Giovanni Malago has been elected the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president after securing a majority of votes in the election.

He edged out Raffaele Pagnozzi to take the presidency by five votes winning 40 -35 at the national council elections in the CONI headquarters today. He is the organization’s 15th president.

Malago is a Rome luxury car businessman and also the head of the prestigous Circolo Canottieri Aniene that has produced a number of Olympic champions.

Pagnozzi also serves as the secretary general of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) that are headquartered on the CONI sports compound.

“In sport it’s difficult to win, but it’s also difficult not to win – I embrace Pagnozzi. I consider this job to be the most important there is in this country. I’ll do everything to honour it,” he said at the election today.

Malago was also in charge of the Rome 2009 FINA world swimming championships held on the grounds of CONI.

Indian sports and entertainment channel SONY SIX has secured exclusive broadcast rights to 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup in India.

The deal also includes rights to broadcast FIFAU- 17 World Cup 2017 to be hosted by India.

This latest acquisition by Sony SIX comes on the back of broadcasting the UEFA and CONMEBOL matches from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds, pharm in addition to acquiring the rights for qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Euro 2016. The line-up makes Sony SIX the home of International Football for the next 5 years with 17 landmark FIFA events including: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, therapy FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, doctor FIFA Confederation Cup Russia 2017,2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

Niclas Ericson, FIFA Director of TV, added: “FIFA’s mission is to develop the game everywhere for all, by staging international football tournaments on all continents, and supporting football development projects and our 209 member associations across the world. FIFA believes that Sony SIX and its commitment to high quality sport entertainment will deliver first-class coverage of FIFA U-17 World Cups, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2018 FIFA World Cup and other FIFA competitions to this crucial audience. India already has a great passion for football and with the support of Sony SIX, FIFA looks forward to inspiring more fans of football and young players in India for the years ahead.”

Prasana Krishnan, EVP and Business head, Sony SIX said: “We are thrilled to have acquired the broadcasting rights of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018. Popularity of football is growing in the country and with India bagging the rights to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 the interest levels are only going to go up.  We have focussed extensively on top international football and we are now proud to bring the best in the world to Indian viewers.”

The 2014 edition will be held in Brazil from 12th June to 13th July 2014. 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia from 8th June to 8th July 2018.

International Rowing Federation president Denis Oswald has revealed he will remain in charge of the organisation only for a temporary basis.

At a 2013 FISA Extraordinary Congress staged over the weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Swiss IOC member revealed he would seek re-election Sept. 2 at the FISA Ordinary Congress – but only for a “transitional period” of six to eight months.

“The Council had agreed to stage the election of his successor at the same Congress in order to assist the newly elected ‘president-elect’ in the transfer of knowledge and introductions around in the international sports world after having held the position 24 years,” explains FISA.

Oswald, who handed over the reins of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations last month, was first elected FISA president in 1989. 

National federations are asked to declare possible candidates for his successor to FISA by June 2.

Also at the congress a proposal to add women’s lightweight single sculls to the Olympics has failed to gain approval from rowing’s governing body.

Rowing federation FISA says the Canadian proposal was withdrawn over the weekend at the federation’s congress in Copenhagen .

There are currently six women’s events on the Olympic program, with eight for men.

Meanwhile, the congress approved the reintroduction of the women’s four event for the world championships. The event had been removed after the 2011 worlds.

The congress also rejected a proposal to eliminate the men’s coxed pair event.

