Bach, Obama Dine Together; King to Open EYOF

Bach Dines with Obama

Thomas Bach, president of DOSB, the German Olympic Committee, attended the state dinner with U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

A statement from the DOSB says Bach was invited by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as president of Germany's largest civil organization.

Around 120 guests attended the dinner at Charlottenburg castle in Berlin.

Olympian and 2008 flagbearer for Germany Dirk Nowitzki was also present for the dinner "as a special favor" to President Obama, the statement said. "President Obama is a true sports fan," Bach said. "It was good to experience his appreciation for sports."

King to Open EYOF

IOC member Willem Alexander, King of the Netherlands, will open the 2013 European Youth Olympic Festival in Utrecht.

A statement from the organizing committee on Thursday made the announcement.

The competition runs July 14 to 19.

A total of 2,300 athletes ages 13 to 18 will participate in the EYOF. They will compete in nine Olympic sports: athletics, basketball, cycling, gymnastics, handball, judo, swimming and tennis.

"Overzealous" JOC Cost Murofushi

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Koji Murofushi was disqualified because the Japanese Olympic Committee was "overzealous" in promoting his candidacy.

While the court ruled in May that it was dismissing his appeal of the IOC decision to remove him as a candidate for the IOC Athletes' Commission, it released its decision on Wednesday.

"The Panel would like to add that – at least to a significant extent – the Candidate was a victim of an overzealous NOC and that his own actions were neither motivated by a desire to cheat nor can they be equated to dishonesty," the panel wrote in the conclusion to its 41-page ruling.

In the decision, CAS says the IOC was informed of Murofushi’s rule violations by representatives from the Dutch, French and Zimbabwean National Olympic Committees, all of which had candidates for the Athletes' Commission.

He had earned enough votes to win one of the four available slots on the Athletes' Commission at the time of his disqualification.

Accusation of Plagiarism Over Cauldron

A design firm in the United States accuses LOCOG of stealing its idea for the Olympic Cauldron.

Jane Harrison, co-director of the firm Atopia, told London’s The Guardian newspaper: "We were absolutely furious. It was a crushing disappointment.

"We were led to believe it was a confidential presentation to the high-level board, so it was even more shocking to see the ideas had been taken forward by others without us. We are a small office, so we can't afford to launch legal action."

Sochi 2014 Sues Lotto

Sochi 2014 launched a lawsuit against lottery sponsor Sportloto. Russian news outlets say Sochi 2014 hopes to capture license fees of more than 20 million Roubles, or $635,000.

The lawsuit, filed in a Moscow court, says Sportloto failed to deliver the payments on time.

Australian Broadcast Rights Update

Jeff Browne, the head of Australia’s Nine Network, says the IOC will attempt to sell the remaining broadcast rights in the country as a package deal.

He made the comments at a lunch in Sydney on Thursday, saying: "They will sell the next two Summers plus the Winter in between them as a package."

The three major broadcasters in Australia walked away from negotiations with the IOC over broadcasting rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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