Commonwealth Games England (CGE) has placed adverts in the national press this weekend, seeking applicants for the posts of chief executive, sports director and commercial director.

CGE chairman Sir Andrew Foster stated: “We will be generating a step change on the back of these appointments. We are looking at a different sort of approach.”

Foster maintains that the changes are part of a general movement to make the CGE more attractive to sponsors.

He added: “We already have a wealth of expertise on our board with people such as our President, Dame Kelly Holmes, Lawrence Dallaglio, David Robinson, who is CEO of Speedo, and Arsenal’s marketing director  Angus Kinnear.

“It is all a case of making it look to sponsors like a very supportable proposition.”

The chairman also confirmed that tt is also part of the CGE plan to move their head office from Crystal Palace to a more central location, adding: “Crystal Palace is a bit out of the way and we want to be much more in view. We want to be alongside other major sporting organisations at the centre of things.”

The CGE has put in place a wide-ranging strategy document looking at key areas for change and improvement in the years of rich opportunity leading to the Glasgow 2014 Games.

After they were relegated from the English Premier League this weekend, London-based soccer club West Ham United have insisted that they still plan to move into the Olympic Stadium after London 2012, despite their recent disappointment.

A spokesman for West Ham said they were “totally committed” to making the US$836m venue their new home after the Games next year, though their demotion from the top flight of English football is bound to provide rivals Tottenham Hotspur with fresh ammunition in their fight to have the decision overturned.

Both Tottenham and League One side Leyton Orient have applied for separate judicial reviews into West Ham’s bid for different reasons but the Hammers claim their original bid made provisions for both Premier League and Championship soccer.

The spokesman added: “As far as our plans for the Olympic Stadium are concerned, we are continuing at a pace.”

It is thought that unless they are promoted straight away, West Ham’s move to the Olympic Stadium must be serious doubt, in terms both of likely attendances and global image.

TPG Capital, the private equity firm, has bought a 35 per cent stake in sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA Sports).

CAA Sports represents more than 650 of the world’s biggest athletes, coaches, broadcasters, teams, leagues, venues and marketers.

Major League Baseball (MLB) star Derek Jeter and Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo are among the company’s clients.

Under the terms of the deal, CAA and TPG have agreed to create a US$500 million pledge fund which will provide access to significant capital for future investments.

TPG founding partner David Bonderman said: “CAA is the clear leader within its industry and the talent agency most trusted by successful actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians and athletes.

“Over its history, the company has demonstrated a consistent ability to identify nascent opportunities and expand into new markets.

“CAA’s outstanding management team has built the gold-standard franchise in their industry based on a culture of exceptional client service, and we look forward to supporting CAA at this exciting inflection point in their evolution as they look to expand their operations and services around the globe.”

 

The Football Association (FA) has revealed in their annual report a large reduction in income from broadcast rights last season.

The report showed broadcast income was down £34million from the previous season, an after effect from the collapsed Setanta deal back in 2009.

The FA was forced to agree a short-term two-year deal with ITV for England matches and the FA Cup ending in July this year, which contributed to the shortfall.

Overall income fell from £327m in 2011/12 to £299m in the 2012/13 period, but the FA still managed to report an operating profit of £28m while increasing the amount it puts back into football by £11m to £108m.

England not being involved in a major tournament last year also led to a £10m drop in revenue.

But this was offset by extra income from the new national football centre at St George’s Park (£15m) and an added £7m from Wembley Stadium events including the 2013 Champions League final and the London 2012 Olympics.

The FA’s annual report insisted that broadcasting income will increase in future seasons.

It read: “This reduction is partly offset by the additional international broadcasting revenues generated by the rights granted to nine broadcasters over the six-year period to July 2018.

“The domestic broadcasting rights for the four seasons from August 2014 to July 2018 were acquired by ITV for England friendly matches and by BBC and BT Sport for the FA Cup coverage.

“All of the Group’s broadcasting rights are sold to July 2018 and domestic broadcasting revenues will increase from the 2014/15 season.”

FIFA executive committee member Lydia Nsekera has been removed as president of the Burundi Football Association (BFA).

The BFA said Nsekera was defeated 31-25 by Reverien Ndikuriyo, a parliamentary senator, in a poll held on Sunday.

FIFA released a statement saying: “A new president was elected in a fair and transparent process.”

Observers from football’s world governing body and the Confederation of African Football attended the election meeting in Bujumbura.

Nsekera had led the BFA since 2004 as one of the few women presidents in the history of world football.

In May she was elected to serve a four-year term with Fifa’s executive committee and is the the first woman to join the governing body’s ruling board.

Sochi 2014 organizers have announced that Sochi.Park is to become free to visitors for the remainder of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The park is located in London’s Kensington Gardens.

