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UK Government concerned
over “Plastic Brits”
The UK Government is preparing to clamp
down on the number of foreign athletes
seeking to gain citizenship in order to
represent Great Britain at the London
Olympic Games. As a result of the review,
it is likely that some new applications will
now be rejected – according to media
reports.
“Plastic Brits” refers to athletes brought in
from abroad to represent the country at
the expense of homegrown talent.
The issue has been highlighted by British
Wrestling, who has recruited several
athletes from Eastern Europe. The seven-
strong squad currently comprises of four
from Ukraine, and one from Bulgaria.
It normally takes five years to become a
naturalised British citizen, though this can
be expedited through marriage.
IOC rules state that athletes must wait
three years after a change of citizenship
before competing for their new country,
however this is reduced to one year when
both countries agree.
Wrestling is not the only sport with
overseas talent; the British athletics squad
at the last World Championships included
two who had switched nationalities, with
more in contention for 2012.
FA keen on goal-line
technology in Premier League
The Football Association has said that goal-
line technology could be introduced to the
Premier League as early as next season.
Alex Horne, the FA general secretary,
told the BBC that the FA was supportive
of the addition of goal-line technology
to the ‘armoury’ of referees, and that its
introduction would depend on the results of
nine systems currently being tested.
‘I think goal-line technology would be a
huge boost for the game,’ Horne told the
BBC. ‘For years we’ve thought this was a
good addition to referees’ armoury.’
He added: ‘It’s easy to make mistakes and
we’ve all seen examples where the referee
and assistant referee can’t see if a ball has
crossed the line or not. We need to support
them in decision-making.’
The current testing phase will be assessed
by the International Football Association
Board (IFAB) inMarch, with a second testing
phase between March and June. IFAB and
FIFA, the game’s global governing body,
will then make a decision on the future of
goal-line technology in July.
Dates for 2014 Ryder Cup
announced
The 2014 Ryder Cup will take place at
Gleneagles from 26th to 28th September.
Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has
estimated the Scottish economy would
benefit by up to £100 million from the event
- which will take place in the same year
as Glasgow will host the Commonwealth
Games.
Europe have won four of the previous five
Ryder Cups and are the current holders of
the biennial match between Europe and the
United States.
The 2012 Ryder Cup will be held in
September at the Medinah Country Club in
Illinois.
Allegations of deal to fix
2012 Olympic boxing medals
A report by BBC Newsnight has alleged
that secret payments of millions of dollars
from Azerbaijan to international boxing
organisation World Series Boxing (WSB)
were made to guarantee Olympic gold
medals.
Whistleblowers say that WSB’s chief
claimed the money was in return for a
guarantee that Azerbaijani fighters would
win two boxing gold medals at the London
2012 Olympics. The boxing organiser
at the Olympics, AIBA, admits an Azeri
national paid $9m (£5.9m) to one of their
competitions. But they deny any deal to fix
medals.
Lawyers for the International Amateur
Boxing Association (AIBA) told the BBC
that any such allegation was “preposterous
and utterly untrue”. That view was backed
by AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, who
told Newsnight that the claims were “totally
untrue and ludicrous”, adding that “WSB is
conducted in a totally transparent way”.
However, he said that AIBA had a zero
tolerance policy on corruption and that he
would conduct an immediate investigation
into the allegations.
There have been repeated allegations of
corruption in Olympic boxing competitions.
Boxing commentator Jim Neilly told
Newsnight “There have been enough
incidences down the years to suggest there
has been collusion”.
Speaking to Newsnight, AIBA President Dr
Wu said his organisation had spent the last
four years “cleaning the house of boxing”
and that any corruption or manipulation
within the sport was not tolerated.
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Sports