A Qatari/Australian led consortium’s design has won an international architecture competition to create a national stadium and sports village in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Doha-based Australian firm, DESIGNSPORT, and Australian LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), in collaboration with local Ethiopian architects, JDAW,  won the competition for their design which references Ethiopia’s world-famous excavated architecture and the ‘Mother womb’, the skeleton of one of the first humans, Lucy, who is about 3.2 million years old.

The stadium is shaped like a coffee bean, the main source of income in Ethiopia. The façade material that wraps around the stadium was similarly inspired by Ethiopian culture, modelled on the Massob, an Ethiopian communal serving basket made from woven grass.  Completing the salute to nature, the roof of the stadium, which is an intelligent membrane, appears like a cloud on the horizon of the vast Ethiopian sky.

Work on the Addis Ababa stadium is scheduled to begin in 2014.  The development is the largest sporting infrastructure project in Ethiopia, the second-most populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa and its fastest growing economy. The new facility, set on a 60-hectare site, will consist of a 60,000-seat stadium, an athletics track, aquatic centre, residential village, sports halls and arenas, retail and commercial zones as well as the headquarters of the Federal Sport Commission.

Samantha Cotterell, CEO of DESIGNSPORT, a consultancy specialising in sport architecture and event design, who led the bid said: “The brief was to design a centre that would revitalise sport in Ethiopia.  The result is a sports venue which can be used by all.  It is for community use at a grass roots level right through to providing a high performance training centre for elite athletes and a location for major international sporting events.”

Chris Bosse, who led the design team, and is a director of LAVA, an award winning international firm of architects added: “We have gone back to the very origin of stadium design with the sunken arena surrounded by grandstands formed from excavated material.  The man-made crater is a clever remodelling of the existing terrain, integrating facilities within the landscape.  It is an efficient use of space which optimises the site’s environmental performance while minimising construction costs.”

The finger has been pointed at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for failing to supply the funding they promised the RFU Championship clubs following the re-vamping of English rugby’s second tier.

The clubs claim that they are each owed £77k for the last three seasons based on an agreement struck with the governing body when the league was reduced from 16 teams to 12 back in 2009.

The RFU reportedly promised initial funding of £2.3m plus £1m from Premier Rugby for eight years but is has since stressed that these figures – £295,000 per club in 2009-10 rising to £400,000 in 2015-16 – were only estimates. The Daily Telegraph also reports that under a new agreement proposed by the RFU, the clubs could be faced with a further £120k shortfall.

The newspaper details that Championship clubs were expecting to receive £400k in 2015-16 but following a new offer from the RFU, the new proposal would see them get £359.4k. With the two bodies seemingly at loggerheads, Championship chairman Geoff Irvine has called on the organising body to “honour” their original commitment.

“All of the clubs in the Championship are busily preparing for the new season but we are being constantly hampered by the RFU’s refusal to deliver what they promised,” said Irvine. “Every club in the league has embraced the format in spite of the concerns that were allayed prior to its inception and everybody can see the impact that the Championship has on Premiership and international rugby.

“No one would argue the fact that playing standards have risen and that the dual-registration scheme has proven a success with many Premiership teams clambering at the opportunity of their youngsters playing in such a demanding environment. What is of particular concern to the clubs though is that the RFU refuses to fulfil its responsibilities to the Championship when it ‘owns’ the competition.

“The RFU has not kept the promises that it made and if we want to see standards improve then we need to have a commitment that is honoured.”

An RFU spokesman told the newspaper that they had put forward “a good proposal that not only includes an increase on last season but also runs for four years, offering stability of funding.”

Manchester City Football Club have announced that they have teamed up with Mass Relevance, the technology leader in social curation, to unveil several new social initiatives for City fans attending and watching matches during the 2012 season.

Following a few successful trial integrations during matches against Newcastle United and Norwich City in 2011, the club plans to expand these initiatives throughout the year.

City’s social enhancements include the use of Twitter to engage and entertain fans who tune into the TV broadcasts at City Square, a dedicated fan area near the club’s shop. They also integrate real-time fan Tweets on Etihad Stadium’s video boards, jumbotron and other stadium distribution channels. City is the first Premier League club to use the popular social media platform as part of their in-game displays.

The initiatives are powered by Mass Relevance’s social engagement platform that allows the Club to instantly aggregate, curate and deliver the best fan content into stadium displays, TV broadcasts and mcfc.co.uk.

