International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven believes London 2012 Paralympic Games could be the best yet.

“The London 2012 Paralympic Games will quite simply be sport like never before,” said Sir Philip, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“Our elite athletes will captivate billions around the world, will inspire millions, and ultimately lead societal change and help alter perceptions of what can be achieved by a person with an impairment.

“We are now one year away from London 2012.

“The excitement is building by the day, and as we get closer, I truly believe that London 2012 is shaping up to be just as good as Beijing in 2008, if not better.

“London also has the unique opportunity to be a truly global event – not just in terms of athletes and countries taking part – but spectators and TV viewers.

“The city is a short journey from many European cities and also home to many large international communities.

“Therefore, next year I don’t think it will just be the British athletes who will enjoy the passionate vocal support that a home crowd brings.”

There is expected to be a media frenzy at the Paralympics in London and the number of television viewers is widely expected to top the culminated audience of 3.8 billion that tuned in for the Beijing Paralympics.

Sir Philip hopes more exposure than ever before for the Paralympic Games will lead to a greater awareness of the Agitos – the symbol of the Paralympic Movement – and what it stands for.

“I want more people to understand the IPC’s objectives for organizing one of the biggest multi-sport events in the world,” he said.

“Our symbol represents our role in bringing athletes from all around the world together through the Movement, whether that be through grassroots sport or the elite level.

“There is no greater showcase then to do it in front of millions of spectators and billions of TV viewers at London 2012.”

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Atalanta are in the process of taking all legal action available to clear its name after a six-point deduction for its involvement in alleged match-fixing was upheld by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

The newly promoted Serie A club on Friday saw defender Thomas Manfredini cleared of a three-year ban, but captain and former Italy midfielder Cristiano Doni’s three-and-a-half year ban was upheld by the FIGC’s federal justice court. The other headline name from the investigation, retired SS Lazio and Italy forward Giuseppe Signori, also saw his five-year exclusion from all football-related activity upheld.

The investigation has seen 17 individuals suspended for between one and five years. An equal number of clubs, who with the exception of Atalanta are all outside Serie A, have had points deducted or received fines. Atalanta’s fellow Serie A club Chievo Verona earlier chose to enter a plea bargain and was fined $115,000.

The clubs and individuals were cited by the FIGC’s sporting prosecutor following a criminal investigation into a betting scam which had initially revolved around 18 games in Serie B and Italy’s lower divisions.  Police said they had found evidence of an organised system among former and current footballers, sports betting operators and others to manipulate the results of a number of matches. Atalanta’s punishment will take effect for the upcoming 2011-12 Serie A season, but the club has stated its determination to continue its fight against the points deduction.

A club statement read: “Atalanta cannot help but again manifest the profound disappointment with the decision that seriously damages people based only on gossip. This evidence is unreliable and that became clear during the course of the trial. Atalanta reiterates firmly that the club and Doni are totally extraneous to the accusations and will take all legal action to make that clear. The fact Manfredini was cleared represents a satisfying moment and further support for our case.”

Swedish professional golfer Alex Noren has signed with global sports and media company IMG.

The international rights representation agency will co-manage the 29-year old alongside his brother, bronchi Andreas Lagercrantz, who has until now has been handling the player’s affairs alone. Having won the recent Nordea Masters in Stockholm and last month’s 2011 Saab Wales Open, Noren now lies in 8th place on the Race to Dubai rankings and a career high of 69th in the official world rankings.

Noren said: “These are great circumstances in which to be joining IMG having just won in front of my home fans. IMG is the biggest management agency in global golf and, with my brother as my personal manager and IMG’s Global and Swedish team also working on my behalf, I believe they are the best people to help me navigate through the next stage of my career. I am very excited at what is ahead.”

Guy Kinnings, managing director of IMG Golf, added: “Alex has enjoyed a great season and had a fantastic win yesterday. We are very pleased he is joining IMG. Our Swedish business is really developing and we feel we are well placed to really capitalise on his success and talent.”

IMG’s Duncan Reid, based in London, will represent Noren globally, while Eva Herder will manage him in Sweden.

In other golf business news, equipment brand Ping has become the official headwear and golf bag supplier of the English Women’s Golf Association (EWGA) for the coming year, and the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) has announced bottled water brand Highland Spring as the title sponsor of this year’s Scottish Junior Masters at Gleneagles.

World Wrestling Entertainment will present its first live event in China at the  Expo 2010 Shanghai on 22 August, it has been revealed.

The 90 minute event, titled ‘WWE Raw presents Summerslam’, will feature WWE superstars including John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and others.

The event will be one of around 15 shows performing on the main stage at the Expo Cultural Centre, the most state-of-the-art arena in China.

WWE chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, said: “WWE is honoured that the Chinese government and Expo 2010 Shanghai have offered us this rare and historic opportunity to perform at the successful Shanghai World Expo. We are thankful to be allowed to entertain the attendees and our fans in the region at Expo 2010 Shanghai.”

Expo 2010 Shanghai opened on 1 May and runs until 31 October. More than 240 countries and international organisations are participating in the Expo, with many world leaders having attended during the first couple of months.

The Expo expects to see more than 70 million visitors from around the world, and has already seen more than 10 million attend.

