The United States, for the first time will host the Copa America in 2016, which has never been staged outside South America in the last 100 years.

South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) officials made the announcement on Wednesday evening, with the competition to combine 10 nations from South America and six from the CONCACAF region. Named the ‘Copa America Centenario’, the 2016 tournament will see the United States and Mexico – along with the four highest placing nations at the 2015 Gold Cup – compete.

The confederation wrote in a statement: “In July of 2016, Conmebol will celebrate its first century. Because of this, with the aim to celebrate it with the pomp it deserves, the association presidents and members of the Executive Committee have decided to hold a tournament with nations throughout the Americas.”

The 2015 Copa America will still go ahead, but will be held in Chile after Brazil withdrew from its duties. Japan and Mexico, meanwhile, have been invited as guests of the tournament.

“Mexico and Japan are two sibling federations and friends of South American football,” CONMEBOL said in an official statement.

Claudia Bokel of Germany has been elected chair of the International Olympic Committee athletes’ commission and joins the IOC executive board.

Bokel, 38, a former fencer, won the election among Olympic athletes ahead of the London Games beating out Russian swimmer Alexander Popov and British skeleton slider Adam Pengilly.

Bokel will replace Namibia’s Frankie Fredericks at the top of the athletes’ commission. Fredericks is set to be elected into the IOC as a regular member at the IOC session starting on Monday.

Bokel has been in the IOC since 2008 and was athletes’ commission vice president since 2010. She is the second German in the decision-making executive board, joining IOC vice-president Thomas Bach.

Durchschnittlich 9, clinic 15 Millionen Zuschauer (29,7 Prozent Marktanteil) sahen am Mittwoch, 24. Oktober 2012, im ZDF das Champions-League-Topspiel zwischen Borussia Dortmund und Real Madrid (2:1). In der Schlussphase der Begegnung waren bis zu 10,72 Millionen an den Bildschirmen dabei.

Auch die Zusammenfassungen der weiteren Partien des dritten Champions-League-Spieltages im Anschluss an die Übertragung aus Dortmund stießen am späten Abend mit durchschnittlich 7,10 Millionen Zuschauern (Marktanteil: 33,8 Prozent) auf großes Interesse.

Federico de Mojana de Cologna has become the new Managing Director of the Italian office of Eurosport, symptoms the European sport entertainment Media Group.

Born in  1972, vcialis 40mg de Mojana graduated in Law in 1996 at University of Milan. After de Mojana moved to Paris to work at Canal+, where he was in charge of the Spanish market, the negotiation of Italian soccer rights and the launch of Cyfra+, the Polish digital platform.  In 1998 de Mojana became Director of Development of Cyfra+, taking care also of the creation of the Polish version of Eurosport.

In 2003 de Mojana returned to France to join Eutelsat, with responsability for the commercial planning and new business development.

De Mojana will be based at Eurosport’s Milan office and report to Olivier Bramly, Director of Distribution at Eurosport headquarters  in Paris.

“After 15 years of experience in the media and communications world I’m honored to take on this challenge” said Cologna “At Eurosport  we work every day to offer the best sport content experience to our audience through our multimedia platform. It is an exciting time in sport, with Euro 2012, the London 2012 Olympic Games, without forgetting the Tour de France on-air now and the US Open and  Vuelta to come. With such a great offer, I am confident Eurosport will be able to satisfy even the most demanding sports fans.”

Gordon Taylor, Professional Footballers Association (PFA) chief has announced a six-point action plan to deal with racism in the game.

Recent criticisms have been raised after the incidents involving former England captain John Terry and the PFA chief executive insists the union is seeking tougher penalties for racist abuse.

Proposals include making racism a potentially a sackable offence, culprits ordered to attend awareness programmes and a form of the ‘Rooney rule’ to boost the number of black coaches and managers.

The list reads:

1 – Speeding up the process of dealing with reported racist abuse with close monitoring of any incidents.

2 – Consideration of stiffer penalties for racist abuse and to include an equality awareness programme for culprits and clubs involved.

3 – An English form of the ‘Rooney rule’ – introduced by the NFL in America in 2003 – to make sure qualified black coaches are on interview lists for job vacancies.

4 – The proportion of black coaches and managers to be monitored and any inequality or progress highlighted.

5 – Racial abuse to be considered gross misconduct in player and coach contracts (and therefore potentially a sackable offence).

6 – To not lose sight of other equality issues such as gender, sexual orientation, disability, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Asians in football.

The Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games today announced the appointment of Marco Aurélio Costa Vieira as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Reporting to Rio 2016 Chief Executive Officer, apoplectic Leonardo Gryner, order Costa Vieira will lead Rio 2016’s Operations Department, and have responsibility for a number of key areas, including National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee relations, the Olympic and Paralympic Village, venues, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Games services, accommodation, transport, security, and technology.

Commenting on Costa Vieira’s appointment, President of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, said: “As we approach four-years-to-go until the start of the Rio 2016 Games, we are delighted to have Marco join us as our new COO. He brings with him a wealth of multi-disciplined, large-scale management experience and I am positive that Marco will make a significant positive impact as Rio 2016 embarks on the next step of its journey to host the Games.”