To date, trials of the integration have seen tremendous results. In a December match against Norwich, the club leveraged Mass Relevance to deliver social content on match day screens throughout the stadium and create dialogue with and between fans, pundits and announcers before and after the game (hashtag #blueview). The strategy resulted in more than 1,500 #blueview Tweets in just six hours from more than 965 unique Twitter authors, providing the club with message and brand reach of nearly 400,000 Twitter users and nearly 2.5 million impressions.

Richard Ayers, Digital Playmaker for Manchester City, said: “At City we have always believed that home games at the Etihad Stadium are not just exclusive to the 47,000 fans in the stands. They are an opportunity for City supporters from around the world to connect with one another and feel part of the match day experience.

“Mass Relevance enables us to empower our fans and add a new dimension to our pre-match build up by being able to broadcast their Tweets in real time around the stadium big screens. This partnership continues our strategy of innovating with digital media in order to give fans more access to the club — to increase engagement and improve their experience.”

Mass Relevance CEO Sam Decker, added: “Football fans are some of the most dedicated and vocal fans on the planet and real-time social content continues to play a key role in enhancing the experience whether you are at the match, watching on TV or following on your mobile device. We’re very excited to work with Manchester City to kick off a new era of fan engagement and momentum moving into the 2012 season.”

The Mass Relevance Platform, which powers the team’s strategy, uniquely combines a cutting-edge social technology that can instantly aggregate, curate and deliver the best content for any context with an enterprise SaaS infrastructure to meet the needs of the Fortune 500 at a scale of tens of thousands of Tweets per second and less than a second to publish to a real-time experience.

Mass Relevance has powered successful integrated social content strategies for media, entertainment and consumer brands such as Cisco, Dick Clark Productions, E! Online, ITV, MTV, NBC Sports and Pepsi. The company partnered with Twitter to power President Barack Obama’s July 2011 Twitter Town Hall.

Kyle Busch  was fined $25,000 by NASCAR on Tuesday for his obscene gesture, and the driver again apologized for losing his temper.

Busch was also placed on probation through Dec. 31 – the same day as his wedding – for what NASCAR called unsportsmanlike conduct in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I lost my cool, plain and simple,” Busch said in a statement. “It’s not acceptable, and I know that. I apologize to NASCAR, its fans, all the partners who support Joe Gibbs Racing, and all the people who work so hard to give me a racecar that’s capable of winning races every week. All of those people deserve better from me, and I owe it to them to keep my emotions in check.”

Busch was penalized for speeding at Texas and called into the pits to serve a one-lap penalty. While sitting in his car, he held up his middle finger toward the NASCAR official standing in front of his Toyota ( TM – news – people ).

The in-car camera caught the gesture, and it was broadcast live before ESPN realized what Busch was doing. The network apologized and cut away from the shot.

NASCAR immediately penalized Busch an additional two laps and ordered crew chief Dave Rogers to get the driver under control.

It led to a testy exchange between driver and crew chief, with Busch arguing that NASCAR was denying his right to free speech.

“They’re going against the constitutional rights for everybody,” Busch yelled over his radio.

Rogers implored Busch to shut his mouth and serve the penalty.

“Kyle, stop, please!” Rogers told him. “We all work too hard for this! You’re costing us. Bring it to pit road, park it for two laps.”

Busch was unable to recover from the sequence and finished 32nd, two laps down. He apologized immediately after the race for his latest blowup, and reiterated it following Tuesday’s fine.

“I accept NASCAR’s penalty and realize what I did during Sunday’s race at Texas was inappropriate,” he said. “Even in my relatively short time here in NASCAR, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that I wear my emotions on my sleeve. Sometimes that passion has allowed me to find that little something extra I needed to win, and other times it’s made me cross the line. Sunday at Texas was one of those days.”

Sport & media company Inforstrada Sports have announced they have developed the and designed the online platform of the Dutch Jupiler League, the second tier in soccer in the Netherlands, on behalf of the ‘Coöperatie Eerste Divisie’ (CED). 

Infostrada Sports provided CED with a brand new web platform that includes in-house web development services, such as a hosting and streaming solution (connected with FOX Sports platform), a tailor made content management system, social media integration and online advertising and reporting tools. One of the main pillars of the platform is the integration of exclusive video content such as match highlights, goal alerts and interviews. In addition, an implemented filter system enables football fans to search for specific (video) content of their favourite club.

