In an interview with a group of journalists at the Global Sports Industry Congress in London, purchase Munich 2018 chairman Katarina Witt  said Munich has been able to overcome local opposition to its bid to host the 2018 Winter Games.

The city is competing with Annecy, cialis France, apoplectic and Pyeongchang, South Korea and the International Olympic Committee will vote July 6 on the next host in Durban, South Africa.

Witt said a dispute with landowners in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, where the alpine events will be held, was “mostly solved.” The neighbors had been reluctant to give up some of their land for use in the 2018 Games.

“They were right because there wasn’t the right discussion going on at the right level,” Witt said. “It wasn’t a bad intention. In general, it was sort of like, ‘We got the Olympics, and now everybody will do it.’ You didn’t think about, ‘Well wait, you’ve got to secure some people who own the land.’”

Witt, a gold medalist at the 1984 Games in Sarajevo and Calgary in 1988, said Munich isn’t at a disadvantage with members of the IOC because the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and the 2012 London Summer Olympics will also be held in the European region.

Munich, which also organized the 1972 Summer Games, is seeking to become the first city to host both summer and winter editions. Pyeongchang failed to win during two previous bids.

“You have to keep your tradition, and you have to nurture your heartland, where the sport has been for many, many years,” Witt said

“We’re pretty confident we will be able to deliver magic.”

Kickboxing promotion GLORY is coming to UK screens with news that BT Sport have signed an exclusive deal to broadcast the series.

The deal is for the UK based company to show the next two events, starting with the weekend’s GLORY 12 card from Madisson Square Garden in New York.

Formerly known as the Glory World Series, Glory is an international kickboxing promotion founded in 2012 by Glory Sports International Pte Ltd. partners Pierre Andurand, Marcus Luer, Scott Rudmann and Total Sports Asia.

The promotion is headquartered in Singapore.

Penny Briscoe will be the Chef de Mission for the British team at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, order the British Paralympic Association announced today.

Sochi 2014 will be Briscoe’s sixth Paralympic Games, cough and she brings a wealth of experience to her new role. She was Deputy Chef de Mission for ParalympicsGB at London 2012 and Vancouver 2010, as well as being the BPA’s Director of Performance since 2002.

Upon being awarded the role, Briscoe said: “I was absolutely delighted to have been asked to take on this position. It is an honour and a privilege to be a Chef de Mission and I’m looking forward to bringing all my experience to this new challenge of leading a ParalympicsGB team at a Games.

“My ambition is that at Sochi, every athlete and staff member in ParalympicsGB will have the mental and physical toolkit and the support framework to thrive in the Games environment. That is much bigger ambition than it may sound, because the Paralympics is so much more complicated an environment than a World Championships. We already have detailed plans in place to develop those skills and that support.”

Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, said: “Penny is one of the most experienced people working in Paralympic sport in the UK and knows the environment incredibly well, so I’m delighted she has taken on the role. As a former athlete herself, she understands all the stresses and strains that the Games can pose, and she epitomises the athlete-centred focus of the work that the BPA does.

“Separating the Chef de Mission and CEO functions worked extremely well in London and we were keen to replicate the model for Sochi. While a much smaller team than in London we are committed to providing the same world class support.

 

The International Sports Event Management Conference 2012 (ISEM) started today in London, illness with LOCOG’s James Bulley, malady   Director of Venues and Olympic Park, medic and Andrew Amery, Head of Security, discussing the challenges faced in planning, managing and delivering a successful Olympics games.  With 60% of visits to the London 2012 website channelled through mobile communication, the emergence of social media and mobile communications were an important challenge to deliver for the Games, with the advancements in technology since Beijing making it the most connected Games in history.  This consideration was highlighted by the panel to Rio 2016 that it needs to be as equally prepared.

Howard Dickel, Programme Director, BT Global Services, who also took part in the panel discussion said, “We knew an emergence in social media was coming but we didn’t know how it was going to hit.  It would be very different from Beijing.”

“We had to deliver the best spectator experience and with mobile technology and social media moving forward at an incredible rate and with people expecting high speed internet, we had to build the world’s largest high density, high speed internet network in the Olympic Park.”

“Another key consideration was security. With more mobile devices available, this presented us with a risk of cyber security issues so we had to ensure we were prepared for this.  We also had to make sure that to make the Games more mobile, the event still looked good and that antennas and communications equipment wasn’t visible.”

“Social media in 2016 will be different again so it’s important that there is flexibility and Rio is prepared for the unknown,” said Dickel.

Additional areas of London 2012’s event management were discussed including security and the stadium facility.

LOCOG’s Head of Security Andrew Amery said, “There were a number of security challenges around the Games such as the pre-Games weather as we were unable to set-up security when planned as the overlay couldn’t go down.  The G4S issues came as shock at the last moment.  We are still in negotiations about closure of the contract.  Key to the overall success of the security was that we were honest publicly.  Our national strategy was published on the Home Office website and this helped build international confidence that London would deliver a safe and successful games.”

