GRAHAM DUNBAR
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, left, smiles after receiving the shirt of the Venezuelan soccer team with Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro, right, during his visit at Miraflores Presidential Palace in in Caracas, Venezuela , Friday , Oct 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
IOC voices Olympic concern at FIFA's biennial World Cup plan

By Graham Dunbar Oct. 16, 2021 03:31 PM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — The International Olympic Committee said on Saturday it has

World ski body FIS airs new ideas to rethink Alpine racing

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 30, 2021 05:12 PM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — Aiming to make their sport more dynamic and appealing, Alpine

Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, center, arrives at a Geneva's courthouse ahead of the verdict for a trial for forgery in connection with arbitration, in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad found guilty of forgery

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 10, 2021 06:29 AM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah of Kuwait was

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a Politburo meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
IOC suspends NKorea from Beijing Olympics for Tokyo no-show

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 08, 2021 01:49 PM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — North Korea was formally suspended from the 2022 Beijing Winter

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (Nikolay Petrov/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)
Belarus hockey official banned 5 years for political abuse

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 08, 2021 09:02 AM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — The top ice hockey official in Belarus was banned for five years

FILE - In this file photo dated Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016, First Vice President of the International Swimming Federation, FINA, Husain Al Musallam, during the FINA World Aquatics Gala in Budapest, Hungary. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show two senior Olympic officials from Kuwait have been targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice for suspected racketeering and bribery related to FIFA and international soccer politics. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah is reputed to be the “kingmaker” of IOC elections. Husain al-Musallam is president of swimming’s international governing body. The documents include details of the DOJ investigation and a formal request to Kuwaiti authorities in 2017 for help to secure evidence. (Attila Kovacs/MTI via AP, File)
Documents show US investigation of 2 Kuwaitis in FIFA case

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 02, 2021 11:43 AM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — Two senior Olympic officials from Kuwait, one reputed to be the

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 file photo, Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) delivers a speech during the ANOC general assembly in Tokyo. The trial opened Monday, Aug, 30, 2021 of an influential Olympic official accused of forgery in an alleged plot that implicated political rivals in Kuwait in a coup attempt. Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah has been publicly sidelined as an IOC member and president of the global group of national Olympic bodies by the pending case. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, file)
Olympic official quizzed for 5 hours in Geneva forgery trial

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 31, 2021 04:35 PM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah was

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 file photo, Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) delivers a speech during the ANOC general assembly in Tokyo. The trial opened Monday, Aug, 30, 2021 of an influential Olympic official accused of forgery in an alleged plot that implicated political rivals in Kuwait in a coup attempt. Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah has been publicly sidelined as an IOC member and president of the global group of national Olympic bodies by the pending case. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, file)
Trial of Olympic sheikh on forgery charges opens in Geneva

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 30, 2021 08:06 AM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — An influential Olympic official accused of forgery in an alleged

Daniil Medvedev, of the Russian Olympic Committee, pauses during a third round men's tennis match against Fabio Fognini, of Italy, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Coe says climate change could affect sports calendars

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 08, 2021 07:50 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — The effects of climate change will force sports bodies to rethink

Li Wenwen of China shouts in celebration after setting a new Olympic record in the women's +87kg weightlifting event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
IOC gives itself more power to remove sports from Olympics

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 08, 2021 02:28 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — The IOC gave itself more power Sunday to remove sports from the

Ahmed Hafnaoui, of Tunisia, poses with his gold medal after winning final of the men's 400-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Swimming federation to splash millions on African strategy

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 07, 2021 09:30 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — After an Olympics of too little diversity in the swimming pool,

Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who arrived in Poland on Wednesday fearing reprisals at home after criticizing her coaches at the Tokyo Games, holds up an Olympic-related T-shirt with the slogan "I Just Want to Run" after her news conference in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Tsimanouskaya reached Poland by plane from Tokyo through Vienna, a circuitous route due to security concerns, days after she accused team officials of trying to force her to fly back to Belarus, where an authoritarian government has relentlessly pursued its critics. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
2 coaches removed from Tokyo Olympics in Belarus case

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 05, 2021 10:17 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Two Belarus team coaches have been removed from the Olympics, four

FILE - In this June 1, 2021, file photo, Paris 2024 president, and three-time Olympic champion, Tony Estanguet poses for a photo outside Paris. The 2024 Paris Olympics emerges fully on Sunday, Aug. 8 from its unexpected extra year in the shadows with a formal handover from Tokyo. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga, File)
Paris Olympics moves up with two presidents on center stage

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 05, 2021 06:29 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Amid the stress of postponing and finally staging the Tokyo

Marta Fiedina and Anastasiya Savchuk of Ukraine celebrate their silver medals in the Free Routine Final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Organizers apologize to Ukraine for calling them Russian

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 05, 2021 01:33 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo Olympic organizers apologized Thursday after Ukrainian

FILE In this file photo taken from video, Belarus Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya speaks during a zoom interview with the Associated Press in Japan, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. A feud between Tsimanouskaya and team officials that prompted her to seek refuge in Poland has again cast a spotlight on the repressive environment in the ex-Soviet nation, where authorities have unleashed a relentless crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin, File)
EXPLAINER: What happens when Olympics and politics collide?

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 04, 2021 04:11 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — For all the International Olympic Committee talks of staying

Federica Pellegrini of Italy swims in a heat during the women's 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Pau Gasol elected by Olympic athletes to be an IOC member

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 04, 2021 04:09 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Two-time NBA champion and three-time Olympic medalist Pau Gasol

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, of Belarus, runs in the women's 100-meter run at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021. Tsimanouskaya alleged her Olympic team tried to remove her from Japan in a dispute that led to a standoff Sunday, Aug. 1, at Tokyo’s main airport. An activist group supporting Tsimanouskaya said she believed her life was in danger in Belarus and would seek asylum with the Austrian embassy in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Court denied Belarus sprinter's legal bid to run in Olympics

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 02, 2021 09:47 PM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya waged — and lost — a

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, of Belarus, runs in the women's 100-meter run at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021. Tsimanouskaya alleged her Olympic team tried to remove her from Japan in a dispute that led to a standoff Sunday, Aug. 1, at Tokyo’s main airport. An activist group supporting Tsimanouskaya said she believed her life was in danger in Belarus and would seek asylum with the Austrian embassy in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Poland grants visa to Belarus Olympian who fears for safety

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 02, 2021 05:16 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — Poland granted a visa Monday to a Belarusian Olympic sprinter who

Jolanda Neff of Switzerland, right, embraces teammates Sina Frei (8) who won silver, and Linda Indergand, who won bronze, for a sweep of the podium for Switzerland, at the finish line the women's cross-country mountain bike competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Izu, Japan. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Female medalists lift Swiss to best Summer Games since 1952

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 01, 2021 06:17 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — While it was National Day back home in Switzerland on Sunday, the

Japanese Coast Guard boats dock in Tokyo Bay outside of the Olympic athletes' village ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 19, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Outdoor drinking party in athletes village is investigated

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 01, 2021 05:49 AM EDT
TOKYO (AP) — An outdoor drinking party at the athletes village that broke rules