Community, Author at iSportConnect

Badminton England Appoints Sue Storey As CEO

Badminton England, the governing body for the country’s sixth largest sport, has today announced the appointment of Sue Storey as Chief Executive Officer.

Sue joins from Volleyball England, where she is currently Chief Executive. Whilst there, she provided leadership in the collaborative development of a new ten-year strategy, secured increased funding into the sport for performance athletes, improved commercial income and drove a huge increase in junior participation across the country.

With her focus on culture and people, she delivered a complete overhaul of the organisation, ensuring that the sport is now more engaged and transparent, putting the volleyball community at the heart of ongoing developments.

Prior to this Sue spent eight years at the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) for and made a significant contribution to improving safety, security and service at major sporting events across the UK and abroad. Sue has worked with top level football clubs in England and Wales and led the SGSA’s first ever partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Badminton England Chair, Mike Robinson, said: “Following a rigorous search process, I am thrilled to be able to welcome Sue as our new CEO. She brings not only great knowledge and understanding of what it takes to run a successful national governing body, but she also has a real passion for sport and for badminton in particular.

“Sue is a leader with vision, who puts people first and I know she will be a tremendous asset to Badminton England. I am confident that under Sue’s leadership, we can unite the badminton community around a shared vision for our sport.

“This appointment and that of Morten Frost, ex-world number one, as Performance Director last week, are key to the future of our sport. There is a feeling of great excitement and optimism as we enter the new Olympic cycle and I look forward to working with them both.”

Sue Storey said: “It is an honour and a pleasure to take on the role of leading Badminton England as Chief Executive. I am passionate about sport and have worked tirelessly to improve the experience of sport for everyone.

“Badminton is a fantastic sport that I have been involved in for over 30 years, through four badminton playing kids, a badminton playing husband and an extended family who have played and volunteered for many decades. I was a club level player myself and still occasionally pick up a racquet to feed shuttles for my kids.

“I am very clear we need to work in a collaborative and engaged way with the badminton community to succeed in our ambitions. Together we will achieve the stated vision of becoming one of the nation’s most popular sports and consistently winning medals.”

Sue will take up her appointment on Monday 9 May 2022.

Mike Robinson added: “Badminton England would like to thank Pete Fitzboydon for stepping into the role of Interim Chief Executive, which he has performed since October last year. Pete will remain with us to ensure a smooth transition and provide a comprehensive handover. During his time, Pete has started to build the foundations for the future, including the development of our action plan following UK Sport’s review of our performance programme. The Board wishes Pete every success for the future.”

Vasco And 777 Partners Sign Memorandum Of Understanding For Vasco SAF

Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama and 777 Partners announce that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for an investment in Vasco da Gama’s football.

The non-binding proposal of the North American investment company is to invest R$700 million in exchange for a 70% interest in Vasco da Gama Sociedade Anônima do Futebol (“Vasco SAF”) to be incorporated. Including the R$700 million debt to be assumed by Vasco SAF, the offer values SAF at R$1.7 billion, making this the largest transaction in the history of Brazilian football.

777 Partners agreed to provide CRVG with a BRL 70 million bridge loan, convertible into Vasco SAF shares at the closing of the transaction.

During a period of 90 days, 777 Partners will conduct a confirmatory due diligence in order to finalize the investment, which will still be subject to the approval of the CRVG partners at the General Meeting.

The transaction will help Vasco regain its leading role in Brazilian and international football. 777 Partners will act as a long-term strategic partner to enable Vasco’s ambitious plans and sustainable future.

Vasco SAF will be 777 Partners’ main investment in South America, and Vasco will use 777’s network of companies to modernize the club with access to new media technologies, broadcasting and data utilization for talent identification.

*Josh Wander, Partner at 777 Partners; Jorge Salgado, President of Vasco da Gama and Juan Arciniegas, Director of Sports, Media and Entertainment at 777 Partners (Photo: Disclosure)*

CRVG will transfer its football assets and will cede the right to use the São Januário stadium to SAF, while retaining ownership of its headquarters: Calabouço, Lagoa and Complexo de São Januário.

SAF will create conditions for Vasco’s football to recover its high sporting performance and for the long-term sustainability of CRVG, and the club will be able to increase its investments in Olympic and Paralympic sports.

“We are proud to announce the biggest deal in the history of Brazilian clubs. We worked tirelessly over the last few months to find a long-term partner, with financial and operational capacity, who shared our ambition to replace Vasco in his place as a football giant, in Brazil and in South America. future, winner, sustainable and debt-free, everything that our immense supporters want”, says Jorge Salgado, president of Vasco da Gama.

