Former world boxing champion Ria Ramnarine is calling on the guardians of boxing to take note of the absence of female boxers in the country. “After the foundation set by myself and the late Giselle Salandy, it is unfortunate that there is a significant lack of women in the sport at this time.

Even the national female team is not encouraged to continue in the pursuit of their boxing goals simply because of the lack of focus and opportunities provided by the sport’s custodians”, said Ramnarine. Currently Ramnarine is the only female 3-Star AIBA certified coach in the region and has indicated that she is disappointed that women’s boxing seem to be a “thing of the past” in T&T. 
Except for the National Championships and one local boxing card which featured the female boxers, there was no other local competition for the women.

Ramnarine noted that the few women in the sport lost interest because of the lack of incentive. “All the girls wanted was to be able to put their training to use. To box. To compete. Some of them spent time at the national camp but returned to their homes and jobs after some months when it was evident that they were not being given the chance to compete. For example, Chimere Taylor has the skill to succeed on the international level, but without match practice, she gains no experience and as such, it is difficult for her to capitalise on her skills”.

There are so few women in the sport in T&T that regional opponents have to be flown in which makes it costly to promote the female bouts. However, Ramnarine believes that with the inclusion of women boxing in the Olympics, the efforts should be made to give the women boxers a chance to ply their trade. She indicated that this year they failed at an international level but attributed this to the lack of experience.

Having walked the road, albeit that of a professional, Ramnarine said it was very difficult to maintain a high level of skill, commitment and motivation without competition. She has called specifically on Boxu Potts to explain why there has been no focus on the female boxers of late. Ramnarine went on to say, “Mr Potts has been one of the promoters of women’s boxing and has been recognized internationally for his efforts.

I am asking why he is now absent from lobbying for women’s boxing. He is the special advisor to the Boxing Board of Control and I would have thought that he would have simply advised that the women boxers should be focused on as well. Having promoted Salandy and myself with great success, and although he is not actually a promoter nowadays, I think his position would allow him to properly advise the Board that we have a chance at Olympic qualification if the women are given the necessary competitions and tools to prepare”.

Noting the 2014 success of the Michael Alexander in the amateur circuit and Prince-Lee Isidore on the pro scene, Ramnarine believes that given the chance, the women can succeed also. Having been afforded the opportunity by the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee to be part of the International Coaching Enrichment Certification Program in the USA, Ramnarine indicated that she is currently working on a program to encourage more young women and girls to participate in the sport as part of her thesis. “Boxing on the whole has been in a slumber. Only the likes of Alexander and Isidore have given a shimmer of hope and they too need assistance to continue their success. I sincerely hope that the guardians of the sport can wake up before we lose all hope”, ended Ramnarine.

Source

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has exploited China's likely status as host of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to agree a bumper new broadcasting deal with China Central Television (CCTV).

The state broadcaster has been awarded exclusive rights to screen the next four Games after Rio 2016 in the world's most populous nation, in a deal believed to be worth some $550 million (£350 million/€450,000).

This is more than double the sum agreed for the same rights covering the four Games from Vancouver 2010 to Rio 2016, and reflects Asia's monopoly of Olympic hosting rights between 2018 and 2022.

With the 2018 Games earmarked for Pyeongchang, South Korea, 2020 going to Tokyo and 2022 set for either Beijing or Almaty, Kazakhstan, the IOC will be hoping for similarly substantial increases in other Asian markets.

The new deal represents a scarcely believable leap from the $17.5 million (£11 million/€14 million) paid by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union for the TV rights (excluding new media) covering most of Asia, including China, for the last Chinese Olympics in Beijing in 2008.

Even so, $550 million works out at only around $0.40 (£0.25/€0.32) per head of Chinese population for all four Games, compared with the approximately $3.80 (£2.40/€3.10)per capita paid by NBC Universal for the right to air Rio 2016 on US soil.

Thomas Bach, the IOC President, said he was "delighted that we will continue to work with our longstanding broadcast partner CCTV.

"They have demonstrated many times their ability to bring first class coverage of the Olympic Games to hundreds of millions of Chinese people.

"The revenue the IOC has secured from this agreement will be redistributed to support future organisers of the Olympic Games, as well as supporting sport and athletes in China and around the world."

Hu Zhanfan, CCTV's President, described the deal as a "win-win agreement".

