Terrorists Threaten Olympics; Chinese President to Attend Games; CAS Office

(ATR) Threats by an Islamic militant group to attack the Sochi Olympics have raised fresh concerns about security at the Games.

In a video posted online, the terrorist group Vilayat Dagestan from Russia's North Caucasus said Sunday it was responsible for two suicide bombings in Volgograd last month that killed 34 people. They also said o expect an attack on the Feb. 7-23 Games.

"If you hold the Olympics you will receive a present from us ... for you and all those tourists who will come over," one of two men said in the video.

"It will be for all the Muslim blood that is shed every day around the world - be it in Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, all around the world. This will be our revenge," one of them was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.

Chinese President to Sochi

Chinese president Xi Jinping will attend the Sochi 2014 opening ceremony.

Xi's announcement Monday provides a boost to Russian president Vladimir Putin, after several European leaders and U.S. president Barack Obama said they would not attend the Games.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, it will be the first time a Chinese leader has attended such a major sporting event overseas and is intended to signal the country's close relationship with Russia, reports Reuters.

CAS Opens Office in Sochi

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced Monday that it was preparing to open a temporary office in the Black Sea resort to resolve legal disputes which may arise during the Games.

This tribunal, called the CAS ad hoc Division, has operated at each edition of the Olympics since 1996.

CAS said in a statement that the office "will provide all participants in the Games with free access to justice rendered within time limits that keep pace with the competitions".

The Sochi 2014 Games tribunal will be presided over by Michael Lenard of the USA and Switzerland’s Corinne Schmidhauser and composed of nine arbitrators who will be in charge of settling any dispute related to the Games.

The Sochi office will be headed by the CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb.

Written by Mark Bisson

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