The Sport Industry Group has announced speakers from both side of the Atlantic for September’s edition of the Nolan Partners Sport Industry Breakfast Club, ailment with Liverpool Football Club’s managing director, illness Ian Ayre, joining the owner and president of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, Mark Wilf, on stage at the networking event on 26th September.

Ayre and Wilf will speak at Bloomberg’s central London headquarters, following in the footsteps of the likes of Mark Cavendish, Barbara Slater, Richard Scudamore and Ian Ritchie, who have all previously spoken at the quarterly event.

The September edition will follow ECB chief executive David Collier’s appearance at the next edition of the event, on June 19th, where the ICC Champions Trophy, England’s recent win in the battle to host the Cricket World Cup in 2019 and upcoming back-to-back Ashes series will be on the agenda. To secure your place, visit www.sportindustry.biz

Ayre was appointed Commercial Director at Liverpool FC in 2007, taking over as Managing Director in 2011 after NESV completed its takeover of the club. During his time with the Barclays Premier League team he has overseen the signing of a number of high profile partnership, including lucrative shirt deals with Standard Chartered Bank and Warrior Sports.

Vikings President Wilf has played a key role in the development of the business aspects of the club with great strides made in recent times to secure the long-term stability of the franchise, highlighted with the approval of a state-of-the-art stadium project in downtown Minneapolis.

He will be in town to see his team host the Pittsburgh Steelers at London’s Wembley Stadium just days after speaking at the Nolan Partners Sport Industry Breakfast Club – marking the first time in the history of the sport that two regular-season games will be played in the UK, with the Jacksonville Jaguars also hosting the San Francisco 49ers in October.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), led by Sweden’s Gunilla Lindberg, have today started three-days of meetings with representatives from Pyeongchang 2018, to discuss the plans for staging the showcase event.

Recently appointed head of the IOC’s Coordination Commission, Lindberg and Gilbert Felli, the IOC’s Executive Director, travelled to the Alpensia Resort, the centerpiece of the 2018 Winter Games, from Daegu, where they had been attending the World Athletics Championships. 

The Orientation Seminar will be attended by more than 150 people expected to be involved in the organisation of the Games. 

The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), led by President Y S Park, is also playing a leading role in the Seminar.

Lindberg said: “It’s a great pleasure to be back in Pyeongchang, as you begin life as an Olympic host city.

“Today, we embark on a journey together that will last nearly seven years, as we strive to organize the first ever Olympic Winter Games in the Republic of Korea.

“This Orientation Seminar is a key element in ensuring that the foundation upon which we construct·preparations for the Games is solid but from my experience with the Evaluation Commission and having seen the work of the Pyeongchang team, I am confident that we will deliver great Games in 2018.”

IOC President Jacques Rogge started with a video message on the first day of the Seminar and was followed by a Pyeongchang 2018 presentation on the vision, concept, legacy and future plans of their project.

The IOC then provided an overview of the Olympic Games lifecycle.

The Seminar is expected to carry on for two more days with the IOC presenting to Pyeongchang 2018 the Games Management Model across a number of functions including venues, planning, clients, commercial, marketing and communications, to start the South Korean heading in the right path.

The World Anti-Doping Agency, ask which is the international body that oversees drug programs in sports, is negotiating with “many” pharmaceutical companies to share information in an effort to prevent cheating before the London 2012 Olympic Games, its president has said.

John Fahey, president of the Montreal-based agency, said that this move would allow WADA scientists to embed with company researchers during product development, and that the goal is to find and highlight drugs that athletes may use to improperly improve their performance.

He said: “We’re starting to get some momentum in the process. This allows us to access the key information years before the drugs are commercialised.”

GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK), the U.K.’s biggest drugmaker, said this month it would help WADA find ways to detect drugs with “performance-enhancing potential” by giving the agency confidential information about its early-stage medicines that could be abused by athletes.

Roche Holding AG (ROG), whose anemia drug Mircera sold US$311 million last year and was allegedly used by cyclist Riccardo Ricco during the 2008 Tour de France, is also collaborating with WADA.

“The key is to get with individual companies,” Fahey said. “They’re more than willing to cooperate and to enable us to get into the pipeline early.”

FIA’s Director of Communications Norman Howell will leave the motor racing governing body on July 1st and take up a position as Vice President of Corporate Communications EMEA Division at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), based in London.

He will be moving back to the UK where he can best combine his professional and family life.

Norman has been with the FIA since January 2010 and has supervised the introduction of a significant digital platform, a re-alignment of print and electronic output, as well as the radical updating of the FIA’s brand identity guidelines.

Pierre Regent, presently the FIA’s International Relations Advisor and Action for Road Safety Project Manager, will become the FIA’s new Director of Communications whilst keeping his role of International Relations Advisor.

