Skip Gilbert, who unexpectedly departed from USA Triathlon last summer, has been appointed by New Zealand-based Times-7 Sport, the sport technical solutions provider, as its new President and chief executive.

Gilbert takes charge of the company’s expansion into Canada, Mexico, South America, the Caribbean and the United States, based from Colorado Springs.

Gilbert steered USA Triathlon from his role as CEO through a period of rapid growth as its membership increased almost threefold and its budget almost doubled during his time at the helm.

He was recognised for his achievements through election as chairman of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) National Governing Body Council, as well as the chairman of the Association of the Chief Executives of Sport.

Gilbert stated: “I’m excited to join Times-7 Sport, a company which is expanding its high-quality product portfolio and is directed by a strong leadership team.

“This is clearly an organisation on the rise, both in the Americas and around the world.

“I look forward to helping them expand into one of the most sport participation-rich regions in the world.”

Times-7 Sport Chairman D’Arcy Quinn added: “We’re thrilled to have Skip Gilbert lead our Times-7 Sport team.

“Skip’s 25-year sales, marketing and managerial background and his successful track record with major sport organizations will jump-start our efforts to expand throughout the Americas.”

BBC have agreed a deal to broadcast England Women’s 2013 European Championship games.

The new deal will see the BBC broadcast live coverage of all England’s matches in Sweden on BBC3, with both the semi-finals and final played across BBC3 and BBC2.

After a tremendous response to Women’s football during London 2012, the BBC has snapped up the rights to broadcast all of England’s matches at the UEFA European Women’s Championship next year in Sweden. 

The deal will see the BBC broadcast live coverage of all England’s matches on BBC3, with both the semi-finals and final played across BBC3 and BBC2.

Though the men’s UEFA European Football Championship is always given extensive coverage on the BBC, the women’s championship – which has been held every four years since 1984 – is yet to receive the same treatment.

The BBC Director of Sport Barbara Slater has said the decision to broadcast all of England’s games on their main channels came down to “the response to women’s football at London 2012” which proved Britain has a “strong appetite” for women’s sport on TV.

The move will please plenty of sport fans as well as Culture Secretary Maria Miller who recently called for broadcasters to show more women’s sport on TV as a “legacy from the Games.”

Excitingly, the England women’s football team have a good chance of reaching the final stages of the championship. The team made it to the final of the Euro 2009, before being beaten by Germany, and have qualified unbeaten for next summer’s championship following a 3-0 win against Croatia in September.

The BBC’s news completes a great year for sportswomen which has seen five women nominated for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year, the results of which will be revealed this weekend.

Euro 2013 takes place between 10 and 28 July 2013. England’s first match will be against Spain on 10 July.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) have appointed the former performance director of Badminton England,Ian Moss as the nation’s new director of National Sports Federations (NSF).

Having resigned from his post with Badminton England last July after just two years in the post, Moss has now returned to Canada to take up this newly-created role.

COC chief executive Jean Dupré stated: “The creation of this position demonstrates the COC’s commitment to effectively servicing the needs of its National Sport Federation membership.

“We are excited to have Ian working with our sport partners in our ongoing effort to Olympic Games success.”

Moss has more than 20 years experience in high performance sport and was the executive director at Rowing Canada from 2005-2009 in which time, Canadian rowers won four medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the most of any sport.

Moss added: “I am thrilled to join the COC in this new capacity, one which I believe builds upon my skill set developed over the years in both association management and high performance programming with numerous sports. 

“It is my responsibility to find new and innovative ways to provide greater value added operational support to the membership that can complement existing COC programming on the Olympic Games and performance preparation platforms and continue to build upon the strong relationship that has been build between the COC and its member NSFs.”

Moss was also previously the executive director of Badminton Canada from 1997-2005 and has worked with Diving Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada and the Canadian Cricket Association.

Caroline Assalian, the COC’s executive managing director of Sport and NSF relations, said: “Ian is an ideal candidate as he brings extensive targeted and non-targeted leadership experience both nationally and internationally. I am confident that, through this new role, Ian will deliver added-value services to help NSFs in their quest to be world class sport organisations.”

The BBC have replaced Channel 4 as the UK broadcaster of the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

The 2013 championships will be the first of three on the BBC with deals in place for Beijing 2015 and London 2017.

Channel 4’s Martin Baker said the move “reflects the changing nature of both broadcasters’ sports portfolios”.

