Rugby Sevens In The Olympics; IRB Lobbies, Help Needed

- 21/08/08

    Two real positives to draw from the Beijing Olympics are that it’s the last time we’ll see softball and baseball in the Games… at least it should be.
    These two tediously dull sports* are actually among the seven sports in the mix for inclusion in the London Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will vote on it in October 2009. The other sports are rugby sevens, golf, squash, karate and roller sports.
    As we all know, it’s 84 years since the U.S. took on a beat the French to win the rugby gold medal in 1924 – the year when the Brits were preoccupied running in slow motion to the sound of Vangelis.
    Anyway, it was with a view to getting rugby re-introduced to the Games (and obviously ending the U.S. reign as Olympic champions), that IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller was in China recently.
    In an interview for the IRB’s World Rugby podcast, Miller said he was in Beijing for three reasons.
    The first was to put forward the case to International Olympic Committee members for rugby’s readmission to the Olympics, in the form of sevens, and explained “how well sevens works within a multi-sport competition like the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games or, in 2011, the Pan-American Games,” he said.
 “We think rugby has a very strong case to make, particularly rugby sevens for the universality, for the fact that there are chances for nations that don’t usually win medals or gold medals, like the Pacific Islands,” said Miller. “It works incredibly well within a multi-sport setting. It’s also very commercial – we’d be able to sellout the stadium which would be empty, because the main stadium is normally empty after the opening ceremony until the athletics starts.”
    The second reason for his visit was to take a look at what’s being provided in Beijing – a sort of benchmarking process for the Rugby World Cup*.
    The third was to help grow rugby in China. Miller said he had been talking to the Chinese Rugby Union. “There are pockets where the game is very strong, but there’s a huge population, there’s huge potential for the game in China.”
Miller made no comment on what the CRU said it was doing to develop the game in China, presumably because there wasn't time. But for those of us here in Beijing, it's very hard to see any sign of the Chinese trying to develop the game. The expat schools aside, there's still only one rugby pitch in Beijing (Nongda) and it would seem to be a similar story in Shanghai. Having rugby as an Olympic sport would presumably change that.
    According to the IRB website, rugby satisfies in every respect the criteria set out in the Olympic Charter for inclusion in the programme of the Olympic Games. Specifically:
  - The sport is played by men in over 100 countries in 5 continents. It is played by women in some 52 countries in 5 continents.
  - The IRB and its Member Unions apply the World Anti-Doping Code and perform in and out-of-competition testing.
  - The IRB is experienced in organising qualifying events for its World Cup and has the competence to do so for the Olympic Games. As a team sport, rugby would be able to conform to the requirement for the number of teams not to exceed 12 teams for each gender.
  - The rugby programme could be accommodated within one stadium. However, it would be preferable and helpful to have a number of other grassed areas or fields for team preparation and training.
  - In addition, the rugby programme can comfortably share a stadium with other events. Converting a pitch from rugby to soccer, can be accomplished in less than two hours.
  - No special equipment is required for rugby. It is a relatively inexpensive game to play.
   In the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the five sessions of Sevens attracted 130,000 spectators, second only to the numbers watching the athletics.
   The IRB will next push its case at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in March, when women’s sevens will be introduced. As many IOC members as possible will be invited to attend.

Spread the Word
    In tandem with its own efforts, the IRB is asking all rugby players and supporters to assist in spreading the message that rugby sevens should be included in the Olympic Games.

    According to the IRB website's Olympics section, the key messages that are important and highlight why Rugby should be in the Olympic Games are:
  - Rugby reinforces the ideals of Olympism, thanks to rugby’s long-standing ethos of fair play and friendship
  - Rugby sevens would reach a new and young audience, including rugby’s 3 million players in 116 countries and the tens of millions of fans worldwide
  - Rugby sevens does not need a purpose built stadium and would fill the Olympic Stadium in the first week of competition, adding an additional vibrant and youthful tone for the Games
  - Rugby sevens would extend the number of potential medal-winning nations in what would be a true world championship. Countries that could aspire to Olympic success in rugby include Fiji, Samoa, Argentina, South Africa, Kenya and New Zealand.
  - Rugby would increase funds to grow the Olympic Movement, by attracting new commercial partners and spectators. At the same time rugby would enjoy increased funding and access to facilities from National Olympic Committees as an Olympic sport.

IOC Virtual Olympic Congress
    The IRB is at present providing a lot of information to the IOC on why rugby should be reintroduced to the Olympic Games and asks rugby players and supporters to assist, by responding to the IOC’s Virtual Olympic Congress at http://www.2009congress.olympic.org/.

    The IOC asking the general public all around the world for feedback as its progresses its plans for the future of the Olympic Games. The IRB believes that future should include Rugby. The IOC has created a specific website called the Virtual Olympic Congress to record this feedback between now and Dec. 31, 2008.
    The IRB describes the online process for submitting information on this website as very cumbersome but asks for perseverance. To help, it gives some information on the online feedback process:

1. Please register and accept the General Conditions
2. Once you have done this you will be asked to comment on two of the five core themes:
  - The Athletes
  - Olympic Games
  - The Structure of the Olympic Movement
  - Olympism and Youth
  - Digital Revolution.
3. The IRB believes the best places to place your thoughts are: the "Olympic Games" ; and "Olympism and Youth". Before adding your online contribution you might like to read the five points above again, and read the IRB's Olympic magazine "Drive" and "Rugby in the Olympic Games"

4. Under "Olympic Games" there are three sub topics. Please add your contribution in the forms that are provided for each topic

5. Under Olympism and Youth there are three sub topics: Please add your contribution in the forms that are provided for each topic

    Another way of promoting Rugby's inclusion in the Olympic Games is to write to or contact your National Olympic Committee. Remember to ask the NOC to forward your comments to the IOC members within that country.
So, take a look "virtual congress" and help in the lobbying process... the prospect of roller sports or squash in the Olympics should be motivation enough.
    What’s for sure is that if rugby sevens becomes an Olympic sport, the level of interest in the Beijing Devils, along with the rugby competitions and events we participate in or have helped to build up in China will grow significantly.
* There are of course plenty of other sports worthy of the chop (not the obscure cycling events that GB keeps winning though), but that’s something for another time.
* I’m sure New Zealand will match Beijing with its rebuilt Eden Park. No problem.
Vermilion Beijing Devils Rugby Club is supported by Guinness