In just a few weeks time, capsule the eyes of the rugby world will shift from the tickertape and fanfare of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand to South West London and Twickenham as Rugby Expo 2011, the single biggest global conference and exhibition for the sport kicks off on November 23rd.

The event, which is actively supported by the IRB, the RFU, SRU, Premiership Rugby, RaboDirect PRO12, the RFL and Super League will bring together not only some of the biggest names in rugby from the UK and Ireland but speakers from a host of major sports in key international territories.

With a conference programme designed to support the technical and commercial development of the sport, the first day of Rugby Expo will play host to 4 plenary sessions and 11 workshops and include a series of leading speakers with a clear international focus. These include;

–                      John O’Neill, CEO, Australian Rugby Union

–                      Mike Miller, CEO, the IRB

–                      Steve Fanelli, Executive Director Ticket Sales and Operations, MLB club Oakland Athletics

–                      Dominic Rumbles, Head of Communications, the IRB

–                      Chris Wyche, Vice President Operations, MLS club, Sporting Kansas Club

–                      Steve Griffiths, Head of Technical Services, the IRB

–                      Dan Lyle, Tournament Director, USA Sevens

–                      Derek Palmer, MD, EMEA, Tickets.com

–                      Nigel Fletcher, Chairman, European Synthetic Turf Organisation

For a full line up of the conference and workshop programme on day one click here.

With the exhibition floor now SOLD OUT the only way to attend Rugby Expo and join what will be a stellar event is to purchase delegate passes which can be bought online or by contacting the sales team on +44 (0)845 0740752.

The J-League have concluded a deal in Myanmar that will allow the Japanese league to cooperate with Myanmar soccer leagues and tap the management expertise of premier Asian division.

J. League chairman Kazumi Ohigashi, and Zaw Zaw, chairman of the Myanmar Football Federation, signed the agreement in Yangon.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Zaw Zaw thanked the J. League for rendering a helping hand to Myanmar in a time of need.

“It is important to have a good partner for us to be able to develop soccer in our country,” Zaw Zaw said.

He said Myanmar soccer officials would benefit from the agreement and learn from their Japanese partners on how to improve the management and administration systems, find sponsors for league events and market league matches.

Ohigashi said, “We want to put forward to our fellow Asian countries the knowhow we have acquired.”

The J. League has already made cooperation agreements with Thailand in February and Vietnam this month.

The Myanmar National League, which has 14 soccer clubs as members, is the country’s premier professional league in Myanmar.

Sheik Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait, viagra 100mg head of the Olympic Council of Asia, has been selected interim president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) following the resignation of longtime chief Mario Vazquez Rana.

The decision, taken at a meeting of ANOC officials in Bangkok, will come up for formal ratification at the association’s assembly in Moscow next month.

ANOC says Sheikh Ahmad will serve the remaining two years of Vazquez Rana’s term until 2014, when new elections will be held.

Vazquez Rana, a Mexican media mogul who turns 80 in June, headed ANOC for more than 30 years. He resigned abruptly last week amid political infighting.

by Ismail Uddin

advice helvetica, buy sans-serif;”>Quo vadis Bundesliage-Rechte? Darüber diskutiert Christian Seifert, capsule Geschäftsführer der Deutschen Fußball Liga, am 10. November in Wiesbaden mit namhaften Vertretern der Sportmedien wie Sky-Sportvorstand Carsten Schmidt, ARD-Sportkoordinator Axel Balkausky und Telekom-Manager Henning Stiegenroth.

Seit dem 1. Juli 2005 steht Christian Seifert an der Spitze der Deutschen Fußball Liga. Zuvor war er Vorstandsvorsitzender der KarstadtQuelle New Media AG, wo er u. a. das DSF und die Merchandisingrechte an der FIFA 2006 erwarb und das Engagement des Unternehmens im Bereich e- und TV-Commerce forcierte. Bei MTV Networks war der gebürtige Badener zuvor von 1998 bis 2000 als Direktor Marketing in Zentraleuropa für Endkunden und Eventmarketing sowie neue Medien zuständig, nachdem er bei der MGM Media Gruppe München von 1995 bis 1998 zum Leiter Produktmanagement aufgestiegen war.

Der 42-jährige weiß wovon er spricht und ist somit auch bei den 17. Deutschen Sponsoringtagen in Wiesbaden Garant für anregende und kontroverse Diskussionen. Seien Sie dabei. Unter www.conferencegroup.de/sponsoringtage11 finden Sie alle Informationen zur Veranstaltung.

The number of clubs in the J.League’s J1 operating at a loss has decreased from ten to eight since 2010, recently disclosed figures of its 38 participating teams in 2011 revealed.

In J2, clubs operating at a loss rose from eight to ten.

J1 clubs Urawa Reds had the highest revenue for the seventh consecutive year with US$68.3M, although it saw a decrease of more than US$3M since 2010.

J1 team Yokohama F-Marinos ranked sixth in revenue with US$44M, but its overall profit was down US$7.4M because of high operating costs.

Under the Club License System the J.League is introducing in 2013, teams with deficits for three straight seasons will not be allowed to participate in the league.

Five clubs in the league have experienced deficits for three consecutive seasons.{jcomments on}

 

Former Brazilian federation chief and head of 2014 World Cup organising committee, Ricardo Teixeira has resigned from the FIFA executive committee.

Teixeira’s decision was announced by the South American body CONMEBOL, which he represented on the FIFA committee. CONMEBOL published a copy of Teixeira’s brief resignation letter, which was addressed to the regional body’s president Dr Nicolas Leoz.

