• British Olympic Association insists it has 'strong case'
• Verdict could open London 2012 door to Dwain Chambers

The British Olympic Association will appear before the court of arbitration for sport on Monday in an attempt to uphold its lifetime doping ban, insisting it has a "strong case" despite most sports lawyers expecting it to lose.
If the Cas panel in London fails to uphold the BOA's appeal against the World Anti-Doping Agency's decision to find the ban noncompliant with its universal code, it will open the door for the sprinter Dwain Chambers and the cyclist David Millar to be picked for London 2012.
Opponents of the lifetime ban have long argued that it offers no opportunity of redemption for repentant drug cheats and is counterproductive because it punishes those who admit they took drugs and inform on others.
Chambers, who won a bronze medal in the 60m sprint at the world indoor championships in Istanbul at the weekend, said after the race that it would be "fantastic" if he became eligible for the London Games.
"I am living proof that you can make mistakes and get yourself back on the straight and narrow, and my being able to compete at this top level is living proof that it can be done. It is my opportunity to give back to the youth," he said.
The case has become a volatile mixture of dry legal argument and intense emotion, with much riding on the outcome. Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman, said Chambers should not be allowed to compete in the Olympics.
"For me this is not anti-Dwain Chambers … I do believe this is actually about the autonomy of sporting organisations to make judgments and bylaws that they think are in the best interest of their sports," Coe told reporters in Istanbul.
"I have a problem if individual sports, individual organisations are not able to set those parameters because I think it is really important they are responding to what they think is the right [thing]. I do think an NOC [national Olympic committee], ie the BOA, must have the right to agree that sanction if they think it is in the common interest of the sport," the twice Olympic 1500m champion added.
Current and former athletes have weighed in, with Chambers's agent Siza Agha this week accusing Daley Thompson of talking "utter garbage" in a newspaper column in which he backed the BOA's lifetime ban and criticised Wada.
"I have the greatest respect for Daley as an athlete, but I do think that they need to be more sophisticated before they start levelling criticism at the very people who are charged with the responsibility of trying to police it," he said.
Both Chambers and Millar, the latter banned in 2004 for two years after admitting to EPO use and subsequently an eloquent anti-doping campaigner, are expected to be selected for the Olympics if Wada's decision is upheld.
Wada is adamant that it was right to find the BOA noncompliant with its code, because the victory of the US Olympic Committee and the Olympic 400m champion LaShawn Merritt over the International Olympic Committee in a case before the Cas last year changed the game.
Its lawyers are convinced that the "double jeopardy" argument that overturned the IOC's "Osaka rule", which banned any athlete with a suspension of more than six months from the Olympics that followed, is directly analogous to the BOA life ban bylaw. It believes the universality that underpins its code is at risk.
The BOA, though, argues that its rule simply underpins its autonomy to select its own team. The BOA chairman, Lord Moynihan, will argue that the rule retains the support of the vast majority of athletes and that, crucially, its bylaw has an appeal mechanism that the IOC's lacked.
However, the support of athletes for the lifetime ban appears to have become more nuanced. Whereas the BOA's own polls previously put the number in support at more than nine in 10, a recent ITV survey found the figure was more like 70%.
"We believe we have a strong case and we appreciate the opportunity to appear before the panel and explain why fundamentally this is about the autonomy of every national Olympic committee to enforce their eligibility criteria," said a BOA spokesman.
Shortly before announcing it would take the case to Cas, Moynihan launched a typically impassioned attack on Wada, claiming it was "toothless" and failing in its anti-doping mission. That provoked an equally furious response from Wada, with the chairman, John Fahey, labelling Moynihan "misinformed and inaccurate".
Most sports lawyers expect Wada to win, but say it is not a foregone conclusion, putting the odds at around 70-30 in its favour. The BOA asked for the same Cas panel that heard the Merritt case to preside over its hearing in the belief they would better understand the nuances of their case.
Unusually, the case is being heard in London rather than Lausanne. The BOA will be represented by two QCs, David Pannick and Adam Lewis, together with Tom Cassels of Baker & McKenzie. Pannick and Lewis are understood to have waived a substantial percentage of their usual fee to take the case.
Whatever the verdict when it is announced in around four weeks' time, the argument will not end here. Wada's code is going through its quadrennial review process and the IOC and the BOA will argue for stronger sanctions for those caught doping.

