Twitter makes its first football live streaming deal in MENA region

Twitter and Sela Sport today announced they will partner to live stream matches during the 2017 Arab Championship, the Arab world’s inter-club football tournament, to a global audience. This marks the first live streaming deal for football on Twitter with a partner in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Twitter will live stream all of the matches in the 2017 Arab Championship free of charge, available worldwide to Twitter’s audience and connected devices.

The matches will be available on @UAFAAC, AC.twitter.com and the Twitter App.

The matches streamed by Sela Sport on Twitter will be commented in Arabic and also include analysis, highlights, interviews with players and behind the scenes coverage.

“Football fans both globally and in the region turn to Twitter not only to follow their favourite teams and players but to discuss what’s happening in football in real time,” said Kinda Ibrahim, Director of Media Partnerships, MENA at Twitter.

“This represents the first sports live stream on Twitter with a partner in the MENA region. Pairing Sela Sport’s live stream of the Arab Championship with the conversation on Twitter will create a unique experience for football fans around the world all on the same platform.”

The live streams will also include opportunities for advertisers, including packages with television style pre-roll and mid-roll spots, combined with original and live clips produced by Sela Sport, available for sponsorship and promotion on Twitter.

The tournament will start on 21 July 21, 2017, and the final will take place on 5 August 2017.

North Korea could host some 2018 Winter Olympic events, South Korean minister suggests

Sports minister for South Korea, Do Jong-hwan, has suggested that North Korea could host some of the events at next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang to ease political tensions across the border.

Local media reported that Do will broach the subject of moving some skiing events north of the border when he meets International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach later this month, as well as discussing the proposal with Jang Woong, North Korea’s delegate to the IOC.

It’s reported that Do sees the Masikryong ski resort as a possible Winter Olympic venue.

Do also hinted that a combined Korean ice hockey team could also compete at the Games, which take place in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang in February 2018.

Tensions have escalated between the two nations over recent years due to several missile launches and North Korea initiating a nuclear weapons test.

There was also widespread anger from the international community this week following the death of US student Otto Warmbier after his return from almost 17 months in a North Korean prison.

But Do was hopeful that through the Games, there would be a reduction in antagonism on either side of the border.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to thaw lingering tensions as we try to bring North Korea on board,” he said.

North Korea do not have any qualified athletes for Pyeonchang, however that would change if Do’s plan for a combined ice hockey team came to fruition.

Pyongyang boycotted the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics, both held in Seoul, but has since taken part in competitions south of the border, most recently the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

Do also suggested earlier this month that a combined bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2030 would help to bring “peace” between the two nations.

By Christian Radnedge

The FA pull out of £4m a year Ladbrokes partnership and end all further relationships with betting companies

The Football Association has announced it has terminated its partnership with Ladbrokes and will end all sponsorship with betting companies.

In a statement on Thursday, English football’s governing body said the decision comes after a three month review of its relationship with the gambling industry.

The £4million a year deal with Ladbrokes was only signed last year, but following high profile betting in football breaches such as those made by Joey Barton earlier this year, the FA reflected that they cannot be seen to be effective governors of the rules if they were in a relationship with a company such as Ladbrokes.

Martin Glenn, chief executive of The FA, said: “We would like to thank Ladbrokes for both being a valued partner over the last year and for their professionalism and understanding about our change of policy around gambling.”

Jim Mullen, CEO of Ladbrokes Coral, said: “We understand The FA’s decision regarding their commercial partnerships on gambling.

“Football is a passion of ours, and our customers, and we remain committed to working with The FA to ensure the integrity and trust of the sport is maintained for the fans of the game and the millions of customers who enjoy betting on it week in and week out.”

The FA’s decision once again highlights the growing unease in some quarters surrounding football’s relationship with the betting industry.

More than half of the Premier League feature betting companies as their main shirt sponsors, while the three divisions of the English Football League have SkyBet as their title partner.

