Istanbul 2020’s bid for the olympics received a boost after the Bid Committee staged a number of publicity events for the 100, buy viagra | 000-plus participants of the intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. 

Ahead of the start of the full marathon, Istanbul Governor, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu and the Mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topba?, led hundreds of young people wearing Istanbul 2020 t-shirts and 100,000 other participants in a Fun Run from Asia to Europe, across the city’s iconic Bosphorus Bridge. Flying high above the Bosphorus was the Istanbul 2020 banner, on one of the rare occasions that anything other than the Turkish national flag had been placed on the Bosphorus Bridge.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) awarded the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon gold label status last year, making it Turkey’s latest sports event to combine elite sport standards with a unique Istanbul flavour: it is the only marathon on the planet to start on one continent and finish on another. This year’s event attracted over 13,000 athletes for the full marathon, an increase of 20% on the previous year.

Istanbul 2020 bid leader, Hasan Arat, commented on the high levels of public support bolstering the bid across Turkey: “This event has been celebrating the very best of Istanbul since 1979 and the Turkish people are extremely passionate about it – as you can see from the incredible turnout today. Sports events in Turkey are always well supported, and that is one of the reasons domestic polls have shown that 87% of people in Istanbul and 83% nationally want to host the Games here. Istanbul 2020 is about to kick off a series of domestic programmes to keep building awareness and enthusiasm for our Olympic bid in Turkey, so I believe those figures will only increase.

“The sports world has seen a marathon bridge two continents today – Istanbul 2020 wants to do that with an entire Olympic and Paralympic Games. Imagine: athletes could sleep in Europe and compete in Asia. That offers the Olympic Movement a brand new, very exciting opportunity.”

General Manager of Spor A.?., Alpaslan Baki Ertekin, on behalf of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said: “We finally made the Istanbul Eurasia Marathon a gold marathon after three years of planning. It is now one of the top 20 marathons in the world. Our next step is for the marathon to become the world’s seventh marathon major by attracting new runners from across the globe.”

The Istanbul Eurasia Marathon participants passed a number of Istanbul’s famous architectural landmarks, including the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The 100,000 participants included a record number of international competitors, after runners registered for the cancelled New York Marathon were invited to enter the Istanbul event for free. In total, 27% of the entrants were from overseas.

According to a study compiled by American bank Goldman Sachs, arthritis  Ukraine will be the only emerging market in the top ten best performing countries at the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

The authors of the research The Olympics and Economics 2012 expect Ukrainian athletes to win 9 gold medals (and 27 total) at the high profile sports event.

Explaining the methodic used to produce The Olympics and Economics 2012, the author states: “Ultimately, it appears that gold does go where growth and the overall growth environment are best.” The report quotes Tim Hollingsworth, the Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association: “When you create a world class environment you are far more likely to create world class athletes.”

The indicator used by Goldman Sachs experts to assess the probability of a country winning a certain amount of medals was the Growth Environment Score. The analysts used income, as well as political conditions, macroeconomic stability, macroeconomic conditions, human capital, technology and the microeconomic environment as reference points.

Ukraine took the tenth position in the Goldman Sachs rating with other countries in the top ten being the USA, China, the UK, Russia, Australia, France, Germany, South Korea, and Italy. In 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Ukraine scored 11 position on the medal table. Ukrainian athletes won 7 gold medals, 5 silver, and 15 bronze then.

Interestingly, the authors of The Olympics and Economics 2012 singled out the sports, most affected by the economic variables. They are cycling, judo, rowing, and swimming. Though Ukrainian judoka Roman Gontiuk and cycler Lesya Kalitovska did win bronze in Beijing, Ukraine won gold in shooting, archery, fencing, athletics, canoeing, and boxing.

The BBC have announced that it will broadcast the men’s and women’s singles finals at this year’s Wimbledon Championships live in 3D, becoming the first programmes to do so on the British network.

The matches will be played on Saturday 2 July and Sunday 3 July and free-to-air broadcast will be available to anyone who has access to a 3D TV set and HD Channels.

Danielle Nagler, head of BBC HD and 3D, said: “We’re bringing audiences a new way of getting close to the action. I’m sure that 3D will only add to the drama as the world’s greatest players compete for the championship.”

Last year, world number one Rafael Nadal’s victory over Tomas Berdych in the 2010 final was watched by an average of 5.6m viewers, while 2.3m watched the women’s final, in which Serena Williams won her fourth singles title at the event.

