Fernand Duchaussoy has been elected as the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) on a permanent basis after taking up the role in a caretaker capacity in July.
An FFF statement revealed that the move was approved at a general assembly meeting on Saturday 18 December. Duchaussoy took over from Jean-Pierre Escalettes on a temporary basis after his resignation following France’s World Cup debacle.
Duchaussoy’s mandate expires in June next year, when he can stand for re-election.
National Badminton League (NBL) is set to be broadcasted worldwide after BADMINTON England announced an exclusive deal with Eurosport Asia-Pacific.
The agreement will see the NBL broadcast live to over 10 million homes in 16 countries including Malaysia, erectile Indonesia and Australia.
The NBL starts on 6 October 2014 and will be the UK’s first ever national badminton league. It will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, order but the Eurosport deal means that millions of badminton fans in Asia and the Pacifics will now also be able to enjoy the matches live as well.
Adrian Christy, Chief Executive of BADMINTON England, said: “Badminton is a truly global sport with millions of fans across the world and I am delighted to announce this partnership with Eurosport to broadcast the NBL live to Asia and the Pacifics.
“The NBL is exciting the whole sport and it’s fantastic that it will now reach a worldwide audience of millions who will enjoy watching the inaugural league season unfold.”
McDonald’s, Official FIFA World Cup sponsors and one of the biggest brands in the world have confirmed their participation in the conference programme at this year’s Soccerex African Forum, 1-2 October in Durban.
The session will see Sechaba Motsieloa, Corporate Affairs Director, McDonald’s South Africa give an exclusive presentation on how the company are fulfilling their 2010 FIFA World Cup Legacy, through the sponsorship of a nationwide U14 school league.
The tournament, dubbed ‘Developing Dreams’, is in its fourth edition and is run in association with the South African Schools Football Association (SASFA). The McDonald’s U14 Schools League, which was first staged in 2010, helps identify young football stars of tomorrow and gives schools teams the chance to demonstrate their skills on a provincial and national basis.
So far over 32,000 learners from 3,294 schools nationwide have taken part in the tournament which sees district, regional and then the nine provincial winners playing in the national playoffs. The partnership is a clear example of how the World Cup has helped to develop football in South Africa and correlates with the Forum’s aims of bringing together the major decision makers in that development.
Sechaba Motsieloa commented: “The promise of tangible 2010 World Cup legacy is an issue we take very seriously at McDonald’s. We believe the best way to deliver that tangible legacy is through schools and education which allows us to reach the learners at a younger age, where the most amount of work can be done.”
The Soccerex African Forum will bring together 1,000 senior football decision makers together with businesses from across the continent and the world for two days of unrivalled learning, networking and business opportunities to unite the business of football in Africa.
You can find the conference agenda for this year’s Forum here: http://www.mysoccerex.com/
For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit http://www.soccerex.com/africa
David Levy has been promoted to President of Turner Broadcasting System, abortion Inc. (TBS, Inc.) the company has announced.
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms.
In his new role, which is effective immediately, Levy adds oversight of Turner’s domestic entertainment and animation & young adults networks and business portfolios to his current leadership of the company’s advertising sales, affiliate sales and sports units. Levy will continue to be based in New York and reports to Chairman and CEO Phil Kent.
In addition to all of the company’s domestic revenue, Levy now oversees all creative and business activity of the Turner signature networks TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, truTV, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Adult Swim, as well as their digital brand extensions.
With his promotion, Levy adds Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, and Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer of Turner Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media, to his direct-report team of business-unit heads that includes Donna Speciale (Turner Entertainment & Animation Ad Sales), Greg D’Alba (CNN Ad Sales and Turner Digital Ad Sales), Coleman Breland (Turner Network Sales) and Lenny Daniels (Turner Sports). This new structure increases efficiency, focus and accountability for growth and results at Turner.
“David is an extraordinary executive with a broad range of experience in just about every aspect of our business,” said Kent. “His imagination and audacity echo the spirit of Turner’s founder and namesake, and he inspires great teams to do their best work. Having worked closely with David for over 17 years, I know his capabilities and potential, and had planned to add to his already-considerable portfolio oversight of every aspect of our domestic entertainment and kids businesses, which represent well over half of our operating profit.”
“I’m looking forward to leading Turner Broadcasting alongside Phil and John Martin, and I appreciate their confidence in me for this important role,” said Levy. “I have invested more than 25 years in our company. That cumulative experience affords me a unique understanding of our capabilities and a vision for how I’ll work with Steve Koonin and Stu Snyder and the great entertainment and animation networks teams, and with our colleagues in the revenue and sports units, to continue to evolve and grow Turner.”
Levy inherits a portfolio of leading networks and brands including the #1 (TNT) and #3 (TBS) networks in prime time delivery of adults 18-34, 18-49 and 24-54.
Previously president of sales, distribution and sports for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Levy will maintain his oversight of the company’s sports programming acquisitions, production, marketing, league relations and sports ad sales.
At Turner Sports, Levy has been instrumental in deepening and expanding Turner’s programming and rights relationships with the NBA, Major League Baseball, the PGA and the NCAA. He is widely credited with expanding the longest-running league/programmer partnership in professional sports, when Turner assumed joint management of the NBA’s digital businesses; with orchestrating Turner’s part in a deal with CBS and the NCAA for rights to the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship through 2024; and most recently, with extending Turner’s media rights with MLB through 2021.
Sepp Blatter was forced to retract comments he made regarding the issue raised over the decision to host the World Cup 2022 in a country where homosexuality is illegal. In a supposedly jovial retort the FIFA President suggested that the gay fans travelling to the event should ‘refrain from any sexual activity’.
