David Owen: Mega-events need to get the message across that they are worth hosting

Duncan Mackay
David Owen ©ITG"We have seen the notice of CONADE, which surprised us, as the benefit of organising the FINA World Championships is much higher than the cost of running the event." Cornel Marculescu, executive director, International Swimming Federation (FINA).

The Mexican city of Guadalajara this week withdrew as host of the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, making them the second big sporting event in as many weeks - the first being the 2022 Commonwealth Games - to feel a backlash from the collapsed oil price.

For all that, the state of the oil market is something of a red herring in attempts to explain the difficulties which event owners are experiencing in igniting and retaining the interest of cities in staging their competitions.

Like any commodity, after all, oil is a zero-sum game: there are as many winners from $60-a-barrel oil as losers.

It is just that some of those who felt they had spare cash to lavish on international sport in the days of $110-a-barrel oil, unsurprisingly, are having second thoughts.

It is the dislocation as cities and Governments attune to a new set of economic circumstances that is making life uncomfortable for some event owners.

FINA will soon enough find another 2017 host from the ranks either of oil producers who can live with today's prices, or countries for which the market's collapse has brought an unexpected windfall.

Who knows, perhaps they will end up in London with its shiny new Olympic Aquatics Centre - although they would presumably need to resurrect the water polo hall.

Could the Aquatics Centre built for London 2012 step in a replacement for Guadalajara to host the 2017 World Aquatics Championships ©Getty ImagesCould the Aquatics Centre built for London 2012 step in a replacement for Guadalajara to host the 2017 World Aquatics Championships ©Getty Images

The broader - and much more serious - point for event owners is that the general economic and geopolitical backdrop against which we are all living our day-to-day lives is going through a particularly turbulent and unpredictable phase.

What is more, growth in many of the countries with the most experience in the ticklish business of event hosting remains sluggish.

It is vital, while this climate persists, that sport is able to articulate as clearly and convincingly as possible that event staging can and does pay handsome dividends.

This is my reason for highlighting Marculescu's reaction to Wednesday's announcement on Guadalajara by the Mexican National Physical Culture and Sport Commission (CONADE) at the top of this piece.

If you don't accept this, consider the position that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) now finds itself in.

Yes, the oil price did for Edmonton, but, I would argue that it was the broader economic malaise that produced a situation in which the Canadian city was one of only two bidders.

Now Durban is left as the only game in town - a situation that can hardly fail to dilute the CGF's bargaining power in negotiations with its prospective partner.

It is perhaps worth emphasising that Asia, one region of the world where growth has remained comparatively buoyant and appetite for events strong, is only partly in bounds as far as the CGF is concerned: you can't stage a Commonwealth Games in China or Qatar.

Everyone enjoyed Glasgow 2014 but there is still only one bidder for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Durban in South Africa ©Getty ImagesEveryone enjoyed Glasgow 2014 but there is still only one bidder for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Durban in South Africa ©Getty Images

One way in which sport can adjust the cost:benefit equation confronting cities when they assess their hosting options is, of course, to cut costs - which, in large measure, is what Agenda 2020 is all about.

Multi-sports events can also enhance their appeal by ensuring that the events on their programmes are those that most people want to watch.

But sport also needs to be able to measure and articulate the benefits of what it can bring to the table for prospective host-cities.

This is all the more important as costs are a) for the most part, all too tangible and b) incurred up-front before most potential benefits accrue.

The new feasibility study with which French sports leaders are trying to sell politicians on the idea of a Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic bid is quite an interesting document in this regard.

In the storied annals of Anglo-French relations, it must be doubtful if either one of these old foes has ever publicly heaped so much praise on the other.

Britain demonstrated, the study states, that organising the Games could be a "formidable tool for urban planning, for national pride and cohesion, for cultural influence, for promoting and enhancing the attractiveness of Great Britain and its know-how on the international stage, and, more globally, for the dynamism of a nation".

The London Games were a "sporting, media, popular and economic success".

Wow - and what makes this all the more remarkable is that Paris was one of the defeated candidates.

The study also cites a joint UK Government/Mayor of London report maintaining that a four-year target of £11 billion of economic gains from the 2012 Games had been surpassed within 14 months and that, after two years, benefits had reached £14.2 billion "and rising".

London 2012 has been held up as an example of how to stage a successful Olympic Games - even by the French in their feasibility study for a possible bid from Paris for 2024 ©CNOSFLondon 2012 has been held up as an example of how to stage a successful Olympic Games - even by the French in their feasibility study for a possible bid from Paris for 2024 ©CNOSF

I can be a contrary so-and-so for my sins, and I must admit that I tend to take such exercises with a pinch of salt.

Having watched over the Olympic/Paralympic Movement for some 15 years, my conclusion is that, on balance, the world is a better place with it than without it, but this is not penicillin or ice-cream we are talking about, and there are times when it seems a mighty close-run thing.

On the other hand, if those London 2012 economic benefit figures play a part in persuading Paris to bid for the Games, then it pretty much makes the case that sport would be well-advised to make sure that such tallies are kept whenever possible.

I would argue that sport also needs, as a matter of priority, to devise ways of measuring and highlighting benefits for host-cities and nations that I suspect economists and accountants have a tendency to undervalue, or even overlook altogether.

What I mean is this: the tipping-point, looking back, that prompted me to form the opinion that, yes, London 2012 had been worth all the fuss was not some moment of transcendent sporting genius, or an onrush of nationalistic fervour; it was the realisation, between South Ken and King's Cross/St Pancras, that the usual glum, numb and humdrum atmosphere on the Tube had been transformed.

The writer A.L.Kennedy, not someone I would consider a sports evangelist by nature, appears to have noticed something similar.

"Even stiff old London during the 2012 Olympics was an opened city with increased disabled access, happy visitors, happy locals, happy Brits who were in a new context and liking it," she said, in what I think was a contribution to A Point of View on BBC Radio 4.

"I recall riding the Tube one Olympic day and assisting a stranger with her coat.

"The man beside me softly offered, 'We don't usually help each other, do we? Or talk to each other.'

"We smiled."

Now, it may only have lasted for a month, but this transformation has a value.

London 2012 helped put a smile on the face of the city ©Getty ImagesLondon 2012 helped put a smile on the face of the city ©Getty Images

In its crudest terms - perhaps two Tube passengers who at any other time would not have spoken did a deal; or became friends; or set up a business together; or fell in love and produced an infant who will be the next Einstein.

You can't say London 2012 was 100 per cent responsible for such things; and it would be a pig to put a realistic value on them.

But sure as eggs are eggs, London 2012 should get some of the credit; and such scenes would have been replicated enough times for the value to be substantial.

It is no bad thing as we struggle to cope with modern life that we seem increasingly to clutch at ways of comparing and ranking things through league tables, benchmarking, price comparison websites.

But one negative side-effect of this is that we perhaps show an increased tendency to assume that if something falls outside the accepted parameters, or worse is hard to measure, it doesn't exist, or has no value.

News like this month's stories from Guadalajara and Edmonton makes it all the more vital for sport to find ways of ensuring that it can quantify and articulate all the good it does.

Its case for receiving scarce public resources when times are unpredictable or hard is not so overwhelming that it can afford to leave shots in its locker.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Mike Rowbottom: Farah and Vernon's Twitter-spat just a drop in the ocean of sporting niggles

Mike Rowbottom
mike rowbottom ©insidethegamesThis week's spat on Twitter between Britain's 5000 and 10,000m specialists Mo Farah and Andy Vernon was described by one major newspaper as "incredible". Not really.

When one follows the sequence of comments made - the quick-flash medium of Twitter is the perfect fire-starter, building heat incrementally - it is entirely credible how the exchange ended up as it did.

That is, with the double world and Olympic champion calling Vernon "embarrassing" and suggesting that American singer Taylor Swift could probably run faster than his fellow Brit, who took  bronze and silver behind him over the 5000 and 10,000 metres respectively at last year's European Athletics Championships in Zurich.

Vernon set the niggling into motion as he posted a criticism of the quality of the field Farah will face when he makes his indoor debut over two miles at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.

Mo Farah wins the 2014 European 10,000m in Zurich, with fellow Briton Andy Vernon taking silver. The two had have a spiky exchange on Twitter this week ©Getty ImagesMo Farah wins the 2014 European 10,000m in Zurich, with fellow Briton Andy Vernon taking silver. The two had have a spiky exchange on Twitter this week ©Getty Images

The 31-year-old Somali-born Londoner appears to have a relatively easy ride ahead of him against a field where only the 40-year-old double Olympic medallist Bernard Lagat of the United States stands out.

"Another stellar field against Mo Farah on home turf this weekend at Birmingham. #joke," tweeted Vernon, whose own possibility of being part of the race has been ended by an injury.

Farah responded: "Shame you didn't make the line up....again #ComeBackWhenYouWinSomethingDecent."

To which the 29-year-old World University Games winner of 2011 replied:  "Lol Mo Farah I think even you can work out that I can make the cut to the Indoor Grand Prix. Lets hope no one loses their shoe..."

Farah's reply to that: "I wish you did make the cut mate so I can leave you in my dust like ALWAYS!! Hahahaha #hatersgonnahate"

Vernon then responded: "1) stop quoting Taylor Swift. 2) I don't hate you Mo. I would just rather watch a race than the Mo Show. #playersgonnaplay."

Farah's final post read: "That's why they didn't put you in the race mate.. Cos you're an embarrassment!! Taylor swift can probably run faster than you!"

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She's Swift by name - but could she beat Andy Vernon? Mo Farah seems to think so ©AFP/Getty ImagesUS singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. She's Swift by name - but could she beat Andy Vernon? Mo Farah seems to think so ©AFP/Getty Images

Vernon, who also got into a Twitter spat with British runner Lynsey Sharp last year, later claimed Farah had been "arrogant" to call him an "embarrassment", adding:

"It was a worse retaliation than I thought I might get," he said. "I thought he would just ignore it because I didn't say anything malicious or offensive.

"I thought he would just take it as a joke or give me some banter back.

"I put in a jab but he put in a haymaker below the belt and it sparked off from there."

But the thing about banter is that it only exists between those who have an underlying affection or regard for each other. Clearly there is not enough accord in the bank between these two for Vernon's ambitions to be realised.

Some people may feel all this reflects badly upon British Athletics. Or even upon world athletics. But has any real harm been done?

It's not written in any national or international rules that competitors should love each other.

This little exchange of views is as nothing to the sledging that has been a common feature of cricket for so many years.

One of the earliest recorded examples of this occurred when the fi nest cricketer in Victorian England, Dr WG Grace - himself not noticeably averse to working on the minds of his opponents - was the target of what would now be recognised as a classic sledge by Essex fast bowler Charles Kortright.

After being repeatedly frustrated in his eff orts to get Grace out by an umpire who refused to dismiss him, Kortright finally knocked away two of the great man's stumps. As WG made his reluctant way to the pavilion, the Essex man called out to him: "Surely you're not going, Doctor? There's still one stump standing."

The row on Twitter between British runners Mo Farah and Andy Vernon has caught the media's imagination ©TwitterThe row on Twitter between British runners Mo Farah and Andy Vernon has caught the media's imagination ©Twitter

Nor does the Farah-Vernon aggro get remotely into the league of some of the verbal assaults ritually launched by boxers in ever-diminishing parody of the withering pre-bout goadings of one Muhammad Ali.

Before his first heavyweight title fight with Sonny Liston, who was known as the Big Bear, Ali took to calling the champion Big Ugly Bear.  "After the fight," Ali added, "I'm going to go build myself a pretty home and use him as a bearskin rug. Liston even smells like a bear."

Back in the world of track and field, two things are indisputable. Farah, as one of Britain's prized possessions, has without doubt been artfully showcased on occasions. One thinks immediately of his run at last year's IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham where he finished more than 15 seconds clear of his nearest rival in setting a European two miles record of 8min 7.85sec.


But Farah has earned that right by taking on anyone the world can throw at him and beating them over 5000 and 10,000m, year on year. The MoShow, as Vernon expresses it, has its own legitimacy.

And now, of course, any meeting between the two will have an added element of interest for the media.

Whenever there is a bit of needle between two British runners, it brings to mind for many followers of the sport the fabled rivalry of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett - although the parallel here is not strong, given that Farah and Vernon have operated on different levels of achievement in recent years; Vernon, for example, was sixth in last year's Birmingham two miles race, almost 20 seconds behind the winner.