By Owen Gibson and Andy Bull in Istanbul

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

March 2 - Australian athletes have been warned against using Twitter at London 2012 after officials found competitors tweeting during the Olympic diving test event last month at the Aquatics Centre on the Olympic Park.

According to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), one diver's tweet during the diving test event – the 18th FINA Diving World Cup – read: "I'm a novice. I will stop tweeting next round. Distraction!"

It rounded off a bad display by Australia at the test event which was summed up when Matt Mitcham (pictured), the country's 10 metre platform Olympic champion, put in a poor performance to finish well back in 13th place despite many predicting he would medal at the competition.

Mike Tancred, the AOC director of media and communications, fears athletes tweeting during competition will be distracted and, although there will be no blanket ban, he said that coaches and team managers needed to implement rules to eliminate the risk of social media undermining performances at London 2012.

"The problem was highlighted at the diving test event in London where athletes were tweeting during the competition," Tancred said in AOC's official London 2012 Olympic newsletter.

"Diving officials stopped the use of social media during the competition, which was also a World Cup event, once they learned it was happening.

"Clearly athletes are distracted when they should be totally focused on their sport."

The AOC are looking to avoid a repeat of the major gaffe from one of the country's biggest swimming stars Stephanie Rice (pictured).

The 23-year-old, who claimed three golds and three world records at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, came under huge criticism and lost her Jaguar sponsorship for a tweet in September 2010.

After watching her former boyfriend Quade Cooper, the Australian rugby full-back, and his teammates beat South Africa she tweeted: "Suck on that faggots."

Rice admits she has regretted for the incident ever since and last year, she granted permission for the AOC to use the video of her tearful apology in special Twitter workshops attended by 1,200 Australian athletes aiming for the London Games.

Rice informed the AOC that she wanted to turn one of the more difficult moments of her life into a positive.

"She was happy for us to use the clip to show how easy it is to fall foul of the social media," Tancred said ahead of the Twitter workshop last year.

"She is going to help other athletes not make the mistake.

"Since Beijing there has been an explosion in the social media.

"Young athletes, not just footballers, are getting into trouble on social media.

"They are not understanding that what they write to family or friends is not necessarily in private, and is in the public domain.

"We are all aware of what happened to Stephanie Rice, so now we are going to implement some rules in our team agreement which every athlete and coach has to sign for London.

"That is the AOC will have no legal liability for anything posted on a social media site by an athlete or team member.

"I want to stress we are not banning social media as long as it is in good taste and is positive."

-Tom Degun

Source:www.insidethegames.biz

February 28 - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has further undermined the fragile position of Mario Vázquez Raña, the increasingly embattled head of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), by scrapping a position he had only just made a key appointment too.

It follows a row over the removal of Australia's Kevan Gosper as vice-chair of Olympic Solidarity, the IOC programme that distributes nearly $400 million (£230 million/€310 million) to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) around the world and which Vázquez Raña has headed since 2002.

Gosper had been replaced by Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg, the secretary general of the ANOC, with Vázquez Raña claiming that he had taken the decision at the behest of Rogge.

Rogge denied this and, following a letter of protest from Sheikh Ahmad al Sabah, the President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), he has responded by scrapping the position of vice-chair, telling Vázquez Raña that it is "no longer necessary".

Gosper (pictured below left with Rogge and Vázquez Raña) will now become a member of the Olympic Solidarity committee, alongside Lindberg, who has claimed that she did not seek to be promoted to vice-chair.

Gosper's treatment was one of several issues that were discussed at a heated 53rd ANOC Executive Council Meeting in London last week, an event marred by several rows involving Vázquez Raña.

But this latest setback is the clearest sign of Vázquez Raña's dwindling power within the Olympic Movement as he approaches compulsory retirement from the IOC at the end of this year following his 80th birthday in June.

His position as President of the ANOC, which he has held since 1979, is growing more and more weaker.

Sheikh Ahmad, the vice-president of ANOC, has already been lined up to replace Vázquez Raña when he steps down in 2015.

