NO HOLDS BARRED

 

My latest piece, "Richard McLaren, Umar Kremlev, and the IOC on the Crisis in Olympic Boxing", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: AIBA, boxing, corruption, Eddie Goldman, Gazprom, IBA, International Boxing Association, International Olympic Committee, IOC, No Holds Barred, Olympic, Richard McLaren, Thomas Bach, Umar Kremlev

My latest piece, "The Sad Lessons of the Saga of the World Combat Games", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page, just in time for your weekend edification and enjoyment.

Labels: combat sports, Eddie Goldman, GAISF, International Olympic Committee, IOC, Marius Vizer, No Holds Barred, Saudi Arabia, SportAccord, Thomas Bach, World Combat Games

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete.

We spoke with him by phone Thursday.

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic upending sports, the massive Black Lives Matter anti-racist protests since the murder of George Floyd, the uncertainty surrounding the postponed Tokyo Olympics, and a host of other relevant issues and factors, the result in recent months has been a marked increase in activism by athletes around the world. And that, said Rob Koehler, is a good thing.

"I think we're seeing some really good stuff coming from athletes," he said. "More than ever I've seen athletes speaking up on issues. They are not taking the status quo anymore. They are standing up on issues."

More and more, athletes are forming their own independent organizations.

"We're going to see it more. And the more athletes speak up, I think the more athletes will come forward, because power in numbers makes a huge difference," he said.

"Everyone wants to see sports succeed," he noted, while pointing out what else needs to be done.

"It's time to change. We're at a real crossroads here, in terms of do we make sports look different? Do we make sports stronger? And how do we do that?" Key to that is "engaging athletes, empowering athletes to have independent collective voices."

For the future, Global Athlete has some ambitious plans.

"We're going to continue advocating and continue to work with the various athlete groups across the world that are standing up on issues," he said. "We really want to see more organizations and want to help support and assist development of more organizations like the Athletics Association, where they are operating independently. We are working with three other sports right now, athletes in three other sports, to move forward and establish a similar structure.

"So I think for us, that's the way we'd like to see things move forward, where athletes get together, they develop their own structure, and they make it a global representation on an international level. That's the way I see the future going to the mid- to short-term."

We also discussed the growing athlete opposition to the International Olympic Committee's Rule 50 which bars podium protests; why athletes are humans first and athletes second; ensuring that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is implemented and enforced in world sport; why countries with a bad human rights record should not be permitted to host international sporting events; the upcoming case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport about Russia's state-sponsored doping program and its being banned from the Olympics; how in light of the ongoing pandemic there must be a realistic roadmap for the return to training and competition in preparation for the Summer Olympics; how a cancellation of the Summer Olympics will have an adverse effect on athletes; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Podcasts.

Also, No Holds Barred is available at Apple Podcasts.

No Holds Barred is also available on Spotify.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.

Skullz Combat Sports Equipment, creator of the patented Skullz Double-End Bag, is the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Combat Sports Equipment - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://instagram.com/skullzcombatsports and https://facebook.com/skullzcombatsports.

Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.

Labels: athletes' rights, Eddie Goldman, Global Athlete, human rights, International Olympic Committee, IOC, No Holds Barred, Rob Koehler, Rule 50, Tokyo Olympics

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rob Koehler, director general of Global Athlete.

We spoke with him by phone Thursday.

For weeks the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, insisted that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would go on as scheduled starting in July, and even after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11. That only changed on March 24, when the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee did an abrupt about-face and announced that the Olympics would be postponed. Later on March 30, they announced that the new dates would be July 23 to August 8, 2021, for the Olympics and August 24 to September 5, 2021, for the Paralympics. But these changes were only made after many athletes and sports organizations were vociferously protesting, demanding a postponement, and saying they would not participate on the originally planned dates to protect their health.

"The International Olympic Committee and Thomas Bach, I think, really didn't manage this in a way that had the athletes' rights respected in the manner that they should have been," said Rob Koehler.

