IMG Worldwide, the global sports and entertainment company, has signed Australian swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe as a global client.

Thorpe will be represented outside of Australia, New Zealand and Japan by IMG who will work closely with his existing team, Grand Slam International.

IMG will also help develop the Thorpedo brand as well as Thorpe’s charitable foundation, Fountain for Youth.

Since taking a break from swimming, Thorpe has dedicated his time to Fountain for Youth. The organisation aims to embrace humanity by nurturing children, specifically raising funds for disadvantaged children and research into childhood illnesses, focusing on education as a catalyst for improved health.

Thorpe has won a total of nine Olympic medals, including five gold medals. He was also the first person to win six gold medals at one World Championship.

NASCAR has appointed Kenny Mitchell to Managing Director of Brand and Consumer Marketing.

He will be responsible for leading and implementing the company’s overall brand direction and overseeing the strategic growth plans for several critical segments, viagra 100mg including youth, millennial and multicultural. Mitchell will start on Monday, December 2, and be based out of NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach.

Mitchell is the next step in the evolution of NASCAR’s marketing function reporting to Vice President of Marketing Kim Brink. He will be responsible for developing and executing the annual NASCAR marketing plan and overseeing the company’s media strategies and planning in close collaboration with other NASCAR departments. Additionally, he will work on advancing the Industry Action Plan strategies aimed at growing and diversifying the sport’s fan base. 

Mitchell joins NASCAR from Dew Tour, a Division of Alli and The NBC Sports Group, where he served as vice president and general manager, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Dew Tour brand and business, including partnerships, sales, marketing, content, events operations and execution. In addition, he led all business development and expansion efforts.

Prior to joining the Dew Tour, Mitchell spent time at Gatorade/PepsiCo. While at Gatorade, he held several brand management and sports marketing positions. Most notably, Mitchell served as the director of sports marketing at Gatorade where he managed many of the brand’s sports marketing partnerships, including athlete and property relations, sponsorship negotiations, activation and the creation and execution of retail programming.

“We are confident that Kenny’s wealth of marketing experience and solid sports background will help to guide NASCAR in our efforts to grow the brand across several key demographics,” said NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps. “Kenny’s innovative work in developing and growing brands so that they appeal to a younger and more diverse audience makes him the perfect fit for this role and our organization.”

Eight women badminton players have been disqualified by the sport’s federation on Wednesday following deliberant attempts to lose at the Olympics and manipulate the draw.

They were disqualified following a formal disciplinary hearing by the Badminton World Federation, but were not expelled from the Games. It was not clear what that meant for their future participation in London.

The players involved were China’s world champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, Indonesia’s Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari and two South Korean pairs – Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung.

The four women’s doubles pairs, two of which are from South Korea, were accused of throwing Tuesday night’s matches to get a favourable position in the draw for the knock-out phase.

The South Korean and Indonesian pairs are appealing the decision.

Lord Coe, chairman of London’s organising committee, called the incident “unacceptable.” “Who wants to sit through something like that?” he added.

The audience were flabergasted by the scenes and booed the players, who included Chinese world doubles champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang, after the longest rally in their first game was only four strokes. The outcome of the game would determine which team they faced in the knockout rounds.

Gail Emms, a 2004 British Olympic badminton silver medallist watching the game, said it was “very embarrassing” for the sport and was not in the Olympic spirit.

Paul Deighton, the chief executive of London 2012 said spectators at the matches would not receive a refund for their tickets as they also saw other games.

FIFA has stepped up its social media strategies by launching it’s own YouTube Channel to make the world football federation’s rich audiovisual content more accessible to fans.

FIFA on YouTube features tailor-made football match action from the most recent FIFA competitions, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 Germany, top player profiles and clips from FIFA documentaries, FIFA Futbol Mundialshows and the 2014 Brazil monthly magazine show.

This content will be updated and expanded regularly and will be complemented with content from the non-competitive side, such as features on football development, social development initiatives and human interest stories, as well as video news releases and live streaming of media events.

“FIFA is keen to engage with football fans beyond our competitions by sharing our rich visual content with them, and for this there is no better platform in terms of reach and penetration than YouTube,” said Joseph S. Blatter, President of FIFA . “We want to provide YouTube users with the greatest moments of FIFA World Cup history but also invite them to share theirs with us.”

Stephen Nuttall, YouTube’s senior director of sports partnerships in EMEA, said: “We are very excited that FIFA is launching its channel on YouTube. This new channel will allow a global audience to discover and interact with videos featuring the best footballers competing in the most prestigious tournaments. This is one more example that YouTube is increasingly the place for football,” he added.

While content for FIFA on YouTube is at present sourced primarily from FIFA Films’ voluminous archive, the aim is to further engage with fans by including user-generated content and other interactive offerings, as well as material from FIFA’s many stakeholders.

by Ismail Uddin

After being accused and investigated by the FIFA Ethic Committee with alleged bribe offering yesterday, May 25, Mohamed Bin Hammam has hit back, claiming the move was “little more than a tactic” on the the part of the opposing camp loyal to Sepp Blatter.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Bin Hammam, along with FIFA vice-president Jack Warner have both been charged and ordered to appear before the organisation’s Ethics Committee on Sunday, May 29, where they will almost certainly face long bans if found guilty.