But the Coe/Ovett rivalry, soon to be celebrated in a feature film, is almost emblematic. Yes, the two men did avoid each other. Yes, it's true that they were neither of them each other's cup of tea. And on occasions, there was some overt niggling between them.

The other day, oddly enough, I was reading Ovett's 1984 book (published by Willow Books, written with the late, great John Rodda of The Guardian, and entitled, reasonably enough Ovett - An Autobiography) and came across this passage at the end of the chapter covering the momentous events of the 1980 Moscow Games, where Ovett won the 800m Coe was favourite for, and Coe responded by winning the 1500m most had foreseen Ovett winning.

Sebastian Coe has to settle for silver, behind British rival Steve Ovett, after the Moscow 1980 Olympic 800m final. After the 1500m final the roles were reversed, with Ovett taking bronze rather than silver, sparking a conversation to which Ovett took exception ©AFP/Getty ImagesSebastian Coe has to settle for silver, behind British rival Steve Ovett, after the Moscow 1980 Olympic 800m final. After the 1500m final the roles were reversed, with Ovett taking bronze rather than silver, sparking a conversation to which Ovett took exception ©AFP/Getty Images

Ovett recalls a conversation after the second race when both men were waiting to give a urine sample in the dope-testing room:

"I passed him a drink and he said, 'So you got silver then?' 'No, I got bronze,' I replied. 'Oh good.'

"Those two words told me more about the man than the race did. I know they had a double meaning but I have the memory of the way he said it."

A good line to be sure. Did Coe mean to be mean? Or was it just the dazed response of a man who had just resurrected his reputation in the space of just over 3:38? I'll ask him next time I see him...

Other instances of track and field flare-ups have been less equivocal.

Former world and Olympic 100m champion Maurice Greene, always a combative figure on the track, once shouted across to his rival Tim Montgomery as he beat him at the US Championships: "This is for real!"

Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva - world pole vault champion on home soil in 2013 and, when pushed, the Queen of Mean ©Getty ImagesRussia's Yelena Isinbayeva - world pole vault champion on home soil in 2013 and, when pushed, the Queen of Mean ©Getty Images

And world pole vault record holder Yelena Isinbayeva has always had a sharp line in put downs. She once described her fractious relationship with fellow Russian rival Svetlana Feofanova as "Hi-and-goodbye".

On occasions, she has been less euphemistic. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Isinbayeva won gold with a world record of 5.05m ahead of US vaulter Jennifer Stuczynski, who cleared 4.80 and would win Olympic gold four years later under her married name of Jennifer Suhr.

Afterwards Isinbayeva's take on the American was as follows: "She has never beaten me. She is talking too much. So I didn't say anything. I just wanted to prove who is the best.

"I am not deaf. I can read interviews and hear what is being talked about. It made me really angry because I said 'How is it possible to speak like this about me?'

"When I found out, it wasn't nice first of all because she must respect me and know her place. Now she knows."

Ouch.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Liam Morgan: Matt Prior's venture into the dark world of cycling shouldn't be taken lightly

Liam Morgan
Liam Morgan ©ITGEngland cricketer Matt Prior looks at ease as we chat over coffee at a plush London hotel ahead of the launch of his ONE Pro Cycling team.

The project, which is the brainchild of his and businessman Simon Chappell, was officially unveiled yesterday evening, and it is clear this is where his future lies.

The team he has helped assemble will compete at International Cycling Union (UCI) Continental level - two tiers below Team Sky - and his passion for his new venture is evident.

Prior has been out of cricketing action since the defeat to India at Lord's back in July after surgery on an injured Achilles, with the England Cricket Board (ECB) doctors admitting that the prognosis didn't look good.

This however gave him the opportunity to explore and pursue new avenues, and as part of his extensive rehabilitation, he fell in love with the sport of cycling.

"The rehab process has been slow and quite frustrating but I've had ONE Pro Cycling to focus my attention on," he told insidethegames.

"Anyone that's been through a long rehab knows you have your dark days and cycling has been something that has kept me going.

"I can go and do a four-hour bike ride and the rest of me will be in pieces but my Achilles feels great, so I've kept doing that.

"Quite quickly I got the bug and then I've got into it more and more."

Matt Prior (second left) spoke passionately about his newly-formed ONE Pro Cycling team at the launch party in London ©ONE Pro CyclingMatt Prior (second left) spoke passionately about his newly-formed ONE Pro Cycling team at the launch party in London ©ONE Pro Cycling







It seems now that the South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman has turned what started out as a hobby into a potential career for once he hangs up his gloves, whenever that may be.

But even so, enjoying going out for the occasional bike ride in picturesque scenery is still a long way from even talking about setting up a professional cycling team, let alone launching one.

After conversations in bars and meetings aplenty, the concept was in place and after the soft launch in December, where the team members were announced as was a small list of sponsors, Prior and Chappell's dream became a reality, and they are now ready to enter the daunting world of cycling, armed with hungry, raw young talent and passionate coaching staff.

Ambition is very much a buzzword among the group, and the team are clearly not just looking to make up the numbers.

"When I was 15 years old I never just wanted to be a professional cricketer; I wanted to play for England, to win Ashes series' and to play in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground)," he said.

"You always want to reach the highest level you can and this is no different. If you're a cycling team you want to be involved in the biggest races, like the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, and getting there is our main dream.

"It is for now though a distant goal. We're not sitting here saying that's going to happen in a year because that would be laughable. We know we've got a lot of hard work to do before we can start thinking about that."

For all the excitement and enthusiasm etched all over his face, it may seem to those sceptics among the vast sporting arena that launching a cycling team in this day and age represents a challenge in itself, and not just logistically or financially.

Lance Armstrong's admission to prolonged doping throughout his career ensures cycling will always be tarred with the same brush ©Getty ImagesLance Armstrong's admission to prolonged doping throughout his career ensures cycling will always be tarred with the same brush ©Getty Images



The sport has been plagued with a miasma of doping scandals for decades, culminating in the Lance Armstrong case, which will see cycling forever tarred with the same toxic brush, but Prior didn't shirk the question when asked how his team will combat the issue.

"Every sport has its issues and no sport is without pros and cons," he said.

"It's a big issue but it's very simple for us - we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any of it and all our riders know that.

"One of our big principles is doing things the right way and the guys have bought into that and I can't see us having any problems."

Even when talking about a subject that has caused widespread controversy, he speaks with genuine enthusiasm about all things cycling, but there remains an elephant in the room.

Kevin Pietersen. That book. "The Big Cheese."

In the Pietersen book, the batsman, widely regarded as one of the best this country has ever seen, accused Prior and others of instigating a bullying culture within the England dressing room.

Pietersen claimed Prior walked around calling himself "The Big Cheese," and in a slightly childish manner, he made several sly digs about the wicket-keeper's love of cycling, insinuating that he had no clue about the sport.

It would have been remiss of me not to ask, especially seeing as the story dominated the back-pages and news bulletins for months, however it is a subject he would have discussed a million times since Pietersen released his autobiography in October of last year.

That being said, Prior, who has seven Test match hundreds to his name, was more than willing to answer the question, before it was swiftly swept under the carpet.

"Ultimately it was just sad that one of the most successful periods in English cricket was tarnished," he said.

"But the way I look back on it is that they were the best years of my life in an England cricket shirt and I take a huge amount of pride in playing for my country in that era."

While being the chief executive of a professional cycling team represents something completely different for Prior, who became the first wicket-keeper to hit a century on debut in 2007, he exudes a determination to one day pull on the England test cricket shirt again, and at the age of 32 that isn't beyond all realms of possibility.

He admitted that he must treat both his cricketing career and his cycling venture as "separate entities" and that once he has regained his fitness, claiming back his spot in the England team is his number one priority as he bids to help a cricketing nation exit the doldrums they so often find themselves in.

Matt Prior admitted a return to the England side was "a long way off" but didn't rule out pulling on the shirt again in the future ©Getty ImagesMatt Prior admitted a return to the England side was "a long way off" but didn't rule out pulling on the shirt again in the future ©Getty Images



His experience says it all as he was part of the team that were ranked on top of the Test rankings in 2011 and he has been involved in no fewer than three Ashes series victories.

It is so easy to forget how scarce those used to be.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I'd have thought anyone slightly mad to suggest that Prior would be launching his own cycling team at 32, and it still feels odd to be talking about his cricket career as if he has already retired.

"I'm so far off playing cricket again and in all honesty it's not really something I've thought about yet, but you never say never and I don't think you've seen the last of me, "Prior added.

"But I think getting back into the England team is going to be as much of a challenge as getting the ONE Pro Cycling team to the Tour de France."

While this may be the case, Prior is not put off by the daunting challenge that lies ahead of his newly-formed team.

Le Grand Fromage looks ready for an assault on Le Grand Tour.

Liam Morgan is a junior reporter for insidethegames. To Follow him on Twitter click here.

Alan Hubbard: Problems for Putin ahead of 2018 World Cup in Russia

Liam Morgan
Alan Hubbard 1Could Russian President Vladimir Putin's War Games in Ukraine become a threat not only to world peace but also to the World Cup?

Despite the current uneasy truce there is growing concern - not least, I understand, within FIFA - that if Putin does not abandon his expansionist ambitions contingency plans will need to be drawn up as an alternative for the 2018 tournament scheduled to be hosted by Russia.

This is already deeply troubled because of a slumping economy caused by Russia's plunging oil revenue and Western sanctions over the Ukraine invasion.

While English football can flash the cash thanks to that record-breaking £5.1 billion ($7.8 billion/€6.8 billion) satellite TV deal, in Russia the game is on the breadline.

So much so that Putin is to call on Premier League connections to help his nation out of a financial hole over staging the event. Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea, and Alisher Usmanov, Arsenal's second biggest investor, are among the oligarchs being asked to assist in the bankrolling of a World Cup in danger from both the Ukraine situation and an impending domestic recession.

The Russian Sports Minister Vitaliy Mutko has already announced a ten per cent cut in the World Cup's original $22 billion (£14.3 billion/€19.3 billion) budget while FIFA president Sepp Blatter, apparently alarmed at a potential crisis, has suggested the number of venues could be reduced.

So far this notion has been rejected, though Mutko says Russia will be looking to simplify the design of the World Cup stadia without compromising FIFA's requirements.

Russian oligarchs like Roman Abramovich may be forced to dip into their deep pockets to help the nations' World Cup preparations ©Getty ImagesRussian oligarchs like Roman Abramovich may be forced to dip into their deep pockets to help the nations' World Cup preparations ©Getty Images



The stadiums are only a small part of the overall construction for the World Cup. There are 11 host cities that will require new highways, airport expansions, train links, metro lines and giant hotels that are unlikely to be used again - as has happened in Sochi, scene of Russia's last global sporting extravaganza, the $51 billion (£33 billion/€45 billion) Winter Olympics a year ago.

For Sochi, the Russian Government produced a detailed plan of infrastructure to be built - from arenas to new sewage works. By contrast, it's unclear what projects will be commissioned for the World Cup, apart from the stadiums. Plans for the World Cup infrastructure - rail lines estimated to be worth $14 billion (£9 billion/€12 billion at the time - have been repeatedly revised and are likely to be reviewed further.

The rouble's plunge also means the price of building materials will soar, causing the World Cup to far exceed its original budget.

Sochi has seen few benefits from hosting the Olympics. Promises that the Games would solve problems such as poor transportation and electricity remain unfulfilled.

Unlike Sochi, it was planned for the World Cup to be largely funded directly by the Kremlin, either through the federal budget or state-owned companies, with only a few oligarchs asked to put their hands in their deep pockets.

Mutko now confirms the Kremlin are looking to attract more substantial investment from private donors, but he would not say who these might be. However other Russian sources say Putin plans to call in favours from obliging oligarchs such as Abramovich and Usmanov.

The latter, said to be Russia's richest man, is also reportedly loaning nearly £4 million ($6 million/€5.5 million) to cover the salary of national coach Fabio Capello.

Russia's manager Fabio Capello reportedly received a helping hand in being paid his substantial yearly wage ©Getty ImagesRussia's manager Fabio Capello reportedly received a helping hand in being paid his substantial yearly wage ©Getty Images

While Sochi witnessed the most expensive Games, Winter or Summer, in history, it is already evident that the World Cup will not be anywhere near as lavish as President Putin had demanded. And if the economy worsens, it could end up being run on a shoestring.

Or perhaps not at all should the situation in Ukraine escalate into military conflict with the West.

