Event Notes: Financial Problems Could Result In Fewer Athletes At SEA Games

Suffering from "a severe lack of funding," the Indonesian task-force managing the preparations for December’s Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar said on Tuesday that it "may be forced to scrap several athletic squads from its roster in order to focus on teams that have an actual shot at winning their events" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 7/17). ... Tickets to the Commonwealth Bank Ashes Series between Australia and England sold faster in the first three hours Wednesday than in the initial 24-hour period in '10-11 (CA). ... More than 2,000 athletes from 200 countries will participate in the 2014 IAAF World Championships in Moscow. Organizing Committee Exec Dir Alexander Polinsky said that nearly all tickets have been sold for the first weekend in which Usain Bolt is expected to run the 100m final. More than 70% of tickets have been sold for the second weekend (XINHUA, 7/17). ... The Int'l Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) announced that Qatar will host the 2015 World Amateur Boxing Championships (SID, 7/17).