Looking to use venues, China flexes its muscles and lands the 'Combat Games'
By Stephen Wade (CP) – 1 day ago
China's growing role in world sports is in the spotlight again, with top leaders of the 2008 Beijing Olympics coming together to organize a new multi-sport event featuring 13 fighting disciplines.
The Combat Games is the brainchild of former International Olympic Committee member Hein Verbruggen, who headed the IOC body that advised the Chinese in organizing the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Verbruggen, a staunch defender of the Beijing Olympics as a "catalyst for change" in the authoritarian state, is back in China calling on old friendships as the new head of SportAccord, which represents 87 international sports federations.
The triple alliance of Verbruggen, China and the international federations, promises to be powerful and could threaten smaller, regional games. It's also another sign of China's clout as a rising economic and political power.
"We built up good personal relationships with people and I enjoy coming back to Beijing," Verbruggen said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The Combat Games will feature mostly East Asian specialties and will include: aikido, boxing, ju-jitsu, judo, karate, kendo, kickboxing, muaythai, sambo, sumo, taekwondo, wrestling and wushu. The format could prove attractive, giving fans a chance to see many little-known sports with 1,200 athletes competing in three venues used for the Beijing Olympics.
Though Beijing officials were faulted by human rights groups for detaining dissidents, blocking some Internet sites and throwing up intense security around the Olympic Green area, there were few complaints about the organization.
"What we offer going to China is a top event that is going to be very well organized," Verbruggen said. "There will be no organizational problems so we can set the standard very high if we decide to do this again in two years."
To launch the venture, Verbruggen said he was drawing on a friendship with Liu Jingmin, who was executive vice-president of Beijing organizing committee and the No. 2 man to Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Communist Party and the games' top Chinese official.
Verbruggen said SportAccord had already generated about US$2.5 million from marketing and the sale of TV rights from the Combat Games.
"In fact we apply a system in which we ask an award fee," he said. "This fee includes the host city's rights to organize our event, as well as the right to the largest part of the marketing and TV rights."
Verbruggen said he was hoping to build up SportAccord because smaller federations lack the money and staff to tackle problems like doping and illegal betting.
The body represents giants like FIFA, the world governing body of soccer, down to the Tug of War International Federation and the World Darts Federation.
"The challenges that these international federations face are increasing," Verbruggen said. "And the autonomy of our sports and our sports organizations are under pressure because of governments getting more and more involved."
What Verbruggen called the "Beijing legacy" is also extending to the Chinese city of Nanjing, which is close to signing a contract to host the Mind Games in 2011, another event being organized by SportAccord. It will feature games such as chess.
Nanjing was also named the host city for the 2014 Youth Games, an IOC event. Plans are also in the works for Beach Games in 2012, which are unlikely to be in China. Verbruggen suggested Hawaii, California, Brazil, Australia or New Zealand as possible venues.
The approach in the Combat Games is to focus on a group of sports rather than a huge buffet of disparate events. The Aug. 28-Sept. 4 games will give the stage to sports that are very popular but have been mostly left out of the Olympics.
The inclusion of wushu, a catch-all term for Chinese martial arts, is sure to please the Chinese.
Chinese officials lobbied hard to have wushu included in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They were turned down repeatedly, but got around the refusal by staging the "Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008" during the Olympics.
It was set up to look like an Olympic event and broadcast on TV, though news releases about the event pointed out it was "neither an official event nor an exhibition event of the Olympics Games."
Asked if regional games - such as the South Asian Games and the Caribbean games - might get crowded out of the sports festival market at the expense of new events being offered by SportAccord, Verbruggen replied: "It is possible, but it is certainly not our intention. There is a market there. There is a demand for product ... and we jumped on the occasion."
The Combat Games come in a year when Shanghai is hosting the World Expo and the Asian Games are in Guangzhou. All three are part of the government's use of "soft power" to win friends and cast itself as a non-threatening rising power.
"I think that we've seen changes in China," Verbruggen said. "This country is going through an enormous change. The (Beijing) Games have played a little role in this. ... The speed is tremendous but, of course, for certain people it is never fast enough."
Xu Guoqi, a Beijing-born historian teaching at Hong Kong University, disputed linking the Beijing Games to change in China.
"Any talk of changes ... to a great extent can be read as a pitch ... for selfish reasons," Xu said in an email. "No long-lasting positive political changes took place after the Games. The regime has been more determined to silence any talk of political reforms, to lock up anyone who dares to challenge the dictatorship, and the great wall to stop information flow is higher and stronger."
"A regime which is so desperate with soft power indicates it actually lacks soft power or moral attraction," Xu added.
AP sports writer Stephen Wade covered Beijing for 2˝ years in the run-up to the Beijing Games and in its aftermath.
Reply With Quote