New Shooting Sport Constitution Just Off Target -- Federations Focus

(ATR) The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) did not approve a new constitution following its general assembly in Moscow, Russia from July 1-2.

The constitution which has been revised and discussed over the last year just missed the target of two-thirds majority needed to pass the new measures. The constitution received 148 votes in favor and 84 against, missing the majority by just seven votes.

The federation will continue to operate under its previous constitution established in 1980.

"The ISSF General Assembly has expressed its democratic decision, and we respect it," ISSF president Olegario Vazquez Raña said.

The general assembly did approve the suspension of the Kuwait Shooting Federation per recommendations by the ISSF Administrative Council in November 2015. The majority to suspend the national federation was reached with 174 in favor and 65 against.

The suspension resulted in ISSF Administrative Council member from Kuwait Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi resigning from his position.

Valcke FIFA Ban Reduced

Former FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke’s ban from all football-related activity has been cut from 12 to 10 years on appeal.

FIFA’s ethics committee originally banned the 55-year-old in February for his involvement in a World Cup tickets scandal, abuse of travel expenses and the sale of TV and other media rights.

He also destroyed evidence to throw investigators off the scent of corruption.

But in ruling for a reduction in the ban, the FIFA appeals committee decided its own ethics judges were too severe with Valcke on the issue of World Cup TV rights.

The appeals panel ruled that "mitigating factors had not been fully assessed" by the original hearing in regard to the sale of Caribbean TV rights to FIFA events.

However, the original fine of 100,000 Swiss francs was confirmed by the appeals committee.

FIFA Announces Ticket Prices for Confederations Cup, World Cup in Russia

Tickets for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will be very affordable – if you are Russian.

FIFA released ticket prices for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday.

FIFA says that as in South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014, residents of the host country will be getting a break on the price of admission to the games. This time around, Russian residents will have access to at least 350,000 tickets with prices starting at RUB 1,280, which is about $20.

For non-Russians, tickets will start at $105 each.

For the Confederations Cup next year, a least 100,000 tickets will be available to the locals starting at $15. The remaining ticket categories are priced from $70 to $245.

"We wanted to make sure that we priced tickets fairly to make the events accessible to as many people as possible. We therefore conducted thorough market research and have priced the tickets accordingly," said new FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura in a statement.

Ticket sales for the FIFA Confederations Cup will begin with a pre-sales phase that will run from Nov. 8-17 with the main phase beginning on Dec. 1.

Tickets for the FIFA World Cup will only go on sale after the Confederations Cup. For both tournaments, tickets will be available for purchase by the general public exclusively on FIFA.com.

Boxers, Basketball Teams Battling for Final Rio Qualifications

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) is currently hosting its Olympic Qualification Event in Vargas, Venezuela where 79 boxers from 40 countries are competing for the last Rio 2016 quota spots up for grabs.

Boxers from AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), the World Series of Boxing (WSB) and other professional boxers are now in day three of the competition with 40 athletes still fighting for the final 26 qualification spots at the Rio Olympics this August.

Professional boxers will be allowed to compete at the Rio Games following a landmark decision to approve the statute at the AIBA extraordinary congress on June 1 in Lausanne. The decision follows Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms that argue for the best athletes to participate in the Games.

The competition will come to a close on July 8 with the top three in each weight class except for heavyweight and super heavyweight advancing to Rio de Janeiro.

With less than a month remaining until the Games, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is also hosting its final qualification tournament for the Olympics.

The FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournament is being held at the Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines from July 5-10. Six teams are competing for the last remaining spot in the Olympic tournament in Rio.

Canada, Senegal and Turkey are in Group A while France, New Zealand and hosts Philippines are in Group B. On day two of competition, the Philippines have been eliminated from the tournament with two consecutive losses. Either Turkey or Senegal will be eliminated as each team has one loss and will play against each other on Thursday.

France is considered a favorite to win the tournament lead by NBA star Tony Parker along with Canada that features NBA players Tristan Thompson and Corey Joseph. These teams could likely square off against one another in the final on Sunday, July 10.

The Rio 2016 Olympics begin Aug. 5 and conclude Aug. 21.

Written by Kevin Nutley and Gerard Farek

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