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No Room for Girls
Australia
Two young women have been barred from
playing Australian Rules Football because of
their sex.
Madison Griffen and Jessie Mulholland
were notified of their de-registration from the
Illawarra Junior competition in June by AFL
NSW/ACT.
An AFL policy introduced nationally this
season prohibits girls over the age of 14 compet-
ing against boys. This is due largely to health
and safety reasons according to David Holmes,
the general manager of AFL NSW/ACT.
There is no girls-only competition in the
Illawarra area and now that the girls have been
de-registered, they will no longer be covered by
the club’s insurance policy making it too risky
for them to participate.
Mr Holmes asserts that the AFL’s policy is
based on medical research and legal advice. “We
have a duty of care, we need to protect the girls
and all the other participants [from potential li-
ability issues].”
Tiger Tops Sporting
Rich List
United States
Tiger Woods earned $128 million in prize
money and endorsements over the past year.
With this healthy income, he tops the Sports
Illustrated list of top-earning U.S. athletes. The
world’s number 1 golfer, Woods, 32, has earned
almost $800 million over his 13-year career.
Sports Illustrated predicts that Woods may
become the first billion-dollar athlete.
Fellow golfer Phil Mickelson is a far
second on the list at $62.4 million, followed by
basketball player LeBron James of the Cleveland
Cavaliers who earned $40.5 million in salary
and endorsements.
Topping the non-U.S. athletes’ rich list
is David Beckam who pulled $48.2 million in
salary and endorsements.
Other international athletes earning more
than $30 million a year include: F1 driver
Fernando Alonso ($40 million); soccer
players Ronaldinho ($37.5 million), Lionel
Messi ($35.8 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo
($30.3 million); tennis player Roger Federer
($35.1 million); motorcycle racer Valentino
Rossi ($34 million) and basketball player Yao
Ming ($31.8 million).
Injured Thrill Seekers have No
One to Blame but Themselves
United Kingdom
The UK appeal court has ruled that
those who injure themselves during hazard-
ous sporting activities can blame no one but
themselves.
Gary Poppleton was paralysed after falling from
a climbing wall at the Peter Ashley Activity
Centre in Portsmouth in 2002. He landed
head-first on a mat after attempting to leap to a
bar on an adjacent wall.
In July 2007, the High Court found
Mr Poppleton 75% to blame for the accident
and the centre 25% to blame because it had
breached its duty of care by failing to warn Mr
Poppleton that the matting did not provide
complete protection from injury. This ruling
entitled Mr Poppleton to one quarter of a ₤4
million compensation award.
Three appeal judges have overruled this
decision finding Mr Poppleton is wholly to
blame for the accident and entitled to no
compensation.
Lord Justice May, sitting with Lord Justice
Richards and Sir Paul Kennedy, said: “Adults
who choose to engage in physical activities
which obviously give rise to a degree of unavoid-
able risk may find that they have no means of
recompense if the risk materializes so they are
injured. It is to my mind quite obvious that no
amount of matting will avoid absolutely the risk
of possibly severe injury from an awkward fall.”
Olympic Ticket Sales
The games of the XXIXOlympiad – Beijing 2008
began on 8 August, and ran to the 24th. The
games in Beijing played host to the 28 summer
sports currently on the Olympic programme.
Approximately 10,500 athletes participated in
the games with around 20,000 accredited media
outlets bringing the games to the world.
Four Shortlisted for
2016 Olympic Games
Switzerland
The International Olympic Commit-
tee (IOC) announced that Chicago, Tokyo,
Rio de Janeiro and Madrid have made it on to
the shortlist of cities bidding to host the 2016
Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The four finalists have until 12 February
2009 to sell their city to the IOC. The final
decision will be made on 2 October 2009 during
the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen.
Should Rio de Janeiro win, it will be
the first South American country to host an
Olympic games.
If Chicago is successful it will be the fifth
summer games in the U.S. and the ninth time
the U.S. hosts the games in total.
Tokyo previously hosted the summer games
in 1964 and Nagano hosted the winter games in
1998.
While Madrid has not hosted the games
previously, Barcelona played host to the games
in 1992.
Samba and caipirinhas seem fitting
accompaniments for 2016!
Is World Cup
2010 Insured?
South Africa
Rumours swirled at the beginning of April
following a report in The Guardian suggesting
FIFA was struggling to nd an insurer to insure
against the collapse of the 2010 World Cup
in South Africa. The report cites a number of
sources who seemed to suggest that there could
be problems procuring the 10 stadiums needed
for the competition as well as concerns about
security, transport and the political climate.
Andreas Herren, FIFA director of communi-
cations, responded with assurances that the
cancellation risk would be covered by a capital
market transaction.
“FIFA had accumulated enough reserves
after each World Cup to be able to cover
potential risks of cancellation of future
tournaments by FIFA’s own equity reserves,”
according to Herren.
0
2,250,000
4,500,000
6,750,000
9,000,000
Athens
Sydney
Atlanta
Barcelona
Seoul
L.A.
Attendance in Millions
touchline
11