Bin Hammam stated: “This has been a difficult and painful day for me. But if there is even the slightest justice in the world, these allegations will vanish in the wind.

“This move is little more than a tactic being used by those who have no confidence in their own ability to emerge successfully from the FIFA Presidential election.”

General secretary of CONCACAF, American Chuck Blazer, presented FIFA with a dossier alleging violations of the code of ethics during a meeting organised by Bin Hammam and Warner for Caribbean Football Union (CFU) federations. 

Two CFU officials, Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, have also been charged. In reporting to FIFA with the allegations Blazer is fighting against his own president at CONCACAF, Warner.

There is no precedent of a senior FIFA administrator citing a breach of ethics by another but Bin Hammam totally dismisses the accusations, adding: “I remain deeply indebted to Mr Warner for his sense of fair play because without his support and understanding I would not have been able to meet with several important member associations of FIFA to discuss my election manifesto.

“I completely deny any allegations of wrongdoing either intentionally or unknowingly while I was in the Caribbean. 

“I will speak to Mr Warner on this subject and offer him my full support in ensuring we are discharged honourably by the FIFA Ethics Committee, a body which I hold in the highest esteem.

“I am confident that there is no charge to answer and that I will be free to stand in the FIFA Presidential election on 1 June as originally planned.”

The National Football League’s (NFL) Minnesota Vikings have agreed to help fund a proposed US$1bn, retractable-roof stadium project in the latest attempt by the team to get a new home after the Metrodome’s roof collapsed last season.

The Vikings would commit $407m to the project, or about 39 per cent of the total cost, the team said yesterday in a news release. The team didn’t say how the remainder of the stadium would be financed.

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said in the release: “Reaching an agreement with Ramsey County as our local partner is a major milestone in our efforts to finalize a long-term stadium solution.”

While the team appreciates other proposals made by Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Wilf added: “We believe the Ramsey County site offers the most benefits to our fans, the team and the state and is the ideal site for a new stadium.”

The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns the Metrodome, said in February it will spend about $18.1m to replace the stadium’s damaged roof before the start of the 2011 football season after it collapsed in December under the weight of 17 inches of snow, forcing the Vikings to relocate their final two home games of the season.

The Indian Super League has secured eight new franchise holders, the organisers have announced.

IMG Reliance, the joint venture between IMG Worldwide and Reliance Industries in India, Star India and the All India Football Federation are organising the inaugural football championship which will begin in September and continue to November this year. 

The Indian Super League’s proposal for ‘League Partners’ received an overwhelming response from the business, sports and Bollywood community, to own a team from the nine proposed cities in contention.

The winning bidders represent a strong mix of corporate entities and celebrities:

-Sun Group the Indian conglomerate for BENGALURU.
-Chairman Sameer Manchanda of the cable provider Den Network for DELHI.
-Venugopal Dhoot of the industrial conglomerate Videoco, with Dattaraj Salgaocar and Shrinivas V. Dempo for GOA.
-The Indian film actor John Abraham partnering with the I-League team Shillong Lajong for GUWAHATI.
-Renowned Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar and the media and entertainment investment firm PVP Ventures for KOCHI.
-Former captain of the Indian National team Sourav Ganguly, Harshavardhan Neotia, Spanish football Club Atletico Madrid, Sanjeev Goenka, Utsav Parekh for KOLKATA.
-Bollywood’s Ranbir Kapoor, one of the leading Indian film actors for MUMBAI.
-Indian actor, producer, television presenter and philanthropist Salman Khan together with Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan of the Indian conglomerate Wadhawan Group for PUNE.

Each of the winning bidders paid approximately $25 million for a 10-year franchise, valuing the original eight franchises at about $200 million.

“It is with great pride that I welcome the eight League Partners to the Indian Super League. We want to unlock the unbound aspirational energy of our youth through grassroots and community development programs,” said Nita M. Ambani of Reliance Industries. “Together, we will strive to build a vibrant ecosystem that will provide impetus to football in India. As mentor of the League, I commit myself to development of football as a major sport for the youth of India.”

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of several years of hard work and strategic planning,” said Michael Dolan, Chairman and Chief Executive of IMG and Chairman of IMG Reliance. “We are enormously pleased at the level of interest the creation of the Indian Super League has generated. We believe the League signals the beginning of a new era in the development of football in India and, in the future, will be the source of great pride for the people of India.”

With empty seats dominating headlines at London 2012, stomach new audience figures have revealed that more than two million people have already watched Olympic events during the first three days of the Olympics.

Empty spaces seen at some venues have caused frustration for organisers and angered fans who missed out on tickets for ‘sold out’ events.

However, allergy figures published from the first three days of competition reveal that 2.126 million people have so far attended events, with 856,000 spectators at events on Saturday alone.

On Monday LOCOG released 3000 more tickets and LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe revealed intentions to plug the gaps with students and military troops.