CCTV was, he said, "determined to be, as always, a powerful and exceptional partner of the IOC".

Zaiqing Yu, Chinese IOC vice-president, said CCTV was a "strong supporter of the Olympic values", adding: "We look forward to continuing our partnership through to 2024."

CCTV has acquired the rights across all broadcast platforms in all languages; the deal also includes the right to broadcast all editions of the Youth Olympic Games until 2024.

Source

The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) has announced that all national sports federations will be required to include basic universal good governance principles in their constitutions.

The move comes as the National Olympic Committee continues to work on promoting the adoption of good governance and ethics across the country's sports movement.

To help the national bodies to improve their sport administration and good governance practices, the TTOC will run a number of courses every year to educate on the principles, while providing assistance with reviews and reforms in their constitutions.

Good governance is part of the principles of Olympism, according to the International Olympic Committee.

Among the basic universal principles of good governance are transparency, efficient communication, shared and controlled responsibilities, respect to all and the right to appeal about all forms of disciplinary measures.

"Improving good sport governance in Trinidad and Tobago is a priority and focus for the TTOC," Brian Lewis, the President of the TTOC, said.

"Ensuring that national sport organisations are in compliance with and adhere to basic universal principles of good governance is therefore necessary."

Source

The General Administration of Sport of the People’s Republic of China paid a courtesy call on Sport Minister Dr Rupert Griffith, Minister of Sport, and his Executive team from the Ministry of Sport and Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago. A part of this visit also includes a tour of the following mega sporting facilities which are being constructed by SporTT, namely the National Aquatic Centre, National Cycle Centre and National Tennis Centre.

The delegation, headed by Jin Hua Sheng, General Director, Human Resources Development Centre, General Administration of Sport, are here in Trinidad on an exchange visit to discuss bilateral exchanges and cooperation in sport and other areas.
The Ministry of Sport will participate in an exchange and cooperation programme with the People’s Republic of China, to strengthen collaboration in sporting excellence, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Sport and the General Administration of Sport of the People’s Republic of China.
This (MOU) was signed in China, in February 2014. The objective of this initiative is to raise the standard of performance of Athletes, while maximising Athlete and Coach Development Programmes in specific sporting disciplines. It is also anticipated that through this MOU, there will be increased opportunities to more nationals, as the Ministry strives to promote ‘Sport for All’.
In this regard, the Ministry of Sport will recruit 24 Chinese coaches in the first quarter of 2015 in exchange for 24 scholarships offered by the People’s Republic of China in the area of Sports Science. These Coaches will be qualified in the area of development and high performance in the following disciplines: table tennis, archery, gymnastics (rhythmic), badminton, shooting, swimming, synchronised Swimming and diving.
Scholarships, student and athlete exchange programmes will also target the differently-abled for the specialised training of nationals in Sport for Development, Physical Education and Sport, Sport Science and Sport Medicine.
The Scholarship Allocation includes: Sport for Development (three scholarships), physical education and sport (five scholarships), sport science (six scholarships) and sport medicine (10 scholarships).
Some of the sub-speciality areas for the above-mentioned programmes are sport facility management, sport tourism, physical education and sports training, sport and exercise nutrition, biomechanics/performance analysis, sport and exercise science – physiology, sport and exercise medicine, rehabilitation medicine and physical therapy and applied sport psychology.
Minister Griffith indicated that “he was excited about the whole bilateral agreement and is happy that as a country, we have reached this stage.”
He further stated that he “has taken note of the amount of countries that the General Administration of Sport of the People’s Republic of China have assisted and are convinced that the benefit will be great to Trinidad and Tobago in the whole collaborative effort.”

Rugby sevens' Olympic debut at Rio 2016 will be celebrated today as international stars compete in a special invitational beach rugby competition on the Brazilian capital's Ipanema coastline.

Supported by World Rugby and run by the Brazilian Rugby Union (CBRu), the competition sees the men's and women's teams representing Argentina, Italy and hosts Brazil take centre stage on one of the world's most iconic beach cities, at its busiest time of year.

The event will take place in the 1,000-seater arena on the beach and run alongside the Animal Rugby festival, which will see 150 children from across Rio, including those from a local social inclusion programmes, learning rugby basics in a fun and safe environment.

Rugby is one of the fastest-growing team sports in Brazil, and with more than 46,000 children having been introduced to it in the past two years, the CBRu and World Rugby is committed to ensuring that Rio 2016 provides a platform to inspire and engage new participants.