In the letter, Teixeira thanks Dr Leoz, CONMEBOL executives and the presidents of South American national associations for their support during his term in office.

He cited “personal reasons” for stepping down. Teixeira had been joined on FIFA’s executive committee by fellow South Americans Leoz and Julio Grondona.

Teixeira, 64, resigned last week as head of the Brazilian Football Federation and the 2014 World Cup organising committee on health grounds. He had been in charge of Brazilian football for 23 years but recently came under pressure to resign over allegations of corruption.

In 2001, the Brazilian Congress investigated Teixeira on suspicion of 13 crimes, including tax evasion, money laundering and misleading lawmakers, but no charges were brought. He has also been investigated for allegedly taking kickbacks from a marketing firm that worked closely with FIFA in the 1990s.

He denied all the allegations and has never been convicted of any offence. Teixeira could also point to the highlight of two World Cup victories, in 1994 and 2002.

Teixeira came under fire from within FIFA earlier this month, with secretary general Jerome Valcke expressing concern over the lack of progress on preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

FIFA has acknowledged Teixeira’s resignation and called on CONMEBOL to waste no time in naming his replacement on the Executive Committee.

“FIFA has taken note today of CONMEBOL’s announcement that Ricardo Terra Teixeira has resigned as a member of the FIFA Executive Committee,” a statement read.

“As per the FIFA Statutes (art. 30 par. 7), CONMEBOL will now have to decide immediately on the replacement of Ricardo Teixeira as one of their representatives on the FIFA Executive Committee for the remaining period of office.”

by Ismail Uddin

What’s your take on this? Ronaldo has shown a desire to lead the Brazillian Federation, is he the right choice to take the reins from Teixeira? Click here to comment.

37, health 000 people applied to be volunteers at the next World Cup in Brazil, abortion only one day after FIFA launched the program.

The application period to recruit volunteers had originally been set for a 15-day period, but the Brazil 2014 Local Organising Committee (LOC) is likely to extend that time frame.

Volunteers will work at stadiums and other facilities, working in areas such as communications, catering, transport, protocol, accreditation, IT, press operations, hospitality, medical services and competition services.

Ricardo Trade, Operations Director at the LOC said: “It is the volunteers who help create the sense of joy and celebration that surrounds the FIFA World Cup.”

Former Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who is also on the LOC’s management board, said: “I’ve seen for myself that the success of this event depends on the commitment of the local people, as they’re the ones who provide the face of each World Cup.

“In our case that face is going to be a happy and welcoming one, showing a lot of love for football.”

The training programme will start a year after the Confederations Cup programme, which takes place in April and May 2013.

The Confederation Cup requires 7,000 volunteers whilst the World Cup will need 15,000 to stage the month long event.

The volunteer programme is open to people living outside the 12 host cities and from other countries.

It is thought that nearly 90,000 applicants will take part in the online training.

The former marketing director behind England’s woeful 2018 bid, David Magliano, has been named brand director of the Co-operative Group.

Magliano, who also worked on London’s 2012 Olympic bid will oversee brand development across all of The Co-op’s businesses. He has also worked for the airlines EasyJet and Go.

He will report to group marketing director Gill Barr.

“David is a high-calibre, proven marketeer and his appointment underlines the importance we are attaching to the further development of our brand within the UK,” said Barr.

“These are exciting times for The Co-operative in terms of maintaining the momentum we’ve seen in recent years and delivering plans which are anchored around meeting customers’ needs.”

Magliano added: “I’ve been presented with a fantastic opportunity to shape and communicate The Co-op brand across a range of businesses to a multitude of audiences, each with their own needs and expectations.”

With just under four weeks to go until the single biggest rugby focused conference and exhibition comes to Twickenham, salve the management team of Rugby Expo can confirm that the exhibition floor is now sold out with 38 exhibitors confirmed for the event.

The announcement is testament to the purposeful growth of the event in 2011 with a number of high profile brands and suppliers showcasing their products and services including Tickets.com, anesthetist Paddy Power, Rhino Rugby, O’Neills, the IRB, York Fitness, Gatorade, the European Synthetic Turf Organisation, 80 minutes and FK Pro amongst many others.

Selling out the exhibition floor follows recent announcements confirming the support of the IRB, the RFU, SRU, Premiership Rugby, RaboDirect PRO12, the RFL and Super League and with a large number of club officials as well as senior members from the various unions and leagues also in attendance, the event will be the meeting place for the sport in 2011.

In addition to the sold out exhibition floor and support from the unions, leagues and professional clubs, the speaker line up and conference / workshop programme for day one (professional game focus) was also announced last week with a world class line up of speakers taking part in 4 plenary sessions and 11 workshops.

If you would like to attend Rugby Expo 2011, the only way to do so is to purchase a delegate pass.

Please click here to purchase your ticket online or call +44 (0)845 0740752 to speak to one of the sales team.

Tottenham Hotspur FC have announce that it has signed a partnership agreement with Real Madrid FC following the transfer of Luka Modric to the Spanish club.

The partnership agreement will see the two Clubs working together in respect of players, there coaching, best practices and commercial relationships.

Real Madrid FC President, Florentino Perez Rodriguez, said, “The strong relationship and affinity between our two clubs has resulted in the cementing of a longer-term partnership and the successful transfer of Luka Modric. We are delighted to welcome Luka and look forward to working closely with Tottenham in the coming years.”

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur, commented, “Luka has been a terrific player for us and, whilst we preferred not to part with him, we are pleased that it is to Real Madrid, a club with which we now look forward to sharing a long and productive partnership.”