Paul Doyle, an agent who represents about 50 Olympic athletes. “At the same time, this is what had to happen.” It came together during a meeting Tuesday among Bach, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a handful of other executives from the IOC and Japan’s organizing committee.

Among the first casualties of the IOC's impeccably curated timeline was the torch relay. Organizers were planning to start the journey through the host country in the northeast prefecture of Fukushima on Thursday, albeit with no fans and no torchbearer. Instead, the flame will be stored and displayed, with its next move to be determined later.

Just one of hundreds of difficult changes the IOC leaders have to make in the upcoming weeks and months. But the most difficult decision is behind them. The unspoken irony in it all is that when Japan was awarded the games in 2013, it came on the strength of a campaign in which it positioned itself as “the safe pair of hands.” It was a time when the world was still emerging from the Great Recession, and the Olympic movement was especially sensitive to the runaway expenses the Summer Games were incurring.

Japan, like every host before it, had trouble sticking to the budget. Nevertheless, seven years later, and through no fault of its own — in fact, Japan is one of the countries that appears to be avoiding the worst of the coronavirus — Tokyo residents are watching their grand plans for 2020 implode.

So, onto 2021. As far as the Olympic world — and perhaps the world at large — is concerned, it can't get here soon enough.

Also contributing: Stephen Wade and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Pat Graham in Denver, Paul Newberry in Atlanta, Graham Dunbar in Geneva, Janie McCauley in San Francisco and Jimmy Golen in Boston.

MLB delays opening day by at least 2 weeks because of virus

March 12, 2020

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball delayed the start of its season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak and suspended the rest of its spring training game schedule. Opening day had been scheduled for March 26. The decision announced by Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday left open whether each team would still play a 162-game schedule.

“It’s unfortunate but I think it’s the proper measure we need to take now given the situation the country’s in and the world’s in," New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said. "It’s important to know that some things are bigger than baseball, bigger than sports at the moment. Once we’re able to hopefully get a hold on some things and get some questions answered we can figure out when things can continue.”

The announcement came while some spring training games in Florida were still in progress. MLB followed the NBA, NHL, MLS and college basketball tournaments in altering its schedule because of the pandemic. The minor league baseball season, which was to start April 9, also was being delayed.

“We’re ultimately all people, we all love the game of baseball but this is a far bigger issue for all of us right now, and we’re trying to work our way through it together," Seattle Mariners owner John Stanton said at the team's camp in Peoria, Arizona.

“I believe that this is going to be something that will have a lot more twists and turns to it. I don’t have a high degree of confidence that we will start on April 9,” he said. MLB had continued to play into Thursday, two weeks before openers at Dodger Stadium, Camden Yards and other parks. But baseball changed course after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a morning news conference he had strongly recommended to local authorities and organizers that they limit all mass gatherings.

“MLB and the clubs have been preparing a variety of contingency plans regarding the 2020 regular season schedule,” the baseball commissioner's office said in a statement. “MLB will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant, with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible.”

MLB had not had a mass postponement of openers since 1995, when the season was shortened from 162 games to 144 following a 7 1/2-month players' strike that also wiped out the 1994 World Series. Opening day was pushed back from April 2 to April 26. Player salaries were reduced by 11.1% in 1995 because the games were lost due to a strike.

Players with big league contracts likely will be allowed to leave spring training and go home if they want to, but no decision on that was made public. After a 32-day spring training lockout in 1990 caused opening day to be delayed a week until April 9, the season was extended by three days to allow each team a full 162-game schedule.

Baseball's first strike lasted from April 1-13 in 1972, and the season started April 15. Teams played 153-156 games. This year marked the earliest opening day other than for international games. As it stood, Game 7 of the World Series would've been Oct. 28.

The Texas Rangers had been looking forward to the opening of their new retractable-roof ballpark, Globe Life Field, first with an exhibition game against St. Louis on March 23. The formal opener had been scheduled for March 31 against the Los Angeles Angels.

If regular-season games are lost this year, MLB could attempt to reduce salaries by citing paragraph 11 of the Uniform Player's Contract, which covers national emergencies. The announcement Thursday said the decision was made “due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic."

“This contract is subject to federal or state legislation, regulations, executive or other official orders or other governmental action, now or hereafter in effect respecting military, naval, air or other governmental service, which may directly or indirectly affect the player, club or the league,” every Uniform Player's Contract states.

The provision also states the agreement is “subject also to the right of the commissioner to suspend the operation of this contract during any national emergency during which Major League Baseball is not played.”