BBC executive sport producer Paul Davies added: “This unique 3D transmission is the latest innovation to bring to life all the tension, drama and excitement on one of the most iconic sporting arenas in the world.”

As well as coverage on BBC One, BBC HD and BBC Two, viewers will also be able to follow the tournament via the BBC Sport website and the BBC Red Button.

The broadcaster will no doubt be hoping for another successful run in the competition for local favourite and British number one Andy Murray after he was defeated by eventual champion Nadal in the semi-final stages of last year’s event.

Advisor to UEFA president Michel Platini, William Gaillard has told government officials at a Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into the governance of soccer, that the Football Association (FA) is ‘weaker’ than its counterparts across Europe.

Gaillard argued that the FA has been overwhelmed by the financial clout and high profile of the professional leagues, stating: “There is no doubt that turf wars have damaged English football. The FA is probably in a weaker spot than any other FA in Europe.”

He added that the ‘overwhelming power’ of the Premier League and Football League had unbalanced the English game, saying: “In other countries, there is a more balanced situation. In most other countries, the professional game has a minority position.

“English professional football has been enormously successful in producing revenues and building up the game and we have to be grateful to the Premier League and Football League for that.

“At the same time this has not resulted in a better situation for English football in general and performances of the national team have not been outstanding.”

Gaillard went on to recommend that England should adopt the football model used in the Netherlands – ‘an excellent grass-roots model’ – continuing: “They should have a full-time technical director – that’s what exists in most other good educational models in Europe.”

The organising of major sporting events in India has come in for yet more scrutiny after the National Games organisers came in for criticism following a number of major problems reported over the first two days of the event in Ranchi.

According to The Times of India, medstore media facilities did not work for hours, symptoms security check points were overwhelmed by spectator numbers and there were no tables or seats for the judges at the taekwondo competition, with T Praveen Kumar, the Taekwondo Federation of India Secretary General furious with the lack of facilities at his sport’s competition.

Kumar told reporters: “Only tall claims were made by organisers. What could be worse than judges not being provided with chairs for the matches?”

The National Games finally started on Saturday after being postponed six times due to incomplete infrastructure, but the latest news will further damage India’s event-hosting image after problems engulfed the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and more recently, issues regarding the preparations of stadia for the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup.

Die deutschen Profisportligen verzeichneten in der Spielzeit 2011/12 den höchsten kumulierten Umsatz innerhalb der letzten fünf Jahre: 353, sickness 6 Millionen Euro (+3, erectile 2%). Dies geht aus der Deloitte-Studie “Finanzreport deutscher Profisportligen” hervor, die in Kooperation mit SPONSORs erstellt wurde. Wesentlicher Treiber dieses Wachstums war die Beko Basketball-Bundesliga (BBL) mit einer Erlössteigerung von 26,3 Prozent, die vom sportlichen Aufstieg des FC Bayern Basketball profitierte. Im Mittelpunkt der Analyse stehen neben der BBL, die Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), die kürzlich umbenannte DKB Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) und die dritthöchste Liga im deutschen Profifußball (3. Liga). Erstmals weitet sich der Report auf die DACH-Region aus. In Sonderkapiteln werden die wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungen der österreichischen Fußball-Bundesliga und der Schweizer Raiffeisen Super League analysiert.

“Der Wettbewerb um Zuschauer, TV-Präsenz und Sponsoren zwischen den Ligen ist größer denn je”, so Stefanie Vogel, Senior Consultant der Sport Business Gruppe von Deloitte. “Spannend bleibt, ob die kürzlich abgeschlossene Einigung zwischen den öffentlich-rechtlichen Sendern ARD und ZDF und dem Trio DEL, HBL und BBL über die Ausweitung der Berichterstattung den Ligen neue Wachstumsimpulse geben kann.”

Die 18 Clubs der BBL steigerten ihre durchschnittlichen Umsatzerlöse in der Saison 2011/12 um mehr als ein Viertel und verzeichneten einen Rekordumsatz von 76,9 Millionen Euro. Damit verkürzt sich der Abstand zur HBL und DEL auf weniger als 10 Millionen Euro. Auch bei den Zuschauerzahlen stellte die BBL den Anschluss an die übrigen Profisportligen her. Der Besucherschnitt wurde auf durchschnittlich 4.422 Zuschauer pro Spiel gesteigert. Ligaverantwortliche setzen sich zum Ziel, bis 2020 die sportlich und wirtschaftlich stärkste Basketball-Liga in Europa zu werden.

