 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Eligible for Athens Afghanistan welcomed back into IOC foldPosted: Sunday June 29, 2003 12:49 PMPRAGUE (Reuters) -- Olympic chiefs have opened the door for Afghanistan to return to the Games next year, lifting the suspension imposed on the nation in 1999 when it was under Taliban rule. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not accept the sports policy of Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers, who rejected a request to permit women's sports. But the nation could now return to competition in time for the 2004 Athens Olympics, Executive Director for the Olympic Games Gilbert Felli said on Sunday. "In October 1999, the Afghan National Olympic Committee was suspended under the Taliban regime," Felli said at an IOC Executive Board meeting in Prague. "But today, women have a prominent role in sport in Afghanistan, so we have decided that the suspension of the Afghan NOC will be lifted. "What this means is that they will be eligible to come to Athens. "We will have to discuss the feasibility of this with them. Either they will come by qualifying or via some sort of wildcard. "Either way, we hope to have some Afghan athletes in Athens." An IOC delegation, headed by Director of NOCs Relations and Olympic Solidarity Pere Miro, conducted a three-day visit to Kabul earlier this month. They met with officials of the newly re-formed NOC, with staff members and representatives of National Federations both Olympic and non-Olympic, and with athletes, male and female. The aim of the visit had been to assess the current sports situation -- the structure and composition of the NOC, representation and activity of the National Federations and sports facilities. The delegates also considered athletes' potential in terms of sports and disciplines, training conditions, representation of women, and potential scholarship holders for the Athens Games next year.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
