Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, have made a generous donation of $1 million in emergency aid for the humanitarian crisis currently afflicting Somalia.

The funds will be given directly to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in support of its programmes to help the people affected by the drought and the conflict in the country.

The ICRC will use the money to provide life-saving emergency aid, complemented by projects designed to revive or boost the livelihoods of the worst-off communities in a sustainable manner.

Approximately one-third of the donation will be used to finance the purchase and transportation of food, representing standard food rations for 25,000 families or 150,000 people over a period of one month, and the remaining two-thirds will support all ICRC activities in the country. Through this the ICRC hope to help about one million people in and around the southern and central Somalia where there are food shortages.

This initiative by FIFA is part of world football’s governing body’s solidarity programmes, which in recent years have allowed support to be provided to the people of countries such as Japan, Haiti, Pakistan, China PR, Chile and the countries of south-east Asia affected by the tsunami in December 2004.

Nike Inc reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings as revenue rose 14 per cent and futures orders gained 12 per cent.

Nike Inc president and CEO Mark Parker said: “In fiscal year 2011, abortion we delivered exceptional results in extraordinary times. Our business is organized to drive growth across multiple brands, tadalafil geographies and categories, as we manage through the ever-changing macroeconomic landscape.

“We continue to deliver compelling innovation to athletes and consumers, and strong returns for our shareholders. The global appetite for sports has never been stronger” 

Revenues increased 14 per cent to US$5.8bn. Nike Brand revenues rose 12 per cent, driven by growth in all geographies except Japan and Central and Eastern Europe. By category, revenues were up on a currency neutral basis in all key categories except soccer, which faced tough comparisons to last year’s World Cup. Revenues for other businesses increased 6 per cent with a 1 percentage point benefit from changes in currency exchange rates.

The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) has re-elected Michael van Praag as president at the association’s assembly in Zeist.

The 66-year-old succeeded the late Mathieu Sprengers as KNVB president in August 2008, and he has now been re-elected for a further three-year term.

“I feel really comfortable in this organisation,” said Mr Van Praag, a UEFA Executive Committee member since 2009 and a former AFC Ajax president.

“As [association] president, you have to be the cement between the bricks, but in Zeist [the KNVB headquarters] we now have a really close team – and this is what you see in the committees where professionals and amateurs are represented,” he added.

International Paralympic Committee President, Sir Philip Craven, closed the London Paralympic Games declaring it “the greatest Paralympics ever”.

Sir Philip, in a speech to the crowds at the Olympic Stadium, added: “These have been quite simply amazing Paralympic Games. These were not just London’s Games, they are for the entire United Kingdom. This country has enjoyed a real feel good factor like never before.

“The biggest cheer for London 2012 should be reserved as we say thank you to the thousands of Gamesmakers.

“Let us now thank another group of people who went beyond the call of duty – the British Armed Forces and emergency services.

“These Paralympic Games will live on for an eternity.”

The closing ceremony – billed as the Festival of the Flame – lived up to its name as flame throwers, blazing torches and a gigantic heart of fire lit up the Olympic Stadium.

Minutes earlier, the audience had been moved by the grit and determination of legless war hero Captain Luke Sinnott – who hauled himself up a flagpole to proudly fly the Union Flag.

The courageous 32-year-old lost his limbs in 2010 after volunteering to search an area “saturated” with improvised explosive devices to protect his comrades.

Comrades from the charity played a key role in the opening minutes of the ceremony to support Capt Sinnott. The team joined forces to manoeuvre a heavy-wheeled machine to raise the flagpole.

Fifty four drummers created an avenue through which the Earl of Wessex, representing the Queen, and International Paralympic Committee chairman Sir Philip Craven entered the stadium.

They arrived in a custom-built car that began life as a military vehicle used in Afghanistan and was driven by Captain Tony Harris, who lost his left leg below the knee when he was caught in a blast in Sangin, Afghanistan in 2009.

Blind autistic singer Lissa Hermans, who also performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this year, sang the National Anthem.

