Tokyo officials have unvelied details about their potential Olympic Stadium should they win the bid for the 2020 Olympic games.

The international roll-out of “Discover Tomorrow”, the city’s future-focused vision for its bid was also discussed.

Located on the same site as the stadium built for the 1964 Summer Games, the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo will be the most advanced Olympic Stadium ever, said Tokyo 2020.

Masato Mizuno, Vice President of the Japanese Olympic Committee and Chief Executive of Tokyo 2020 said: “This is the jewel in the crown of our venue plan. It’s a beautiful example of how Tokyo is bringing the values of Olympic Legacy in direct connection with the future.”.

Officials said the new Olympic stadium would cost 130 billion yen.

The Kasumigoaka National Stadium located in central Tokyo will be remodelled to have state-of-the-art all-weather features, including an Olympic Games first – a retractable roof. The field will have natural grass and will be suited to host a variety of sports including athletics, rugby and football.

An international contest was launched recently to solicit entries for the final design of the new stadium, and the competition jury will be overseen by world-renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The stadium will be ready for the 2019 Rugby World Cup being held in Tokyo said Takeda.

Bid officials said Saturday an Olympic Games in Tokyo would generate $37 billion and create 150,000 jobs.

Takeda told reporters: “If we host the Olympics, 2.9 trillion yen and 150,000 jobs will be created. Japan needs more energy and good news, bright news, happy news, and therefore by hosting the Olympics in Tokyo the sufferers in the (Tokyo) region will get hope for the future.”

The London 2012 games is expected to go under budget by £476m following the government’s last quarterly economic report.

The London 2012 Olympic games is expected to go under budget by £476m ($741m) following the government’s last quarterly economic report.

The overall funding package for the Games remains at £9.298 billion ($14.478bn), with £476m of uncommitted contingency available, which will go back to the Treasury even after an additional £19million ($29.6m) being spent on crowd management during the London 2012 Games.

The extra £19m for crowd management will include spending on additional stewards and crowd flow measures, and will also include improvements to public information in the centre of the capital and the “last mile” – the distance between transport hubs and Games venues.

Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said: “With a matter of weeks to go until London 2012 we are in a strong place.

“The transformation of the previously contaminated land into the Olympic Park on time and under budget is a great success story for UK plc.
“I would like to thank all those who have worked so hard to deliver this project in such an exemplary manner.

“We can now look forward to a summer of sport built upon the firm foundations set down by the ODA, LOCOG and everyone else involved in the project.”

The anticipated final cost of the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) construction and transport programme is £6.761bn ($10.524bn).

Dennis Hone, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, said: “Our marathon task of building an Olympic Park fit for champions is almost at an end.

“The finish line is in sight but we have still got work to do, supporting the London Organising Committee in the next month and during the Games.

“The finishing touches are being put to this stage for the world’s best athletes – but we want the audience to be thrilled too: not just the spectators this summer, but the people who will live, work and play in the Olympic Park for decades to come.”

The Olympic Park and Village were transferred from the ODA to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) in January, to allow them to prepare the venues for staging the Games.

Funding made available to LOCOG has increased by £29m ($45.1m) in the quarter, as a result of these transfers from the ODA, and for additional infrastructure works.

The remaining balance of contingency within the public sector funding package now stands at £388m ($604m), with an additional £88m ($137m) available to the ODA in programme contingency to cover assessed risks.

In total, this leaves £476m of uncommitted contingency remaining.

The association’s discontent comes after FIFA President Sepp Blatter appeared to make a major u-turn in the proposals to reschedule world soccer’s flagship event. Blatter had previously backed the plans to move the event to the winter months due to soaring temperatures in the Middle Eastern gulf during the tournaments regular schedule. On Monday, February 7, Blatter and FIFA revealed that the Qatar based event had been “settled for summer”.

ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge spoke after he 136-member association’s general assembly in Geneva, stating: “The time for monopolies is over. Football needs democracy and transparency.”

“ECA members agree that all clubs must be meaningfully involved in all decisions affecting club football. Now is the time for change.

