Skip to main content

IOC chief Rogge confirms bid to stand again

BRUSSELS: International Olympics Committee president Jacques Rogge confirmed on Monday his intention to stand as a candidate for a second term.
The 66-year-old Belgian told a press conference, "For two or three years journalists have been asking me the same question concerning my future. "I always replied by saying that I'd deal with it after the Beijing Games. On Friday, as the regulations stipulated, I informed IOC members of my decision. I will be a candidate for a second mandate." He identified two key issues facing the IOC - the ongoing fight against drugs and the drive to get more young people to take up sport. "The number one priority remains the battle against doping which we have to maintain. Secondly I want to see us getting even more young people involved in sport to combat against a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. "This must be the other major objective for the IOC in the next few years." Rogge defended his performance as IOC chief saying, "I think that I've been useful over these past years and I think that I can be useful to the IOC again in the future." Since taking over from Juan Antonio Samaranch in 2001 Rogge has stood firm on drugs, corruption and betting. He also initiated the youth Games with the inaugural edition set for Singapore in 2010. The former surgeon's comments came after confirmation last Friday from the IOC that his name would be in the ring for a second term when the election is held at the IOC's congress in Copenhagen between October 3-5 in 2009. Since being elected on an eight-year term Rogge is now only eligible to preside over sport's most powerful institution for a further four-years.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...

Snake bite deaths

Monday, July 06, 2009 COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government recorded some 33,000 snake bites in 2008, with most of the victims coming from remote villages.The Department of Government Information said in a statement that most of the snake bite cases could be fatal if neglected.The statement said snake bites are often neglected in Sri Lanka as victims do not seek treatment at hospitals where advanced medication is available. Instead, the victims rush to traditional type of treatment which could be a risk, reports Xinhua.Snake bites death at domestic level, outside hospitals, go unrecorded, said the statement.Most victims of snake bite are from the rural and remote villages where there is no electricity after dusk.Statistics show that Sri Lanka has over 90 species of snake with around 10 species possessing venom capable of killing a human being.In Sri Lanka the annual death rate due to snake bite envenoming is one of the highest in the world being 6 in 100,000 population.