Zambia Sports Minister to Speak at Soccerex African Forum

Chishimba Kambwili, Hon. Minister of Youth and Sport for the Republic of Zambia, is the latest sports minister to be announced as speaking on the ‘Sport and Government’ at the Soccerex African Forum in Durban, 1-2 October.

The panel will be analysing and explaining the most pressing issues affecting sport on the continent and how their respective governments are introducing regulations to help facilitate growth and investment. The other sports ministers confirmed so far include:

  • ·         Protais Mitali, Hon. Minister of Sport and Culture for the Republic of Rwanda
  • ·         Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Hon. Minister for Youth & Sports for the Republic of Ghana
  • ·         Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Hon. Minister of Sports for the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “It is a huge pleasure to welcome the Hon. Minister to the Forum who will be able to offer a great insight into one of Africa’s emerging sporting nations. His involvement alongside three of the most important sports ministers in Africa is a huge honour for us and makes the event unmissable for anyone working in sport in Africa.”

Zambian football has gone through a resurrection over the past two years, winning the 2012 African Cup of Nations and most recently winning the 2013 COSAFA Cup, which they also hosted. The Hon. Minister will be on hand to discuss the successful staging of the tournament, as well as the Ministry’s ambitious developments programmes which the country has embarked on, as they prepare to bid for the 2019 African Cup of Nations.

However it is not only football that the government is aiming to improve; placing sport at the centre of its socio-economic development policies, the ministry has secured a KR17million increase in the annual budget to help with various sporting projects across the country. The ministry has also used international relations with Cuba to sign an agreement aimed at developing sporting relationships between the two countries, which has already seen the Cuban government provide sponsorships for Zambian students to study abroad at certain Cuban universities.

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/AF13ConferenceProgramme.pdf

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit http://www.soccerex.com/africa

Pat Symonds Appointed Chief Technical Officer for Williams F1

The Williams F1 Team have announced Pat Symonds will replace the outgoing Mike Coughlan as Chief Technical Officer beggining 19th August.

Symonds, who has a chequered past, joins Williams from the Marussia F1 Team where he held the position of Technical Consultant.

The former Renault F1 engineering head was banned from Formula One in 2009 after a Singapore Grand Prix scandal. It was claimed that Symonds had asked, then driver Nelson Piquet, Jr to crash deliberately in order to fix the result for his teammate Fernando Alonso. Symonds was initially banned for five years but his ban was overturned and he was allowed to return to a full time position this year.

Speaking about the appointment, Williams F1 Team Founder and Team Principal Sir Frank Williams said: “I’m delighted that Pat is joining the team. His technical capabilities and sporting successes speak for themselves and I’m sure that his knowledge and leadership will contribute considerably to the success that all of us at Williams are working hard to achieve.”

Pat Symonds said: “Williams is a team steeped in success and engineering excellence and I’m honoured to be asked to play a role in returning the team to its rightful place at the pinnacle of Formula One. Sir Frank, Mike and Claire have put in place the foundations for success and I’m immensely excited to begin this new challenge.”

Africa Deserves an Olympics says Sebastian Coe

Sebastian Coe, clinic chairman for the London Organising Commitee of the Olympic games (LOCOG) wants to help bring the Olympics to Africa for the first time.

Coe, clinic the middle-distance great who heads the organizing committee for the London Games, said Africa is a powerhouse in running events and deserves to host a world championships in athletics, first, and eventually the Olympics.

“We want to build a global capacity in sports, and of course the Olympic Games need to come to Africa at some point,” Coe told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It’s absolutely essential at some point. It’s a continent that’s contributed tremendously to athletics.”

Coe said it would be inappropriate to suggest a timeline in which an African country might host the Olympics, but said global sports bodies need to move away from traditional venues. He said international federations likely will have to be more “hands-on” in helping a country that hasn’t hosted a major event before.

“Like many around the world, it would also be a dream for me to see the games staged on this continent,” Coe said during his visit to Tanzania, where he met students as part a global sports development program linked with the London Games.

South Africa considered launching an Olympic bid following the success of the 2010 World Cup but decided not to try for the 2020 Summer Games. It is expected to bid for 2024. Cape Town bid unsuccessfully for the 2004 Olympics.

Coe said FIFA had to approach the soccer tournament in South Africa—the first World Cup on the continent—in a slightly different way, but “they were still magnificent championships.”

