FFA Signs New Collective Bargaining Agreement with A-League Players

Football Federation Australia (FFA) have announced they have agreed a new A-League Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) for a further two years.

The new CBA incorporates a number of important changes to enhance the economic viability of the Clubs, mind ensure the security of player contracts, nurse invest in player wellbeing and development programs and further place relations between FFA, the PFA, players and Clubs on a strategic footing.

The agreement will see the salary cap rise to AUS$2.5 million for the 2013/14 season and to $2.55 million for the 2014/15 season.

FFA sees the increase, which will be matched by FFA club distributions over the two year term, as another step in ensuring the continued sustainable growth of the Hyundai A-League.

Head of A-League Damien de Bohun said: “From the Clubs to the players who actively took part in these discussions, our vision is to ensure the Hyundai A-League is a sustainable competition that continues to attract a high calibre of player and is entertaining to fans new and old.

“We have made great strides over the past two seasons in growing the game but we must remain vigilant to ensure that we continue our momentum by ensuring a sustainable financial future for the game.

“FFA and all 10 Clubs are also committed to an ongoing investment in player wellbeing and development programs in the interest of both current and future generations of players.”

The two year variation and extension of the existing CBA will run until 30 June 2015, bringing the agreement into effect for a total of seven seasons.

The administration of the Hyundai A-League has also renewed its commitment to player contract security with all clubs committing to guaranteeing that FFA Club Distribution payments will only be used to pay players’ salaries.

PFA President Simon Colosimo said: “The players’ vision for the negotiations was to achieve economic security for the three key stakeholders that make the Hyundai A-League possible for the fans: FFA, the Clubs and the players. This agreement goes a long way towards achieving that goal,” said Colosimo.

“Employment as a professional footballer is often short-term and precarious. FFA’s $2 million plus investment in career programs to be run by the PFA will help ensure that every player who plays in the Hyundai A-League leaves the game as a better person and ready to transition into life after football. FFA’s investment will also be supplemented by the Socceroos CBA and FIFPro, the world players’ union, enabling the PFA to invest over $4 million over the next two years in player wellbeing, development and representation.”

PFA Special Counsel Brendan Schwab said the negotiations were the most extensive, open and transparent that the PFA had been involved with.

“We are satisfied that Australia’s professional footballers presently receive a much higher share of revenue than their counterparts in other Australian sports. Given the losses of the Clubs, the sensible thing for the game to do now is to invest in the Clubs and player career programs. The PFA is very confident that, by working with FFA and the Clubs, the A-League will be in an even stronger position in two years time as we work to grow the game.

“I would like to acknowledge the work of Damien, FFA Chief Operating Officer John Kelly, FFA Legal Counsel Sam Chadwick, Club representatives Greg Griffin and John McKay and especially the players who so actively participated in the negotiations.”

Puma Appoints Björn Gulden as New CEO

German manufacturer of sporting equipment Puma SE Thursday said that it has appointed Björn Gulden as their new Chief Executive Officer from July 1.

The 47-year-old succeeds Franz Koch, who left the company at the end of March. Gulden will be based at PUMA’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Gulden, who holds nearly 20 years of experience in the sporting goods and footwear industry, has been CEO of Danish jewellery brand Pandora since the beginning of 2012.

From 2000 to 2011, the Norwegian native was Managing Director of Europe’s largest footwear retailer, Deichmann, where he also headed the US-subsidiaries Rack Room Shoes and Off Broadway Shoes as CEO and President.

Prior to 2000, he held several management positions at outdoor apparel company Helly Hansen and sporting goods firm Adidas, where he was Senior Vice President of Apparel and Accessories.

Gulden is currently member of the Supervisory Board of Tchibo GmbH in Germany and Expert ASA in Norway as well as member of the Advisory Board of Deichmann SE.

Jean-François Palus, Chairman of the PUMA Administrative Board and Group Managing Director of Kering, PUMA’s majority shareholder, said: “With Björn Gulden, we are pleased to have an experienced sports industry expert with proven leadership quality and know-how in managing sports and footwear brands taking up the reins of PUMA. I am absolutely convinced that Björn Gulden is the perfect fit to lead PUMA through its continuing restructuring and transformation program on its mission to become the most desirable and sustainable Sportlifestyle company in the world.”

Gulden added: “PUMA enjoys an enormous potential – both in the Performance and in the Lifestyle markets, and I am eager to help unlock this potential and further grow the company in the years to come.”

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UEFA General Secretary Chooses Soccerex to Address European Football

Soccerex has announced today that Gianni Infantino, sale UEFA General Secretary, sale will be taking part in a special one-to-one session at the Soccerex European Forum on 10-11 April, Manchester.

The session, moderated by David Davies, former Executive Director of the FA, will see Gianni discuss a number of topics including the brand launch and the ‘week of football’ concept for the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying competition, racism in European football and an exclusive insight into the UEFA EURO 2020 bidding process, which will be approved at the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Sofia, Bulgaria in March.

