FIFA has announced that Optima Sports Management Int’l (OSMI) has been awarded the exclusive free to air rights for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and other FIFA events in the Nigerian territory.

The package of rights which OSMI has been awarded includes: the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013, FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013, FIFA U-17 World Cup 2013, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2014 and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2014 as well as the 2014 FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

Niclas Ericson, Director of FIFA’s TV Division, said: “FIFA is pleased to confirm our partnership with OSMI in Nigeria after the successful implementation of the media rights programme in Nigeria for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Nigerian football fans are in for a true treat from the upcoming events that will feature Nigeria’s national teams.”

Rotimi Pedro, CEO of OSMI, was proud to confirm the acquisition, saying: “We are extremely pleased that FIFA has chosen to award these rights to OSMI and we are truly thankful for the opportunity to continue bringing the best of International Football to Nigeria’s millions of passionate fans. The vote of confidence from FIFA is quite reassuring, and the responsibility to Nigeria, humbling.”

Andrew Howes, The Executive Director of OSMI, also commented: “We are thankful to FIFA for the opportunity to be involved with these rights especially at this time, when Nigeria is once again playing beautiful football, with Nigerian fans and football lovers everywhere looking forward to a new era of “SUPER” Eagles!”

David Joy has joined the Board of England Golf as the organisation’s new Chief Executive Officer and will take up his role on 22nd April 2013. 

Since 2005 David has been Director of Derbyshire Sport and will bring with him over 25 years of management experience within national and local sports organisations, more than 12 of which have been as a Chief Executive. 

Prior to this David spent six years as Chief Executive of Scottish Athletics where he led a modernisation process that resulted in significant increases in membership of the governing body and the creation of a number of long term commercial partnerships. During this time he worked closely with The Scottish Executive, sportscotland, Events Scotland, Health Education Board for Scotland and UK Athletics. 

David is a keen golfer and until recently was a member of Trentham Park Golf Club. Born in Stoke on Trent David spent the first eight years of his career as a PE teacher and Head of PE before embarking on his sports career with a national development role with English Volleyball. 

Speaking about his appointment, David said: “This is a really exciting time for amateur golf following the merger of the men’s and women’s game.  I am delighted to be given the opportunity to join England Golf and to work with the board, the staff team, the volunteers at national, county and club level and our key partners, as we seek to take advantage of the many opportunities for golf development throughout England.” 

Nigel Evans, Chair of the England Golf Board commented, “We are delighted that David has agreed to join us.  His extensive experience in the governance of sport and working with a variety of stakeholders, including legislative and parliamentary bodies will be extremely valuable.  We are looking forward to David using that experience to bring future development and further growth to England Golf.”

Rugby Expo, herbal the ultimate meeting-place for the leaders of professional and community rugby and the businesses which support the sport, buy cialis is to return to Twickenham on November 20 and 21, 2013.

The announcement was made today at the close of the hugely successful Rugby Expo 2012 which saw significant growth in delegate and exhibitor numbers.

Rugby Expo has grown each year since its re-launch under Rugby Ventures Limited in 2009 and this year’s event attracted more than 800 registered delegates while the exhibition floor sold out in the months ahead of the event.

The line-up of A-list speakers included RFU chairman Bill Beaumont and CEO Ian Ritchie, Aviva Premiership CEO Mark McCafferty, legendary sports entrepreneur Barry Hearn and George O’Grady, CEO of golf’s European PGA Tour.

Rugby’s major sponsors were represented by Giles Morgan of HSBC and Mark Cameron of Jaguar Land Rover while former England stars Lawrence Dallaglio and Phil Vickery brought their unique perspectives to debates over the direction of the global game.

Rugby Expo 2012 represented a step change in the quality of content, presentation and the delegate and exhibitor experience.

“With the Rugby World Cup coming to England in 2015, the inclusion of rugby sevens on the Olympic programme and the completion of a massive new television deal for England’s top clubs, these are exciting times for the sport,” said John Hockey, chairman of Rugby Ventures.

“But there are also challenges to the game at all levels and Rugby Expo provided a forum for discussion of the issues and the sharing of knowledge, experience and best practice designed to help rugby clubs to prepare for a successful future.

“There is no doubt that Rugby Expo 2012 raised the bar considerably.”

Australian telecommunications and media company Telstra have announced a new partnership with Football Federation Australia (FFA).

The agreement will see Telstra customers enjoy ticket upgrades at no extra cost, ailment access to pre-sale tickets to selected Hyundai A-League matches and the chance to win a ‘money can’t buy’ experience from today.

Telstra’s partnership with FFA is the latest addition to Telstra’s THANKS loyalty program which offers a suite of benefits for Telstra customers including movie tickets and exclusive access to major live music and sporting events.

Telstra Chief Marketing Officer Mark Buckman said he was excited about the partnership with FFA and pleased to be able to offer ticket upgrades at no extra cost for selected Hyundai A-League matches for Telstra customers initially with further offers available down the track.

“Telstra will be offering customers ticket upgrades in every round of the Hyundai A-League home and away series at no additional cost from now until April next year, ed ” Mr Buckman said.

