The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Ahmad Ahmad, the President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and a FIFA Vice-President, guilty of having breached art. 15 (Duty of loyalty), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts or other benefits) and art. 25 (Abuse of position) of the 2020 edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 (Misappropriation of funds) of the 2018 edition.
The investigation into Mr Ahmad’s conduct in his position as CAF President during the period from 2017 to 2019 concerned various CAF-related governance issues, including the organisation and financing of an Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca, his involvement in CAF’s dealings with the sports equipment company Tactical Steel and other activities.
In its decision, following an extensive hearing, the adjudicatory chamber ruled that, based on information gathered by the investigatory chamber, Mr Ahmad had breached his duty of loyalty, offered gifts and other benefits, mismanaged funds and abused his position as the CAF President, pursuant to the FIFA Code of Ethics.
Consequently, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Ahmad had breached arts 15, 20 and 25 of the current edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics, as well as art. 28 of the 2018 edition, and sanctioned him with a ban from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level for five years. In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 200,000 has been imposed on Mr Ahmad.
The terms of the decision were notified to Mr Ahmad today, the date on which the ban comes into force.
Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, and the Biathlon World Cup Committee Antholz have prolonged their exclusive marketing partnership for all IBU World Cup Biathlon events in Antholz until the end of the 2029/30 season.
The new agreement covers all marketing rights held by the Biathlon World Cup Committee Antholz for the next four seasons and follows the overall extension of the marketing partnership between Infront and the International Biathlon Union (IBU) announced in February 2020.
Stefan Krauss, Infront Vice President Winter Sports, said: “The early extension of this long-term partnership is a sign of trust and gives us the opportunity to continue using and marketing the IBU World Cup Biathlon events in Antholz as an ideal advertising platform for sponsors.”
Lorenz Leitgeb, President of the Biathlon World Cup Committee, said: “Infront has been a very respectable and reliable partner to us for many years. We are proud that we have been able to set the course for the upcoming years until 2030 together with Infront.
“It means we can now work together on the future which wouldn’t have been possible without Infront’s cooperation. We are looking forward to continue having Infront by our side and staying true to the motto ‘Never change a winning team’.”
The ATP and Lacoste have signed a multi-year extension of their highly successful partnership.
The agreement will see Lacoste transition into an Official Supplier of the ATP Tour, through 2023, following a long-standing partnership with the Nitto ATP Finals, the ATP’s season-ending finale.
The new agreement will see Lacoste become the Official Outfitter and Official Footwear of the ATP Tour, granting the ‘Crocodile’ brand marketing rights and exposure on ATP Tour digital platforms.
In addition, Lacoste will continue to outfit ATP staff throughout the season.
“We are proud to be extending the ATP’s long-term relationship with Lacoste, now in its 19th year,” said Massimo Calvelli, ATP CEO. “As one of the world’s leading fashion brands, whose heritage is rooted in tennis, Lacoste has huge crossover appeal and is a perfect fit for the ATP and our vision for the sport. We are excited at the opportunity to continue our storytelling together.”
“At Lacoste, elegance is more than just a story of style on and off the court, it is a state of mind that we have shared with the ATP for 19 years now and that we are proud to perpetuate today with the renewal of our contract,” said Thierry Guibert, Lacoste CEO.
One of English football’s most illustrious clubs, Leeds United, and the world’s leading entertainment company, Roc Nation, are marching into a Premier League-first strategic partnership, to support expansion of the Leeds United brand in key markets of the USA and China.
The newly formed relationship will support brand growth and development in these two key strategic markets where Roc Nation have a strong footprint, effectively delivering the Leeds United ethos and spirit to new audiences via key partnership verticals.
The partnership will help to support a new chapter in the club’s history, driven by innovation, creativity and integrity. A partnership built on the aligned notion of family, that is designed to challenge the norm – rewarding, exciting and surprising the Leeds United fan base, and wider community, with purpose-driven cultural activation and experiences.
Leeds, a city renowned for its live music scene, finds natural synergy and alignment for creative performance with Roc Nation, who represent some of the most recognisable names in Global entertainment.
“We are delighted to welcome Roc Nation, one of the world’s leading music and sports management agencies, to the Leeds United family. Our aim is to grow our fan base across all territories that Premier League football touches and Roc Nation’s unique profile and relationships will allow us to do so in areas such as the USA and the Far East. We will be working closely with the team at Roc Nation to ensure we use the power of the Premier League to establish our club as one of the biggest in world football,” said Angus Kinnear, CEO of Leeds United.