Which, say some observers, is why Putin - surely too shrewd a cookie to risk not only national ignominy but international opprobrium by putting the World Cup at risk - may be spurred towards a permanent political settlement over Ukraine.

But first he needs to get Russia's super-rich émigrés on board, probably by offering substantial tax incentives in return.

Sam Greene, director of King's Russia Institute at King's College London, says: "There seems to be something of an emerging understanding that the Government will help the titans of the economy to maintain the liquidity they need to stay in business.

"In return for that, they remain quiet, they remain loyal, but they also maintain employment and they keep moving money through the economy."

And no doubt into the Kremlin's World Cup coffers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely need financial help if his country are to deliver the World Cup they have promised in 2018 ©Getty ImagesRussian President Vladimir Putin will likely need financial help if his country are to deliver the World Cup they have promised in 2018 ©Getty Images



Yet despite the growing uncertainty, a recent opinion poll showed that most Russians expect the World Cup to be good for the economy and believe the Winter Olympics also brought an economic boom. A boom which has now gone bust.

As it happens the World Cup is not the only major sports event to be affected by economic pressures brought about by plummeting oil prices.

Edmonton, known as the oil capital of Canada, has been forced to abort its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games again. Instead it says it will be reluctantly "re-focussing" on 2026" - leaving the field open for the only other bidder, Durban.

This may be good news for South Africa, but not for the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) as there appears to be dwindling interest in staging the event.

This begs the question of how many other oil-producing countries may have to re-think any future involvement with World Championships and other international sports events if the black stuff sends them spiralling into the red.

Perish the thought that it could happen to Qatar, who have a whole host of them lined up, including of course the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Yet only last month Royal Dutch Shell and its partner Qatar Petroleum ditched a $6.5 billion (£4.3 billion/€5.7 billion) petrochemicals project in the Gulf state,  the latest sign of the broadening impact of falling oil and gas prices on the region's energy industry.

Obviously this is no time to be thinking of pouring oil on sport's troubled waters.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

Nick Butler: Almaty 2022 have showcased an impressive bid but much work remains

Nick Butler
Nick Butler Since it officially began in the autumn of 2013, the race for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics has produced twists and turns galore, demonstrating once again just how many factors are at play when bidding for a major event.

Following the mass withdrawals of Stockholm, Kraków, Lviv and Oslo last year, the only opposition to a second Games in Beijing in a generation comes from Almaty, the largest city and former capital of Kazakhstan which is being inspected this week by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Evaluation Commission.

Midway through a visit to the city to cover the event, I have to say that Almaty's plan appears much how a Winter Olympics should be, a picturesque city in the shadow of mountains and a pleasing blend of old and historical facilities with state-of-the-art new ones.

But, as we all know, having sound technical proposals are only one part of a strong bid, and it is for other reasons that Beijing remains the strong favourite in the two-horse race.

Having never attended an IOC Evaluation Commission before and boasting only one Olympic Games on my résumé, in Sochi this time last year, I am perhaps not in the best position to fully analyse the merits of the bid. Yet it comes across as well-balanced and fully in line with the reforming air of Agenda 2020, the series of 40 reforms passed by the IOC at its Session in Monte Carlo in December.

First and foremost, Almaty is an attractive city, which blends its Soviet past with its Kazakh present, with archaic monuments, mosques and Orthodox Christian churches placed alongside skyscrapers and sweeping shopping malls. More than any other previous Winter Olympic bid of recent years, the city is at the heart of Almaty 2022, with venues for ice hockey, ice skating, curling, ski jumping, sliding sports and Nordic combined all within the city centre itself.

Almaty's bid blends old venues, such as the Shymbulak Resort, with modern ones, with all in compact locations close to the city ©ITGAlmaty's bid blends old venues, such as the Shymbulak Resort, with modern ones, with all in compact locations close to the city ©ITG



The Sanki Jumping Hills, developed ahead of the 2011 Asian Winter Games, is considered among the best facilities in the world, and will provide stunning backdrops of the city centre that should conjure memories of the similarly iconic diving venue at Barcelona 1992.

Further up into the mountains we have Medeu Skating Rink, the old Soviet venue 1,600 metres about sea level where around 120 world records have been set, with a new roof to be installed in order to deem it suitable for speed skating during the Games. A 15 minute cable-car journey away, we have another iconic Soviet remnant, the Shymbulak resort where downhill and super G action would take place, while further around we have new facilities for biathlon, snowboarding and cross country and freestyle skiing, all of which should have a strong legacy benefit for local communities after the Games.

Compactness and sustainability - encapsulated by bid slogan "Keeping it Real" - are the key themes of the bid, and with no venue more than 30 kilometres from the Olympic Village, this really does seem to have been achieved.

After many recent Winter Olympics consisting of long journeys between mountain and city clusters, this would be a return to an older format, in a new but really quite traditional winter city, much more so than a Sochi or, dare I say it, a Beijing. It would also help open up a new country, which, in some parts of the world, is still known more for the film Borat starring Sacha Baron Cohen than anything else...

For point of comparison, the Chinese capital would be 190km away from the mountain sport venue at Zhangjiakou and, although a new high speed rail line would reduce travel time to under an hour, it is claimed surely not everyone could journey this way and the massive spending required is far less in line with the message of Agenda 2020.

We will find out more about Beijing's bid when the IOC visit next month but Almaty's, for which eight of the 14 proposed venues are completed and another three are already being constructed for the 2017 Winter Universiade, should certainly compare favourably.

It would offer much that is attractive to the IOC and sports federations alike, not to mention for the athletes, spectators, media and general public.

But, then we come on to Almaty's weaknesses.

Some of these are general and also apply to Beijing, with alleged human rights abuses an obvious place to start. Yes, Kazakhstan is clearly a somewhat authoritarian state, with only one President in its 24 year history, but as we have seen, if no Western countries are prepared to bid, we have to accept that such systems of Governments have strengths as well as weakness and a bid cannot be shut out because of a report by Human Rights Watch.

And, as I have been reminded whenever I have mentioned "HR" issues during my visit, China, but also the United States and other so called "democratic" nations, do not have flawless records either.

A monument to Kazakh independence next to the proposed medals plaza for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic in the centre of Almaty ©ITGA monument to Kazakh independence next to the proposed medals plaza for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic in the centre of Almaty ©ITG



Yet the sense I have got is that Kazakhstan is a more open country than many others. Combining around 130 ethnic groups, it does seem a tolerant society, with Russians and Kazakh, an 63 per cent majority ethnic group of Turkic origin, combining without obvious friction alongside Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Uighurs, Tatars, Germans, South Koreans and other groups repatriated here during the Soviet era.

Kazakhstan has not been embroiled in a serious conflict since independence, and while it is hard to accurately assess, there does seem genuine respect for the nation's longstanding President, the 74-year-old former steel worker Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has managed to revive a coherent national identity, introduce successful market reforms attracting vast foreign investment and strategically balance the nation between Eastern and Western spheres.

It is thus much more complex than a question of a dodgy human rights record, although bid officials would do well to handle the inevitable questions on the matter from international media with more understanding and clarity they did at last night's press briefing, where the question generated a somewhat brusque and confused response.

While less so than in Beijing, air pollution in Almaty, where smog gets trapped within the valley, is another challenge, although one they are already striving hard to improve.

A layer of smog pictured above Almaty ©ITGA layer of smog pictured above Almaty ©ITG



A third issue, and one that does appear more controllable, is doping questions following the listing of cyclist Alexander Vinokourov as an ambassador on the bid website. While the 41-year-old reigning Olympic road race champion remains a sporting legend in Kazakhstan, he is synonymous with a tainted era of cycling everywhere else, and, with doping questions having been so important in the 2020 race, he is surely a risk that a bid striving to make up for lost ground can ill afford.

Then we come onto the more profound challenges, such as communicating the bid to both the public and the IOC.

From about April to maybe July last year, we at insidethegames had Almaty down as the narrow favourite in the 2022 race, with Beijing still seemingly uncertain about their commitment to a contest they had probably initially entered mostly to get winter bidding experience.

But from August, when eight major sponsors were unveiled by Beijing, they have got their act together, making all the right noises and hiring experienced public relations agency Weber Shandwick, who played a key role in Tokyo 2020's bidding success, to support their cause.

Almaty, on the other hand, stuttered and stalled, making little effort with communication, and surviving rather than utilising the opportunities provided by their presentation at November's Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly in Bangkok. At one stage, it almost felt like they were being persuaded to remain in a race they had little interest in, predominantly to ensure a contest continued.

In recent weeks, this has changed with a plethora of international consulting appointments, including of Terrence Burns, managing director of Teneo Strategy, who worked on Pyeongchang's successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and Andrew Craig, head of The Craig Company, who worked on London 2012, spreading the "Keeping it Real" message.

Although it has been slightly lower key, I am told, than previous visits, with less sporting demonstrations and flag-waving supporters present for instance, this is surely a indicator of post-Agenda 2020 austerity, with the IOC having replaced the bid cities in financing the visits. The major complaint we have had is the lack of access we have so far had to the IOC - except for a five minute "no questions" photo shoot - not Almaty's fault but hardly evidence of new openness and transparency.

Considering Almaty's head of media operations Bermet Askar was put in intensive care with a fractured skull after being hit by a car while en-route to meet us all for the first time on the eve of the visit, the Bid team have done a very good job, with virtually impeccable organisation and a never-ending drive to keep us entertained and informed.

The question remains though as to whether this is a case of too little too late.

And then we come onto the final and perhaps biggest obstacle, which is the question of Government support. Yes, there were utterances from the Minister for Foreign Affairs Yerlan Idrissov yesterday that the authorities support the bid.

But what is required is a clear and unequivocal statement from President Nazarbayev that he supports a Winter Olympics staged wholly in Almaty, rather than Astana, the city 1,200 kilometres to the Northwest he made capital instead of Almaty in 1997.

The question of President Nursultan Nazarbayev's overwhelming support for the bid still seems slightly unclear ©Getty ImagesThe question of President Nursultan Nazarbayev's overwhelming support for the bid still seems slightly unclear ©Getty Images



As far as I can tell, this has not yet clearly happened, and certainly not in a public sense. With the President in his seventies and having ruled for so long, there must also be some feeling of risk that his death before 2022 could trigger a power vacuum and thus instability which would disrupt preparations, but a clearer signal now - as Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has done - would go a long way to abating this fear.

Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov was due to meet the IOC Commission tomorrow, which would have been one good step, but he is now unable to attend due to political distractions in Astana. When asked about political support tonight by insidethegames, bid vice-chairman Andrey Kryukov insisted it was unequivocal, adding that they thought it was more important to get statements from the President closer to the decisive vote in July than now.

But, from my perspective, Almaty should still seek more decisive Presidential backing, modify their list of ambassadors and then focus over and over on communicating better their strong bid, which blends sustainability with a traditional winter concept.

Of course, we know that not all IOC members necessarily vote based on the technical strengths of one bid over another, but, if Almaty 2022 can do all of this, they will have at least a fighting chance.

And, in a race that has already surprised much, who would bet against more surprises before the IOC membership make their final decision at its Session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31?

Nick Butler is a senior reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Daniel Etchells: England's women's football team miss chance to shine under rare media spotlight

Daniel Etchells
Daniel Etchells ©ITGDifferent gender but the same old story. My first experience of watching England's women's football team play live in their 1-0 defeat to the United States at Milton Keynes Dons' Stadium MK last night was largely a reflection of supporting their male counterparts for as long as I can remember - uninspiring, dull and ultimately frustrating.

With the BBC cameras on them and the nation ranked second in the world in town, you'd probably be within your rights to expect that the Lionesses would be up for putting on a strong performance for the 14,369 spectators who turned out to see them continue their preparations for this year's FIFA World Cup in Canada. 

Arriving at the Stadium, I paid £5.00 ($7.70/€6.80) for my ticket having paid an extra couple of quid to park my car. I questioned at the time how that was logical, but after putting myself through an hour-and-a-half of what can be described at best as a "flat" England display, I came away thinking that a handy parking space and quick getaway home had given me much better value for money.

I must make it clear that this is by no means a criticism of the US team who demonstrated why they're one of the powerhouses of the women's game. Although they didn't lay siege to England's goal by any stretch of the imagination, they never really looked as though they needed to with forward Alex Morgan's first-half header proving enough to settle the contest. Their only real moment of panic came when goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris was forced to tip Fran Kirby's shot onto the crossbar, after which Jodie Taylor's rebound was controversially ruled out for offside.