For further information on the International Sports Event Management Conference 2012 go towww.sportseventmanagement.co.uk and follow #ISEM2012 on Twitter.

Key event delivery statistics

• The London Underground set a new record – 4.57 million passengers travelled in August 2012
• 15 million people took to the streets over 70 days for the Torch Relay
• London 2012 festival –19.8 million people took part
• TV records broken
• 11 million tickets sold
• Sell out Paralympics

England’s 2018 World Cup bid team is to withdraw a complaint to Fifa about Russia’s campaign following an apology from their rival bidder.

The Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko has apologised for comments made by bid chief Alexei Sorokin.

England’s official complaint was that Russia had broken bidding rules when he made disparaging comments about London.

“Mr Mutko approached the bid team with a genuine apology in an honourable manner,” said an England spokesman.

“We, of course, accepted this apology and appreciate the gesture. We now wish to move on from this matter.”

Fifa’s committee met on Thursday to receive reports on the bids.

Hyundai planned return to the World Rally Championship in 2014 has gained momentum following the announcement of Michel Nandan as Team Principal and the formation of a new motorsport base in Europe.

Hyundai had a formal presence in the WRC between 2000 and 2003, with an Accent World Rally Car run by British preparation firm Motor Sport Developments. 

In September last year however it announced its intention to re-enter the WRC and is now developing a WRC version of its new i20 model with the objective of competing in the entire 2014 championship.

Hyundai confirmed today that Michel Nandan would head up the programme as Team Principal. The Frenchman has held key technical positions in the WRC since the mid-1990s – most notably as Technical Director of Peugeot Sport between 1999 and 2005.

The firm has also established a bespoke motorsport subsidiary, Hyundai Motorsport GmbH, under which the company’s WRC programme will be run. The cars will be built in new headquarters in Alzenau, Germany, close to Frankfurt, where Hyundai’s European HQ is situated.

Nandan said: “I am honoured to have been chosen by Hyundai to spearhead its exciting new entry into the WRC. The project is still in its infancy, but things are moving rapidly, and I am looking forward to developing the team as this year progresses. There is much to be done, of that we are fully aware, but with a dedicated facility in Alzenau and an ambitious core of highly motivated personnel, we are already making good progress.”

“Hyundai is excited to re-enter WRC, and we’re back not just to compete, but to win,” said Tak Uk Im, Executive Vice President & COO of Hyundai Motor.

 

City Events will be held in Lausanne next 14, 15 and 16 November in Lausanne – Olympic Capital hosting as you know the great majority of international sports federations. We are sure that this new edition will meet all your expectations in terms of program quality and networking opportunities.

City Events 2012 will address pragmatic methodologies and key factors of success for winning bidding candidatures. Please notice that to date, the following sport stakeholders will attend City events: Istanbul, Lyon, Manchester, Amsterdam, St. Moritz, Stockholm, John Tibbs Associates, of Around the Rings, of AISTS, the International Swimming Federation, UEFA, the International Basketball Federation or the World Archery Federation.

Together with some 300 international other sport decision makers, all these stakeholders will share their views on the best ways to win calls for bids in order to organize tomorrows’ sports events. As you may remember, City Events offers plenary sessions, breakout sessions and face to face meetings with International Sports Federations to be pre-booked in advance.

To register online, please click here: REGISTRATION

or contact Christine DECHARSONVILLE who is at your disposal to provide you with more detailed information about your participation to City events.

Contact details: Christine.DECHARSONVILLE@GL-events.com / +33 (0)4 78 176 258.

iSportconnect members can attend this years City Events: Where Cities Meet Sport on the 14th – 16th November in Lausanne, Switzerland for a massive 15% Discount.

Click here to find out more>>

 

beIN SPORT Asia has obtained media rights for Hong Kong to UEFA EURO 2016 taking place in France.

The deal includes all UEFA EURO 2016 matches across all media platforms and devices in Hong Kong. The championshipis due to begin on 10 June 2016 and the final match day is scheduled for 10 July 2016.  For the first time the European Football Championship will be a 24 team tournament, herbal having expanded from the 16 team format, erectile allowing a total of 51 matches, ed compared to 31 games in the last events. 

Commenting on the new agreement, Nasser Al Khelaifi, Chairman of beIN SPORT Asia, said “We are extremely excited by the addition of UEFA EURO 2016 to our new channel in Hong Kong. Together with the Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, English Championship and Scottish Premiership, this addition will crown our offer of top European football being broadcasted in Hong Kong.”

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director UEFA Events S.A., said: “We are very happy to welcome beIN SPORT Asia as our new media partner in Hong Kong, a market where European football is extremely popular. The experience and quality of the beIN Sport group coverage of football around the world is significant and we are confident that they will broadcast the UEFA EURO 2016 tournament in a comprehensive and innovative manner for the benefit of football fans in Hong Kong.’’