Soccerex has announced that La Liga CEO Francisco Roca will be speaking on the ‘Rise of the Armchair Supporter’ panel at the Soccerex European Forum on 10-11 April in Manchester.

The panel, sale made up of senior representatives from clubs, price leagues and relevant stakeholders, anabolics will discuss the global exposure European leagues and clubs receive due to new multimillion-pound rights deals being secured around the world. In addition, they will tackle how targeted pre-season tours, selected regional partners and highly marketable players have opened up multiple new revenue streams for clubs, leading them to consider their influential foreign fan-base when deciding crucial commercial and logistical club strategies.

Roca, who has been CEO of La Liga since 2005, has been instrumental in its development over the past eight years which has seen it become one of the most commercially attractive leagues in the world. One of La Liga’s top clubs, Barcelona, have already demonstrated their commitment to their global fan-base in the Middle East and Asia by playing a season game at the Nou Camp at midday for the first time in over 45 years, to make it easier for their fans in Asia to watch.

Francisco Roca comments:

“The relationships fans have with clubs are the most important part of football and I’m looking forward to explaining the different approaches La Liga is taking to improve these relationships all over the world.” 

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said:

“We’re delighted to welcome Francisco back to Soccerex once again. As CEO of La Liga he is at the forefront of European football and the commercial changes it is undergoing. He will be able to provide a direct insight into strategies being implemented by La Liga to broaden its fan base in what will be a fantastic session for our delegates.”

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

The vice-president for Africa of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Gambian Abdoulie Touray, claims that Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to offer as much support to a bid from Africa for the Olympics as Sepp Blatter gave to the continent’s staging of the World Cup.

The success of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa has raised hopes that an African city will soon be able to successfully bid to host the Olympcis and Paralympics, with Durban emerging as a serious candidate to put itself forward for the 2020 Games.

The subject was top of the agenda at the Africa International Sports Convention (CISA), attended by several IOC members and high-powered delegations from the three cities bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Member of the IOC’s ruling Executive Board, South Africa’s Sam Ramsamy, was confident that there will be an African bidder for 2020 with Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth all having put themselves forward. 

Ramsamy stated: “We presented the bids by the three·cities·to the [South African] Government and we are awaiting the decision on which one of the trio will succeed.

“The outcome·is expected·next month and Africa is definitely in the race for 2020.”

Ramsamy claimed that when an African city did put itself forward then the whole continent would unite behind it, adding: “We will get one city to bid from Africa and the good thing is that in Africa we have unity when it comes to matters of international contests.

“The question is when and where and not whether Africa is ready!”

South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup is thought to be among the best organised tournaments ever and passed off without any major problems, leading Rogge to encourage a city from that country to bid for the 2020 Games.

Gambia’s Touray claimed that Rogge had to go further if a bid was to be successful and follow the lead of Blatter, who consistently backed South Africa’s campaign to host the World Cup and refused to criticise them when they suffered problems.

“Jacques Rogge needs to come out and make a deliberate statement that Africa does have world-class facilities and can host the Olympic Games,” Touray said.

“He needs to do for Africa what Sepp Blatter did.”

There was backing for an African bid from Sergey Bubka, the world pole vault record holder who is now a member of the IOC and a 

Senior vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and pole vault world record holder Sergey Bubka also backed an African bid, but he urged the continent to try to urge more major events, such as the IAAF World Championships.

“I agree that Africa deserves to host the Olympics but then African nations must strive to deliver strong bids that can meet the prerequisite conditions,” he said.

“Africa needs to host many more major championships to gain experience and confidence for the Olympics. 

“But the Governments too must show goodwill and commit to supporting bids and more importantly invest financial resources.”

Hurricane, order the organisers of the FISE (International Festival of Extreme Sport) have announced a partnership with IMG Media that will see the media company distribute worldwide media rights to the action sports events until 2020.