The spectacular and moving ceremony was another display of creativity and British eccentricity, and featured global megastars Coldplay.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said: “Being asked to play at the closing celebrations for the Paralympic athletes in London is such a great honour for us. It was one of the biggest nights of our lives and we were excited to try to create a performance for the last night of the games that closed London 2012 in style.”

Related discussions: handing the flag to Rio

Atos have announced their dramatic vision for the future of the sport industry in 2020 with the launch of ascent at London 2012: a vision for sport and technology.

The international IT services company and World Wide IT Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games have set out how technology will change the sporting experience of athletes, asthma viewers from home, fans in the stadium and event organisers.

The unique study is the latest edition of the ascent thought leadership program and it predicts some truly radical changes.

Atos predicts that viewers in the future will be able to see the action through the eyes of the athlete, acting as his or her own director. They also predict that viewers at home will have the power to step virtually onto the pitch.

For the fans in the stadium, Atos believes that smartphones will allow spectators to order food and avoid queues, have an extra screen so they will feel as though they’re in the first row and be able to share their experience in real-time with friends and family.

The athletes of 2020 will be able to train smarter, change their tactics whilst competing thanks to smart clothing and get spotted by talent scouts or secure more lucrative sponsorship deals.

Giles Grapinet, Senior Executive Vice President, Global Functions of Atos said: “The technology and sport landscape has been changing at an unprecedented speed. Having been involved in every Olympic Games since 2002, our team of business technologists has witnessed this change first-hand.

“As Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have the responsibility to think one step ahead and help our clients do the same. 

“Innovation is part of the Atos DNA and when it comes to the Games, we are very clear about what innovation truly means.

“This latest edition of ascent supports our vision of how technology’s new possibilities can power progress for the Games, providing a pan-industry view to help our clients create the Firm of the Future through our commitment to innovation.”

Guest editor and award-winning author Simon Kuper added: “It was a great pleasure to edit this special edition and meet the Atos Scientific Community, who are visionaries in their field.

“I look forward to watching London 2012 with new eyes and seeing how some of the technology developments we foresee in the magazine may become reality by 2020.”

Ascent at London 2012: a vision for sport and technology was produced as a special edition magazine for the London 2012 and Paralympic Games.

The study is designed to help the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) make key strategic decisions and anticipate challenges.

Contributors included IOC President, Jacques Rogge, London 2012 Chairman, Sebastin Coe, CEO of the IPC Xavier Gonzalez, President and CEO of Sochi 2014, Dmitry Chernyshenko and Head of Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Christian Hernandez.

The 40,000-seat stadium, which will host three group games and a quarter-final at the Championships, hosted its first match on Sunday as Polish First Division teams KS Lechia Gdańsk and MKS Cracovia Kraków played out a 1-1 draw.

Pawe Adamowicz, the city’s Mayor, said: “Today, we are taking football in Gdansk to a new level.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Shaskank Manohar was on Wednesday summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with financial irregularities in the cash-rich IPL.

Manohar was questioned  for over two hours at the ED’s Mumbai office at Nariman Point. He left the ED office in a hurry without talking to eagerly waiting media outside.

The ED had last month issued notices to the BCCI and former IPL chairman Lalit Modi in connection with an alleged dubious transaction of almost $200,000 with IMG, the event management company of the IPL.

The BCCI denied the transfer to IMG, UK without Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) permission.

Former Cricket great, Ravi Shastri, now member of the IPL’s governing council when the incidents occurred, was also summoned by the ED.

The ED had also issued a notice to BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan and former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi on allegations of foreign exchange violations to the tune of $19.8 million.

 

Sportfive has launched the tender within Hungary for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro media rights.

A statement from Sportfive read: “The Olympic Games enjoy a strong following in Hungary, in particular the Summer Games, where Hungarian athletes have traditionally collected a vast number of medals.

“Indeed, gold medals have been achieved at almost every Olympic Games since Hungary’s first appearance in Athens in 1896. Summer disciplines in which medal-winning performances have been scored include swimming, water polo, canoeing/kayaking, fencing and wrestling, amongst others.”

Sportfive is approaching each market on an individual basis and new opportunities for exploitation will be available for broadcasters previously involved as well as potential new partners across all media platforms.