LAUSANNE: Athletics and football are notable absentees from among the 27 international sports federations whjch have so far have agreed to collaborate on content for the IOC’s Olympic television channel.

The channel’s creation was one of the key recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020, aiming to promote ‘Olympic values’ and the Games to try to prevent a further drain of young followers.

The Channel is intended to broadcast live sports events, news and athlete stories, as well as historical Olympic footage and official films from the IOC’s archives.

Rights ownership was always expected to be a problem where major sports such as football are concerned while the failure to seal a deal so far with the International Association of Athletics Association is notable given track and field’s central role in the Olympics.

However IOC president Thomas Bach said: “The international federations have embraced the Olympic Channel and we look forward to working with them on the exciting programming and promotional opportunities. The newly formed Olympic Channel team is making steady progress, with the emphasis on ensuring the product is right and the quality of the programming matches our ambition. We look forward to announcing the 2016 launch date in the coming weeks.”

Mark Parkman, general manager of Olympic Channel Services added: “Preparations for the launch of the Olympic Channel are on course and the announcement of these cooperation agreements with our IF partners is another important step forward. We expect to make further announcements regarding collaborations with other IFs and stakeholders in the near future.”

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