Latest news with #KarolosGrohmann
The Star
21-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Soccer-German train company jokes over small number of fans for Bundesliga relegation battle
Soccer Football - 2. Bundesliga - Schalke 04 v SV Elversberg - Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - May 18, 2025 SV Elversberg players celebrate in front of the fans after qualifying for the Bundesliga promotion play-offs. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse BERLIN (Reuters) -Deutsche Bahn joked over the small number of fans expected to attend the playoff between Heidenheim and Elversberg, by posting an image on social media of a train with just one carriage saying that was the only special service needed. The playoff will decide whether Heidenheim will remain in the Bundesliga after finishing in 16th spot or whether Elversberg will be promoted after ending the season third in the second division. The total combined population of the towns of Heidenheim and Elversberg is no more than 70,000, making them two of the smallest towns ever involved in a relegation playoff. Heidenheim, in southern Germany has a stadium capacity of 15,000, while Elversberg, in the west of the country, has a stadium that can take 10,000. Heidenheim host Elversberg on Thursday before the return leg on Monday. In comparison, Borussia Dortmund has the highest attendance at home games in the Bundesliga with around 80,000 fans. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Olympics-IOC recommends inclusion of boxing in Los Angeles 2028 Games, says IOC's Bach
By Karolos Grohmann PYLOS, Greece (Reuters) -The International Olympic Committee executive board on Monday recommended the inclusion of boxing in the Los Angeles 2028 summer Olympics, ending a years-long saga regarding the sport's Olympic future. The IOC last month granted provisional recognition to World Boxing in a major step towards the sport's inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. "After the provisional recognition of World Boxing in February we were in the position to take this decision so that this recommendation has to go to the session," IOC President Thomas Bach told a press conference. "I am confident the session will approve it." The recommendation will now be put to a vote at the IOC session in Greece this week and is expected to pass easily, with boxing among the popular Olympic sports. The boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games was run by the IOC after it had stripped the International Boxing Association of recognition in 2023 over its failure to implement reforms on governance and finance. The IOC had not included the sport on the initial LA 2028 programme, having urged national boxing federations to create a new global boxing body. World Boxing, now with more than 80 national federations as members, was launched in 2023. The IOC said only athletes whose national federations were members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics could take part in Los Angeles. "Somewhere between two years before the Games," IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell said when asked by what time national federations needed to join World Boxing for their athletes to be eligible for Los Angeles. "It is not frozen. Now we see an acceleration of the number of federations joining (World Boxing). They need to be members at the time of the qualification events," McConnell added. The IOC suspended the IBA, run by Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, in 2019 over governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues and did not involve it in running the boxing events at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, before stripping it of recognition in 2023, an extremely rare move by the IOC.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Olympics-Sliding centre for Italy's 2026 Games on track, icing to start in February, says IOC
By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN (Reuters) - The sliding centre of the Milano-Cortina 2026 winter Olympics will be delivered on time, with the icing of the track to start next month, the International Olympic Committee said on Friday. With Feb. 6 marking one year to go until the Games, the sliding venue for the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions remains on an extremely tight deadline. It has been on one ever since the construction started after Italy opted to build a new facility instead of using an existing one in a neighbouring country. The IOC had repeatedly voiced concerns over the planned new track, saying the use of an existing sliding centre outside Italy would keep costs down and cut preparation time. "We have a very clear action plan: icing of the venue by the end of February and pre-homologation by the end of March," Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi told Reuters in an interview. Pre-homologation in this case means the international bobsleigh and skeleton federation and the luge federation familiarising themselves with the track, testing the venue and making any necessary modifications before actual test events with competing athletes are held there prior to the Games. Dubi said the test events in the venue would be held as planned to deliver the project for the Feb. 6, 2026 start of the Olympics. Milano-Cortina Games organisers, however, raised eyebrows earlier this month, announcing that they had picked Lake Placid in the United States as their Plan B for next year should anything happen to the sliding centre project's timelines. Several of Italy's neighbouring countries have existing sliding centres. Dubi said the IOC had wanted a Plan B but the Italian organisers' choice of location was not one that needed the Olympic body's approval. "We did not need to sign off on the location. That's not our responsibility," Dubi said. "We signed off on a Plan B. We asked for a Plan B because we knew the schedule was incredibly compressed. Being where they are (with progress on the sliding centre) considering when they started is something to be pleased about," Dubi said. Organisers are also racing to complete the multi-purpose Arena Santa Giulia which will be used for ice hockey. Part of a wider development of the area, the arena has also been on a tight deadline since the start of its construction just over a year ago. It is planned to be delivered to organisers in the second half of 2025, just a few months before the Games start. "It started when it started. As a result it was a tight delivery timeline," Dubi said. "We will get there on time but it is a venue that will be delivered to the organising committee towards autumn. That's why I am speaking about a tight timeline."