But Vázquez Raña may be forced out earlier than that with signs of growining discontent over his leadership and could face a vote of "no confidence" at ANOC's General Assembly in Moscow in April.

He is also facing a rebellion in his own backyard with several National Olympic Committees openly questioning his position as head of Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), which he has been President of since 1975.

-Duncan Mackay

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

Suggestions from the leader of the UK's biggest union that workers could strike during the London Olympics have been condemned by political leaders.

Len McCluskey, of Unite, told the Guardian that civil disobedience could be timed to disrupt the 2012 Games.

A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron called the idea "unacceptable and unpatriotic". Labour has also criticised Mr McCluskey's comments.

However, union sources told the BBC there were no specific strike plans.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told the BBC: "People will just be gobsmacked, appalled, at Mr McCluskey's remarks.

"At a time when we can showcase to the world that we are positively and optimistically putting on this fantastic event, he wants to bring people out on the streets."

The Liberal Democrat leader said to "mess up the Olympics to prove a point" would be bad for the country and called on Labour leader Ed Miliband to "rein in" Mr McCluskey, whose union is Labour's largest donor.

And Mr Cameron also told MPs that Labour "need to condemn this utterly and start turning back the money" from Unite.

Conservative co-chairman Baroness Warsi agreed, calling the comments "an appalling display of naked self-interest".

"It is disgraceful for a trade union boss to be calling for mass disruption when the eyes of the world will be on Britain," she told the BBC.

'Right to protest'

Mr McCluskey had told the Guardian: "If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that's exactly one that we should be looking at.

"The attacks that are being launched on public sector workers at the moment are so deep and ideological that the idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable.

"Our very way of life is being attacked. By then this crazy Health and Social Care Bill may have been passed, so we are looking at the privatisation of our National Health Service.

"The unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting."

Mr McCluskey said the purpose of protest was "to bring your grievances to the attention of as many people as possible".

However, Mr Miliband said: "Any threat to the Olympics is totally unacceptable and wrong.

"This is a celebration for the whole country and must not be disrupted."

Earlier, his deputy Harriet Harman had told the BBC it was inconceivable that union members would want to disrupt the Games.

Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, said: "Of course unions seek fair reward for the extra work and long hours that will be required during what will be the busiest ever time for public transport and other public services, and not all such negotiations have been concluded.

"But of course unions want a Games of which we can all be proud."

BBC political correspondent Norman Smith said Unite insiders had played down the prospect of strikes, with one saying there was "nothing specific planned".

"They take the view Mr McCluskey was letting off steam at his frustrations with government policy but they are acutely aware [strike action] would be deeply unpopular and probably counter-productive," our correspondent added.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The Olympic torch relay will celebrate the country’s military history and royal connections when it lands at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall for the start of the 70-day journey before arriving at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 27.

The Olympic flame will land at the naval base, which is where Prince William carried out his helicopter training, on the evening of 18 May on a gold-liveried British Airways Airbus 319, with the code sign BA2012 after travelling in seat 1A within a special ceremonial lantern.

Around 1,000 guests will greet the flame at the base, which is home to a substantial fleet of the Navy’s Merlin and Sea King helicopter squadrons.

Details of the 8,000-mile torch relay, which is designed to travel to within an hour of 95 per cent of the UK population and also visit the Republic of Ireland, were revealed on Tuesday.

The lighting of the flame, from the sun’s rays in a hour-long ceremony at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, will take place on May 10, after which there will be a short traditional relay around Greece.

Locog said two inspirational people from the UK will be involved in this Greek component of the relay: the second torchbearer on the first day and the penultimate carrier on the last day of the Greek leg.

The flame will then be handed over to London organisers in the Panathenaic stadium in Athens on May 17, transported by plane to the naval base on May 18 and then transferred to Land's End for the start of the relay on May 19.

Captain Willie Entwisle, RNAS Culdrose Commanding Officer said: “Our personnel, many of whom are currently supporting the Royal Navy on operations across the globe, are very excited that the build-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games will start here.”

The chairman of Locog, Sebastian Coe, said his team was looking forward to working with the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Defence and our commercial partners to create exciting events to mark the flame’s Greek provenance and its arrival to British shores.

By Jacquelin Magnay, Olympics Editor

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk