The IAAF is pleased to announce that Jean Gracia has been appointed in the role of Interim CEO (Chief Executive Officer)/General Secretary.
Immediately upon becoming the IAAF President at the beginning of September 2015, Sebastian Coe began a comprehensive review of the organisational structure of the IAAF.
This process will be concluded with the appointment of a new CEO / General Secretary. A shortlist of international candidates is being drawn-up and it is hoped that the IAAF will be in a position to make an appointment by the middle of the year.
Until that appointment is made, Jean Gracia has been appointed to support the day-to-day operations of the IAAF HQ in Monaco as the Interim CEO/General Secretary.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe commented: “Jean Garcia, who is a former General Secretary of the French Federation and a current Vice President of European Athletics, brings vast experience and will assist the continued smooth running of the association in the interim. He will act as the focal point for all our Member Federations and partners, and support me with work involving the Executive Board and Council.”
JEAN GRACIA
Name: Jean Gracia Nationality: France Date of birth: 23 September 1955 (Sabadell, Spain) Languages: French (Native), English (Fluent), Spanish (Intermediate)
Professional positions within athletics
European Athletics Vice President, Lausanne (2011–2019)
Mediterranean Athletics Union General Secretary, Marseille (2011-2019)
French Athletic Federation Chief of Staff, Paris (2014– 2015)
French Athletic Federation General Director, Paris (2001– 2013)
French Athletic Federation Executive Director, Paris (1992–2000)
Cannes Athletic Club President, Cannes (1984-1996)
Other professional experience
IT Project Manager, Villeneuve Loubet, France (1989–1992)
Business analyst, Villeneuve Loubet, France (1985–1989)
Technical officer then engineer, Villeneuve Loubet, France (1977–1985)
Other relevant experience
IAAF Competition, Development and Masters Commissions Member, Monaco (2007–2015)
European Athletics Development Commission Chairperson, Lausanne (2011–2019)
European Athletics Clubs Commission Chairperson, Lausanne (2011-2015)
European Athletics Reflection Commission Member, Lausanne (2007-2011)
European Athletics Development Committee Member, Lausanne (2003–2011)
Athletic career
French national team athlete (1972-1984)
Personal bests: 50m-5.82, 100m-10.61, 200m-21.53
Education
IT Licence (1977–1978)
Technology University Degree Electronics (1974– 1976)
Mathematical Bachelor Degree (1971–1974)
Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), Shehu Dikko presented a cash gift of 10,000 dollars to the victorious Super Eagles on behalf of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
LMC are the organizers of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) from which the 23 players were selected from to represent Nigeria in the ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Rwanda.
Dikko, who also is the 2nd Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), made the cash presentation to the team at a dinner organised by the Nigerian high commission in Rwanda.
NFF 2nd Vice – President And Chairman LMC, Mallam Shehu Dikko
“The LMC, club owners and all the stake holders of the league appreciate your excellent display tonight (Monday), we are proud of the team. You guys have been good ambassadors of the league and I have been mandated to present this cash as reward for your hard work,” Dikko said.
Super Eagles will face Tunisia on Friday while Guinea and Niger Republic will also play in Group C of the African Nations Championship.
Nigeria yesterday trounced Niger 4-1 in its game at the Orange African Nations Championship, ongoing in Rwanda. The victory recorded by the home based Super Eagles, is generating reactions from many people in the football community. One of those obviously impressed by the performance of the team is Alhaji Gafar Olawale Liameed, President of
Lagos based non-league side, 36 Lion football club.
LIAMEED GAFAR PRESIDENT 36 LION FOOTBALL CLUB LAGOS
“I am really impressed by the performance of our boys, in yesterday’s game,” he gushed.
He attributed the tensed and scoreless first half of the match, to be normal when two teams of different classes meet. “What
we witnessed in the first half is initial muscle flexing and we call that gra-gra, expected from such teams,” Gafar explained.
He commended the Sunday Oliseh led technical crew for bringing their superior tactics to the fore in the second stanza of the
game, particularly, with the inspired substitution of Chisom Chikatara, who went ahead to claim a hatrick in the game.
Gafar, who is also a board member of Lagos FA, was full of praises for Chikatara. He described the Abia Warriors striker,also fondly called the Kolanut boy, as a local player with the intelligence, movement and predatory abilities of a top class world player.
Speaking further, he dismissed the threats of Tunisia and Guinea in the other games,stating that Nigeria, would beat all oppositions and go ahead to claim the CHAN trophy. “Nigeria is the only country that can raise eleven national teams and they would compete strongly against any team in the world. This country is not big for nothing. We are big, strong and immensely talented,” he enthused.
Conclusively, he advised Oliseh, to ensure that his boys take up all the chances they create during games and particularly,to use Chikatara,as the killer punch or the masterstroke in subsequent matches.
Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 – Round 9, Leipzig…NEWCOMER KRIEG BLITZES THE OPPOSITION TO WIN LONGINES LEG AT LEIPZIG
In the most sensational result of the season so far, the relatively unknown young German, Niklas Krieg, galloped to victory at the ninth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League on home turf in Leipzig this evening.
The rider who hails from near Donaueschingen turned 22 just three days ago and was making his debut in the FEI World Cup™ Jumping series. One of 14 to qualify for the jump-off over Frank Rothenberger’s track he was third to go against the clock and simply outclassed competitors more than twice his age and with far more experience when producing a stunning performance from his 12-year-old mare, Carella.
Ireland’s Denis Lynch lined up second with All Star ahead of The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Don VHP Z in third when they were the only others to leave all the fences in place second time out. But Krieg won with a massive three-second advantage to announce his very definite arrival at the top end of the sport.
Last-fence-frustration
There was a lot of last-fence-frustration in the first round, the 1.60m-high white plank claiming a number of high-profile victims, while fences nine to eleven also proved highly influential. Rothenberger’s track was typically uncompromising with tall verticals and big, open oxers and while there was plenty of distance to manoeuvre around the course, the 68-seconds time allowed also piled on the pressure.
The vertical at nine was approached off a corner, and many paid the price for turning too sharply or arriving on a poor stride here. Rothenberger gave them a forward four-stride distance to the following double of big oxers at 10 and another three-stride effort to a vertical with a small water tray at fence 11, while the penultimate oxer at 12 also set a challenge to those running out of time. Jumped off a curving right-hand bend it demanded a lot of respect, and an untidy effort here often left horses off-balance coming down to the last.
The clear rounds kept coming however, Jessica Mendoza first to leave all the poles in place, while Krieg was one of the many budding German stars who really impressed on their first attempt at this level of competition today when joining the British rider in the second-round race against the clock. And what a thriller that was.
Chances were dashed
Mendoza’s chances were dashed when Spirit T hit the second fence on the new track, formerly no 11, and then the second of the two remaining elements of the triple combination which were now three fences from home. But when another of the sparkling young German contingent, 20-year-old Guido Klatte, cut inside the final fence on approach to the tricky oxer at 12 which was now the third obstacle on the track, then it quickly became clear that this was the route to go.
The angle was acute, and Klatte’s nine-year-old, Qinghai, kicked the poles out for four faults, but their time of 39.76 seconds was more than three seconds quicker than that posted by the speedy Mendoza. So when Krieg got it all right, then he really put it up to the rest of them.
Krieg’s mare never flinched, galloping down the long distance from the opening vertical to the next at fence 11, and then spinning right-handed to cross the oxer at 12 and hard-left to the following oxer. The pair were on fire from start to finish, and when they broke the beam in 38.04 seconds then it was up to the rest to catch them. But none would succeed.
The biggest test of the young German’s nerve was having to watch the remaining 11 riders trying to oust him from pole position, and with so many of the biggest names in the sport on that list it would be an agonising wait.
Well on target
Young Irish talent, 20-year-old Bertram Allen, looked well on target after negotiating the difficult angle at 12 with relative ease. But his mare, Molly Malone, hit both the following oxer and the penultimate oxer for eight faults in a quick time of 38.69 seconds. The fastest jump-off round was recorded by Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet, but the man who took individual silver at last summer’s FEI European Championships in Aachen (GER) was yet another victim of the dreaded oxer at 12 when crossing the line in 37.81 seconds.
French superstars Kevin Staut (Reveur de Hurtebise HDC) and Simon Delestre (Chesall) also failed when going for the inside-turn angled approach here, before Harrie Smolders changed the tactics. Taking the longer and safer route around the final oxer he safely negotiated the bogey fence 12 to post only the second clear of the jump-off with Don VHP Z in 46.85 seconds. And when Ireland’s Denis Lynch and All Star upped the pace but also took the more scenic route, they slotted in ahead of the Dutch pair in 41.04.