Spring training games were suspended as of 4 p.m. EDT Thursday. Qualifying games for the 2021 World Baseball Classic also were called off.

AP freelance writers Mark Didtler and Jose M. Romero contributed to this report.

Kobe Bryant, daughter killed in copter crash, 7 others dead

January 27, 2020

CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) — NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others were killed Sunday when their helicopter plunged into a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California, his sudden death at age 41 touching off an outpouring of grief for a star whose celebrity transcended basketball.

The chopper went down in Calabasas, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Authorities said nine people were aboard and presumed dead. Bryant, an all-time basketball great who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, was among the victims, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, also was killed, a different person familiar with the case said. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva would not confirm the identities of the victims Sunday pending official word from the coroner.

“God bless their souls,” Villanueva said at a news conference. The cause of the crash was unknown. News of the charismatic superstar's death rocketed around the sports and entertainment worlds, with many taking to Twitter to register their shock, disbelief and anguish.

“Words can't describe the pain I am feeling. I loved Kobe — he was like a little brother to me," retired NBA great Michael Jordan said. “We used to talk often, and I will miss those conversations very much. He was a fierce competitor, one of the greats of the game and a creative force."

NBA players were in tears during pregame warm-ups as crowds chanted “Kobe! Kobe!” Tiger Woods was unaware of the news during his final round at Torrey Pines in San Diego when he started hearing the gallery yell “Do it for Mamba,” referring to Bryant by his nickname.

The medical examiner's office said specialists were working at the scene to recover the bodies, and investigators were trying to confirm identities. Federal transportation safety investigators were en route.

Bryant’s helicopter left Santa Ana shortly after 9 a.m. and circled for a time just east of Interstate 5, near Glendale. Air traffic controllers noted poor visibility around Burbank, just to the north, and Van Nuys, to the northwest.

After holding up the helicopter for other aircraft, they cleared the Sikorsky S-76 to proceed north along Interstate 5 through Burbank before turning west to follow U.S Route 101, the Ventura Highway.

Shortly after 9:40 a.m., the helicopter turned again, toward the southeast, and climbed to more than 2,000 feet above sea level. It then descended and crashed into the hillside at about 1,400 feet, according to data from Flightradar24.

When it struck the ground, the helicopter was flying at about 160 knots (184 mph) and descending at a rate of more than 4,000 feet per minute, the Flightradar24 data showed. At the time of the crash, the Los Angles County Sheriff's Department had grounded its own helicopters because of the poor weather conditions. The impact scattered debris over an area about the size of a football field, Villanueva said.

Among other things, investigators will look at the pilot's history, the chopper's maintenance history, and the records of its owner and operator, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference.

Justin Green, an aviation attorney in New York who flew helicopters in the Marine Corps, said weather may have contributed to the crash. Pilots can become disoriented in low visibility, losing track of which direction is up. Green said a pilot flying an S-76 would be instrument-rated, meaning they could fly the helicopter without relying on visual cues from outside.

All around the world, people were glued to their phones and TV screens as news of the crash spread and networks broke into programming with live coverage. A visibly shaken LeBron James wiped his eyes with tissues and walked away alone from the Lakers plane that had just landed in Southern California.

Thousands of people gathered to mourn Bryant outside the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Mourners in No. 24 jerseys mixed with those in fancy dress arriving at the downtown arena for Sunday evening’s Grammy Awards.

People carried flowers and chanted “Kobe!” and “MVP!” under giant video screens showing Bryant’s smiling face. “This is where we needed to be,” said Naveen Cheerath, 31. Bryant retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, finishing two decades with the Lakers as a prolific shot-maker with a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic. He held that spot in the league scoring ranks until Saturday night, when the Lakers’ James passed him for third place during a game in Philadelphia, Bryant’s hometown.

“Continuing to move the game forward (at)KingJames,” Bryant wrote in his last tweet. “Much respect my brother.” Bryant had one of the greatest careers in recent NBA history and became one of the game’s most popular players as the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers franchise. He was the league MVP in 2008 and a two-time NBA scoring champion, and he earned 12 selections to the NBA’s All-Defensive teams.

He teamed with O’Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to consecutive NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. His Lakers tenure was marred by scandal, when in 2003, Bryant was accused of raping a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort. He said the two had consensual sex, and prosecutors later dropped the felony sexual assault charge at the request of the accuser. The woman later filed a civil suit against Bryant that was settled out of court.

