International Olympic Committee
Yao Ming, head of the Chinese Basketball Association and Ice Snow Sports Promotion Ambassador, left, reacts during a Linjia 7 Salon afternoon tea with journalists at Beijing International Club in Beijing, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. Former NBA great Yao Ming said Monday he and others had a pleasant talk when they met last month with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, whose disappearance after making a sexual assault allegation against a former government official raised international concern. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Former NBA great Yao Ming addresses Peng Shuai, Olympics

By Ken Moritsugu 4 hrs ago

FILE - Staff members rehearse a victory ceremony at the Beijing Medals Plaza of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China on Jan. 3, 2022. The Beijing Winter Olympics are fraught with potential hazards for major sponsors, who are trying to remain quiet about China's human rights record while protecting at least $1 billion they've paid to the IOC. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
IOC major sponsors mostly muted in runup to Beijing Olympics

By Stephen Wade Jan. 11, 2022 12:11 AM EST

FILE - Francois Carrard, FIFA Reform Committee Chairman, attends a news conference at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, Dec. 3, 2015. The former longtime IOC director general Francois Carrard has died, the Olympic body said Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. He was 83. The International Olympic Committee said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of Carrard’s death. The cause was not specified. (Walter Bieri/Keystone via AP, file)
François Carrard, legal doyen of Olympic sports, dies at 83

Jan. 10, 2022 04:05 AM EST

FILE - Citizens wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk in Pyongyang, North Korea on Aug. 25, 2021. North Korea said Friday, Jan. 7, 2022 it would skip next month’s Beijing Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic and "hostile forces' moves," a largely redundant statement since the country has already been banned from the Games by the IOC. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)
Banned from the Olympics by IOC, NKorea puts blame elsewhere

By Hyung-Jin Kim Jan. 06, 2022 11:48 PM EST

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping tours the National Speed Skating Oval, a competition venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. Competition for the Winter Olympics is scheduled to begin on Feb. 4. (Shen Hong/Xinhua via AP)
IOC assures teams Winter Olympics in Beijing will go ahead

By Graham Dunbar Jan. 05, 2022 02:15 PM EST

FILE -Russia forward Yevgeni Malkin seals off the puck from USA defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the first period of a men's ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. NHL players will not take part in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing after all. A person with direct knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press the league is going to withdraw from the Olympics after the regular-season schedule was disrupted by coronavirus outbreaks, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
Column: NHL skips Olympics again, cites COVID-19 uncertainty

By Jim Litke Dec. 22, 2021 03:32 AM EST

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, center, prepares to present the trophy to Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal midfielder Salman Al-Faraj, left, after winning the AFC Champions League final soccer match against South Korea's Pohang Steelers 2-0, at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
FIFA touts billions to be gained from biennial World Cups

By Rob Harris And Graham Dunbar Dec. 20, 2021 10:36 AM EST

FILE - Young people pose behind the Olympic Rings during the Torch Tour ahead of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, in front of the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Instead of staking out a hardline position on the conflicts inherent in sending Olympic athletes to China, the leader of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee turned questions about the issues in the host country into a marketing pitch of sorts for America's own aspirations. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP, File)
USOPC stays neutral on China, pushes Salt Lake City

By Eddie Pells Dec. 17, 2021 04:32 PM EST

Protesters hold protest posters during a protest against Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics by activists of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (Jean-Guy Python/Keystone via AP)
Olympic leaders criticize FIFA as activists target meeting

By Graham Dunbar Dec. 11, 2021 10:12 AM EST

FILE - President of Brazil's Olympic Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman, left, and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, right, visit Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Jan. 22, 2014. Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee for more than two decades, was sentenced to 30 years and 11 months in jail for allegedly buying votes for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympics. The ruling by Judge Marcelo Bretas became public Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
Boxing among 3 Olympic sports in danger of losing 2028 spot

By Graham Dunbar Dec. 09, 2021 01:13 PM EST

FILE - China's Peng Shuai reacts during her first round singles match against Japan's Nao Hibino at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 21, 2020. IOC President Thomas Bach can't escape repeated questions about Peng and suspicions around two video calls the IOC has had with her. The questions keep coming. And Bach has acknowledged the situation is “fragile.” (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)
Even amid boycott, IOC still hit with Peng Shuai questions

By Stephen Wade Dec. 08, 2021 10:33 PM EST

FILE - A crew member leaps to fix a logo for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics before a launch ceremony to reveal the motto for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing on Sept. 17, 2021. The Beijing Winter Olympics open in just under two months and are now the target to a diplomatic boycott by the United States with others likely to follow. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
EXPLAINER: What does an Olympic diplomatic boycott achieve?