The excitement still wasn’t over however, the crowd gripping their seats as, second-last to go, 22-year-old Belgian, Olivier Philippaerts, took the short route with H&M Legend of Love and was up on time coming to the last. But that fell for four faults and when Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya and Carlo also had a great cut at it and also did the time, only to be denied the win by a mistake three fences from home, then it was finally done and dusted. A new German star had been born.
New German sensation, 22-year-old Niklas Krieg, was the surprise winner of today’s ninth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2015/2016 Western European League at Leipzig (GER). He is pictured receiving the winner’s Longines watch from Mr Rainer Eckert, Longines Brand Manager for Germany. (FEI/Karl-Heinz Frieler)
Changed his plan
Krieg admitted that he changed his plan during his jump-off round. “I talked with my father before I went in and we decided I should go around fence 12, but then the first two fences came up really nicely and I thought to myself – no risk, no fun! – so I just went for it!” he explained.
He has absolute faith in the mare he rode to team gold at the FEI Young Riders European Championships in 2014 and to team silver last year. “I have had Carella since she was two years old and no-one else has ever ridden her so we have a big understanding between us. I know I can trust her every time – she is a bit of a diva, but I love her very much!”, he said.
“This was for sure my biggest success until now. It was my first World Cup competition and additionally to win in your home country is tremendous” he added.
He insisted that he didn’t feel any pressure in the jump-off. “My goal was to finish in the top five or six – my horse was super and did definitely fight for me and so we tried, but I would have never thought that it would be enough to win!” he said. The biggest pressure he may now face will be the high expectations for more stunning results after an exceptional day of great sport on which a young man, ranked 354th in the world, showed the best of the best how it should be done.
The World Rowing Federation, FISA, has opened the nomination process for the 2016 Thomas Keller Medal to the general public.
The Thomas Keller Medal is the highest distinction in the sport of rowing. It is awarded to recognise an exceptional international rowing career as well as exemplary sportsmanship and legendary aspect. The public is able to submit nominations until 15 February 2016 (midnight CET).
The award was named after the late President of FISA, Thomas Keller (Thomi). Born in 1924, Keller was elected President of FISA in 1958 as a 34-year-old. He was still training as a rower and was then the youngest-ever president of an international sports federation.
Following the 1988 Olympic Games, Thomi Keller spontaneously awarded the FISA Medal of Honour to single scullers Peter-Michael Kolbe (Germany) and Pertti Karppinen (Finland) to commemorate one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport, thereby recognising their exceptional talent and sportsmanship. This shaped the idea of the Thomas Keller Medal which was initiated by the Keller family following Thomi’s passing in 1989 and was first awarded to the great Norwegian rower Alf Hansen in 1990.
Each year the winner is carefully selected by the Thomas Keller Medal committee, which includes Keller’s son Dominik, and it follows a broad international nomination process including public nominations. The aim is to ensure that the true values in which Keller so strongly believed are represented.
Thomas Keller Medal
To be awarded the Thomas Keller Medal the following five factors are taken into consideration:
Success at the international level
“Type” of career
Technical mastery of the sport
Sportsmanship/
“Legendary” aspect
In 2015 Iztok Cop of Slovenia was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal. Cop is a Slovenian sporting legend with a career that covered more than two decades and included six Olympic Games and 16 World Rowing Championships. At the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, Cop became the first Olympic medallist for the newly-independent Slovenia. His medal was in the men’s pair. Cop then went on to be successful in the men’s single sculls and men’s double sculls. Cop has been described as the glue among his fellow athletes. He formed friendships with his competitors and always respected his opponents.
Previous winners include Drew Ginn (Australia), Eskild Ebbesen (Denmark), Vaclav Chalupa (Czech Republic), Jueri Jaanson (Estonia), James Tomkins (Australia), Kathrin Boron (Germany), Elisabeta Lipa (Romania) and Steve Redgrave (Great Britain).
In 200 days 380 sailors will be set-up at the Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finalising their preparations for the greatest sporting spectacle, the Olympic Games.
On 5 August the Rio 2016 Olympic flame will be lit, signalling the start of 17 days of sport. For sailors to get to an Olympic Games they have to play their cards right, qualify their country, qualify themselves and fine tune their physique and boats so they’re fully optimised for the stresses and strains an Olympic Sailing Competition provides.
