Super Falcons Coach, Eucharia Uche

Cameroon Indomitable Lioness on Saturday eliminated Nigeria’s Super Falcons from Women’s soccer event for next year’s Olympic Games in London – Thenationonlineng.net.

The Cameroonians prevailed 4-3 on penalties after the teams had finished 3-3 on aggregate at the end of their second leg qualifying tie played in Yaounde, Cameroon. The Cameroonians clinched a 2-1 victory in the second leg, while Nigeria had edged their opponents by the same scoreline in the first leg played in Abuja, FIFA.com reports.

The Indomitable Lionesses had taken a two-goal lead through Edoa Zouga and Christine Manie, but the Super Falcons were unwilling to go down without a fight in the match played before a capacity crowd. Francisca Ordega scored the consolation for the visitors to knot things 3-3 on aggregate and send the match into extra time.

At the end of extra time, the tie went into penalties. And while each side missed their third penalty, it was Faith Ikidi who missed Nigeria’s final attempt, sealing Cameroon’s place at next year’s Olympic Games and condemning Nigeria to their first absence from an Olympic tournament since Sydney 2000.

«We are thrilled that the IOC Executive Committee has voted to add women’s boxing events to the 2012 Olympic Program. The ‘yes’ vote means that female boxers will now be able to share in the dream of standing on the world’s most prestigious sporting podium», said USA Boxing Women’s Task Force Chair and AIBA Women’s Commission member Christy Halbert.

U.S. officials welcome women’s boxing into 2012 Olympics

«It’s a historic event, marking the first time that all of the summer Olympic sports will have female participants. The Olympic Games, will, from now on, truly showcase the world’s best talent». In its continual review of the sports program of the Olympic Games, the IOC Executive Board agreed to the introduction of three women’s events. The current 11 men’s boxing events will be replaced by 10 men’s and three women’s events, representing an additional two boxing events on the program. Еhe total number of boxers remains unchanged.

The decision was a recognition that women’s boxing has made substantial progress in universality and technical quality of the athletes since the discipline was last considered in 2005. Boxing was previously the only summer sport on the Olympic docket without a female counterpart. Female boxers will compete at three weights in London, flyweight (106 lbs-112 lbs), lightweight (123 lbs-132 lbs) and middleweight (152 lbs-165 pounds), with 12 boxers boxing in each of three divisions. «The addition of women’s boxing means that we finally have a truly universal Olympic Games», AIBA President Dr. Chung-Kuo Wu said. «Nevertheless, we will strive to ensure a very successful first Olympic Games for women in London in order that the number of women participating in future Olympic Games may increase».

Halbert echoes President Wu’s sentiment on the future growth of women’s boxing within the Olympic Games. «With the announcement of only a small amount of weight categories for women, the work toward fairness continues», Halbert added. «This is a first step toward recognizing that women boxers are an important addition to the Olympic family. The 2012 Olympics will undoubtedly send a strong and inspiring message that all athletes are valued in Olympic sports, regardless of their gender».

The addition of the 36 female boxers will necessitate the removal of one weight category in men’s competition, meaning there will be only 10 men’s weight classes. «USA Boxing is extremely excited for all of the female boxers across the country that have been training and preparing for this day, but we also realize that it has an unfortunate impact on the men’s program», commented USA Boxing Acting Executive Director Mike Martino. «This change will require a great deal of planning by the national office with the addition of female boxers and the unfortunate reduction of male boxers who will enjoy the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games, but we will ensure that all our athletes are prepared for competition at the highest level», he said.

The Vietnam War had divided the country more violently than any time since the Civil War.  The nightly news clips of U.S. planes bombing the Vietnam jungle was paralleled by clips of angry, sometimes bloody, clashes between war protesters and war supporters.  The Tet Offensive, in which 80,000 Viet Cong troops attacked 100 towns and cities in an effort to end the war, proved that the enemy was resourceful, resilient and in no mood to surrender.  It also increased public opinion against the war.  But the war wasn’t the only cause for all the social unrest and upheaval.  It was more like a bright light that illuminated many other social ills that we’d all managed to ignore or, even worse, pretend didn’t exist.