“Within an hour of meeting Andrea and Angus, we knew that this was a partnership we wanted to embark on at Roc Nation Sports. The ownership’s strategic vision for the club is evidently clear, and with endless potential and a blueprint for success, we are excited to be standing side-by-side with Leeds United as they navigate this new chapter in the Premier League, keeping hold of that ethos and spirit that has become so recognisable. Leeds United has become everyone’s second club due to their unbelievably rich history, unparalleled fanbase, and exciting on-field performance, but for us they are the first, as we march on together in the English Premier League,” said Michael Yormark, President of Roc Nation Sports International
Infosys, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, and the ATP have signed the renewal of their highly successful partnership for a further three years.
The agreement will see Infosys continue as Global Technology Services Partner and Digital Innovation Partner of the ATP, through 2023.
As the technology partner of the ATP since 2015, Infosys has been instrumental in supporting ATP’s development of key digital assets and infrastructure, including ATP PlayerZone, ATP Stats Leaderboards, ATP Second Screen, and the ATP app. Through the extended partnership, Infosys will continue to develop and accelerate innovations in advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Cloud, leveraging its dedicated tennis platform to deliver diverse experiences for players, media, and fans across the world.
Through Infosys ATP Stats, ATP Performance Zone, and Win-Loss index, the ATP will continue to focus on data driven insights for match statistics. Coupled with the popular editorial series, Infosys ATP Beyond the Numbers, fans will gain deeper insight into tennis through comprehensive game analysis. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nitto ATP finals, Infosys and ATP have created Flashback 50, a data driven web experience to statistically compare the champions across five decades of the Nitto ATP Finals over the past 50 tournament editions.
Pravin Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Infosys, said, “The ATP Tour was our first partnership in the sport of tennis, and together with ATP we’ve continued to push the boundaries of how fans, players and the media are involved and engaged in the game. As we take rapid strides in our sixth year partnering together, our focus remains on supporting ATP’s vision to reimagine the game leveraging data to deliver unique insights and digital experiences through next generation technologies.”
Massimo Calvelli, CEO, ATP, said, “Infosys is a leading global brand and one which has been instrumental in helping ATP innovate and maximise efficiency through technology. Most importantly these exciting innovations have enhanced fans’ experience and interaction with our sport. We are thrilled to extend our partnership and look forward to seeing what we can continue achieving together.”
As a result of the new technology partnership between C.D. Leganés and Seyu, fans are being ‘sneaked back’ at the Municipal Stadium of Butarque for home matches. We asked Víctor Marín, the club’s marketing director, how he is evaluating the cooperation.
What were your initial thoughts when you heard about Seyu’s solution the first time?
When I heard about Seyu’s solution I thought it could be a great fan-engagement experience. Here in LaLiga no one made anything like that, so I was really interested and hoped to be the first in Spain to bring an innovative solution and involve our fans, who cannot attend matches.
How smooth was it for you and C.D. Leganés to set up Seyu’s solution when it came to putting the technology in place?
Usually with all new technology, there is always a learning curve. In this case we had some technical parameters that had to be adjusted but we did that in a fast manner. Now we completed 3 matches without any trouble which gives us great confidence in Seyu’s service.
How did Seyu help with the challenges that the club faces?
As in Spain fans still can not attend matches, they introduced to us a solution that could ‘bring them back’ in our stadium through a loyalty program. Fans can cheer for their favourites from the stadium, and we could increase webshop sales with additional revenue. Also they expanded the sponsor’s advertisement surface with 8 additional digital commercial platforms.
How did your sponsor, Mercedes-Benz Citycar Sur feel about the new activity when you opened up conversations with them?
When we spoke with Mercedes-Benz Citycar Sur about this solution they liked it a lot, and thought it could be interesting as it wasn’t a conventional asset and their exposure will be higher through the several additional platforms they were displayed on. Beside this was a fan-engagement asset so it was really interesting for them.
By how much did you increase sales through the loyalty marketing program so far?
Through our partnership, we decided to sell the VIP Fan experience of photo posting with our new club branded mask. In the first three matches we’ve sold more than 150 masks which surpassed our expectations. Even though right now it is difficult for stores, this action helps the club a lot in challenging times like this.
Overall, how do you find working with Seyu throughout the cooperation?