In order to do exactly that, sailors go through the Sailing World Cup series and over 780 sailors will be using the first shuffle of 2016 in Miami, USA to deal a killer blow to their rivals in the Olympic year.
London 2012 gold medallists, World Champions and Rio 2016 medal hopefuls will be among the starters aiming for glory in the ten Olympic and two Paralympic events on show in Miami from 25 to 30 January 2016.
A World Cup podium position is not the only thing at stake in Miami. As a Rio 2016 Continental Qualification regatta for North and South America, several nations will be vying for an Olympic berth. One spot in each of the fleets for both continents will be up for grabs with two available in the Men’s RS:X.
The Laser Radial fleet will be the one to watch in Miami with a special trio facing off in the 80-boat fleet. London 2012 gold medallist Lijia Xu (CHN) will be joined by silver medallist Marit Bouwmeester (NED) and bronze medallist Evi Van Acker (BEL).
Alongside Ireland’s Annalise Murphy, Xu, Bouwmeester and Van Acker had a famous four way battle for gold at London 2012 with the Chinese racer coming out on top. Xu stepped away from the Laser Radial in 2013 but after a two-year hiatus she returned to Olympic sailing at the 2015 Laser Radial World Championship.
The rivalry with Bouwmeester and Van Acker resumed instantly as she finished sixth to their second and third. With more miles and training in the bag, Xu, who stole the hearts of the sailing world in 2012 will be aiming to make an impression in Miami.
Denmark’s Anne Marie Rindom continues to excite in the Laser Radial and returns to Miami to defend the title she won 12 months ago. Rindom also comes into the American World Cup regatta off the back of a world championship victory last year and will be aiming for the medals once again.
Much like the Radial, the Laser fleet will feature many of the leading lights of sailing and is set to be a hot contest.
World #1 Tom Burton (AUS) and #2 Matt Wearn (AUS) will spearhead a fleet that includes key players on the road to Rio. Five-time Olympic medallist Robert Scheidt (BRA), 2014 world champion Nicholas Heiner (NED), Rutger van Schaardenburg (NED), Andy Maloney (NZL), Jesper Stalheim (SWE) and Charlie Buckingham (USA) will be amongst the front runners looking to capture top honours.
Miami will welcome strong windsurfers in the Men’s and Women’s RS:X fleets. London 2012 Olympic gold medallists Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED) and Marina Alabau (ESP) will be on their respective start lines come Monday 25 January.
Joining Van Rijsselberge in the men’s pack of 59 racers will be World #1 Ivan Pastor (ESP), World #3 Mattia Camboni (ITA), London 2012 silver medallist Nick Dempsey (GBR) and bronze medallist Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL).
In the 39-boat Women’s RS:X fleet, Alabau will be up against the world’s top four sailors, Defending champion and World #1 Bryony Shaw (GBR), World #2 Lilian de Geus (NED), 2015 Youth Worlds Champion and World #3 and Italian World #4 Flavia Tartaglini.
Racing is set to commence at 10:00 local time on Monday 25 January across the ten Olympic and two Paralympic fleets. Medal Races on Saturday 30 January will bring Sailing World Cup Miami to a close with the races to be broadcast live on the World Sailing TV YouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/worldsailingtv
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reaffirmed its commitment to the Spirit of Cricket and bringing about positive social change through the sport, by launching Cricket for Good, it’s CSR Programme, in association with UNICEF.
Team Swachh is the first of a series of collaborations between the ICC and UNICEF under the aegis of Cricket for Good with the aim of leveraging the vast reach and power of cricket. This visionary collaboration aims to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use, thereby leading to an open defecation-free India.
The five-year global partnership was announced in October 2015 in New York and will be used as the ICC’s platform to advocate for children in India and other countries where cricket is a popular sport.
Speaking at the launch, ICC Chief Executive, David Richardson said. “We are committed to working with UNICEF on initiatives that will improve the health, education, nutrition, protection and sanitation of children, which are causes so critical to us all.
“ICC and UNICEF together will engage the broader cricketing community to empower children and adolescents and will, in particular, during the many ICC events over the next five years, develop and implement various community outreach programs and initiatives in collaboration with coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.