In a statement, the ECA expressed its “concern on the way matters of such importance are managed by football’s world governing body” and its opposition to the “disruption” of the possibility of a winter World Cup.

A specialist venue operator which helped launch Wembley stadium and the O2 Arena was today revealed as the third bidder for the London Olympic stadium.

International Stadia Group will compete with two consortiums — West Ham United/Newham council and Tottenham/AEG — to take over the £500 million-plus venue after the 2012 Games.

The disclosure today by Estates Gazette ends months of speculation about the identity of a third bidder for the flagship venue.

It comes days before the Olympic Park Legacy Company, which is handling sales, is due to inform bidders whether they have made the shortlist before a deal is signed next March.

ISG says on its website that is has been responsible for generating more than $2 billion in revenues from the sales and marketing of stadium seats at more than 15 projects.

It has also been involved with Coventry City Football Club’s Ricoh Arena, Galatasaray’s Türk Telekom Arena in Istanbul and the Swebank Arena in Solna, Stockholm.

The group has worked extensively with the US National Football League on financing stadium investment. The NFL is understood to be considering options for moving its franchise to the Olympic Stadium.

It also has close ties with US entertainment giant Anschutz (AEG), which is bidding alongside Tottenham. The two worked together on creating, managing and selling the premium seating at the O2 Arena.

It is unclear whether the ISG bid seeks to retain the athletics track at the stadium post Games.

West Ham, in partnership with Newham council, entertainment group LiveNation and with the backing of UK Athletics, is committed to maintaining the athletics track post- Games.

Both ISG and the legacy company declined to comment.

IOC marketing commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg has revealed he will step down from his role after 12 years in the job according to the Associated Press.

The 74-year-old Norwegian told the IOC’s general assembly on Monday he wants to be able to spend more time with his family.

Heiberg told the Associated Press he has “enjoyed every moment in this function.”

Heiberg is moving aside to let the new IOC president — who will be elected on Tuesday — pick his own team. But he says, if the new president wishes, he will remain on the job until his term expires at the end of the year.

Heiberg says “this means the new people will have a chance to get into the job before I leave.” 

Spain’s Secretary of State for Sport Miguel Cardenal insists Madrid is right to go ahead with its bid for the 2020 Olympic Games despite the eurozone crisis.

The country has been hit hard by debts, with talk of them requiring a bail-out, and although Rome has pulled out of the running due to the financial situation, the Spanish capital is desperate to land the Games.

It has been a Candidate City for the 2012 and 2016 Games, won by London and Rio respectively, and with much of the investment in the bid already received, Cardenal is unconcerned.

“The analysis that we have from the Spanish government is that the Olympic Games are not merely something that will give a boost to the Spanish economy but they also provide us with a huge opportunity,” Cardenal said.

“We have experience of the Barcelona Olympic Games and in economic terms its resolve was indisputable.

“Four-fifths of our necessary investment for our bid has already been achieved, so we are not talking about huge scale of new investment.”

Cardenal added: “The Spanish state is calling for its citizens to tighten their belts and accept the need for a degree of sacrifice and the measures are certainly painful.

“But we are pursuing this project because there are economic studies that identify the investment already made, the investment still to be made and the yield on those investment in terms of employment will boost the economy.

“The bid wishes to be smart and reasonable looking at sustainability and we shall only have expenditure that’s absolutely necessary and will make financial dividends.

“Let’s not forget the Games we are bidding for is in 2020. Eight years is a very long time in terms of economic developments and we certainly hope the economic situation is Spain in eight years time will be a lot better than now.

“There will be no additional investment between now and the final decision of the bid in September 2013 apart from those that are supported by the private sector rather than the public.”

President of the Spanish Olympic Committee Alejandro Blanco, who is also serving as the president of the 2020 bidding committee, added: “Madrid is different because the bulk of the investment has already been made.

“The investment that is called for if we are successful is less than the return we will get on the Games.

“All of the investment made by Spain will be affected if we don’t get the Games, but the amount we would need for further infrastructure is quite minor in relation to the investment already made. We have private sector funding ready to be made if we are successful.”

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today announced that the field of play in the Stadium will be transformed into the rolling British countryside for the opening ceremony, which is titled Isles of Wonder.