A pandemic was declared, Olympic qualifying events were being cancelled, many professional sports organizations postponed or cancelled events, training facilities and gyms were being closed, borders were being closed, people were self-isolating, positive tests and deaths from the coronavirus were mounting, and some countries instituted lockdowns. But the IOC was "telling athletes to continue to train, continue to go forward with their preparations for the Olympic Games, which for us and the athlete groups we spoke to was an out-of-touch message" that ignored the "number one thing," public health, he said.

"We rallied the troops. We worked with different sports, athletics, the different countries to look at the message we wanted to send to the International Olympic Committee. And we called very openly and very vocally for the IOC to make an announcement that they're postponing the Games. They owed the duty of care to athletes. They were acting very irresponsibly. And I think the athletes' voice, the way they spoke up, forced the IOC to make a decision that they should have made a week before, and that was to postpone the Games," he said.

"We understand it's a very difficult situation, there's a lot of moving parts, it's not an easy decision, but all athletes needed to hear was, 'it's being postponed and we'll figure things out and we'll let you know once we figure things out.'

"And the athletes forced that card on them, and I was proud of every athlete that stood up."

We also discussed how many athletes competing in professional leagues have representation while many Olympic athletes do not; various models for independent athletes' associations; the need to support athletes' mental health with the postponement of the Olympics; how it is not yet known if athletes will be able to train in time to prepare for an Olympics starting in July 2021; the fiasco of the IOC-run Olympic boxing qualifier in London which was only cancelled midway after it had started and saw several boxers and coaches test positive for coronavirus afterwards; alternatives to the Olympic movement; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available at Apple Podcasts.

No Holds Barred is also available on Spotify.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.

Skullz Combat Sports Equipment, creator of the patented Skullz Double-End Bag, is the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Combat Sports Equipment - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://instagram.com/skullzcombatsports and https://facebook.com/skullzcombatsports.

Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.

Labels: athletes' rights, coronavirus, COVID-19, Eddie Goldman, Global Athlete, International Olympic Committee, IOC, No Holds Barred, Rob Koehler, Tokyo Olympics

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with former kickboxer and current member of the Irish karate team Caradh O'Donovan.

We spoke with her by Skype Sunday.

With karate being included on the program of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she had hoped to represent Ireland there. Now, in light of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, she and athletes in all sports and all countries may not be able to realize their dreams of competing in the Olympics. Most Olympic qualifying events have either been cancelled or postponed, and when or even if they will take place are at best uncertain.

Speaking about the Olympic qualifying events, she said, "My personal view is that everything should be stopped." Even if the European karate championships, which were cancelled, were still going on, she said she would have pulled out of them.

"I think that people who are making the decisions should be taking the health and safety of people first, not just the fans, but every single person that's involved in the sport. And sometimes that means making calls that means, yes, will probably cost a lot of money and upset people, but it might be for the greater good," she said.

While most Olympic qualifying and other sporting events are now off, still, as of Monday, March 16, the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 have been insisting that the 2020 Olympics will start on time as planned on July 24.

"It just seems to be a really out of touch position to take on it," she said, "because this is a serious virus that's going around, and it's killing people in so many different corners of the world. I just think the attitude is very flippant and maybe it trivializes what's going on."

She added, "Obviously you can't say for sure, but it does appear to be that the bottom line is money, and those decisions will kind of be based around protecting that and protecting the organization."

Perhaps it will take athletes and fans speaking up to get the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to change their position, but "I just don't see it going as smoothly as they want it to be."

She said all this as someone who is 35 years old and is competing in a sport, karate, that is on the Olympic program for 2020 but not for 2024.

"This is coming from me, who wants to go. This has been my dream forever to get to these Games," she said.

"The entire world is shutting down. Businesses are being impacted. Yet the Olympic Games is just going to come through this unscathed? It just doesn't seem realistic."

We also discussed what she has been doing while training facilities are closed down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the great likelihood of transmission of the virus in combat and contact sports, her new role on a weekly sports radio show at a time when there are no sporting events, and much, much more.