“Building up to the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, there will be an eight host city tour starting next month that will use exciting cricket-based sanitation and hygiene games to engage with school children. During the event itself, there will be coaching clinics with participating teams.”
The initial focus of the collaboration in India will be to improve sanitation. With the largest number of people still defecating in the open – more than 564 million – poor sanitation can cause diarrhoea, which accounts for more than 300 deaths in children under five years every day in India. This partnership will strengthen the Team Swachh campaign conceptualised by the UNICEF-WASH United alliance.
And this is where Team Swachh will swiftly move into action, to try and make a difference, and help inspire people to initiate a change at the ground level, to make the journey from apathy to concern and taking action. It will endeavor to cut across urban and rural populations, class, gender, age, region and religion to help make India a clean nation where everyone uses a toilet.
The idea of team and team play is at the core of the Team Swachh initiative. And it starts with the power of cricket teams and the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016. For the event teams and any other team to be successful, all the different members – different players, coaches, doctors, etc. have to work together to achieve their goal.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, remarked. “Similarly, ending open defecation-achieving sanitation for all in India, takes a genuine team effort in which all relevant actors – from the Government of India to people practicing open defecation, from role models to international development partners – play together as one team.”
The Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Anurag Thakur, commented: “Team Swachh presents a creative and collaborative platform to make the nationwide movement a resounding success. The ICC World Twenty20 India 2016 will bring together the collective efforts of the BCCI, ICC and UNICEF towards the mission with the help of awareness programmes.
“I’m sure that the coaching clinics, which will see active participation from the leading cricketers of the world, will inspire and encourage my fellow Indian citizens to contribute to this wonderful initiative.”
ICC launches Cricket for Good & Team Swachh campaign in partnership with UNICEF and BCCI
UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, Karin Hulshof, said: “UNICEF hopes to harness the reach and power of cricket, one of the world’s most popular sports, towards the most important cause of all: saving the lives and futures of children.”
A Team Swachh action kit, featuring a unique cricket and game-based tool-kit for WASH (Water Sanitation & Hygiene) in schools was also launched during the event. The kit contains a set of exciting cricket-themed WASH games, along with an implementation handbook and Team Swachh campaign materials featuring the Team Swachh cricket star ambassadors.
And to kick-start the programme, Tendulkar picked up the bat once again and played a game with children of a local non-governmental organization (NGO), Nine is Mine. The master batsman then took time to discuss sanitation with the kids, and shared ideas and thoughts on how they could spread the message of ending open defecation among their peers.
Team Tours Direct, a United Kingdom-based organisation has officially invited Buruj Sports Academy to this year’s edition of Dubai Super Cup which will hold in the United Arab Emirates from March 29th to the 1st of April 2016.
This is in addition to Other international tournaments where Buruj players will participate this year like the English Super Cup: 28th of July through 31st; Welsh Super Cup: 4th-7th of August and Turkish Super Cup: 27th-30th October.
The invitation letter forwarded to the Managing Director of the academy, Salaudeen Waheed, who is presently in Istanbul, Turkey, indicates that the tournament will be played under the prying eyes of international scouts who will be on ground to shop for young talents for top clubs across Europe and Asia countries.
This invitation is another window of opportunity for players that register to train at Buruj Sports Academy before the stated time and those who are already developing their talents and skills in the academy that has produced many football stars that are holding their own as professionals both at home and abroad.
Meanwhile, following the existing relationship between Buruj Sports Academy and Team Tours Direct, Buruj Sports Academy has officially emerged as the Academy Partner of the world renowned outfit.
The TTD/Buruj Sports Academy Partnership is a confidential arrangement to reward the Ikorodu-based academy for what it is doing in the areas of discovering, training and exposing young talents to fulfil their dreams of becoming thorough-bred professionals in the round-leather game.
BURUJ Football Academy…
It would be recalled that the delegation of Buruj Sports Academy flew out of the country last week and are currently in Istanbul, Turkey, to promote their programmes, player transfers modalities and other activities for the new year. The delegation led by Dr Salaudeen confirmed in a telephone chat that quite a number of meetings and workshops have been held while many more will still take place before the end of their itinerary in that Eastern European country.
The contingent is expected to leave Turkey on Wednesday for England for the last phase of their European tour which is expected to open new frontiers in relationships, players transfers and technical partnership for all parties concerned.
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