Channel 4 made a deal in March to be the sole terrestrial broadcaster of UK horseracing between 2013 and 2016.

“Since the deal for the 2011 and 2013 World Athletics Championships was agreed in 2010, Channel 4 has acquired the rights to the major events of UK horse racing and the BBC has announced that it will broadcast the 2015 and 2017 World Athletics Championships,” the channel’s director of commercial affairs explained.

London saw off competition from Doha to stage the 2017 event,after pulling out of the race for 2015 because of uncertainty over how the Olympic Stadium would be used in the wake of the London 2012 Games.

Director of BBC Sport Barbara Slater said the agreement demonstrated the corporation’s commitment to athletics, guaranteeing a major championship every year until 2017.

“Added to the Commonwealth games in Glasgow in 2014 and the Rio Olympics in 2016 it will take the BBC audience on an athletics journey from London 2012 to London 2017.”

German Bundesliga soccer team Hamburg have parted company with club president Bernd Hoffmann and Katja Kraus, appointing Carl Edgar Jarchow and Hoachim Hilke, formerly of of sports marketing agency SportFive.

Joachim Hilke is a former board member of the club and will take over the duties of Kraus and be responsible for marketing and communication.

The move comes just three days after HSV sacked coach Armin Veh following the 6-0 loss against Bayern Munich.

A note on the club’s official website from chairman Otto Rieckhoff reads: “As successor to Bernd Hoffmann, Carl Edgar Jarchow will come in, Katja Kraus has been replaced by Joachim Hilke.

“The explanation of the Supervisory Board is that Hoffmann and Katja Kraus are no longer heads of HSV. This decision was made on Wednesday (16/03/11). Bernd Hoffmann, Katja Kraus and HSV have parted amicably. The Board thanked Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Kraus expressly for the excellent work done for the club and wishes them both personally and professionally, all the best for the future.”

Sky Sports have sealed a eight-year deal with West Indies Cricket to show England’s next four tours to the Caribbean.

The agreement features all Test, ODI and Twenty20 international matches played in the region until 2020.

England will next visit the West Indies in 2014, with further trips to follow in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “Sky’s first televised cricket was from the West Indies in 1990 and this deal further shows our commitment to overseas cricket by providing four more live England cricket tours from the Caribbean.

“As recent ICC World Twenty20 champions, West Indies are always exciting to watch and very popular with our viewers. This adds more depth to our live scheduling and means Sky Sports has never offered greater depth and breadth of coverage nor a stronger line-up of live sport for our viewers to watch at home or on the move.”

 

Henrique Meirelles, the former president of Brazil’s Central Bank was officially appointed to head the Olympic Public Authority yesterday, March 14, the agency set-up to coordinate preparations for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Meirelles will coordinate Government policies and public works projects for the Games for the new body, , Autoridade Pública Olímpica·(PDB), having helped to oversee Brazil’s biggest economic expansion in decades.

Meirelles accepted the nomination after meeting with President Dilma Rousseff on Monday and as head of the Olympic Public Authority, will have a staff of roughly 170 and manage a multi-billion dollar budget. 

The PDB was the idea of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and is modelled on the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) set-up by London after it won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. The new body is set to have a budget of up to US$18bn.

Meirelles, who was part of the delegation that presented Rio’s bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its Session in Copenhagen in October 2009, stated: “My job will be to coordinate efforts of all levels of government to ensure the Olympics are the success that Brazil and the whole world expects.

“The event will be symbolic of Brazil’s capacity to fill the new space it has created for itself in the world.”

Meirelles stood down from his role with the Central Bank in December following eight year in charge, a period which coincided with the incredible economic growth of Brazil.

“This is a project that can change the world’s perception of Brazil,” he added.

“The Olympic Games have the capacity to change Rio de Janeiro.”

Ten Sports, ambulance one of the world’s premier sports channels, has extended its support to the 18th edition of Aircel Chennai Open as the exclusive official broadcast partner. 

The channel has bagged exclusive rights of telecasting the tournament in India. Ten Sports will bring LIVE tennis action as the world’s best tennis players converge in Chennai to display their talent and win the coveted title. Ten Sports’ comprehensive coverage will be telecast from December 31, 2012 through to January 6, 2013.

Atul Pande, CEO Ten Sports, commented on the deal: “We have enjoyed a strong and fruitful association with the Aircel Chennai Open and are very excited to be strengthening it further. Once again, we have kept our promise to bring the finest international events to Indian audiences. Tennis has a huge fan following across the region and our association with the Aircel Chennai Open will give a fantastic opportunity to millions of tennis fans to experience thrilling tennis action from the comfort of their homes.”