Neben der BBL konnten auch die DEL (+8,8%) und HBL (+2,0%) ihre Gesamterlöse steigern. Der deutsche Profihandball erreichte sein bestes Ergebnis mit einem Gesamtumsatz von 86,1 Millionen Euro. Allerdings konnte die HBL ihre durchschnittliche jährliche Wachstumsrate der vergangenen fünf Spielzeiten in Höhe von 9,5% Prozent nicht bestätigen. Damit musste die HBL ihre Position als umsatzstärkste Hallensportliga wieder an die DEL abgeben. Die Eishockeyliga verzeichnete einen Gesamterlös von 86,2 Millionen Euro. Die DEL-Clubs steigerten in allen relevanten Erlöskategorien ihre Umsätze, am deutlichsten im Bereich Spieltag und Sonstige Erlöse. Der hohe Zuschauerschnitt mit 6.392 Besuchern pro Spiel war ein wesentlicher Umsatztreiber.

Die 3. Liga erzielte mit einem Ist-/Plan-Umsatz von 104,4 Millionen Euro das beste Ergebnis aller betrachteten Profisportligen. Gleichzeitig verzeichnete sie aber als einzige Liga einen Rückgang der Gesamterlöse (-11,5%). Damit rücken die Sportarten im Bereich der Gesamterlöse näher zusammen. Grund dafür ist unter anderem ein Rückgang bei den Zuschauerzahlen von 18,2 Prozent. Wirtschaftlich betrachtet besteht zwischen 3. und 2. Liga eine große Distanz. Die kumulierten Umsatzerlöse der 18 Clubs entsprechen weniger als einem Drittel des von Deloitte prognostizierten Gesamtumsatzes der Zweitligisten von ca. 350 Millionen Euro.

In der diesjährigen Studie wurde die Analyse erstmals auf die DACH-Region ausgeweitet. Analysiert wurden die Schweizer Raiffeisen Super League und die österreichische tipp3-Bundesliga. Mit einem Gesamtumsatz von 171,3 Millionen Euro (Schweiz) beziehungsweise 155,1 Millionen Euro (Österreich) lagen die beiden Alpennachbarn in der Saison 2011/12 deutlich über dem Erlösniveau der 3. Liga, jedoch signifikant unter der 2. Bundesliga aus Deutschland. Vor dem Hintergrund, dass die Fußball-Top-Ligen in der Schweiz und Österreich grundsätzlich nur aus zehn Clubs bestehen, verringert sich der durchschnittliche Abstand zu Clubs der 2. Bundesliga. Mannschaften der 2. Bundesliga erlösten durchschnittlich 19,5 Millionen Euro, die der Schweizer Liga 17,1 Millionen Euro und die der österreichischen Liga 15,5 Millionen Euro.

“Auch in der Saison 2012/13 müssen sich die Clubs der 3. Liga wieder einer Vielzahl von wirtschaftlichen Herausforderungen stellen. Der Fokus liegt bei vielen Clubs weiterhin auf einem effizienten Kostenmanagement”, prognostiziert Stefanie Vogel. “Vielversprechend sind die zunehmenden Engagements diverser Vermarktungsagenturen bei Clubs in der 3. Liga.”

Die Ergebnisse der Studie wurden exklusiv beim 8. SPONSORs Clubmanager Summit am 05.11.2012 im RheinEnergieStadion Köln präsentiert.

500,000 Olympic football match tickets have been withdrawn and stadium capacities reduced due to a lack of interest, Games organisers said on Tuesday.

Organisers will reduce capacities across venues by closing tiers of stadiums or whole sections of a ground.

Even after the reduction, 250,000 football tickets are still available with a further 200,000 set to be put up for sale before the Games begin on July 27.

Games chief Seb Coe defended the move and said football ticket sales compared favourably with previous Olympics.

“They are in reduced size venues of course, we’ve had to scale down the size of those venues,” Coe told reporters.

“We’ve sold more football tickets than we’ve sold anything else, we’ve got 37-38,000 tickets we’ve sold for Britain ladies v New Zealand which I think benchmarks pretty well for instance with the women’s FA Cup final this year which was an all-London affair at the Emirates (Stadium) and they had about 5,000.

“We are not in bad shape on tickets but football tickets at a Games are always the challenge. I think we’ll do pretty well.”

The football competition is set to take place in six venues across Britain including the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, City of Coventry Stadium, Old Trafford in Manchester, St James’ Park in Newcastle, Hampden Park in Glasgow and London’s Wembley Stadium which will host both the men’s and women’s finals.

Organisers will also make 150,000 football tickets available for school children through their Ticketshare scheme.