Blatter Opens Door for Japan Staging 2019 Women’s World Cup

President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter has stated Japan could still host the FIFA Women’s World Cup despite staging the 2019 Rugby World Cup in the same year.

Japan is set to become the first Asian country to host a Rugby World Cup in September 2019 running until the end of October the same year, and Blatter has opened the door for the country to stage the showpiece event of women’s football a short time before it.

Blatter said: “Japan would be a good candidate or contender. They are a little bit afraid because they have the Rugby World Cup in the same year but the sports are totally different.”

Japan has just finished hosting the 2012 Women’s Under-20 World Cup and they currently hold the ‘World Cup winners’ title winning the tournament in the Commerzbank-Arena, Germany last summer.

The next edition of the tournament in 2015 is set to be stage by Canada.

Corporate Olympics Packages Selling Well in China

In the lead up to the London Games luxury tourism packages to the U.K. have attracted interest from wealthy Chinese and corporate clients. Caissa Touristic Group AG VP Zhang Rui said sales in the sector have reached more than 100M RMB (US $15.9M).

The company is the sole authorized Olympic Games ticket seller in China and “has tied the ticket sales to luxury tourism packages, medic ” Zhang said.

“The closer to the Games we get, the more passionately people want to watch them. We have received hundreds of inquiries and our sales are growing every day.” {jcomments on}

England Basketball Funding Award Cut by Sport England

The funding available to England Basketball has been cut by £1.2m (US$1.9m) by the board of Sport England after they decided that England Basketball’s plans had not adequately addressed the challenge of increasing participation beyond the governing body’s current audiences.

The previous four-year funding of England Basketball had been structured to encourage a greater commitment, generic and improved approach, and to increasing participation in the sport. A maximum award of £1.2m ($1.9m) was only made available assuming that England Basketball was able to produce a robust strategy for growing the whole sport.

Sport England’s chief executive Jennie Price, therapy said: “England Basketball has not demonstrated the necessary focus on improving its plans for increasing participation, despite continued support and encouragement to do so. This was an important factor in our decision”.

As a result of the decision, England Basketball’s ‘whole sport plan’ revenue funding will not see the potential increase over the next two years. 

Subject to performance, it will now remain at its current level of £1.35m ($2.15m) per year, until March 2013.

Price added: “The Board has not taken this decision lightly, but from the outset of this funding period Sport England has been clear that poor performance would lead to a governing body’s overall funding levels being reviewed”.

“As an investor of public funds, we have a responsibility to ensure that our investment is properly managed and delivers value for money. We remain firmly committed both to the sport of basketball and to working with England Basketball on our remaining investment to support the development of the sport”.

Bundesliga Reveal Turnover Record for Ninth Straight Year

Germany’s top soccer league, the Bundesliga has revealed today their ninth straight turnover record during the 2012-13 season. 

Continuing its lasting growth with 2.17 billion euros ($2.97bn) and topping its previous year’s amount by 4.4 per cent. The Bundesliga recorded 383.5 million euros ($524m) in operative profits, the highest of all time. Seventeen of 18 clubs were in the black with turnover before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

On the expenditures side, salaries for players and coaches remained stable at 39 per cent. The Bundesliga 2 recorded the highest turnover in its history with 419.4 million euros ($573m) (a 9.1 per cent increase on last season), and fifteen of the 18 second division clubs recorded positive EBITDA numbers. The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga made the announcement at today’s presentation of the Bundesliga Report 2014 in Frankfurt.

“The Bundesliga is succeeding in the split between top level sports performance and economic rationality, especially compared to others in Europe. Thanks also to the further increases with the media contracts that take effect this season, the league is on the road to extending its position as the second-strongest earning football league in Europe,” said Christian Seifert (pictured), CEO of the DFL.

In total, the turnover of the 36 clubs and capital companies of the DFL also increased for the ninth time in a row. All told, the clubs collected 2.59 billion euros ($3.53bn) in the past season. Just like in past seasons, professional football saw increases in all central income categories (advertising, media and player revenues).

The clubs and capital companies paid 850 million euros ($1.16mn) (last year 800 million euros ($1.09m)) in taxes and dues last season, more than ever before.

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World Archery Fedration Re-elects Dr Uğur Erdener as President

The World Archery Fedration has re-elected Professor Dr U?ur Erdener as their President at the 50th World Archery Congress

Prof Dr U?ur ERDENER, for sale who was the only candidate, medstore was re-elected with 93 votes in favour and 2 votes against, therapy reflecting the overwhelming support for his management.

Erdener has been President since 2005 when the organisation was the International Archery Federation (FITA). Erdener changed the name of the organisation to World Archery Federation (WA) in 2009.

World Archery also apointed María Emma GAVIRIA (COL), Sanguan KOSAVINTA (THA) and Philippe BOUCLET (FRA) as Vice Presidents. Greg EASTON (USA), Vladimir ESHEEV (RUS) and Aladin GABR (EGY) were also added to the executive board.