Speaking about the tournament’s association with Ten Sports, AshuJindal, COO, IMG Reliance said: “In taking tennis to millions of homes across the world and giving aficionados a brilliant opportunity to enjoy the action live, Ten Sports has played an important role in popularizing the tournament and the sport in different markets. We are pleased to continue our partnership with Ten Sports as official broadcaster of the 18^th Edition of the Aircel Chennai Open.”

M.A. Alagappan, President of Tamil Nadu Tennis Association said: “We are glad to welcome Ten Sports as the Official Broadcaster of the 18^th edition of the Aircel Chennai Open. Ten Sports definitely enjoys wide reach in the region and we are sure their exclusive LIVE coverage of the event will help tennis fans to witness the game from start to finish.”

German sportswear brand PUMA have announced that Franz Koch has been promoted from his role as head of global strategy to replace Jochen Zeitz as the new chief executive officer of the  firm next month.

Koch’s intentions are expected to be to push the company’s e-commerce website in an effort to increase annual turnover to over US$5.5bn by 2015.

Former CEO Zeitz is leaving his role in order to oversee the sports lifestyle division of Puma’s owner, French retail group PPR SA, which also owns luxury fashion brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, having been appointed to the position at PUMA 18 years ago at the age of 30.

32-year-old Koch told Wall Street Journal: “We’ve gone through tremendous changes in the last three years,” adding his intention to “just focus on the long-term strategic plan”.

PPR acquired a controlling stake in PUMA four years ago, with Zeitz having attempted to close the gap to market leaders Nike and Adidas. Sales reached $3.3bn in 2005, but the company registered disappointing revenues of $3.75bn last year with Zeitz blaming tough trading conditions.

A statement from PUMA read: “Franz Koch…has been responsible for the long-term strategic group development and management of special projects such as portfolio optimisation, process re-engineering as well as mergers and acquisitions. Moreover, he co-ordinated and helped execute the company’s restructuring program in 2009 to lay the foundation for sustainable growth following the economic crisis.”

Puma’s brand ambassadors include Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt and various leading soccer stars, and the company also has partnerships with a number of national teams.

Ice Hockey’s Red Bulls Salute – European Trophy Finals is set to be aired in Central and Northern Europe as well as the United States following a number of broadcast deals.

The international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media, acting as the event’s media and marketing partner, has secured a significant amount of free-TV coverage. Overall, the Red Bulls Salute – European Trophy Finals, taking place in Vienna (Austria) and Bratislava (Slovakia) from 13 to 16 December 2012, will be broadcast in more than 30 countries.

The Red Bulls Salute is the final tournament of the European Trophy which in 2012 saw 32 teams from seven European nations compete for the final of the club-level European tournament in ice hockey. The quarter finals start this Thursday and feature the following teams: Luleå Hockey (SWE), Brynäs IF Gävle (SWE), HV71 Jönköping (SWE), Tappara Tampere (FIN), UPC Vienna Capitals (AUT), Eisbären Berlin (GER), HC Slovan Bratislava (SVK) and Färjestad BK Karlstad (SWE). The winner will be played out in the final game to take place in Bratislava on Sunday.

For the first time ever, Infront managed to bring the Red Bulls Salute to the United States, with ESPN broadcasting live. In addition, coverage will be provided in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (Viasat), Finland (MTV3), the Czech Republic (Nova Sport), Slovakia (TV Markiza/Nova Sport), Switzerland (SSF) as well as in Austria and Germany (Servus TV). Additionally, an agreement for international news coverage has been sealed with SNTV.

On the marketing side, a central sponsorship opportunity for the emerging competition has been taken over by Henkel with its brand “Ceresit” (adhesives). As a Premium Sponsor, the brand will receive a comprehensive presence across the Red Bulls Salute. Furthermore, Henkel branding has been integrated on all print and online promotional material. 

Bruno Marty, Infront’s Executive Director Winter Sports, said: “The level of international media coverage achieved for an emerging competition like the Red Bulls Salute reflects the strong fan interest and future potential of international club ice hockey. It also illustrates the boost a cross-national competition – not only on national team, but also on club level – can provide for the sport.  Infront is eager to contribute its expertise and network in order to build upon these promising sportive and commercial foundation in the future.”