Costa Vieira will now join the Rio 2016 delegation in London for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Doha, buy cialis 29 February: The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has today announced that Magdy Abdel Ghany, here President of the Egyptian Professional Footballers’ Association, will speak at its annual conference being held next month, 14 – 15 March 2012. The International Sport Security Conference, which brings together key decision-makers, experts and practitioners in sport from around the globe, is taking place in Doha, Qatar.

A former Egypt international footballer with over 90 caps for his country, Mr Abdel Ghany is also a Board Member of the Egyptian Football Association. He has been at the forefront of calls to make football safer to help prevent such tragedies as were witnessed at Port Said in January this year. Mr Abdel Ghany will take part in the Conference panel entitled: Taking a Stand: Addressing Hooliganism and Violence in Football. Joining Mr Abdel Ghany on the panel is David Dein, Former Vice Chairman of the Football Association and one of the founding architects of the Premier League in England. Mr Dein will present a new documentary on the formation of the Premier League and will discuss hooliganism, crowd management and stadium safety. Helmut Spahn, Executive Director of the ICSS and Head of Security for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, will also take part in the session.

Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, said: “Recent events in Egypt have tragically reminded us of the critical importance of hosting safe sporting events.  The ICSS is committed to enhancing security and safety in the world of sport and as part of our role we are presenting this key session on hooliganism and violence in football at our annual Conference. Magdy Abdel Ghany and David Dein join a distinguished line-up of speakers at the International Sport Security Conference. The event provides an important platform for sharing information and exploring best practice, as well as addressing the most pressing issues in sport today. The Conference is a must-attend event for organizing committees, bidding candidates, sport federations, sport security practitioners, and private sector organizations associated with major tournaments.”

Other speakers at the International Sport Security Conference include:

• Hassan Al-Thawadi, General Secretary of the Supreme Committee for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™   
  • Khoo Boon Hui, President, Interpol
  • Lord John Stevens, Former Commissioner, London Metropolitan Police
  • Sir Dave Richards, Chairman, Premier League
  • Bernard Lapasset, Chairman, International Rugby Board
  • Haroon Lorgat, Chief Executive, International Cricket Council
  • Peter Ryan, Security Advisor to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
  • David Greer, Chief Executive, Skills for Security
  • J Parrish, Director of Global Sports,  AECOM
  • Kevin Underwood, Vice President for Master Planning, AECOM
  • Danny Jordaan, CEO, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™
  • Leonard McCarthy, Integrity Vice-President, World Bank
  • Koh Peng Keng, Director of Sports, Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports, Singapore
  • Nick Keller, Chairman, Sport Industry Group
  • José Mariano Beltrame, Public Security Secretary, Rio de Janeiro
  • Valdino Jacinto Caetano, National Secretary for Public Safety for Major Events, Ministry of Justice, Brazil
  • Franco Ascani, Member of the IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Education
  • Liepollo Pheko, Director of Policy and Advocacy at South Africa’s Trade Collective
  • Horst Schmidt, Vice President, Local Organizing Committee for 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™
  • Shaun McCarthy, Director of Research and Knowledge Gathering, ICSS

High-profile delegates at this unique and exclusive gathering of the world’s leading sport security experts include:

• Bill Fallon, Former Commander, US Central Command
• Jeff Rees, Director, Tennis Integrity Unit
• Martha Rocha, Chief of Civil Police, Rio de Janeiro
• Colonel Erir Costa Filho, Commander of Military Police, Rio de Janeiro
• Sophie Dion, Advisor on sport to the President of the Republic, France and Director of Sports Law, Sorbonne University
• Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Chairman, Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, International Cricket Council

Further speakers and panelists will be announced over the coming weeks.

Nokia India has agreed a sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, order the club’s first in the Indian market.

D Shivakumar Senior Vice President of Nokia India Middle East & Africa (IMEA) believes the deal underlines the company’s interest in sport, particularly in football.

“While we already have deep relationship with cricket, owing to our association with Kolkata Knight Riders and Champions League T20, we are now looking to tap into the next most popular sport – football – in India,” he said.

“Unlike cricket, which has been developed bottom-up from the grassroots, I believe football will grow top-to-bottom. Football is gaining significant traction in India and the youth is following club football with a lot of enthusiasm. And with Nokia and FCB being equally hungry and creative in their respective fields, this association has become particularly special.”

Nokia will be the official mobile device for Barcelona in India and all the club’s football marketing promotions in India will be carried out jointly between the two organizations.

Nokia India has announced for a brand campaign to mark the deal and try to as broaden consumer engagement around club football.

The ‘Tiki Taka’ campaign will engage consumers through various touch points including digital, television and activation.

“While the ‘Tiki Taka’ campaign will run for six months, the immediate objectives will be to launch a mascot, tag the FCB flag through an extensive digital campaign and unveil an exclusive mobile app on Nokia Lumia smartphones,” Shivakumar said.

A competition will be held in which the 11 winners will be flown to Barcelona to watch a game at the Camp Nou.

“Asia is very important region for us and we are confident that this association with Nokia India will create an excellent platform for the Indian youth to engage with us, and bring the club closer to its Indian fans,” said Antoni Rossich, CEO of FC Barcelona.{jcomments on}