 

When the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) convenes its congress in Tokyo they are set to validate a historic milestone.

The Congress will see the constitutional birth of a new combined baseball and softball federation in a bid for Olympic reinstatement, shop and has the makings to be the most significant marker in international baseball and softball sporting history.

With IBAF President and new World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Co-President Riccardo Fraccari presiding over the Congress—and ISF President and WBSC Co-President Don Porter leading a delegation of softball representatives—the Congress will act to ratify the new Constitution governing the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).

This will finalize a long and detailed process to meet the stringent criteria of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) whereby the two independent and recognized international federations currently governing baseball and softball shall merge into a single international federation.

“This is about far more than simply ratifying a legal document, drugs ” said Fraccari. “This is a major achievement in a two-year campaign that embodies the dreams of millions of men and women, and boys and girls around the world—from the professional leagues to the grassroots level—who want to play for their country in the Olympic Games, the pinnacle of sporting excellence.” 

The Tokyo Congress follows the recent successful World Baseball Classic (WBC) final in San Francisco, which broke all attendance, broadcast, viewing and commercial records for the event.  The WBC was a showcase for the increasing popularity of the sport and boosted efforts by baseball and softball officials and professional leagues to grow and globalize the game, especially for young people in parts of the world where there are limited options to play Olympic team sports.

At the conclusion of the Congress, the World Baseball Softball Confederation is also planning to launch the next phase of its bid leading up to a presentation before the IOC Executive Board at the end of May. 

The WBSC will unveil a new campaign logo and theme—and web site—and launch an all-encompassing  social media push to drive the many millions of players and supporters of all ages and backgrounds who love their sport and the Olympic Games to join the line up to get baseball and softball back in the Olympic Games. 

“Baseball and softball rank by far as the most followed sport in the world that is not on the Olympic programme today,” said Porter.  “And it offers boys and girls everywhere an easy path into a great team sport unlike anything else in the Olympic Games.  Even though we have 65 million players today, there’s plenty of room for growth.  That’s why this campaign is so important to us.”

“We’ve really benefited from the invaluable advice and counsel that the Olympic Family offered us,” Fraccari said, “there have been major advancements into giving our sports exceptional appeal in the Olympic format.  That’s why we’ve streamlined our tournament and created back-to-back tournaments, which offers full gender equity in the most compelling and exciting TV package we’ve ever put forward.”

“The explosive potential of baseball-softball captured within the Olympics could lead to tremendous and unparalleled growth,” said Porter.  “In fact, we believe baseball and softball can become the next great global game and serve to instill the ideals of Olympism in the lives of many more millions of young, advanced people—and future generations—around the world.”

London 2012 Olympic organising officials have revealed that a Rio 2016 employee removed documents from them without their consent during this summer’s Olympic Games.

The staff member is understood to have downloaded the documents without authorisation during official knowledge transfer sessions while working alongside London 2012 staff. 

They are believed to have taken information which included strategic planning details while working in London’s technology department. 

A spokesperson for LOCOG said: “We can confirm that some London 2012 material was accessed and removed without consent from LOCOG by a Rio 2016 secondee during the Olympic Games. 

“This was reported immediately to the Rio senior management who took swift action to recover the material and return it to LOCOG. 

“No security documents were copied and no personal data was compromised.” 

Reports in the Brazilian media said nine employees have been fired as a result of the theft but Rio 2016 were not available for comment to confirm the sackings related to the file removal incident. 

Wichita State University have renewed their partnership with Paciolan who specialise in providing ticketing, marketing, and fundraising solutions in college athletics.

Wichita State will continue leveraging Paciolan’s full suite of solutions, including its fully integrated and enhanced online priority points system for donors and season ticket holders. Wichita State has been working with Paciolan since 1993.

“Our partnership with Paciolan has opened up so many opportunities to build lifetime customer relationships with Shocker fans,” said Dr. Eric L. Sexton, director of athletics, Wichita State University. “The Paciolan system is completely integrated, which allows us to leverage and streamline communications between the ticket and development offices, more efficiently manage our priority points system, and enhance our relationships with our fans and donors.”

By leveraging Paciolan’s Fundraiser’s Advantage and DonorNet solutions integrated into the ticketing system, Wichita State has been able to create and manage its own customized Priority Points system for basketball, which allowed it to maximize donation revenue through premium seating and post season ticket sales. The Priority Points system awards points based on donor and season ticket holder criteria, while seamlessly enabling season ticket holders and donors to purchase tickets based on their priority level. Paciolan’s online tools also give donors the ability to see their current priority point totals and allows for complete donor account management to easily increase gifts and make payments to accumulate points.

“The Priority Points system has helped us support our strong basketball ticketing program — success we hope to parlay into all of our other athletics initiatives,” said Russell Wilkins, assistant athletic director, ticket operations, Wichita State University. “It has also given us the ability to reward our season ticket holders and donors who support our scholarship funds and endowments.”

Dave Butler, chief executive officer of Paciolan, said: “We are excited to be extending our relationship with Wichita State, an innovative university we have worked with for almost 20 years. We look forward to continuing our partnership with them to extend the success of their priority points program, as well as helping them achieve continued success with their many exciting athletics initiatives.”