The inaugural FISE World Series (FWS), generic an expansion of the current annual competition in Montpellier, doctor France, which was first staged 20 years ago, will feature four events in 2014, with six planned for 2015. The first to take place this year, in late May, will once again be staged in Montpellier, with new events then following in Andorra in June, and Malaysia and Chengdu, China, in September and October respectively.

IMG Media will market live coverage and highlights of the events in Montpellier, Malaysia and Chengdu, and highlights of the action in Andorra, in a global deal that covers all media rights including distributing coverage via EDGEsport, IMG’s 24-hour premium action sports channel. 

Adam Kelly, Head of Business Development, SVP, IMG Media, said: “The development of the FISE World Series reaffirms the growing worldwide interest in action sports. We are very excited by the potential of these events and look forward to working with Hurricane over the next few years in developing the global appeal of FISE.” 

Joseph Villeflayoux, Head of Marketing, Communication and Media, Hurricane, said: “We have chosen to rely on IMG’s strong experience in sport events distribution. We wanted to share our vision of extreme sports with the world in the same way that we have been contributing to their development for almost 20 years now. IMG will make this possible and we are very excited for the start of the new season.”

Events will include both professional and amateur categories across the disciplines of BMX, Skateboard, Mountain Bike Slopestyle, Wakeboarding and Rollerblade. 

The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has announced today they have expanded their executive team with the appointment of Laurent Cossa, Jeremy Milnes and Hannah Mason.

The trio will work alongside Chief Executive Officer Alex Gough, Chief Operating Officer Lee Beachill and Tour Executive Claudia Schürmann at the PSA head office in Leeds, England.

Cossa has been part of the SquashTV team for the last three years and now joins the PSA on a full-time basis to further the media output of the Tour. He takes the title Creative Media Manager.

Milnes, a former Sales & Marketing Consultant from Doncaster in Yorkshire, is appointed to the new role of Marketing & Commercial Manager. The former Commercial Director of Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster and previously in Sales & Marketing roles at various leading racecourses in the UK, Milnes once trained as a jockey to ride in a charity race over Doncaster’s one-mile flat racing course.

History graduate Mason takes up the position of Tour Co-ordinator. An avid spectator, player and coach in various sports, Mason last year completed an 82-mile charity walk for Help for Heroes.

“Following our decision to move the PSA head office to Leeds in August last year we have been looking to expand the team of PSA employees and are delighted to announce these appointments,” said Beachill.

“Laurent has been working with PSA on a consultancy basis for some time so it was a natural transition to bring him on board full-time. He is an integral part of the Squash TV crew and also has significant experience in social media and design. He will be an invaluable asset for the PSA as we grow.

“Hannah will be working closely with both our promoters and players on servicing their needs during our busy calendar. Her duties will be very much administrative, and having already had three years of administration experience, I am sure Hannah will be an invaluable part of our team.

“Jeremy joins us with wealth of experience in his field. We see Jeremy as a key appointment as the association moves forward, and with his commercial background he will be perfectly placed to not only service our existing partner relationships but also attract further investment into the association.”

Soccerex has announced announce that Sir John Madejski will be speaking on the ‘Captains of Industry’ panel at this year’s Soccerex European Forum, anabolics 10-11 April, capsule Manchester, cough | which will be attended by approximately 1,500 industry decision makers from the world of football.

The panel will be chaired by Andrew Main Wilson, a highly experienced business leader who has interviewed over a hundred of the world’s greatest leaders in the fields of Business, Sport, Politics and Entertainment, including Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Lady Thatcher, Sir Richard Branson and seven England national football team managers.

The session will provide an insight into the unique relationship between big businesses and football; by focusing on what business leaders such as Madejski think of the finances of football and what best practice ideas can be applied from other successful industries.

Madejski, also highly respected for his business expertise in the publishing and hotel sectors, became Chairman of Reading Football Club in 1990, whilst the side was still in the third division of English football. He oversaw the club’s remarkable progress up into the Championship and then into the Premier League, for the first time in the club’s history, after winning the 2005/06 Championship. Sir John created the new Madejski Stadium in 1998 – a stadium worthy of Premier League football. He remains Chairman of the Royals after selling a majority stake to Anton Zingarevich in early 2012. He has also been a benefactor to several highly influential institutions, including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the University of Reading.