Black soldiers stationed in Vietnam complained of ramant racism.  When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated that same year, some white soldiers flew Confederate flags outside their barracks.  Some blacks tried to avoid the racism by requesting to serve in all-black units.  One Air Force report confirmed what black soldiers already knew: “Unequal treatment is manifested in unequal punishment, offensive and inflammatory language, prejudice in assignments of details, lack of products for blacks at the PX, harassment by security police under orders to break up five or more blacks in a group and double standards in enforcement of regulation.” Military discrimination didn’t just result in hurt feelings, it could result in death: by 1966 over 20 percent of U.S. combat casualties in Vietnam were black, which was a much higher percentage than the total of blacks in the military.

As the racism became more evident, some black soldiers naturally questioned their loyalty.  After all, the Vietnamese were people of color, subject to the same racial discrimination that they themselves were experiencing at the hands of whites.  Muhammad Ali articulated this dilemma when he said, “No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.”  And for refusing to register for the draft, even though he was guaranteed he wouldn’t see combat, he was stripped of his title and sentenced to five years in prison (later the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction).  On the other hand, some blacks saw the war as an opportunity.  “I thought the only way I could make it out of the ghetto,” confessed one black paratrooper, “was to be the best soldier I possibly could.”  Although Vietnam veterans were often disappointed at the tepid reception they received upon their return home, black veterans were even more disillusioned because the injustices they had left to fight against were still alive and well.  One black vet remembers coming home in 1968 and entering a restaurant in Virginia with some army pals that included two whites and three Hispanics.  The waitress told them she would serve the whites, but not the others.  “I think that going in a lot of us felt like things were going to be different,” the vet recalls.  “And when we realized that things wouldn’t be, a lot of us felt used.”

Violence was almost as rampant at home.  First Dr. King was shot, then Robert Kennedy.  The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago featured thousands of anti-war protesters that were met with police violence.  In the midst of all this international and domestic turmoil, the Olympic Games represented, to some, an opportunity to bring people of all nationalities together, maybe heal some wounds.  To others it represented the usual hypocrisy of ignoring the political problems in the name of entertainment and profit, because billions of dollars were at stake.

And there I was in the middle.  Twenty years old.  The age of many of the soldiers who were fighting and dying in Viet Nam.  Some of them were my childhood friends who I’d grown up with.  Because of my visibility as an athlete, whatev

“We have never seen this level of interest in any Olympic Games, certainly during my association with the JOA for the last 25 years,” he informed. The level of interest shown, he said, was testimony to the appeal and pull of Beijing.

Best ever Games

“We have no doubt that the Games in Beijing, come August, is going to be the best ever Games,” the vice president predicted, noting that members of the JOA were impressed by the progress of the facilities in place for the event, which they viewed last August.

We have no doubt that the local organising committee has gone to the ‘nth’ degree to ensure that the Games are going to be the best Games ever. We are looking forward to being there,” he said, noting that his Caribbean colleagues are also “anxiously awaiting the start of the Games”.

Ivanov announced plans to build a terminal in the port that would accommodate large cruise ships by the start of the Olympics. The ships could serve as floating hotels, Ivanov told reporters.

The government will remove a cargo terminal from the Sochi port to another location but will arrange for the terminal to handle construction materials arriving for the building of Olympic facilities, Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said in Novorossiisk. By 2015, Sochi will be a purely passenger port able to handle up to 715,000 passengers per year, Levitin said.

Authorities are also working to develop the Novorossiisk port, Levitin said. The government plans to spend 60 billion rubles ($2.35 billion) on building a new railway link to the port, he said. New highways to the port are also being planned, he said. The port handled 88 million tons of cargo last year, he said, offering no comparative figures.

In another development project, officials are studying a project to build a 70,000-ton-per-year terminal to ship liquefied natural gas at the port of Tuapse, Levitin said. The coal shipment business will move out of Tuapse to the nearby port of Taman in the future, he said.

The police have denied accusations of heavy handedness and say they were trying to prevent protestors from disrupting the IOC inspection. The Olympic delegation toured venues on the Black Sea coast and said Moscow faced a big challenge to build infrastructure in time for the event.

A concern dismissed by deputy Prime Minister Alexander Joukov who said: “Everything will be ready in time, its not even a remote possibility that we won’t be finished before the Games start. Its an event that can’t be delayed.”

Russia is spending at billions of euros to make the Black Sea resort and its surrounding mountain villages ready for the Games. Officials claim very few homes will be demolished and those owners affected will be compensated.