By Graham Dunbar Dec. 08, 2021 05:45 PM EST

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai reacts during a tennis match in Beijing, China on Oct. 6, 2009. When Peng disappeared from public view this month after accusing a senior Chinese politician of sexual assault, it caused an international uproar. But back in China, Peng is just one of several people, activists and accusers alike, who have been hustled out of view, charged with crimes or trolled and silenced online for speaking out about the harassment, violence and discrimination women face every day. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Diplomatic boycotts, Peng case test IOC before Beijing Games

By Graham Dunbar Dec. 08, 2021 03:38 PM EST

FILE - China's Peng Shuai serves to Japan's Nao Hibino during their first round singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2020. The stand the women's professional tennis tour is taking in China over concern about Grand Slam doubles champion Peng Shuai's well-being could cost the WTA millions of dollars and end up being unique among sports bodies. The International Olympic Committee is preparing to host the Winter Games in Beijing in two months and has held calls with Peng to show she is doing well — but never raised the matter of the sexual assault allegations she made against a former Chinese government official. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)
US Olympic board member pushes quiet diplomacy in Peng case

By Eddie Pells Dec. 08, 2021 09:49 AM EST

FILE - China's Peng Shuai reacts during her first round singles match against Japan's Nao Hibino at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 21, 2020. The head of the women’s professional tennis tour announced Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, that all WTA tournaments would be suspended in China because of concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former high-ranking government official in that country of sexual assault. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)
IOC unable to give certainties amid concern for Peng Shuai

Dec. 07, 2021 08:40 PM EST

A visitor to the Shougang Park walks past the a sculpture for the Beijing Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. China on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, threatened to take "firm countermeasures" if the U.S. proceeds with a diplomatic boycott of February's Beijing Winter Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Column: US dignitaries shun Olympics. What about sponsors?

By Jim Litke Dec. 07, 2021 03:57 AM EST

FILE - A visitor rests near the logos of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics at the China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in Beijing on Sept. 25, 2021. The Beijing Winter Olympics open in just under two months and are now the target to a diplomatic boycott by the United States with others likely to follow. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
EXPLAINER: Why does Beijing have the Olympics again?

By Stephen Wade Dec. 06, 2021 09:05 PM EST

FILE - Lamine Diack adjusts his headphones during a joint IOC and IAAF news conference on the site of the World Athletic Championships in Beijing on Aug. 21, 2015. Lamine Diack, the controversial former president of the International Athletics Federation, has died, his family said Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. He was 88. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
Lamine Diack, ex IAAF chief convicted of corruption, dies

By Babacar Dione And Graham Dunbar Dec. 03, 2021 05:19 AM EST

FILE - WTA CEO Steve Simon appears during a retirement ceremony for Martina Hingis in Singapore. The suspension of all WTA tournaments in China because of concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former government official there of sexual assault, could result in cancellations of those events beyond 2022, Simon told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Yong Teck Lim, File)
Column: Women's tennis leads lonely fight for human rights

By Paul Newberry Dec. 02, 2021 06:11 PM EST

FILE - Peng Shuai of China reacts after scoring a point against Monica Niculescu of Romania during their women's singles match of the China Open tennis tournament at the Diamond Court in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. The head of the women’s professional tennis tour announced Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, that all WTA tournaments would be suspended in China because of concerns about the safety of Peng Shuai, a Grand Slam doubles champion who accused a former high-ranking government official in that country of sexual assault.(AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
IOC says it had 2nd video call with tennis player Peng Shuai

Dec. 02, 2021 01:19 PM EST