One of the things about covering sporting events, and particularly Olympic or athletic events, is the frequency with which one experiences meaningful music – or at least, music which is meant to be meaningful.

Every medal ceremony national anthem is deeply important to the athlete or competitor standing atop the rostrum, and to hosts of associated supporters, family members and officials.

But not necessarily to the journalists covering the event. There have been days in stadiums around the world where, with the best will in that world, the medal ceremony music has come to resemble some kind of Groundhog Anthem as the United States, or Russia, have cleaned up.

As for standing to attention whenever a national anthem is played – sorry, I was disabused of that polite notion in straightforward language many years ago by a vastly more experienced colleague from another paper (The Sun) who also liked to observe occasionally to painfully enthusiastic young reporters: "We're not here to watch it – we're here to report it."

The essence of my old friend's advice was this: once you start standing for national anthems, you will be up and down like a fiddler's elbow, and you will never get the chance to write and file your copy properly.

There was, though, a point of etiquette involved: If you are making a decision not to stand for national anthems, you can't suddenly waive the policy when your own country's tune gets an airing.

At several sporting competitions, thankfully, any awkwardness around this judgement was removed by dint of the fact that no Briton troubled the man in charge of anthem recordings. I'm thinking now of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where the only British winners were the rowing pair of Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, whose victory took place, naturally enough, many miles away from the main stadium. No moral debates there.

Steve Redgrave (left) and Matthew Pinsent, winners of the rowing coxless pairs, were Britain's only gold medallists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics ©AllSport/Getty Images

And yet...many is the time the patent effect upon those receiving medals has had powerful echo within the stadium. There have been occasions down the years when, for all the verbal belabouring of my old friend, I have felt tears spring in my eyes at the sight of a face being tugged and stressed by emotion.

And here's the thing – almost always, this moment of sentiment comes when music is playing. What the sense of taste and smell is to memory – thank you Marcel – the sound of music is to emotion.

I can remember once making my way to the press box at the old Wembley Stadium before an England game and seeing David Baddiel and Frank Skinner in the stand as Three Lions - the song for which they had provided the lyrics (with Ian Broudie doing the music) – was playing, and being taken up enthusiastically by the crowd. They looked genuinely moved.

The vivid shorthand of their words, with its nods to salient points of English footballing history – "That tackle by Moore", referring to the England captain's forensic removal of the ball from the feet of Brazil's Jairzinho during the 1970 World Cup finals, "and Nobby dancing", referring to the Manchester United midfielder's jig with the Jules Rimet trophy in the wake of England's 1966 World Cup final victory – is a big reason for the song's enduring popularity.

Nobby Stiles (right) tries to get his England manager Alf Ramsey to take part in a lap of honour with the Jules Rimet trophy - being passed to him by captain Bobby Moore - after England's World Cup victory in 1966. Ramsey, naturally, refused. ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

But Three Lions is a song that will always be sung affectionately, rather than passionately.

While on the subject of Wembley – new rather than old – one of the most dismal features of the belatedly completed stadium is the banal attempt to guide supporters' celebrations by ramming on tiresome anthems – Queen's We Are The Champions and Tina Turner's Simply The Best being prime offenders – the moment matches are over.

Other sporting songs arrive spontaneously, and with deeper resonance. In 2007, when Ireland's rugby union team had to play at the Gaelic football and hurling cathedral of Croke Park because of the demolition of the Lansdowne Road stadium, a 43-13 victory over England was punctuated by a large part of the 80,000 crowd with a swelling rendition of The Fields of Athenry, the Irish folk ballad set during the Great Irish Famine (1845-1850) which features a fictional character named Michael who is sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay after stealing "Trevelyan's corn" to feed his starving family. Trevelyan was a senior British civil servant in Ireland at that time. It sounded like a huge emotional and political statement.

Marcus Horan raises an arm in salute of Ireland's second try in their 43-13 win over England at Croke Park in the 2007 Six Nations rugby union tournament. The match witnessed a massive, spontaneous rendition of The Fields of Athenry ©AFP/Getty Images

But in what has been a sombre week for sport, given Tuesday's anniversaries of the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, and last year's bombing at the Boston Marathon, music has become once again a mysterious medium of mass emotion.

For the Bostonians who gathered in wind and rain at the Boylston Street finish line, a single voice singing God Bless America provided the equivalent of an emotional tuning fork.

The ceremony held in Boston on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing ©Getty Images

As for those who remembered the tragic events of the 1989 FA Cup semi-final, when 96 Liverpool fans perished in the Leppings Lane End of Sheffield Wednesday's stadium in circumstances which, a quarter of a century on, are in the process of being properly re-examined – they have had their own anthem to provide a conduit for their deep grief, their deep hope.

At Tuesday's anniversary ceremony at Anfield the song which Rogers and Hammerstein wrote for the 1945 musical Carousel, and which has become synonymous with Liverpool –You'll Never Walk Alone – was sung by the Liverpudlian who had a big hit with it in 1963, Gerry Marsden.

The song is regularly sung at Anfield. Indeed, its title is incorporated into the Shankly Gate entrance commemorating Liverpool's former manager Bill Shankly.

But Sunday's pre-match rendition at the weekend was extraordinary in its intensity and power. Not because the visitors were Manchester City, one of Liverpool's key rivals for the Premier League title. But because of the imminence of an anniversary which will forever be part wound, part healing.

Liverpool fans await their team's bus before last Sunday's match against Manchester City ©Getty Images

Signing off Tuesday evening's Newsnight on BBC Two, Jeremy Paxman referred to that day's anniversary ceremony at Anfield, but then concluded: "We leave you not with that, but with the voice of the Anfield Kop two days earlier before Sunday's game, when it felt like it was more than just a football game the people of Liverpool had finally won."

The music began in a stadium vivid with red scarves, many of them bearing the word Justice – a reference to the long struggle to get the Establishment to acknowledge and investigate the truth of what happened on that desperate afternoon. The music was soon submerged under a mass of human voices in defiant, sonorous accord. The intensity was unforgettable; this is what music can do.

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. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Sajid Javid is not a name which springs readily to the mind of Britain's sporting cognoscenti. But is it one with which they must now familiarise themselves in the year-long run-up to the next general election.

We have yet to discover if the new supremo at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has any great sporting passions - apart from claiming to be a Manchester United fan.

It must be hoped that the first male Muslim Cabinet Minister, the self-made multi-millionaire son of a Pakistan-born bus driver, has more than a passing interest in sport than his unlamented predecessor, Maria Miller - even if she did manage the occasional spot of sailing between filling in her expenses claims.

Apparently Javid has had a stellar career in banking, which at least should enable him to have some comprehension of football's crazy finances.

However, eyebrows have already been raised by reminders that when he once spoke in a Commons debate of his support for the "secondary market", he suggested that ticket touts "act like classic entrepreneurs because they fill a gap in the market", and that there should be no Government restrictions on re-sales.

Something that will have Twickers in a twist-not to mention the Football Association.

Sajid Javid has raised eyebrows by suggesting ticket touts act like "classic entrepreneurs because they fill a gap in the market" ©Bloomberg via Getty Images



So will he prove quite the ticket for sport's representations in the Cabinet?

Once again this Government, like all the others, continue to miss a trick by blithely lumping sport with culture and media under one unwieldy umbrella.

The sports Minister Helen Grant again must report to a boss who knows precious little about the games people play, and those who play them.

Even if Labour win the next election it will be no better. Their current spokesman, Clive Efford, seems a decent and capable bloke, but he is in the ominous shadow of Harriet Harman, the opposition's fire-breathing DCMS overlady.

Would you want Ms "Hardperson" as your games mistress supervising the playground?.

Friends of Javid say his knowledge of sport is "scant", and that neither is he a culture vulture, making it a rather curious appointment.

But it is one sport must live with and hope that unlike Miller at least he will make it his business to get to know some of its more influential figures.

Maria Miller, who resigned after being embroiled in an expenses scandal, did little to really get to know some of the influential figures in sport ©Getty Images



Grant says her door is "always open". So should his be. And I suggest that among the first to be invited to walk through it is a man who has been knocking on such doors for years to little avail.

I have written here before about Geoff Thompson, the one-time king of karate who runs the Manchester-based Youth Charter, a non-Government funded body which does admirable work in taking sport into communities which are often the exclusive domain of the underprivileged and unruly.

Those credentials are worth repeating because he has just come up with a report, which, in my view, could go some distance towards picking up the legacy baton where London seems to have left off.

Copies of the impressive tome are on their way to both Ministers, and once digested, a chat over a cup of tea might prove worthwhile, notably on the subject of Olympic legacy.

They would find him engaging and informative company – if they can get a word in edgeways. For Big Geoff is not only visible, he can be quite voluble when he talks a good fight.

For years he has been on the back benches of sports administration despite ticking all the boxes. He's black, comes from a minority sport (five times world karate champion), works in the community and is an ardent advocate for youth sport.

Geoff Thompson is an advocate for youth sport and someone who should be listened to ©Twitter/@Youthcharter

Last week's SportAccord Convention in the holiday resort of Belek in Antalya was the first coming together of the entire Olympic Movement since the halycon days of the IOC Session in Buenos Aires last September.

While February's Winter Games in Sochi were, from my media vantage point at least, more about sport and the immediate political context, here the entire posse of consultants, administrators, salesmen and assorted hangers-on were united again for a fresh attempt at securing the contracts necessary to propel them forward for another Olympic cycle.

From the lowliest advisor to the IOC President Thomas Bach, all were united in the bars and lobbies of the Susesi, Xanadu and Maritim Pine Hotels in a six-day networking session deeming the nearby beach and other hotel trappings fairly unnecessary.

For myself and fellow Sky Sports Living for Sport Athlete Mentor, wheelchair fencer Gemma Collis, our amazing Winter Paralympic experience began back in July 2013.

Gemma was asked to attend a meeting at Buckinghamshire County Council to discuss the future of the Heritage Flame at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. Being from the next village, the stadium is close to Gemma's heart, not least because it marked the beginning of her own sporting journey. Following Gemma's speech, the Council voted unanimously that Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the birthplace of the Paralympic movement, should become the starting point for every Paralympic Flame ahead of both Winter and Summer Games.

Fast forward to a chilly March evening in 2014 and we witnessed these plans in action – a huge Armillary Sphere, driven by British Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft, igniting the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Heritage Flame. The torch was lit and on its way to Russia – and the good news was, so were we!

Both Gemma and I followed the Flame out to Sochi a couple of days later as ambassadors for Buckinghamshire and Stoke Mandeville. Our first port of call was the Flame Unification Ceremony where all nine Paralympic Flames, including Stoke Mandeville's, were joined to create the final Flame which would be carried into the Opening Ceremony.

The first real job came the following day with Gemma carrying the Torch on a leg through Sochi town centre. Having previously carried the Olympic Torch at Stoke Mandeville as part of the London 2012 Torch Relay, Gemma had some appreciation of what to expect, but on this occasion, she was anxious. While Gemma had her family and friends supporting her in 2012, the type of reception she would receive in Sochi was totally unknown.

Gemma Collis (right) was anxious about carrying the Torch despite having experience of being in the Olympic Torch Relay ahead of London 2012 ©Sky Sports Living for Sport



It's fair to say the experience surpassed all expectations. A volunteer greeted Gemma on arrival and whisked her away to change into her Torchbearer's uniform. Although the uniform had been designed with a Winter Games in mind, Sochi on that particular day had the sun beating down!

Though baking hot, Gemma's face lit up when the Flame arrived; and as she turned the first corner she was met by a wave of noise. Large swathes of people waving flags crowded the streets and children waved frantically as she passed. For a country that had famously not staged the Paralympics alongside the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, it was clear that hosting Sochi 2014 had sparked significant change.

We awaited the Opening Ceremony with anticipation; as Paralympic athletes ourselves our view of any Opening Ceremony is clouded by the majority of the evening being spent in a queue. Quite a long one too if you happen to be the host nation! This was a great opportunity for us to see a ceremony live, in its entirety – it certainly did not disappoint. The ceremony had everything you would expect from a country as steeped in history and tradition as Russia... and had most of the 40,000-strong audience wanting to Cossack dance on tables by the end!

Almost everyone in the Fisht Olympic Stadium wanted to get up and dance by the time the Paralympic Opening Ceremony had ended ©AFP/Getty Images



Following the Torch Relay and the Opening Ceremony, which was closed with a dazzling firework display, Gemma and I had two days free to take in as much sporting action as possible. Our initial plan was to head straight up the mountain; but sadly we found ourselves at the mercy of the only downside to the games - a lacklustre Russian transport system.

We were lucky enough to meet a Russian volunteer, who was passionate about the Games. When asked by Gemma if she had also worked during the Olympic Games, the volunteer replied, "I was only interested in volunteering at the Paralympics to help change Russian perspectives on disability." Her outlook certainly gave us some food for thought.

Following two days of snow and ice, Gemma and I headed to Moscow where we linked up with the UK Foreign Office. It was here that we were able put our skills and experience as Athlete Mentors for the Youth Sport Trust and Sky Sports Living for Sport to work.

In Moscow, we were given the opportunity to spend a day with a Russian disability charity visiting local schools to speak to pupils and share ideas and experiences gained from our work with school sports initiatives.

It was great to see the pupils in Moscow engaging with us ©Sky Sports Living for Sport



With neither Gemma nor I having learnt very much Russian, we approached our school visit with a sense of nerves and curiosity. Although we spoke to students through an interpreter, we were also excited to challenge our own communication skills. People skills is one of the British Athletes' Commission's "Six Keys to Success", something which we use as a focus during our school visits in the UK, encouraging pupils to harness their skills to achieve their potential.

Any fears we had had prior to the visit were soon put to rest as it became clear that we had a rapt audience. The pupils were keen to engage with us, asking many questions ranging from what we'd learnt through sport to whether Gemma and I were married!

After learning about similar school sport initiatives being run in Russian schools and having challenged ourselves by working in a very different setting, Gemma and I are both now back on UK soil. We are looking forward to incorporating everything we learnt during our time in Sochi into our work with Sky Sports Living for Sport and the Youth Sport Trust, and we can't wait to share our experiences with pupils!

What a trip and what an adventure!

Craig McCann is a member of Paralympics GB, competing in the wheelchair fencing at London 2012. He is now pursuing a new challenge within the world of endurance sport, training to represent Great Britain at future games in Paratriathlon, as well as inspiring the next generation as an Athlete Mentor for Sky Sports Living for Sport. An initiative delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, Sky Sports Living for Sport uses sport stars and sport skills to improve the lives of thousands of young people in secondary schools across the UK. To find out more, click here.

So Mo Farah, to use his own phrase, is going "straight in at the deep end" when he makes his debut over 26.2 miles in Sunday's Virgin Money London Marathon.

And the organisers have militated energetically against any suggestion that Britain's Olympic and world 10,000 and 5,000 metres champion will have it easy - to the point where the deep end now teems with basking sharks.

There are Kenyan sharks - Wilson Kipsang, who set the current world marathon record of 2 hours 03min 23sec at last September's Berlin Marathon, Emmanuel Mutai, who set the London course record of 2:04.:40 in winning three years ago, and his namesake Geoffrey Mutai, twice winner in New York and the man who has finished the marathon distance faster than anyone, in 2:03:02, albeit on the Boston course, which does not meet the criteria for records.

There is a Ugandan shark, in the form of world and Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich. And there are a couple of Ethiopian predators in the mix too - double London champion Tsegaye Kebede, who will be defending his title, and the man who gave Farah the nastiest surprise of his competitive career when he passed him in the final ten metres to take the world 10,000m title in Daegu three years ago - Ibrahim Jeilan, who,like the Briton, is also making his marathon debut.

Wisely, having tested the waters by running half of last year's London Marathon, Farah is talking in terms of attainable goals.

Mo Farah discusses his prospects this week before Sunday's Virgin Money London Marathon, where he will make his debut over 26.2 miles ©Getty Images

."My first aim is to go after the British record and then I'll see what comes along," he says. "The most important thing is to respect the distance."

That distance will be the more manageable for Farah, and indeed all his major rivals, given the involvement in the race of an Ethiopian who has turned from shark into pilot fish - multiple world and Olympic track champion Haile Gebrselassie, who, aged 40, will seek to take the field through to the three-quarters mark in world record pace.

The presence of Gebrselassie, who lowered the world record to 2:04:26 and then 2:03:59 at the 2007 and 2008 races in Berlin - where the last five world record marks have been set since 2003 -should assist those who, like Farah, have records in mind.

Geoffrey Mutai, for instance, has said he wants to break Emmanuel Mutai's London course record.

But there is no doubt the main focus of domestic attention will fall, naturally enough, on Farah. No doubt his coach Alberto Salazar, winner of three consecutive New York marathons from 1980 to 1982, will have given his charge the benefit of his experience.

Yet the marathon can undo even the most experienced - as Salazar will attest. In 1982, he defeated Dick Beardsley, joint winner of the first London race the year before, at Boston, in what became known as the Duel in the Sun. Salazar, however, collapsed after the finish line and had to be given six litres of water intravenously. He had apparently not drunk during the race.

There was a similar self-induced element at the 1986 European Championships for Steve Jones, the man whose British record of 2:07:13, set in winning the previous year's Chicago Marathon, is the mark Farah is aiming to eclipse. Jones was on world record pace at the halfway point before hitting the wall in spectacular fashion and dragging himself to the finish line. He found he couldn't get along with the sparkling water provided by the organisers at the drinks stations.

Steve Jones pictured centre after winning the 1985 London Marathon with fellow Britons Allister Hutton, who was third, left, and runner-up Charlie Spedding, right ©All Sport/Getty Images

But then there are so many reasons why Farah is right to stress his respect for this distance.

Jones himself, who has the reputation as one of the gutsiest runners ever to set foot on the roads, dropped out of his first marathon in Chicago in 1983.

And even Gebrselassie, one of the greatest athletes in history, had his struggles with the race that runs over 26 miles and 385 yards - or, if you prefer, 42.195 kilometres.

On his marathon debut in the 2002 London race the Ethiopian began at world record pace but was eventually passed by Paul Tergat and Khalid Khannouchi, who was en route to breaking his own world mark.

Four years later Gebrselassie returned to London and finished ninth in 2:09:05 in what he described as the worst race of his career. He returned to London the following year, but dropped out after 18 miles complaining of a stitch and an inability to breathe, which turned out to be an allergic reaction to the high pollen count on the day.

Haile Gebrselassie's characteristic dazzling smile is a little dim after he finishes the 2006 London Marathon in ninth place after what he described as the worst race of his career
©Getty Images

But assuming Farah manages to make it from start to finish, what are his chances of adding his name to an illustrious list of British record holders?

Ron Hill ran his fastest race to win the British Commonwealth Games title in Edinburgh in 2:09:28. At the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand four years later in 1974, Ian Thompson won what was his first international marathon in 2:09:12, a mark that was surpassed nine years later by fireman Geoff Smith as he clocked 2:09.08 in finishing second to Rod Dixon at the New York Marathon.

Next came Jones, clocking 2:08:05 at the 1984 Chicago Marathon, a world record at the time, which he bettered in winning on the same course the following year.

Ron Hill wins the 1970 British Commonwealth Games marathon title in Edinburgh ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Farah can take encouragement from the British record holder himself. Interviewed by WalesOnline after the London 2012 Games, Jones commented: "Mo has all the tools to break my record. He has run faster than I ever did at every event and it is just a matter of time."

Jones added: "I did not think my British record would still be standing now. My world record was broken within six months which was a relief so I just concentrate on racing.

"There is a certain amount of pride in still holding the British record but there is also sadness that nobody has broken it before now."

Almost 30 years of hurt are likely to be ended in the capital this weekend. But it would be unwise, amidst all the circling sharks, to expect a bigger splash from Farah.

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. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

The world of journalism, as I have quickly learnt, is, by no stretch of the imagination, an incredibly bizarre one. Its complete unpredictability, although not everyone's cup of tea, continues to amaze, confuse and utterly bamboozle me.

At first glance, the unabated storm over Government minister Maria Miller's expenses scam would seem to have little to do with sport. In fact it has a considerable significance.

For few tears would have been shed among British sportsfolk had their governmental overlady jumped or justifiably been pushed over the toxic aberration for which she was arm-twisted to make such a charmless apology to Parliament.

"A waste of space" was one of the milder views among those expressed by several senior sports administrators to insidethegames on her hapless tenure as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in which the most notable contribution to the latter aspect of her role has been to shamefully block the appointment of Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson as chairman of Sport England following a petty political squabble over disability rights.

Like the majority who have held the post, she has shown little grasp of sporting issues or interest in them.

I have never understood why any government has needed to lump in sport with culture and media under a Secretary of State anyway. They are distinctly uncomfortable bedfellows.

A minister with sole responsibility for sport – these days a vital entity in both social and economic terms – reporting directly to the Prime Minister and/or cabinet as in most other European countries, surely is the most logical and practical situation.

Like her irritatingly meddling predecessor Jeremy Hunt, Ms Miller has a distinct lack of czar quality as far as sport is concerned.

Maria Miller has a distinct last of czar quality as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport ©AFP/Getty Images



Indeed, the only DCMS supremo who did have it in my experience was Labour's Tessa Jowell, who at least acquired a genuine feel for sport and the Olympics.

Both Hunt, who succeeded her in the Tory Government, and subsequently Miller, were fortunate in that during the run-up to 2012 they had a formidable and eminently capable Sports Minister in Hugh Robertson to take care of the real business.

Surely now is the time that the current incumbent, Helen Grant, was  given more opportunity to flex her muscles, to demonstrate that she too can stamp her own personality, and ultimately authority, on sport just as Robertson did.

Miller may hang on for now but it seems inconceivable that the beleaguered MP for Basingstoke can keep her job in any reshuffle. Or her seat at the next election. She's a dead woman walking.

It would be a perfect opportunity to give the Sport Minister's portfolio the autonomy it deserves.

Could Helen Grant make a fist of it? I believe she could.

Helen Grant has shown plenty of talent as Sports Minister, digging away at the grassroots of sport ©Getty Images



I happen to like her, so respect her rebuff of my suggestion that she has been keeping too low a profile after being "stitched up" when answering questions on sports trivia by a TV station. As of course was a Labour predecessor, Richard Caborn.

In fact it seems she has been working away solidly where it matters most in sport – digging away at the grassroots by tackling issues that have not always made the back page headlines.

Her current priorities include a closer examination of the nation's sports facilities and where they can be improved.

With quite a lot of the grassroots sporting calendar decimated in the winter floods, she is a firm supporter of third generation (3G) artificial pitches as a helpful solution to this particular problem.

She also is campaigning for the Football Conference to change their rules on 3G pitches too. Currently they don't allow them, but it's potentially an issue for her local club Maidstone United, who are in the mix for promotion to it.

They use a 3G pitch at their home ground and she points out that this has huge benefits for community sport throughout the week in the local area. Grant thinks at that level it can be a strong setup for community sport and that the Conference should change their rules.

She has met with the Conference and the FA on this issue. The FA recently voted on agreeing 3G pitches at every level in the FA Cup, so is an emerging trend.

In Westminster, Grant has also indicated that she is looking at the increasing cost of grassroots football by investigating the fees councils charge for pitches amid warnings that the sport is steadily becoming a game for children with rich parents. Another matter she has raised with the Football Association.

Ensuring football is accessible to all is a key pillar of Helen Grant's tenure as Sports Minister ©The FA via Getty Images



She told Parliament that a new ownership model for local sports facilities "may need to be looked at" after Labour MP David Crausby warned of a long-term decline in participation as teams cannot afford to hire pitches.

He claimed many parents cannot afford fees for their children to play on pitches, let alone boots and travel, and so many poorer children are being denied the chance to play.

Says Grant: "I do know that the FA and Sport England are working hard on this issue, it has got to be dealt with."

Her office tells us she is herself working hard to encourage greater sports participation among women and looking at the gap that needs to be closed between Sport England's emphasis on community sport and UK Sport concentration and funding of elitism. This could embrace talent development and the impact on team sports.

These are not issues which exactly grab the wider public by the footballs and certainly have no relation to the unseemly political maelstrom now swirling around above the Sports Minister's head at DCMS HQ in Whitehall.

There has been criticism that the Government has taken its eye off the ball, and relegated sport now that the 2012 bandwagon has put the brakes on. This grisly Miller tale has not helped.

But Grant seems to be keeping that ball rolling in a quietly effective manner. Let's hope, she is now left alone to get on with the job.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning 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.

While British sport has been locked in a remarkable upward curve in recent years, tennis has been one discipline where old patterns have prevailed and, despite exciting glimpses, the national game has largely remained in the doldrums.

The one exception to this has been the rise of Andy Murray who cast away the "plucky Brit" moniker to triumph at London 2012 and the US Open.before last summer achieving the holy grail of holy grails and becoming the first home winner of the Wimbledon men's singles title since the long trouser days of Fred Perry in 1936,

Thomas Bach has not let the grass grow under his feet in the 205 or so days since he was elected as the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) ninth President.

Even so, there is no doubting the most significant announcement made under the 60-year-old German's Presidency to date - and it came on Tuesday.

This is when he let it be known that he had finished piecing together the complex membership mosaic of 30 Commissions through which the IOC directs the world's most influential sporting movement.

Don't let the fact that Tuesday was April Fools' day, well, fool you (although it might, admittedly, be a reflection of the former Olympic fencer's sometimes quirky sense of humour): this was, to use the technical term, Big Potatoes.

If you make the obvious comparison to a political reshuffle, this was about as major as you can get.

It is "really going to represent a true new government and leadership of the IOC," according to Michael Payne, the former IOC marketing director, who remarked additionally on the "variety and breadth" of the appointments.

"It is very much a new generation."

So who are these new leaders?

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has taken great care in piecing together the membership of the 30 Commissions ©Getty Images



Well, I don't know if you would categorise him as new necessarily, but one man who is clearly going to be a most important figure in world sport over the next few years is John Coates, the 63-year-old Australian lawyer and former rowing cox.

Coates was already President of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Swiss-based body used increasingly as a tribunal of last resort in sporting disputes, and chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission that will monitor Tokyo's preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, not to mention one of the four IOC vice-presidents.

Now he has also taken over - from Bach himself - as chairman of both the IOC's Juridical Commission and its Sport and Law Commission.

Since there is mounting expectation that the early years of Bach's Presidency will be a period of considerable change in the Movement, the Juridical Commission role, in particular, may land the Australian with a heavy extra workload in translating these changes into Olympic statutes.

John Coates is likely to have a heavy workload with chairmanship of the IOC's Juridical Commission and its Sport and Law Commission added to his duties ©Getty Images



Another, whom the "new leader" label does fit, at least in IOC terms, is Tsunekazu Takeda, the 66-year-old great grandson of a Japanese Emperor, who is taking over as chairman of the Marketing Commission.

A key task for the former show jumper, who played a crucial role in Tokyo 2020's victory, will be to ginger up growth in the IOC's TOP worldwide sponsorship programme, which has slowed in recent times while revenue generated by local marketing programmes has powered ahead.

His appointment may, in part, amount to an acknowledgement by Olympic leaders that they could get more out of Asia's dynamic economies, particularly when both the 2018 and 2020 Games will be staged in the continent.

The recent Panasonic sponsorship extension, rumoured to have produced a substantial price increase for the IOC, may turn out to be a promising first step.

I do wonder whether this supremely diplomatic man might not be faced with some delicate decisions over sponsorship product categories should tugs of war between TOP and local marketing programmes, including Tokyo 2020's, develop.

The vast majority of 2017-20 TOP sponsors are already signed up, however, so if tussles do materialise on Takeda's watch, they are more likely to involve the 2022 and 2024 hosts than the Japanese capital.

It will be interesting to see how Tsunekazu Takeda (left) will handle delicate decisions he may have to make as chairman of the Marketing Commission ©The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images



Another showjumper, the Argentinian businessman Gerardo Werthein, 58, is also set to emerge as a key IOC figure in his new role as chairman of the Radio and Television Commission formerly chaired by Jacques Rogge, Bach's predecessor as IOC President.

The South American's presence on the critical TV Rights and New Media Commission – which Bach will chair as Rogge did before him – may prove just as significant.

Though the IOC President's involvement signifies just how vital broadcasting rights fees are to the Movement's financial wellbeing, it is hard to believe that even a leader as hands-on as Bach will actually head for the coal-face and participate directly in contract negotiations, which can be all-consuming.

The likelihood must be that Werthein, the only commission member from the Americas, now that Puerto Rico's Richard Carrión has stepped back, will be a key figure in some of these critical negotiations.

As President of the Argentine Olympic Committee, Werthein played a prominent role in Buenos Aires' successful campaign to host the 2018 Youth Olympics.

As Werthein and Takeda's presence shows, Bach has not been afraid to thrust responsibility upon relatively new IOC members.

Larry Probst (left) pictured with IOC President Thomas Bach, will be able to draw on the experience of his predecessor as Press Commission chairman, Kevan Gosper ©Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOC



This point is highlighted even more by the entrustment of important commissions to members of the 2013 intake, Larry Probst of the United States and Alexander Zhukov of Russia.

Zhukov is to chair the Evaluation Commission for the 2022 Winter Games candidate cities, while Probst takes over at the Press Commission.

In this role, it is hard to imagine he will not value the counsel of his long-serving predecessor Kevan Gosper, who remains as an honorary Commission member.

Gosper is not the only example of a retiring chairman who will continue to sit on the commission he used to preside over, in what seems an eminently sensible feature of Bach's extensive revamp.

The care bestowed on this exercise also, I think, shines through in the IOC's apparent concern to keep Turkey closely involved, in spite of the disappointment of Istanbul's loss to Tokyo in the race for the 2020 Games.

(It is my conviction that the IOC would very much like the Turkish city to try again for 2024.)

Not only will IOC member Ugur Erdener step into Arne Ljungqvist's big shoes as chairman of the Medical Commission, but Istanbul 2020 bid leader Hasan Arat, one of those people capable of radiating bonhomie 24/7, will serve on Takeda's Marketing Commission.

In a clear nod to Turkey's importance in the Olympic Movement, Istanbul 2020 bid leader Hasan Arat will serve on the Marketing Commission ©Getty Images



While the announcement made much of the fact that 22 more positions are to be held by women than in 2013, I am not clear that more raw power in the Movement will be wielded by women than heretofore.

I may stand to be corrected on this point if the Princess Royal chooses to exercise the power that her new role as chairman of the Nominations Commission, the body that puts forward candidates for IOC membership, in theory confers on her.

Two final points: former IOC Presidential candidate and 36 years an IOC member Dick Pound of Canada is plainly intent on not fading away, having joined the Sport and Law Commission as well as maintaining his seat on the Juridical Commission.

I am also intrigued by European Olympic Committees President Patrick Hickey's new role as Delegate Member for Autonomy, a word frequently on Bach's lips.

Hickey told insidethegames this week that he saw his new role as "a great challenge".

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.

From Saturday, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London will open to the public 24 hours a day - a swift and enduring legacy of the London 2012 Games.

"No one has achieved what we have achieved by opening as quickly as this with venues open to the public," said Dennis Hone, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation. "You've heard the horror stories from Athens and even Sydney who were still working on the legacy long after the Games. In Beijing there's a huge concrete concourse between the venues and the Bird's Nest stadium is open for tourists but not much else...

"My message to families this Easter holidays is 'come on down'. You can do sports activities, fly a kite, walk the dog or have a picnic."

Before and after the London 2012 Games, the aptly named Hone has sharpened the ideas and aspirations of providing the capital, and the wider world, with a real legacy of the great quadrennial travelling show.

So come on down. Or, bearing in mind the towering centrepiece of the reformed Park, the ArcelorMittal Orbit, come on up.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit, centrepiece of the redesigned London Olympic Park ©Getty Images

Has it happened yet, I wonder? Has the outrage and scorn surrounding this towering paradox of iron - "This structure seemingly works against itself - it looks like something that would not want to stand up," designer Anish Kapoor has said -  softened into acceptance, even affection?

Fittingly, the model of the twisting, asymmetric spiral of iron was unveiled in the equally warped setting of City Hall in 2010 in the, yes, slightly warped presence of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

The Mayor expressed the hope that the 115-metres high steel construction would become a landmark to rival the Eiffel Tower, or the Statue of Liberty, which it exceeds in height by 25 metres.

Johnson acknowledged that the design by Turner Prize-winning artist Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, realised with £16 million ($26 million/€19 million) of steel supplied by industrial magnate Lakshmi Mittal and a balance of £3.1 million ($5 million/€3.7 million) supplied by the Greater London Authority, would suggest a variety of images to onlookers.

Boris Johnson, left, just a tad perplexed on the day when the controversial winning design for the Olympic Park centrepiece was revealed ©Getty Images



"Some may choose to think of it as a Colossus of Stratford," Johnson said, his eye roving over the assembled throng, as was his wont, like that of an old-time music-hall artist.

"Some eyes may detect a giant treble clef, a helter-skelter, a supersized mutant trombone. Some may even see the world's biggest ever representation of a shisha pipe and call it the Hubble Bubble. But I know it is the ArcelorMittal Orbit and it represents the dynamism of a city coming out of recession, the embodiment of the cross-fertilisation of cultures and styles that makes London the world capital of arts and culture."

Johnson added that the tower would help turn Stratford into "a place of destination, a must-see site on the itinerary".

He went on: "I know people will say we are nuts, being in the depth of a recession, to be building Britain's biggest ever piece of public art.

"It is the embodiment of the multicultural style that makes London the capital of the creative world.

"I believe it will be a magnificent addition to the Olympic Park."

Even before it was completed, the ArcelorMittel was being described as a collision between two cranes, or as the Godzilla of public art. Or as the ET tower. Or as the Eiffel Tower after a nuclear attack.

Particularly interesting, that last one, given the implicit compliment to the structure designed by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.

Let's just recall a little of the reaction to this engineer's vision of beauty. Originally, Eiffel wanted to build his tower in Barcelona to mark the Universal Exposition of 1888. But the inhabitants of Barcelona's city hall thought it would be a strange and incongruous monstrosity.

The Eiffel Tower. People seem to like it now. ©AFP/Getty Images

So Eiffel transferred his project to home ground - where it was widely denounced as an eyesore.

One letter published in a French newspaper deplored the prospect of looking out over Paris and seeing "stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates".

The signatories included writers Alexandre Dumas and Guy de Maupassant, although the latter was later spotted dining regularly at the odious column's highly reputed restaurant. Asked why he was there, considering his objections to the tower, he replied that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see it.

Others described the tower as "a black and gigantic factory chimney", "a lighthouse, a nail, a chandelier" and a "funnel planted on its fat butt".

I was in Paris last month, and walked between the supporting legs of this iconic structure. If it was a factory chimney, it was a factory chimney in heavy demand.

"I believe that the Tower will have its own beauty," Eiffel declared in defence of his construction. "The first principle of architectural beauty is that the essential lines of a construction be determined by a perfect appropriateness to its use. What was the main obstacle I had to overcome in designing the tower? Its resistance to wind. And I submit that the curves of its four piers as produced by our calculations, rising from an enormous base and narrowing toward the top, will give a great impression of strength and beauty."

Can the Orbit, likewise, lay claim to its own peculiar beauty? The answer will soon become plain in the most obvious of terms. Tickets are on sale from £7 ($12/€8) for children and £15 ($25/€18) for adults. Money will talk.

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. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

In my last blog I wrote about the optimism that is spreading through world cycling following the appointment of Brian Cookson as its new President. That "new broom sweeps clean" message got me thinking; what about other sports?

The Winter Olympics in Sochi was a political hot potato that another new President, Thomas Bach of the International Olympic Committee, will need to ensure doesn't re-occur, and this summer's FIFA World Cup in Brazil is drawing ever nearer amidst serious social unrest, poor safety records (yet another worker death last weekon a Brazilian World Cup stadium construction site) and news that FIFA President Sepp Blatter is preparing to seek re-election next year - at the ripe old age of 78.

It's an amazing and scary prospect because, in the not too distant past, Herr Blatter has been roundly - and correctly - criticised for his comments about racism, women's football and particularly for the way in which the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments were handled. The selection of Qatar in 2022 is particularly questionable because it seems no-one at FIFA had considered that it might be a little hot in Qatar in June...

So if cycling and the Olympic Movement can promise a new era, isn't it time football did the same?

In October last year, I met Bonita Mersiades at a conference in Denmark. Bonita is the lady who began Australia's bid to stage the 2022 finals as the Federation's head of corporate and public affairs. She didn't last the course because she was controversially hounded out of office by Australia's male-dominated bidding steamroller.

Australia's bid for the 2022 World Cup, which began under the leadership of Bonita Mersiades, fell flat with FIFA ©Getty Images



Speaking at the Play the Game Conference in Aarhus, Bonita posed a question: "What will it take for a woman to be President of FIFA?"

It was a provocative question that was no doubt intended to get people thinking - and it did. The point of Bonita's presentation was to highlight the opportunity sport may be missing - and I think she's right.

So, here's the thought from a red-blooded, raucous Aussie male. Why doesn't sport start putting a few more women in charge? Now, before the chauvinists among you wipe spluttered coffee/beer/wine from your screen, let me explain. As I see it, the most negative response you should have is that in many cases they can't do any worse, so what is there to lose?

Bonita made a strong and impassioned - and obvious - case for simply picking the best person for the job. She illustrated the point by saying that it was: "more or less conventional wisdom in modern economies today, to tap a more diverse talent pool by having women on Boards and in senior management positions in business". Generally speaking, it doesn't happen in sport because there are: "out-of-touch men leading a bunch of other out-of-touch men".

So how about a change in tack? Sports Federations should always be looking for new ideas, fresh impetus and a 'vision to take us forward'. Most of the time though, it ends up with another bloke from the inner circle taking over and doing nothing but keeping the seat warm and his own position safe. Remember Ian Botham's famous quote about the England cricket Test selectors? In 1986, he called them "gin swilling old dodderers" and now, almost 30 years later, we're still having the same sort of debate. Likewise, in 1995, England rugby captain Will Carling referred to those in charge of English rugby as "57 old farts".

Will Carling is one sportsman who has criticised the older, male-dominated make-up of those in charge of sport ©Getty Images



At SKINS, we recently completed a campaign around Sochi that focused on the inequality of the Russian regime and the need for the IOC to ensure sport for all and freedom of expression at future Olympic venues corresponds with the notion of inclusion, as outlined in the Olympic Charter. The promotion of women into prominence is merely an extension of that principle. We've seen women national leaders across the world, so why not in seats of power in world sport?

Surely it's time to start appointing the best person to do a particular job, irrespective of gender? If it happens to be a bloke, then that's fine but if there is a credible and better female alternative, what the hell is the problem?

To make it happen on a sustainable basis there needs to be deeper efforts at all levels and in all places. If you look hard enough, there is plenty of evidence around the world that shows women do want to be involved. In Australia for example, the Australian Football League (Aussie rules) targeted women for their support base and were extremely successful.

I have been blowing bubbles since my early twenties. In the football sense that is.

As a young sports reporter working in London I regularly covered what then really was the Beautiful Game - especially when it was played by West Ham United.

I always looked forward with relish to being assigned to fixtures at Upton Park during the sixties, because I knew I was promised football played with grace and guile by a team which included that wonderful World Cup-winning trinity of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, schooled under the imaginative stewardship of master tactician Ron Greenwood.

The football flowed and the crowds roared their appreciation - even when West Ham didn't win.

I was there one Boxing Day when they lost something like 8-3 to Blackburn Rovers, and still received a standing ovation at the end because the fans knew they were trying to play the game as it should be played.

For this was football's Culture Club. The Academy of Football, they called it. Some still do, though only out of misty-eyed nostalgia.

West Ham's glory days, which included FA Cup glory in 1964 - the trophy held aloft here by Bobby Moore - are a long and distant memory ©Getty Images



These days I wouldn't call myself a Hammers fan. But I have remained a follower, though I haven't seen them play at Upton Park for years.

But many of those who have say it isn't the same anymore.

Fast forward from 1966 to 2014. Flair, finesse and technique have been erased by a grim-faced philosophy that lacks adventure and is embedded with graft, not guile.

So much so that when they beat Hull 2-1 last week the current manager, Sam Allardyce, was soundly booed, sarcastically cupping his ear to the crowd in astonishment.

He professed to be perplexed. "I couldn't believe it," he declared. "I've never been in a place where we've won and got booed."

Later, on a radio phone-in, one season ticket holder explained: "It's so one-dimensional. This is the most turgid, boring side...it's just awful to watch."

Sam Allardyce could barely believe the crowd's reaction after his team defeated Hull ©AFP/Getty Images



Well, West Ham ground out another 2-1 win last night at Sunderland, once more relying on Allardyce's Route One game: boot it up the middle to Andy Carroll and hope he scores. Well he did. So it works.

But still the fans aren't appeased, some even calling for Allardyce's instant dismissal, even though it seems he has managed to keep the team's head above the relegation waterline.

And surely that's what makes him bombproof.

For you can bet Big Sam's job is safe at least until the Hammers are safely ensconced in the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

You see, West Ham's board recognise that there is only one word in the footy lexicon that matters until then. Forget flair, forget entertainment. It's survival. Which also translates as success.

And for one very good reason. They are terrified of going down because of what it would mean.

They are aware that Allardyce's dour approach may be the only way to avoid what would be a national embarrassment.

For if West Ham are no longer a Premier League club when they kick off their first season in the expensively adapted venue, there will be some red faces not only in their own boardroom but at Boris Johnson's mayoral eyrie high in City Hall, the offices of the London Olympic Legacy Corporation, the Premier League and Football Association - all architects of the dream to bring top-class football to the Queen Elizabeth Park.

Sebastian Coe won't be too thrilled, either.

West Ham v Chelsea or Manchester United would be a fitting Premier League curtain-raiser: West Ham v Millwall or Barnsley in the Championship doesn't have quite the same cachet about it.

West Ham v Manchester Untied or West Ham v Millwall? There's plenty at stake as the Hammers prepare to move into the Olympic Stadium ©AFP/Getty Images



What an ignominy that would be. And what a kick in the teeth for Olympic Legacy.

Naturally, West Ham's vice-chairman Karren Brady has given Allardyce her full backing despite the jeers from those disaffected fans, calling his tactics "prudent" at this stage of the season.

Well she would, wouldn't she, because she knows that West Ham have to stay up - whatever the cost to the club's once-cherished reputation for attractive, fan-friendly football.

She and the club's co-owner David Golf believe Allardyce, who restored West Ham to the Premier League at the first attempt after Avram Grant had taken them to relegation in 2011, is on course to maintain West Ham's top-flight status until they are due to move into the Olympic stadium.

Gold, responding to the fans' displeasure, tweeted: "Every season we remain in the Premier League, we will get stronger and closer to going to the OS (Olympic Stadium) debt-free. This must be our priority."

But answering another follower on Twitter, he described the performance as "dogged, determined, lacked flair but three very important points".

Once in the Olympic Stadium it might be time to start blowing a few bubbles again, replacing muscle with artistry.

However Allardyce's CV suggests he will not be the man to implement such a policy. He has never been one for passing fancies. Ask the supporters of Bolton and Blackburn, where his tenures were similarly based on unashamed pragmatism.

The bubbles will be heading for the Olympic Stadium in 2016, but will the move herald a change in philosophy for the team? ©Getty Images



Some might argue that the attitude of West Ham's supporters is naive, even unique in sport, where the prevailing dictum is that winning is everything; a la UK Sport's "no compromise" approach to funding which significantly is now to be challenged in Parliament by former sports minister Kate Hoey. But I am not so sure, for there is a much broader picture here.

We British have always had a sympathetic spot for those who set out to provide enjoyment or have a bit of charisma about them even if they fail to grab the big prize.

Flamboyant distance runner Dave "Bootsie" Bedford was a prime example. Remember, too, the public adoration of boxers Sir Henry Cooper, Frank Bruno and more recently George Groves who, after being booed into the ring was cheered out of it when he clearly had the beating of world super-middleweight champion Carl Froch before being robbed of victory by a refereeing blunder. Groves is now a national hero.

So was Gemma Gibbons in 2012 when she had to settle for an Olympic silver and sobbed while dedicating it to her late mother.

Then there was the overwhelming support for athlete Derek Redmond who, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, tore his hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final but continued the race limping and, helped by his father who dashed from the crowd, managed to complete a full lap of the track as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. One of the most poignant and best-remembered moments in Olympic history

More often than not we admire a plucky loser more than we do a boring winner, something the ear-cupping Allardyce will never be able to comprehend.

Meantime we can be certain of one thing. Sam will play it again...at least until 2016.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning 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.

Although another similarly welcome interlude from the last vestiges of the European winter, a trip to Kuwait, the venue for today's Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Executive Council Meeting, is very different from my last stop on the Olympic merry-go-round in Rio de Janeiro. 

Surprisingly, one of the more striking differences is the weather. In contrast to the searing summer heat in Brazil, the wind is the strongest feature this time around as Kuwait is locked in the midst of a series of dust storms, deeming driving hazardous and walking without sunglasses precarious.

As the President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and chairman of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) Board, I am feeling very proud today, on the eve of the WSB Season IV quarter-finals.

Since its inception in 2010, the competition has gone from strength to strength and is now viewed as one of the most exciting emerging sports leagues in the world.

Represented in four continents, the unique concept of the WSB has successfully drawn together National Franchises from all of the major boxing markets around the world. The recent addition of the Cuban national team, in the shape of the Cuba Domadores, typifies the development of the league.

Nowadays, all the very best of AIBA boxers are competing in the WSB. Amongst them, 26 participated in the London 2012 Olympic Games of which 16 won medals. Thirty-one of the 40 medallists from the Almaty 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships have participated in Season IV, and nine out of the 10 current World Champions compete in the competition.

Now, after 10 highly exciting weeks of outstanding boxing in the regular season, the top eight teams of this fourth season have entered the playoffs. And in just two months' time, one of them will get the privilege of being crowned the 2013/2014 WSB Champion.

Defending champions Arlans Astana Kazakhstan look like a dangerous prospect again this year ©LatinContent/Getty Images



The defending Champions, the Astana Arlans Kazakhstan, won Season III in imperious fashion but were pushed very close in the finals by the Ukraine Otamans. Both teams have progressed to the quarter-finals again this year. Having won seven of their 10 matches in the regular season, amassing 22 points in the process, the Arlans look like a dangerous prospect again this year. The unveiling of their latest addition to the team, World Champion and 2013 AIBA Best Boxer Daniyar Yeleussinov, in the final week of the regular season, has only strengthened their hand.

As for the Otamans, despite all the turbulence the athletes have faced on the home-front in recent months, they have remained as clinical as ever between the ropes. This just underlines exactly how professional and focused these guys are in their approach to their ring-craft. They are just as capable as anyone else of going all the way this year.

Elsewhere, the German team has been in top form this season. The Eagles have a strong line-up across all 10 WSB weight categories. Star boxer Erik Pfeifer remains unbeaten at super heavyweight (91+kg) and the World bronze medallist will comfortable leading this team out against anyone put in front of him.

German Erik Pfeifer (right) remains unbeaten at super heavyweight ©World Series Boxing



Then there are the Russians. Pre-season, most of the coaches at the official draw were openly discussing how strong the Russian boxing team looked this year. Their concerns have proven to be justified. Even when the Russians allowed their fringe boxers to compete this year, they looked dangerous. With their take-no-prisoners style of fighting, they are clearly one of the best teams in the WSB.

Azerbaijan Baku Fires brazenly predicted that they would make it to the playoffs at the beginning of the season, but their instincts seem to have been correct. They are fearless, talented (and as one of the teams to have competed in all four WSB seasons to date), experienced. This is a dangerous combination for whoever comes out against them.

Featuring one of the most exciting international line-ups, the Season II winners Dolce & Gabbana Italia Thunder have almost inevitably made it into the playoffs again. With talent in their ranks from the UK, France and even as far away as the Philippines, the Group A leaders have the resources to draw upon to compete against anyone in the world.

Exploding into the WSB this year, the Cuba Domadores have been a boxing sensation. With a line-up comprising of multiple World and Olympic medallists, the Cubans look to be a class above the rest. Winning 41 of their 50 bouts so far, the Cubans were statistically the most successful team in the regular season.

Statistically the most successful team in the regular season, the Cuba Domadores look to be a class above the rest ©LatinContent/Getty Images



The USA Knockouts' talent scouts were obviously hard at work in the pre-season last year. That is the only thing that can explain the stunning emergence of such a group of young boxers and their untapped talent. The US coaches seem to have specialised in bringing in highly talented boxers who have somehow flown under the radar of other teams. World bronze medallist Gabriel Maestre is a prime example at welterweight (69kg). The Venezuelan has shot up the WSB rankings in his debut season and is now the number three ranked boxer in the category.

All in all, as you can see, the Season IV playoffs should be our most exciting to date. I, and the global boxing family, are looking forward to it.

C K Wu is the AIBA President and an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board member