Work has started on installing the set for the opening scene, called Green and Pleasant.

The set will include meadows, fields and rivers, and feature families taking picnics, sport being played on the village green and farmers tilling the soil whilst real farmyard animals graze – including 12 horses, three cows, two goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, nine geese, 70 sheep, and three sheep dogs.

Each of the four nations will be represented by their national flower – the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax from Northern Ireland.
To coincide with the announcement Danny Boyle, artistic director of the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony, paid tribute to the ceremony’s 10,000 volunteers, cast and crew rehearsing.

He said: “The ceremony is an attempt to capture a picture of ourselves as a nation, where we have come from and where we want to be.
“The best part of telling that story has been working with our 10,000 volunteers.
“I’ve been astounded by the selfless dedication of the volunteers, they are the purest embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as a nation.”

There have already been 157 cast rehearsals for the ceremony, with volunteer performers giving up evenings and weekends to take part in 37 rehearsals at the new site in Barking and Dagenham.

At 3 Mills Studios, the production base for the London 2012 Ceremonies Team, work is being completed on 12,956 props. Staff in the costume department are working hard to produce 23,000 costumes for all four ceremonies, including sewing 24,570 buttons onto the costumes for one of the opening sequences of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Work will soon begin to install the lighting for the ceremonies, which includes 1,100 automated lamps, 1,000 conventional lamps, 500 LED fixtures, and 32 follow spots.
This will be accompanied by a million watt sounds system using more than 500 speakers and 50 tonnes of associated sound gear.

Seb Coe, LOCOG chairman, said: “With only 45 days to go to the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony one of the biggest sets ever built for a show is beginning to develop in the Olympic Stadium.

“With a worldwide TV audience of a billion people and a cast of over 10,000 talented volunteers, I’m sure that Danny’s ceremony will be a fantastic celebration that will welcome the 10,500 athletes from around the world and make our nation proud.”

The opening of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest indoor theme park, has been delayed due to the death of a ruler in another part of the United Arab Emirates, organisers said on Thursday.

The postponement until November 4 came after the ruler of the tiny but strategic emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al-Qassimi, died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

The park had been due to be inaugurated on October 27, but it will still open more than a week before Abu Dhabi hosts the eagerly awaited final Grand Prix in this year’s tightly contested Formula One world championship.

Despite the delay, journalists were allowed inside the park which features a record-breaking roller coaster ride meant to emulate the feeling of being in a Ferrari F1 car.

Sitting next to the futuristic Yas Marina circuit that hosts the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the theme park is housed under a massive triangular red roof on the 40-billion-dollar Yas Island development.

Ferrari World spreads about 86,000 square metres (925,696 square feet), while the red roof bearing the world’s largest logo of Ferrari’s prancing horse stretches about 200,000 square metres (2.15 million square feet).

Among its 20 attractions are two roller coasters, including the F1-themed Formula Rossa which is set to be the fastest ever reaching a top speed of 240 kilometres (150 miles) per hour.

Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital, hopes the park will help to draw tourists from around the globe along with several other ambitious projects including state-of-the-art branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums.

Source: AFP

LIV Sports, a division of Multi Screen Media, has acquired the the mobile and internet broadcast rights of the UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifiers for India.

The qualifying schedule is currently underway, starting September 2014 and will run through November 2015. LIV Sports will offer both live and video-on-demand match content with rich and informative statistics and analysis.

The digital destination will enable viewers to watch the live telecast of the qualifying tournament at a nominal rate of $3 per match. It will also offer video-on-demand (VOD) highlights. The VOD content on LIV sports will include match highlights, goals, penalties, red cards, free kicks and misses.

Sony Entertainment Network executive vice president and digital head Uday Sodhi commented: “We are excited to bring to you the qualifying matches for the 15th European Championship for men’s national football teams – Euro 2016.

“Since our inception as the official mobile and internet broadcaster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup  Brazil, the idea behind LIV Sports was to offer quality content that is mass inclusive and not designed to cater only to ardent sports fans. We are committed to keep every cross section of our consumers actively engaged through quality interactive sports content.”