It’s great to work with them. They prepared everything on time that was needed for the campaign to run smoothly. Their ideas connect really quickly with ours and it’s a pleasure for us to be the first team in LaLiga to have our fans back in the stadium.
Who would you recommend to partner up with Seyu?
I would recommend all clubs to partner up with Seyu, as they’ll introduce a new solution that will provide the clubs with an innovative, appealing solution for fan engagement, and also new opportunities for clubs and sponsors as well.
About Seyu
‘Seyu – Together for Victory!’ is an IT solution that helps clubs to generate more revenue on already sold commercial surfaces and building a desired emotional bridge between brands and fans. Executing this in a way that enables sport organizations to tap into the huge spending power of remote fans while generating a new kind of consumer data and accelerating their MARKETING-PR-CSR communications. Seyu is an easy to implement, 170+ events proven, AI assisted solution which is using sport industry partners’ already existing IT infrastructure to allow fans around the world, through a moderated channel, to post their photos on to the LED boards and other screens in the stadiums on matchdays, and share them instantly on social media in branded frames.
‘Seyu – Together for victory’ has signed a strategic partnership with Esportter.
Seyu, which stepped into the Spanish market with CD leganes, aims to further grow by signing new partners with experience, knowledge and expertise.
“We are very happy to partner up with Esportter. Our partnership will allow our solution to deliver tremendous value for clubs in the Spanish market and happiness for millions of fans who will be able to connect with their beloved stars.” said Tom Vechy, CEO of Seyu.
In light of the current global COVID-19 pandemic and its continuing impact on football, the Bureau of the FIFA Council has taken a number of decisions related to FIFA competitions, including the FIFA Club World Cup 2020 as well as the women’s youth tournaments planned for 2020.
Following discussion and approval at the most recent meeting of the FIFA-Confederations COVID-19 Working Group, and in consultation with various stakeholders – including the host member associations – to evaluate all options, the Bureau of the Council has decided:
FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020
The FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020, which was originally scheduled for December, has been subject to the disruptive effect of the pandemic on the confederations’ continental club championships that serve as a pathway for the event.
The introduction of strict return-to-play protocols has facilitated a successful resumption of continental club championships the last of which is now scheduled to conclude by the end of January 2021.
In line with FIFA’s International Match Protocol, FIFA and the host country will provide the required safeguards for the health and safety of all involved.
FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2020 and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020
Since the previous decision earlier this year to reschedule both tournaments to early 2021, FIFA has been consulting with all stakeholders – including the host member associations, participating member associations and confederations – to continuously monitor the situation in relation to the pandemic, in particular with regard to any potential impact on the overall welfare and safety of age-group players and participants.
As part of this extensive consultation process and the “health and safety first” approach FIFA has taken, further major concerns in several areas were also raised by stakeholders during this process in relation to the hosting of age-group tournaments scheduled for 2020.
These concerns included, amongst others, challenges around preparation time for age-group teams, and the numerous obstacles to finalising the continental qualification tournaments due to the pandemic.
As a result and after careful consideration of the feedback received by the stakeholders combined with the inability to further postpone these tournaments, the FIFA-Confederations COVID-19 Working Group subsequently recommended that the 2020 editions of the two women’s youth tournaments be cancelled and that the hosting rights for the 2022 editions be offered to the countries that were due to host the 2020 editions.
In light of this, and following further consultation between FIFA and the respective host member associations regarding the 2022 editions of the tournaments, the Bureau of the Council has approved Costa Rica as host of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2022 and India as host of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 respectively.
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Since its launch in August 2018, LaLiga North America has built a fresh and dynamic approach to the market that is fuelled by strong brand partnerships and creative content.
The objective for the joint venture (between LaLiga and Relevent Sports Group) is to promote Spanish football in a manner that is tailored to the nuances of the US, Canada and Mexico, growing its profile based on engaging specific audiences.
“Once we launched, it was always clear for us that the core of our strategy had to be content,” stated Boris Gartner, the CEO of LaLiga North America, during an interview for Leaders’ ‘Media Innovators’ series.
“Not only do we create localised content that engages more with existing fans, but this allows us to go after new fans in a way that a traditional non-localised approach to the market wouldn’t let us,” he added.
Creation of 14 weekly shows for diverse audiences
For the joint venture, creating content that is specific to specific target demographics and to individual regions has always been a priority. Thorough market research was key to this strategy, with the initial focus being on the large Hispanic audience where there was already a historical connection to countries with a major football culture.
