France Contemplating 2024 Olympic Bid

French president Francois Hollande is contemplating a French bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games according to the Associated Press.

Hollande, in London Monday meeting with French athletes at the London Games, said he would back a bid “if all the conditions of success are present.”

He added, “We can think about Olympic Games we would be able to host in France, probably in the 2024 horizon. But before making a formal bid, we need to prepare for it well. We can’t afford another failure, after three consecutive setbacks. Paris lost twice and then it was Annecy. It was disappointing, and for the latest Annecy bid, it was a humiliation.”

Annecy lost its bid for the 2018 Winter Games that went to PyeongChang, South Korea, and Paris had a failed bid for the 2008 Summer Games which were awarded to Beijing.

Hollande said France won’t push for a bid, but that he will listen to the French Olympic committee’s recommendations.

“If the sporting community decides to go, if all the conditions of success are present, I will back this bid,” he said.

No specific city was mentioned in the bid but Paris would be favourite to host any potential bid.

Thousands More London 2012 Olympic Tickets Available

London 2012 organisers has put another 50,000 Olympic tickets on sale as it continues to finalise seating and venue plans with 42 days to go to the Games.

The London Organising Commitee (LOCOG) says they’re for Basketball, Diving, Hockey, Waterpolo, Handball and Modern Penthalon. Its also selling more tickets to go up the UK’s largest sculpture The Orbit, but you need to have tickets for the Olympic Park already to get in.

LOCOG Commercial Director Chris Townsend said “This release of tickets gives people a great chance to attend sport in the popular Olympic Park venues.  Tickets for further events will follow in due course and we will inform our ticketing database directly.”  

There are 25,000 Hockey tickets and a limited number for Diving, Handball, Modern Pentathlon, Water Polo, Basketball and the Orbit are on sale.

Its also been revealed the Olympic ticket re-sale website is available again for those that can no longer attend or don’t want the tickets they have.

Organisers say they can be sold back via the website – but they then won’t be available to everyone to buy til later this month released on a sport by sport basis. Tickets have to be validated before being released.  If sold, the customer will be notified by email, then refunded within 5-10 working days of the ticket being sold, subject to LOCOG receiving the original tickets back.  If the ticket remains unsold it will be returned to the customer’s account. 

In January the re-sale website crashed and was offline for more than a week because of the number of people using it.

“For those people who are no longer able to attend, or cannot give their tickets to friends or family, they can now use our resale platform.  This will enable people to resell their tickets in a safe and legal way.” Chris Townsend said.

Ukraine Survive Potential FIFA Sanctions

UEFA Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine have seemingly avoided the threat of suspension from FIFA and in turn the possibility of losing their right to stage the event, discount after UEFA and FIFA stated on Wednesday that they are “convinced” they will not need to impose a suspension on the country’s football federation (FFU).

Ukraine were warned last week that it faced suspension by FIFA and the loss of the right to co-host the 2012 tournament, ed viagra with Poland, unless it convinced soccer’s two most powerful bodies that political interference in the running of the FFU had been curtailed.

However, senior FFU official Serhiy Storozhenko, who had led the rebellion, insisted last week that demands to unseat national federation president Hrigory Surkis had been dropped, and UEFA and FIFA released a joint statement on Wednesday, February 9, to confirm their acceptance of the steps that had been taken.

The statement read: “Following the information provided by the FFU last Friday…FIFA and UEFA responded on February 8 to the FFU mentioning that the latest developments are seen positively and that this is an important step forward to unify and strengthen football in Ukraine.

“Under these circumstances, FIFA and UEFA are convinced that there will be no need to suspend the FFU, but they will continue to monitor the situation over the next few weeks to have the confirmation that the situation in Ukrainian football is definitely stabilised,” the statement added.

STC Launches MUTV Rights in Gulf Region

Manchester United have extended their partnership with STC with the telecommunication giant securing exclusive rights to broadcast the Club’s dedicated MUTV channel in the gulf region.