Although television replays showed the goal should have stood, anything but a US win would have been unjust on the night. England flattered to deceive and my overriding feeling was that they'd missed a fantastic opportunity. Yes, it has to be taken into account that they're currently in pre-season ahead of the fifth edition of the Women's Super League, which starts next month, but with media coverage of the women's game in this country so scarce, the chance to promote it in front of a national television audience passed them by as far as I'm concerned. 

The United States' Alex Morgan headed home the decisive goal in the first half ©Getty ImagesThe United States' Alex Morgan headed home the decisive goal in the first half
©Getty Images




Women's football has a long way to go to earn the respect of your "typical" male football fan, many of whom I could hear to be subversively mocking the action at Stadium MK with audacious cries of "shoot" as either one of the two teams held possession in their own half. At times, it seemed like certain sections of the male audience had come down to have a bit of a laugh and a few cheap beers as a preamble to their Friday night out on the town.

This sort of mockery of the women's game can't be condoned but in order for it to be taken more seriously in England, the quality of football on show has to be better than that displayed last night. The US provided enough evidence that it's achievable with a composed and accomplished passing game which seemed to be beyond England's capabilities for the most part.

Perhaps the fact it's pre-season made it the wrong time to put them under the spotlight, and maybe in a few months' time we will see a much more vibrant and energetic team grace our screens as the World Cup comes into sharper focus. Having lost their previous international 3-0 at home to Germany, FIFA's top-ranked team, improvement is definitely required if they're to have an impact on the latter stages of the tournament in Canada.

The US, two-time World Cup winners, arrived at Stadium MK on the back of Sunday's (February 8) 2-0 defeat to France, who England face in their opening World Cup match on June 9. If France, ranked third in the world, are two goals better than the US, it's a good job England have a few more months to prepare for that encounter.

England's Jodie Taylor found the back of the net in the second half but it was wrongly ruled out for offside, ensuring victory for the United States ©Getty ImagesEngland's Jodie Taylor found the back of the net in the second half but it was wrongly ruled out for offside, ensuring victory for the United States ©Getty Images







After playing the French, England go onto meet Mexico on June 13, followed by Colombia on June 17. With Mexico currently ranked 25th in the world and Colombia 28th, a place in the round of 16 should be well within sixth-ranked England's grasp. If indeed they do advance to the knock-out stages, and dependent on whether they finish first or second in the group, they will face either the runners-up in Group E, which contains Brazil, South Korea, Spain and Costa Rica, or the second-placed team in Group B, which features two-time champions Germany, Ivory Coast, Norway and Thailand.

Prior to a final friendly on home soil in April, England will take part in the Cyprus Women's Cup between March 2 and 12. The tournament, which has been held annually since 2008, is made up of 12 teams divided into three groups of four. Australia, Finland and The Netherlands await England, winners of the competition in 2009 and 2013, and will all be vying for top spot in Group B and a place in the final.

The 18 days between now and their first match against Finland on March 4 will allow time for reflection on the defeat to the US and give head coach Mark Sampson the opportunity to pick the bones out of a below-par performance. He remained upbeat after the match claiming that his team had learned they can be a threat on the counter attack, but it's now up to England to get back on the front foot and show they have what it takes to challenge for the game's ultimate prize.

Daniel Etchells is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Alex Kelham: Agenda 2020 behind the headlines

Duncan Mackay
Alex Kelham ©Lewis Silkin'Faster, higher, stronger: progress is hard-wired in to the Olympic ideal. So it follows that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unanimously agreed a new "'strategic roadmap" to carry the Olympic Games forward through the 21st century.

The Agenda 2020 initiative put forward by IOC President Thomas Bach in December 2014 included forty (20+20) "recommendations". Their aim being better promoting the Games and Olympism, particularly to youth, strengthening the role of athletes, good governance, ethics, and reform of the IOC.

These recommendations have garnered considerable column inches. The media had generally focused on a handful of the recommendations including: the addition of protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to the Olympic Charter (Recommendation 14); the potential for multi-city or even multi-country bids to host the Games (Recommendation 1); and a change in emphasis in the sports programme with the removal of the 28 sport cap for the Summer Games but instead limiting the number of events and participants (Recommendations 9 and 10).

However, very little has been written about the impact that implementation of some of the recommendations will have on commercial rights and use of the Olympic brand. Some of these recommendations are relatively subtle and simply follow what Organising Committees of the Olympic Games (OCOGs) have already been doing. 

Others, like the proposal for an "Olympic Channel" could, however, have as profound an impact as the introduction of the IOC "TOP" global sponsorship programme did in 1985. The latter is now a $1billion per quadrennial programme which supports the Olympic Movement and provides a worldwide marketing platform for the 10 TOP sponsors.

Thomas Bach's Agenda 2020 has grabbed plenty of headlines ©IOCThomas Bach's Agenda 2020 has grabbed plenty of headlines ©IOC

An observation before looking more closely at these commercially-focused recommendations: while the focus of the media reports may be elsewhere, the identity of the individuals chosen to lead the relevant IOC Working Groups suggests that these issues were far from peripheral in the eyes of the IOC. The Working Group dedicated to the Olympic Channel was chaired by President Bach himself.

President Bach's recommendation to launch an Olympic Channel is ambitious, but frankly obvious, and probably essential if the IOC is to achieve its aim of better engaging with youth and securing the future of the movement. The Channel will not be alone in this space, with others already ahead of the game.  The International World Games Association launched a YouTube channel last year and SportAccord aired its "Sports United" joint venture with Euronews in January. However, compared with the Olympic Channel's aspirations, these are relatively small fry. The proposals suggest the Olympic Channel will be far more commercial, with a budget of over half a million dollars for its first seven years. So what will this investment produce?

It is not proposed that the Olympic Channel will carry live coverage of the Games - the rights holding broadcasters (RHBs) have invested very considerable sums for the exclusive broadcast rights and would have something to say about that. Instead the content will be historic, including previous Games footage, educational, and promotional, highlighting "Olympism in Action", for example. It is also proposed that coverage of Olympic Sports which don't otherwise have a broadcast platform could be featured, making the channel the "home of Olympic Sport". The intention is to give Olympic fans the opportunity to engage with Olympic Sport 365 days a year, rather than 16 days once each quadrennial.

While this sounds great, there will be significant challenges. Lawyers will have to carefully examine the extent of the exclusivity already granted to RHBs and, if not managed carefully, RHB's may feel their investment is threatened by the Channel. The IOC's sponsorship model will also have to be considered in a new light: the Olympic Games famously provide "clean" venues, free of advertising. Even the IOC website remains advert-free for now.

But it appears that this approach will not be taken with the Olympic Channel. There are indications that the Channel could be a platform for TOP sponsors to air branded content about their activations, as well as being offered regular commercial slots. But will the IOC accept advertising from outside the TOP family?

At the moment it appears the Olympic Channel will be a single global platform. Will OCOG or National Olympic Committee (NOC) sponsors, who are normally restricted to domestic visibility in the host/home country, be given any opportunities to advertise on the channel? And if carrying coverage of other events to promote Olympic Sports outside the Games, how will the IOC deal with the sponsors of such events?

Will TOP sponsors accept that their competitors, perhaps paying relatively small fees to become title sponsors of a minority sport event, could gain global profile on the "Olympic Channel"?

Recommendation 34 states that the IOC will develop a global licensing programme. This will cover an "Olympic Collection (five-rings plus vision value message), Olympic Heritage Collection (previous Games editions), and Olympic Games Programmes (future Games editions)". This sounds uncontroversial and the purists will be pleased with the emphasis "on promotion rather than on revenue generation".

However, OCOGs and NOCs which currently run their own domestic licensing programmes will no doubt be wondering what impact a global programme will have on their sales. This will also be of great interest to sportswear brands, such as Adidas and Nike which sponsor NOCs, with the view not only of gaining an association with the Olympic team but also to selling Olympic-branded products to the general public.

‎Sponsors may also raise their eyebrows at Recommendation 36: "Extend access to the Olympic brand for non-commercial use". Listed in the Recommendations without further explanation, this appears to be a fairly cavalier approach. However the IOC's "Context and Background" document does contain caveats which may offer some comfort:

"- Prioritise non-commercial use/entities, based on contribution to the Olympic Movement/Olympic Games.

- Maintain balance between inclusiveness and integrity of the brand, to avoid fragmentation of the brand message.

- Continue to protect TOP Partners against ambush and unauthorised use of Olympic IP.‎"

It is unclear what impact the Olympic TV Channel will have on the IOC's TOP sponsors ©Getty ImagesIt is unclear what impact the Olympic TV Channel will have on the IOC's TOP sponsors ©Getty Images

Recent OCOGs have successfully established non-commercial licensing programmes, such as the London 2012 Inspire Mark. This was a variation of the London 2012 logo, without the Olympic rings, which was granted to non-commercial entities running sport, social and cultural projects which were inspired by the Games and promoted the Olympic values. The Inspire Mark is quoted as a possible model for adoption by the IOC.

However, no mention is made of the detailed vetting, licensing and approval processes which London 2012 undertook to ensure that there were no sponsor conflicts or ‎misuse of the brand. Current sponsors of the Olympic Movement will be keen to ensure that such rigour is maintained.

Other Recommendations emerging from the Working Group on "Strategic review of sponsorship, licensing and merchandising" seeks to help NOCs with their marketing efforts and their domestic team sponsorships. They also seek to encourage TOPs to engage with NOCs and to promote Olympism at the local level. Such recommendations emphasise that TOPs are more than simply sponsors; they are "The Olympic Partners".

Finally, it is worth returning to Recommendation 1 and ‎considering the impact of the Games being hosted in multiple cities, or even multiple countries. The Recommendation appears to recognise that there will always be a primary "host city" but provides for the involvement of other cities or "in exceptional cases" other countries (although only for geographical or sustainability reasons).

It seems inevitable that the IOC will demand the same standards and guarantees from all Local, State and Federal Governments that are involved. One such guarantee relates to the protection of the Olympic brand and the prevention of ambush marketing. This has led to the passing of specific legislation in the host countries of past Games, such as the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 in the UK, and the Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act 2007 in Canada ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Passing and implementing such legislation is no simple matter. For example, the introduction of detailed legislation to protect against ambush marketing at Rio 2016 has been delayed by the political landscape of Brazil.

Specific legislation in the UK protected the official London 2012 sponsors from ambush marketing - however imaginative ©Getty ImagesSpecific legislation in the UK protected the official London 2012 sponsors from ambush marketing - however imaginative ©Getty Images

The idea of having to go through the same process for two countries, ensuring consistency in law and enforcement, is a challenge which will no doubt give the IOC and future OCOG lawyers a headache. Parliamentary scrutiny in democratic countries means that even if two co-operating Governments sought to ensure similar provisions were initially proposed, they are ultimately likely to end up with significant differences in law.

Sponsors may be happy to accept a degree of inconsistency, provided the same fundamental protection is in place. However, there is a concern that doubling the legislative burden could simply deter these special measures entirely.

Interestingly, despite UEFA's demands for protection to be in place for football's Euro Championships in 2020, the multi-city/country model for that event - it will be hosted in 13 cities across Europe - has perhaps led to a dilution in protection. For example, there is no promise from the UK Government to implement anti-ambush legislation when it hosts the semi-finals and finals of the competition in London. Would a dual-country Olympic Games suffer the same fate?

So, while the focus of the media reports may be elsewhere, sponsors, broadcasters and those interested in commercial rights issues should watch with keen interest how these recommendations are implemented. Like an athlete in training though, the challenges and hard work that the recommendations will necessitate will surely have positive results in the long run.

Alex Kelham is the head of Lewis Silkin's Sports Group, where she helps clients focus on managing, exploiting and protecting their commercial rights. She was previously the senior lawyer for brand protection at London 2012. A former swimmer, she won a gold medal and two silvers at the 1994 Commonwealth Games for England at Victoria 1994.

Mike Rowbottom: Edmonton's 2022 recall provokes memories of painful false starts at its 2001 World Championships

Mike Rowbottom
mike rowbottom ©insidethegamesThis week's news that Edmonton has aborted its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games because of economic pressures called to mind - well, mine at any rate - a previous false start in the capital of Canada's Alberta region.

Had the plummeting price of oil not had such an effect on the economy of a city known as the "Oil Capital of Canada" then the Commonwealths might have returned 44 years after they were first staged there. And 21 years after Edmonton hosted the World Athletics Championships.