(Photo of Caradh O'Donovan at 2018 Irish Kenpo Karate Union Open by Noel Bergin.)

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.

Also, No Holds Barred is available at Apple Podcasts.

No Holds Barred is also available on Spotify.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

LenneHardt.com, the home of Lenne Hardt, the legendary MMA and sports announcer, voice actor, singer, actress, and comedienne. Lenne is also known for her jazz vocals with her Lenne Hardt Jazz Cabaret Band. For more information, to book her, or to order a custom message from her, go to LenneHardt.com.

Skullz Combat Sports Equipment, creator of the patented Skullz Double-End Bag, is the perfect punching bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve speed, distance, and timing skills. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. Skullz Combat Sports Equipment - Advancing combat sports equipment for the next generation of fighters. For more information, go to https://instagram.com/skullzcombatsports and https://facebook.com/skullzcombatsports.

Adolphina Studios. Original art prints and handcrafted fine jewelry. For more information, go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdolphinaStudios.

Labels: Caradh O'Donovan, coronavirus, COVID-19, Eddie Goldman, International Olympic Committee, IOC, karate, kickboxing, No Holds Barred, Tokyo Olympics

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Joanna Harper, a transgender athlete and the chief medical physicist, radiation oncology, at the Providence Portland Medical Center in Portland, Oregon.

She is the author of a study in the Journal of Sporting Cultures and Identities called Race Times for Transgender Athletes.

She also wrote a piece in the Washington Post called Do transgender athletes have an edge? I sure don't.

In November, she was involved in meetings with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about revising and updating their policy towards transgender athletes. The IOC has recently publicly released these new guidelines.

We spoke with Joanna Harper by phone Tuesday.

"On a personal level, I was thrilled that I was actually the very first transgender person ever involved with the IOC's transgender rules. It may seem hard to believe that they've never had a transgender person advising them on transgender rules, but they hadn't," she said.

"The IOC brought in 12 of us from around the world to Switzerland in November, and we had a very productive few days of discussions and came up with rules that I think were huge improvements on the old rules."

For transgender women athletes, the new guidelines reduce the waiting period to compete after undergoing hormone replacement therapy from two years to one year. They also eliminate the necessity of undergoing gender-reassignment surgery.

For transgender men athletes, the new guidelines say they can now compete "without restriction".

One of the key controversies about the participation of transgender women athletes with cisgender women is the notion that the transgender women will have unfair advantages. While there may sometimes be some advantages that transgender women athletes have, "pretty clearly that any advantages that transgender women have will not lead to unequitable competition," she said.

We also discussed why for female transgender athletes anatomy "makes no difference" but the testosterone level is "most important"; how the IOC's new guidelines are very close to those already in place in the NCAA; how transgender people are actually very underrepresented in sports; how the issue of equitable competition involving transgender and cisgender women athletes may vary from sport to sport; the situation involving Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender MMA fighter; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: athletes, Eddie Goldman, guidelines, International Olympic Committee, Joanna Harper. IOC, No Holds Barred, sports, transgender

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with investigative journalist, academic, and expert on match-fixing in international football, Declan Hill.

In April 2015, he was appointed Senior Fellow in anti-corruption in sports at the University of Brighton in Sussex, England.

We spoke with Declan Hill by phone Tuesday.

The escalating number of crises and scandals in world sport have led many to call for fundamental change in its structure and governance. Another result has been the emergence of an open battle between the lords of world sport, something which is usually reserved for behind-closed-doors intrigue.

Most notably, last week Marius Vizer, the president of both SportAccord (the international federation of both Olympic and non-Olympic federations) and the International Judo Federation, spoke at the SportAccord convention and issued a public flogging of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its president, Thomas Bach.

