Millar angry as rugby fails to regain Olympic status

Alex Lowe

Rugby had launched a concerted effort to regain its status as an Olympic sport but missed out after the International Olympic Committee decided to ditch baseball and softball and not replace them.

There will now be only 26 sports at the London Games rather than 28, but there could be more disciplines included from existing Olympics sports.

Karate, golf, squash and roller hockey also failed to win inclusion as Olympic sports as, in a backlash against IOC president Jacques Rogge’s determination to submit every sport to a vote, IOC members ignored a direct appeal by him and voted against any replacements.

Rugby had topped a short-list of potential new sports and even had the backing of Rogge, a former Belgium international and keen supporter of the game.

Millar said: “There has been much talk in the sporting world about the need for the Olympic Games to move with the times and be relevant to today’s youth, athletes and society.

“The world around us is evolving at a rapid pace and the Olympic sports programme should reflect this.

“The IRB put forward a strong case that rugby sevens reflects the future. It is a fast, colourful and exciting sport that has a well-established and hugely popular following.

“Rugby is played by three million people around the world including talented athletes from all the continents of the world.

“The result of this decision not to add new sports is also very disappointing for the smaller nations of the world and African nations who often have little opportunity to compete at the highest levels in the Olympic Games.

“Rugby sevens, with Fiji as the reigning world champions, provides these nations with the opportunity to be very competitive.”

Millar had been confident sevens would win the vote ahead of rival sports like squash and karate because of its commercial potential.

“In terms of broadcast, commercial and ticket sales opportunities it has been demonstrated through the IOC’s own evaluation process that rugby sevens is among the top five in most categories in comparison to the existing Olympic sports,” he said.

“In the last 12 months 86 countries have competed at IRB sevens events, the Rugby World Cup Sevens in March at Hong Kong was played in front of 120,000 spectators and was broadcast to 300 million homes with a potential audience of 700 million in 153 territories.”

Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll and leading players from around the world, including Jonny Wilkinson, Tana Umaga and George Gregan, threw their weight behind the campaign.

“It reflects strongly the Olympic ideals and is the perfect match for the Olympic Games,” Wilkinson said.

But it was not to be and the United States will remain the Olympic rugby champions for the foreseeable future.

Rugby was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1900 and France beat Germany to win gold at the Paris Games. Only two sides competed in 1908 when Australia beat Great Britain to claim gold.

It was not played at Stockhom in 1912 but returned after World War One and America beat France in 1920 and 1924 to win gold at both games.

Four years later the IOC turned down the request for rugby to be staged at the Amsterdam Games and it has not returned since.