1	Philip Freedman Becomes New Horsemen’s Group Chairman	Friday, 21 December 2012
2	Larry Probst Gets Second Term as USOC Chairman	Friday, 21 December 2012
3	Steve Davis & Ken Doherty Retain Director Positions on World Snooker Board	Thursday, 20 December 2012
4	Richard Low Named New CEO of Crawley Town	Wednesday, 19 December 2012
5	PGA of America Promotes Kerry Haigh to Chief Championships Officer	Wednesday, 19 December 2012
6	Cowboys Executive Alec Scheiner Named Cleveland Browns President	Wednesday, 19 December 2012
7	Mark Wallace Replaces Solanki as Professional Cricketers’ Association Chairman	Tuesday, 18 December 2012
8	Roger Wyett Becomes Nike’s New Vice President of Action Sports	Tuesday, 18 December 2012
9	Golf Club Managers Association Appoints New CEO	Tuesday, 18 December 2012
10	British & Irish Lions Appoint Bird & Bird Sports Law Specialist as Legal Officer	Monday, 17 December 2012
11	Bill Beaumont & Paul Deighton Appointed to England Rugby 2015 Board	Monday, 17 December 2012
12	Noel Le Graet Re-Elected French Football Federation President	Monday, 17 December 2012
13	Matt McKerrow Steps Down as Triathlon Ireland CEO	Monday, 17 December 2012
14	Rob Waddell Becomes New Zealand’s New Chef de Mission	Sunday, 16 December 2012
15	Omar Al Hasawi Resigns as Nottingham Forest Chairman	Sunday, 16 December 2012
16	David Harker to Step Down as Durham Chief Executive	Friday, 14 December 2012
17	Alexander Baron von Spoercken Becomes EGCOA President	Friday, 14 December 2012
18	Ahmed Nasser Named the New President of Africa Triathlon Union	Friday, 14 December 2012
19	Jeff Monday Becomes PGA Tour Canada President	Thursday, 13 December 2012
20	Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Chief Norbert Haug to Step Down	Thursday, 13 December 2012
21	Franz Koch to Step Down as PUMA CEO	Wednesday, 12 December 2012
22	Former Manchester United Director Maurice Watkins Becomes British Swimming Chairman	Wednesday, 12 December 2012
23	David Gregson Becomes Independent Chairman of LTA Board	Wednesday, 12 December 2012
24	Issa Hayatou Set to Run Unopposed for CAF Presidency	Wednesday, 12 December 2012
25	International Fencing Federation Re-Elects Alisher Usmanov as President	Sunday, 09 December 2012
26	Ivan Khodabakhsh Set to Become Ladies European Tour CEO	Saturday, 08 December 2012
27	Dr. Kang to Step Down as Badminton World Federation President	Friday, 07 December 2012
28	Former Wembley Director Noel Jeffs Appointed President of the UK Venue Managers Association	Friday, 07 December 2012
29	England Rugby 2015 Appoints Neil Snowball as Director in Restructure	Wednesday, 05 December 2012
30	Paul Kelly Quits as Perth Glory CEO	Wednesday, 05 December 2012
31	Matt Clarke Steps Down from Wycombe Wanderers’ Board of Directors	Wednesday, 05 December 2012
32	Gabby Logan Joins Perform’s Board of Directors	Monday, 03 December 2012
33	Greg LeMond to Challenge Pat McQuaid for UCI Presidency	Monday, 03 December 2012
34	Kevin Payne Leaves D.C. United for Toronto FC Presidency Role	Monday, 03 December 2012
35	Sebastian Coe Appointed Executive Chairman of CSM Sport	Sunday, 02 December 2012

The International Olympic Committee has distributed media rights to Sub-Saharan Africa for the Olympic Games in 2014 and 2016 to sports marketing agency, sale Infront Sports & Media.

Infront will partner with TV Media Sport (TVMS), viagra the France based international sports event television and organisation agency, diagnosis to fulfil the contract which refers to distribution in 43 countries and territories within the region. It covers the rights for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The agreement comprises exclusive free-to-air television and radio rights, alongside internet and mobile rights. The programming on offer includes a live/delayed signal and highlights from all competitions as well as full coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies. In addition, TV presenting opportunities will be marketed to brands with a focus on the African market.

As part of the media rights mandate, Infront and TVMS are producing a specific broadcast feed, tailored for an African audience, for the three events. This includes a focus on African athletes and most popular competitions. The programming is further enhanced with commentary in French, English and Portuguese. 

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This agreement reflects the global appeal of the Olympic Games, and our aim is to reach audiences in all regions across the globe with the best broadcast offering. We want to not only generate viewership for sports where African athletes already perform successfully, but also boost appeal for Olympic sports gaining popularity on the continent.” 

Richard Carrión, IOC Member who led the negotiations, added: “Infront has acquired the rights and will now work to sublicense those rights to broadcasters in the region to ensure excellent coverage of the Olympic Games for sports fans in the region. The partnership with Infront allows us to take advantage of its network across the continent, supported further by a tailor-made editorial plan for African broadcasters and their viewers.”

Stephan Herth, Executive Director Summer Sports of Infront, said: “We would like to thank the IOC for trusting in our broadcast distribution experience and ability to extend the spirit and scope of Olympic programming to an even broader audience. Our ambition is to encourage the growth of sport in Africa with a dedicated broadcast product and continue to advocate the Olympics as a worldwide event. We are looking forward to delivering the Winter Olympics to television screens in so many countries in Africa for the first time in 2014.”

Hédi Hamel, CEO of TV Media Sport, added: “After having commercialised UEFA EURO 2012 and IAAF World Championships in Athletics 2013 media rights in Sub-Saharan Africa, TV Media Sport is honoured to bring the emotions of the Olympic Games, which remain the biggest sporting event on the planet, to the African public. And I am very pleased about the excellent partnership with Infront and the IOC!”