Vizer accused the IOC of, among other things, blocking SportAccord from organizing its own multi-sport events, not addressing the interests of the international federations, and preparing to launch an Olympic TV channel without a proper business plan. He bemoaned the poor financial state of many athletes around the world while the IOC rakes in millions and millions of dollars, noting that "athletes are lacking the necessary basic elements -- food, medication, equipment, preparation facilities and possibility to participate to competitions." And he said, "the IOC system is expired, outdated, wrong, unfair and not at all transparent. The Olympic Games belong to all of us and we need real reforms."

This was met not only with a rebuke from Bach, but also the issuing of a statement of "strong support" for the IOC by most of the summer Olympic sport federations -- which largely depend on their funding from the IOC -- and the severing or suspension of their ties with SportAccord. The one exception: the International Judo Federation.

While round one of this public fight may have gone to Bach and the IOC, it is clear that both sides got a bit bloodied by it and it is far from over.

Declan Hill explained the essence of Vizer's speech as saying to the IOC, "Basically, you're not sharing the pie. We want the pie. You're not sharing it. And you're putting a blockage on other multi-sports tournaments."

We discussed this battle and what it means for world sport, including the combat sports.

Declan Hill has also done extensive investigatory work into the mechanisms of match-fixing and its relation to illegal gambling rings.

"This one issue will kill off sport," he said. "I have been in Asia. I've worked, I've traveled in the sports world of Asia, and it is an elephant's graveyard of sports that have been killed off by this questionable integrity."

He stressed: "People simply will not watch a sport that they think is fixed. It surpasses doping. It surpasses any other ethical issue. People want to watch a sport. They don't want to watch theater. And really, the response of sports officials to this current generation, this current threat to the sporting world, has been lackluster at best."

The question of whether or not the verdict in the May 2 mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be fair or fixed has been a topic of worldwide commentary and speculation. We discussed that and possible scenarios in this highly anticipated fight.

We also discussed his experiences training in boxing in Cuba; the allegations of attempted match-fixing in international wrestling; why there has been "very, very, very little" progress in the fight to reform world sport; why fans should let sponsors of corrupt sports organizations know that they will not purchase anything from them; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: boxing, Declan Hill, Eddie Goldman, International Olympic Committee, IOC, judo, Marius Vizer, match-fixing, No Holds Barred, SportAccord, Thomas Bach, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses how much the decision by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to eliminate therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is related to the attempt by Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, to get its amateur organization into SportAccord, the international federation of sports federations. SportAccord, along with the International Olympic Committee, requires federations to follow the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and all of these very, very rarely hand out TUEs for TRT for all sports, far less frequently than Zuffa and the Nevada commission have for just their own MMA events.

Also discussed is even more new information on the dangers of brain injuries and the risks of dementia and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in sports where there is head trauma, and how this remains the Achilles Heel of these sports. What happened to dueling in the 19th century, and smoking in the 20th century, is compared to what might happen to these combat sports with head strikes in the 21st century.

The month of March also marks several milestones, including the eighth anniversary of No Holds Barred as a podcast. Some of the plans for the show are discussed as well.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: catch, CTE, Eddie Goldman, International Olympic Committee, IOC, MMA, Nevada State Athletic Commission, No Holds Barred, SportAccord, testosterone, therapeutic use exemptions, TRT, TUE, UFC, wrestling, Zuffa

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents the audio of the international media conference call of Sunday, September 8, featuring Nenad Lalovic, the president of FILA, the international wrestling federation.

At the 125th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the full membership of the IOC voted to re-add wrestling to the Olympic Program for 2020 and 2024. Wrestling had been dropped as a core sport for those years at a meeting of the IOC Executive Board in February of this year, but then allowed to re-apply along with seven other sports. Three sports were shortlisted in May for the final vote, which was held September 8. Those were wrestling, squash, and the joint bid by baseball and softball. The final vote Sunday had wrestling securing a majority of voters on the first round, getting 49 votes, to 24 for baseball/softball and 22 for squash.

Following the announcement of the vote, Lalovic held an international media conference call, outlining his views on the changes FILA had made since the bombshell announcement of February. He also addressed the issue of corruption in wrestling, and other topics.

