Navigating my way between the individual sport competitions at the finals of the Qatar Olympic Committee's (QOC) revolutionary Schools Olympic Programme (SOP), I couldn't help feeling a tinge of jealousy towards the 3,126 participants.

I say a tinge. That's actually an understatement.

With my own personal memories of "school sports day" comprising of little more than a grass field and a sand pit for long jump and triple jump, nothing could prepare me for the incredible display of school sport showcased at the magnificent Aspire Dome in Doha.

A total of 14 sports featured at the start-of-the-art venue, which is credited as being the world's largest for indoor sports training and competition.

The SOP, which sees students aged five to 18 compete throughout the school year, was launched as a legacy of the 2006 Asian Games and has grown from 7,099 participants from 300 schools in its inaugural year, to 25,454 students from over 461 schools in 2014.

This year's programme, the eighth edition, saw further growth and success with 29,319 schoolchildren from 542 schools participating across the school year.

Sitting down to discuss the programme with Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, secretary general of the QOC and chairman of the SOP, it became evident to me that the ambition for growth doesn't end there.

Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (centre), secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, has overseen the growth of the Schools Olympic Programme ©QOC




Sheikh Saoud said the QOC is aiming to secure participation from every single school in Qatar at next year's edition, estimating between two and four per cent of the total number have not taken part up until now.

Add to this the fact that four other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain, as well as Egypt - have already initiated their own versions of the SOP and it's clear to see that the programme is constantly gathering momentum.

Although one of its main objectives is talent identification, Sheikh Saoud insists fulfilling the "Sport For All" vision of the International Olympic Committee is really at the heart of the SOP in Qatar.

"We're a small nation, but we're getting great results and we've seen that even obesity has begun to decrease within the schools, and that's what we want," he told insidethegames.

"This is one of the targets because we want kids to be inspired to be a champion. Not necessarily to be a champion at Asian level or international level, but to become a champion within their schools."

Sheikh Saoud revealed that the medals awarded at the SOP finals are produced by GDE Bertoni, the Milan-based company that manufactured the FIFA World Cup.

By using valuable metal, it is hoped that the medal-winning athletes will cherish their memento way beyond the point of achievement.

"We want them to keep it for their whole life," said Sheikh Saoud. "They will remember and they will always be inspired by sport. When you're a kid you will always remember something that you have accomplished, and this is what we try to do.

"We're seeing that accomplishment more and more, year by year, and that's why we're seeing the growth of the programme."

3x3 basketball was among 14 sports featured as part of the Schools Olympic Programme i©Twitter



Among the 3,126 participants at the SOP were 17 students from the Georgian National Olympic Committee, which has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place with the QOC.

As part of the SOP's theme for this year, "sport and peace", the students were invited to share their experiences with Qatari schoolchildren and learn more about each other's culture and lifestyles.

"Qatar is trying to become a hub of sport in the Middle East and we've seen how much attention sport gets here in this country and how much is done for sports promotion," said Ekaterina Meiering-Mikadze, Georgia's Ambassador in Qatar. 

"So this is why we thought to give a chance to Georgian kids, who are coming from displaced families, to visit Doha."

The QOC is also showing a strong commitment to Para-sport with goalball, Para-athletics and Para-table tennis featuring on the SOP programme.

Doha is set to host the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in October and the QOC has attempted to raise awareness of Para-sport through both the SOP and Qatar's National Sport Day, which is held annually on the second Tuesday in February.

Preparations for the Championships are going well according to Sheikh Saoud, who says it's important not only to leave a legacy for Qatar, but also for the GCC countries by giving more attention to Paralympic sport and the region as a whole.

The QOC is vying to create an experience similar to that of London 2012, which Sheikh Saoud believes has set the benchmark for staging the Paralympic Games and ensuring a successful legacy.

London 2012 bronze medal-winning high jumper Mutaz Barshim is a graduate of the Schools Olympic Programme ©HK Strategies




"I think London have done a great job in the Paralympic Games," he said.

"It was the most attended Paralympic event in history, so we'll try to communicate with the organisation there and see how things have been done because this is what we want.

"We want the Qatar Sports Club's [Suhaim Bin Hamam] Stadium to be full when we have the IPC Championships."

One of two bronze medals won by Qatar at the London 2012 Olympics came via men's high jumper Mutaz Barshim, a noticeable success story of the SOP along with 16-year-old gymnast Rahma al-Dulaimi, who represented Qatar at last year's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, and Mariam Farid, a promising young hurdler who won silver at the GCC Women's Games in Oman last week.

Sheikh Saoud said that by connecting the QOC with the Ministry of Education, as well as sports clubs, sport federations and schools, talent can be identified at an early age when their interest in sport is beginning to take shape.

We could well see participants at this year's programme competing at future Olympic and Paralympic Games, and given Qatar's ever-growing sporting ambitions, they may have the chance to do so on home soil.

Doha is widely tipped to lodge a bid for the 2024 Games having failed in its attempts to secure the 2016 and 2020 editions.

Although Sheikh Saoud refused to be drawn on whether a bid would be submitted before the September deadline, he effectively confirmed that a future bid, whether it be for 2024, 2028 and 2032, is inevitable by stating that the QOC "have not decided which year" as of yet. 

Whichever year it happens to be, there can be no doubt that initiatives like the SOP will be looked upon favourably by the IOC.

The sheer scale of the programme is a real feather in Qatar's cap and with the legacy of the 2006 Asian Games being so significant, it's almost unimaginable to think what an Olympic and Paralympic Games will do for the country.

I suspect it's bordering on certain that we'll be able to see what it will do sooner rather than later.

Daniel Etchells is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

SPORTELAmerica could arguably be the place where there are more millionaires per square metre than anywhere else in the world - this is not a proven fact but highly likely to be true, particularly if you consider NBC Universal sports business analyst Rick Horrow's story of how he had to change his book title from Beyond the Scoreboard: An Insider's Guide to a $750 billion Business of Sport because that figure "is more like a trillion".

And not only does it attract the rich, it also draws in the famous, with the likes of Beezie Madden, the most decorated American female equestrian of all time and currently the only woman in the world rankings top 10, Jessica Springsteen and Hannah Selleck - if those surnames do not speak for themselves these show jumpers are the offspring of none other than actor Tom Selleck and rock royalty Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen - attending.

Miami Heat basketball player Goran Dragić, and boxing legends Jake LaMotta and Lennox Lewis were also among the notable faces at this year's event at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami.

Jake LaMotta (right) was one of the stars at this year's SPORTELAmerica in Miami ©SPORTEL


However, while the sport business industry, particularly the media rights sector, is sitting pretty for now, SPORTELAmerica featured a dominant theme that has the potential to make or break that astronomical wealth and revenue - digital technologies.

Although the advent of the digital age brings about numerous opportunities for sport, it also comes with inherent risks. One of those could be the astronomical growth of the second screen at the expense of the television. Statistics released last year showed a global average of 48 per cent of people use a smartphone, tablet or laptop while watching television, an activity known as "screen-stacking".

Different power systems have different ways of impressing on old leaders that it is time to move on.

Democracies have elections; dictatorships, the law of the jungle whereby a pretender recognises that the old lion is not quite the force he was and chooses his moment to pounce; monarchies have the benefit of a succession policy that is generally crystal clear and the consolation for the old leader that his successor is a close family member; businesses have the stock market that passes cold, ruthless judgement.

Only in international sports bodies does it seem all but impossible to eject old leaders who don't want to go.

Yes, most sports leaders nowadays must subject themselves to regular elections; but the obscure and complex web of traded favours from which decisions tend to emerge in these often cumbersome, necessarily protocol-steeped multinational institutions means that an incumbent can be confident of outgunning any rival should he wish to run for another term.

The one recent example I can call to mind of an International Sports Federation (IF) President who was ousted in an election in spite of fighting to remain came in September 2013, when Pat McQuaid was beaten by challenger Brian Cookson for the leadership of the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Even here, the 24-18 margin of victory seemed tight, given widespread criticism over the way the sport was being run.

Pat McQuaid (left) is the rare example of an incumbent President forced out of office when he wanted to continue, losing the UCI election to Brian Cookson (right) in 2013
©AFP/Getty Images

Earlier the same year, Raphaël Martinetti was forced to resign as President of the then International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) - but this was in a moment of out-and-out crisis, after this most traditional of Olympic sports had been recommended for removal from the Games.

Sepp Blatter, 79-year-old President of FIFA, was quoted by one bookmaker in January as a prohibitive 1/16 favourite to retain the post he has held since 1998 in May's election, and yet world football's governing body has become a laughing-stock in a number of countries in recent years.

One piece of advice to anyone wishing to head an international sports body in future under present circumstances might be to do what is necessary to secure the endorsement of the incumbent and then be patient, very patient.

Perhaps this in part explains why, even in the most densely-populated FIFA Presidential election for at least four decades, those generally seen as the strongest candidates for the succession are not even running.

I appreciate that 70 is the new 50, that we are thankfully staying healthier for longer and all that, but sport simply has to display better governance when it comes to succession planning and ensuring that new blood is installed at the top at the right time.

If it doesn't, then recent developments might lead you to suppose we risk heading towards gerontocracy.

And these days sport is simply too significant a sector, both culturally and economically, to permit that to happen.

If you doubt what I am saying, consider the confusion at the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) after 82-year-old President Mario Vázquez Raña died in harness, with no clear successor in sight and a statute review process, susceptible to influence the voting system for future elections, in full progress.

Mario Vázquez Raña died earlier this year while still President of the Pan American Sports Organization without leaving a succession plan in place ©Getty Images

That is perhaps an extreme example: the Presidency of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), one of the most prominent IFs, is, after all, being contested at present by two very strong - and comparatively youthful - candidates, Sergey Bubka and Sebastian Coe, after the 81 year-old incumbent, Lamine Diack, decided to call it a day after nearly 15 years.

Even here, though, you have to wonder whether the sport might not be in better shape if the handover had happened four or five years ago.

Interestingly, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has stood firm, well firm-ish, against sport's gerontocratic tendencies, deciding as part of the Agenda 2020 reform process to stick with its age limit of 70 for those elected post-December 1999, while opening the door to up to five four-year extensions.

This doesn't strike me as ideal either, since it risks adding to that obscure web of favour-trading which can distort a genuinely democratic process by tempting individuals to allow factors unrelated to the matter in hand to influence their voting.

However, at least the IOC set its face against abolishing age limits in the way that another prominent IF, the International Swimming Federation (FINA), is currently proposing for its Bureau members.

I think the IOC now needs to start taking a more proactive role in encouraging others to follow its example, as part of the good governance agenda which is key to cementing an acceptable degree of autonomy from Government for sport to run its own affairs.

Let's face it, the Presidency of an international/global sports body is a highly demanding role, requiring incessant travel, exposure to abrupt time and climate changes and, in most cases, long working hours.

Even though more of us are being blessed with good health well into our eighth decade and beyond, once people hit 80, they can go downhill very quickly and unpredictably - especially men, and unsurprisingly, it is men who occupy the vast majority of these posts.

Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka represent the youthful face of international sports administration as they battle to replace Lamine Diack as President of the IAAF
©Getty Images

Purely for practical reasons, I think there is a strong argument for the IOC to advocate an age limit of 75, including for its own full members.

If the accumulated wisdom of an ageing incumbent is deemed too valuable to do without, then s/he can stay involved under an honorary title while forgoing those aspects of an international sports leader's job that make it so gruelling.

The IOC should also insist that it become standard practice within the Olympic Movement for bodies to spell out a clear, and clearly understood, succession policy once an incumbent President attains the age of 70.

The actual state of affairs within PASO could almost have been scripted by Gabriel García Márquez, one of that region's greatest writers: following the death of a powerful octogenarian leader, a 79-year-old (who looks admittedly as fit as a flea) is nominated to serve out the last year and a bit of the deceased President's term; the two men generally held to be frontrunners for the longer-term succession, meanwhile, are aged 73 and 74 respectively.

I completely understand why so many IF Presidents seem to desire to stay in their posts for as long as possible: who wouldn't want to be a globe-trotting potentate with wide-ranging powers in your chosen field, living in luxury and treated with reverence (at least to your face) wherever you go?

But sport is now much too important to permit its old leaders to outstay their welcome and effectiveness.

If individual organisations are incapable of exercising better judgement - and better governance - on this vital matter, then the IOC should use the levers at its disposal to promote better practice.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here

Many years ago, on Cambridge market, I bought an old LP - it was old even then - by a US comic/singer named Martin Mull. The tunes remain in my head - sorry anyone if you wonder why I don't seem to be paying full attention - and the one which sticks most firmly includes the lyrics: "So I button my lip, and they all think I'm hip, I used to plastic, but now I'm elastic I'm flexible..."

Sitting as I am on the eighth floor of the Baku Hilton, overlooking Freedom Square, in which the monumental presence of Vladimir Lenin no longer broods, I am reminded of the virtues of flexibility.

Azerbaijan, which replaced not only the statue but the name, Lenin Square, in the wake of its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has prospered on a grand scale in the intervening years.

It is a capital city of opulence, rich and dynamic as the thrusting citadels of Doha and Dubai, but scaled on a civilised and elegant proportion and accommodating a rich and lovingly preserved historic centre.

The prosperity stems from the rich natural resources of oil and gas which literally flame out of this transcontinental republic beside the Caspian Sea, long known as the "Land of Fire".

The national flag flies over Baku, host to this summer's inaugural European Games
©Getty Images

In past ages, the gas which burns continuously out of the mountainside at Yanar Dag, on the Absheron Peninsula near to Baku, and in other areas of the country, attracted crowds of fire-worshippers from across the Middle East and India who revered these places as holy sites.

This worship laid the foundation of the Novruz customs, and the fires have been widely replicated in the city this week as part of the celebrations marking the coming of Spring, which involve homage to the four elements of earth, wind, water and fire.

Travelling in from the airport on Tuesday, we passed numerous bonfires in the streets around which young people had gathered. It is one of the many traditions of Novruz that lighting such fires, and jumping over them, will bring good luck. Judging by the height of some of the blazes in the Baku streets, that outcome looked questionable to say the least.

While I was blithering about in the city today, I met a member of the Azerbaijani military. He was friendly - it seems to be the natural disposition of people here - and we got chatting.

He told me how he had learned English through the tunes of The Beatles, whom he loved. We joked about "Getting Better Every Day..." He remarked on the fact that Margaret Thatcher had died.

The Beatles, unofficial English language coaches, pictured in 1966 ©Getty Images

We got onto the subject of the Falklands War, and how young Argentinians and Britons ended up dying for reasons which become less clear the more one studies them. A boy I knew at school, three years older than me, died in that war, shot down as he piloted a helicopter. Why? Political strings, political levers...

We got onto the subject of the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the war which flared with neighbouring Armenia, the fires of which still burn, unresolved, to this day.

We got onto the subject of Armenia's recent decision to take part in the Baku 2015 European Games which will start here on June 12.

Was it, I wondered, a popular decision as far as the people of Azerbaijan were concerned?

This military man was unequivocal. "It is sport," he said. "They are free to come in sport. We welcome them in sport."

There are many reasons to applaud this inaugural European Games, which has come so far in such a short space of time. But surely this is the best of them.

"When I first arrived here I said this was not a marathon, this was a sprint for 30 months," said Simon Clegg, the Baku 2015 chief operating officer, when I spoke to him in his office at the Baku European Games Operation Committee (BEGOC) overlooking Freedom Square.

If it aint broke, don't fix it.

That seemed to be the view of Mick Bennett, race director of the 2015 Tour of Britain, when asked what lies ahead for a race that shows no sign of dwindling popularity.

Bennett, a veteran of organising cycling races for over three decades, was speaking at the official launch at Wembley Stadium of this year's edition of the race, scheduled to take place from September 6 to 12.

He exuded a calm, yet excited tone, when being asked questions by several of the media in attendance in the swanky Wembley Suite following the announcement of the route of the 2015 tour, a course dominated by steep summits and tricky terrains.

After all, the race is his brainchild and he remained coy on whether they will eventually push to achieve World Tour status, the Mecca of road cycling which includes the most famous race of them all in the Tour de France.

"Sometimes those races can be a bit predictable," Bennett said.

"You've got to have a minimum of eight man teams which makes it difficult for the continental teams and by doing that you immediately eliminate that fanbase.

"We feel we have a good format in place at the moment and we see no reason to change that."

And who could blame him.

Thousands lined the streets for last year's edition - a clear indication of just how many members there are now of the cycling fan club in Britain - and organisers SweetSpot are expecting even more to turn out this time around, and this without confirmation of whether British cycling's most popular character, 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins, will join the party.

Tour of Britain race director Mike Bennett is happy with the way the event has developed since being resurrected in 2004 and sees no reason to change it ©Tour of Britain



While Sir Bradley's build-up to the season was overshadowed by uncertain contract negotiations with Team Sky before he launched his new team "WIGGINS", there is plenty of optimism around the Tour of Britain.

For a start, the route looks a cracker, although it perhaps sways too much in favour of the North of the country as the final stage through the streets of the capital is the most southerly part of the race, much to the disappointment of cities such as Brighton, a superb host last year. 

But the main issue centres on the county of Yorkshire, which has been omitted once again despite having the honour of staging the Grand Depart for Le Grand Tour in 2014.

The White Rose region boasts some of Britain's most picturesque locations and coastlines and there is no doubt it is conspicuous by its absence.

"It has been a bit tough for the Tour of Britain to get into Yorkshire recently," British Cycling's membership director Jonny Clay said. "We need to overcome that because that's not right. The national tour needs to be going into Yorkshire and we will amend that in the coming years for sure."

Yet these are more slight issues than concrete concerns for the organisational squad behind the scenes as the promise of the delivery of what looks to be a fascinating route far supercedes any problems at this point.

London's headline stage has undergone dramatic surgery in order to recapture the essence and the spirit of 2014 - a race where the Yellow Jersey changed six times over seven days - as it will now see riders fly past traditional British landmarks such as Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.

The organisers at Wembley certainly did enough to whet the appetite for the competition in September. A first start in Wales, a maiden visit to Edinburgh and a penultimate stage which was described by Bennett as "brutal" are just three examples of what Britain's cycling-mad population have to look forward to.

The final stage of this year's Tour of Britain promises to be one of the best with a picturesque route through Britain's historic capital ©Tour of Britain



Add to that a plethora of difficult surfaces, summit finishes and unpredictable conditions and you have a recipe for an event many of us will surely be glued to come the latter part of this year.

In 2014, three hours coverage a day was screened to many millions across the world, neatly backed up by a one-hour highlights programme in the evening, which many may deem as remarkable considering the status the event currently holds within the global map of cycling.

But even that is getting better, as Clay revealed. 

"We're looking to get the race as one of the premier races in the world," he said. "We can't predict what the male elite peloton will look like in a year so we have to be open minded and remain focus on the Tour of Britain being the biggest stage race in this country, which it is without doubt.

"At the UCI (International Cycling Union) level the race is highly regarded particularly in 2012, 2013 and 2014 as it is now considered a really high-class event."

The more frequent television coverage is hardly surprising as over the last decade or so, cycling has been the beneficiary of a meteoric rise into the hearts of the British public. Ask most people if they have a bike and the answer will be yes, ask many if they have heard of the likes of Laura Trott and Chris Froome and you are likely to hear the same reply.

The likes of Tour de France winner Chris Froome have enjoyed a rise to stardom synonymous with cycling's growth in Britain ©Getty Images



In fact, the launch of the 2014 tour being held at arguably the nation's most iconic sporting arena speaks volumes of the development of an event which underwent a major overhaul back in 2004.

The current format was devised by SweetSpot and British Cycling 11 years ago after a five-year hiatus, and it is fair to say they have never looked back since.

It's not just the men's race that is booming though as the introduction of the women's tour last year brought about an unprecedented reaction that few would have thought possible, with Bennett, who has been in this game for longer than I have been alive, admitting it "blew him away".

The inaugural women's event was won by the imperious world and Olympic champion Marianne Vos, and even that goes to show the pedigree of the race, proving at an early stage that it has the potential to attract the world's most stellar names.

Another positive on a seemingly never-ending list is the timing of the upcoming men's edition as it takes place two weeks before the World Road Racing Championships, leaving the organisers rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of having some of the top riders on the planet descend on the likes of Clitheroe and Ipswich.

Imperious Dutchwoman Marianne Vos won last year's inaugural women's Tour of Britain which race director Mike Bennett said "blew him away" ©Getty Images



This like so many aspects of the planning has been meticulously chosen. Every last detail has been thought of and it's no wonder the 2014 race enjoyed the success it did.

At a time where the UCI are considering unprecedented changes to road cycling as a whole, it is refreshing to see such forward-thinking from a country that usually stagnates in terms of sport - just ask the England cricket team.

It was also refreshing to attend a cycling event where the words doping, CIRC and Lance Armstrong didn't, for once, take centre stage.

There will be those who suggest that SweetSpot and British Cycling lack ambition for not aiming higher, although there are already murmurs within the sport's inner circles in Britain of potential bids for the World Championships and possibly another Grand Depart for cycling's showpiece event.

While the two clearly cannot be compared, the Tour of Britain is continuing to make waves within the sea of cycling; not just in Britain but across the world.

No wonder the organisers don't want to change things just yet.

At 6ft 6in and 17 stones Joe Joyce is one the big hits of the World Boxing Series (WSB) tournament in every sense, winning all his four super-heavyweight bouts so far while representing the British Lionhearts.

Note the name, because this is one unusual fighter - a true artist on canvas.

The 29-year-old Londoner has a 2:1 University degree in fine arts and obviously paints a pretty good picture in the ring, having recently gone into the Havana backyard of the Cuban champion Lenier Pero and defeated him.

That's some feat as no other WSB boxer has won in Cuba. A further victory in China put Joyce well on the way to qualification for the Rio Olympics next year, when there is every hope he can emulate 2012's kingpin Anthony Joshua, now impressively moving up the pro ranks.

Joyce remains unbeaten in the current season of WSB, the pro-am tournament in which boxers in mix-and-match national teams scrap without headguards or vests under basic professional rules over five rounds. He now sits second in the super-heavyweight rankings with 19 points, one behind Filiip Hrgovic of Croatia, who boxers for Astana Arlans of Kazakhstan.

The top ranked super-heavyweight boxer at the end of the regular season will automatically qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

While the Lionhearts have made a somewhat inauspicious debut in this season's WSB, languishing in seventh - and last - place behind the franchises from Cuba, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Morocco and China in Group A of  the two-tier tournament, Joyce has emerged as a star turn, much to the delight of Dr C K Wu and the International Boxing Association (AIBA) who had hoped that Joshua would resist the pro game's seven-figure golden hello to be their leading light.

Super-heavyweight Joe Joyce has been the British Lionhearts biggest success in a disappointing season so far ©Getty Images

Instead Joyce is now their flagship fighter, an intellligent, fascinating figure, who mixes real art with the noble art, saying his role models are Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Picasso and Van Gogh.

An all-round athlete who enjoyed a decent rugby career with London Scottish - he was born in Glasgow but moved south as a youngster - Joyce has also worked as a lifeguard, swimming and diving instructor.

Outside the ring he is is something of a gentle giant, admitting he prefers daubing paint on the canvas rather than splattering the noses of opponents.

It is certainly bizarre, to say the  least, to discover a pugilist who can chat as keenly about the work of another of his heroes, the American Jean-Michel Basqiat, famed exponent of Neo-Expressionism and Primitisism who died aged 27 from a heroin overdose, as he does about slipping a left hook.

Interestingly, two rather more famous heavyweights have also been students of the classics.  Mike Tyson's reading while in prison was Niccolo Machiavelli, Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas, and he claims his personal redemption came through literature.

And the Klitschko brothers - Vitali and Wladimir, both PHDs -  were more likely to be seen with a copy Goethe under their arm than The Ring Magazine.

"Though I am concentrating on boxing at the moment when my body can't take any more punishment I can go back to because I will still be able to lift a brush," says Joyce.

His own personal favourite work of art, produced in a small studio at his London home, is the lifesize painting in oils he has done of Ali.

"My dream is to have an auction of my paintings," says the man with the paintbrush left. "I was always good at art at school, as well as sport. It was at Middlesex University that I decided to go for an arts degree because I found I enjoyed it more."

Joe Joyce celebrates winning his Commonwealth Games gold medal at Glasgow 2014 ©Getty Images

The former ABA champion who won Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow last year, Joyce was  a late starter in boxing but says he may turn pro after Rio should he get "an unrefusable offer." He'll be 30 by then but luckily for him, heavyweight boxing doesn't suffer from ageism these days, with the top men now reaching their prime in their thirties.

However at the moment Joyce seems more interested in visiting the Louvre than Las Vegas.

"I have an open mind about turning pro. My immediate aim is Rio next year. After that, we'll see. Every heavyweight gold medal winner heavyweight thinks seriously about cashing in. It all depends on what is on offer.

"Boxing comes first for now so the aim is simply to keep winning and maintain my unbeaten record through the season. But my ultimate ambition is to be able to afford a large studio so I can indulge in my passion for art."

Clearly, this punching painter is no ordinary Joe.

Next up for the otherwise lagging Lionhearts is another home fixture at London's atmospheric York Hall on Thursday (March 19) where Joyce continues his quest for Olympic qualification by completing a fistful of victories.

"Hrgovic is in the other group and I will not get to face him in the regular season, so I just need to focus on what I can do, keep winning and hope that he slips-up at some point as he will have to face some good opponents."

Joyce will be joined at York Hall by three other members of the GB Boxing squad, welterweight Ekow Essuman, lightweight, Luke McCormack and light-heavyweight, Joshua Buatsi. The match will be shown live on BT Sport 2 at 8.00pm.

However, middldeweight Antony Fowler's hopes of qualifying via WSB took a setback last week as he lost his first match of the season to guest boxer Hurshidbek Normatov from Uzbekistan as the British Lionhearts were defeated 4-1 by the Ukraine Otamans.

Fowler, cousin of former England and Liverpool footballer Robbie, is rated with Joyce as one of GB's oustanding hopes for Olympic glory after stylishly winning Commonwealth gold and World Championship bronze.

The defeat means Fowler is currently joint fifth in WSB's middleweight rankings and will need to win his next two contests against Algeria and Cuba to have a chance of finishing the season in one of the top two places and qualifying for Rio.

James DeGale is seeking to become the first British Olympic gold medallist to win a professional world title ©Getty Images

No doubt James DeGale is keeping check on the fortunes of GB's prospective Olympians. The middeweight gold medallist from Beijing has moved a vital step closer in the race with Joshua and Luke Campbell to become Britain's first Olympic champion to win a professional world title.

But he must travel to the United States to do so against American super-middleweight Andre Dirrell.

DeGale's promoter Eddie Hearn was outbid by Dirrell's backers, who tabled £650,000 ($969,000/€905,000) more than his £1.4 million (£2.1 million/€1.9 million) offer, and the clash for the IBF belt vacated by Carl Froch will be held in the US a date and venue to be decided. It is mooted it could be on the undercard of the Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao blockbuster in Las Vegas on May 2.

Hearn had hoped to stage the contest at London's O2 on April 25, but saw his plans scuppered by Dirrell's team led by Al Haymon, the oddly publicity-shy impresario who has taken over from Don King as the new main man in boxing, with Mayweather also among 100 plus clientele of with clout.

The loss of home advantage is a setback for DeGale, who has only fought once before outside the UK, but will be well paid for his trip to the States and crucially the US is no longer alien territory for British fighters, as welterweight Kell Brook ably demonstrated last August when claiming a split decision victory Shawn Porter for the IBF belt.

The29-yar-old DeGale insists he is relaxed about having to travel to the US. "A ring is a ring and I'm still making history!" he sagely declares.

Just like Joe Joyce, the Rembrant of the ring.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire

Good management, in any walk of life, is far from easy. You must instill discipline to ensure that all fit a certain standard and you must treat all with a certain degree of equality, to ensure fairness. Yet at the same time, the primary aim is to get the best out of your employees, and different individuals respond differently to varying management styles. Some are therefore always going to be afforded a little bit more leeway.

This underpinning philosophy is true in all sorts of spheres.

Horse racing's Ted Walsh last week found a memorable way of discounting the chances of his son, Ruby, riding four winners on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival.

"It just doesn't happen," the Kildare man reflected.

"It's Cheltenham, not Disneyland."

His good judgement was confirmed a few hours later, when, with three wins under his belt and the fourth race at his mercy on a chestnut mare called Annie Power, Walsh the younger was sent crashing to the turf at the very last hurdle separating him from the Magic Kingdom.

The fall was said to have saved bookmakers £40 million ($59 million/€56 million).

In an eventful week, other sports found ways of showing they were not Disneyland either.

The niggly, cynical, if ultimately dramatic football served up at Stamford Bridge by Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain - two squads bristling with the most exciting attacking talent money can buy - seemed a mightily long way from Disneyland, or even Euro Disney.

And then there was the report of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC).

Racing's Ted Walsh discounted the chances of son Ruby riding four winners on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, saying "its Cheltenham, not Disneyland"  ©Getty Images



Now getting the edge, that vital advantage that sets champions apart from their chief rivals, is the essence of top-class international sport.

Some - Roger Federer in tennis, cricket's Michael Holding, Michael Jordan in basketball - are blessed with supreme natural ability which, honed by years of practice, set them apart from their peers.

Others, whose talent puts them on a par with their most gifted contemporaries but not above them, can add that decisive extra scintilla to their performance through extreme mental toughness; or having access to more money - and hence, potentially, better equipment, coaches, training regimes, food - than their opponents; or with the help of technological innovation, although, in this case, others tend to catch up fast.

If your competitors happen to be honest, you can also get the edge by breaking the rules.

Doping is perhaps the most obvious way to do this, but there are plenty of others.

Cycling's CIRC was told of "varying efforts to cheat the technical rules", ranging from "using motors in frames" to "the wearing of illegal clothing and apparel".

Indeed it warned that "technical cheating may be emerging as a more significant avenue for illicit gains than ever before".

To me, one of the most depressing things about this CIRC report, though, is that it in part details a period when use of drugs, in particular erythropoietin or EPO, seems to have been necessary, or as good as, not to gain an edge, but merely to stay in the race.

Why? Because such an overwhelmingly high proportion of top road riders appear to have been using it.

Tennis' Roger Federer has been blessed with supreme talent, while other top class sports stars have had to find alternative ways to gain an edge on their rivals ©Getty Images



While acknowledging the difficulty of quantifying prevalence, CIRC cites a 1994 report on EPO use in Italian professional cycling that put usage rates at "between 60 to 80 per cent of all riders".

It immediately goes on to add: "From riders' testimony to the CIRC, it is possible that this estimate may be modest for the peloton in that era, given that some put the percentage at 90-plus per cent across the peloton."

Since EPO was illegal - albeit undetectable until a test was developed in 2000 - and since performance gains attributable to the drug were estimated at 10-15 per cent, this meant that ultra-honest riders who saw it as unethical to break the rules governing their sport must have found it all but impossible to be competitive or even to stay in the sport at elite level.

Says CIRC: "It seems that today riders have a choice as to whether to dope or not, whereas before there was no real choice if a rider wanted to be competitive in the big races."

Until you have an effective test, it is hard to know what to do in such a situation.

So I have quite a lot of sympathy with the governing body's introduction in 1997 of the so-called "No Start Rule".

This held that any rider with a haematocrit (red blood cell) reading higher than 50 per cent in the case of men or 47 per cent for women was deemed unfit for competition and prevented from competing for 15 days from the date of a test.

Explains CIRC: "It was not an anti-doping rule, but a health and safety measure."

It came after riders informed the governing body in 1996 that, as the report puts it, "misuse of EPO had spiralled out of control and that there was a serious and acute danger that riders would die on the Grand Tours.

"It was the various team doctors and managers who went to the [International Cycling Union] and begged them to start blood controls."

The Cycling Independent Reform Commission said the so-called "No Start Rule", introduced in 1997, "was not an anti-doping rule, but a health and safety measure" ©Getty Images



With the development of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), anti-doping authorities do now have in their armoury a more effective weapon to combat EPO use.

According to CIRC, "Prior to the ABP, only three riders were convicted of blood doping.

"In the first three years of the ABP, 26 riders were found positive for the presence of EPO stimulating agents in their specimens."

The report went on: "The ABP was a paradigm shift in anti-doping and began to reduce the percentage performance gain that EPO had previously offered because riders had to take smaller quantities to avoid detection."

In this context, you would have to say that top road racers who competed clean before a worthwhile EPO test was developed could almost be considered candidates for sainthood.

That is why when a few months ago I met Christophe Bassons, a former pro cyclist who competed from 1996 to 2001 and who rejected EPO, I was so struck that he seemed to feel no sense of moral superiority over former rivals whose cheating perhaps prevented him from enjoying a significantly more glittering career.

Among the notes I scribbled down while listening to him are the following, rather extraordinary, sentences.

"I'm not at all proud of not doping.

"Rather, I'm ashamed for being lucky in a way others weren't."

I called Bassons to check what he meant by "being lucky", and it was that his background and education equipped him to make choices that weren't available to many others in the peloton.

Former French professional cyclist Christophe Bassons, who competed from 1996 to 2001, rejected EPO - unlike most of his peers, including Lance Armstrong ©Getty Images



CIRC touches on this as well, noting: "In this era, many young amateur riders, often from a lower socio-economic background, had a chance to gain recognition and earn good money as professional cyclists, where their alternatives for other types of employment were perhaps less appealing.

"A typical narrative from that period was of a gifted non-doping amateur, who had previously competed closely with riders from the rest of the world, turning professional.

"He would find that his former amateur competitors were now significantly faster than him, and he soon realised that doping was the difference...

"The rider was confronted with a stark choice, either to fall away from professional riding or dope.

"Those few who rejected doping and left the sport appear to share a common factor in that they had an alternative, perhaps a university degree or an option to pursue a career in another walk of life."

This is strange territory indeed, where one of the clean guys can empathise so much with the cheats that he is left feeling ashamed.

Perhaps this is the sort of thing that the person who told CIRC there was "no room for ethics in sport" was getting at.

There are no easy answers here: it seems self-evident that a similar situation could arise with a different - untestable - drug in another sport.

But if we live in a society where winning is everything - where the reward structure for athletes, once sponsorship income is taken into account, makes explicit that winning is everything - then an environment in which competitors are striving so desperately for that edge that legality becomes, for some, essentially irrelevant if they think they can get away with it is what we can expect.

Education must be part of the answer - but as much for sports leaders as the athletes themselves whom they love to lecture about the evils of doping.

I still have relatively little sympathy with an athlete who, in a generally "clean" sport, resorts to drugs to secure the edge he or she needs to reach number one.

However, when a sport becomes so "dirty" that competitors feel they have no choice but to dope to retain their livelihood, then we all share part of the responsibility.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here

It's always enjoyable to attend an event such as the Africa International Sports Convention (CISA) with a feeling that steps have been taken in the right direction, especially for a continent plagued by difficulties on many levels for such a long time. 

And what better place to host such a convention than the picturesque Rwandan capital of Kigali. The beautiful landscape and superb facilities subvert many people's views of Africa, and even holding an event such as this one signals Rwanda's intentions across the globe, and not just in the sporting arena.

The power of sport to bring about social and economic change cannot be underestimated, and this was a clear message throughout the event.

In a casual conversation by the pool at the stunning Lemigo Hotel, Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) President Robert Bayigamba spoke passionately about how sport has helped the country get over the tragic and horrifying genocide in 1994, where over half-a-million Tutsis were brutally killed in cold blood.

Bayigamba then detailed his own moving story the following day, documenting his survival from the genocide, which drew a heartfelt round of applause from those in attendance.

The topic was impossible to avoid, yet rather than dwell on a period that resonates with the entire world, the Convention focused on the future ahead, using sport as an integral tool to build on their recovery from their haunting past.

The RNOSC produced a clear strategy in order to enhance their sporting development, but that wasn't the only impressive presentation as a plethora of distinguished speakers, including outgoing International Association of Athletics Federations President Lamine Diack and honorary International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and honorary International Swimming Federation President Mustapha Larfaoui, all shared the common belief that by working together, African sport will continue to surprise and delight in equal measure.

RNOSC President Robert Bayigamba (left), a survivor of the genocide, outlined ambitous plans heavily populated with enthusiasm and passion at the CISA Convention ©ITG



Also present was the chair of the IOC's Athletes' Commission Claudia Bokel, who revelled in a visit to a local school where they were holding an Olympic-themed day to coincide with CISA.

That event at the Convention came as a surprise after I was whisked off swiftly in a hastily-arranged bus, but it proved to be a hugely enlightening experience.

I even had to sign autographs for the children at Green Hills Academy - they don't know I'm just a journalist.

It was also enlightening to get a better understanding of sport in a continent which has overcome severe issues such as apartheid and the aforementioned genocide in a slightly murky and bleak history, and the speakers and various other dignitaries who came to Kigali left a lasting impression.

The Convention itself included several productive discussions on topics ranging from celebrating the achievements of African sporting leaders, such as Diack, and other talks were based on the African Games and how best to develop sporting administration throughout the continent.

For so long, it is fair to say Africa has languished behind the other continents in terms of sporting development, which is why an event such as this can be crucial for their future.

Of course, the horizon isn't completely full of sunshine and, while an Olympic and Paralympic Games in Africa remains an outside prospect, it is now up to the powers that be within African sport to ensure that the fruitful debates that have taken place don't prove to be just that.

They need to use CISA as a platform to spread their plans and ideas across Africa if they are to achieve their ultimate dream.

Yet even this issue has caused divisions, with Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, President of the Confederation of Athletics Associations (CAA), believing Africa is ready to stage the grandest event of them all, in direct conflict with the opinion of Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) President Lassana Palenfo, who cited problems such as lack of water and hunger as reasons for his view that an African Olympic Games would be "almost impossible",

Strong rumours have reared their head as of late that South Africa was preparing to launch an historic nationwide bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, although these ambitions were dealt a heavy blow when the country's Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula exclusively told insidethegames that any bid for the 2024 Games was "unrealistic".

insidethegames reporter Liam Morgan (centre) had the opportunity to meet with CAA President Hamad Kalkaba Malboum (left) and former marathon world record holder Tegla Loroupe (right) in Kigali during the Africa International Sports Convention ©ITG



From glass half-empty to glass half-full, however, as Durban looks a sure bet to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games following the withdrawal of Edmonton their only opposition in the race, and after that event we will have a much clearer idea as to whether an African Olympics is indeed feasible.

While the Convention itself was rife with optimism for the future of the African Olympic Movement, the continent's sports leaders were not kidding themselves that there are not still constant problems, such as in-fighting between sporting federations and political issues that must be settled in order for them to move forward.

The issue of the All African Games in Brazzaville, an event littered with disorganisation and political disagreements, lingered under the surface, a clear undertone of disappointment at the way they have been arranged and handled present among many of the attendees.

Strangely, ANOCA has not organised the African Games, which will take place in Congo's capital this September as this job instead fell to the Sports Council of the African Union, a body comprised of 54 African states.

The powers that be at ANOCA have insisted the 2015 edition will be the last time this happens, but if they can't come to an agreement in future, an Olympic Games in Africa remains a distant dream.

The convention also included an African sports journalists seminar where writers from across the continent attempted to improve their skills ©ITG



Other problems raised include those by Malboum and Fekrou Kidane, a former IOC chief of staff now working as a senior adviser for the African Football Confederation, who both lamented the influence of football across the continent.

It seems they feel the prominence of one of the world's premier sports in Africa is holding the progression of others back as a lot of the available funds make their way into the pocket of the beautiful game.

Not so beautiful for many of the African sports leaders at CISA, however.

Perhaps they would have no issue with the sport if the money was used to enhance the African leagues themselves but that appears to be far from the case, and although the continent can claim many illustrious exports, including the likes of Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Manchester City's Yaya Toure, there exists a clear antipathy towards football.

This may appear surprising to many after South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but their motives are opaque - they all crave a united Africa in terms of sport.

These issues and complications, largely synonymous of sport not just in Africa but also across the world, are however mere blots on what is a hugely bright and colourful canvas.

There will always be those who criticise for the sake of criticising, and while it remains to be seen whether the topics discussed here are mere dreams and theories, you can be assured that Africa is going places at a sporting level, as long as they can rid themselves of their current difficulties.

The fact remains that they have overcome enough political and social impediments already, so a few disagreements within the vast sporting arena should prove to be mere fleeting obstacles that become more conquerable as the years go by.

But of course things change and there can be no guarantees that the sessions at CISA will yield results, yet one aspect that will never be altered is the breathtaking Rwandan capital city, synonymous with the country's progression since the genocide.

They call Rwanda the "land of a 1,000 hills" and on a personal level, I will leave Kigali with 1,000 memories.

Liam Morgan is a Junior Reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

In Uganda today, when one mentions sports, this is immediately associated with conflict, chaos, corruption and a general state of mismanagement.

So far we have heard nothing about egg rolling becoming a part of the Olympics. But it can surely only be a matter of time.

As Easter approaches, now seems the perfect moment for adherents of this symbolic ancient activity involving decorated eggs and small grassy hillsides to give full voice to their Olympic ambitions.

In the wake of the recent Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations making the Games more open to new events, sporting hopes now spring anew in spring.

Well all right. Egg rolling. Unlikely.

Children taking part in the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington D.C.
©Getty Images

But if it sounds far-fetched, it becomes less so when one considers the range of sports down the years which have sought to gain an enduring place within the Five-Rings Circus of the Games.

From 1900 to 1992, sports were allowed "demonstration" status in order to try and make a sufficiently good impression to earn official Olympic recognition. For some, such as baseball and canoeing, this worked a treat. For others - not so much.

Those 1900 Games in Paris would have made current International Olympic Committee members, imbued with the need to keep the Olympics to manageable proportions, come out in a rash.

The first Paris Olympics involved a total of 58,731 athletes participating in 34 overall sport categories -both the highest ever recorded in a Games. Hot-air ballooning accounted for 64 of those "athletes" - three of whom were women - and involved 18 events which were marked by judges on points such as distance, duration and elevation.

Initially there were high hopes of Olympic status. But the aspiration proved to be so much hot air.

Balloon racing was very popular around the start of the 20th Century - but hopes of Olympic inclusion after demonstration sport status at the 1900 Paris Games were soon deflated ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The 1900 Games demonstrations sports also included angling - or Angling For Olympic Inclusion, to give it its full title. From the point of view of the IOC's main criteria, namely that a sport or discipline is widely practised around the world and regularly involves countries and continents, angling should have been established along with athletics within the Olympic programme. But the IOC reaction? "Go fish.. "

Those Paris Games contained other intriguing aspirant sports. There was cannon shooting - or Cannon Shooting for the Olympics, to give it its full title. Misfired.

There was kite flying - an activity which brilliantly described its own Olympic intentions, but which dipped violently earthwards, never to rise again into the IOC consciousness.

As the years went by, this list of demonstration events became a little less eclectic, although there were still some notable exceptions.

Kite Flying was popular at the start of the 20th century - but the sport failed to take off in the Olympics following its only appearance at Paris in 1900 ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The 1924 Paris Olympics featured savate, a form of French boxing or kick boxing, and canne, another French martial art involving a kind of cane made from chestnut wood, with combatants wearing padded suits and fencing masks.

The Winter Games, too, have hosted demonstration events down the years, with the 1928 St Moritz Olympics featuring skijoring - that is, men being pulled along on skis by horses.

In more recent years, other sports have thrown their caps into the five rings, either in earnest or as a calculated means of gaining publicity.

Soon after the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, there was a groundswell of opinion within a growing number of International and National Federations that pole dancing - once smutty, was now officially sporty, and should have its place in the Games.

Japan's Mai Sato, effectively pole dancing world champion at the time having won the second International Pole Dancing Fitness Championships in Tokyo, told Agence France Presse: "I could definitely see pole dancing in the Olympics. I would love to win a gold medal."

Pole dancing -a possible Olympic sport? ©Getty Images

Two years ago there was much ado about the fact that darts wanted into the Olympics. The speculation had been stirred by a tweet from the former British Olympic Association Director of Elite Sport, Sir Clive Woodward, after the 2013 PDC World Championships in which he opined - "Darts definitely an Olympic sport."

But as any aspiring Olympic sport must first become recognised by the IOC before joining the programme, darts is not even on the board yet, never mind in a position to hit the bullseye of Games selection.

Around the same time, sheep-shearing was also touted for future Olympic inclusion. Perhaps by someone who was half cut. It was similarly unable to make the cut.

And bridge, which also felt it had a potentially winning Olympic hand a few years ago, has not announced any recent bids.

Earlier this year there was an announcement that cue sports were queueing up for Olympic inclusion, with World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson commenting: "Snooker has grown at unprecedented levels in recent times and it has been our belief for some time that we should be given our chance on the ultimate global platform for sport.

"Today we strongly believe that cue sports has a very powerful case for inclusion in the Olympics in Tokyo. Snooker alone is watched by nearly half-a-billion people worldwide and played competitively in over 90 countries.

"The Olympics brings together the most skilled and dedicated athletes on the planet. There are few sports which can match the skill and concentration of snooker; our players are pushed to their limits in mind and dedication."

Baseball/softball and squash may look like the most realistic contenders to join the Olympic crew at the 2020 Tokyo Games, but in future years, who knows? Perhaps egg rolling might have a shout after all?

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. To follow him on Twitter click here.

It may have lacked the television build up and a dramatic on air confession that Lance Armstrong's confession to Oprah had, but the Cycling Independent Reform Commission's (CIRC) 227-page report into doping in cycling represents a significant moment in the sport's history.

Some have already expressed disappointment that a lack of new guilty names have been exposed by the report, but perhaps that is not such a bad thing. With the report focusing more on the trends and cultures prevalent during what has become known as "The Armstrong Era" it presents a more balanced account of the time-period, without the focus on one man.

Although Armstrong will rightly go down in history as one of the biggest drug cheats in the history of sport, the American has had a fair point that he has been treated disproportionally to fellow dopers and International Cycling Union (UCI) officials, who are also culpable in allowing the doping culture to thrive in the sport. Armstrong has become the pantomime villain and the report does well to provide balance to the debate.

Instead, there is an acknowledgement that the problem of doping was more widespread than just Armstrong and that multiple people were to blame, including former UCI Presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid, both former International Olympic Committee members. 

Allegations of corruption may have proved unfounded, but suggestions by Verbruggen and McQuaid they have been exonerated by the report, is akin to somebody fist pumping in celebration after receiving a verdict of manslaughter, when facing a murder charge.

The report stating that, under their leadership, Armstrong was viewed as the perfect man to lead the sport forward after the 1998 Festina scandal, presents a damning conclusion of a governing body who were prepared to prioritise the clean cut image of their sport over its integrity.

With Armstrong allowed to compete contrary to UCI rules and have influence over the Vrijman Report, clearly the culture was allowed to develop by the UCI and the sport now is paying the consequences.

Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen's reigns as UCI President were criticised in the report ©AFP/Getty Images



There is a danger that one of lasting legacies of the "Armstrong Era" is that that cycling has reached the point where athletes are guilty until proven innocent, rather than innocent until proven guilty.

We have seen in recent editions of the Tour de France that riders are under even more suspicion than ever before, with the leader's yellow jersey now seemingly sporting an EPO stained question mark.

Performances of the current generation are viewed with the likes of Armstrong in mind. For instance, Bradley Wiggins was forced to deliver an impassioned and expletive defence on route to winning the Tour in 2012. It was followed a year later by Chris Froome facing similar accusations at the 100th edition of the race, with his dominant victory on Mont Ventoux immediately viewed sceptically.

In this sense, CIRC has been disingenuous to the current generation of athletes, with the attention grabbing estimate from a "respected former professional" that 90 per cent may still be doping. The figure has fuelled suspicion whereas in reality it is impossible to make an accurate prediction of the scale of doping prevalent in the sport at this current time, with double Olympic gold medallist Geriant Thomas labelling the estimate as "insulting".

This is heightened when you consider the report focuses on men's elite road racing, with only limited attention paid to women's equivalent and none to the track side of the sport. Yet they are all tarnished by the dopers tag.

Double Olympic champion Geriant Thomas labelled the estimate that 90 per cent of cyclists were doping as insulting ©Getty Images



However, in outlining the fact the micro-dosing is considered one of the biggest challenges remaining, the sport can be seen to have made major advantages in reducing the scale of the problem, through the use of the biological passport and whereabouts system.

The recommendations to open a whistle-blower desk and target suspected micro-dosers with night time testing, although positive ideas, seem unlikely bring about a dramatic decrease in doping, while Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford's suggestion for investigators to live with the teams seems unworkable.

While undoubted successes and positive ideas, it will prove to be interesting to see how the UCI attempts to tackle the issue of micro-dosing and Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) abuse.

Furthermore, the difficulties of testing athletes who choose to train in remote locations, preventing youth from becoming indoctrinated into a doping culture, and the development of designer drugs were identified by CIRC as key challenges for the cycling to face.

Despite the report looking specifically at cycling, these final three issues are, in my view, not cycling-specific, as other sports face the same difficulties.

Perhaps the CIRC report could prove to be a useful opportunity for governing bodies to work together in dealing with shared doping issues.

Additionally, it should provide them with a warning that integrity of their sport must come before its image.

Michael Pavitt is a junior reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here

Football is England's national game. It is now also, England's national shame. 

You need only to turn to the back pages of any daily or Sunday newspaper - although these days it is more often likely to be featured on the front - or switch on the television news to see the sleazy depths to which the sport has plunged.

Last weekend provided a shocking example: "Disgraceful!" roared the Mail on Sunday. "Echoes of the dark days as players are bitten, barged and struck after thousands invade pitch before end of Villa's Cup win."

This was typical of reports both in print and on  the box as football turned back the clock 30 years or more to the bad old days of the 1970s and 1980s with the mass pitch invasion of fans of both clubs after Aston Villa's 2-0 defeat of Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Seats were hurled, players assaulted and stewards overwhelmed. Villa apologised, the West Brom manager Tony Pulis demanded life bans for unruly fans and the English FA are holding an investigation,with the certainty of heavy fines and the possibility of ground closure. All horribly déjà vu

Aston Villa fans spill onto the pitch following their FA Cup quarter-final victory over fierce rivals West Bromwich Albion ©Getty Images



It wasn't the only unsavoury incident, either. A Watford supporter is in a critical condition in hospital after an unprovoked assault in Wolverhampton on Saturday (March 7) following the 2-2 draw between the clubs.

Sadly, football has been besmirched by a triple whammy of isms...racism, sexism and hooliganism.

The Beautiful Game? More like the Bigoted Game.

On top of the censuring of players from Manchester United and Newcastle United for spitting at each other the weekend brought to the boil the simmering unpleasantness of the past couple of weeks in which Chelsea fans travelling to and from big games in Paris and at Wembley have twice seen and heard to be blatant racist; and footage also emerged of the sexist verbal abuse faced by a female Chelsea doctor from fans at Old Trafford.

In the YouTube clip Eva Carneiro can be seen walking along the side-lines as Manchester United fans scream abusive slurs at her.

The video shows fans shouting in unison: "Get your t*** out for the lads" and other obscenties unfit to print.

Chelsea claim this recording is not the first incidence of sexist verbal abuse suffered by Dr Carneiro, who prior to joining the club worked with Team GB in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

A female assistant referee Helen Byrne has suffered taunts during recent Football League matches.

Chelsea physiotherapist Eva Carneiro has suffered much sexist abuse from hostile away fans ©AFP/Getty Images



This  season, 25 match-day incidents of sexist abuse have been reported to anti-discrimination campaign group Kick It Out and equality group Women in Football (WiF). Last season, there were just two.

However, a lack of evidence means no club or fan has ever been punished by football's governing bodies.

Sexism in football is nothing new of course. When Britain's first female referee, Wendy Toms, was coming up through the ranks she endured endless tasteless jibes and a player was once sent off for reminding her "this is  man's game" and calling her a "f...... bitch".

Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys resigned and pundit Andy Gray was sacked in 2011 for claiming assistant referee Sian Massey did not know the offside rule because she was a woman.

The Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore apologised last May after private emails he had sent to friends and colleagues were revealed to contain sexist content.

Northumberland County Football Association John Cummings was sacked last year for telling referee Lucy May that "a woman's place is in the kitchen".

And the FA fined and suspended Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan, who has since quit, for comments deemed to be racist and are still investigating texts that were allegedly racist, sexist and homophobic sent between the Wigan manager Malky Mackay, then with Cardiff City, and former Crystal Palace sporting director Ian Moody.

Wigan Athletic manager Malky Mackay is another British footballing figure to have been accused of discrimination in recent times ©Getty Images



Sports journalist Anna Kessel, chair of WiF, says sexist chanting continued at matches because stadium safety managers and stewards were often not briefed on how to recognise and deal with it.

"Sexism in football is so entrenched within the culture of the game to a point where racism is recognised as wrong but sexism is just recognised as banter," she adds.

Yet there is one pertinent question which the game itself continues to ignore. Why is it the only sport riddled with such unseemly aberrations of physical and verbal violence?

What is it about football that it continues to be so enmeshed in the sort of opprobrium which evades other sports?

How do you deal with the soccer sickos? Why does no other sport suffer this yob mentality? The truth is that in this country both the FA and the Premier League shy away from establishing an authoritative grip on the game for fear of upsetting those who lavishly bankroll it. And for international governance, well, the mere mention of FIFA is universally greeted with a derisory sniff of the nostrils.

So is it all down to socio-economics? Do other sports attract a better class of follower, far fewer mindless scumbags?

Maybe. But many of those racists, sexists and hooligans who seem to comprise the unacceptable face of football hail from the midde classes, white collar workers, some of whom are revealed to have well-paid jobs in the City.

Of course some also may be state-sponging layabouts but others are just as likely to be upper class twits, those Hooray Henrys who have attached themselves to football as their latest fad.

Why is footy such a magnet for these types. You don't get this sort of loutish, racist or sexist behaviour in other theatres of sport.

Racist chanting on the way to watch Olympic 100 metres metres final in Stratford? Hurling bananas on to the rugby field at Twickenham?  Abusing female line judges at Wimbledon? Invading the pitch after a Test match at Lord's? Perish the thought.

The last time I remember any element of racism in boxing was back in 1980 when the then British world middleweight champion, Olympic bronze medallist Alan Minter, shockingly  declared before defending his belt against Marvin Hagler at Wembley: "There's no way I am going to lose my title to a black man."

He was subsequently vilified, there was a riot at ringside and yes, he did lose to Hagler. Brutally and quickly. And Minter has never been allowed to forget it.

Had that slur been uttered today he rightly would be banned.

The Olympics have not always been free of racist or sexual prejudice, as we are aware from history, though thankfully not in modern times.

I suppose the International Olympic Committee might argue that what happened with the infamous Black Power salute in Mexico Ciy in 1968 by American athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith was a sort of racism. But surely it was more a demonstration against it.

John Carlos and Tommie Smith's Black Power Salute at Mexico 1968 was the most famous example of racial protest at an Olympic Games ©AFP/Getty Images



As for the sexism issue Kessel claims: "Women don't have the confidence to report it. This is the message that we're getting through our network. They are very reluctant to complain. They feel they should put up with it."

One who certainly did complain was the ever-feisty West Ham vice chair Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge. As plain Karren Brady, when she got her first job in football as chief executive at Birmingham City, she travelled with the team on their coach to an away game and happened to be wearing a low-cut sweater. "Hey Karren" called out one wag from the back of the bus. "I can see your boobs."

"Take a good look," she retorted. "Because you won 't be able to see them when I transfer you to Crewe."

She did, too.

As the bold Brady ably demonstrated then, sexism in football needs to be taken as seriously as racism, or any other 'ism.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

Britain's tabloid newspapers have been responsible for some of the greatest headlines I have ever read over the years, but I was disappointed by one published by The Mirror over the weekend.

Namely: "Jenson Button reveals he considered 2016 Rio Olympics when F1 seat was under threat".

Button, the Formula One driver who won the 2009 World Championship title, has struggled recently and such was his uncertainty of future prospects within his initial sport, the 35-year-old was reportedly considering competing in the Olympics in the "lesser" sport of triathlon instead, it was insinuated.

Hold on a moment, I thought to myself. Wouldn't there have been the small matter of qualifying for probably the world's strongest triathlon squads to negotiate before he "competes" at Rio 2016?