This is the first time MUTV has been broadcast continuously in the Middle East, denture giving STC Invision subscribers unprecedented access to behind the scenes footage of the famous club, healing documentaries and breaking news, ampoule as well as live commentary of every Manchester United match, including reserve and youth team games. The channel will be broadcast in HD for the first time in the region.

Manchester United Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold commented: “Since forming our partnership in 2008, STC has demonstrated its expertise in developing and delivering outstanding products that meet the needs of our fans.

“By making MUTV available via its HD subscription channel to the almost four million Manchester United followers in the Middle East, STC is helping our fans to get closer to the Club they love.”

iSportconnect Announced as Media Partners for SMMEX 2014

iSportconnect are delighted to announced their continued media partnership for a 3rd year with SMMEX for the SMMEX 2014 event at Wembley Stadium on Monday 10th March.

iSportconnect is the world’s largest private network for sports business professionals.

After 15 years of constant growth and development, SMMEX 2014 – the Sports Merchandise and Marketing Exhibition has become the only place for clubs, licence holders and brands to source and purchase products and services to help their commercial growth to increase their brand exposure and strengthen fan integration.

SMMEX said: “With England in the World Cup, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Rugby World Cup due to be held in England in 2015, sport continues to be a strong focus and by partnering with iSportconnect, we hope to continue to attract key decision makers from the clubs to find new merchandise ideas, retail opportunities, signage, marketing services, new digital technology or just something new for the stadium tours and club museums.”

Sree Varma, Founder & CEO of iSportconnect, said: “We are delighted to once again partner with SMMEX for the 2014 event.

“SMMEX continues to attract the top brands from across the world and we will undoubtedly continue to benefit from our association.”

With 75% of the audience being commercial managers or those with higher senior roles within the organisations, there is a natural synergy between SMMEX and iSportconnect who have an exclusive network of quality members all strictly verified before signing up.

Marius Vizer Appointed President of SportAccord Convention

Marius Vizer, find who was elected SportAccord President in May, has been appointed the SportAccord Convention President by the Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee Meeting of SportAccord Convention took place on Sunday and is comprised of of Francesco Ricci Bitti, representing ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations), René Fasel, representing AIOWF (Association of the International Olympic Winter Sports Federations), and Arkady Romanovich Rotenberg and Marius L. Vizer, representing SportAccord.

Vizer, who is also President of the International Judo Federation (IJF), said: “First of all, I would very much like to thank my colleagues for their support and trust. At the same time, I feel a serious responsibility to develop the present assets with a new vision and an enthusiastic and dynamic strategy. I hope that with the management of the present Executive Committee we can bring more value to the Convention, more revenues and an increased number and quality of services provided to our members and stakeholders.

Held in a different city every year, SportAccord Convention is a unique opportunity for international sporting leaders to engage with business, featuring a dynamic exhibition as well as the annual general meetings of governing bodies of world sport.

The next SportAccord Convention will take place in Belek/Antalya, Turkey from April 6-11, 2014.

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China may withdraw athletes from Olympic training base in Leeds

Chinese officials have reportedly threatened to withdraw their Olympic 
athletes out of their training camp in Leeds because the Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit the city.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to speak at the Yorkshire International Business Convention on Friday.

Leeds City Council has said that it is not responsible for the convention but understands that issues may arise.

Tom Riordan, chief executive of the council, said: “The Yorkshire International Business Convention is a private event not organised by Leeds City Council.

“Whilst we are aware of some sensitivities around this year’s convention, as it is not a council event we do not feel it is appropriate for us to make any further comment.”

Chinese Olympic officials chose Leeds as its athletes’ training base last August.

Around 300  Chinese athletes, coaches and support staff will be based in the West Yorkshire with the initial direct financial benefit to the city of hosting the team is expected to be at least £250,000.

The deal was agreed with the Chinese Olympic Committee by Leeds City Council, and is supported by the University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University.

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ICC Signs ‘biggest-ever’ Broadcast Deal

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has signed it’s biggest-ever global broadcast partnership by jointly awarding its audio-visual rights for ICC Events from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East.

