Maracana Reopens; Bach Manifesto; India Amending Constitution

Maracanã Stadium Reopens

Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã Stadium reopened with a 2-2 draw between Brazil and England at an international friendly.

The first test event was an exhibition match between two teams, led by World Cup winners Ronaldo and Bebeto. Authorities in attendance included Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Vice-President Michel Temer, Rio de Janeiro State Governor Sergio Cabral, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Rio 2016 Organizing Committee President, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

Renovations on the Maracanã Stadium began in August 2010.

Among the five Rio 2016 football competition venues, the Maracanã Stadium is the fourth to be re-opened after extensive renovations for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

The re-vamped Maracanã Stadium will host the Olympic football finals and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

Bach to Outline Candidacy

IOC presidential hopeful Thomas Bach will deliver his manifesto to his IOC colleagues this week.

The German IOC Vice President said he would let IOC members know his exact stances first before commenting to the media. He did say the big themes would be: "Olympic Games, good governance, responsible autonomy, Olympic education and athlete roles."

He added: "It’spretty clear what I am standing for as a former athlete, always having defended Olympic values, the uniqueness of the Olympic Games. The principals are pretty clear and the members know for which values I am standing."

Bach said he wrote the manifesto in a weekend "about three weeks ago" and was waiting for the translation to be finished before releasing it.

Sergey Bubka from the Ukraine, Richard Carrion from Puerto Rico, Ser Miang Ng from Singapore, Denis Oswald from Switzerland and C.K. Wu from Chinese Taipei are the other candidates in the race to succeed Jacques Rogge.

The vote is scheduled for Sept. 10 at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

India Begins Constitution Changes

Stakeholders in the Indian Olympic Association have started the process to lift the IOA's suspension from the Olympic Movement.

During the IOC Executive Board meeting last week, a deadline of July 15 was set for when the IOA must amend its constitution. Stakeholders of the IOA met over the weekend and agreed to hold an assembly in July to amend the constitution. The constitution must ensure there is no government interference in the IOA's affairs.

The IOA meeting also determined new elections will be held either Aug. 18 or 25. The IOC said new elections would have to be held by Sept. 1.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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