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Picking the host for the 2012 Olympics will
not be the only tough choice International Olympic Committee
(IOC) members have to make when they gather in Singapore from
6-9 July.
Can
fencing garner enough votes to stay in the Games? -
AFP Photo |
For the first time, IOC members have to put
to vote which sports will be contested in the 2012 Games.
The current 28 Olympic sports are hoping to
stay in the Games, and five others - golf, rugby, karate,
squash and roller sports - are on the waiting list.
Golf and rugby have been part of the Games before,
while squash, karate and roller sports are still awaiting
their debut.
The 116 IOC members will gather to vote, one
sport at a time, which should remain for the 2012 Games.
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IN
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OUT
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· The
last sport to be removed from the Olympic Games was
polo in 1936.
· In
2002, the IOC decided to cap the number of sports at
an Olympic Games at 28, the number of events at 301
and the number of athletes at 10,500.
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If any are thrown out, they will then decide
on which of the five sports will be allowed in. A two-thirds
majority vote will be needed.
The three sports on the chopping block: baseball,
softball and modern pentathlon. Fencing and taekwondo are
also at risk of expulsion.
Sports threatened with expulsion are furious
at plans to stage a vote on their survival at the IOC Session
in Singapore.
The Association of Summer Olympic International
Federations (ASOIF), which represents all 28 sports currently
in the Olympics, is lobbying for the existing programme to
be upheld and has called on IOC members to keep the existing
programme.
When the IOC first proposed such a vote in Mexico
City in 2003, IOC members resisted and no vote was taken.
How It Works
The 116 IOC members will vote, one sport at
a time, which should remain for the 2012 Games.
Each sport will need more than 50 per cent of
the votes to remain on the programme.
IOC members will vote based on criteria like
global popularity, television and media coverage, gender equity,
ticket sales and anti-doping policies.
Any sport failing to win a majority of votes
will be dropped for the 2012 Olympics.
Only then, will one or more sports from the
five on the waiting list be selected and members will then
be asked to vote on its inclusion. A two-thirds majority vote
will be needed.
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