There was also the incident in the FA’s own cup competition during the fifth round tie between Sutton United and Arsenal, when goalkeeper Warren Shaw ate a pie ‘live on air’ admitting afterward that he had prior knowledge of Sun Bets offering 8-1 odds of him doing so.

By Christian Radnedge

Donald Trump welcomes IOC president Thomas Bach to White House on Thursday

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach will travel to the White House to meet US president Donald Trump on Thursday.

An IOC source was quoted as claiming that Bach would travel to the US capital, following on from his visit to New York this week to announce the Olympic movement’s latest sponsor in Intel.

The White House then released a statement confirming the visit, with aides Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump also attending.

It comes as Los Angeles are bidding to host the 2024 Olympic Games, the decision for which, along with the host of the 2028 Games, will be made by the IOC in September.

Trump has backed the campaign but has so far not been involved in the bid process, while French president Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with Bach last month and also met members of the IOC’s evaluation commission while they were inspecting Paris’ bid for 2024.

Macron also confirmed he would travel to Lausanne in July with the Paris 2024 delegation for the candidate cities briefing.

Bach told reporters he was “looking forward to the meeting” with Mr Trump.

By Christian Radnedge

iSportconnect confirms full speaker list for inaugural Esports Masterclass

With one week to go until iSportconnect hosts the inaugural Esports Masterclass, we are pleased to confirm our full line-up of speakers for the event.

12 industry thought leaders will take to the stage at Lewis Silkin’s offices in order to share their knowledge of an industry that is currently on course to generate $1 billion annually before the end of the decade.

Innovation coupled with explosive growth has seen esports catapult itself towards the mainstream and topics set to be discussed include brands, business opportunities, marketing strategies and broadcast rights.

There will also be ample time for delegates to network with their fellow executives throughout the event, which will take place on June 29.

Full list of speakers:

James Watson – Head of esports, Sportradar AG

Rob Black – Senior esports Manager, ESL UK

Daniel Vicente – Mobile and Gaming Manager, LaLiga

Matt Huxley – Esports Manager, Formula E

Ian Smith – Integrity Commissioner, esports Integrity Coalition

Adam Simmons – Vice President & Marketing, Level Up Media LTD

Federico Winer – Head of Entertainment Industries EMEA, SAP

Cliff Fluet – Digital Media & Brand Entertainment, Lewis Silkin LLP

David Grundlingh – Esports Non-Endemic Brands Pioneer, Red Planet Communications

Thomas Halls – Senior Digital Strategist, Gfinity Plc

Ollie Ring – Content Manager, Esports Insider

Justin Mier – Chief Marketing Officer, Gfinity Plc

This event is now full but you can contact Daniel (daniel.wexler@isportconnect.com) to register your interest in future events.

New Everton stadium shows the time is right for Liverpool to stage 2022 Commonwealth Games, says Brian Barwick – Exclusive

The time is right for Liverpool to be chosen as the host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, bid chairman Brian Barwick has told iSportconnect.

Barwick was speaking after the official launch of Liverpool’s bid to host the Games, which has become vacant again after Durban were removed as hosts due to financial difficulties.

A number of UK cities registered their interest initially, but having hosted the Games in 2002 the city of Manchester has taken a step back and is supporting north-west neighbours Liverpool in their bid.

Manchester would even host cycling and cricket as part of a Liverpool Games. However, Birmingham retain ambitions of hosting 2022 also and launched their campaign this week.

But the main centrepiece of Liverpool’s bid is Everton’s planned Bramley Moore dock arena, which would host athletics after being temporarily converted for the Games.

Whilst sitting alongside the city’s famous waterfront, Barwick, the former chief executive of the Football Association, told iSportconnect that although the city was initially planning to bid for the 2026 edition, the Commonwealth Games Federation had provided an opportunity they had to seize immediately.

“When the Commonwealth Games took place in Glasgow [2014], I had a column in the Liverpool Echo and I wrote in that column that Liverpool should bid for the Commonwealth Games because I felt it was the right scale of event and that it worked in Manchester and it worked in Glasgow and I think it would work tremendously well in Liverpool,” Barwick said.

