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Rugby mulls scrapping World Cup 7s to win Olympic status
Source: Agencies |
May 28, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RUGBY sevens' chances of admission into the Olympics could be improved by a proposal from the sport's ruling body to scrap its increasingly popular World Cup.
The Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in March featured 98 games and had a television reach of 760 million viewers but the International Rugby Board, which governs both 15-a-side rugby and the truncated version of the sport, is prepared to sacrifice the event in favor of the Olympics.
"If we were to be re-included in the Olympic Games, our intention would be to stop the Rugby World Cup Sevens so there would be one pinnacle in the four-year cycle of rugby sevens," IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller said late on Tuesday.
"That pinnacle would be the Olympic Games."
Rugby, which was dropped from the Olympics after the 1924 Games, is vying with golf, baseball, softball, squash, karate and roller sports for one of two spots at the 2016 Summer Games.
Cheryl Soon led Australia to victory in the women's competition at the Rugby World Cup Sevens but said she still sees the Olympics as a bigger incentive for those thinking of taking up the sport. There are 3 million players worldwide registered with the IRB.
"To win a medal at the Olympics is the absolute pinnacle," Soon said. "It's what we dream of. If it wasn't included as an Olympic sport, I'd be disappointed by that."
The IRB is still compiling its report on this year's Rugby World Cup Sevens, but the 2005 tournament in Hong Kong generated between US$18 million and US$20 million from commercial programs, ticketing and broadcast revenues.
The IRB expects the extra exposure and subsequent revenue that would generated by Olympic status to at least compensate for that.
The IRB sees inclusion as a big part of its efforts to spread the sport beyond its traditional strongholds of northern Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
"The Olympics is the biggest sporting stage that there is and also gives us the opportunity to be seen by people who wouldn't necessarily look at rugby," Miller said.
The Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in March featured 98 games and had a television reach of 760 million viewers but the International Rugby Board, which governs both 15-a-side rugby and the truncated version of the sport, is prepared to sacrifice the event in favor of the Olympics.
"If we were to be re-included in the Olympic Games, our intention would be to stop the Rugby World Cup Sevens so there would be one pinnacle in the four-year cycle of rugby sevens," IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller said late on Tuesday.
"That pinnacle would be the Olympic Games."
Rugby, which was dropped from the Olympics after the 1924 Games, is vying with golf, baseball, softball, squash, karate and roller sports for one of two spots at the 2016 Summer Games.
Cheryl Soon led Australia to victory in the women's competition at the Rugby World Cup Sevens but said she still sees the Olympics as a bigger incentive for those thinking of taking up the sport. There are 3 million players worldwide registered with the IRB.
"To win a medal at the Olympics is the absolute pinnacle," Soon said. "It's what we dream of. If it wasn't included as an Olympic sport, I'd be disappointed by that."
The IRB is still compiling its report on this year's Rugby World Cup Sevens, but the 2005 tournament in Hong Kong generated between US$18 million and US$20 million from commercial programs, ticketing and broadcast revenues.
The IRB expects the extra exposure and subsequent revenue that would generated by Olympic status to at least compensate for that.
The IRB sees inclusion as a big part of its efforts to spread the sport beyond its traditional strongholds of northern Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
"The Olympics is the biggest sporting stage that there is and also gives us the opportunity to be seen by people who wouldn't necessarily look at rugby," Miller said.
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