It was standing room only on Tuesday (April 4) as the 2024 candidate cities gave their presentations to the membership of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) during the organisation's General Assembly at the Scandinavian Center in Aarhus.

The queue of Federations applying for membership of SportAccord is growing with up to 29 knocking at the door at the last count.

So you’re watching Champions League football on the TV and you could swear that a goal scored should have been disallowed.  You run your replays, and, yes, your initial instinct is proved correct! A quick email to UEFA, and before long the annulment of the goal is being tannoyed to spectators, half of whom appear very unhappy.

I still remember the day I first knocked on the door of the Evanston and Skokie Cricket and Dominoes Club.

This Saturday will see British boxing history get made when Nicola Adams skips through the ropes at the Manchester Arena to make her professional debut.

After months of wrangling, Britain finally began its formal break-up from the European Union last week. Most of the mandarins and politicians involved in hammering out a deal now agree on the broad terms. It is the finer details of who, what, when and why which are causing the greatest headaches.

"If our athletes are going to beat the Jamaicans and Kenyans they need to train with the Jamaicans and Kenyans, and if our football team is going to beat the Brazilians, they need to be training with the Brazilians."

History tells us that cricket’s last Olympic appearance came at the Paris Games in 1900, and it seems as though a return to the programme for the sport has been discussed ever since the final ball was bowled in the French capital more than a century ago.

Tomorrow is the official start of the Olympic and Paralympic cycle for Tokyo. It will mark the start of four years of hard work. However, for those that work in the UK’s high performance system Tokyo 2020 is something we have been planning towards for some time.

Is there anything more awkward than discovering that a statue of yourself looks nothing like you? 

Other work projects have had me immersed in the world of sport of 50 years ago just lately, a world in some ways impossibly distant from ours today, albeit one that many contemporary sports administrators will remember quite well, as I do.

Okay, cards on the table. I don't much like cycling - even less cyclists. In particular, those arrogant lycra-louts disinclined to obey the rules of the road, jumping red lights, scraping your car door or banging the wing mirrors as they brush by. Then they give you the one-fingered salute when you hoot the horn in admonishment.

This weekend's World Cross Country Championships in Uganda saw a pulsating senior men's contest take place in searing heat at Kampala's Kololo Independence Grounds.

I could not help but shake my head when I saw that UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) had banned an amateur cyclist for two years earlier this week. The idea of a 55-year-old man opting to take steroids to improve his performance firstly made me laugh, but then began to sadden and trouble me.