Now, however, the recall gun has fired on the Edmonton bid team, which has reluctantly announced it is "re-focussing" on 2026 - leaving the field open for the only other bidder, Durban.

Reg Millley, President of Edmonton's Bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, has conceded economic pressures have forced the city to postpone its efforts until 2026 ©Getty ImagesReg Millley, President of Edmonton's Bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, has conceded economic pressures have forced the city to postpone its efforts until 2026 ©Getty Images

It was in Edmonton, on the eve of those World Championships, that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decided at its Congress to introduce a controversial new ruling on false starts.

For most of track history, runners have received a warning after making one false start, and have been disqualified if they made a second. Since the Seventies, that has meant reacting to the gun inside a tenth of a second, deemed to be the limit of human capability.

What the IAAF - which had arrived in Edmonton as the International Amateur Athletic Federation, confirming the change to its current name during that same Congress – did in August 2001 was simple and unsatisfactory.
The new rule - which came into effect in 2003 - meant that in events up to and including the 400 metres there could be one false-start, from anyone in the field, which did not incur disqualification. But if any runner, whether the one who had incurred the first false start or not, jumped the gun again, they were disqualified.

The thinking behind this was clearly to avoid lengthy hold-ups before races got underway. Live athletics audiences, for obscure reasons, are turned swiftly surly by false-starts, particularly if there is more than one. And above all, of course, such delays adversely affect the paramount operation of the TV schedulers.

In 2001 the world and Olympic 400m champion Michael Johnson, in Edmonton to work for NBC Television, commented: "I know a lot of the athletes are against it, but again, you have to understand that this is a business."

The men's marathon field gets underway at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton. But there were false starts elsewhere... ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe men's marathon field gets underway at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton. But there were false starts elsewhere... ©AFP/Getty Images

Be that as it may or may not be, over the next few years it became clear that some sprinters, perhaps those not best known for their own blistering starts, were working the system by deliberately using up the allowable false-start to put extra pressure on their rivals.

In 2009, this false-start rule was acknowledged as being a false-start in itself as the IAAF Congress agreed for a simpler ruling: all false starts incur instant disqualification (it has become known as the "one-and-done" false start rule).

Two years later the re-modified rule produced the highest profile victim you ever did see when Usain Bolt, Olympic and world 100m champion, was disqualified before the 100m final at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu.

That rule persists however, although it was significantly modified ahead of the London 2012 Olympics when the IAAF permitted athletes to move in the blocks without being disqualified so long as their hands do not leave the ground or their feet the blocks.

Previously, twitching or flinching in the blocks has resulted in disqualification - most controversially when US athlete Jon Drummond, recently banned for eight years for doping offences as a coach, was ejected from the 100m quarter-finals at the 2003 World Championships in Paris after equipment registered movement in the blocks.

Drummond insisted, repeatedly, "I did not move", and staged a lay-down protest on the track, eventually holding up proceedings for almost an hour before leaving the track in tears.

So much for the Edmonton false-start false start. It was not the only one of those Championships, however.

The change to the starting rules was opposed by all the countries which have, historically, provided the fastest runners, namely France, Germany, Russia, the United States and Britain, for whom UK Athletics President David Hemery made an impassioned speech.

But the alterations were constitutional, whether ultimately effective or not.

Usain Bolt is disqualified from defending his world 100m title in Daegu in 2011 as a result of changes to the false-start rule ©Getty ImagesUsain Bolt is disqualified from defending his world 100m title in Daegu in 2011 as a result of changes to the false-start rule ©Getty Images

Such could not be said of the false start made in the women's 5,000m by Russia's Olga Yegorova.

A month before the Championships got underway news leaked out that Yegorova had tested positive for the banned blood-booster, erythropoietin (EPO), but that the result had been invalidated on a technicality.

The general consensus was that Yegorova should not have started at the Championships. But she did, in extraordinary circumstances.
She ran against numerous athletes who wore red ribbons on their shirts as symbols of their desire for an effective testing system to eradicate EPO misuse.

When she ran her heat, a group of British athletes in the stands, including Paula Radcliffe, held a banner with the words "EPO cheats go home". During the final she heard the chant go up "EPO, go-go-go".

When she won, people booed. She took no lap of honour. Olympic champion Gabriela Szabo called her "a robot".

At the medal ceremony she stood inert, hands by her sides, like someone facing a firing squad. One of the other medallists had boycotted the ceremony in protest at her inclusion. When she received her medal, there were more boos.

Olga Yegorova pictured after winning the world 5,000m title in Edmonton in 2001, a month after her positive test for banned blood-doper EPO was annulled on a technicality ©Getty ImagesOlga Yegorova pictured after winning the world 5,000m title in Edmonton in 2001, a month after her positive test for banned blood-doper EPO was annulled on a technicality
©Getty Images

At an excruciating post-race press conference, she concluded: "Ah, it's just a piece of metal. If you want I can give it to you...it's just sports. But life goes on...should I have finished second or third to please the crowd?"

The temptation at the time was to respond to this rhetorical question with an answer along the lines of "Yes. Second or third would have been better than first. And fourth or five would have been better than second or third. And not at all would have been best of all."

But looking back now, in the light of the disturbing recent signs in Russia which appear to evidence a systematised doping regime, Yegorova appears less of a she-devil and more of a victim.

It would be good to think, if the Commonwealth Games do eventually return to Edmonton in 2026, that there will be no such besmirching events for either track and field or any of the other sports involved. Please God the Athlete Biological Passport does not prove to be another false start...

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. To follow him on Twitter click here.

David Owen: How will PASO now move to fill the void left by Vázquez Raña?

David Owen
David OwenHe was one of the most formidable Olympic leaders of recent times, but like many formidable leaders, he seems to have lacked the succession planning gene.

Mario Vázquez Raña's passing leaves a void at the heart of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO).

Not only was the 82-year-old Mexican, as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach put it this week, still heading PASO "even until his last moments", he had been President almost half his life, having assumed the role in 1975, year of Margaret Thatcher's election as leader of Britain's Conservative party and the fall of Saigon.

When the Presidency of a body has not changed hands for that long, it is almost inevitable that uncertainty will ensue once the era finally does end.

But with major international events and meetings planned for the Americas in every one of the next four years - including the little matter of South America's first Olympic Games - it is in everyone's interest that this uncertain period does not drag on.

This is my assessment of what the next few months might hold in store.

Mario Vázquez Raña had held his post as PASO President since 1975 ©Getty ImagesMario Vázquez Raña had held his post as PASO President since 1975 ©Getty Images



In his capacity as first vice-president - tasked by statute with substituting for the President "if the necessity arises" - Ivar Sisniega, 56, another Mexican, will probably take over the reins once the initial shock has subsided.

With his consensual style and bilingualism, he appears well-equipped to act as interim leader while his PASO colleagues ponder the course they now want to plot.

Regional sports leaders will presumably gather in Mexico at some point soon to celebrate the life of one of the last Big Beasts of Samaranch-era sports politics.

As a practical step, it might make sense to hold at least an informal meeting of the PASO Executive Committee at that juncture.

The chief aim would be to secure agreement that no-one will rock the boat ahead of the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games in July and August; ensuring that these are as successful as possible must be the current priority.

That presupposes no leadership contest at the General Assembly that will precede those Games.

With regime change such a rare phenomenon at PASO, it will not, of course, be possible to stop campaigning from getting under way well before the summer; indeed it already has.

But it will be vital to avoid major distractions that could shift focus away from the Games and efforts to ensure that as many big name athletes as possible participate in them.

Sisniega, who is mentioned by some as a possible long-term successor as PASO President, could in theory serve out the remainder of Vázquez Raña's final term, remaining in situ until 2016 with no new election.

This clearly could give him maximum scope for establishing his leadership credentials.

Brazils Carlos Nuzman is seen as a leading candidate to succeed Mario Vázquez Raña ©Getty ImagesBrazils Carlos Nuzman is seen as a leading candidate to succeed Mario Vázquez Raña ©Getty Images





But it might suit others as well: if I were Brazil's Carlos Nuzman, who is seen as a leading candidate to succeed Vázquez Raña, for example, I imagine I might prefer for the PASO election to be delayed until after Rio 2016 has dazzled the world.

The other leading potential candidate, along with Nuzman and Sisniega, is thought to be José Joaquín Puello of the Dominican Republic.

While both he and Nuzman are in their 70s, it is suggested that a transition candidate to prepare the way for the next long-term leader might be no bad thing, as PASO is transformed from a creature, essentially, of a single individual into something much more modern and transparent.

As yet, though, the situation seems quite fluid, with the name of Richard Peterkin, the business-minded and approachable IOC member from Saint Lucia, one of a number to surface when other alternative potential candidates are discussed.

If the United States or Canada were to propose a candidate, moreover, it is widely accepted that their chances of winning would have to be taken very seriously.

While the election could be delayed until next year, there may well be considerable pressure, given that PASO has been ruled by one man for fully four decades, for a contest to be held during the last four months of 2015; on balance, this seems perhaps the likelier alternative.

This brings us to another element of uncertainty: voting entitlements.

At present, as it was explained to me, each of the 41 PASO National Olympic Committees (NOCs) has a vote, and an extra vote is granted for each time a country has hosted the Pan American Games.

St Lucia's Richard Peterkin is considered an outside candidate to become the new PASO President and replace Mario Vázquez Raña ©Getty ImagesSt Lucia's Richard Peterkin is considered an outside candidate to become the new PASO President and replace Mario Vázquez Raña ©Getty Images



This, of course, increases the voting power of larger nations, particularly Mexico, which has hosted on three occasions.

A statute review process is, however, in train.

At the recent PASO General Assembly in Puerto Vallarta, it emerged that an Executive Committee meeting to discuss this would take place in March.

Whether this meeting now goes ahead remains to be seen.

I suspect that the issue may prove all the more delicate to resolve now that an election is on the horizon: if one candidate surmises that reform would work in his or her favour, it stands to reason that a rival would probably conclude the opposite.

Should a straight one country one vote system be adopted, the influence of PASO's Caribbean members in particular would be increased, especially if they were to vote en bloc.

But if change cannot be agreed, the status quo, presumably, would prevail, to the advantage of candidates favoured by the larger countries.

You sense that strong leadership may be required if the optimum system for PASO is to be identified and driven through at a time when emotions may well be running high.

Irrespective, it is clear that a period of extensive and significant change for PASO is about to get under way.

Discussing this with regional sports leaders in recent weeks, it is apparent that one of the most widely-anticipated changes is a future switch in the location of the organisation's headquarters.

Miami is widely cited as the most likely new base.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Alan Hubbard: It's time rugby sought the advice of boxing over tricky issue of concussion

Liam Morgan
Alan Hubbard 1Being knocked unconscious is an unpleasant experience in any sport, whether it is in the ring, on the playing field, or, as that incredibly brave National Hunt champion jockey AP McCoy will testify, on the racetrack.

Here is a man whose body has suffered more bangs and bumps than an old dodgem car in a fairground.

By coincidence McCoy's announcement that he plans to quit at the end of another record-breaking season came on the weekend when rugby again became embroiled in a row over an international player who was ko'd on the pitch - twice in this case - but allowed to continue despite new rules being introduced to emphasise the sport's duty of care to prevent such potentially dangerous occurrences.

Understandably there has been an outcry after Wales permitted their star wing, 22-year-old George North, to carry on after TV pictures showed him slump motionless to the ground, suffering a 61st minute head injury in the Six Nations clash with England at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

North had already passed a now statutory Head Injury Assessment (HIA) after being accidentally kicked in the face in the first half.

Yet World Rugby guidelines say that any player even suspected of losing consciousness should be taken off to avoid risking potentially fatal "Second Impact Syndrome". The game's global governing body rightly has demanded a full report and said that North should not have stayed on the pitch, but they accepted the Welsh Rugby Union's explanation that neither the team medical staff nor the independent doctor had sight of the incident.

Their concern is justified. Concussion has become an increasingly vexed issue for rugby, which since the advent of full-scale professionalism is very much a game of muscle and macho.

The concussion debate reared its head once again after George North was knocked out twice during Wales' Six Nations defeat to England ©Getty ImagesThe concussion debate reared its head once again after George North was knocked out twice during Wales' Six Nations defeat to England ©Getty Images



A series of incidents involving concussion in British rugby union has been followed by a disturbing report which revealed that American footballers exposed to repeated head injuries showed significant levels of early onset dementia and were almost 20 times more likely to suffer long-term neurological problems than the wider population.

