It seems that there may be an agreement for NHL participation in the Turin Olympics.
Officials from the NHL, the league's players association and executives of the International Ice Hockey Federation will meet today.
Bill Daly, the new NHL deputy commissioner, said:
"I understand the IIHF will have further meetings with participating federations later this week, and we expect to have a definitive answer on the contract by Monday,".
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman travelled to Moscow last Thursday, to negotiate with Russian hockey officials. The Russians refused to sign the agreement because its clubs unanimously rejected it. The Czechs then also refused to sign it.
The NHL's participation at the Olympics depends on the Russians and Czechs signing the player transfer agreement, which increases the compensation the NHL pays European federations in exchange for signing players.
Under the new plan, the NHL would pay $12.5M annually to a development fund managed by the sport's governing body; an increase of $3.5M.
The IIHF distributes the money among the national federations and clubs that lose players to the NHL, based on a formula devised by the IIHF and the national federations.
A new formula has been created to placate the Russian clubs, who regularly lose their top prospects to the NHL. Russian teams want to negotiate their own transfer deals directly with NHL clubs so they can get more money.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Artistic Licence
The organisers of the Beijing Olympics 2008 have announced a worldwide competition for such Olympics related artwork, designed to reflect China's aspiration of the Olympics and help promote the Games.
The work should be related to the theme of Beijing 2008 Olympics which is "One World One Dream."
The calligraphy should preferably be in Chinese characters.
Li Beng Hua, deputy director of Beijing's department of cultural activities, said that the competition would be open to global participation; via Chinese embassies and consulates overseas, as well as international agencies and institutions.
A total of 290 designs will be short-listed from all entries during the first half of next year.
Three replicas of each selected entry will be made to take part in an exhibition tour of major Chinese cities.
In the second round of selection, 110 pieces will be selected based on public votes and appraisals by a panel of experts. A final 29 entries will be chosen for the gold, silver and bronze awards.
There will be no prize money, as the kudos will be reward in itself.
The work should be related to the theme of Beijing 2008 Olympics which is "One World One Dream."
The calligraphy should preferably be in Chinese characters.
Li Beng Hua, deputy director of Beijing's department of cultural activities, said that the competition would be open to global participation; via Chinese embassies and consulates overseas, as well as international agencies and institutions.
A total of 290 designs will be short-listed from all entries during the first half of next year.
Three replicas of each selected entry will be made to take part in an exhibition tour of major Chinese cities.
In the second round of selection, 110 pieces will be selected based on public votes and appraisals by a panel of experts. A final 29 entries will be chosen for the gold, silver and bronze awards.
There will be no prize money, as the kudos will be reward in itself.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Human Rights Issues
Amnesty International has urged China to release all its political prisoners and abolish the death penalty, in efforts to improve its human rights record before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
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