Gianni Infantino remarked:

“It’s great to be coming back to Manchester and Soccerex, which has always provided a worthwhile platform for UEFA to address the European football industry. The next few years will be an exciting period for European football and I’m looking forward to sharing our plans for the future.”

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said:

“We’re honoured to welcome UEFA and Gianni back to the European Forum once again. The decision by UEFA to choose the Forum as the first public platform to discuss the UEFA EURO 2020 bidding process is a huge privilege for us and underlines the importance and reach of our events.”

The Soccerex European Forum is a two-day event which attracts over 1,600 delegates from the elite of Europe’s football industry to come together to debate, network and do business. This year’s agenda setting conference programme will tackle the key issues shaping European football, including fan engagement, media rights, match fixing, discrimination and addiction, life after football, social media and a selection of special 1-2-1 sessions with the game’s biggest names.

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

Annecy Bid Dealt Blow by Another Resignation

The French bid of Annecy to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics has suffered another major setback after deputy director general Herve Madore resigned yesterday, April 10.


Internal conflicts are what Madore based his decision upon, one that coincided with Annecy sending a high-powered delegation to London where they gave a presentation at SportAccord.

Madore was not part of the public face of Annecy’s team but played a vital role behind the scenes directing operational affairs.

Following Annecy 2018 President Charles Beigbeder’s decision to draft in Pierre Mirabeaud as the new director general in January, Madore claimed that he did not feel he fitted in.

French officials have been playing down Madore’s resignation but it adds to the perception that it is a bid in crisis, especially following the resignation in December of former Olympic champion Edgar Grospiron as chief executive in a row over the budget.

A spokesman for the bid stated: “Annecy 2018 confirms Herve Madore has decided to leave his position as deputy director general of the bid to move on to a new opportunity with the Ministry of Sport.

“Our President, Charles Beigbeder and the rest of the team are all enormously grateful for the contributions he has made to the bid; particularly in leading the production of our excellent bid book.

“We wish him well in his new position and thank him for the role he has played in helping us develop a bid we believe can win the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

‘We have a committed and talented team in place who can deliver in every area required in the final phase of our campaign. 

“We will continue to do everything we can to make this bid a success.”

There is also growing unrest, however, among International Olympic Committee (IOC) members about the low profile adopted by triple Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy in backing the bid.

Killy, an influential member of the IOC who is the chairman of the Coordination Commission for Sochi 2014, has so far failed to appear at any of Annecy’s international presentations.

He only appeared in their presentation at SportAccord via a six month old video though Beigbeder insists that Killy is fully behind the bid and had a meeting with him before leaving for London to discuss their campaign.

“He told us to keep to the the basics, stay focused and sell the product,” he said.

“He thinks and wants us to win.”

IOC hopes to break billion-dollar mark for sponsorship

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hopes to break the billion-dollar mark for revenue from top sponsors by the time of the London Olympics in 2012, medic IOC marketing head Gerhard Heiberg said. The IOC already has $960 million of sponsorship in place for the 2009 to 2012 timeframe and remains confident of adding one or two more major companies by the London Games.

“The market situation has relaxed considerably. I hope that we will reach the billion-dollar mark in the coming year,” Heiberg told DPA on the verges of the IOC Executive Committee meeting in Acapulco.

The IOC have managed to sign up Dow Chemical and Procter & Gamble in the last four months, bringing the number of top sponsors to 11.

The sponsorship programme brought in $866 million for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

NBC Sports & Universal Sports Sign New Broadcast Deals to Air USA Gymnastics’ Events

NBC Sports Group and Universal Sports Network have agreed to an extension for television and digital coverage of USA Gymnastics’ premier events through 2016.

NBC Sports Group, generic which began its exclusive partnership with USA Gymnastics in 1997, will continue to cover USA Gymnastics’ two annual premier events – the AT&T American Cup and P&G Championships – along with the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2016 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. NBC began televising the national championships in the late 1980s and expanded to more events in 1997.

Universal Sports Network carries coverage of the Nastia Liukin Cup, along with a web simulcast, and provides expanded coverage of the World Championships on both its cable network and the web. The 2014 Nastia Liukin Cup was shown on Universal Sports on Feb. 28.

“USA Gymnastics began its Road to Rio on March 1 with the NBC broadcast of the AT&T American Cup,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics.  “Through our collaborative partnership with NBC Sports Group and Universal Sports Network, our fans enjoy following gymnastics on broadcast and cable TV and the web, and are able to follow the sport unlike ever before.  We look forward to maximizing the opportunities this partnership provides through the 2016 Olympic Games.”

“We have had a tremendous quarter century with USA Gymnastics and are excited to build on our partnership,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC and NBCSN (NBC Sports Network).

“We’re proud to showcase USA Gymnastics events to our audience and help to fuel the sport’s tremendous growth,” said Scott Brown, president of Universal Sports Network.

Durban is South Africa’s Most Likely 2020 Games Bid Candidate

According to South Africa’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) president Gideon Sam, Durban is being lined up as the nation’s candidate for the 2020 Olympics due to the “economies of scale” presented by the city.

