Dubai Summit Speaker Spotlight: Christian Volk

Our latest Dubai Summit Speaker Spotlight looks at Christian Volk, Director of eFotball Gaming at FIFA.

iSportconnect’s Dubai Summit is taking place at the Dubai Sports Council on the 5th of December. We have a number of fantastic speakers lined up for the day’s events, including Brett Gosper, CEO of World Rugby, Manu Sawhney, CEO of the ICC and Alexander Brown, Commissioner of Major League Lacrosse.

Bio

Christian Volk has been working at FIFA for seven years, carrying out a variety of roles throughout this period. Prior to becoming Director of eFootball and Gaming he held roles of Strategic Projects Manager, Head of/Group Leader Strategic Development and Head of Digital Marketing. Christian previously spent three years working for the German Football Association, where his position was Adviser, International Relations.

With a maximum of 150 invite-only delegates, iSportconnect provides a media/agency free opportunity to network with influential senior-level sports business executives. We are famous for our intimate and relaxed environment, encouraging ideas exchange and helping to introduce you to the right new connections.

To register your interest in attending the 2019 iSportconnect Dubai Summit, please contact Joe Condon at joe@isportconnect.com

Invitation Policy: The Dubai Summit is a complimentary event for iSportconnect members who are from governing bodies, sports teams, brands and broadcasters. There is no fee to become an iSportconnect member. No sports agencies, professional service providers & suppliers are allowed.

For limited partnership opportunities, please contact Brandon Garcia at brandon@isportconnect.com

LaLiga Publish ‘Football Dictionary’ In China

LaLiga and the Instituto Cervantes in China have presented the first Diccionario del fútbol (‘Football dictionary’) at the Biblioteca Miguel Cervantes in the Chinese city of Shanghai.

This is a response to the growing demand for Spanish football and the Castilian language in the Asian country.

The aim of this dictionary is to generate initial contact with the Spanish language through the world of football, as well as to offer a simple, practical and useful access point for fans who wish to get more of a flavour for the Spanish game.

The dictionary provides a useful, practical glossary in pocket format, with vignettes by Spanish illustrator Jorge Alvarez and the design of Victor Moreno. It is easy to assimilate and provides information of interest to fans of the sport, in particular those who have no knowledge of Spanish. Many readers may have never considered learning Spanish and so the publication of the dictionary is an opportunity to encourage them to do so from a football perspective.

“Part of the Spanish cultural identity is entrenched in the expressions and vocabulary used in football. That’s why we are able not only to bring Chinese fans closer to our language, but also cultural aspects of Spain as a whole through their passion for the game. At LaLiga, we are fully committed to helping Chinese football develop and at the same time, we want to become ambassadors for our country through these types of initiatives with Spanish institutions,” said Sergi Torrents, LaLiga’s country manager for China.

Spain is a historic footballing country that has contributed to major new types of collaboration with China. Since 2015, dozens of schools have run programmes to teach children about football and many clubs have opened football schools in China through LaLiga.

Formula One Adds Expo 2020 Dubai Sponsorship

Expo 2020 Dubai, the next World Expo, will be a 14-month sponsor of Formula One until the end of the next season’s race calendar.

The sponsorship will begin at the end of this F1 season and help promote Expo 2020, which takes place from 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021. It will be the largest event ever staged in the Arab World and is set to welcome 192 participating countries and host 25 million visits from across the globe over 173 days.

Its F1 sponsorship will involve activations to raise awareness of Expo 2020 and will include trackside and digital advertising at seven Grands Prix in 2020. To kick-start the association, the first trackside advertising will be seen at the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019.

Murray Barnett, Director of Sponsorships and Commercial Partnerships, Formula 1 said: “We are excited to be working with Expo 2020 Dubai – the largest coming-together of nations, multilateral organisations, corporations in the history of the region. One of the defining features of Formula 1 is that our events help celebrate the countries we race in. Expo 2020 does the same for 192 countries in one incredible destination.

“Just like the World Expo, Formula 1 celebrates culture collaboration and innovation. We are very proud to be promoting Expo 2020 in the lead-up to the event across some of our landmark Grands Prix in 2019 and 2020.”

Vice President of Marketing, Expo 2020 Dubai, Anthony Ward said: “Expo 2020 Dubai will be an unmissable global celebration that will showcase human ingenuity, international collaboration and futuristic, breakthrough innovations – all of which we see in Formula 1 action throughout the season.

“With F1‘s like-minded audience, we look forward to building global awareness ahead of Expo 2020’s opening next October through this exciting collaboration with one of the world’s most popular global sports,” he added.

Tencent Block NBA Game Due To Taiwan Flag

Tencent stopped broadcasting Saturday’s NBA fixture between the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers due to a visible Taiwan flag.

A supporter in the crowd was wearing a shirt with the flag of Taiwan supposedly shown clearly during the broadcast, which led to Tencent ceasing their coverage of the game.

The broadcaster then switched to the Brookyln Nets – Portland Trail Blazers game instead, before only showing the highlights from one end, excluding the end of the court where the shirt was being worn.

This is just the latest controversy between China and the NBA after the recent Hong Kong crisis triggered by Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey’s tweet.

NBA’s Financial Losses From China ‘Substantial’ Says Adam Silver

 

Adidas Extends Kit Deal With Spanish National Team

The Royal Spanish Football Federation have agreed to further their deal with Adidas for another four years.

The German brand will now remain as the national team’s kit supplier until 2030, after the original agreement had been set to run until 2026.