“We are pleased the ‘Coöperatie Eerste Divisie’ sees us as a valuable partner for the development of their online media platform, as we are also the production company for the Jupiler League broadcasts. Additionally, Infostrada Sports delivers the editorial content (including data), which is published on this platform. I am convinced that with this new online platform we offer the football fans a new level of football experience,” said Danny Menken, CEO Infostrada Sports.

Jelle Beuker, Operational Director ‘Coöperatie Eerste Divisie’, strongly believes in the added value of the new website: “The new structure of JupilerLeague.nl enables football fans to have continuous access to the latest news and videos on their tablet, laptop and desktop computer. The new website will bring the Jupiler League closer to the fans.”

Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E), the global brand engagement network of Havas, has today announced a strategic partnership with independent Brazilian experiential marketing agency, Benza Promotions & Events.

Based in Rio, Benza will expand HS&E’s global brand engagement offering in this growing market in the run up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Benza’s extensive track record in event creation and production will complement HS&E’s operations in São Paulo, which offers brands and institutions a wide-range of specialized services including strategic consulting and planning, sponsorship activation, brand content, events and promotion. HS&E has been present in the Brazilian market for over two years, benefitting from the support of Havas Brazil, and has worked for clients such as BMW, Entourage, Hyundai, Louis Vuitton, Tetrapak, and Wipro. 

Managed by founder Marcelo Benzaquem, Benza adds an attractive client base to the partnership, particularly its relationship with The Coca-Cola Company, already a client of HS&E and its recently-acquired US-based experiential agency ignition (which holds a prestigious ‘global partner’ status). 

Lucien Boyer, President & Global CEO, HS&E commented: “This partnership will up-weight the services we deliver to current clients – which includes 11 Olympic sponsors during London 2012 – particularly as global brands and sports organizations prepare their strategies and activations around the World Cup and the Olympic Games in Brazil.” 

“Marcelo’s team has delivered exciting, creative campaigns that place celebration at the center of sports and entertainment events. Our agencies share a common spirit which will help us engage Brazilian and international fans in meaningful ways. We will achieve great things together from this close collaboration at such an important time for Brazil.” 

Marcelo Benzaquem, Founder of Benza added: “We are delighted to join HS&E and benefit from the track record, insight, and global perspective of a network that is present in over 20 markets. We look forward to working together closely and offering innovative, integrated solutions to our clients.” 

HS&E Brazil Strategic Development & International Event Manager, Noémie Claret, will be in charge of developing synergies and new business between the two agencies, as well as between other sister agencies managed by Havas Brazil and Havas Digital Latin America CEO, Ricardo Reis.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have apologised to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after referring to them incorrectly as the “Sand Monkeys” in an article on their official website.

The AFC made the mistake after seeing the name written on a web-based encyclopedia and believing it to be the UAE’s nickname.

They have since admitted that the nickname, which the UAE labelled racist and “evidence of disrespect”, had been used in error and that the reference was fixed as soon as they had realised their mistake.

“The AFC apologises for an editorial mistake in which the UAE National Team was inadvertently referred to by an inaccurate nickname… in the article ‘UAE to take cautious approach’ dated 12 October 2012,” a statement for the Malaysia-based body said.

“The error, which was mainly because of referral to a popular web-based encyclopedia by the concerned editor, was corrected immediately after it was noticed.

“The AFC would like to apologise for any hurt this might have caused to the UAE Football Association and UAE football fans.”

The UAE’s secretary general Yousuf Abdulla said the affair “reveals the racist acts of some of the AFC officials from the eastern part of the continent towards the countries from the western region.”

The UAE’s nickname is actually Al-Abyad, or The Whites.

English giants Liverpool could sell the naming rights to Anfield, owner John Henry has revealed.

Since buying the club in October 2010 Henry has been investigating whether to redevelop the existing ground or build a new stadium in Stanley Park – the plan which was put forward by former owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

The American has now revealed that if they do decide to stay at historic home Anfield, they could sell the naming rights to help bring extra revenue into the club, though it wasn’t something being actively worked on at the moment.

Fenway Sports Group chief Henry told the Tomkins Times website: “A naming rights deal at Anfield could occur, I suppose, if the partner were right. We haven’t pursued it.”

“There are various ways to generate revenues,” he said. “A big club has to hit on all cylinders so to speak. Champions League, Premier League, commercial – everywhere that makes sense.

“As evidenced by Manchester City’s success and that of Chelsea and Manchester United, you have to have sufficient resources to replenish and improve your squad annually in the Premier League. You don’t have a choice.”