“That’s two or three years ago now. But the reality of it is it is the right time for Liverpool to have an opportunity to stage a great games. The city staged the European capital of culture in 2008 and I just think it’s the right time and this is a city that’s DNA is about sport and about culture and it’s an ambitious place and it’s a welcoming friendly place.

“I read the other day that alongside London and Edinburgh it’s among the big three in terms of visitor numbers. So all those things add up to the fact, and the Commonwealth Games is a great event, so you add all those things together and why wouldn’t you go for it.”

Everton received approval from Liverpool City Council earlier this year for their £300m stadium on Bramley Moore dock, and the club are expected to submit a detailed planning application in due course.

The goal is for the stadium to be ready for the 2021/22 domestic football season, but Barwick insisted that it remains a planned football stadium with a temporary athletics track being put in after the final game of the Toffees’ campaign.

The understanding is that Liverpool 2022 and Everton wish to avoid the problems, and significant financial costs, that have plagued London’s Olympic stadium in being converted from an athletics stadium into a football stadium for West Ham United.

“This is not an athletics stadium that’s going to become a football stadium,” Barwick said of the planned Bramley Moore dock arena. “This is a football stadium first and second that will be adapted for a very brief period during the summer of 2022.”

Everton’s old home of Goodison Park remains a part of the bid, as the planned venue for the boxing finals, while Liverpool FC’s Anfield would play host to rugby sevens.

The Games are expected to cost around £672 million, but the city council say they expect the regeneration of the dockside to accelerate £1bn of investment and create more than 12,000 jobs. The proposed athletes village is also part of the Everton redevelopment.

Tight deadline

With less than five years to go until the Games by the time the CGF makes their decision later this year, it would mean significant time constraints on construction work. But, Barwick is confident that the city could cope.

He said: “The thing about Games which have opening and closing ceremonies is that they create their own deadline. So that’s the deadline. In truth we were originally going for 2026 but very quickly we had to convert to 2022, and we were guided to as well, on the basis that if a UK city was to win 2022 it would be very unlikely that a UK city would win 2026.

“So I think ourselves and others who wanted to apply for a Games in the UK were steered towards having a go for 2022. So in truth it was taken out of our hands, of course we will be ready but it just meant that it accelerated it a little bit.”

The CGF say that a decision on who will host the Games is unlikely to take place before early autumn. Meanwhile, Canada and Malaysia are still rumoured to be interested in putting forward bids to host 2022.

By Christian Radnedge

MATTA launch Skateboarding as an Olympic event

At Tokyo 2020, Skateboarding is to make its debut as an Olympic event, and MATTA are helping launch the news for Skateboard England.

James Hope-Gill, CEO at Skateboard England said: “We’re really excited that skateboarding is going to be included in the Olympics and that MATTA have created a fantastic way for us to spread the news.”

Skateboarding’s inclusion at Tokyo 2020 reflects the IOC’s recent shift to create an urbanisation in sport and focus on a youth audience. The announcement launches today, on the internationally recognised annual #GoSkateboardingDay which encourages people to give Skateboarding a go.

“While Skateboarding’s Olympic inclusion was decided last August, we believe that general awareness is still quite low, so today’s a great opportunity for us to celebrate the news.” added Hope-Gill.

Matt Campbell, Executive Creative Director at MATTA said: “The opportunity to work with James [Hope-Gill] and the Skateboard England team at this incredibly exciting time was not something we wanted to miss, and we are looking forward to seeing how Skateboarding evolves as a sport between now and 2020.”

The creative partners Olympic iconography with the line ‘Grind for Gold’, which which references the fundamental Skateboarding skill and nods to the hard graft and training required to make it as an Olympic athlete.

Skateboarding’s attempted inclusion in 2012 and 2016 before being included in 2020. The event will encompass two disciplines for both men and women in Tokyo, ‘Park’ and ‘Street’.