Among the many investments in sports, entertainment and media, 777 Partners recently acquired full ownership of Genoa CFC, Italy’s oldest football club, and also owns a considerable share of Sevilla FC, one of the most prestigious football clubs and successful in Spain.

“We are very excited and proud to have the opportunity to join Vasco da Gama’s incredible team,” said Josh Wander, Founder and Managing Partner of 777 Partners. “We have immense respect for Vasco’s rich history of success and his pioneering role in supporting social inclusion in Brazilian sport. We look forward to investing in a city with one of the best talent pools in the world, in a country that lives and breathes football, just like we do.”

XFL To Join With NFL On Innovation Opportunities To Advance The Game Of Football

The XFL has announced it will be collaborating with the NFL on select innovation programs to further expand the game of football and create increased opportunities for player development both on and off the field.

iSportConnect’s Ben Page: In my opinion, it is absolutely vital for both sides to work together, but particularly for the XFL if it wants to avoid the fate of its previous times in existence. However, it can’t be ruled out how important this also is for the NFL, as they are in desperate need of a feeder league, such as the NBA’s G-League equivalent. Having a prospering XFL will ensure that players who are coming into the NFL during the season have been playing competitively (rather than just training on practice squads), give opportunities for late developers who improve in their mid-late 20s and provide many more careers for players when they leave college, while also being another entertainment platform for the sport.

According to the XFL, health and safety will be a principal area of focus in both learning and innovation, with the league working with the NFL on forward thinking physical and mental fitness programs for players, the study of playing surfaces and equipment and the sharing of game trends and data.

“We are extremely pleased to collaborate with the NFL in these important areas,” said Dany Garcia, Co-Owner and Chairwoman of the XFL. “We are bringing forward an XFL that is progressive and forward-thinking when it comes to innovation, leveraging the newest technology to enhance gameday experience. We have an open field for innovative rules to enhance in-game access. Sharing insights and practices between the XFL and NFL will do a tremendous amount of good for the game of football and support the player ecosystem overall.”

https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/1495784760370778121?s=20&t=nNDcnhwqpn02ueQimkS70A

Additional avenues for collaboration may include international football development and scouting, as well as officiating, including the testing of different game rules for player protection and enhanced overall play, and of different technologies to enhance officiating.

“The XFL has shown us that innovation is one of its core principles. We are hopeful that this relationship will support further development and improvements in the game of football at all levels.” said Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

ATPI Unveils Strengthened Sales Team

Global travel management company, ATPI, has enhanced and expanded its UK-based sales team to best support clients in challenging times as the organisation primes for recovery and continued growth.

After being promoted to group commercial director in November last year, Katie Skitterall has kicked off 2022 with a wave of new hires and internal promotions to bolster the ATPI Group’s sales team.

Returning to the business are Julian Mills and Nikki Regan. Mills has been appointed to support on multinational sales efforts and strategic opportunities with the new role of Director of Corporate Sales, while Regan re-joins after two years working at American Express Global Business Travel to lead the commercial strategy in the UK taking on the position of Head of Group Commercial Strategy.

James Draper has been promoted to UK sales director after previously holding the role of head of sales – corporate, media & sports for three years, building on successful sales performance and ensuring the business is primed to continue to deal with increased sales volumes.

In addition, subject matter experts have been added in the fields of Commercial Support, Inside Sales, Global Implementation and Digital Services.

Adam Knights, regional managing director for Europe and the Middle East comments:

“ATPI has ambitious growth targets for the coming years and we strongly believe that by growing our exceptional commercial team globally, as quickly as possible post-pandemic, will support our goals. We are starting 2022 by ensuring that our team is primed for recovery.”

Operating from more than 100 offices worldwide, the ATPI Group has successful operations in corporate travel, corporate event management, online travel technology and travel management for a number of specialist key industries and groups. In late 2021, ATPI launched its sustainability division ATPI Halo – a carbon reduction, measurement and offset consultancy.

For further information on the ATPI Group, please visit www.atpi.com.

LinkedIn Announced As National Sponsor Of UEFA Women’s EURO England 2022

Today UEFA and The FA have announced LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, as the latest national sponsor of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, joining existing partners The LEGO Group, Pandora and Starling Bank. The tournament, which is due to be the biggest European women’s sporting event in history, will be hosted in England this summer from 6-31 July.

As a national sponsor of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, LinkedIn will spotlight the game’s female trailblazers who have supported one another on their path to professional success, inspiring everyone with their stories as it commits to ‘make work work for women.’

LinkedIn’s activations will demonstrate how the platform and its community can support women to achieve their goals, whatever their profession or industry, and drive content and conversations around women’s empowerment, leadership, wellbeing and diversity.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Director of Marketing at UEFA, said:

“We are delighted to have LinkedIn join us as a national sponsor of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. The addition of this major brand further enhances what is already an extremely strong roster of commercial sponsors associated with the competition. This collaboration offers significant opportunities to further promote the competition through their platform and bring it to new audiences. We look forward to working together on what is set to be a record-breaking tournament that further grows the women’s game.”

Ngaire Moyes, Vice President, Communications and Brand, International at LinkedIn said:

“At LinkedIn we’re championing a gender equal world that’s diverse and inclusive, and it’s a privilege to support UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 which actively shares and celebrates these values. The tournament is set to be a landmark event that will provide professional female footballers with a platform to showcase their remarkable talent and achievements. Off the field, we’re increasingly seeing sports professionals use LinkedIn to share interesting stories and insights into their careers, and we know how powerful they can be to encourage and inspire others.”

The announcement comes on the same day tournament organisers have launched the ‘Inspired By England 2022’ Instagram channel that will become the home to all inspiring stories and content from fans, sponsors, partners and community groups in the build up to the tournament and beyond. Join in the action and share your stories using @InspiredByEngland2022 and #WEURO2022.

Birmingham 2022 And CGF Partnerships Sign Deals With The Royal Mint And Royal Mail

Birmingham 2022 and CGF Partnerships have signed a licensing deal with The Royal Mint and Royal Mail to produce commemorative coins and stamps to mark the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Birmingham 2022 marks the third time the Games have been hosted in England in its ninety-two year history, and each of those Games have been commemorated through the release of collectable Royal Mail stamps and Royal Mint coins, anchoring this significant event in history and contributing to the celebration of the Commonwealth Games.

Both The Royal Mint and Royal Mail have been awarded exclusive rights as Official Licensees to create a series of Birmingham 2022 themed coins and stamps to celebrate and mark the global sports event, which takes place from 28 July to 8 August.

The special 50 pence piece takes inspiration from Birmingham’s bedrock of innovation, creativity and architecture. Designed by Natasha Preece of the Royal Mint, the coin features the iconic design of the Library of Birmingham. It was released as part of the Royal Mint’s 2022 Annual Sets on 4 January 2022, which includes a coin designed in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The Birmingham 2022 collection features one main coin design, offered in a range of precious metals and will also include base metal designs featuring England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland coins and a Home Nations set.

Royal Mail has a rich history of issuing stamps to mark the Commonwealth Games being held in the UK. The Company has commemorated the British Empire Games 1925, Cardiff 1958, Edinburgh 1970, Edinburgh 1986, Manchester 2002 and most recently, Glasgow 2014 with Special Stamps as lasting souvenirs of the event for collectors and fans.Details and images of the Special Stamps being issued by Royal Mail will be announced closer to the launch of the Games in July.

Ian Reid, CEO at Birmingham 2022, said:

“These very special coins and stamps will be a perfect reminder of the excitement and thrill people will have by being part of Birmingham 2022. Both the Royal Mint and Royal Mail are organisations who have excellent international reputations, and the partnerships are a perfect fit for our incredible global event. The commemorative sets are a wonderful way to celebrate the Games and for the whole country to get involved in Birmingham 2022 and our festival of sport and culture!”

Clare Maclennan, Divisional Director of Commemorative Coin at The Royal Mint, added:

“For over 1,100 years, The Royal Mint has been producing British coins that have recorded the passing of history and major events. We are thrilled to be able to show our support for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and have the opportunity to celebrate this exciting event on a commemorative coin.”

Matt Parkes, Director Stamps & Collectibles, Royal Mail commented:

“Royal Mail is delighted to be issuing these Special Stamps for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games is one of the biggest multi-sport competitions in the world and the Special Stamp issue will be our lasting reminder of the occasion.”

David Leather, CEO of CGF Partnerships, said:

“We are very proud that the CGF and Birmingham 2022 will be working with the Royal Mint and Royal Mail to produce these special coins and stamps. It is a great way to mark the occasion, with the Games returning to England and hosted in Birmingham and the West Midlands for the first time. The commemorative sets will be a fantastic way to celebrate the Games and allows everyone to get involved in all the celebrations.”Both the commemorative coins and stamps will be available to buy in July, from post offices, the official Birmingham 2022 retail stores and online

Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix Announces AutoNation As Event Supporter

South Florida Motorsports and AutoNation, America’s largest and most admired automotive retailer, today announced a multi-year Event Supporter partnership surrounding the Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.

