Trafalgar Square will make the one year countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games. Boris Johnson, The Mayor of London announced that there with a unique ceremony in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday 27th July.

The ceremony will be attended by the Mayor, IOC President Jacques Rogge, LOCOG Chairman Sebastian Coe, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson among others.

Boris Johnson will invite the world to the Games which will take place next summer.

Audiences will the first impression of how London will look when key buildings and parts of the city are ‘dressed’ for the 2012 Games.

In a unique moment, televised live as part of the ceremony and beamed into living rooms and onto screens in Trafalgar Square, Olympic hopeful Tom Daley will make the first dive into the pool at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park.

The ceremony will close with the unveiling of the design of the medals for the 2012 Games.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: ‘With the London Games just a year away this ceremony marks the most important milestone to date on the journey to the London Games’.

‘We will be looking forward to next summer with great excitement. Our venues are nearly all complete and our preparations to ensure all our visitors can experience the Games wherever they are in the capital are well advanced. With a year to go we can safely say we are ready to welcome the world’.

Lord Coe concluded that ‘The countdown to London 2012 is on, we share the nation’s excitement – and we won’t let you down’.

Gold Coast Titans chief executive David May has announced a surprise exit less than a year after joining the NRL club, citing personal reasons.

May tendered his resignation on Monday, effective immediately, with club co-owner Darryl Kelly to step in as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found, News Limited reports.

“It’s been a tremendously difficult decision but I have a number of personal issues I need to deal with, here and at home in the UK, over the next few months,” May said.

“This will prevent me from being able to fulfil my obligations as CEO of the Titans.

“It’s been a dramatic 12 months but I am tremendously proud of my work at the Titans.

“I am enormously proud that we have eradicated the debt and the club is … operating at a profit.”

May joined the club last July, replacing former managing director Michael Searle, to help dig the Titans out of multimillion-dollar debts.

It is understood his deteriorating relationship with executive director and majority shareholder Searle was a factor in his resignation.

One of the most important men in African football, Kwesi Nyantakyi, will be speaking at the Soccerex African Forum in Durban, 1-2 October.

The Ghana Football Association President and CAF Executive Committee member will provide an insight into what it means to be an FA president in Africa and the challenges involved in player development, league governance, attracting investment and qualifying for major events.

Under his guidance, the Ghana national team made their first two World Cup appearances including the quarter-finals in 2010. On both occasions (2006 and 2010) they were the best African side in the world’s flagship football competition.

Mr. Nyantakyi also guided the Black Satellites, Ghana’s U20 team, to become Africa’s first team to win the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009 in Egypt.

In addition to securing attractive sponsorship packages for both the national team and local leagues, the young lawyer has also made tremendous strides on the continent where he was recently elected chairman of the Fair-Play and Social Responsibility Committee and vice-chairman of the Media Committee for CAF.

Kwesi Nyantakyi said: “The Forum represents an opportunity for the African football community to come together, to share ideas and to debate the important issues in the game. I’m looking forward to attending the event and discussing Ghana’s important role in developing football on the continent”.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “It’s an honour to welcome Kwesi to the Forum. Ghana’s incredible performance at the World Cup in South Africa and their rise up the FIFA world rankings is an example of the progress of African football on the world stage and the excellent work being done by the Ghana Football Association, with Kwesi at the heart of that work, makes him a perfect speaker for the Forum.”

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 topics for this year’s Forum here: http://www.mysoccerex.com/AF13ConferenceConcepts.pdf

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

Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri announced that the city is set to bid for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Games.

The announcement was made together with Gerardo Werthein, the President of the Argentinian Olympic Committee, at a special ceremony at the headquarter of the Buenos Aires Government. 

Werthein said: “It is the beginning of a great dream, This is a very strong move because the Olympics have a huge audience and would put Buenos Aires and Argentina at the centre of the world. Sport is a key issue. We will emphasise the importance of investing in the seed for a future sporting potential for Argentina.

“But the initiative is not only about sports but also about cultural and social integration. The goal is for children around the world to compete and share values of respect for competition and in life.
This helps build a better society. Hosting this event could be the beginning of a way to think of an Olympic bid six or ten years later.”