Organizers call the park a “winter wonderland in the middle of London summer”. Visitors to the park will be provided with high-tech interactive digital experiences that takes guests through Russia to Sochi, which includes a 4D chairlift ride up the Krasnodar mountains.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, Sochi 2014 President and CEO said: “We have always wanted as many people as possible to get a flavour of the Games in 2014. We are delighted that, thanks to our partners at Rosneft we are now able to share the amazing transformation that Sochi is undergoing and allow people to experience for themselves all that the Winter Games there in 2014 has to offer – all absolutely free to the public. I hope that even more Londoners and those visiting these great Games will be able to come and see it for themselves.”

Sochi.Park has an ice arena on which the largest ice spectacular ever to be staged outside Russia is being presented – “Sochi-Small Stories of a Big City”. It stars six Olympic and 18 World Champion ice skaters including Ilya Averbukh and Tatiana Navka.

Ignite Game Technologies (“Ignite”), the gaming company creating a completely new online racing experience — Simraceway today unveiled legendary sports car and ex-Formula One driver Allan McNish as the latest professional racer to join its talented development team.

McNish will take up a dual role assisting with the development of the game’s vehicle physics and training a new generation of real-world drivers at its racing facility, the Simraceway Performance Driving Center (formerly the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School).

The Scot, who made his mark on endurance racing history with two 24 Hours of Le Mans triumphs and three American Le Mans Series titles, will focus on ensuring the authenticity of Simraceway’s vast range of sports cars. He joins a talented development team that is already benefiting from the experience and expertise of four-time IndyCar Series winner Dario Franchitti and double Indianapolis 500 Champion Dan Wheldon, who played a key role in the title’s development before his death in October 2011.

Ignite CEO Jonathan Haswell was delighted to have added McNish to Simraceway’s list of pro racers. “When we began our search for a driver to help us perfect Simraceway’s sports car physics, Allan’s name was right at the top of our list. The sheer depth and breadth of his knowledge and ability will provide us with an unparalleled resource which we can call on to help make Simraceway the most authentic racing game on the market. Thanks to Allan and Dario’s presence on the team, and Dan’s invaluable legacy, I feel like we are perfectly placed following our public beta launch in November.”

McNish, a central figure in the Jim Russell Future Driver Search, established in 2009 to discover the world’s finest young racers, will also assist with driver development programs at Simraceway’s real-world racing school, the Simraceway Performance Driving Center. The former F1 driver will spend time at the Infineon Raceway-based facility, calling on his three decades of competitive experience to train the students there. His unrivalled expertise will form part of a revolutionary program that utilizes real-world training methods alongside Simraceway’s simulation-grade software.

“It’s a thrill to be teaming up with Ignite on such an exciting project,” said McNish. “Through both Simraceway and the Simraceway Performance Driving Center, I’ll be able to achieve something that has always been very close to my heart: helping to develop the next generation of driving talent.”

by Ismail Uddin

The English FA is scheduled to deliver its report on Lord Triesman’s allegations of unethical behaviour by four exco members during last year’s World Cup bidding process to FIFA by Friday, May 27.

However, the refusal to stand in front of the body by the ‘whistleblower’ who told the Sunday Times that Qatar had bribed FIFA members in exchange for votes may significantly undermine the report as those allegations had always been considered far more serious than the accusations levelled at individuals by Triesman.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter had said: “We are anxiously awaiting for these evidences or non-evidences in order that we can take the adequate steps. The newspaper has agreed that we will bring this whistleblower here to Zurich and then we will have an investigation of this.”

However FIFA has now stated that the whistleblower had pulled out “on legal advice.” In a statement, Qatar’s bid team said the evidence was “wholly unsupported” by any first-hand evidence.

It added: “These individuals… do not state when the alleged bribes were to be paid, how the negotiations with the individuals concerned had been conducted or crucially how they came to know of the alleged bribes. On any proper view, their evidence is worthless.”

FIFA’s ethic commission will have only a matter of three days in which to assess the strength of Triesman’s evidence against Ricardo Teixeira (Brazil), Nicolas Leoz (Paraguay and CONMEBOL president), Worawi Makudi (Thailand) and Jack Warner (CONCACAF president).

The UK’s minister for sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson has said construction work of the Olympic Park in east London is now 83 per cent complete following the completion of the handball arena.

The arena is the third in the Olympic Park grounds to have been completed and will seat 7,000 people. The venue is due to become a multi-use sports centre for athletics training and community use after the 2012 Games. 

The basketball venue is likely to be the next to be completed and the 12,000-seat venue will also stage wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and the final stages of the handball competition, billed as one of the largest temporary venues built for any Olympics.

The 6,000-seat velodrome was also unveiled in February, while the last piece of turf on the stadium’s field was laid in March.

The public sector funding package for the Games has stayed at £9.3bn (US$15.1bn), however, the estimated costs for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), in charge of Olympic building and infrastructure, has been cut by £35m ($56.9m) to £7.27bn ($11.82bn).

Robertson said: “We continue to seek value for money and cost savings in our day-to-day running of the project.”