"We are excited about the debut of rugby sevens at Rio 2016 and the growth opportunity provided by showcasing our sport on the world's biggest sporting stage," said World Rugby President, Bernard Lapasset.

"Rugby sevens' winning blend of high-octane action, close competition and entertainment is proving a hit with young audiences, broadcasters and commercial partners and I am confident that Rio will love sevens.

"This is why we believe rugby sevens will be great for the Olympics, great for Brazil and great for rugby.

"This exciting competition, hosted at a busy time for beaches in Rio, will showcase the tremendous skill, speed and excitement of rugby and we look forward to welcoming the people of Rio to what promises to be a very special and fun event."

CBRu chief executive, Agustín Danza, added: "This event is an important milestone in the CBRu´s promotion of rugby in the build-up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

"Our mission is to bring rugby sevens to the people of Rio de Janeiro, enable them to get to know the sport, play it, interact with professional players and be able to watch some of the best rugby teams in the world live.

"The objective is to raise awareness and interest for the sport, in order to maximise the popularity of rugby at the Olympic Games."

Rugby sevens proved to be extremely popular at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games earlier this year, while an exciting competition at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games attracted a world record sevens crowd of more than 150,000.

The Rio 2016 Organising Committee is excited about the value and opportunity that the sport will bring to the Games.

"We are confident that the speed, skill and passion of rugby sevens will capture the attention and interest of people in Rio and across our sport loving nation," said Agberto Guimarães, Rio 2016 Executive Director of Sport, who met with Lapasset last month in Rio.

"Seeing the Olympic qualifying get under way recently was another exciting step on the journey towards the Rio 2016 Games.

"We are making solid progress on the venue in the Deodoro zone and continue to work closely together with World Rugby as we move from the planning into the execution phase of the project.

"We have no doubt that rugby will integrate very well into the vibrant, multi-sport atmosphere that we are creating in Deodoro for the 2016 Games."

Source

India is facing a resumption of its ban from international boxing after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) rejected Boxing India's application for national federation recognition, instead backing the controversial Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF).

This body, run by Ashok Matoria - the brother-in-law of Abhay Chautala, the IOA President when it served a 14-month suspension from the International Olympic Committee, lifted in February - was suspended by the Indian Government and International Boxing Association (AIBA) in December 2012 for not holding elections under the Olympic Charter.

But the IOA reached a unanimous decision at its Annual General Meeting in Chennai, India throwing up a difficult situation in which one body is recognised by its parent international body, while the other has the backing of the national apex sports body.

It thus leaves India at risk of a resumption of a ban from international events, lifted in February 2013 after a long-running dispute between the international body and the IABF.

"The matter was discussed at length and the Executive Committee was unanimous in its view that for the IOA, the recognised body will be the IABF," said current IOA President N. Ramachandran following the decision, flanked by secretary general Rajeev Mehta.

"There were disputes and IOA constituted an Ad Hoc Committee, but subsequently AIBA recognised Boxing India.

"IOA took up the matter with AIBA President [C K Wu].

"We wanted the elections to be held under the aegis of IOA with AIBA observers present.

"AIBA did not accept these suggestions and BI held its elections under the supervision of AIBA where neither Government of India nor IOA observers was present."

Speaking to The Times of India, BI President Sandeep Jajodia termed the move a "retrograde" one, adding that the IOA was indulging in "adhocism".

"This is an unfortunate development for boxing in the country," he said.

"We conducted free and fair elections in the presence of an AIBA observer.

"Within a month of being recognised by AIBA, we conducted the women's nationals and are set to hold the men's nationals in January.

"What logical reason does the IOA have for not offering us recognition and instead offering its support to a now-defunct IABF?

"This is nothing but an influenced move, a politically motivated one."

The AIBA bestowed full membership on BI in September, following which the latter applied to the IOA and Sports Ministry for recognition.

"Our view is that if an election of a sports federation in India is held it is but natural for the IOA to be informed," added Ramachandran.

"More so, when there is a dispute between two groups.

"Shutting out the IOA will not do good to any sport.

"Unilateral sanction by the international body cannot be accepted.

"There were numerous complaints that we received regarding irregularities during the elections.

"Autonomy of IOA cannot be compromised under any circumstance."

Source