The Anschutz Company, which owns leading sports and entertainment company, AEG has announced they will not sell their subsidiary.

This also coincides with Tim Leiweke, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of AEG since 1996, leaving the company by mutual agreement.

Philip F. Anschutz, as Chairman of AEG, will resume a more active role in the company, with a particular focus on the Company’s world-wide strategy and operations. Dan Beckerman will assume the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Beckerman joined AEG over 15 years ago and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer.

“We appreciate the role Tim has played in the development of AEG, and thank him for the many contributions he has made to the Company. We wish him well in his new endeavors,” said Mr. Anschutz.

Ted Fikre, who joined the Company in 1997, will become Vice Chairman of the Company and continue as AEG’s Chief Legal and Development Officer, as well as assume responsibility for AEG’s Governmental and Media Relations. Jay Marciano, currently President and Chief Executive Officer of AEG Europe, will relocate from London to Los Angeles to assume the role of Chief Operating Officer. Todd Goldstein, who has been with the Company since 2001, recently was elevated to Chief Revenue Officer and will continue in that role. Steven Cohen, Executive Vice President of the Anschutz Company, will serve as AEG’s Chief Strategic Officer while retaining his role at AEG’s parent company.

Mr. Beckerman, Mr. Fikre, Mr. Marciano, Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Cohen, together with Mr. Anschutz, will constitute AEG’s Office of the Chairman.

“From the very beginning of the sales process, we have made it clear to our employees and partners throughout the world that unless the right buyer came forward with a transaction on acceptable terms we would not sell the Company,” said Mr. Anschutz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Anschutz Company.

“From the very first days of AEG, my vision has been to tie together world class real estate development structured around entertainment venues with premium sports and live entertainment content. In recent years we have developed related businesses to further promote and enhance the performance of AEG’s facilities for the benefit of our partners, including our sponsors, artists, consumers and the communities in which we operate. The Company’s operations will continue to be run by AEG’s experienced senior executive team, most of whom have been with AEG for over a decade. We will continue to set the standards in the industries in which AEG operates, bringing our unique vision and development model to entertainment locations throughout the world.”

“Phil’s active reengagement in the operations of the Company has brought a renewed spirit and passion to the management team’s focus on AEG’s next steps” noted Dan Beckerman.

“The Company has a number of interesting business opportunities, and the expertise of the management team and our 26,000 employees around the world will allow us to select those prospects that best enhance the Company’s performance. Priority projects going forward include the development of Farmers Field adjacent to our L.A. Live campus and the pursuit of our plan to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles, our recently announced initiative to collaborate with MGM to build a new arena in Las Vegas, the acquisition of ownership stakes and the associated refurbishment of several major global arenas in Europe and our ongoing investment in AXS.com, our ticketing and e-commerce platform, as we expand its capabilities for the benefit of our venues, partners, performers and consumer end-users.”

AEG owns or operates many of the world’s preeminent entertainment venues such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), The O2 (London, UK), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), O2 World (Berlin, Germany), the Ericsson Globe Arena (Stockholm, Sweden), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), Ulker Sports Arena (Istanbul, Turkey), BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX), Brisbane Entertainment Center (Brisbane, Australia), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN) and the O2 World Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany).

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FIFA finally conceded for the first time Saturday that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could be moved to winter if medical evidence showed that playing in the intense summer heat would be dangerous.

FIFA has previously insisted that Qatar would have to make the request to move the tournament, while the tiny emirate has placed responsibility on world football’s governing body to make the call.

In a sign that the impasse could be ending, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke now says the executive committee could decide on the shift to winter if the June temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius are deemed dangerous.

“Maybe the FIFA Ex-Co will say based on medical report or whatever we really have to look at playing the World Cup not in summer but in winter,” Valcke said.

“As long as we have not fixed the international calendar, all alternatives are open,’ he added.

“It’s in 2022, nine years and we have two World Cups to organise in Brazil and Russia. So there is some time.”

Valcke is sure that moving the tournament would not open up FIFA to legal challenges from the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia, who lost out to Qatar in the 2010 vote.

“Would you think we would open a discussion if we are not sure there would be no legal challenge to do so?” Valcke asked.

While Qatar unexpectedly landed the 2022 showpiece tournament with plans for air-conditioned stadiums, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has acknowledged that the team’s supporters could struggle to cope with the heat away from the venues in June.

UEFA President Michel Platini has advocated taking decisive action and moving the Qatar tournament to the cooler winter months, telling German newspaper Bild on Saturday that the summer heat would be ‘unbearable’ for fans and players.

But the European football chief’s view is opposed by Jeffrey Webb, president of CONCACAF, which governs football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

“Historically, the World Cup is always played in June and I would definitely like the World Cup to be played in June, we accepted it,’ Webb said. ‘We went through a long process regarding that.”

