Rugby Sevens likely to get into Olympics

Rugby sevens is a fashionable choice to be on the shortlist of two sports to join the Olympic Games in 2016 and that is good news for Malaysian Rugby Union.
According to wire services report, the Sevens World Cup at Dubai in March showed what the short-form version of rugby could add to the games, and was apparently admired by observers sent from Olympic headquarters.

Rugby may also have a very important friend on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board, which will hear pitches from the seven bidding sports on Monday.
The meeting in Lausanne is headed by IOC president Jacques Rogge, a regular in the 1970s Belgium rugby team and a passionate follower of the sport.
Rogge will not have a vote on which two of rugby sevens, baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, softball and squash get to join the 26 Summer Olympic sports from 2016 onward.
The board will meet again in August to choose which two sports the full IOC membership vote on at their annual session at Copenhagen in October. That second poll could yet see both sports rejected by the members.
Rugby sevens has come a long way since the International Rugby Board (IRB) launched a world series in 1999.
It is on the Asian and Commonwealth Games programs, and has been added to the Pan American Games and All Africa Games schedules for 2011.
The Sevens World Cup attracted 80,000 spectators over three days of action featuring 24 men's teams and 16 women's. The Olympic proposal is for 12 teams in each gender playing over two days in stadiums shared with other sports.
Sevens was far removed from the established 15-a-side game played by three million in 116 countries, and which featured in four Olympics from 1900 to 1924.
If granted Olympic status, the IRB would scrap the Sevens World Cup and mandate clubs worldwide to release players for the tournament and qualifying events, satisfying an IOC request to bring the sport's best talent to the show.
The bid also expects to score well on a favorite Olympic theme of universality - giving smaller nations a chance to succeed.
The men's semifinals in Dubai featured Argentina, Kenya, Samoa and Wales, the eventual champions, while Fiji and Tonga were also competitive.
Kenya captain Humphrey Kayange will help make the presentation on Monday, joining Cheryl Soon, captain of the Australia women's World Cup winners, and Kazakhstan player Anastassiya Khamova.
If Rugby sevens are included, it would be good news for Malaysia. Our national Sevens have been doing fairly well in international tournament, Last year Malaysia emerged champions in the prestigious Sri Lanka Sevens and our team also put up a good fight to secure sixth spot in the Hong Kong Sevens.
The Malaysian Rugby Union also have been campaigning hard to get the support of Asian countries for the sport's inclusion into the Olympic program. MRU Secretary, Ramesh Lechmanan is the Asian Rugby Union Board (ARFU) committee that has been working overtime to get rugby into the Olympics.
The MRU knows that once the sports receives Olympic status, the interest would increase tremendously. So will sponsorship.
Olympic Council of Malaysia officials will also be in Lausanne for the IOC meeting. President, Tunku Imran Tuanku Ja'afar and Vice President, Dato' A. Sani Karim would be there to fight for squash while another VP, Ms Low Beng Choo for her favorite softball.