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EPISODE: Episode 2
Join us on our on-going exploration of the Olympics to be held in Tokyo 2021, featuring Christian from the Friday Night Panel, and the route to the ring. Watch TalkinFight weekdays at 12, 4, 7, and 8:30pm EST on YouTube or LIVE at talkinfight.com/live @Olympic @IOC Media @torchrelay
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Transcribed:
Hi talking five fans christian here from the friday night panel with another episode of uh the olympics, where we discuss all things amateur boxing and stories from around the world that affect the upcoming tokyo olympics.
Unfortunately, we don’t have graham with us today, so you’re going to be stuck with just me in a couple of headlines today.
So we’ve seen the first uh headline today comes to us uh we go from the bbc and then we also have some stuff coming to us from inside the games.
biz.
Today, big announcement today, big announcement, we’re seeing the first major country pull out of the game site in covid 19 as the reasoning now, but it may not be from where you might be expecting this coming from north korea has announced that it will not take part In the tokyo olympics this year saying that the decision is to protect its athletes from kovalev 19.
fair enough, i guess the decision puts an end to south korea’s hopes of using the games to engage with the north amid stalled cross-border talks back in 2018.
You guys are probably remember.
Both sides entered a joint team at the winter olympics, which led to a series of historic summits, uh they even at the time most you’ll remember.
They entered a joint hockey team where they had players on the same team from both sides of the border in a in a historic olympic moment.
Uh pyongyang says at this point in time that it has no cases of the virus, but experts say this is unlikely.
According to the bbc’s tokyo correspondent, rupert winfield hayes, the country’s health system is thought to be completely inadequate, uh for dealing with the coven 19 pandemic, so the announcement makes north korea the first major country, as i mentioned, to skip the delayed 2020 games because of the Pandemic uh, as we know, this is due to start uh end of july july 23rd.
To be specific, this will be the first time that north korea has missed the summer olympics since 1988, when it boycotted the soul games during the cold war.
Pyongyang’S decision was made at an olympic committee meeting on the 25th of march, according to a report by the state-run site sports in the dprk.
However, the international olympic committee said that it had not, as of yet received an official application from north korea uh to step back from the games.
It added that, despite repeated requests, the country’s national olympic committee had failed to hold a telephone conference during which the coven 19 situation in north korea could have been discussed.
North korea has taken stringent measures against the virus since it broke out this boat this time last year it shut down its borders in late january and later quarantined, hundreds of foreigners in its capital of pyongyang.
Since early last year, trains and wagons have been forbidden to enter or leave north korea with most international passenger flights being stopped as well.
There were hopes from south korea’s president moon jae-in that the games would have been a catalyst for progress between the two koreas.
No such luck now that had been the case in 2018, as i mentioned, when north korea sent 22 athletes to the winter games in south korea, along with government officials, journalists and a 230 member strong, cheering section among the contingent was north korean leader kim jong-un’s sister Kim yo-jong, a move which helped to initiate diplomacy with south korea and the u.
s.
The talks that followed led to a series of historic, high-profile meetings between north korea and the former u.
s president donald trump.
There had been hopes for improved relations after the meeting, but nothing had really nothing really materialized and the atmosphere between the two koreas has since deteriorated.
Sadly, north and south korea are technically still at war.
It’S worth remembering as well as no peace treaty was actually signed at the end of the korean conflict in 1953.
.
To add, you know more to this kind of keep onto this.
Japan and north korea also have their own enduring tensions rooted partially in japan’s 35-year colonization of korea, uh partially in pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear and their missile programs, and then the north abduction of japanese citizens in the past.
So a few things complicating this, but the practical upshot of this is we are going we’re not going to see any north korea at these games, but we’re going to have to wait and see at this point in time as to whether this is just more political Posturing on the korean peninsula, or if this is just going to be the first domino to fall, so you know fingers crossed that.
We’Re not going to see you know a bunch more countries start to pull out of the games at this point due to coven 19 concerns.
Looking back into the world of boxing, specifically uh now and umar kremlev’s ongoing efforts to dig the aiba out of the hole.
It’S currently in the international boxing association uh has now announced a cooperation agreement with major russian gas company pjsc gazprom, which will act as the general partner for the governing body for international boxing.
Both parties will work together until the end of 2022, with pjsc gazprom acting as a partner for all major aiba competitions, and that’s going to be including the women’s and men’s boxing championships.
Now this is a crucial announcement with, like, frankly, a mega rich uh corporation and that’s huge for the aiba, which has been battling to clear millions of dollars in debts.
Among the many other problems that uh you know, umar kremlov is trying to get to the bottom of at this point in time he was quoted as saying the aiba’s financial stability is one of our main goals.
That is why that’s why the partnership with one of the largest companies in the world is important for us in order to jointly fulfill the tasks set for us by our boxing family.
Today, i’m pleased to announce that pjsc gazprom has become the general partner of the international boxing association.
This is a tremendous and extremely significant step for us.
The company is actively involved in the development of sports and now supports the values of boxing.
We are grateful for the vote of confidence and we are sure that we have will have a productive partnership with many new joint victories ahead.
So the aiba and pjsc gas problem have now have not, as of yet, though disclosed as to what the content of that commercial uh agreement and what the terms of that agreement, i should say, are and now also viktor kremel have had uh victor.
I don’t know why i’ve done that twice.
I did that yesterday and i did it today.
Umar kremlev.
His name has never been victor.
Umar kremlin had pledged to wipe out the aiba’s debt of about 20 million u.
s or it’s about 14.
5 pounds, a million pounds sterling or just a shade, under 17 million euros, depending on your preferred flavor.
Now he appeared he had pledged to wipe that out.
If elected as president of the governing body now, this is just before he was voted into the job in december.
It also should be noted that he has personally uh since waived his own allowance given to him as president of the aiba.
So the russian is the first permanent president of the aiba.
Since uzbekistan’s gaffer iraq recomove stood down back in march of 2019 following allegations that he was involved with heroin trafficking um an allegation which he naturally denies.
So the 38 year old is set to compete.
Uh to complete the remainder of rakimov’s term, which is due to expire at the end of 2022 uh, then that’s before he will have to stand for re-election in that uh in that position again: uh gazpro, gazprom’s other sporting partnerships, they’re no they’re, no stranger to getting Involved in major sporting events as they’re also uh involved with uefa, as well as champions league, so uh an end, seemingly at least uh for the time being to the aiba’s financial woes um, but we’ll see how uh what that actually turns into as more details of This new agreement uh come to light, but those are our headlines from around the world for the world of olympics and the world of amateur boxing today.
So, as always, uh like share and subscribe – and i will see you guys tomorrow with the latest headlines from around the world –
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