Moving the World Cup to winter would punch a hole in the European club season as it now stands, with the Premier League firmly opposed to their competition being split in 2022.

“As long as we have not fixed the international calendar (for 2019 to ’22) all alternatives are open,” Valcke said.

“The most important thing is to make sure (we) work with all stakeholders and make sure there is full agreement with all parties, leagues, clubs, and we would have to find eight weeks in the mid-season to play the World Cup,” he added after a meeting of football’s rule-makers in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

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iSportconnect, medical world’s leading sports business network, capsule today announced that Ian Ritchie, the RFU Chief Executive Officer, and Sir Craig Reedie, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee are the first panellists to join the next iSportconnect Directors’ Club London taking place on 20^th February 2013.

The unique invitation only Q&A session returns to London following the success of this year’s two London & two Munich events. Highlights of the previous events include talks from Nick Coward, General Secretary of English Premier League, Philip Beard, CEO of QPR FC, Geoff Cousins, Jaguar Global Director, Barry Hearn, Chairman of Matchroom Sport, the Professional Darts Corporation, World Snooker and Leyton Orient Football Club and Sally Hancock, Director, Olympic Marketing and Group Sponsorship at Lloyds TSB.

The event, in partnership with Generate Sponsorship, was held twice in London this year, twice in Munich.

Attendees are able to post questions for the panel in advance as well as arrange meetings via the iSportconnect Directors’ Club London networking tool, adding further value to the delegate experience.  To access the Networking Tool go to isportconnect.com/directorsclublondon.

Founder and CEO of iSportconnect, Sree Varma, said, ‘We are delighted that Ian and Sir Craig are able to join us at our third iSportconnect Directors’ Club in London. We received a great response from our previous events and found that the Question Time format gives the audience in-depth insight into topics within sport business. We look forward to making further speaker announcements in the New Year.”

iSportconnect Directors’ Club is an invitation-only event for sports industry leaders to share market insight and best practice. It invites key decision makers who run and finance the Sport Business Industry to share high level insight and opinion on business trends and relevant industry news.

Follow the iSportconnect Directors’ Club event with @iSportconnect and through #iSCDirectorsClub.

To register interest, please email:xavier@isportconnect.com

The NBA’s Chicago Bulls are to build a new basketball practice facility on a site next to the United Center, the team announced today, releasing a preliminary architectural rendering of the planned facility.

“I am pleased that the Bulls are moving their practice facilities into the City of Chicago and continuing the great work revitalizing the entire neighborhood around the United Center,” said Mayor Emanuel. “The Bulls are an iconic championship team and a source of pride for our city. Their future, and the future of the West Side, is bright.”

The location planned for the new facility is Parking Lot J, which sits east of the United Center across South Wood Street between Monroe and Madison Streets. Plans for the new facility remain in development and the project, which will be funded completely by the Bulls, is scheduled for completion in time for the 2014-2015 season.

The facility is anticipated to be approximately 55,000-square-feet in size. The firm, 360 Architects, has been selected as the lead project architect, and McHugh Construction has been named the General Contractor. The Bulls are committed to providing opportunities for Chicago-based companies, including women/minorities owned businesses, to be selected as part of the construction project.

“Today’s announcement is the latest example of our longstanding commitment to the City of Chicago and to our fans,” said Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. “Investing in a modern facility for our players and coaches will help us to achieve our team’s number one goal – winning championships – while also playing an important role in the city’s ongoing redevelopment efforts in our West Side neighborhood.”

When the team announced the practice facility relocation earlier this year, Reinsdorf credited the Mayor with the idea to move the facility.

“Mayor Emanuel has done a tremendous job promoting investment in the City of Chicago. The Mayor stressed that the Bulls brand is important to the city, nationally and internationally, and that the Bulls represent the spirit and competitive grit of Chicago. He thought centralizing our team assets inside the city limits would be a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to Chicago. We had been contemplating how to address the growing demands on our current practice facility for awhile, so the Mayor’s timing and ours made sense.”

The Bulls have practiced at the Sheri L. Berto Center in Deerfield, IL, since 1992. The team intends to sell the current practice facility.

“We share Mayor Emanuel’s vision for the West Side and are proud that this new facility will be a major part of that vision,” said President and COO Michael Reinsdorf. “Our current practice facility presented some limitations for us and as we looked to invest in the team’s future, we recognized the importance of also investing in our community.”

“I am pleased that the Bulls are planning to build this new facility in the shadow of the United Center, and I commend the team for their continued work to bring economic opportunity on the West Side of Chicago,” said Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th Ward. “I look forward to working with the team and the Mayor’s office as we go through a community process to make sure this proposed facility integrates seamlessly and productively into the surrounding neighborhood.”