Bryant went on to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010, and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game. After leaving the game, Bryant had more time to play coach to daughter Gianna, who had a budding basketball career of her own and, her father said, wanted to one day play in the WNBA. They were seen sitting courtside at a Brooklyn Nets game late last year, Bryant clearly passing along his wisdom to his daughter. He regularly showcased her talents on the court on social media.

Bryant’s death was felt particularly painfully in Los Angeles, where he was unquestionably the most popular athlete and one of the city’s most beloved public figures. Hundreds of fans — many in Bryant jerseys and Lakers gear — spontaneously gathered at Staples Center and in the surrounding LA Live entertainment complex, weeping and staring at video boards with Bryant’s image.

Among those killed were John Altobelli, head coach of Southern California's Orange Coast College baseball team, his wife, Keri, and daughter, Alyssa, who played on the same team as Bryant's daughter, said his brother, Tony, who is the sports information director at the school.

The National Transportation Safety Board typically issues a preliminary report within about 10 days that will give a rough summary of what investigators have learned. A ruling on the cause can take a year or more.

Colin Storm was in his living room in Calabasas when he heard what sounded to him like a low-flying airplane or helicopter. “Ït was very foggy so we couldn’t see anything,” he said. “But then we heard some sputtering and then a boom.”

The fog cleared a bit, and Storm could see smoke rising from the hillside in front of his home. Firefighters hiked in with medical equipment and hoses, and medical personnel rappelled to the site from a helicopter, but found no survivors, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said.

Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles, David Koenig in Dallas, Mark J. Terrill and John Antczak in Calabasas, Tim Reynolds in Miami and Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.

Downtown Tokyo's homeless fear removal ahead of Olympics

January 23, 2020

TOKYO (AP) — Shelters made of cardboard start popping up in the basement of Tokyo's Shinjuku train station right before the shutters come down at 11 p.m., in corridors where “salarymen” rushing home and couples on late-night dates have just passed by.

Dozens of homeless people sleeping rough in such spots worry that with Japan's image at stake authorities will force them to move ahead of the Olympics. Already, security officials have warned them they will likely have to find less visible locations by the end of March.

The former laborers, clerical workers and others sleeping in cardboard boxes are a not-quite-invisible glimpse of a more pervasive but largely hidden underclass of poor in Japan, a wealthy nation seen as orderly and middle class.

Efforts to clean up what some see as urban blight have preceded every recent Olympics, including those in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro. Tokyo city officials deny they are moving to force the homeless out specially for the Olympics. They say trying to get them into shelters is part of an overall welfare effort to get them off the streets and find them jobs and housing.

“There is nothing more than the programs we already have in place to help the homeless,” said Emi Yaginuma, a Tokyo city official in charge of such programs. “We keep trying by making the rounds and talking to them, but all we can do is to try to persuade them.”

In theory, overnight sleeping at train stations is trespassing. In practice, the homeless have long slept in Shinjuku station and other spots. JR East, a major train company servicing Tokyo, doesn't have regulations on the homeless and employees handle situations as they come up, such as passenger complaints.

Just as the homeless arrive for the night, a public speaker overhead is warning that sleeping in the station isn't allowed. As preparations for the Olympics began years ago, homeless people camping in a park in Tokyo's Shibuya were forced out to make way for development and a soup kitchen program there was moved to another, less visible park nearby. Advocates for the homeless fear that was just the start.

Homeless people were evicted in 2016 from a park near where the New National Stadium was built, the main arena for the Olympics. Like the U.S., Japan has a relatively high poverty rate for a wealthy nation. It also is less generous with social welfare than countries in Europe, and lacks the sorts of private charities prevalent in the U.S.

Nearly 16% of Japanese fall below the poverty rate, with annual income below the cutoff of 1.2 million yen ($11,000), according to 2017 Japanese government data. The poverty rate for single-adult households with children is way higher, at 51%.

The unraveling of extended family support networks and job insecurity have left many in Japan vulnerable to setbacks that can lead to homelessness. Japan's culture of conformity leaves many, including families, ashamed to seek help.

Most of the homeless sleeping underground in Shinjuku, a glitzy shopping area fringed by red-light districts, high-rise offices and parks, are older men. Shigeyoshi Tozawa has a lacquer begging bowl with a few coins, three tiny, solar-powered toy figures with bobbing heads bought at a 100-yen ($1) store, and various bags filled with blankets, clothes and other items, including his poems.

“Last night/ dream of a future trip/ it is dark,” goes one poem. Passersby sometimes give him money for the poems, he says. “This is my community. We all help each other,” Tozawa said. “There are no dirty homeless here. We are all ‘trendy.’"

