Olympics: One sport set to be cast into Olympic limbo

  • Video of man hitting worker in office goes viral

    Video of man hitting worker in office goes viral

    Video of man hitting worker in office goes viral

    A clip of a man hitting an office worker – who appears to be an employee under his supervision - has gone viral in Singapore, sparking outrage and calls for the authorities to step in.

  • Former president Nathan urges more Singaporeans to volunteer

    Former president Nathan urges more Singaporeans to volunteer

    Former president Nathan urges more Singaporeans to volunteer

    “People need to feel compassion,” says former president of Singapore, S R Nathan. “Problems will always be there. You can always throw money but that will not be the solution," he said as he urged more Singaporeans to give of their time and effort as volunteers to help those in need.

  • Teo Ho Pin presses WP's Sylvia Lim for answers

    Teo Ho Pin presses WP's Sylvia Lim for answers

    Teo Ho Pin presses WP's Sylvia Lim for answers

    Worker's Party Chairman Sylvia Lim has challenged Dr Teo Ho Pin to make a report to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) if he believes that the WP had mismanaged the Town Council.

  • Singapore kindness mascot Singa the Lion quits

    Singapore kindness mascot Singa the Lion quits

    Singapore kindness mascot Singa the Lion quits

    Almost every Singaporean recalls growing up with Singa the Lion reminding you to let people exit the train first before boarding and to give up your seat to the disabled or elderly. But after 30 years of service, Singa says he needs “a long break” as he’s “just too tired to continue facing an increasingly angry and disagreeable society.”

  • Singapore appoints Bernd Stange as national football coach

    Singapore appoints Bernd Stange as national football coach

    Singapore appoints Bernd Stange as national football coach

    Former East Germany national coach Bernd Stange has been named as Singapore's new national team coach.

One sports federation will not be happy on Tuesday as the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee is set to vote in Lausanne to have a sport removed from the 2020 Summer Games.

The Executive Board will then vote at a later date on what sport should replace it at those Games with squash - which lost out to golf and rugby sevens for the 2016 edition - and karate among the frontrunners to do so.

Such decisions do not sit easily with some of the IOC members outside the EB who believe that such matters should be debated and decided upon by all of them.

They will, however, have the chance to vote their approval or not of the sport being voted off the 28 sports roster and its replacement at the IOC Congress in Buenos Aires in early September.

"I don't think it is a very good idea to have such a vote in Buenos Aires," an IOC member not on the EB told AFP.

"There is enough to be decided on there in the shape of the host city of the 2020 Games and the successor to Jacques Rogge as president.

"It is many members feelings that the sport should have been decided upon next year."

Those sports thought to be most at risk are badminton, taekwondo and modern pentathlon.

Badminton's image took a massive blow at last year's Olympics with the scandal that saw eight women's doubles players from South Korea, Indonesia and China disqualified for trying to lose matches.

The Badminton World Federation subsequently took steps to avoid a repeat.

The BWF said that in the future, following the group stage, all pairs finishing second in their groups would be placed into a second draw to determine who they face in the knockout phase.

But pairs topping their group stage would have fixed positions equivalent to seeded placings in the knockout stage.

"These should ensure such a regrettable spectacle is never witnessed in badminton again," the BWF said back in November.

Badminton also has the heavyweight support of IOC vice-president Craig Reedie and its removal would upset the Chinese.

Taekwondo has been in a precarious position for a while, although it was seen to have had a successful London Games, not least because of the gold medal won by exuberant 19-year-old Welsh star Jade Jones.

Jones's win also helped to shed the sport's image of being solely the preserve of Asian athletes - it has seen some fierce lobbying by the Koreans to preserve its status - as she told AFP last October.

"I never stop hearing about taekwondo now," she said of the sport that first entered the Olympics in 2000.

"Everyone knows about it. Before I used to be asked 'what is it?' The two medals we won at the Games have really raised awareness of the sport in the country.

"I know a lot of people have started taking up the sport and it is attracting a wider range of people which can only be good for competition."

Modern pentathlon would seem to be the most at risk.

"It is very expensive to put on and is slightly anachronistic, and doesn't look terrific on television," one IOC critic of it told AFP.

However, it gained widespread praise for its showing at the London Games and with Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior - long-time vice-president of the sport's governing body - sitting on the EB they will at least have a powerful voice arguing in their favour.

pi/cw

  • Best and worst sugar substitutes Fri, May 17, 2013

    Sugar has earned a bad reputation for being bad for your heart, your brain and your waistline. Because of this, there have been many attempts to market sugar substitutes. Some are useful, but some More »

  • Why go through a preventive double mastectomy? Fri, May 17, 2013

    Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie announced she has had both her breasts removed in February to reduce her high genetic risk of breast cancer. The surgery, called double mastectomy, brought down her More »

  • Top 8 lucrative routes for taxi drivers Fri, May 17, 2013

    For a taxi driver, a key survival skill is knowing where to find customers. As far as possible, a driver should know the routes at his or her fingertips. Hence, in this 6th instalment of Taxi Talks, More »

Loading...
  • Video of man hitting worker in office goes viral

    Video of man hitting worker in office goes viral

    Video of man hitting worker in office goes viral

    A clip of a man hitting an office worker – who appears to be an employee under his supervision - has gone viral in Singapore, sparking outrage and calls for the authorities to step in.

  • Teo Ho Pin presses WP's Sylvia Lim for answers

    Teo Ho Pin presses WP's Sylvia Lim for answers

    Teo Ho Pin presses WP's Sylvia Lim for answers

    Worker's Party Chairman Sylvia Lim has challenged Dr Teo Ho Pin to make a report to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) if he believes that the WP had mismanaged the Town Council.

  • Some Chinese tourists 'uncivilised': top official

    Some Chinese tourists 'uncivilised': top official

    Some Chinese tourists 'uncivilised': top official

    The dire manners and "uncivilised behaviour" of some Chinese tourists abroad are harming the country's image, said a top official who lamented their poor "quality and breeding", according to state-run media.