Dispute Over StandUp Paddling Goes to CAS -- Federations Focus

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(ATR) The International Surfing Association (ISA) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) are taking their dispute over the governance of StandUp Paddle (SUP) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS will mediate new discussions between the two federations, who have been told by the International Olympic Committee to work out a resolution.

"We are pleased that the issue regarding the governance of SUP, a discipline that is very important for ISA, is now before CAS," ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, said in a statement.

"As a committed member of the Olympic Family, we believe CAS is the appropriate forum to have this case heard fairly."

Aguerre told Around the Rings last month that a recent partnership with the Association of Paddlesurf Professionals will propel the ISA forward as the sole world governing body for the discipline.

But that’s not how the ICF sees it.

"There is no exclusive group of athletes in SUP and no monopoly therefore the ICF is within its rights to organize and sanction SUP competitions as per our rules," ICF secretary general Simon Toulson told ATR in May. "We don’t accept ISA is the sole governing body for SUP."

The StandUp Paddling discipline was rejected by the IOC for the Tokyo 2020 sports program but is seen as a possible addition for 2024.

More Sports Join Olympic Channel Roster

The fledgling Olympic Channel has already accumulated 54 partnerships with International Federations in its first year of operation.

The latest additions to the multi-platform hub for Olympic news and content are the International Federation of American Football and World Bridge Federation who signed partnerships on June 12.

"We are excited to welcome these two new partners to the Olympic Channel," said Mark Parkman, general manager of the Olympic Channel. "The global platform continues to evolve and provide more opportunities to all sports within the Olympic Movement as we work together to expand the reach of these sports and introduce new sports to our audiences."

Since its inception during the Closing Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics, only three sports on the Summer and Winter Olympic programs have yet to partner with the Olympic Channel – the International Association of Athletics Federations, International Biathlon Union, International Handball Federation and International Volleyball Federation.

The IFs that have partnered with the Olympic Channel have the opportunity to stream their events and collaborate with the Olympic Channel for event coverage, highlights and original programming.

In 2017 alone, the Olympic Channel will provide coverage of more than 200 events worldwide.

The inclusion of IFAF and WBF follows the addition of six other non-Olympic sports to the Olympic Channel partner list in March. The IFAF and WBF join the Federation of International Bandy, International Orienteering Federation, International Union of Powerboating, International Racquetball Federation, World DanceSport Federation and World Underwater Federation.

FIBA Website Changes Its Domain Name

What’s in a name? Potentially quite a bit, according to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

FIBA’s official website FIBA.com is now FIBA.basketball.

"The .basketball domain is ideal because it is clear, specific, has a global scale and reach and defines the sport," FIBA secretary general and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Patrick Baumann said in a statement.

"Ensuring that .basketball is kept within the sport for the benefit of the global basketball community is fully in line with one of FIBA's missions - that of bringing people together and uniting the community."

FIBA says it is among the very few International Federations to have applied for, and successfully secured, the Top Level Domain (TLD) named after its sport. The federation began the process to acquire the domain in 2012.

FIBA’s 213 National Federations and their members as well as key stakeholders will be given priority access to the .basketball domain name. The general public will have to wait until 2018.

Written by Gerard Farek and Kevin Nutley

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