He thanked former South African President Nelson Mandela for supporting London’s successful bid and said Mandela has an open invitation to visit the London Games if is able to travel.

Coe said he expects African runners to dominate running events from the 800 meters up to the marathon in London, though he hopes Mo Farah—a Somali-born Briton and world champion in the 5,000—finishes high.

“It is quite likely that African athletes will dominate at all those distances,” Coe said, adding: “If you look at the (African) contribution made, it’s extraordinary.”

Tokyo 2020 Bid Gets National Backing

A nationwide poll has shown that 65.7 percent of respondents support Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

“These results indicate that some 80 million people across the whole of Japan are behind our bid,” Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda said Monday. “This is wonderful news for Tokyo 2020.”

Tokyo’s bid has received the support of the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, both Houses of the Japanese Diet, and, Takeda said that the political, business and sporting communities have declared their full support as well.

The Japanese capital is up against Doha, Qatar; Baku, Azerbaijan; Istanbul; Madrid and Rome. The candidate cities will submit their plans for the games to the International Olympic Committee by February. The IOC will select the host city in September 2013.

Tokyo is promoting its 2020 bid as a symbol of Japan’s recovery from last year’s earthquake and tsunami that left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing on Japan’s northeast coast.

Tokyo lost out to Rio de Janeiro in a bid to host the 2016 Games, partly due to lower than expected public support. Bid officials have said they are targeting a support rate of 70 percent for the 2020 campaign.

Fifa threatens Togo with international ban

Football’s governing body Fifa has threatened Togo with an international ban unless its federation holds elections by early November.

The announcement comes weeks after it was discovered that a “fake” Togo side played Bahrain in an international friendly.

Fifa has said it has accepted a request from the Togolese FA (FTF) to extend the deadline for elections, but said no more extensions would be granted.

Fifa released a statement saying: “The [Fifa] emergency committee has made it clear that if elections are not held by 6 November for whatever reason, the FTF will be automatically suspended.

“In addition, the FTF has been requested to send Fifa a new schedule for the elections as soon as possible.”

Octoshape to Provide Live Streaming for AvD-Oldtimer Grand Prix

Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD), drugs Germany, viagra generic has selected their partner Deutsche Telekom and “LiveStream Perform,” powered by Octoshape, as a live streaming solution for the AvD-Oldtimer-Grand-Prix in Nürburgring.

The cloud-based video streaming solution will be leveraged for the live and on-demand streaming of five TV channels to connected devices globally.

The event will take place August 8 – 10 at the legendary Nürburgring circuit with the live stream starting on Friday the 8th at 4:00pm CET. As one of the biggest and most popular vintage car racing events in the world, the track-side audience at Nürburgring has grown to more than 60,000 spectators. 

“The popularity of the Oldtimer Grand Prix is tremendous but we want to continue to expand its visibility to fans both near and far,” said Dr. Andreas Nowack, CEO AvD-Oldtimer-Grand Prix GmbH und Co OHG. For those fans who are unable to join us track-side in Germany, it’s very important that we offer them a first-rate visual experience via connected device no matter where they are. “LiveStream Perform has met our rigorous demands for high-quality multiscreen viewing and is helping us to grow the event on a global level.”

During the two days of the event, the over-the-top Web and mobile cloud-based video delivery solution will capture up to 5 channels for 2 to 3 hours per day. An audience of up to 10,000 people from across North America, EMEA, Latin America and China is expected to tune in.

“Thanks to the easy set-up of LiveStream Perform, expanding the visibility and audience reach of all types of events has never been easier,” said Karim El-Khazen, Vice President at Deutsche Telekom. “Preparing a live stream for the next CEO speech with distribution to all of your multinational office locations or streaming live events like the AvD Oldtimer-Grand Prix to a global audience are only two use cases the solution can perfectly cover.”

Ken Edwards Quits as Parramatta Eels CEO

Australian Rugby League team, Parramatta Eels are on the look out for a new chief executive after Ken Edwards left the crisis-torn NRL club on Tuesday.

The Eels are currently bottom of the ladder and set for a second successive wooden spoon having lost their last seven matches under coach Ricky Stuart.

It was announced last month that 12 players would be shown the door at the end of this season.

Edwards joined at the start of the season when he became the third chief executive since 2009 after Paul Osborne, who replaced long-standing supremo Dennis Fitzgerald, and Bob Bentley.

The club said Edwards has left by ‘mutual consent’ and was a result of a change of strategic direction following the installation of the new board in May.