We also expect to have more analysis and discussion of these developments in the days and weeks to come.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: corruption, Eddie Goldman, FILA, International Olympic Committee, IOC, Nenad Lalovic, No Holds Barred, Olympics, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents a no holds barred analysis of why the sport of wrestling, dropped from the Olympic program in February, received a reprieve at the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board meeting of May 29, and was included on a shortlist of three sports vying for inclusion on the program of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Discussed are the blunders and some of the backroom machinations which led to wrestling at first being dropped from the Olympics, as well as the real power struggle which resulted in it finishing first in the voting for the sports on this shortlist.

Essential to understanding this power struggle is grasping analysis of investigative reporter Jens Weinreich in his article Who rules world sport? Part 1: Vladimir Putin, Marius Vizer and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah. (That article is in German, so use a service like Google Translate if needed.)

The influence of Putin and his allies on events that transpired in both the IOC and FILA, the international wrestling federation, is highlighted. Also discussed are why FILA dropped grappling and amateur MMA, the urgent need for a battle against corruption in wrestling, the election of Marius Vizer as president of SportAccord and his proposal for a united World Championship event for the many Olympic and non-Olympic sports which are part of SportAccord, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: corruption, Eddie Goldman, FILA, grappling, International Olympic Committee, IOC, Jens Weinreich, Marius Vizer, MMA, No Holds Barred, Russia, shortlist, SportAccord, Vladimir Putin, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents the audio of the May 29 and May 31 news conferences by the International Olympic Committee announcing the shortlist of three sports to be considered for inclusion on the program of the 2020 Olympics. Both news conferences took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the IOC was having its Executive Board meeting.

The May 29 news conference started with the announcement by Mark Adams, IOC's Director of Communications, of the three sports which made the shortlist: wrestling, the joint bid of baseball and softball, and squash. Questions from reporters were also answered by Franco Carraro, the chairman of the Olympic Programme Commission. They explained the official criteria used to rate the Olympic sports and federations, and how the process of dropping and adding sports takes place. The full IOC is scheduled to decide in September which one, and only one, of these three sports will be on the 2020 program.

The May 31 news conference featured IOC President Jacques Rogge, whose term also ends in September, when there will be elections for his successor. He discussed, among other topics, why the IOC put in place a limit on the number of sports, federations, and athletes in the Olympics; why some sports and federations are made to leave the Olympic Games so as to have the "best Olympic program"; his views on the changes in wrestling since the new regime took over in FILA, the international wrestling federation, in February; the proposal by incoming SportAccord President Marius Vizer for a new united World Championships event involving all SportAccord federations, both Olympic and non-Olympic, to be held every four years; reflections on his career as IOC President; and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: baseball, Eddie Goldman, Franco Carraro, International Olympic Committee, IOC, Jacques Rogge, Marius Vizer, Mark Adams, No Holds Barred, shortlist, softball, SportAccord, sports, squash, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the current crisis in international wrestling and the pending exclusion of the sport from the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee has come under fire recently for the recommendation by their Executive Board that wrestling be dropped from the Olympic program starting in 2020. While this is itself an absurd decision, much of the blame also rests with the clueless, incompetent, and intellectually deficient leadership in international wrestling, specifically in FILA, the international wrestling federation. Now there is a new leadership in FILA, comprised of many of the same people who drove wrestling to the brink of elimination from the Olympics, and who were admittedly asleep at the wheel during this whole process. This and other concerns raise issues about the governance of international wrestling, whether or not the sport manages to hang on and not be eliminated from the Olympics after IOC meetings in May and September which will make the final decision on this issue.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: Eddie Goldman, FILA, freestyle, Greco-Roman, International Olympic Committee, IOC. wrestling, No Holds Barred

Labels: dropped, Eddie Goldman, FILA, freestyle, Greco-Roman, International Olympic Committee, IOC, No Holds Barred, wrestling