International / Editor / 15 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Always keen to support a worthy cause here at betting.betfair.com, we chatted to Bodo Sieber, who is championing a campaign for Rugby Sevens to be given Olympic status. Here's what he had to say...

So we hear you're looking to get Rugby Sevens introduced as an Olympic sport. How big is the sport and how did this whole idea come about?

Rugby as a whole is big, with 3 million active players (men and women) worldwide. It also has a huge and growing following - the last World Cup in France 2007 was watched by over 4 billion people accumulatively. Sevens rugby has also grown exponentially in the last years and while the Sevens World Series would continue to attract crowds, the Sevens World Cup (which is played every four years) would be replaced by Sevens Rugby at the Olympics, which would become the sport's blue-riband event.

What are it's main selling points that you're going to talk up if it's going to be accepted?

Sevens is the perfect rugby format for the Olympics because it is fast paced, easy to understand and you can have an Olympic champion within three action-packed days. Generally at the Games the main stadium will be used for the opening ceremony and then becomes vacant for a week or so until the track and field events start - Sevens Rugby could fill the stadium during that time with fans that will no doubt add a lot of colour to the Games. Olympic rugby would also kick Olympic programs into gear, especially in nations where rugby is not too prominent as yet, such as the USA, Russia or Germany. It also gives smaller countries a very real chance for medals - Fiji, Samoa and Kenya have been outstanding in Sevens in recent years.

I see you've got a few familiar faces signed up to your campaign already. Tell us more.

We are close to 40 000 signatures after not even two months online. Some of the more prominent supporters have been 2007 Rugby World Champion and former South African captain Bon Skinstad, as well as Cheryl Soon, the captain of the Australian ladies team that won the 2009 Sevens World Championships. We also got plenty of Sevens teams to get behind the initiative. World Champions Wales, England, Scotland, Sevens Series Winners South Africa, the All Blacks, Portugal. Lots of women's teams, like Brazil, Holland and Spain are all on the website.

Seeing as we're a betting company, it's fitting that we should talk about the odds being quoted on your bid being successful. Its 4-1. Is that how you'd see your chances?

There is no way we'd be as objective as the bookmakers when it comes to assessing the odds of rugby gaining Olympic status. We'd of course think the chances for inclusion would be a bit higher than that and we'll do everything we can to make as much noise and drum up as much support as possible for rugby's Olympic cause. There is tough competition, with seven sports competing for two available slots and with it the chance to further grow their particular sport.

Right then, you've convinced me to support your petition. What do I do next?

Go to our page and sign the petition - right on the start page. You can also see other supporters and a list of countries that have sent signatures - according to that there are a staggering 180 countries with rugby lovers out there! In true rugby style the site asks you to add the conversion once you have scored / signed for Olympic rugby, meaning we ask you to invite at least two friends, which helps spread the initiative. It is all good fun, very grassroots and casual with a sound technical back-end and game plan, much like rugby itself.