In what's clearly a routine, he and the others quietly prepare for the night, picking their favorite spots, neatly folding blankets. Some change into sleepwear and wipe their feet clean with wet towels, daintily placing their shoes beside their lopsided cardboard shelters.

Tozawa and the others are relatively well-dressed, in handout down jackets, baseball caps and camouflage sweatpants. Some have cell phones and other gadgets. Many have some money in the bank. They get by making the rounds of downtown soup kitchens run by church and volunteer charities, and other spots where they can get free rice balls or sandwiches.

Many of those sleeping rough are “working poor,” said Daisaku Seto, who works for a nonprofit for refugees and a consumers' food cooperative called Palsystem. He says some suffer psychological trauma and need training to get better-paying jobs. Once they drop into poverty, they rarely find their way back out.

“We need to come up with ways to help that empower them,” said Seto, who is a leader in a one of the leaders of a grassroots group called the Anti-Poverty Network. Yukio Takazawa, executive director of a support group for the poor in Yokohama's Kotobukicho, an area of flophouses where homeless people also tend to congregate, worries the worst is to come.

The construction boom from the Olympics will be winding down, reducing chances for odd jobs for day laborers. The younger poor, who now spend nights in Internet cafes, likely will eventually end up on the streets, said Takazawa, who has been working with the poor for 30 years.

Finding affordable housing in Tokyo is tough. Rents are high and landlords tend to be finicky. Just getting a rental contract can require six months of rent or more up front. Those unable or unwilling to get apartments camp along river banks, in parks and train stations. Welfare offices try to get people to move into shelters but many, like former construction worker Masanori Ito, resist. “They have rules,” he said, munching on sandwiches he got from a volunteer.

If he has to move, Ito said he plans to find some other warm outdoor spot. “I don't know where we will all move next,” he said.

International Swimming League expanding to Tokyo, Toronto

December 22, 2019

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The International Swimming League is expanding for its second season next year. The pro league that featured over 100 Olympians will add teams in Tokyo and Toronto, bringing the number of clubs to 10. Five will comprise the Europe-Asia group with the other five in the U.S.

The season will begin in September, a month after the Tokyo Olympics end, and run until April 2021. There will be breaks in December and March for other events on the world swimming calendar. A total of 27 matches — a minimum of 10 per club — will be held, including regular season, playoffs and the grand finale.

“If we want to be a league, we have to act like a league," said ISL managing director Andrea Di Nino, who promised an increase in prize money and the salary cap for each team. The ISL held six meets in its first season and staged its grand finale in Las Vegas, where the expansion was announced Saturday. Europe-based Energy Standard won the championship and its 28 members split $100,000.

The 3,800-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center wasn't filled either day, although there were noticeably more people on Saturday for the music and spotlight-filled event featuring finals only over two hours.

“It was a great show for everybody," said Di Nino, who was open to the possibility of returning to Vegas for the finale. “Next year is going to be even better. Of course, we're looking to improve and look at our mistakes."

Retired four-time Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima will represent the Tokyo entry, which has yet to be named. “I'm very happy to be given this big opportunity for swimming," Kitajima, who attended the finale, said through a translator. “When I was first approached about this opportunity I was very happy, but I was thinking why didn't you come to me in the beginning. I hope a lot of Japanese swimmers will be able to participate."

Daiya Seto was the only Japanese swimmer who competed in the ISL’s first season, and he only swam the finale for winning Energy Standard. He set a world short-course record in the 400-meter individual medley on Friday, which was streamed live in Japan.

“Japan is one of the world’s leading swimming nations with a large fan base, so we expect to see a very competitive team be developed there and many fans excited to learn of our plans," ISL founder Konstantin Grigorishin said in a statement.

Robert Kent, an investment banker and former swimmer, will head the Toronto entry, which also has yet to be named. Thirteen Canadian swimmers competed in the ISL this year, including Olympic gold medalist Penny Oleksiak and two-time world champion Kylie Masse. CBC Sports offered broadcast and live streaming coverage throughout the season.

Tokyo and Toronto will join Europe-based Aqua Centurions, Energy Standard, Iron and London Roar, along with Cali Condors, DC Trident, LA Current and NY Breakers in the U.S.

Police, protesters clash outside Barcelona-Real Madrid game

December 18, 2019

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Riot police clashed with protesters in the streets Wednesday night outside a soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, as authorities sought to keep Catalonia's separatist movement from disrupting the game viewed by 650 million people worldwide.

The match in Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium began without incident and was halted only briefly when some fans threw balls onto the field bearing a message for the Spanish government to open a dialogue with the separatists.

