Olympics chief in Bangkok as Thailand bids for Summer Games
Olympics chief in Bangkok as Thailand bids for Summer Games
BANGKOK (Agencies): International Olympic Committee (IOC)
president Juan Antonio Samaranch met Thai sports officials on
Saturday, three weeks after Thailand said it was bidding for the
2008 summer Games.
Samaranch who arrived in Thailand late Friday night, visited
an indoor stadium in Bangkok to observe a game of sepak takraw
which is reportedly being considered as an Olympic demonstration
sport.
Takraw players try to propel a ball over a high net with their
feet. The sport, which is similar to volleyball, is especially
popular in southeast Asia.
Samaranch was later due to fly by helicopter to present King
Bhumibol Adulyadej with the Lalaounis Cup at a seaside summer
palace in Hua Hin.
The Cup recognizes services to the Olympic movement.
Thailand joined the race for the 2008 Games just before the
bid deadline last month and is shaping up as a rank outsider
against front-runner Beijing and eight other cities, including
Paris.
Samaranch is due to hold talks with Thai Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai and other officials and will also meet executives from
Thailand's Olympic Committee Sunday.
Thai sports officials here played down talk that Samaranch
will make an early assessment of the 2008 bid, keen to highlight
the fact that the IOC chief's visit is strictly ceremonial.
In Montreal, the fight against the use of illegal drugs in
sport took a key step forward on Friday as a conference decided
on the composition of the 35-member board of a new international
anti-doping agency.
After two days of talks in Montreal, a group of 30 countries
reached a consensus that will see Africa send three
representatives to the new World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), one
more than had been planned.
The International Intergovernmental Consultative Group on
Anti-Doping in Sport said it decided that Morocco, Senegal and
another as yet unnamed country will sit on the board of the
International Olympic Committee-funded watchdog agency.