Rio Plans for World Cup Final
Rio de Janeiro has decreed three public holidays to prevent the city’s growing traffic problems from interfering with the 2014 FIFA World Cup final on July 13.
The municipal government announced "an entire day’s holiday" for the July 4 quarterfinal at Rio’s Maracana stadium.It also approved "half-day holidays" for Spain’s game with Chile on June 18 and the June 25 match between Ecuador and France.
Overall, Rio will stage seven games in the month-long tournament.
The mayor's office in Rio toldThe Malay Mail Onlinein a statement, "The measure aims to reduce the flow of vehicles, minimizing possible inconvenience to the population and speeding up the flow of fans to the Maracana stadium."
Rio's traffic problems have worsened ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics.The Malay Mail Onlinepredicts other cities will follow suit, including Belo Horizonte, which declared public holidays last year during the Confederations Cup.
Possible Names for Tokyo 2020 Board
A J-Pop music producer and multiple gold medalists are rumored to be among the executive board members for Tokyo 2020.
Japan’s the Kyodo News Agency reports that Yasushi Akimoto, producer of the group AKB48; Koji Murofushi, 2004 gold medalist in hammer throw; and Yuko Arakida, a gold medalist in volleyball from the 1976 Olympics, will reportedly join the organizing committee’s board.
The agency says the 35-member board will be announced Monday. So far, the only confirmed member is Yoshiro Mori, Tokyo 2020 president.
Danish NOC Suspends Ice Hockey Players
Three Danish ice hockey players have been punished for attempted match-fixing.
On Wednesday, the DIF, Denmark’s Olympic committee, said three players on the Esbjerg Energy club were suspended.
Goalie Dennis Jensen will be suspended for a year and fined $2,300 for attempting to allow goals to be scored.
Teammates Kiril Starkov and Tyler Mosienko were suspended for five matches each after it was found they bet on their own matches.
The head of the DIF’s new match-fixing investigative unit said it was the first case for the unit, and the first known instance of Danish match fixing outside of football.
Written by Ed Hula III and Nicole Bennett
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