All the 36 international sports federations relating to the 2020 summer Games have given approved Tokyo bid’s venue plan for the event. 

The 36 federations comprise 28 Olympic summer sports and 16 Paralympic summer sports and this completes the venue cycle just in time to prepare the final bid plan to be consigned to the IOC on January 7th. 

“From an early stage, Tokyo 2020 has sought guidance from the International Federations to ensure that the needs of every sport were met,” noted Yuko Arakida, Sports Director of Tokyo 2020.“The close working relationships between the International Federations, the National Federations and our bid team have enabled a smooth and quick process.

“We’re very grateful to the International Federations for their participation leading to these sign offs, and are pleased to have developed an athlete-focused plan that suits their needs — and we are sure that Tokyo will provide excellent exposure for all sports.” 

The bid team has worked closely with the sports federations to develop a proposal that fits their needs keeping the athletes in the forefront. The Tokyo plan also intends to bring sports to the vibrant heart of the city for accessibility and ease for the spectators. 

Head of the bid and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), Tsunekazu Takeda, said, “I would like to personally thank all International Federations for their cooperation. Our plan is the result of Tokyo 2020’s will to place the needs of sport and athletes firmly in the centre of the Games. 

“The approvals from all International Federations for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games prove Tokyo’s outstanding capacity.” 

Input from the federations has been another valuable asset to the planning phase 

Senior Director for Planning of Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Promotion Division, Bureau of Sports, Katsura Enyo, commented, “It was a very exciting and stimulating experience to meet and exchange ideas with various representatives from the International Federations. 

“We have received countless suggestions to brush up our plan, and are now sure Tokyo will be able to host an amazing Games founded on very good relationships developed with International Federations.” 

All three Candidate Cities have to submit their Candidature File to the IOC by January 7, 2013. The IOC is to select the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games September 7 at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Coca-Cola Beatbox was unveiled at the Olympic Park with a small crowd exploring the uniquely looking venue.

An experimental fusion of architecture, medicine sport, impotent music and technology, the venue will be available to fans who have tickets to the 2012 Olympics.

The building will be making music when the guests arrive. With 230 five-meter-long panels made of EFTE, a plastic polymer, individually the panels sound like an enormous drum skin giving a very distinctive sound.

Eurosport has launched a new score app for the iPhone. Livescore is a free application that provides a variety of information including lives scores, cialis results, rankings and incidents from live sporting events and fixtures in a range of team and individual sports.

Users can follow worldwide events including football, tennis rugby, basketball, and ice hockey and the app’s launch will coincide with tonight’s important international football fixtures.

Livescore allows users to follow a particular team or tennis player throughout the season. The application could be a valuable resource for journalists and media personnel as well as sports fans. The service is available in English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, French, German, Polish, Italian, and Swedish.

Eurosport said it was encouraged to create of the app following a recent survey that revealed live score updates were the preferred use of 89% of Eurosport’s news app users.

Eurosport chairman and CEO Laurent-Eric Le Lay said: “Livescore enriches and gives a new dimension to our mobile offering as well as taking the Eurosport brand into new and exciting areas. Fans, journalists and sports fanatics across Europe will love the app which is fully customisable and will cater to their every need.”

The inauguration of the HM King Hussein I Building, the new headquarters of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) in Lausanne, is taking place today, May 6, as equestrian sport expands rapidly throughout the world.

The headquarters have been named in tribute to the FEI President, HRH Princess Haya’s late father.

Khuan Chew, founder and design principal of London-based architectural firm KCA International Ltd, worked in close collaboration with Swiss-based architect Hervé de Rham and interior designer Siavosh Adeli to transform a building dating from the late 1960s by redesigning the façade and totally reconstructing the interior.

Speaking of the project, Chew explained that the FEI “was very receptive to my creativity in introducing ideas and features not normally entertained in a corporate environment.”

Nottingham Rugby, who play in the second tier in English Rugby, has announced a number of personnel changes to the commercial team. 

Chris Simon has been appointed as Operations Director and will be responsible for managing the day to day off field operations and continuing with the great work he started last season enhancing the match day experience and driving commercial sales. Chris will assume the role whilst retaining his business interests running his own agency Perfect Motion who deliver the clubs marketing, media and match-day activities already.

As Chris takes on more operational duties for Nottingham Rugby, he will be assisted with marketing activity by Nik Emmonds, Marketing Account Manager at Perfect Motion. Since the departure of the in-house media officer last season, Nik has taken on the role and will continue to be the main interface between the club and the local and national media.

Commenting on the change, Chairman Alsitair Bow said: “We recognised that we needed to make some changes, but without incurring any additional cost. The club is still in need of significant investment and we wanted to free up some of Chief Executive Simon Beatham’s time to help us do this, but without introducing any disruption on the operational side.

“Chris has been involved with Nottingham Rugby for the last three years and has a sound understanding of how the business side is run. He knows our sponsors, has been instrumental in our growth off the field and I have every confidence that he’ll be able to combine his existing marketing duties with a more operational role.”

Nottingham Rugby also revealed two further changes – the promotion of Mel Lawson to Commercial Executive and the appointment of Rob Pearce as Community Manager.

Mel Lawson, 22 has been with the club for four years and already has a wealth of experience. With Laura Egglestone being on maternity leave for the rest of this season, Mel was the ideal candidate to step up to the role.

Rob Pearce, 22, started volunteering for the club last season, taking on pitch-side activities on match-day. He is seen as a natural replacement for Steve Smith and will oversee all community matters with the delivery coaches – Josh Salathiel and Sam Bignall reporting into him.

Both Mel and Rob will report to Chris Simon.