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Exclusive: Extreme Sailing Series Unveils Record Media Coverage

OC Sport has revealed that the media coverage of the Extreme Sailing Series has increased five-fold from 2009.

The amazing rise highlights the growing interest in ESS, as their brand of exciting stadium sailing continues to change the general niche perception the sport has.

Havas Sponsorship Insight Surveys also recorded a significant increase of 37% in value of media coverage of the first 4 Acts in 2012 compared with the first 4 Acts in 2011.

Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of organisers OC Sport said: “We are always totally transparent on the methodology used by Havas Sponsorship Insights to evaluate our property.

“Ultimately there are a few different ways to do the maths, so the relative year on year performance remains the most important measure for us. We have today more than 5 times the coverage that we had in 2009, and have progressed every single year, using the same measurement methodology – that progression is the key result for us.

“Extreme Sailing Series offers many great opportunities for businesses and host venues in B2B, consumer and internal spaces, and the media valuation aspect is only one measure of the value of the event, but it remains an important one for our different stakeholders.”

The media valuation certainly indicates great exposure for the events, which can only be good news. However, cost of tracking media coverage globally determines that print and TV coverage was monitored over a specific period of time. Print media is monitored for a month over the course of the event, whilst TV coverage is monitored during the week of the event) and in the countries the events are held.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Turner added: “We monitor thousands of online media around the globe throughout the year and we rely on each of the Host Venues and their agencies, participating teams and our own personal contact with media and journalists to get hold of print and TV coverage outside of the event periods as media monitoring around the world and across all platforms is very costly.

“We are transparent and conservative with the methodology applied to the media valuation using Havas market place advertising rates, which are considerably less, as opposed to standard rates. This is why Havas Sponsorship Insights applies a conservative 10% of unmonitored coverage which is inevitably missed outside of the events periods we monitor.”

In terms of attracting more media coverage outside of the monitored time period, it has proven not to be so much of a problem due to number of races the ESS holds.

“The circuits is hosted in 7 iconic cities over 10 months which doesn’t allow much down time in between each of these Acts. Other news in between events, such as team or venue announcements, new developments in the Series or plans for the following season and media evaluation reports also get reported so there is no real problem on that front, and it’s not a bad thing to have some breathing space in between each event like most sports do. We have very active content platforms such as the official event website and social networks, that fuel the media and fan base,” concluded Turner.

Alastair Macdonald, Director at Havas Sponsorship Insights commented: “The volume of media coverage that the Extreme Sailing Series has gained after four events in 2012 has increased for the third year in succession, as detailed in the mid-season media evaluation report.

“The Extreme Sailing Series remains popular in Europe and Asia, and has made an immediate impact in Portugal – a new addition to the 2012 calendar – where there has been significant media coverage of the event.”

“Projections for exposure for the full seven-event series, and the value that this media coverage may deliver, have been made. Total media value for the 2012 series is forecast to be in the region €30m. This projection is based on the amount of coverage gained so far this year, and the actual cost of advertising in the territories in which this exposure appears.”

“Actual marketplace advertising buying rates as opposed to standard rate card have been used in all calculations to ensure the media values published comply with OC Sport’s policy of remaining conservative on media values.”

New Havas Study Shows Public Favouritism for London 2012

New research conducted by Havas Sports & Entertainment highlights immense public appetite for upcoming Olympic Games in London as well as Euro 2012.

With the Olympics just upon us Olympics, see 59 per cent of all Europeans claim that the Games are their all-time favourite sporting event. Also, asthma what is of interest for food and FMCG brands is that 1 in 5 Europeans believe that their level of consumption will increase during the Olympics Games.

The Euro 2012 final is just as popular as the Fifa World Cup final. The World Cup is a favourite among 86 per cent of European fans while the Euro 2012 clocks 85 per cent in a study conducted by Havas Sports & Entertainment for The Coca-Cola Company.

The other interesting finding is that the Internet is the third most used media to follow the Euro 2012 matches.

The quantitative online study was designed by Havas Sports & Entertainment and conducted by market research company Toluna, discount between April 23 and May 8, 2012, using a sample of 1,000 people per country, and representing the ‘15 and older’ age group in the following countries: France, Germany, England, Spain and Belgium. The total sample size was 5,000 people.

Lucien Boyer, Global CEO & President of Havas Sports & Entertainment, commented: “The key outtake from this research is that despite the difficult economic conditions people are prioritising spending on sport as its popularity remains sky high. To capitalise on this trend, our aim is to help brands develop integrated campaigns at both a global and local level, in PR, social media and experiential activity backed by cutting-edge research.”

“Our experience working with six Euro 2012 partners, which includes adidas, Hyundai, Kia, Castrol, The Coca-Cola Company and Orange, and more than 10 London 2012 sponsors is that the most effective campaigns will tap into the excitement and passion of the sports event and create added-value experiences that encourage consumer interaction and a deeper engagement with the sponsorship.”