The decision to allow North to play on - which Wales coach Warren Gatland defended saying the "correct medical procedures" were followed - has drawn widespread criticism from outside and within the game.

The former England captain Lewis Moody tweeted: "Why was George North not taken off? A terrible decsion by the medics. Out cold."

And former Scotland international Rory Lamont asked: "Knocked out twice in one game and still on the pitch. How is this happening?"

How indeed. Or more pertinently, why?

Guidelines say players who have suffered a suspected concussion should be taken from the field for up to five minutes for an evaluation by a doctor before they are allowed to return. There have been calls for the period to be extended to 15 minutes but, if World Rugby makes a change, it is likely to be 10 minutes.

Instead doctors will be given a video of the incident which led to the injury to help them determine whether a player may have suffered concussion, and a review panel will be created to investigate if a player is allowed to return to play when it is later revealed that he was concussed. There used to be a minimum three-week rule but that was relaxed with each case being treated individually.

This is far too risky a scenario. Perhaps it is time rugby - and other contact sports – sought a meeting with the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC). They might learn something.

We have been hearing a lot recently about the effects of concussion on rugby players and I believe there is much to be gleaned from the way boxing deals with severe head injuries and the possible after-effects.

Rugby can take lessons from boxing where any boxer who is stopped in a fight is not free to return to action for 28 days ©Getty ImagesRugby can take lessons from boxing where any boxer who is stopped in a fight is not free to return to action for 28 days ©Getty Images



It may not be generally known that in this country any boxer who is stopped in a bout is suspended for at least 28 days, regardless of the circumstances. Should he actually be knocked out or has suffered excessive punishment to head or body, he would receive a minimum suspension of 45 days, which would include sparring, and in either case no boxer would be allowed to fight on until receiving medical clearance from a BBBoC doctor.

In extreme circumstances this would include a further brain scan, in addition to the scan and MRI that boxers must take annually.

Compare this to rugby - and football too - where there are growing worries about the alarming brevity of head-injured players returning to action, as North did, often only after a few minutes.

Over the years there has been an apparent lack of concern for this type of life-threatening injury and neither rugby nor football - as well as most other contact sports - have reached the levels of protection and after-care that have existed in British boxing for some time.

I bet there are more brain-damaged rugby players around these days than punchy ex-pugilists.

Curiously, too, you never see boxer now with cauliflower ears but in rugby they seem a badge of honour, an accepted occupational hazard for those in the scrum.

Of course in any sport there can always be a freak accident, as sadly there was with the death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, and the tragic skiing incident that has left the seven-time formula one champion Michael Schumacher paralysed.

Equestrian sports, especially McCoy's National Hunt racing, see many more serious mishaps -and deaths - than you get in boxing.

AP McCoy's sport of horse racing often sees more accidents and injuries than boxing ©Getty ImagesAP McCoy's sport of horse racing often sees more accidents and injuries than boxing
©Getty Images



Of course, boxing will always be an inherently dangerous sport because of its very nature. Everyone in it accepts that. It has had its share of tragedies. But the BBBoC and licence holders have worked hard to make it safer than it has ever been.

Safety regulations have been upgraded since the unfortunate 1991 Michael Watson incident and advice from leading neuro-surgeons like Peter Hamlyn has been taken on board. The promoter Frank Warren also helped finance and set up a system whereby boxers get regular brain scans.

Now there are always two or three doctors at the ringside with paramedics and an ambulance on standby at the arena.

Warren tells insidethegames: "I am not knocking rugby. Like boxing, it is a game of hard knocks. I love the sport and was involved in the Nineties as owner and chairman of Bedford RFC.

"Three of my sons, Francis, George and Henry, played rugby, one for his university and the others for their school. I watched them often and was more concerned about them getting seriously hurt on the rugby pitch than had they been in the ring. One of them was knocked out cold and it worried me stiff.

"I have seen rugby players obviously badly concussed get a splash from a cold sponge, a whiff of smelling salts and be sent back into the fray. Very macho. But with what consequences?"

New concussion measures were brought into football after Hugo Lloris sustained a nasty head injury in Tottenham's match with Everton last season ©Getty ImagesNew concussion measures were brought into football after Hugo Lloris sustained a nasty head injury in Tottenham's match with Everton last season ©Getty Images



Football is not immune to the hazards of head injuries either. The family of the late England striker Jeff Astle fought a successful battle to prove that his death was caused by degenerative brain disease brought about by regular heading of the ball. Other footballers have been similarly affected.

And new guidelines about players suffering knockouts were only brought in after the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was concussed in a match at Everton last season. Incredibly, like North, he was allowed to play on.

In British boxing, referees stop fights promptly if a fighter is in distress. Some say they often do so too quickly. George Groves still argues over Howard Foster's seemingly hasty intervention in the first world super-middleweight title fight with Carl Froch. But surely it is better to err on the side of safety - something which boxing does but other sports need to address more seriously than they appear to be doing at the moment.

With rugby sevens being introduced into the programme for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, there is a clear and present danger that the sport's Olympic debut may be mired in the sort of controversy witnessed last weekend unless rugby gets its head around concussion. Something it seems to be taking far too long to do.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

Nick Butler: Race for 2024 Olympics shaping up well but could still fizzle out

Nick Butler
Nick ButlerMuch has happened already in the first five-and-a-half weeks of 2015 in the fledgling race to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, although, when you think about it, little progress has actually been made.

To the surprise of many, Boston has been confirmed as the United States' contender while Rome will launch a somewhat implausible Italian bid. A maelstrom of other cities are supposedly considering bids, with feasibility studies and working groups galore having been convened, but nothing has been confirmed.

While with seven months to go until applications are due, this ambiguity is not unusual, the elephant in the room this time around is the impact of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Agenda 2020 reform process.

As I see it, Agenda 2020 is having exactly the impact the IOC wished it to when they unanimously passed the 40 recommendations at their Session in Monte Carlo.

It is being hailed as a radical step marking a paradigm change in Olympic bidding, encouraging cities to launch attempts when before they would have been reluctant to do so. Yes, the vagueness of the measures means that no one quite knows where these changes will be felt, or how strongly they will hit, but that is almost beside the point. Such is the potential appeal of this new era of reform that the sort of anti-bid movements seen so spectacularly in the 2022 race have not yet taken shape. They are still waiting to see how things play out. 

Thus the IOC have so far manufactured greater interest in the process but while committing only to changes that are general and vague rather than concrete and specific.

Agenda 2020 signified great change but how much occurs in practice remains to be seen ©TwitterAgenda 2020 signified great change but how much occurs in practice remains to be seen ©Twitter



Take Hungary for instance. When the bid was first muted by sporting authorities last September, Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlós dismissed speculation as "unrealistic" and "unviable" in what was taken as an apparent death knell to an effort not yet off the ground.

But the post-Agenda 2020 era brought new optimism, as Hungarian Olympic Committee President Zsolt Borkai argued how the reform measures created a "historic opportunity" for Budapest to succeed at last after five failed bids, with the nation, incidentally, having won more Olympic medals than any other that has never hosted the Games.

What exactly were these "historic changes"? Most of the extra financial support to be offered by the IOC had been introduced anyway for the 2022 bidders, even if it is now more widely known and better communicated, while commitments to "sustainability", "human rights" and "flexibility" and all the rest of it are too vague to really mean anything.

It is the commitment to hold more events outside the host city in order to capitalise on pre-existing venues which has generated the most headlines, but it will be interesting to see to what extent this actually happens in practice.

South Korean organisers gave a resounding no to plans to move events overseas, although considering holding them in North Korea, a country it is still technically at war with, never seemed feasible. Yet given the logistical constraints of dealing with different countries, not to mention the impact of international politics and diplomacy, I can never really envisage a joint bid getting off the ground. A bid co-held across different cities in a single nation seems slightly more plausible but still unlikely, with calls for a South African attempt for 2024 taking in Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg similarly impractical.

IOC vice-president John Coates has encouraged Tokyo 2020 to move events for reasons of sustainability ©Getty ImagesIOC vice-president John Coates has encouraged Tokyo 2020 to move events for reasons of sustainability ©Getty Images



More likely is a bid holding a few events outside the main host city for reasons of practicality, as is beginning to happen with Tokyo 2020. Yet is this really that different to previous Games, like London 2012, where sailing and football were held outside the host city and various other sports were held in the suburbs and far-reaches?

Whatever their rhetoric, the IOC must be reluctant for venues to decentralise to too great a degree, lest they dilute the atmosphere generated by having a central focal point for the Games, as was seen so memorably in Stratford in London 2012, as well as legacy benefits brought in by this redevelopment.

It is hard to predict at the moment whether the opposition will continue to simmer rather than boil, as seen with the various anti-Boston 2024 groups so far, or reach the feverish levels that scuppered Winter Olympic bids of Oslo and others last year.

For Boston it depends largely on how the campaign is conducted, both in gaining the trust and support of the public, as well as of the IOC members, whose love of America appears to be slowly rising but cannot be taken for granted.

IOC President Thomas Bach summed it up well on his United States visit last week, complementing progress but warning how they have to "undertake all efforts" and "get their team together" and then have to "run with the absolute determination to win, but also to know that in the right moment, everything has to come together".

Boston is in many people's eyes the early favourite in the race for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, but a lot of work lies ahead ©Getty ImagesBoston is in many people's eyes the early favourite in the race for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, but a lot of work lies ahead ©Getty Images



For Rome surely - and, possibly, also Budapest and Paris if green lights are given following the completion of feasibility studies - economic uncertainty is likely to prove too much. Current Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi appears far more positive than the more austerity-minded Mario Monti was in 2012, but with Rome being bailed out yet again by the Central Government last year and with concerns remaining over the running of the city, it is a long-shot.

In the wonderful words of one opposition politician, it is "like painting an old Fiat 500 red and hoping people will believe it's a Ferrari".

Much of the same could be said about Berlin, with memories lingering of the violent protests which accompanies its ill-fated bid for the 2000 Games in the early 1990s, particularly as a referendum has already been confirmed if the bid goes ahead.

This suggests Western Europe's largest non-capital city Hamburg could be the best bet when the German Olympic Sports Confederation selects its choice on March 21.

As it was to a large extent in the 2020 race, an Istanbul bid would likely be scuppered more by geopolitics than anything else, with ISIS forces ever closer over the Syrian border and increasing instability between secular and Islamist forces at home. And if the Bosphorus city is to bid for a major event, surely the 2019 European Games would be a better and more achievable bet?

Of other possibilities, economic problems in Russia have surely put paid to the likes of St Petersburg or Kazan launching bids, while Azerbaijani authorities would have to move quickly after June's inaugural European Games to get an attempt from Baku up and running.

That leaves the Gulf, with Dubai and more probably Doha likely to launch an attempt. The fact the Qatari capital is hosting the 2019 World Athletics Championships and a certain football extravaganza three years later is unlikely to put it off, and if anywhere could pull off all three it would be Qatar.

Even so, it would hardly do wonders for the IOC as they strive to be seen as fair and open and Doha strikes me as a strong and reliable contender rather than a popular winner. Although, that said, many thought exactly the same about Almaty and Beijing in the 2022 race.

April's SportAccord Convention in Sochi followed by July's IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur will be key staging posts in the pre-bidding process ©Getty ImagesApril's SportAccord Convention in Sochi followed by July's IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur will be key staging posts in the pre-bidding process ©Getty Images





So for me, the race is Boston's to lose, but they certainly have the capability to lose it.

The opposition will come from either a "safer" option like Doha or Baku, or from one of those harder-to-predict European bids, Hamburg or Paris, maybe on the centenary of the last Summer Games held in the city.

Keeping the era of Agenda 2020 reform enticingly in the forefront will be key for IOC officials and bidding cities alike, enabling people to remain interested enough to prevent opposition movements gaining the narrative.

How far the IOC are in practice prepared to permit this reformist zeal to continue will therefore have a profound effect on how events pan out.

Nick Butler is a senior reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Hilary Manners: London 2012 equestrian legacy lives on as focus shifts to Rio 2016

Nick Butler
Hilary Manners ©Hilary MannersThe 2012 Olympic Games might be a distant memory, but equestrian's legacy lives on as the focus shifts to Rio 2016. Five key British players from the Greenwich-based team are sharing the experience they gained in 2012 with those involved in the 2016 Games.