Pierre has spent five years working closely with former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as his press and communication adviser as well as spokesperson on international affairs. Pierre graduated from the prestigious Institut d’Études politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po), the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Paris (HEC) and has a master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University in New York.

Jean Todt said: I want to thank Norman for his contribution as Director of Communications of the FIA. He and his team have implemented innovative new communication technologies which are now available to the Media and the FIA family. I wish him a successful outcome in his new challenge, one that will also allow him to be closer to his family.

Norman Howell said: I would like to thank Jean for allowing me to expand my knowledge of motor sport, mobility and how a major sports federation works. This has been a wonderful and enriching experience, made all the more special by the great team I had the privilege to work with. Since Pierre arrived I have worked closely with him and know he will be an energetic, astute and innovative Director of Communications.

Pierre Regent said: I am very excited to be taking over from Norman: we have worked closely together since my arrival at the FIA and we share many of the fundamental ideas about modern communications. I am also looking forward to leading the Federation’s vibrant and hard-working communications department which has operated so well under Norman’s stewardship.

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The British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced that the Team GB House for the London 2012 Olympic Games will be at Westfield Stratford City, London’s new marquee shopping centre, which overlooks the Olympic Park.

The contract sees the BOA become the first National Olympic Committee to sign an agreement to utilise space at the One Stratford Place office development within Westfield Stratford City, with Team GB set occupy the 1,947 square metre area on the eighth floor, offering panoramic views of key Games venues including the Olympic Stadium.

Following the conclusion of the Olympic Games, the venue and its fixtures, fittings and equipment will be handed over by the BOA, free of cost, to the British Paralympic Association (BPA) to support ParalympicsGB during the London 2012 Paralympics.

Andy Hunt, Team GB Chef de Mission for London 2012 and BOA chief executive, said: “Team GB House will be our operational heartbeat during the London 2012 Olympics. It is an important component in our strategy to deliver the very best possible support and preparation environment to Team GB to enhance athlete performance.

“The excellent facilities at Westfield Stratford City, combined with its ideal location adjacent to the Olympic Park allow us to offer unprecedented layers of support to Team GB athletes, their families and close friends. It also offers important opportunities to engage with our partners and supporters, media and to celebrate British Olympians from previous Games.

“We are really pleased to be able to hand over the facility to our colleagues at the BPA following the conclusion of the Olympic Games and we hope it will help British athletes to achieve further inspirational performances during the Paralympics.”

As well as providing facilities to directly support British athletes and coaches, Team GB House will also incorporate areas to engage with key stakeholders including Olympic partners, media and supporters.

A friends and family zone will be a key feature of the venue and provide a dedicated space for British athletes to meet with their loved ones in a safe and secure environment both prior to, and during, the Games.

Tim Reddish, the chairman of the BPA, said: “We are delighted that the BOA has secured such a fantastic site for Team GB House and will generously hand this over to the BPA for our use during the Paralympic Games.

“The facilities on offer coupled with Westfield Stratford City’s close proximity to the athlete’s village will enable us to take a real step forward in terms of the support that we can offer to the sports and athletes.

“It’s a great example of how the BOA and BPA are working collaboratively to maximise the opportunities of a Home Games.”

Another key function of Team GB House will be hosting the main operations centre that will act as the fulcrum of Team GB operations, transport and logistics at Games time.

Team GB House will also cater for the BOA’s partners, sponsors, key supporters and stakeholders, enabling them to share in the celebration of British success and provide opportunities to honour the distinguished British Olympians from previous Games, including those who represented the country the last time London hosted the Olympic Games in 1948.

John Burton, director of Westfield Stratford City, said: “We are delighted that Team GB are to be our first Olympic clients here at Westfield Stratford City.

“It is an honour to host the team during 2012 and we are proud to be working with them during this prestigious event.

“We look forward to accommodating the Team GB athletes as well as their friends and family.

The BOA will begin to move into the site in early 2012 to commence fitting out and testing systems before opening for Team GB in early July 2012.

Meanwhile the US$2.3 billion Westfield Stratford City, which opens on September 13 this year, will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe at 1.9 million square foot.

As the prestigious gateway to the Olympic Park, Westfield Stratford City will see 70 per cent of all spectators travel through the scheme en route to the Park while the development includes 300 shops, over 70 food and beverage offers, three hotels, a 17-screen Vue cinema, bowling and a casino.

Blackburn Rovers have announced operations director Paul Agnew has left the club after 17 years.

The Championship team said in a statement: “The club would like to announce that Paul Agnew is no longer employed by Blackburn Rovers Football & Athletic Plc and would like to thank Mr Agnew for his service as operations director over the last 11 months.”

The 55-year-old is the former chief executive at Preston, herbal | recently launched a freeze on season ticket prices as Rovers look to win back supporters after a campaign which saw five managers in the dugout.