However, earlier this year the federation had wanted to cancel the contract believing they had been undervalued, therefore the sudden turnaround to signing a new deal is a surprising development.

They also used the announcement as the opportunity to reveal Spain’s latest kit design for the upcoming Euros next summer.

 

 

LaLiga Launch Reality TV Show To Find The Next Brazilian Superstar

LaLiga, Grupo LX and Tero have combined to launch a new reality show named Bravo! to discover the future stars of Brazilian football.

It will be open to any players between the ages of 16 and 19, who will be able to apply online and sumbit video clips from playing which illustrate their talent.

900 players will then be selected for trials at a training center in Sorocaba, São Paulo. Of these, 78 will be chosen to form six teams that will compete in a knockout system, with players from the winning team travelling to Spain to participate in training and tournaments with LaLiga academy sides.

Dayyán Morandi, president of the LX Group, said: “When Grupo LX and LaLiga designed the project, it was to demonstrate to the Brazilian soccer industry the importance of professionalising grassroots football. We need to attract investment, train professionals and develop new management methods to help access to professional football across all categories.

“Bravo! Will be a platform for the development of new stars and also an opportunity for young people to show their full potential while making sure they are being trained for excellence.”

LaLiga’s representative in Brazil, Albert Castelló, added: “LaLiga is a competition where Brazilian talent shines. Big names have marked the competition and there are others writing their own story today. With Bravo! we want to contribute to the development of sport and promote entertainment for all.”

How the competition works

Registration for Bravo! is open until December 1st. To enter, the player will have to take a short quiz and upload their videos. The first phase of recruitment will select 900 athletes, taking into account their experience and tactical understanding of the game.

Bruno Pessoa, co-founder of Tero, which has been responsible for developing the platform that will make this initial selection, said. “We have created a democratic evaluation method that enables the participation of young people from all over Brazil, because we want to reach the best talent available. We will be able to do this on a more agile scale, providing real opportunities for all subscribers.”

CAF Fire Back At Lagadère After Statement

The Confederation of African Football have released a statement defending the cancellation of their deal with Lagadère.

This Tuesday, Lagadère issued a statement following a decision by CAF to end their contract nine years early.

The agency announced they would fight CAF’s cancellation of the 12-year deal, which saw them covering CAF’s media and sponsorship sales rights globally until 2028, stating: “Lagardère strongly contests this decision, which, in its view, is unlawful, unreasonable and unjustified.

“Lagardère deeply regrets this situation and has asked the CAF to adopt a more reasonable position and honour its commitments. Lagardère will take any and all action to defend its interests and obtain compensation for any harm it may suffer.”

CAF have now responded with release of their own. They say:

“In 2017, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) found that the Agreement breached Egyptian competition rules because Lagardère was appointed as CAF’s exclusive agent for the marketing and media rights for an uninterrupted 20 year period without any open tender. By the same decision, ECA declared the Agreement null and void and imposed a number of remedies on CAF. Those remedies included the obligation to immediately terminate the Agreement and suspend its effects within the Egyptian market.

The Economic Courts of Cairo then issued two judgments in 2018-2019 (cases No 397/2017 and No 434/2019) whereby they found the two former CAF officials, the former President, Issa Hayatou, and the former Secretary General, Hicham El Amrani, who signed the Agreement guilty of anti-competitive and fraudulent conduct, and imposed a fine of EGP 500 million on each of them. On appeal, the fine was reduced to EGP 200 million and CAF was held to be jointly liable for the payment of that fine.

Finally, in 2017, the Competition Commission of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (“CCC”) assessed that the Agreement infringed the CCC Competition Regulations. It recommended the imposition of a financial penalty on CAF and the adoption of certain remedies, including the termination of the Agreement.

Given the above developments, CAF had no choice but to terminate the Agreement. CAF has repeatedly made it clear to Lagardère, including at a meeting this week, that its termination of the Agreement was not an “unilateral decision” as was wrongly presented in Lagardère’s recent press release. Termination of the Agreement is the legal consequence of the decision of ECA, the judgments of Egyptian courts and the recommendations and imminent decision of the CCC.

CAF invited Lagardère to discuss appropriate next steps and cooperation to ensure the fulfillment of the obligations toward sponsors, licensees and football fans with respect the current competitions. Lagardère has not taken CAF up on that invitation.”

It remains to be seen how this situation will be resolved with the parties clearly very far apart.

DAZN And AC Milan Combine For Content Deal

DAZN have gained yet another big name for their sports streaming service.

AC Milan’s OTT channel, Milan TV, will now be featured on DAZN in Italy, after city rivals Inter Milan confirmed their own deal with DAZN just two months ago.

Inter TV is already featured, with Alessandro Antonello, Inter’s Chief Executive saying at the time: “The presence of Inter TV content within the DAZN platform is able to contribute to the growth of the two brands.”

The platform now has a wide range of rights in Italy, with two of the biggest clubs in the country hosting content on the DAZN service, plus a huge offering of more than 100 matches from Serie A to be shown this season.

 

Watford Agree Deal With Chinese Social Platform Donquidi

Chinese Social Media App Dongquidi has joined with the Premier League’s Watford FC to become the official media partner of the club in the country.

Dongquidi will aid Watford FC in their Chinese content production, among other aspects, and look to grow Watford’s following in China during the deal.

The company have already worked with Manchester City previously, and have a current agreement where they are the sleeve sponsor of another Premier League side in London, Crystal Palace.