The lack of a decision on additional sports to be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games program has changed the agenda that the IOC Executive Commission will hold this Friday telematically from Lausanne (Switzerland).
The Program Commission should have made a recommendation to the Executive on the sports it considers positive to accept, of the nine applicants: cricket, karate, kickboxing, baseball/softball, lacrosse, breaking, squash, motorsport and American football in its ‘flag football’ or ‘bill’ modality (without tackle).
But deliberations are still ongoing, the IOC reported, canceling a press conference it was to offer this Friday, at the end of the meeting.
The Executive headed by German Thomas Bach should have studied the Program Commission’s recommendation and issued, in turn, a proposal to the Session (plenary assembly) that will meet in October in Bombay (India) and that alone can approve changes to the program.
The cities organizing the Games can ask the IOC for the temporary acceptance of certain sports, which are added, only for that edition, to the main program.
In June 2022, it was approved in Los Angeles that the core of the program will consist of athletics, rowing, badminton, basketball, canoeing, cycling, horse riding, fencing, soccer, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, wrestling, swimming, rugby , taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, shooting, archery, triathlon, sailing, volleyball, surfing, skateboarding and climbing.
The last three, including breaking, are the picks of Paris 2024 as an additional sport.
“Due to ongoing discussions between the IOC and the Organizing Committee, the Olympic Program Commission has not yet had the opportunity to hold its meeting to prepare its final recommendation for the Executive. Consequently, the sports program of the Olympic Games of LA28 will be discussed at the next meeting, at a date to be decided,” the IOC said in a statement.
In any case, the Executive will hold a meeting tomorrow, the main purpose of which is to prepare for the Bombay Session.
Among the pending issues the IOC must address in the coming weeks is the possible involvement of Russia and Belarus. at the Paris Games -their athletes attended most of the qualifying events, with a neutral flag-, the status of boxing, whose federation (IBA) was disabled by the IOC, and the possible review of the Guatemalan Olympic suspension Committee (COG).
But no significant change is expected on the issue of Guatemala, because the Olympic body still has no laws in force, after a conflict between the two leaders who claimed the presidency.
Last July a group of athletes submitted an application to the Constitutional Courtthe highest court of the country in Central America, to annul the decision that caused Guatemala to be sanctioned in the Olympic competitions.
The athletes are asking to reactivate the COG laws to request the annulment of the IOC suspension. However, the Constitutional Court has not set a date to hear the pending appeals and the situation appears to have no solution in the short or medium term.
Apparently, Guatemalan athletes will have to participate in October in the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile under the banner of Panam Sports, without their national symbols.
Source: La Verdad
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