In this latest announcement, AutoNation will benefit from prominent trackside signage at pivotal areas throughout the Miami International Autodrome track, including brand exposure on the roof of the Turn 18 grandstand. This corner should see a lot of action over the weekend, being at the end of the 2^nd longest straight in Formula 1®.

In addition, the AutoNation DRVPNK Patio will include a private viewing deck in the Hard Rock Stadium for 100 all-inclusive VIP guest experiences per day. AutoNation will also have a strong footprint in the fan zone to activate their retail program and engage with tens of thousands of people throughout the weekend.

“Formula 1 has a remarkable presence with significant brand affinity. Once we learned that Formula 1 would come to South Florida, we knew we had to be a part of it and are excited to be an Event Supporter,” said Marc Cannon, AutoNation’s EVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer. “To have DRVPNK featured on our Cornerstone at Hard Rock Stadium speaks to our purpose and showcases our commitment to impact. AutoNation has raised over $30 million to drive out cancer, create awareness, and support critical research and we are well on our way to $35 million raised.”

“With more than 300 locations and 22,000 Associates across America, there are few automotive retailers to rival AutoNation and we are proud to bring their brand to life at the newest and most exciting major motorsport event in the country” said Jeremy Walls, Senior Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer of Hard Rock Stadium & Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix. “As a Cornerstone Partner of the Miami Dolphins, we have seen the ways in which AutoNation manage their partnerships, not only to raise brand awareness but also to have a lasting impact. We are proud supporters of their DRVPNK initiative and will be pleased to see the pink incorporated within our F1 campus in May.”

Six Steps To Building A Sustainable Travel Strategy

On Thursday this week iSportConnect will be hosting a round table looking at how sports rights holders and organisations are trying to adapt their sustainable strategy. In this piece, ATPI Sports Events look at six steps to building a sustainable travel strategy.

As more teams work towards achieving the goal of becoming carbon neutral, travel managers are likely to find that travel will be put under the spotlight.

“It’s the perfect time to develop an engaged project team that will ensure your sustainable travel strategy comes to fruition.”

There’s no denying that travel contributes to an team’s carbon footprint and that the best way to limit their impact on the environment would be to dramatically reduce their travel. However, it’s important to appreciate that travel is necessary in order to succeed as a team and so developing a sustainable strategy for any travel is essential.

Our sustainability experts have developed this short guide for sports teams and organisations who are looking to review their travel strategy in order to make it more sustainable for the future:

1. Assemble your internal champions

Sustainability is a topic that is on a lot of peoples’ minds outside of work right now and so it’s the perfect time to develop an engaged project team that will ensure your sustainable travel strategy comes to fruition.

By bringing together stakeholders from departments such as travel, procurement, human resources, marketing and communications you will be able to collect enough opinion and anecdotal evidence to build an outline of your strategy and give the project an initial sense of direction.

Planning regular meetings and plotting realistic deadlines for the project will ensure that it maintains momentum and ultimately delivers results.

2. Talk to your travel management company

As travel experts, your travel organisers should have a confirmed stance on sustainability and also be in communication with suppliers about what they are doing to make their products more environmentally friendly.

Working as closely as possible throughout the project will deliver the best results – they should understand your team/organisation’s culture, your travel habits, wider team goals and be able to predict and monitor the success of the project by analysing your travel data. They can share best practices and advice on what your industry peers are doing, ensuring that your plans get off to the best possible start.

3. Create your goals

As with any decision for change or a move to implement a new initiative, it’s vital that all stakeholders are clear on why your team is deciding to do this now. Has this been a goal that’s been on the agenda for a while? Is there increasing governmental or legislative pressure? Or societal pressure? Understanding why your teamis deciding to take action now is the first step in crafting realistic yet motivational goals.

“When you come to create more specific goals, it might be useful to consider the 17 Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations.”

When you come to create more specific goals, it might be useful to consider the 17 Sustainable Development Goals developed by the United Nations and match your team’s goals to those that you feel resonate the most. It can also be helpful to consider the travel process in three stages; pre, during and post travel, and then build sustainability goals for each stage. Adding measurable targets and KPIs to some of these goals will also help to drive progress over the year ahead.