Sir John Madejski commented:

“After hearing great things about Soccerex I’m looking forward to attending the European Forum. The subject of business excellence in successfully running football clubs has never been more important and I look forward to debating the many issues with Andrew.”

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

It has been revealed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that if London is to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium, they will have to beat offer the challenge of four other bidding nations/cities.

The IAAF released a press statement revealing that Berlin – German, Budapest – Hungary and an as-yet-unnamed Spanish city had entered the race for the Championships after it was confirmed earlier in the week that both London and Doha already tabled bids for the event.

“With the deadline now closed, letters of intent from Member Federations interested in hosting the 2017 edition of the IAAF World Championships have now been received from five countries,” stated the IAAF.

The IAAF will confirm the candidate cities for the Championships on September 1 and then select the host city at a Council meeting in November. The next edition of the Championships will be staged in Daegu, South Korea, later this year.

The biennial event will take part in Moscow – Russian and Beijing – China in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

One issue for Doha is the extreme heat in the summer, but the country’s National Olympic Committee is in talks with the IAAF over possibly moving the event to later in the year. A Qatar Olympic Committee spokesperson told the Press Association: “We are presently considering the potential dates, and we will enter discussions with the IAAF over dates at the appropriate time during the bidding process.”

The spokesperson added: “Should Qatar’s bid for the championships be successful, the proposed stadium would be Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium which will be fully equipped with the latest environmentally friendly air-cooling technology.”

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club has announced that David Graveney OBE and Charles Cook have been appointed to the Club’s Executive Board.

Both high profile Bristolians, unhealthy David is a leading figure in English cricket having played for Gloucestershire, Somerset and Durham.  David first joined the Gloucestershire squad in 1972 and was officially appointed as Captain for the start of the 1982 season, a position he held until the end of the 1988 season.  David is currently the ECB`s National Performance Manager and President of the PCA`s Benevolent Fund.  He is a former Chairman of England selectors and Chief Executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association.

Charles is a prominent corporate, media and sports lawyer in the city and is the Managing Partner of boutique corporate, property and private client firm, Cook & Co Solicitors.  Charles also sits on the board of several high profile businesses in the city and has many connections in the sports sector.

Graveney said: “I am honoured to have been invited to sit on the board and look forward to making a meaningful contribution, particularly on cricketing matters. I know I speak for my father (Ken Graveney) and uncle (Tom Graveney OBE) when saying that I am delighted that our family’s long association with Gloucestershire will continue.”

Cook added: “This is a very exciting time for the club. The development of the ground will ensure that first-class, with impressive facilities, will keep being delivered to the people of Bristol and Gloucestershire.”

A potential joint bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup has been supported by the governments of Argentina and Uruguay in an attempt to bring the event back to South America, and Uruguay who hosted the first edition of the quadrennial tournament 100 years previous in 1930.

The host nation of the first ever FIFA World Cup went on to defeat Argentina 4-2 in the final and lift the trophy. Since then, Argentina have also triumphed on home soil, winning the tournament in 1978 and the Foreign Ministers of both countries have now placed their full support behind a tilt at 2030.

Argentina’s Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, is quoted by Reuters, saying: “We have agreed to set up a bi-national committee to support the initiative together with the national football associations to promote the candidature of Argentina and Uruguay for the 2030 World Cup.”

Argentina Football Association president Julio Grondona has also welcomed the news, but has warned that the financial considerations of staging a World Cup would need to be studied carefully.

Grondona told Argentine newspaper La Nacion: “I believe that we can be well-placed to host it, we will just have to see what demands are put on us. We would not hold a tournament which will enslave our country. If the demands are more than we can meet, it is best not to go through with it.”