Blatter was forced to apologise in a statement to journalists in Abu Dhabi after the comments received an angry reaction from many gay rights groups.
Juris Lavrikovs, the communications director for the European branch of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, said the comments were “very unfortunate and have left people deeply offended” and said “we are talking about a very basic human right that is being violated.”
Blatter attempted to diffuse the tension stating: “It was not my intention and never will be my intention to go into any discrimination. This is exactly what we are against. If somebody feels that they have been hurt, then I regret it and present apologies.”
Sports betting company Betfair Group plc has announced the appointment of Zillah Byng-Maddick as a Non-Executive Director.
Zillah will join the Company with effect from close of business at the Company’s Annual General Meeting to be held on the 5th September 2013 and will be a member of the audit committee.
Zillah was Chief Financial Officer of Trader Media Group, one of Europe’s largest multimedia publishers, from 2009, serving latterly as interim Chief Executive until July 2013. She is currently a Non-Executive Director of Mecom Group plc.
Prior to this Zillah was Finance Director of Fitness First Group Ltd, from 2006-2009, and prior to that she was CFO of the Thresher Group. Zillah has also previously held senior finance positions with GE Capital and HMV Media Group and qualified as an accountant with Nestle UK Ltd.
People from all corners of the globe travelled to Switzerland for the ceremony of the ‘House of Basketball’, which on completion will become the International Basketball Federaion (FIBA) headquarters.
The project is expected to cost around US$31m and will be in the shape of a hand from a birds-eye view, with structural elements designed to strongly resemble a basketball net. The project should be completed by the end of 2012.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge attended the event and was addressed by FIBA President Yvan Mainini along with the assembled guests: “A birth like this is something very important. FIBA was created in 1932 in Geneva and today is like a re-birth as we break ground here to give the federation the dynamism it will need in coming years. We look forward to this project being completed so that we can welcome you all here again in two years’ time.”
Rogge said: “Basketball is a universal sport. It requires very little infrastructure and therefore is ideal to be played at school level. It is a sport where there is no violence, that carries values and that is very appealing. I would like to congratulate FIBA for this great initiative. This building will allow FIBA to do an even better job of fulfilling its mission regarding basketball and the development of the sport.”
The building will house the newly-set up International Basketball Foundation (IBF) and the FIBA Hall of Fame in addition to the administrative offices of FIBA.
BDO Events, thumb the commercial partner and exclusive sales agent of the British Darts Organisation, apoplectic has announced a broadcast deal with Eurosport who will showcase five tournaments from four countries this Autumn.
Eurosport has acquired the worldwide rights, bronchi including sub-licensing rights, and will broadcast the tournaments in its European and Asia-Pacific markets.
Eurosport’s relationship with BDO Events was first forged with the showing of all three days of the inaugural BDO Events’ BDO World Trophy in February 2014, which was held at the iconic Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.
The featured tournaments in the new agreement include this year’s Winmau World Masters and also The British Open, traditional season curtain-raiser, Top of Ghent, Northern Ireland Open and Romanian Open. They will be covered live and delayed on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.
Dutch Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem will have a new owner after Russian billionaire Alexander Tsjigirinski announced the takeover of the side.
Tsjigirinski bought the club from Georgian investor Merab Jordania, pills who revealed that he was happy to sell.
“When I bought the Vitesse shares I already stated that Alexander Tsjigirinski was supporting me and my plans with the club,” he said.
“Now Vitesse have made some necessary steps for a bright future I feel it was the right moment to move on the shares to him.
“I will be available for Vitesse and Alexander to advise them in the future.”
SportAccord Convention announced today that the 2013 edition of the event delivered economic impact equivalent to US$7.69 million for the host city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, according to research conducted by PwC, the global network of professional services firms.
PwC, a Gold Partner of SportAccord Convention, estimates the direct economic impact of SportAccord Convention 2013 at US$4.23 million in spending of non-resident participants in the event, which attracted 2,350 participants from 58 countries. Indirect economic impact, as the initial spending triggers a ripple effect through the local economy, is estimated at US$3.46 million. These figures exceed PwC’s pre-event estimates by 12% and 13%, respectively.
Several organisations have already expressed an interest in holding their next event in Saint Petersburg as a result of the city’s demonstrated ability to organise an event of the size and importance of SportAccord Convention, PwC said. Hosting the SportAccord Convention has also promoted the city as a business and cultural destination. According to the PwC survey, 48 percent of participants plan to visit Saint Petersburg again, and 79 percent said they would definitely recommend visiting there.
“Our partnership with SportAccord Convention in Saint Petersburg was extremely successful,” said Robert Gruman,PwC Russia Advisory Leader, who heads PwC’s Global Sports Mega-Events Centre of Excellence. “While making our own contribution to the event with the Economic Impact Study, we were especially gratified by the networking opportunities, the ability to build relationships with federations and the global sports movement.”
According to PwC’s survey, SportAccord Convention participants obtained on average 13 new useful business contacts through attending the event, confirming the Convention’s value as a networking occasion.
The Saint Petersburg 2013 study was conducted by PwC’s Sports Mega-Events Centre of Excellence, comprising a network of professionals experienced in bringing value at all phases of the sports mega-events lifecycle. In partnership with the Organising Committee of the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, PwC’s experts are carrying out over 200 projects in several key areas, from strategic and operational planning to supply chain management, from HR consulting to risk management.
To see the entire report, visit www.sportaccordconvention.com.