4. Understand your travel data

When you begin to work with your travel organiser to make your travel strategy more sustainable they will want to know how your team is travelling. A consolidated overview, where possible, will deliver the best results. It’s this insight that will allow you and your travel organiser to make informed decisions about how to amend your team’s approach to travel in a realistic way.

Identifying your team’s travel habits will show if there are routine parts of travel that can be amended to become more environmentally friendly.

“Teams and individuals can ‘offset’ the impact of some of the CO2 emissions produced by their flights, ground transportation and other travel activities by purchasing carbon credits and investing in projects that reduce or store carbon.”

It’s also important to build CO2 reporting into this process. Understanding the size of your team’s carbon footprint will provide you with a clear starting point from which to improve, as well as enabling you to develop a robust plan for offsetting.

5. Identify and engage key suppliers

Identifying which suppliers your travellers most frequently book with can be a great place to start when trying to pull together a plan for increased sustainability. For example, if your organisation has corporate rates with a particular hotel chain, find out what that chain is doing to improve environmentally-friendly practices within its hotels. The same approach can be applied to your most frequently travelled routes.

6. Offset your travel

Teams and individuals can ‘offset’ the impact of some of the CO2 emissions produced by their flights, ground transportation and other travel activities by purchasing carbon credits and investing in projects that reduce or store carbon. These projects include renewable energy generation, improving energy efficiency, reducing deforestation and planting more trees.

One carbon offset credit represents 1 metric ton of CO2e reduced or averted from the atmosphere.

ATPI has created its own carbon offsetting service, ATPI Halo. ATPI Halo is a proactive step towards changing the way the sports and business travel sector views sustainable travel and to pioneer industry-leading approaches to making travel greener. You can find out more about ATPI Halo here.

StarHub Welcomes The Premier League, Promises More Affordable And Wider Access To Customers

StarHub scores a win for all football fans in Singapore! It is delighted to present the Premier League to customers for the next six years, following the signing of an exclusive partnership with The Premier League.

To warmly welcome Premier League fans back on the Green network, StarHub will be rolling out open, agile and flexible access to all customers, and making the hugely popular matches more accessible and affordable to Singaporeans, across StarHub TV+, mobile and broadband offerings. Full pricing details will be announced in June 2022.

StarHub will up the ante on immersive customer experience, by bringing the action for all 380 matches in crystal-clear HD quality, allowing fans to be virtually transported to the exciting and boisterous stands of the Premier League stadiums. Fans can also look forward to enjoying richer interactive user interface with features such as Party Watch, split screen viewing, performance statistics, and more. Other juicy highlights include on-demand match replays – a useful feature which sports fans in Singapore will certainly appreciate, as a number of Premier League games are aired during the wee hours.

“Football is beloved by Singaporean fans, and we are immeasurably thrilled to up the game for all Premier League fans in Singapore! The addition of the Premier League is a significant step in our bold DARE+ Infinity play journey, riding on the continued successful momentum of Disney+, GameHub+ with NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW and others, to bring the best entertainment options to customers seamlessly,” said Johan Buse, Chief, Consumer Business Group, StarHub.

“We are hard at work to stitch together unparalleled and more affordable Premier League access via StarHub TV+, our mobile and broadband platforms – fans will never have to miss a beat in the action. The beauty of StarHub TV+ is that fans can sign in to the app, regardless of which broadband or mobile service provider they are with, removing barriers to access their favourite matches on any device, any screen, anytime. More details will be unveiled in June, so watch this space!”

Paul Molnar, Premier League Chief Media Officer said: “The Premier League is delighted to announce our exciting partnership with StarHub and we are very happy that they view our competition as an important part of their live sports offering. StarHub will be an outstanding home for the Premier League over the next six seasons and we look forward to working together to showcase the League to new and existing fans throughout Singapore.”

DP World Tour And EDGA Expand Global Reach Of Golf For The Disabled With Launch Of G4D Tour

The DP World Tour has reinforced its commitment to inclusivity in the game of golf with the launch of the newly named G4D (Golf for the Disabled) Tour, which incorporates an expanded 2022 schedule and a transformational package of financial, commercial and media support for the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA).

As part of the agreement, the 2022 G4D Tour’s international schedule will feature a minimum of seven tournaments – increased from five in 2021 – with new events taking place at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett, the Porsche European Open, the Horizon Irish Open, the BMW PGA Championship and the Estrella Damm N.A Andalucía Masters.

The DP World Tour, through the European Tour group’s Golf for Good initiative, has also committed to a financial support package which will see EDGA move from a volunteer led organisation to a semi-professional one.

