DiBenedetto said the first priority would be “to balance the books, to bring the club back into financial fair play given that we’re presently outside” before confirming that he would like to relocate the club from the Stadio Olimpico, which was built for the 1960 Olympics in the city.

He added: “We need a new and different stadium – an English-style stadium that motivates the players. Roma doesn’t have the adapted structure. Olimpico doesn’t do justice to the passion of the fans, the seats are too far from the pitch and the atmosphere is lost.”

As part of his long-term aspirations, DiBenedetto added that he wanted “a club that knows how to get the best out of new technology and communication and the social media, to reach every corner of the globe, which will enable us to sell our merchandising better and to increase our revenues to buy the best players.”

Italpetroli – the Sensi family holding company that owns Roma and was taken over by UniCredit last year – confirmed in December that it was considering a number of non-binding offers for the club.

Gerry Ryan has been appointed the new president of Cycling Australia (CA) in a pivotal period for the governing body.

The owner of professional team Orica-GreenEDGE replaces Klaus Mueller, who stepped down in August after three and a half years at the helm.

“I look forward to helping CA move forward in a more commercially viable manner,” said Ryan.

CA also announced the appointment of former senior AFL administrator Adrian Anderson as interim chief executive, replacing Graham Fredericks.

Australian Sports Commission (ASC) chairman John Wylie was understood to have played a key role in convincing Ryan – the founder of caravan manufacturer Jayco – to accept the CA presidency.

“It is fitting and most welcome that a person so well respected by corporate Australia takes on the presidency of Cycling Australia at this critical time of major reform for the sport,” Wylie said in a statement.

CA was the subject of an inquiry into its anti-doping processes last year, following the departure of vice-president Stephen Hodge and road program coordinator Matt White.

Hodge and White both admitted to using illegal drugs during their racing careers.

White was later reinstated as GreenEDGE’s sports director after serving a six-month ban.

The ASC also criticised CA’s governance, threatening to withhold 20 per cent of its government funding unless improvements were made.

The ASC demanded that CA, BMX Australia and Mountain Bike Australia merge into one governing body.

“There is certainly restructuring required to tighten processes and reduce the inefficient duplication of resources,” said Ryan.

“I look forward to working closely with Adrian over the coming months to create a collaborative environment that continues to deliver champion riders across the four disciplines, but does so in a manner that is underpinned by sound business principles.”

In addition to his ownership of GreenEDGE, Ryan has helped fund the Australian Institute of Sport’s cycling program and sponsored other races such as the Tour Down Under, the Herald Sun Tour and the Bay Classic criterium series.

Ryan’s appointment was also welcomed by Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates.

“Gerry has made a tremendous contribution to the sport for over two decades,” he said.

“He has supported individual riders including Kathy Watt when she won gold in 1992 and he has sponsored cycling tours, cycling programs and, more recently, he formed the GreenEDGE team.

“He is committed to the sport and his drive and passion in the role of CA president will be of great benefit to cyclists at all levels.”

Anderson will fill the interim CEO’s role until a permanent appointment is made in February.

“I look forward to progressing governance reform and working towards establishing a stable financial platform from which to grow the sport,” said Anderson.

“I also look forward to strengthening public faith in the integrity of Australian cycling by continuing to implement reforms from the Wood Review in a transparent manner.”

Australia’s Nine Network is set to make losses after buying Olympics rights but has secured some late advertising deals.

Nine Entertainment Group Sales and Marketing Director, Peter Wiltshire said: “The beauty of a short market is it gives us the ability to monetise really fast. There were plenty of people prepared to get on board at late notice.”

Wiltshire refuted rumorus that advertisers were being offered a presence in every single advertising break during the Olympics to tempt them on board.

He also denied allegations that advertisers who booked Olympics airtime months ago had returned to renegotiate terms.

Network sources have acknowledged losses of around (Au) $25M.

No agreement has been reached for the rights to air the 2016 Olympics.{jcomments on}

WWE have announced the launch of its new Russian language website.

The site, drug which was developed by Russian-based Tvigle Media, medstore will replicate content from the global WWE website and also include localised content created specifically for Russian fans.

“WWE continues to expand its digital business globally and views Russia as a key strategic territory for organic growth,” stated Dominic Hayes, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, WWE International. “Tvigle.ru is a major internet portal whose strong presence online in Russia makes them a great partner for this digital expansion. The site will provide fans with a range of dynamic content including editorial features and video, as well as social networking capabilities.”

Egor Yakovlev, CEO of Tvigle Media, added: “This new exclusive partnership with WWE is a fantastic opportunity for Tvigle Media to bring online content from one of the world’s most popular sports entertainment brands into the Russian digital space.”

Following the premiere of WWE Raw on 2×2 in February 2011, the launch of a Russian language website further enhances WWE’s presence in this market. Tvigle’s existing media partners include Fox International, Disney CIS and Cyber Group Animation, as well as such global consumer brands as Procter&Gamble, Mars and Unilever.

 

International Olympic Committee co-ordination chief Jean-Claude Killy has confirmed that construction work ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is going “according to plan”, with aspects of the preparations proceeding at a “very impressive” rate.

Speaking at the end of a three-day inspection tour, Killy stated: “As far as we are concerned, and according to our experts, everything is going according to plan. I wouldn’t have said that last year.

“We have seen colossal progress in the preparations for the Olympics. I am impressed by the construction process and people are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he added.

