International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will get fewer luxuries at the Sydney and Salt Lake City Games, organisers said yesterday. Sydney organising committee chief Michael Knight said his city would do away with the social programme for spouses while other cutbacks included fewer dedicated limousines for officials and sparser flower arrangements in the top Sydney hotels.
The cutbacks affect not just the 112 IOC members but also team chiefs and sports federation heads. They will bring savings of several million dollars.
Mitt Romney, the Utah businessman now heading the Salt Lake preparations, said that IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch had accepted there would be no five-star hotel or expensive limousines for IOC members in 2002.
Cycling: Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc will be naming riders and officials banned from this year's race today as part of a major drive to prevent another drugs scandal.
"Our main aim is to ensure that the race does not succumb to scandal and is allowed to go ahead in peace," said Leblanc. "To do this, we have the right to ban all those - individuals, teams or other groups - who, having been involved in drug matters, could tarnish the image and reputation of the Tour or in some way cause trouble." Meanwhile a top French blood specialist, who has helped pioneer a revolutionary new technique to detect the presence of the performance-boosting drug erythrop oietine (EPO) in the system, has offered to weed out cheats in this year's Tour.
Professor Gerard Dine of the Troyes Biotechnology Institute said that the tools were now available to give credibility back to sport, but the technique was expensive.
Cricket: Leprechauns CC, celebrating their half-century this year, take on St Columba's College at Rathfarnham today (2.30), just over 50 years since these particular opponents first met at the same venue on June 15th 1949. The fixture has never lapsed since then.
Noel Mahony, who won nine Ireland caps between 1947 and 1953, is the Leprechauns' president in the club's 50th year.
Meantime, the Ireland women's team will play two matches at Wellington College in Berkshire the weekend after next. On Saturday June 26th they play India, followed by a match against England Under-21 on the 27th.