“With the World Cup approaching next year, prostate many of our customers have told us that they are excited about this sport. We want to help them enjoy their Hyundai A-League experiences even more and are pleased to expand the Telstra THANKS program to include this new partnership.”

Damien de Bohun, Head of Hyundai A-League, commented on the deal: “The Hyundai A-League continues to grow and become recognised as part of the fabric of Australia’s mainstream, which is illustrated by this fantastic partnership with Telstra. This is another great chapter in the growth of the Hyundai A-League.”

Brendan Flood has relinquished his position on Burnley’s board of director’s with immediate effect.

The Championship club announced that Flood has left his role at Turf Moor due to “personal reasons”.

Lifelong fan Flood joined the club’s board in 2006 and was instrumental in the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2009.

The Clarets paid thanks to Rossendale businessman Flood in a statement on their website.

“Burnley Football Club would like to place on record its sincere thanks to Brendan for his contribution to the club, of which he remains a valued supporter and significant shareholder.”

Soccerex has announced that Alexei Sorokin, ed CEO of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee will be attending the Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro on 24-28 November.

Mr Sorokin has a vast amount of experience in football, viagra having been General Director of the Russian Football Union from 2008-2009 before being appointed CEO of the successful Russia 2018 Bid Committee and Secretary General of the Russian Football Union from 2009-2010. His appointment as CEO of the 2018 LOC in 2011 made him one of the most important men in world football and signalled the beginning of Russia’s mission to host the tournament.

His attendance at the Convention ignites the relationship between Brazil and Russia and offers the chance for the 2014 LOC and 2018 LOC to come together and discuss the various challenges faced by both committees. It will also represent a celebration of football and the success of hosting the greatest football tournament on the planet.

Mr Sorokin’s attendance highlights the important role that major events will play at the Convention. There will be a dedicated session on ‘Major Events: Planning for Success’ where Luis Fernandes, adiposity Executive Secretary, Ministry of Sport Brazil, Enrique Sanz, General Secretary, CONCACAF, Markyan Lubkivskyi, UEFA European Championship 2012 Tournament Director and Michael Brown CEO 2015 Asian Cup Local Organising Committee, will discuss the importance of preparing for a major event and that a social and cultural legacy is left behind.

With representatives from the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM, 2012 UEFA European Championship, 2014 FIFA World Cup^TM, 2015 Asian Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup in attendance, the Soccerex Global Convention is the only football business event where the world’s key event stakeholders come together to network and do business.

The Soccerex Global Convention is a five-day business event consisting of a comprehensive seminar line-up, a number of networking opportunities, a two-day football festival and a packed exhibition which is already close to selling out.

Held in a purpose-built venue within the Forte de Copacabana, with panoramic views of both the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the exhibition is a hub for business activity; as one of the main components of the convention it provides a platform for leading suppliers from around the world to showcase the latest industry products and services to delegates.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208742 7100 or visit www.soccerex.com/global.

Sportradar, a leading supplier of sports-related live data, has picked up rights for Turkey’s Kupasi football club cup competition in a deal with the Saran Media agency.

The rights will be exploited on Sportradar’s Betradar Retail Live Channel, which is available via internet-connected platforms to betting industry companies worldwide.

The channel, which launched five months ago, provides about 15 hours of content per day of live statistics and odds alongside live coverage of sport, and is available as a white-label service to bookmakers.

The deal, which started immediately, will run for the remainder of the 2013-14 competition.

This follows Sportradar’s recent announcement of the acquistion of American firm SportsData.

Prince William, second in British monarchy’s line of succession, is to join the England 2018 World Cup bid delegation for the final presentation to FIFA on December 2, According to UK newspaper The Telegraph.

Prince William, the President of the FA, and UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron will be joined by David Beckham, and are likely to be up against Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and the Dutch and Belgian prime ministers.

Also present in Zurich will be former American President Bill Clinton, the Emir of Qatar, and South Korean President Lee Myun Bak.

In total the provisional list of dignitaries contains one president, one former president, four prime ministers, two deputy prime minister, one prince and an Emir, as well as sundry sport ministers representing 11 countries.

England, Spain-Portugal, Russia and Holland-Belgium are contesting the 2018 race, with USA, Australia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea competing for 2022.

The list in full reads:

Russia: Igor Shuvalov, Deputy Prime Minister.
England: Prince William of Wales, David Cameron, Prime Minister
Australia: Julia Gillard, Prime Minister; Mark Arib, Minister for Sport, Minister for Indigenous Peoples
USA: Bill Clinton, in his function as Hon. Chairman of the Bid Committee; Government official to be determined
Holland: Mark Rutte: Prime Minister of the Netherlands; Edith Schippers, Minister of Sports
Belgium: Ives Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium, Didier Reeynders, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Portugal: Laurentino Jose Monteiro Castro Dias, Secretary of State for Sports
Spain: Jaime Lissavetzky Diez, Secretary of State for Sports
Qatar: Sheik Hamad bin Kahlifa Al-Thani, The Emir of the State of Qatar and members of the Royal family
Korea: Lee Myun Bak, President of the Republic of Korea (TBC)
Japan: Yukio Hatoyama, Former Prime Minister; Hiroshi Suzuki, Minister in Charge of Sports

Source: telegraph.co.uk