No Harper, and No Minister of Sport (We Don't Even HAVE One). Canada sure is a Loser

IOC President to meet with world leaders

On the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, IOC President Jacques Rogge is to meet with some of the world’s major leaders, who are visiting Beijing for the opening ceremony. Among the leaders Rogge will be meeting are Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Brazillian President Luiz Lula da Silva.

More world leaders – more than 100 sovereigns, heads of state and heads of government - will be attending the Beijing Olympic Games, as well as 170 Ministers of Sport.

As well as discussing the Beijing Games, Rogge will be using the meetings as an opportunity to raise issues of concern to the Olympic movement – the fight against doping, and the role of sport in education and in improving public health.

Sport’s role in improving health outcomes “It is essential that we promote the central role of sport in modern society,” said Rogge today. “Everyday sport can deliver substantial social, environmental and economic benefits by reducing obesity and cardiac disease and creating a healthy society. The IOC wants governments to support elite sport and the Olympic movement – that’s essential – but we also want them to invest in public sports facilities.”

Just as vital is that the IOC and governments collaborate in the fight against doping by providing consistent funding for WADA, enabling co-operation between law enforcement and doping authorities; and application of the World Anti-Doping Code. This may require legislative change.
Doping – a problem to be tackled together Doping, and particularly steroid abuse, is a public health issue – it is not simply a matter for elite sport – it reaches down into amateur sports clubs, universities and high schools and causes physical and psychological damage to the user. This trickle-down effect is what should worry everyone. Moreover, steroid use and crime are inextricably linked – many acts of violent crime in society are thought to be connected to steroid use.”

President Rogge will continue to promote these issues, through both the IOC and collaboration with other Olympic organisations, in his regular schedule of visits and consultations with world leaders regarding their national sport agenda.

[This is an IOC News Release, dated August 8, 2008]