Show M - The Herald Journal Logan Utah Sunday November 4 1979 £ t British are center of move that may end amateur status By Alex Frere G2DGJUIL He believes in openness in City Government He believes the city budget should be carefully looked at So we can STOP our annual budget increase which in 1979-8- 0 was 10 LONDON (UP1) — Twelve years ago English tennis officials took the then revolutionary step of scrapping the distinction between amateur and professional players The move taken ironically by Wimbledon officials so often accused for their conservatism transformed tennis into a multimillion dollar game with hundreds of professional players competing on different circuits around the world for $100000 purses Now track and field is on the point of following a similar route and this time by chance British officials are again at the center of a move that could put an end to the amateur status of athletes That star track and field athletes have been receiving money for appearing at international meets while retaining their "amateur" status for the Olympic Games is not being denied by anybody Payments are usually in the form of expenses or airline tickets "I have often said the good amateur can't afford to turn professional” says Lord Killanin president of the International Olympic Committee Until now authorities have been content to leave the major issue alone even if there have been minor skirmishes involving athletes like American high Jumper Dwight Stones or French hurdler Guy Drut But on the Nov 4 weekend two meetings are taking place in Europe that could easily cause a major upheaval in the world of track and field Just eight months before the Moscow Olympics The first takes place in London where Britain’s amateur athletic association will discuss the scrapping of the athlete's amateur status and more important a specific case of payments to athletes at an international meeting in England in 1978 3-- under-the-count- er He is not a smooth talker and will tell it like it is X He believes Logan City and Cache County should continue to work together on projects such as the Softball complex and fairgrounds Paid for by Farl E Miller The second meeting is in East Berlin where all the major European track and field promoters are planning to gather to discuss the possibilities of forming a series of professional track meetings similar to the grand prix circuit in tennis Financial details of the 1978 meeting at Gateshead have been disclosed by the local council whose books show exactly which athletes received how much money Until earlier this week Britain's national newspapers had chosen not to publish the details but then the Daily Mail splashed the story — without naming any athletes The British Amateur Athletics Board (BAAB) has been forced to begin an inquiry "If someone has broken the rules they will be banned” says BAAB secretary David Shaw The results from the 1978 Gateshead meeting show that among the international stars who took part were world record holders Edwin Moses and Briton Sebastian Coe American sprinter James Sanford and distance runners Brendan Foster of Britain and Rod Dixon of New Zealand The implications of the inquiry thus extend to the heart of the track and field world and the banning of any top athlete so close to the Olympics could bring down the whole fragile house of cards But even if the payments incident is swept under the carpet — as other national federations have done in the past — the promoters' meeting in East Berlin could also spell the end to amateur track The only difference might be that track and field would go “open" after rather than before next July's Olympics in Moscow It will not be the first time there has been a move to form a pro track circuit The International Track but quickly Association (ITA) tried it in the found "amateur” athletes could earn more on the circuit than on the "amateur” European American tour professional The difference this time is that it is the men who run the "amateur” circuit who could be making the move and thus wiping the word amateur from the sport at a stroke mid-197- Sunday horse racing begins in Maryland LAUREL Md (UPI) — Sunday racing begins in Maryland Nov 18 when Laurel Race Course opens its doors to state horse racing enthusiasts in an attempt to attract new fans to the Prince George's County track NOV 8th Watch For It) Tftaispim Bridgerland Square Laurel patrons will be offered free grandstand admission and half price to the track's clubhouse Racing begins at 12:30 pm Maryland's four thoroughbred tracks were authorized to try Sunday racing on an experimental basis earlier this month by the state Thoroughbred Racing Board Laurel officials said they hope the Sunday racing program will attract new fans to its betting windows despite the conflict with the fall football schedule “Laurel management doubts Sunday racing can be profitable at this time of the year but it would enable us to attract new fans” a spokesman said |