Durban is now the most likely candidate, with Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg also having expressed an interest in staging the Games, though the South African government’s approval is required before the NOC can submit a bid ahead of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) September 1 deadline.

Sam told the Associated Press: “The economies of scale will tip it in the direction of Durban but that final decision has to be taken.”

South Africa, which has never hosted the Olympics, has targeted the 2020 Games after last year’s FIFA World Cup in the country. “If we don’t win on the Olympics, there is 2022 for the Commonwealth Games,” Sam added.

The Italian capital of Rome is the only city to officially enter the running for the 2020 Games, although Madrid, Dubai, Doha, Istanbul and Tokyo have been linked with a bid.

IOC set new Olympics time frame rules

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has changed the rules regarding dealing with the time frame for bidding cities to host the Olympic Games.

Olympic guidelines set the time frame between July 15 and August 31 due to the extensive appointments in the international sports calendar. Hence in 2008, viagra Qatar bid was excluded because they proposed to stage the Games in October due to the extreme heat conditions in the summer months.

Following an IOC executive board meeting, mind it was concluded that the decision to change the dates will be submitted to the Executive Board in the initial phase of bidding. This will eliminate allowing cities to go to the second phase of bidding unnecessarily if their proposed dates do not meet the requirements of the IOC.

Another key modification in the bidding process was that bid proposals from the cities located in the southern hemisphere to stage the winter Games will also have to go through an early vetting process.

The IOC also is looking at simplifying the paperwork in the submission process and also eliminating duplicate paperwork.

Sky Sports Inks New LPGA Broadcast Deal

British broadcaster Sky Sports will continue to showcase women’s golf after renewing their partnership with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) for another two years.

The agreement offers Sky Sports viewers exclusively live coverage of three women’s Majors played in the United States, plus at least four LPGA Tour events each summer.

The new deal strengthens Sky’s live golf coverage which includes three of the four Majors, PGA European Tour, US PGA Tour, World Golf Championship events and this September’s Ryder Cup.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “Sky Sports has a long standing commitment to women’s golf and this agreement means our viewers can follow the world’s top players for at least another two years. Our commitment to women’s sport is unrivalled, and our viewers can enjoy huge choice across our channels throughout the year.”

LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan said: “Over the past 5-10 years, the LPGA has seen its popularity grow around the world at a rate that few could have predicted. The secret to the LPGA’s success is that the absolute best players in the world come from all over the world to compete on this Tour. With the expansion of our player base, has been the expansion of television coverage – and we now average nearly 150 countries watching the LPGA per week. I have consistently heard from fans in the U.K. about their desire to see more LPGA coverage on television and this new deal with Sky Sports helps to deliver that.”

The agreement follows other recent announcements made by Sky Sports, including a new three-year deal for the IPL from 2015 following deals British & Irish Lions, PGA Tour golf and Super League.

Bubka Says London Bid to Host ’17 WAC Hurt by Previous Failings

Senior vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Sergey Bubka has claimed that London’s bid to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships will be harmed by Britain’s three previous failures to secure the event.

Britain’s bid to host the 2003 Championships were shelved after plans to build an athletics track in the new national stadium at Wembley were abandoned.

In 2005, despite London being awarded the Championships, the city pulled out of staging them because then Prime Minister Tony Blair backtracked on the promised that the Government would build a brand new stadium at Picketts Lock.

The latest failure for the 2015 World Championships came at the end of last year after the Government claimed they were unable to commit to backing the bid because of uncertainty over the future of the Olympic Stadium, with Tottenham declaring they would remove the athletics track if awarded the venue. 

Bubka says the trio of disasters is damaging for Britain’s bid to host the 2017 Championships, stating at SportAccord: “I can’t speak for all of my colleagues at the IAAF but this is not positive for Great Britain. This is not positive at all.

“I think we must be honest. When you pull out once, okay. When you pull out a second time, this is not good. When you pull out a third time, serious questions must be asked and it is understandable that the IAAF grow tired of this.

“I understand that sometimes there are serious problems in bidding for events but three times?

“Athletics in the UK has a great opportunity with hosting the IAAF World Championships in London in 2017 but three failed bids would not be good for anyone.”

London faces opposition from three cities to host the 2017 competition as Doha, Budapest and an unnamed city from Spain, likely to be Barcelona or Madrid, have put themselves forward to host the event.

Bubka added that he is delighted it has been confirmed that the Olympic Stadium will have an athletics legacy after London 2012 but stated that this does not mean that they will be easily awarded the 2017 Athletics World Championships.

“I spoke very strongly last year about how important it was for London to have an athletics legacy at the Olympic Stadium and I am very happy that they have honoured this commitment they made in Singapore in 2005,” he said.

“I am very happy that now there is legacy for the young people and London will have a strong bid for 2017. But this does not mean they will be awarded the World Championships automatically.

“There are some very strong bids and it will be very interesting to see who will be the winning candidate.”