The local organising committee has assured the IOC that 70 per cent of the construction work will be completed by next year, with the bobsled run expected to open in February.

British Cycling has a new President after Bob Howden, recipe the Acting Chair of British Cycling and a member for 43 years, abortion was appointed the position at the sports governing body.

Howden, doctor who has served as British Cycling’s Acting Chair since former President Brian Cookson took up his post as President of the world cycling body – the UCI – in September, has been a Board member for the past 13 years. He has also been the Chair of the Yorkshire region since its inception in 2001.

Commenting on his appointment, British Cycling’s President, Bob Howden, said: “I am delighted to have been elected as British Cycling’s President with a mandate to push on with ensuring that British Cycling is achieving its objectives. We will remain true to what has become our tradition: to succeed on the world stage and to inspire people to enjoy riding their bikes more often, be it for sport, recreation or transport.

“Brian Cookson is a tough act to follow – especially when you look at the amazing roll call of successes that British Cycling has enjoyed under his leadership. We are certainly riding high and it’s now my job to ensure that we build on this. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”

British Cycling’s Chief Executive, Ian Drake, added: “Bob Howden has a long history of working for the sport at all levels – from working as a volunteer and a Commissaire, to leading a Regional Board and sitting on various Commissions – he truly knows cycling inside out. There is no better person to build on the foundations Brian Cookson has laid for cycling in Great Britain.”

Howden has previously served as Chair of the Regional Commission, the Commissaire and Referees Commission, and the Anti-Doping Commission, as well as being a member of the Audit and Assurance Commission.

Howden raced for 24 years and was a former Junior Division Road Champion, representing West Yorkshire at senior level. He also has significant experience as a race organiser. Howden was founder and Chair of the Yorkshire Festival of Cycling and organised the National Men’s and Women’s Elite Road Race Championships in 2005, 2008 and 2012. Howden also organised the annual Ryedale Grand Prix Premier Calendar Road Race between 2005 and 2012 and is a National Level Road Commissaire.

Last night’s London 2012 Opening Ceremony saw an animated display of images from Crystal stretching across the entire expanse of audience seating from the arena itself to the edge of the Olympic stadium. Bringing Danny Boyle’s vision of audience inclusiveness to life, sale the spectators became part of the action.

Viewers were also wowed by a range of images including a computer generated image the birth of the internet, anabolics which started on the field of play and shot outwards into the audience and beyond. The giant video screen was made up of small paddle-shaped Pixel Tablets designed by Tait Technologies, each attached to a seat in the stadium and bearing 9 full colour pixels arranged in a square. Together, the 70,500 Pixel Tablets created a ‘human powered’ screen of unprecedented size, on which Crystal’s spectacular digital animations were displayed.

Designed to support and extend the live action of the ceremonies, this is the first time the Pixel Tablets have been used to create such a vast, immersive display at a live event. “The audience literally became part of the action. No longer limited by large flat screens, we were presented with the challenge of creating animations to bring the stage and the spectators together,” said Will Case, creative director at Crystal. “We delivered. The live audience and those watching at home were drawn into the action. We are witnessing the death of the traditional video screen – this will transform the way event content is presented in future, becoming a more immersive experience.”

The project was delivered in just 14 weeks with a team of 50 designers from Crystal London with support from Crystal Group. The first tests were performed in the Olympic Stadium on 10^th July and final test run at the dress rehearsals this week. More than 70 minutes of animations were all custom designed for the concave, bowl shape of the 360? screen, with requests for additional content landing in Crystal’s creative team’s inboxes up to the last minute.

Crystal CG is the Official Digital Imaging Services Supplier for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Venyu have announced that the Dallas Cowboys have implemented a new cloud-based, IT disaster recovery solution for reliable backup of all business data as well as crucial game and training video footage.

The NFL team selected RestartIT as an effortless and accurate approach to data backup and recovery that uses industry-leading deduplication and cloud storage technology to store its digital files, and quickly retrieve them if the primary storage servers are offline due to manmade or natural disasters.

After making a significant technology investment over several years at Cowboys Stadium to give the fans a modern, interactive media experience, the Dallas Cowboys IT team decided it was time to also upgrade its methods of protecting and storing data and files. “We grew increasingly frustrated by the numerous hours of maintenance required by our archaic data tape backup system, which simply didn’t offer the modern features and reliability to support our new virtualized data center,” said Bill Haggard, Director – Enterprise Infrastructure, Dallas Cowboys.

To alleviate the problem, the IT staff decided that an overall data protection and backup strategy was needed to protect the organization’s IT capital as well as backup hundreds of hours of voice, data and video footage for the team management and players. Rather than spending additional time and resources on building an in-house solution, the Cowboys turned to Venyu for assistance.

“Losing data can be a major setback, and if there are no other copies available — you’re in serious trouble,” continued Dallas Cowboys’ Bill Haggard. “Venyu’s RestartIT transformed the way my IT team approaches data protection. We now have a cloud-based backup plan that rises to the level of our existing technology investments.”

Venyu’s RestartIT is built on Recovery Time Objective (RTO) metrics, or the measurement of time between an outage and the moment that data is available again. In addition, the solution combines DR-Grade, online backup with the VMware-virtualized recovery platform to provide seamless system recovery when organizations need it most.

Scott Thompson, Venyu CEO, said: “We’re proud to be the Dallas Cowboys’ disaster recovery and data backup partner, helping their IT team with the documentation and business continuity they need to build a modern, highly reliable data protection plan.”