Next stop Beijing
From next week my blog will be coming from Beijing.
Although the Olympics do not begin until August 8 - the Chinese consider 8 so lucky that they planned the opening ceremony for 8pm on 08/08/08 - the week before the Games begin is always an important one in terms of sports politics.
This is when meetings of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the wider IOC session are held, meetings which bring together the great and good from the world of sport.
While it is easy to mock these gatherings as jollies for the blazer brigade, they remain the most important gathering of those who run world sports.
The 115-strong IOC comprises leaders of various sports federations, assorted European and Asian royals and other individuals, sports administrators and businessmen from different countries, all of whom make up the Olympic family.
Those meeting in Beijing will include well-known figures like Sepp Blatter of Fifa, through to our own Princess Royal, the heir apparent of Qatar, and others like Nawal Moutawakel, who is from Morocco - she was the first Arab woman to win an Olympic gold, and also the person who chaired the Evaluation Commission that considered London's 2012 bid.
At the forthcoming session, she will actually be competing with Britain because she is up against Sir Craig Reedie for one of two executive board posts (the third candidate is sitting member Richard Carrion).
Traditionally, the IOC likes to have an executive member from the country hosting the Games, so with a view to 2012, Reedie has a good chance. Were he to be successful, he would become Britain's first representative on the Executive since the Marquis of Exeter back in the 1960s. But then Moutewekal and her supporters will argue the case that a woman on the executive, and an Arab woman at that, is an added bonus.
However, as with much that revolves around the IOC, that election and some of the other interesting movements happen privately rather than in public.
And that is where as a journalist, you rely on the people who have been behind the closed doors to emerge and tell you what has happened. More often than not, they do so - but on the understanding you will not quote them. So you can divulge the information, but not attribute that information directly to them.
Which is where the well-worn journalistic phrase 'source' comes into play. Judging by some of your recent comments, some of you find it frustrating when I use language like 'I understand' or 'a source told me' in my blog. And I will take that on board.
But I hope you can also appreciate, especially when it comes to the IOC and Olympics stories, or for that matter football business and politics stories too, why that is sometimes necessary.
It honestly isn't me deliberately trying to hide anything or make a story more involved than it needs to be. In an ideal world everyone would speak up front, and every document would be available for all, but often it just doesn't work like that.
Beijing will be my sixth Olympics, and it is one I am really looking forward to. It will be fascinating to see how the country handles the unique challenges and opportunities the Games present. And also how London, in the shape of new mayor Boris Johnson, will step up come the closing ceremony.
So while I know many of you will still be focused on the football transfer gossip and the start of the new season, I hope there will also be topics or stories you will be interested to read, see or hear more about from Beijing, away from the action itself.
So do let me know if there is anything in particular you would like me to to focus on while I am there. I can't promise but will certainly do my best!
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~35~RS~)
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Hi Mihir,
Interesting article, not least for your reaction to some of the previous responses to your blogs. I have to say I've hung my head in despair at some of the vagueness - while I don't doubt that you've heard some extremely interesting and confidential information - while it remains unsubstantiated to a reader it remains little more than a speculation, which I dare say many of us could also come up with! We also have to take your journalistic integrity as a given to take the stories at face value - I don't want to cast a single aspersion on your long and varied career, but it still asks a for a fairly long leap of faith in a world where we are subject to occasional misinformation in the quest for news and, more importantly, breaking news.
I hope you enjoy Beijing! I still struggle to comprehend that the Olympics is but a fortnight away - it will be a delight if we see the sport itself transcend the Chinese political climate, the potential drugs scandals and all the rest of it, if only for a couple of weeks...
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Hi Mihir,
An interesting article and my request is more one regarding content of the overall Olympic coverage, rather than yours in particular.
Please please please can we have a wide variety of the sports and stories that will be taking place. Part of the pleasure of the Olympics is seeing sports that we wouldn't normally (like handball for instance).
There is so much going on in each Olympics and it would be a tragedy to not see and read about amazing stories because the coverage available is based solely around British competitors who may or may not have a chance of success and ignoring any sports without British representation.
I'm really looking forward to the coverage!
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Why are comments on your blog that question or criticise anything you say deleted?
Even when put in a respectful way.
Other BBC blogs do not do that.
Probably wasting my time ,as I now expect this to be deleted!
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TheRealRingo - Comments that break the house rules in terms of overly personal or offensive criticism will be removed.
But if they are fair and on-topic, then they will be published.
