As Team Nigeria athletes and officials left for the Algeria 2007 All African Games on Friday, stakeholders were calling upon Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to restructure Nigeria's sports and make them independent of government in the area of funding, management and administration.

The immediate beneficiaries of the EU Commission’s proposed action plan on sport will be academic institutions in member states. Named after Pierre de Coubertin, the action plan does not have many suggestions for actions but instead proposes research projects on a wide range of issues in European sport.

Upcoming conferences: “Doping and Public Health” in Aarhus, Denmark and “Beyond Engagement: Inclusion, sport and popular culture” in Manchester, United Kingdom.

In April this year, Robert K. Cheruiyot from Kenya won the annual marathon in Boston and took home 100,000 US dollars in prize money. A week later another Kenyan, Martin Lel, won the marathon in London with a prize of 55,000 US dollars. Prize money from running has become a very important part of Kenya’s economy as many runners take the money home to invest them.

The president of the Dominican Republic Volleyball Federation (Fedevoli), Ramón García, has refused to address the latest irregularities in the registration of players in international tournaments, reports newspaper Primera Hora in Puerto Rico.

Athletes going to the Pan-American Games in Brazil next month can update their blogs and websites during the event after all. Four months after telling athletes from 42 countries that they could not “report for on-line sites during the games”, the organising committee has made a complete u-turn on the sensitive topic of athletes’ right to free speech.

Each year many school-age African boys come to Europe because they believe they have a contract with a professional football club. Unfortunately, the majority have been set up by false agents and end up in the streets as illegal immigrants with no money. Now members of the European Parliament want to put an end to this illegal practice and propose a solidarity fund and prevention programmes.

The International Olympic Committee does not want to get involved with the general human rights situation in China. But now, human rights organisations try to engage the IOC in alleviating human rights problems that are a direct consequence of China’s preparations for the Games or occur in the name of the Olympics.