Tim Hadaway, Equestrian Competition Manager in 2012, joined the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) staff in 2013 as director of a newly created Games and Championships Department. Not only is he involved with Rio, but he is starting to work with the Canadian Organising Committee for the FEI World Equestrian Games 2018, and Tokyo 2020 is already featuring on his horizon.

"Mine is an ongoing role," he explains. "I make sure that the relevant requirements are followed, and provide advice and guidance as necessary to the various Organising Committees.

"It's a pleasure to be working alongside my core London colleagues, and rewarding to know that we patently put together an unparalleled team. We are lucky to have such a depth of experience in Great Britain, and to see its continued involvement at the highest level is a real legacy of the last Games."

Many of the equestrian officials involved at London 2012 will be present again at Rio 2016 ©Getty ImagesMany of the equestrian officials involved at London 2012 will be present again at Rio 2016 ©Getty Images



The FEI has appointed London Eventing Manager Alec Lochore, as Eventing Technical Delegate and 2012 Para-equestrian dressage manager Amanda Bond, who now runs all things equestrian for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, is back as technical delegate of the Para-Equestrian Dressage.

"Great Britain has such a long tradition of equestrian sport; it is a very supportive environment where knowledge is passed on," Bond said. "For me, Rio will be a new experience; as technical delegate I sit on the other side of the table from the Organising Committee and that will be a challenge, given I was with the Committee for both London and Beijing [2008]. It's a great honour that the FEI put their trust in you to help deliver the Games, but at the same time, a bit nerve-wracking."

"At the highest level, the FEI make these key appointments, and it is a reflection of both Alec and Amanda's experience in their relevant disciplines," adds Hadaway. "Add Stephen Renouard and Jenny Hall into the mix and you have something of a dream team."

London 2012 Jumping and Dressage Manager Stephen Renouard has been brought in as Equestrian Consultant for Rio 2016, and Jenny Hall, Veterinary Services Manager in 2012, is engaged as Veterinary Consultant. These appointments underline the success of the Olympic equestrian events in 2012, and the esteem in which its key players are held worldwide.

Alec Lochore not only has the experience he gained in London, along with 16 years of running Horse Trials in Great Britain, he is also a 3*/4* course designer and previously competed at the highest levels. "I'm sure the experience I gained in London will be an invaluable asset. An understanding of how both Olympic Organising Committees and the International Federation interact and work is a key requirement," he says.

Replicating the success of the London 2012 three day eventing cross country course will be a major challenge in Rio de Janeiro ©Getty ImagesReplicating the success of the London 2012 three day eventing cross country course will be a major challenge in Rio de Janeiro ©Getty Images



"Technical Delegate for Rio is a role I was very proud to accept, and having recently made my first visit to the venue I am even more excited. The Deodoro cluster is going to be an exciting place to be, with rugby, hockey and modern pentathlon only a stone's throw from the National Equestrian Centre, which is a great facility in itself. There are a total of nine sports in this area so it will have a real Olympic buzz.

"Rio will have different challenges to London, but the scale of knowledge sharing is a great development in the sport. It's not just competitive success that marks the legacy of 2012. A wonderful legacy from Rio 2016 would be to strengthen and develop equestrian sport in this global region, and this will be achieved largely through knowledge transfer."

Jenny Hall agrees: "The depth of our knowledge transfer is very much a legacy from London - a 'soft' legacy that it is easy to overlook," she said. "It would be safe to say that we were all on a massive learning curve in Greenwich. For me, I knew what the end result needed to look like, having been a team vet, but I had limited event management experience. My role this time around has been about developing people who have all the ability but, as was the case with us, have not had the experience of delivering an Olympic Games. It has been incredibly rewarding to pass on what I have learnt and play a small part in what I'm sure will be a very successful event."

Stephen Renouard has a wide ranging advisory role for Rio. "One of my key responsibilities at the start was to review the venue design. The footprint exists and the basic facilities are in place, but for an event as prestigious as the Olympic Games things not surprisingly need an upgrade. I have to make sure that the right systems and infrastructure are in place, and this is where I can draw from my time in Greenwich; what could we have done better with hindsight?

"Equestrian is different to other sports. Departments within the Rio Team [Functional Areas] providing ancillary services, such as transport, results, even the architects need to be educated as to the different requirements. They are specialists in their field but there is no reason why they should understand horse sport; this is always the case, and a problem we had to overcome in London too.

"For me the challenges are greater away from home. I'm not just educating people but I am also learning a different culture and systems - it's a two-way thing, and a fantastic opportunity to give back to the sport, a role that I relish."

Equestrian events at Rio 2016 will be held at the National Equestrian Centre in the Deodoro Cluster, pictured in August 2014 ©Getty ImagesEquestrian events at Rio 2016 will be held at the National Equestrian Centre in the Deodoro Cluster, pictured in August 2014 ©Getty Images



Other senior posts have been filled by esteemed French cross country course designer Pierre Michelet, responsible for the track at last year's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy; and the experienced Ataide Pereira from Brazil who takes on Tim Hadaway's role as Equestrian Competition Manager, having been assistant technical delegate at Sydney 2000, London 2012 and the 2014 World Equestrian Games.

"The right management team can make or break any event. Without exception, challenges will come along that threaten a successful outcome," Bond points out. "It is the way a team pull together with gritty determination to find a solution that makes the difference.

"And if you can have a bit of fun along the way, all the better!"

Hilary Manners is a long-standing equestrian journalist, and press officer for three international horse trials in Great Britain.

David Owen: Why we should wait to pass judgement on this week's broadcasting deal for golf's Open Championship

Nick Butler
David OwenFree-to-air or pay-TV? This debate on the most beneficial form of broadcast coverage for sport got another airing in the UK this week, after Sky wrested live rights for golf's Open Championship away from the BBC, starting in 2017.

The smart answer to the question is probably, "Both"; this, after all, is what the most popular sporting attractions seem to manage.

Take football: live Premier League coverage has taken the pay-TV route in the competition's domestic market, with the outcome of a new auction, yielding more colossal sums, expected imminently as I write.

But World Cup matches remain free-to-air for UK viewers; and the BBC's Match of the Day top-flight highlights programme is a broadcasting institution.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which sets great store in Olympic coverage being made available to as many people as possible on a free-to-air basis, has meanwhile reacted to the fast-developing digital media landscape by agreeing gatekeeper deals across all platforms while insisting that free-to-air coverage remains an important part of the mix.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, it is worth underlining that most sport played in the world has next to no value as content for mainstream broadcasters.

This is one of the reasons why the IOC is now investing heavily in a media channel which should help to increase exposure for many sports beyond the narrow confines of their quadrennial Olympic Games programmes, when the magic dust sprinkled by the five rings logo multiplies their appeal for an all too limited period.

An Olympic Television Channel is to be launched after delegates at December's IOC Session in Monte Carlo unanimously backed plans ©IOCAn Olympic Television Channel is to be launched after delegates at December's IOC Session in Monte Carlo unanimously backed plans ©IOC



This week's golf deal reminded me of comments made to me last July by an expert who has studied golf markets for three decades.

Alluding specifically to the UK, Stephen Proctor of Sports Marketing Surveys Inc opined that free-to-air coverage of golf was now "very, very low".

While pay-TV programming offered excellent coverage, it was, he said, "preaching to the converted".

Given that participation rates in Great Britain, the sport's most mature market, have been falling in recent times, you might be forgiven for questioning the wisdom of the Open deal on the grounds that, while it produces jam today, it could trigger an acceleration in this participation decline.

Bear in mind that a Sports Marketing Surveys Inc study I looked at last summer put the average age of "avid" golfers, defined as adults playing at least once a week on a full-length course in Britain, at 63.

I suppose there are three answers to that:

First, the availability of the Open Championship live on free-to-air television has not stopped the decline from setting in.

Second, it will still be possible to follow the event free-to-air via a two-hour daily highlights programme, as well as the BBC's excellent live radio coverage.

From 2017 British viewers will no longer be able to watch The Open, won by world number one Rory McIlroy in 2014, on free-to-air television ©Getty ImagesFrom 2017 British viewers will no longer be able to watch The Open, won by world number one Rory McIlroy in 2014, on free-to-air television ©Getty Images



One should also point out that the meagre menu of live golf action available to free-to-air viewers in the UK is soon to be augmented by the revival of Olympic golf.

This might happen only once every four years from Rio 2016, but it is an innovation whose impact is well worth monitoring, not least because the women's competition will probably get as much coverage as the men's in countries with live medal prospects.

Third, and I think most importantly, it seems logical to surmise that the net effect of this week's deal on participation in the sport is likely to depend on how much extra money the Royal and Ancient (R&A), golf's governing body, is getting and what that money will be used for.

Unconfirmed figures I have seen reported suggest that the new five-year deal was priced at £75 million ($114 million/€101 million), equivalent to £15 million ($22 million/€20 million) a year, up from £7 million ($11 million/€9 million) a year under current arrangements.

If that is anywhere near correct, the R&A will have doubled its money from this property, although it is possible, I suppose, that sponsorship income might edge down if corporate backers conclude that new broadcasting arrangements may result in their logos being exposed to fewer eyeballs.

If a substantial chunk of that extra cash is earmarked for a concerted drive to identify the factors behind falling participation and to devise effective ways of reversing the phenomenon, then the ultimate verdict on this week's deal might be positive in the long term as well as the short term.

The comments of R&A chief executive Peter Dawson, as reported by the BBC, suggest that this is the plan.

Dawson spoke of "increasing our financial support to initiatives in Britain and Ireland in getting to grips with participation in golf.

He went on: "We need to have a real go at it, and have a good analysis of what the participation issues are, and I think that is one of the great things to come out of this arrangement."

Interestingly, cricket - another sport with plenty of well-heeled fans but which can also take a long time to play, presenting similar challenges in how to accommodate it on a mainstream, general interest channel - went the pay-TV route in the UK nearly a decade ago.

Cricket in England does not seem to have been particularly affected by no longer being shown live on free-to-air television ©Getty ImagesCricket in England does not seem to have been particularly affected by no longer being shown live on free-to-air television ©Getty Images



Since then, while it is undoubtedly true that no contest has lodged in the popular consciousness as indelibly as the epic 2005 Ashes series between England and Australia, nothing dramatic has happened to participation levels: Sport England data indicate that 0.44 per cent of the adult population played once a week between April 2012 and 2013, compared with 0.48 per cent between October 2005 and 2006.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) informs me, meanwhile, that more than £150 ($228 million/€202 million) million has been invested since 2006 "to help strengthen the game", including the recruitment of over 45,000 more grass-roots coaches.

I have to say that it does strike me as odd that no Twenty20 matches can, as far as I know, be seen live on free-to-air TV in the UK, when this relatively new, quickfire format seems an obvious route into the game for kids.

But, nearly a decade on, there doesn't yet seem to be much in the way of hard evidence suggesting that the switch of live Test Match coverage to pay-TV has damaged the game.

It will probably be prudent to wait at least this long before attempting to draw definitive conclusions about what this week's deal means for golf.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Mike Rowbottom: Sound thinking from England as they face the Millennium Stadium din

Mike Rowbottom
mike rowbottom ©insidethegamesAs part of their preparations for tomorrow night's opening 2015 Six Nations match in Wales, England's rugby union players have been training in front of loudspeakers to mimic the effects of playing within a stadium - the Millennium Stadium in this case - where the crowd noise is so loud you can't hear yourself think.

Will it work? Time - eighty minutes plus added-on - will tell.

I've covered a few football games in the Millennium Stadium, including the 2005 Football League Championship play-off final in which West Ham gained a place in the Premier League at the expense of Preston North End thanks to a goal from Bobby Zamora.

There's a hell of an atmosphere in that stadium. And when Zamora struck 12 minutes into the second half - it was buzzing. That was with the roof open.

Bobby Zamora - and a few others - celebrate what turned out to be the only goal of the 2005 Championship Play-off final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium ©Getty ImagesBobby Zamora - and a few others - celebrate what turned out to be the only goal of the 2005 Championship Play-off final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. 
©Getty Images

Two years ago, England's Grand Slam ambitions went west as they were smashed 30-3 by Wales under the closed roof of the Millennium Stadium. The match was played in a furnace of Celtic fire.

Wales's wily Kiwi coach, Warren Gatland, challenged his opposite number Stuart Lancaster last month to play their upcoming match under another closed roof.

Lancaster, particularly light right now of regular first teamers following a glut of injuries, very sensibly elected not to take up Mr Gatland's kind invitation to play in another Welsh bearpit. The agreement was that both teams had to want the roof to be closed, or it would remain open to the elements.