“We think he’s one of sport’s great administrators but with a substantial change to the strategic direction of our club both the board and Ken decided we needed to make this call,” chairman Steve Sharp said.

“Two months ago when the new board was elected we wanted to achieve a number of things.

“We want to make the place feel like a football club again and not simply remember our proud history but take the Parramatta Eels forward to a prosperous future.”

Edwards made a number of changes in personnel off the field at the club in his short time at the helm and said he hoped the club’s fortunes would improve.

“It’s been a great honour to work at such a great club as the Parramatta Eels,” he said.

“I genuinely wish the new board, the passionate and loyal members and fans all the best for the future.”

Rio 2016 Announce Venues to Host Pre-Games Training Events

The Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games announced which venues across Brazil will host Pre-Games Training events.

In total, cheap ed 172 sports venues in 73 cities and 18 states in the five regions of Brazil were considered during the Pre-Games Training Venues Registering and Selection process.

The process took a year to complete as the selection panel sought to identify venues that were able to meet the technical requirements and recommendations of the International Sports Federations. The venues need to meet such exacting standards to ensure that they are suitable for the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees athletes to use before the Games. The Pre-Games period is crucial for the athletes so that they can acclimatize to local conditions and train to reach their peak performance levels for the Games. When selecting the Pre-Games Training venues, apoplectic the Rio 2016 Organising Committee also considered the accessibility of the venue as well as the proximity of airports, hotels and hospitals.

President of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, said: “Receiving Olympic or Paralympic Delegations is a great opportunity to further the social and economic life of cities. These cities could start to act as sport development centers in their states or regions and develop sport segments. It is also an opportunity for national and international promotion and advertisement of the sport and touristic potential of the involved cities.”

An online guide presenting the Rio 2016 Pre-Games Training Venues will be presented to all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Buenos Aires Launch Bid to Host 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, Vero Comms to Advise

The Argentine city of Buenos Aires will officially bid to host the 2018 summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG), cheap Gerardo Werthein, capsule President of the Argentine Olympic Committee (AOC) and a Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced.

He has officially submitted a letter to IOC chief, Dr. Jacques Rogge, and also confirmed that they have engaged Vero Communications as lead advisors for their bid. The Argentinian team is in Innsbruck for the launch of the winter edition of the YOG.

Werthein said, “I am happy to confirm that Buenos Aires will bid to host the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2018. We believe that Buenos Aires would be an excellent Host City for this exciting new addition to the Olympic sports calendar. 

“We stand ready to be the IOC’s perfect partner for this special event and look forward to formally signing the YOG Candidature documents in March. Our aim is help spread the positive values of Olympism amongst young people in Argentina, South America and across the world.”

Mauricio Macri, Mayor of Buenos Aires, added, “For us it would be an immense privilege to welcome the youth of the world to our city in 2018. Buenos Aires is one of the world´s most exciting and hospitable cities, with first class infrastructure and a true passion for sport.

“We believe we have a lot to offer as a city and as a bid and we are proud to give our full and absolute support to the National Olympic Committee.”

Vero Communications have been brought on board by the Argentine Olympic Committee and Buenos Aires City Government to advise on the bid plan.

Werthein added, “We are delighted that Mike Lee and VERO will be working with us. Mike and his team have a great track-record and have been at the heart of several successful Olympic and sporting campaigns. It is a great start to our bid.”  

Mike Lee OBE, Chairman of VERO, is also working with the Doha 2020 bid for the summer Games.

He said, “Buenos Aires is a vibrant international city with a fantastic sporting and cultural pedigree that would provide an inspiring platform to deliver a memorable Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2018. We are honoured to be working with Gerardo and the Mayor on this very exciting project.”

Buenos Aires will host the IOC session in September 2013 when the elections will be held for the 2020 summer Olympics host and the IOC presidency.

Chung Mong-joon denies Blatter challenge

South Korean Fifa vice president Chung Mong-joon has dismissed recent speculation that he will stand against Sepp Blatter for the organisation’s presidency next May.

Chung had hinted he could run against Blatter as competition was needed “to keep Fifa healthy”.

But Chung has now said: “The first and foremost goal for me personally and for the South Korean government is to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup. I am not thinking about running for the presidency in 2011.”

Chung also faces his own challenge for his position as Fifa vice president representing the Asian Football Confederation. Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein, head of the Jordan Football Association, recently announced his intention to run against Chung for the four-year vice presidency from 2011-2015.