Football
Associated Press 18y

IOC board to address Turin doping impasse; consider women's boxing for 2012

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The impasse over doping rules at
the Turin Winter Games, the possible inclusion of women's boxing
and other new events in 2012 and a final ruling in Jerome Young's
six-year-old drug case are being considered by Olympic leaders this
week.

The International Olympic Committee executive board convenes
Wednesday for its first full meeting since the July session in
Singapore when London was awarded the 2012 Games and baseball and
softball were voted off the program.

Topping the agenda for the three-day meeting is an update Friday
from Italian organizers on planning for the Winter Olympics, which
open in the northern city of Turin on Feb. 10.

After the most recent onsite inspection in September, the IOC
reported that preparations were "nearly complete." However,
financial and doping issues have clouded the picture.

Organizers say they may be forced to scale back in some areas
because of government budget cuts that could lead to a $63.7
million shortfall. An audiovisual show to celebrate the Nov. 2
100-day countdown was canceled because of the money gap.

Most pressing is Italy's refusal to ease its hard-line position
on doping as a criminal offense. Government officials and
legislators have resisted proposals to weaken or lift the law for
the period of the Olympics, raising the possibility of athletes
being arrested or jailed for doping.

Olympic regulations classify doping as a sporting offense, with
athletes facing disqualification from the games and possible
longterm suspensions rather than criminal sanctions.

Mario Pescante, an IOC member who serves as the Italian
government's supervisor for the games, has failed to convince
Parliament to change the law.

The IOC stresses that the Olympic rules were accepted by Turin
organizers when they were awarded the games in 1999.

"This not a new issue," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said.
"This has been on the table since the host city contract was
signed nearly seven years ago. The onus of resolving the issue is
in the hands of the games' organizers."

In the meantime, the IOC board will consider adding new events
and disciplines for the 2012 London Games. In July, the full IOC
voted to drop baseball and softball after the 2008 Beijing Games,
leaving 26 sports on the program for London. Baseball and softball
are pushing for a new vote in a bid for reinstatement in February.

The IOC board has the power to make changes in the events and
disciplines which make up the existing sports. Up for consideration
are the additions of women's boxing, open-water events in swimming,
50-meter swim races in backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, and
women's steeplechase in track and field.

The IOC is eager for gender equity in the Olympics. Apart from
baseball, boxing is the only existing summer Olympic sport without
women's events. Women's wrestling was added for the 2004 Athens
Games.

Boxing has run into problems with the IOC, however. The IOC
froze more than $9 million in payments to the International Boxing
Federation after the Athens Games because of concerns over judging
in the sport.

On another issue, the IOC is due to close the chapter on the
protracted Young case by formally stripping the American runner of
the gold medal from the 1,600 relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The Court or Arbitration for Sport ruled in July that only Young
should be disqualified for his 1999 doping test, upholding the
victory of Michael Johnson -- the fifth and final Olympic gold of
his career -- and the rest of the U.S. team.

The IOC is also expected to ratify last week's decision by CAS
to reinstate Colombian cyclist Maria Luisa Calle as the bronze
medalist from the women's point race in Athens. CAS overturned her
disqualification by the IOC, saying the headache medication she
took did not contain banned substances. Calle's medal had been
awarded to American cyclist Erin Mirabella, the original
fourth-place finisher.

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