The International Olympic Committee rejected the European
Broadcasting Union's protest over the schedule for the Beijing 2008
Games swimming and gymnastics finals on Wednesday, saying its
decision was irreversible.
The IOC last week decided to hold the swimming finals and much
of the gymnastics at the Beijing Games in the morning, to the
delight of US broadcasters.
"The decision on the competition schedule for 2008 was taken by
the IOC's executive Board after a thorough consultation process
with all stakeholders - broadcasters, athletes, international
federations - and is final," IOC Director of Communications Giselle
Davies said.
The EBU, which represents public service broadcasters in Europe
and neighbouring regions said the IOC's decision ended a tradition
of staging finals in the host country's evening.
"Viewers in Europe as well as the vast majority of the global TV
audience will be disadvantaged," it said in a statement.
Due to the time difference between Europe and China, the change
means that Europeans will need to stay up very late to watch the
popular swimming finals.
In China, the team and all-round individual events in the
gymnastics are set for the morning, although the individual
apparatus events will be contested in evening sessions.
All the track and field finals will take place in the evening
with the customary exception of the marathon. The proposed morning
shift for the swimming finals had caused uproar when the news was
leaked earlier this year, with some swimmers accusing the IOC of
putting the interests of US broadcaster NBC before the needs of the
athletes.
Morning finals in Beijing mean prime-time audiences in the US
for NBC, which paid US$3.55 billion for the exclusive North
American media rights to the 2000 to 2008 Games. Swimming is a big
draw for American audiences and the US team led by Michael Phelps,
who won six gold medals in Athens in 2004, enjoy a great rivalry
with the Australian team.
The Australians had also opposed the change.
(China Daily November 3, 2006)