But the habitual volume of Welsh support which reverberates around this superbly designed stadium, roof closed or open, has persuaded Lancaster to send his men out training this week at their Pennyhill Park base with loudspeakers replaying the kind of crowd noise they will be expecting tomorrow evening. They have even been playing hymns.

England's rugby union players in training this week at Pennyhill Park ahead of tomorrow's night's opening Six Nations game against Wales in the Millennium Stadium ©Getty ImagesEngland's rugby union players in training this week at Pennyhill Park ahead of tomorrow's night's opening Six Nations game against Wales in the Millennium Stadium
©Getty Images

"It is to try to replicate for the players who have not been there how sound reverberates," said Lancaster.

It's a weird thing with stadiums - stadia, if you insist. When it comes to atmosphere, capacity is almost an irrelevance.

For years Arsenal's home until 2006, Highbury, had the nickname - among visiting rather than home supporters - of "The Library", a reference to the hush which would sometimes descend upon the stadium in despite of its post-Taylor report capacity of 38,419.

Okay - Arsenal now have a 60,000 capacity stadium just down the road from what is now a customised, high-end housing development in which the listed Art Deco East Stand and West Stands are preserved and incorporated.

I've covered a fair few matches at both the Arsenal grounds - and the Emirates also has its becalmed moments, although once roused, the home faithful still generate a fair old din within.

But, to quote one of The Beatles most beautiful tunes, There are Places I Remember, all my life, though some have changed...

Roker Park.  I was there one rain-drenched Saturday in 1990 and heard the thing I'd previously only heard about: the Roker Roar. It was engulfing.

Danny Blanchflower, fabled captain of the Tottenham Hotspur 1961 Double-winning team, once said that having travelled the world the Roker Roar was the most awesome display of support he had ever experienced. Praise indeed from a man who was never afraid to voice an unpopular or dissenting opinion.

I also remember Plough Lane - home to Wimbledon's self-styled Crazy Gang - soon after they had earned their upstart 1-0 FA Cup final win over Liverpool in 1988. The capacity was below 20,000 - the record attendance was the 18,080 which turned up to watch a 1935 FA Amateur Cup tie - and when I visited the figure was well below that.

But the din, under a tin roof - unbelievable! That atmosphere, allied to the fear factor of players such as John Fashanu and Vinnie Jones, was enough to unhinge the competitive intent of visiting teams.

Last summer I was happy to report on a hugely eventful European Athletics Championship in the reconstructed Letzigrund Stadium at Zurich. The atmosphere was grand, assisted in no small part by the hyperactive efforts of the mascot, Cooly, who was an undercover athlete - decathlete in fact - of high talent.

But the new stadium lacks the ear-buzzing potentialities offered by the old version, which I first visited in 1989, when Roger Kingdom produced the highlight of the evening with a world 110m hurdles record of 12.92sec.

Scotland's Liz McColgan running at the Weltklasse meeting in Zurich's old Letzigrund Stadium in 1991 ©Getty ImagesScotland's Liz McColgan running at the Weltklasse meeting in Zurich's old Letzigrund Stadium in 1991 ©Getty Images

I recall being astonished at the noise levels generated by those in the stand away to my right, beyond the finish line, as they saluted successive athletic efforts, their roars reverberating within the low roof, while those at the front thumped the advertising hoardings into tribute.

In more than a quarter of a century reporting on athletics (OH MY GOD) I have never heard anything to match the old Letzigrund, although Oslo ran it close at times. It was like a being in a football crowd.

The England rugby preparation is an intriguing, but by no means original approach to match preparation. It put me in mind of the work done by the British archery team in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics.

Wales beat England 30-3 in 2013 under a closed roof in the Millennium Stadium. Tomorrow night the roof will be open - but the din will still be enormous ©Getty ImagesWales beat England 30-3 in 2013 under a closed roof in the Millennium Stadium. Tomorrow night the roof will be open - but the din will still be enormous ©Getty Images

Two years after the Delhi Commonwealth Games, where well-meaning but partisan crowd noise had a clear effect on archers at a number of key points within competition, Alison Williamson and her fellow archers spent hours practising at Lilleshall to a background of recorded crowd noise.

For the Olympic trials the noise levels rose still further as more than 1,000 local schoolchildren were invited in to bang drums, blow whistles and raise their voices.

"The letters of invitation said 'Please make as much noise as possible'," recalled Williamson.

"It might even have asked for the noise when the archers were shooting. I had an eight-year-old a few feet away from me screaming at the top of her lungs - you have to ignore it."

Sometimes it's not the noise of opposing fans that provides the potential distraction - it's that of your own supporters.

Last year, for instance, Australian Rules Football Club Port Adelaide had to prepare for matches in their own revamped stadium, the Adelaide Oval, to recordings of their own crowd.

Such was the noise level in an arena whose curved roof structure retained and redistributed sound from spectators that the Port Adelaide boys were having trouble hearing each other's instructions on match day above the roar provided by their fans.

A similar approach was taken by British Paralympian cyclist Mark Colbourne as he prepared for the 2012 Games by downloading crowd noise off YouTube and playing it to himself as he trained for the coming cacophone of the Olympic Park Velodrome.

In the arena where Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Victoria Pendleton and Laura Trott had wheeled to glory earlier in the month, Colbourne - who had suffered a life-changing Para-gliding accident three years earlier - picked up a silver medal in the C1-3 kilo time trial.

Chris Hoy wins keirin gold at the London 2012 velodrome amidst a crescendo of noise ©AFP/Getty ImagesChris Hoy wins keirin gold at the London 2012 velodrome amidst a crescendo of noise ©AFP/Getty Images

"I downloaded clips from YouTube of the Olympics and the World Cup meeting here to replicate the noise. But nothing can prepare you for the volume this place generates. By the third lap, I could feel the crowd's noise vibrating my helmet, and that's when they give you the extra pedal revolution."

What hymns, I wonder, might have given England's rugby team extra pedal revolution tomorrow night? Fight the Good Fight, or perhaps We Plough The Fields and Scatter might have suited the forwards. As for the backs - Amazing Grace? I'll Fly Away?

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Sir Craig Reedie: Combating doping now is as important to society as it is to sport

Nick Butler
Sir Craig Reedie ©WADAI am often asked why sport, and in particular clean sport, matters. In 2015, with sport as commercial, as lucrative, and as big an industry as it is, why - some ask - should we work so hard to preserve the spirit of sport? A spirit that the more cynical members of our society might argue has all but evaporated.

I, and I believe the vast majority of people that work in, and have come to love, sport - would disagree with this viewpoint. Sport is a microcosm of society, and playing or competing in sport makes people better characters, and fosters the right values. It is this philosophical, purist viewpoint that constantly provides the backdrop to my work in leading the anti-doping community.

Nevertheless, what has become increasingly apparent to me through my involvement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over the years, and indeed my Presidency during the past 12 months, is that doping is no longer an issue that just affects sport - it is now as important an issue to society as it is to sport. Of that there is no doubt.

Last week, WADA, along with co-hosts that included UNESCO, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Japan Anti-Doping Agency staged the Second International Conference on the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Fight against Doping.

The very fact that this conference was even necessary demonstrates the fact that doping is no longer an issue "owned" by sport. It has become a much wider societal issue that carries significant dangers to public health, and therefore requires a global response. This line of thought now resonates with anti-doping organisations, pharmaceutical companies and Governments. The world is now listening.

Sir Craig Reedie was among the speakers at the Second International Conference on the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Fight against Doping ©WADASir Craig Reedie was among the speakers at the Second International Conference on the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Fight against Doping ©WADA



Leading global organisations including UNESCO, the World Health Organisation and Interpol all participated at the Conference because they, along with WADA, are only too aware that doping is one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Together, we know that if we do not combat doping - and its repercussions on wider public health - collectively, then the problem will continue to escalate. The top biopharmaceutical companies - Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Roche - all congregated for the Conference because they, like WADA, know that the issue is of mutual interest to both our communities.

For the anti-doping community, doping threatens the very integrity of what remains so important: clean, fair sport competed on a level playing field; that is, sport that allows talent and dedication to prosper, not sport that involves the use of prohibited substances or methods.

By working closely with the pharmaceutical industry, we in anti doping are able to identify trends of the legitimate medicinal substances that are being abused or misused by athletes looking to enhance their performance, and importantly we can then alert pharmaceutical companies to this abuse.

In turn, pharmaceutical companies can inform anti-doping organisations such as WADA of medicinal substances in their pipeline which might have the characteristics of a substance that could be of interest to dopers.

This is hugely beneficial to anti doping, as it allows our scientific experts to develop possible detection methods for these substances at an early stage, and therefore helps us stay one step ahead of those looking to cheat. The benefits of such collaborations are there for all to see.

Where WADA can offer so much to combatting doping is through its own model: we are comprised 50 per cent from Government and public authorities and 50 per cent from sport. This composition has proven hugely beneficial to WADA over the years, and provides us with the platform to get to the root of the doping issue. At the Conference in Tokyo, public authorities and Governments joined private institutions from the pharmaceutical industry to communicate on strategies to minimise doping in sport and society as a whole.

Many international Governments, including the US, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have donated to WADA so far ©WADAMany international Governments, including the US, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have donated to WADA so far ©WADA



This gathering was a prime example of WADA being able to unite both public and private sectors for the greater good. Sport needs Government to be able to push anti-doping to the top of the agenda.

We now hear more and more about other sporting "illnesses" such as illegal betting and match fixing - and there is no doubt these are serious issues affecting the integrity of sport - but what could be more important to sport than trying to eradicate doping, with the support of Governments?

Doping is an issue that puts seeds of doubt in the minds of the public, and unless we succeed in countering the issue, the public will wonder if what they witness on their television screens or in their sporting stadia is real.

Sport continues to play a strong role in protecting the rights of the clean athlete, but where Government can contribute greatly is in the public health domain. Sport is now a hugely lucrative industry, and there is a real area of concern with drugs being counterfeited, illegally produced, trafficked and distributed - and ultimately these drugs get in the hands of elite athletes and, increasingly, members of the public.

If Governments can introduce relevant laws, and applicable penalties to combat this abuse of substances, then police will act and the scourge of doping can be prevented.

The WADA director general David Howman brought this issue to the fore at the Conference: these substances are no longer just of use to elite athletes, but to high school students who want to increase their strength or the older generations who long for the "fountain of youth". These types of substances are not approved and they have not gone through the required health checks - put simply, we do not always know from where these dubious substances originate.

The internet means that these substances are increasingly easy to access, and that in itself is a concern. However, the danger that these substances pose to public health has, in the partnerships the anti-doping community and pharmaceutical industry are now forming, a real answer in place.

The vice-president of Pfizer, David Verbraska, provided a sporting analogy. He said: "As with every good sport's team, we all have a different role to play. We all need to play to our strengths and contribute if we are to succeed."

And that is true of pharmaceutical companies, it is true of WADA and it is true of Governments.

Multiple scandals involving Russia athletes, including Olympic steeplechase champion Yulia Zaripova, highlights the importance of improving anti-doping measures ©AFP/Getty ImagesMultiple scandals involving Russia athletes, including Olympic steeplechase champion Yulia Zaripova, highlights the importance of improving anti-doping measures ©AFP/Getty Images



So, what practical steps can we now take to follow on from the hugely productive discussions that took place last week?

Firstly, partnerships and memoranda of understanding will be an impactful way forward. Striking up partnerships with clear objectives offers a concrete solution to the issue. WADA is no stranger to this, with formal partnerships already in place with the likes of Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche and Amgen, as well as federations such as the IFPMA (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations), but we will continue to seek new ways to cover the gaps that might still exist between our two communities.

Secondly, both communities must press ahead with sharing information across borders. Evidence is rife that athletes will go to unthinkable lengths to find shortcuts to success, and it's now up to proponents of clean sport - be they anti-doping organisations, Governments, public health organizations or even law enforcement agencies - to share information that stops prohibited substances from getting in the wrong hands.

This is something the new anti-doping rules - the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code - highlights the need for.

The events of last week gave us good reason to look to the future with optimism because, despite these pressing challenges, there is a collective will from both the anti-doping and pharmaceutical communities that we must protect not just sport from itself, but the public from the serious dangers to health that these substances pose.

This resolve will motivate WADA in the months and years ahead.

Sir Craig Reedie is the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a vice-president of the International Olympic Committee. He is also the former President of the International Badminton Federation and chairman of the British Olympic Association.