The game, which drew nearly 100,000 spectators, ended in a scoreless draw. Thousands of police and private security guards were deployed in and around stadium. In the street clashes, riot police used batons to force the crowd back, some threw objects at officers lined up behind shields and other protesters fought among themselves. Authorities said nine people had been arrested, and Spain's national news agency Efe reported that 12 were injured.

At least four plastic trash cans were set on fire, and a smell of smoke wafted into the Camp Nou. When the game ended, fans were directed to leave on the stadium's south side to avoid the clashes outside.

The separatists sought to promote their independence bid by using the media coverage of the game between Barcelona, the Spanish league leader, and its fierce rival Real Madrid. Known as El Clásico, the game was postponed from Oct. 26 amid violent protests by the separatists.

As crowds entered Europe's largest soccer stadium Wednesday night, security guards confiscated masks of Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi from supporters, apparently to ensure they could be identified on closed-circuit cameras if they broke the law.

As the game began, some fans held up blue signs saying 'Spain, Sit and Talk" and “FREEDOM.” Others chanted, in Catalan, “Freedom for the Political Prisoners.” Those messages referred to the Spanish government's refusal to discuss the wealthy northeastern region's independence, as well as the recent imprisonment of nine of the movement’s leaders convicted for their roles in a failed 2017 secession bid.

A shadowy online group called Tsunami Democratic, which was behind the protest, had posted a message on social media saying: “Hello, world! Tonight Tsunami has a message for you.” Protest organizers said over 25,000 people signed up to demonstrate near the stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, although it was hard to distinguish between protesters and fans.

There was a festive atmosphere before the game, though some protesters briefly blocked main roads to the stadium. The Barcelona team asked its fans to behave with civility and not to affect the match.

Francisco Sánchez, a 60-year-old mechanic, was outside Camp Nou hours before the match. He did not have a ticket, but was one of several protesters who distributed small blue banners with the message urging Spain to begin a dialogue.

“I hope this movement will make our leaders realize that they have to lay off the law and start taking," he said. "This can’t be solved with violence, but through words.” Miguel Ángel Giménez, a 42-year-old policeman in a Barcelona shirt and scarf, drove with a friend over 700 kilometers (430 miles) from the southern region of Murcia to attend the match.

“Our friends back home told us we were crazy to cross half of Spain to go to a game that might not be played,” he said, adding that “everything is quite calm. There is lots of security.” The U.S. Consulate in Barcelona advised people to avoid the area or use caution if near it.

Henrik Noerrelund, a 55-year-old electrician from Denmark, flew in with his wife to attend his first Barcelona match after a lifetime supporting the club. “In my parts, they used to say politics and football don´t mix, but today you have to accept it,” Noerrelund said. “It’s there, you cannot separate it, you have seen it for many years, and I don’t think they can manage to separate it and just play football.”

Separatist sentiment grew sharply in Catalonia during the global recession that hit Spain hard. The 7.5 million residents of Catalonia are about equally divided by the secession question, according to polls and election results.

Separatists have used the Camp Nou stadium as a protest platform for years. They shout “Independence!” at a set time during matches and sometimes unfurl banners. The Barcelona team has walked a fine line between supporting its fans' right to free expression and aligning itself with the greater interests of Catalonia. Many feel it does not fully support secession so as not to anger its Catalan fans who are not separatists or its millions of supporters across Spain.

With its slogan "More than a club,” it presents itself as a Catalan institution, aligned with the region’s proud cultural traditions and language, which is spoken along with Spanish in the semi-autonomous region.

Its rivalry with Real Madrid has a decades-old political undercurrent, with many Catalans seeing the capital's team as a symbol of domineering, central power and a hallmark of Spanish unity and authority.

Madrid supporters, in turn, see Barcelona as representing a traitorous region that wants to break up Spain. For many years, some Barcelona fans held up a massive banner at games that read “Catalonia is not Spain.”

Players from both teams usually get along. The Spanish national team that won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships was packed with players from both sides. Security is always high whenever they play — just like at many soccer matches between fierce rivals — but there is no history of violence at the games.

Tsunami Democratic carried out its first major action in October when it organized a large protest after several of the secession movement's leaders were sentenced to jail for their role in a failed secession bid in 2017.

A call by Tsunami Democratic led to thousands of angry protesters gathering at Barcelona’s airpor t. A street battle broke out between the most radical protesters and police inside and outside the terminal, and about 150 flights were canceled as ground transport was halted for hours. Protests by separatists left more than 500 people injured, half of them police.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson in Barcelona and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed.