Sport boosted and bridged by massive funding infusion, says Secretary of Sport

Canadian sport has been given a boost and a bridge, says the country's Secretary of Sport.

In the federal government's spring economic update, $755 million more over the next five years, and $118 million more thereafter, was provided to grow participation in sport, support Canada's athletes on the world stage and attract more international events to the country.

"We know that sport is Canada's ultimate nation-building project and the Prime Minister believes that too," Adam van Koeverden said Wednesday from Vancouver. "It's all about bringing our giant country together.

"We have a boost for Canadian organizations to make some changes and to address some of the long-standing issues, to create those opportunities and the connective tissue that we're talking about. The bridge is a long-term plan that will ensure that there's durable, sustainable impact. 

Federal government to inject $755 million into Canadian sport over five years

Freestyle Canada chief executive officer Peter Judge faced a choice between his organization running a deficit of over half a million dollars or hosting no World Cups in Canada next year.

The federal government's announcement of a $755-million injection into sport over the next five years, and dropping to $118 million after that, had Judge and other Canadian sport leaders exhaling Tuesday.

"I was literally doing budget work today," Judge said. "My sense is my board had reached their tolerance limit for deficit spending.

2030 Winter Olympics organizers weigh Paris or Lyon for ice hockey after Nice impasse

PARIS (AP) — French organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics are looking at alternative locations for ice hockey outside of Nice, including in Paris and Lyon, because of a political deadlock involving the Riviera city's new mayor.

Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps project has split snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the Mediterranean resort of Nice.

Nice was to turn the city's soccer stadium, Allianz Arena, into a temporary hockey rink.

But Nice far-right new mayor Eric Ciotti opposes the plan, refusing that the resident football club lose access to its stadium for months because of the Olympics. Ciotti, a former conservative allied with the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, was elected last month.

Federal government gives $6.22 million over next two years to athletes’ mental health

OTTAWA -  

The federal government will supply $6.22 million over the next two years for athletes' mental health.

Secretary of Sport Adam van Koeverden made the announcement Friday in Ottawa.

The money comes out of $16 million to support the well-being of athletes and coaches already announced March 20.

Paris offers to host 2030 Winter Games ice hockey after Nice mayor opposes Olympic plan

PARIS (AP) — Olympic Games events could return to Paris as soon as 2030.

The Paris Entertainment Company, which operates the Adidas Arena and Accor Arena in the French capital, told The Associated Press on Thursday it has submitted a bid to host ice hockey during the 2030 Winter Games to be held in France.

Both venues were used during the 2024 Paris Summer Games and could serve as alternative solutions because the new Nice mayor, Eric Ciotti, opposes ice hockey events at Nice soccer stadium, the Allianz Arena, which would be converted into a temporary hockey rink.

Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps has split snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the French Riviera resort Nice. The final venues will be confirmed in June when the IOC decides the list of sports and events.

Hockey coach who admitted using false COVID-19 vaccine certificate at Olympics is fired

ZURICH (AP) — A Swiss hockey coach who admitted he used a certificate falsely claiming he'd been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get around China's travel restrictions for the 2022 Winter Olympics has been fired.

In a statement late Monday, head coach Patrick Fischer said he made a “serious mistake in this matter” by travelling to Beijing with the Switzerland men’s team using false paperwork.

The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation initially supported him, saying the case was closed because he had admitted to his mistake. But that changed Wednesday with news of his dismissal.

"The case is legally closed but has triggered a public debate about values and trust, which the federation takes very seriously,” federation president Urs Kessler said in a statement.

Transgender women athletes banned from women’s Olympic events by new IOC policy

GENEVA (AP) — Transgender women athletes are now excluded from women's events at the Olympics after the IOC agreed to a new eligibility policy on Thursday which aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females,” the International Olympic Committee said, to be determined by a mandatory gene test once in an athlete's career.

It is unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level. No woman who transitioned from being born male competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, though weightlifter Laurel Hubbard did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without winning a medal.

The eligibility policy that will apply from the L.A. Olympics in July 2028 “protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,” the IOC said.

Canada’s Winter Games results draw attention to sport commission report

How athletes competing on the world stage are funded was just one piece of an omnibus report on the state of Canadian sport, but a key one given the country's performance at the recent Winter Games.

Of the 98 calls to action in the Future of Sport in Canada Commission's final report issued Tuesday, increased core funding for national sport organizations was an urgent one.

"The sport system is facing a funding crisis, which contributes to the safe sport crisis," said Lise Maisonneuve, a former chief justice of the Ontario court of justice, who headed the commission.

"We need to increase the investment in sport to match our expectations of what the sport system ought to be. We therefore call on the Government of Canada to urgently increase core funding to national sport organizations and to regularly review and adjust funding levels.

Five things about the Future of Sport in Canada Commission

What is the Future of Sport in Canada Commission?

Announced in December, 2023 by former federal sports minister Carla Qualtrough, the commission was among various federal government remedies in response to a wave of maltreatment and abuse reports, both current and historical, that surfaced after the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Qualtrough was under pressure to hold a public inquiry, which she said would take too long.

What did the commission do?

The commission headed by Lise Maisonneuve, a former Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, conducted cross-country consultations, gathered data from a public survey, held a two-part summit in Ottawa and issued an interim report and a final report.

Canadian sport system ‘underfunded and unsafe,’ commission urges Ottawa to step up

Canadian sport needs an overhaul, and it starts with the federal government.

That was the conclusion of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission's final report released Tuesday.

The Canadian sport system is broken, fragmented and unsustainable, said Lise Maisonneuve, a former chief justice of the Ontario court of justice, who headed the commission.

The report issued 98 calls to action for phased-in change over five years, but starting immediately.

Federal government announces safe sport funding

OTTAWA - The federal government is giving $5 million to Sport Integrity Canada to continue administering the Canadian Safe Sport Program in 2026-27.

Sport Integrity Canada, formerly the Canadian Centre For Ethics in Sport, has taken over the handling of complaints and reports of abuse and maltreatment in sport from the defunct Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC).

SIC announced Thursday an expansion of the public registry of people sanctioned or provisionally sanctioned in the sport system.

Canada's Secretary of Sport Adam van Koeverden announced the funding Friday ahead of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission releasing its final report Tuesday.

Sport Integrity Canada expands public safe sport registry

OTTAWA - Sport Integrity Canada has expanded its public registry of people sanctioned under the Canadian Safe Sport Program.

The agency, formerly the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, has taken over the management of complaints and reports of maltreatment in sport from the shuttered Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC).

The registry expansion has been realigned to include people under sanction whose cases were handled by OSIC before the handover, and also those whose cases were handled through a national sport organization's own safe sport process.

“A comprehensive and credible registry is fundamental to safe sport," said Sport Integrity Canada chief executive officer Jeremy Luke in a statement Thursday. 

WADA delays decision over potential ban of Trump from major sporting events until after World Cup

The World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday put off a decision about barring government officials from major sporting events if their countries voluntarily withhold dues, pushing a potential conflict with President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials until at least after this summer's World Cup.

The WADA executive committee met and said it would consider the new rule in September, two months after the end of the World Cup, which the U.S. is hosting along with Canada and Mexico.

If such a rule is adopted later this year, it would presumably go into effect before the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The U.S. hasn't paid its dues since 2023. If that continues, the new rule could place Trump and U.S. lawmakers on a banned list for Games in their own country, though there are doubts about whether an anti-doping regulator could keep any of them from attending the Olympics.

Doug Armstrong steps down as general manager of Canada’s Olympic hockey team

CALGARY - Doug Armstrong will not return as general manager of Canada's Olympic men's hockey team.

He spent two years as the management group lead for the national men's team at competitions like the world hockey championship, 4 Nations Face-Off and Milan Cortina Games. 

Canada reached the Olympic final last month but dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to the United States.

Hockey Canada confirmed his departure in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.