As your comment today has been!
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Bose. I get where you're coming from. And it's a blog afterall.
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I concur with comment number 3. I have not breached the so called 'house rules' in pointing out how many time you state 'I' or 'me' in your articles yet have my comments barred.
I'm glad you address this issue at last and I am glad that there are obviously enough of us to garner a response from you.
Comment 1 is bang on the money. You CANNOT expect us to believe you on a whim. And the fact of the matter Mihir is you CONTINUOUSLY use the same vage 'behind closed doors/mrder mystery' style of writing to (for me) seemingly exaggerate the importance of (a) your story (b) your sources and (c) yourself.
Basically, come back down to Earth as with this article and try and report sensibly. Try the line 'there is a feeling in/at...'
It'll garner the response from us we imagine you'd like without bringing up that antipathy mentioning yourself many times in every article does.
Hopefully this is constructive enough not to be censored yet again.
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I concur with comment number 3. I have not breached the so called 'house rules' in pointing out how many time you state 'I' or 'me' in your articles yet have my comments barred.
I'm glad you address this issue at last and I am glad that there are obviously enough of us to garner a response from you.
Comment 1 is bang on the money. You CANNOT expect us to believe you on a whim. And the fact of the matter Mihir is you CONTINUOUSLY use the same vague 'behind closed doors/murder mystery' style of writing to (I feel) seemingly exaggerate the importance of (a) your story (b) your sources and (c) yourself.
Basically, come back down to Earth as with this article and try and report sensibly. Try the line 'there is a feeling...' rather than 'someone important said to me'!
It'll garner the response from us we imagine you'd like without bringing up the antipathy mentioning yourself many times in every article does.
Hopefully this is constructive enough not to be censored yet again.
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Constructive enough to allow you to post it twice! :-)
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What worked at in print at The Telegraph for years doesn't translate so well to blogging, which is what always intrigued me about Mihir's appointment.
Editorial guidelines like the BBC has tend to restrict things further and put more of a straightjacket on speculation.
That said, Mihir is right - administrators in sport are generally keen for perceptions of events to be accurate even if they are not - for whatever reason - at liberty to talk officially about it.
So dear commenters and readers of the blog, you need to get more used to Mihir's nudges and winks. He has good sources, although occasionally lends them too much credence.
If you're the only show in town for years (which to his credit Mihir was at the telegraph for years) then you tend to build up good contacts. Although with many more operators on his patch these days, let's see how long it lasts.
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"A source close to the Moon tells me that it is made of cream cheese."
If I publish this assertion without either (a) confirming to the reader that I have independently verified its accuracy by reference to third party sources, (b) informing the reader that I have been unable to verify its accuracy, or (c) identifying my source so the reader can make an informed decision as to its credibility and reliability, does that make me a responsible journalist?
If, as Mr. Bose says, "in an ideal world everyone would speak up front", then perhaps he could help matters by no longer simply repeating anonymous assertions.
While I have no reason to doubt Mr. Bose's journalistic integrity nor that he is a trusted confidante of the most powerful men in sport, unless and until he takes a more robust stance with his sources and stops seeking to place himself at the centre of his stories, I will treat his nods, winks, nudges and insinuations with the scepticism I believe are warranted of equally unattributed stories I hear from blokes in my local pub.
(Moderators - references in this comment to the Moon and cream cheese are not off topic; they are allegorical. Apologies for any confusion.)
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Hi Mihir,
I hope you enjoy your time, covering the Olympics in Beijing, China for the BBC....
I hope we have many good blogs about the Olympics....
Enjoy yourself! :)
[I also wish the entire BBC Staff, who are going to China to do the coverage of this event, a great time]
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Alex G - I posted twice as I amended some typo's in the second one!
Dear God...
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As Mr Bose thinks that in an ideal world we should speak upfront, I thouight I'd humour him by doing exactly that. I cannot think of a better event for you to attend short of a United Nations meeting. Absolutely no sport involved in this meeting so you should feel right at home. Please stop reporting on meaningless, boring nonsense. Why not discuss whether michael Vaughn should still be England Captain when he can't buy a run, or should they have dropped Broad, or any insight into the Ronaldo situation, or our brightest medal prospects at the Olympics or even better potential medal prospects that we may not know about. I want to know how on earth you landed your job , I have yet to hear you on the news not either stating the obvious or news that is at least a week old. Please report something useful, incisive and informative rather than this endless nonsense
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Blogg off
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