jun.14.2009

GENEVA (AP) -Rugby sevens is a fashionable choice to be on the shortlist of two sports to join the Olympic Games in 2016.

The Sevens World Cup at Dubai in March showed what the short-form version of rugby could add to the games, and was apparently admired by observers sent from Olympic headquarters.

"My understanding is we got a very good report from Dubai,'' Mike Miller, bid leader and secretary general of the International Rugby Board, said on Friday.

Rugby may also have a very important friend on the International Olympic Committee executive board, which will hear pitches from the seven bidding sports on Monday.

The meeting in Lausanne is headed by IOC president Jacques Rogge, a regular in the 1970s Belgium rugby team and a passionate follower of the sport.

"Yes, he likes rugby but everyone who sees it likes it as well,'' Miller told The Associated Press, pointing to Rogge's reputation for integrity.

"He is a very honorable man and I'd say because he does like rugby he probably bends over backward to make sure we don't get any favored treatment. Maybe it works against us.''

Rogge will not have a vote on which two of rugby sevens, baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, softball and squash get to join the 26 Summer Olympic sports from 2016 onward.

The board will meet again in August to choose which two sports the full IOC membership vote on at their annual session at Copenhagen in October. That second poll could yet see both sports rejected by the members.

Rugby sevens has come a long way since the IRB launched a world series in 1999.

It is on the Asian and Commonwealth Games programs, and has been added to the Pan American Games and All Africa Games schedules for 2011.

"Rugby sevens is already a proven success in the multi-sports format,'' Miller said. "It's fast, it's exciting and easy to understand. It connects to young and family audiences. Dubai just proved all that.''

The Sevens World Cup attracted 80,000 spectators over three days of action featuring 24 men's teams and 16 women's. The Olympic proposal is for 12 teams in each gender playing over two days in stadiums shared with other sports.

"We know that when people go and see it they fall in love with it,'' Miller said. "Going to events and sitting with IOC members who hadn't necessarily seen sevens before, they were all impressed.''

Sevens was far removed from the established 15-a-side game played by three million in 116 countries, and which featured in four Olympics from 1900 to 1924.

Miller believes a gold medal would be the game's pinnacle.

If granted Olympic status, the IRB would scrap the Sevens World Cup and mandate clubs worldwide to release players for the tournament and qualifying events, satisfying an IOC request to bring the sport's best talent to the show.

The bid also expects to score well on a favorite Olympic theme of universality - giving smaller nations a chance to succeed.

The men's semifinals in Dubai featured Argentina, Kenya, Samoa and Wales, the eventual champions, while Fiji and Tonga were also competitive.

Kenya captain Humphrey Kayange will help make the presentation on Monday, joining Cheryl Soon, captain of the Australia women's World Cup winners, and Kazakhstan player Anastassiya Khamova.