Asia

Tokyo 2020 organisers have said Fukushima could stage the opening rounds of the baseball and softball tournaments at the Olympic Games, while organising committee president Yoshiro Mori has criticised the part played by Sports Minister Hiroshi Hase in the latest setback to hit plans for the centrepiece of the event.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) was today (Wednesday) forced into the late switch of the World Twenty20 group match between host nation India and Pakistan from Dharamsala to Kolkata owing to security concerns in the former city.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has confirmed that Hong Kong will host its Track Cycling World Championships next year, while president Brian Cookson said he remains confident that the velodrome for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be completed in time.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the merger of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and Korea Council of Sport for All (KOCOSA), calling the move a “major and historic step” for the development of sport in South Korea.

Chinese investment in sport has accelerated over the past year. Sportbusiness International looks at the reasons behind this growing trend.

Anurag Thakur, secretary for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has criticised Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for stating his concerns over security just weeks before the World Twenty20 game between India and Pakistan is due to take place in Dharamsala.

The International Federation of Poker’s (IFP) Match Poker form of the game has been handed a major boost in China through a new partnership between the Alibaba Sports division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and the Oceans Sports & Entertainment agency.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has formally separated from the control of the country’s government in a bid to give the national governing body of the sport more independence.

The Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) has unveiled plans to launch two new leagues as it plans to become the latest sporting body to adopt the franchise format established by the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket competition.

Co-host of the 2022 winter Olympics, Zhangjiakou, has outlined plans to develop a sports hub ahead of the staging of the Games in China.

Investment holding company China Digital Culture has struck an agreement with Taiwanese singer and actor Jay Chou to form a new eSports company in Asia.

The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has announced that an initial portfolio of 34 sports comprising 342 events has been selected by its technical committee for the country’s hosting of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games.

Sportswear giant Nike has curtailed its contract with superstar boxer Manny Pacquiao after he described gay people as “worse than animals.”

National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner Adam Silver has confirmed that the North American league is considering taking its annual All-Star Game overseas, adding that it is more likely to be staged in Europe than in Asia.

Organisers of the South Asian Games have confirmed that all basketball fixtures at this year’s multi-sport event in India have been cancelled.

Doubts have been raised over the long-term future of the Jeongseon downhill skiing complex in PyeongChang ahead of the South Korean city’s staging of the winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2018, while Games organisers have confirmed they have so far raised 70 per cent of their target of KRW870bn (€647m/$722m) in domestic sponsorship money.