This enhanced support is part of the pledge to drive positive community impact made by the European Tour group and DP World last November at the launch of the DP World Tour.

It will further strengthen EDGA’s commitment to broaden opportunities for individuals to get involved with golf, develop new markets, and enhance the player pathway from sampling to competition.

Also included in that package will be accommodation and travel support for players, as well as increased commercial support and media exposure through the DP World Tour’s communications and social media channels.

The 2022 G4D Tour schedule features seven events in six different countries. The stars of G4D will tee off their season at The Belfry in England, from May 2-3, ahead of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.

The Tour will then land in Germany for the first time ahead of June’s Porsche European Open, before Mount Juliet Estate plays host ahead of the Horizon Irish Open. The ISPS Handa World Invitational Presented by Modest! Golf Management will once again welcome the G4D Tour from August 8-9 at Galgorm Resort in Northern Ireland.

For the first time, the G4D Tour will visit Wentworth Club ahead of the prestigious BMW PGA Championship – a Rolex Series event – from September 5-6, before taking on Spain’s famous Real Club Valderrama for the first time from October 10-11, ahead of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.

Once again, the season will culminate at the G4D Dubai Finale ahead of the final Rolex Series event of 2022, the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, where the qualifiers from the previous six events will battle it out at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 14-15.

The Golf for Disabled initiative was first launched at the 2019 Betfred British Masters at Hillside Golf Club. Within the programme, the European Tour group and EDGA committed to holding events on the same golf course and during the weeks of DP World Tour events for leading golfers from the gross World Ranking for golfers with a disability (WR4GD). Since the 2019 announcement, seven events have already been held, with players from 15 countries on five continents competing. The 2022 qualifiers will continue to showcase the inclusive nature of golf while encouraging others to take up the sport.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour group, said:

“We are committed to ensuring inclusivity in the game of golf – one of the key pillars of our business – and this is another chapter in the evolution of our fantastic relationship with EDGA.

“As has been proven in the two years since we began this partnership, Golfers with Disabilities are deserving of the same exposure and adulation as our DP World Tour players – they are incredibly talented golfers and great ambassadors for our sport. When you watch these golfers play, you immediately talk about their ability rather than their disability.

“That is the reason why we are pushing for golf to be included in the Paralympics, and our enhanced support of the G4D Tour is undoubtedly another important step on that journey.”

Tony Bennett, President of EDGA, said:

“For 50 years the European Tour group has been at the forefront of golf performance, and today’s announcement is a game changer that will inspire individuals with disability across the globe to try golf for the first time or continue their participation in the game. We are delighted to further strengthen our partnership with The European Tour group.

“Golfers with a disability at all levels will benefit from this support. Together we will accelerate the development of systems, programmes and tools that build capacity in the golf industry, expand delivery of coaching education and outreach sessions in traditional and non-traditional golf venues, and open golf to individuals with a disability.”

Mike Jones, EDGA Player Representative, said:

“The new G4D Tour is a huge step for golfers with a disability globally. Our incredible elite players have inspired us all by opening new pathways for golfers with a challenging condition, and in the process helping raise the profile of our sport to a whole new level. With this boosted level of support from the European Tour group and an even closer association with its flagship DP World Tour, it really is the best time for anyone with a disability to pick up a club and play golf. There’s a whole new exciting world of opportunities out there, so come and get involved.”

Kipp Popert, the number one ranked player in the gross World Ranking for Golfers with a Disability, said:

“The EDGA has been doing amazing work for more than 20 years and this new collaboration with The DP World Tour will create opportunities for more golfers with a disability to showcase their talents and compete on a global stage. Golf is unique in that it can be a fully inclusive sport. It is my aim to capitalise on every opportunity throughout my career, in the hope that I can help inspire more people with disabilities to take up golf and enjoy its benefits. The G4D Tour is an exciting initiative which will benefit many.”

G4D Tour 2022 Schedule

May 2-3	G4D Tour @ Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett	The Belfry, England
May 30-31	G4D Tour @ Porsche European Open	Green Eagle Golf Courses, Germany
June 27-28	G4D Tour @ Horizon Irish Open	Mount Juliet Estate, Ireland
August 8-9	G4D Tour @ ISPS HANDA World Invitational	Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Northern Ireland
September 5-6	G4D Tour @ BMW PGA Championship	Wentworth Club, England
October 10-11	G4D Tour @ Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters	Real Club Valderrama, Spain
November 14-15	G4D Tour @ DP World Tour Championship, Dubai	Jumeirah Golf Estates, UAE