Blatter Needs Fourth Term to Complete his ‘Mission’ for Soccer

FIFA President Sepp Blatter claims that he needs four more years in the role in order to finish his “mission”, which involves using soccer as a force for good in society and helping develop the sport in the less wealthy countries around the world.

Blatter has been at the head of FIFA since 1998 but faces opposition from Qatari national and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohamed Bin Hammam if he is to be re-elected for a fourth time this summer.

The Swiss has since revealed that if he were to win the elections, the upcoming four-year term would be his last, and he would step down in 2015.

After making the announce he spoke to insideworldfootball, stating: “It’s a very easy decision to explain.

“There is a moment when you come to the end of the mission you have. I have realised I have just passed 75 years [on March 10] and I think if the Congress will give me the four years to come I will be 79 and that’s enough.

“I know that the years do not exactly indicate the age of somebody. But this would be the right time.

“This will be the time to also see what kind of heritage can be left to FIFA and who can take over that.”

FIFA has been laced with controversy under Blatter’s reign, although the sport has become even bigger, the World Cup has expanded and the sport has never been richer, at least in Europe, though he claims he is not seeking any personal credit.

“If they recognise that football has done something then that is enough, they do not need to recognise the person who is at the helm of football.

“But if they have not realised what football has achieved so far then something is wrong in the family of football.”

Blatter has been preaching his “mission” around the world, most recently on a recent trip to South East Asia, telling insideworldfootball: “If I have this four years they will be really focused on the implementation of the football in the social culture aspect of our lives.

“It means more than just developing the game but bringing the values of football – which is respect, discipline, fair play, fighting play – into society.

“That is why we need to work with the Governmental authorities and also, on the side, the educational authorities and the health ministries.

“We need also to recognise the educational element of football and to bring it into school level. In all the countries I have been travelling I am always insisting that we have to bring football and school together.

“This is what we are doing with the Centres of Hope in Africa where we have football alongside school and medical care. This is the mission I would like to implement.

“The development of football has been done such a lot that, in every corner of the world, football is played. With the big competitions – and the small competitions – we provide emotion, passion to the population.

“So now we need to give them something a little more in-depth. That is the mission. It is not new. It’s a mission I have been speaking about at the Congresses where I have been speaking – but I need the four years.”

Blatter’s message is unashamedly directed at the poorer members of the world governing body, with each gaining one vote in the presidential elections:

“I’m not speaking about the rich European countries. I am speaking about the 190 countries in the world that need a lot of help. We have the resources.”

British Consortium to Acquire 75 per cent Stake in Leeds United

Leeds United owners Gulf Finance House (GFH) have confirmed today that a British consortium led by Leeds United’s managing director David Haigh will acquire a 75 per cent stake in the team.

GFH will retain a 10 per cent shareholding in Leeds United once a consortium of British investors has completed its takeover, the Islamic bank has told shareholders.

The terms of the agreement and value were not however disclosed but GFH said it expected the transaction to have a “positive impact on its financials”.

The investors signed the agreement on 30 November 2013 but have yet to receive approval from the relevant football authorities in England.

FIFA Vice President Confirms His Place at Soccerex Global Convention 2014

Soccerex have announced that FIFA Vice President, Jim Boyce, will be part of the agenda-setting conference at the next Soccerex Global Convention, 6-10 September 2014, Manchester.

As part of the FIFA Executive Committee responsible for some of FIFA’s most vital decisions including hosts of FIFA tournaments and number of teams involved, Boyce will be sharing his extensive experience within the football industry and his thoughts on what the future holds for different aspects of the beautiful game.

Boyce said: “I am delighted to be participating in the Soccerex Global Convention next year in Manchester. The event has proven to be an important platform for the football community, one regularly used by my FIFA colleagues and I look forward to be involved in 2014.”

The FIFA Vice President, previously Northern Ireland FA President for over ten years, has recently commented in light of UEFA President Platini’s recent World Cup proposal, in which he’s suggested having eight more teams to accommodate more African and Asian countries.  In response, Boyce told the Times, “I would be very interested to hear what he has to say. It is not something I have heard mentioned but it is certainly something I would give my full consideration to, once I have the full details of Platini’s proposal.”

Regarding the involvement of Jim Boyce, Soccerex CEO, Duncan Revie said:  “Jim is such an influential and longstanding figure within the football hierarchy and we’re delighted to have him on board for next year’s event. His wealth of football experience, both nationally and internationally, will mean we’re in for an insightful and enjoyable session!“

The Soccerex Global Convention is a five-day football business event which is returning to Manchester after 12 years on the road, around the world. The event will see the elite of the world’s football industry come together to learn, debate, network and most importantly do business.

For more information on the Soccerex Global Convention, visit www.soccerex.com