The decision was made by the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board, ICC’s commercial arm, during a meeting at the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Sunday. The decision followed a robust tender, bidding and evaluation process, which started in July 2014. During the process, which involved two rounds of bidding, the ICC received 17 competitive bids from various broadcasters across different territories for its audio-visual rights.

While the final value of the rights fee agreed was not disclosed, it is significantly in excess of the ICC’s previous commercial deals.

The current cycle has seen ESPN Star Sports hold the audio-visual rights until the contract expires at the end of next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

Included in the new eight-year period are 18 ICC tournaments, including two ICC Cricket World Cups (2019 and 2023), two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments (2017 and 2021) and two ICC World Twenty20 tournaments (2016 and 2020).

Commenting on the decision to name Star India and Star Middle East as its successful bidders, ICC Chairman Mr N. Srinivasan said: “We are delighted that our partnership with the Star group has extended to the next cycle of ICC Events. This illustrates the strong relationship we have built in the current cycle and the value we have delivered since 2007.

“Star has an outstanding reputation as a sports broadcaster and has played an integral role in promoting and growing the game by taking coverage of ICC Events to a truly global and record-breaking audience, and we look forward to this continuing for another eight years.”

Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, said: “We are delighted and honoured to extend our partnership with ICC. This is a tribute to Star’s commitment and ICC’s trust in our ability to take the great game of cricket to the next level. Star will constantly attempt to reinvent the viewer experience to make cricket bigger and bigger.”

Sky Sports Secures Rights in UK

Sky Sports has secured the rights to show international cricket’s biggest events including the ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and ICC Champions Trophy.   

The agreement means Sky Sports viewers can enjoy exclusive live coverage of 14 ICC competitions, offering over 250 days of live cricket between 2015 and 2023.  STAR has been awarded the global rights from the ICC and Sky Sports has an exclusive arrangement with STAR for broadcast in UK and Ireland.  

Sky’s existing agreement for ICC cricket includes the Cricket World Cup next year.  It is the 24th rights agreement secured by Sky Sports in 2014 and includes three events taking place in England and Wales – the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017.

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FIFA Announces Prize-Money Increase for 2014 World Cup

FIFA have announced the total contributions for the participants of the 2014 FIFA World Cup have been increased to 37 per cent compared with the last edition in South Africa in 2010.

At its meeting in Costa do Sauipe/Bahia earlier today, capsule the FIFA Finance Committee approved an increase to the contribution pool for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil to $576 million, for sale compared to £420 million in 2010.

The winners will receive $35 million, thumb while the runners-up will obtain $25 million, the third-placed team $22 million, the fourth-placed $20 million, and quarter-finalists $14 million each. Teams that reach the round of 16 will each get $9 million, while those eliminated in the group stage will each receive $8 million. A total of $358 million will be shared as prize money among the 32 participating teams.

In addition, each of the 32 qualified teams will be granted USD 1.5 million for preparation costs. $70 million will be provided by FIFA via the member associations to the clubs whose players take part in the final competition as a contribution towards their participation.

A further $100 million has been allocated to the Club Protection Programme for the FIFA World Cup. This programme was launched in 2012 and is applicable on a worldwide level for all matches listed in the international match calendar for the period from 1 September 2012 until 31 December 2014, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

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USA Fencing Appoints New Interim Executive Director

USA Fencing has announced that Kris Ekeren has been named the organisation’s interim executive director.

Ekeren was selected for the role by the USA Fencing Board of Directors after more than two years with the National Governing Body for the sport of fencing.

Ekeren joined USA Fencing in 2011 as the director of membership services and was promoted to senior director of membership and administration in January of this year.

“We are very excited to have Kris step in as interim executive director. Kris is a consummate professional and I am confident that she will be able to keep the National Office operating without missing a beat, sale ” said USA Fencing President Donald K. Anthony Jr..

Prior to joining the staff of USA Fencing, Ekeren served as the vice president of national programs at the National Sports Center for the Disabled and has a long background working with parks and recreation districts in both Denver and Oklahoma City.