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Olympics-Battle for powerful IOC presidency enters final stretch
By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN (Reuters) - Only a few people around the world know the name Thomas Bach and even fewer can rattle off those of the seven candidates out to replace him in March after 12 years as president of the International Olympic Committee. Yet despite that low profile, there is no bigger or more influential job in sport, and Bach's successor will wield extraordinary political and financial clout across every country in the world. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. When the IOC's 100-plus members, who include billionaires, global captains of industry, federation chiefs and royalty, go to the ballot in Greece on March 20 they will be effectively deciding on the direction much of the world of sport will take for the next eight years. World Athletics chief and former Olympic 1,500 metres champion Sebastian Coe is the biggest name of the seven candidates. Standing against him are Zimbabwe's sports minister and former Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry, the late former IOC president's son Juan Antonio Samaranch, and international cycling chief David Lappartient. Completing the lineup are Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, international gymnastics federation head Morinari Watanabe and Olympic newcomer and multi-millionaire Johan Eliasch. They will each present their case to replace 71-year-old Bach to the membership in Lausanne on Thursday, ahead of a final two-month push of behind-the-scenes lobbying. RICHEST ORGANISATION The IOC is by far the biggest and richest sports organisation in the world, dwarfing even world soccer's ruling body FIFA, and wields its influence over almost every major international federation, new sports and national Olympic Committees. With multi-billion revenues from sponsors and broadcasters, it is far from limited to just hosting the summer and winter Olympics. The IOC has a direct or indirect say in every major international decision on sport, whether financial, political or structural. Sports do not only depend on Olympic funding over the Games' four-year cycle, they are also reliant on the Olympic spotlight. New sports battle for Olympic recognition which brings a significant boost in publicity and awareness and can trigger new streams of revenue to fund growth. In Bach's 12 years in charge, the German lawyer also developed close ties with many political leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country hosted the 2024 Olympics, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin was the first to congratulate Bach immediately after his election back in 2013, calling minutes after the vote as his country prepared to host the Sochi Winter Olympics, with an unprecedented cost of $51 billion. Sochi was subsequently tarnished by revelations of a massive state-backed doping system in Russia that turned into the biggest international drugs scandal in decades and forced the country's athletes to compete as neutrals in several Olympics. Dealing with Russia, and the issue of trans and DSD (differences in sexual development) athletes in sport, featured in most of the candidates' manifestos. But anyone thinking they will be primarily judged on their ability to bring peace and harmony, and promote sport and health around the world, is sadly deluded. "In this presidential election everyone votes for themselves. It is about money. The share for each stakeholder. It is no surprise that there are four federation presidents campaigning," an international federation chief, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. "Maybe it would have been more effective if there was only one representing the federations. But everyone has their own agenda in this election." ROBUST FINANCES The IOC collected revenues of $2.295 billion from its top sponsors for the period 2017-2021, the second-biggest source of income for the Olympic movement, with broadcasters paying $4.544 billion over the same period. Bach's departure comes with the organisation in a financially robust position, having secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More deals are expected for both four-year periods. The IOC says it pumps about 90% of its revenues back into sports with payments to each Olympic federation, to national Olympic committees and athletes' scholarships among others. Many of the smaller federations depend on that IOC contribution to get through the four years until the next Olympics. More than half a billion dollars was split among the federations from the Tokyo Olympics, with the share from the Paris 2024 Games to top $600 million. Top earners like athletics, gymnastics and swimming get more than $50 million. National Olympic Committees also received a total of $540 million after the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC covers 50% of the costs of running the World Anti-Doping Agency which it helped to set up more than 25 years ago. Much of what cash goes where, though, is down to the president's personal Olympic vision and in a matter of weeks that extraordinary global power is about to change hands.
