Urging the Indian Olympic Association to sort out its differences with the IOC through negotiations, Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday "asked the administrators to put national interest first to ensure that the ban on India is revoked at the earliest." The IOC had sent the revised draft Constitution of the IOA, "which envisaged barring of corruption-tainted persons from contesting IOA elections." The IOA had objected to this provision, saying that "the Indian law would prevail on these matters." But the IOC last week "refused to change its stance on barring chargesheeted persons from contesting IOA elections" (PTI, 8/21). ... Tokyo has sent a clear message to the IOC less than three weeks before the vote to decide the host city for the 2020 Summer Games: "bank on us." With the IOC under pressure to keep escalating Olympic budgets in check, "Tokyo has underlined its promise to deliver a profitable Games without the risk of over-spending." Tokyo 2020 CEO Masato Mizuno said, "We're very healthy. Tokyo is a safe pair of hands and that includes financial strength. We already have a $4.5B Olympic hosting fund so financially there's no problem -- we're secure. We also have city and government guarantees" (AFP, 8/21).