Competition to host the third Summer Youth Olympics is fierce with Monterrey in Mexico, Medellín in Colombia, Kazan in Russia, The Hague in the Netherlands and Abuja in Nigeria all likely to bid for the competition.

Makhachkala, in Dagestan, a neighbour of Chechnya, has also expressed an interest in bidding.

Buenos Aires have previosly bid for the 2004 Olympics and Paralympics but were knocked out in the first round.

Energy company EDF has announced a partnership with fellow London 2012 Sustainability partner, drugs BMW Group, vialis 40mg to increase its fleet of electric vehicles in the UK by leasing 35 fully electric, London 2012 and EDF branded Mini Es.

The Mini E is the latest to become part of EDF Energy’s low carbon vision for London ahead of the Games, following partnerships with the EDF Energy London Eye and Tower Bridge announced earlier this year.

During Games time, 30 of the Mini Es from the EDF fleet will become part of the BMW Group London 2012 official vehicle fleet.

Ahead of the Games the vehicles will be made available for use by customers and employees of EDF Energy, a UK subsidiary of EDF Group.

Forecasts suggest that there will be 660,000 plug-in vehicles in the UK by 2020, and according to EDF, electric vehicles have the potential to offer up to a 40% CO2 saving compared with a typical family petrol car in the UK. 

Over the full life cycle, this could have a significant impact reducing the carbon emissions associated with transport. 

Gareth Wynn, director of EDF’s 2012 Programme said: “Electric cars are already a lower carbon choice, but as we progress with decarbonising electricity production in the UK over the coming years the environmental case will get stronger and stronger.

“The Mini E shows that electric cars can appeal to people who like to drive and who enjoy cars. They also show that low carbon electric transport is a realistic prospect for the future that can contribute to UK carbon reduction targets. Our partnership with fellow London 2012 sustainability partner, BMW Group, fits perfectly with EDF’s ambitions to be a leader in low carbon solutions.

“I hope that seeing and experiencing this iconic fully-electric vehicle will prompt people to think about how they can reduce the carbon footprint of their travel. This would be a great part of the legacy of sustainability from London 2012.”

Jochen Goller, director of Mini UK, added: “The 35 Mini Es which EDF will take delivery of were, up until recently, on UK roads as part of the world’s largest EV pilot study, led by the BMW Group. We are delighted that over the next 12 months EDF will utilise the cars in real-life situations with employees and customers.

“With the BMW i3, the first purpose built fully electric vehicle from the BMW Group, coming to the marketplace in 2013 we have a keen interest in working together with other stakeholders such as EDF, who also play a key role in developing the EV market in the UK.”

Former Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has said English football is suffering the effects of becoming too commercial.

Burnham said: “I think money has poisoned our national game. Our game has rampant commercialism. We have put money before the sport and we are reaping the dividends of that.

“The governing body is a hung parliament and isn’t able to take a view as the interests of the Premeir League, sadly, predominate at the FA.

“Since the Premier League was created, we’ve had commercial forces running riot across our game.

“We have seen fans priced out of going to football, we have seen money going out of the top of the game and not benefiting the grassroots or the lower divisions and I think it’s got to change.”

Burnham was also with the FA delegation who handed over England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup to FIFA in Zurich in May, but says English football needs to change if there is any chance of it winning the bid.

He said: “They (FIFA) dislike the arrogance of English football and they think we have failed to tame commercialism in our own sport.

“And it’s not just that it has a damaging effect on English football, it affects football everywhere, particularly in Europe because it has an inflationary effect on wages across Europe but also our clubs are bringing in that talent from a very young age from countries all around the world.

“So they see the effect of the English game on the stability of football elsewhere and they don’t like it and I don’t blame them for not likeing it.”

Former Fox and Universal Sports executive, David Sternberg has been appointed Manchester United’s new head of media as they attempt to bolster their global social networking presence.

Sternberg joins the club with an objective to grow its social media output, currently Manchester United is one of the only leading European and Premier League clubs without an official Twitter account. Though there appears to be no immediate plans to launch on Twitter Manchester United’s Facebook page is currently one of the most visited sports’ sites in the world. Sternberg also has already started in his new role to oversee the club’s MUTV channel

Phil Townsend will continue in his position as United’s communications director.

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.