Web: www.makeitmatta.com

Twitter: @makeitmatta

Vimeo: Matta

WTA president Micky Lawler confirmed as special guest at London Directors’ Club

iSportconnect are pleased to announce that WTA president Micky Lawler will be a special guest at our London Directors’ Club on July 12.

Lawler will be interviewed individually before taking questions from the audience along with fellow special guest LaLiga President Javier Tebas.

Lawler, who was appointed President of WTA in October 2014, has driven growth in all aspects of the tennis business throughout an extensive career across athletes, events, sponsorship sales and consultancy.

She will therefore be able to offer a unique insight into the world of tennis as its focus – fittingly – turns towards the climax of Wimbledon’s famous fortnight.

London Directors’ Club: Event details

The invitation-only event is set to be staged at the office of private banking firm Coutts, allowing attendees to engage in an open discussion within an informal atmosphere.

Chatham House rules will be strictly adhered to, as with all iSportconnect Directors’ Club events, encouraging a free exchange of ideas.

There will also be ample time for delegates to network with their fellow executives.

Scroll over the interactive image below to find out more about iSportconnect Directors’ Club events

If you would like to register your interest in the event please contact Adi (adi@isportconnect.com)

WADA suspends UCLA Laboratory accreditation for specific prohibited substances

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has partially suspended its accreditation of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory (UCLA Laboratory) as it relates to analysis of specific prohibited substances, effective 14 June 2017 for a period of three months. The suspension of these analyses by the UCLA Laboratory — which is located in Los Angeles, California, United States — is a result of WADA’s quality assessment procedures that identified non-conformities with best practice.

The Agency’s procedures focus on consistent analysis being carried out by WADA-accredited laboratories in order to ensure comparable, valid and reliable results; which, in turn, is intended to give athletes greater confidence and trust in the global anti-doping system.

It is important to note that, during the suspension, the UCLA Laboratory can continue carrying out all its regular anti-doping activities.  However, the Laboratory must obtain a second opinion from another WADA-accredited laboratory prior to reporting any Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for the glucocorticoids ‘prednisolone’ and ‘prednisone’; and, the anabolic steroids ‘boldenone’ and ‘boldione’.

This type of suspension, which is limited to certain substances or classes of substances and that has been applied to other WADA-accredited laboratories in the past, allows for appropriate monitoring of the UCLA Laboratory to ensure full implementation of necessary improvements with the objective of return to full compliance.

On 14 June 2017, an independent WADA Disciplinary Committee, which was advised by WADA’s Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG), delivered its recommendation to the Chair of the WADA Executive Committee that was accepted.  On 16 June, the UCLA Laboratory was notified of the Decision.

The UCLA Laboratory may appeal the Decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of receipt of notice.

As part of the process, WADA will conduct a UCLA Laboratory site visit within a timeframe that reasonably allows the Laboratory to finalize implementation of all remedial actions.

According to the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL), WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories, thereby ensuring that they maintain the highest quality standards. This monitoring process is conducted in conjunction with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assessment by independent national accreditation bodies that are full members of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).  Whenever a laboratory does not meet ISL requirements, WADA may suspend the laboratory’s accreditation.

Cycling president Brian Cookson responds to news of challenge from David Lappartient

UCI president Brian Cookson has reiterated his desire to continue developing cycling following the confirmation that European Cycling chief David Lappartient will challenge him for election in September.

Frenchman Lappartient announced his candidacy this week, saying he wanted to improve governance at the UCI.

In a statement, Cookson responded to the challenge from Lappartient as follows:

“I learned that David Lappartient, UCI Vice President and President of the UCI Professional Cycling Council has decided to run against me for the Presidency of the UCI.

“I strongly believe that my track record of restoring integrity and credibility to the UCI, and developing cycling over the past four years, together with my plans for a final four year term as president, will be judged favourably by the cycling family at the UCI Congress in Bergen in September.

“My plans can be read on my campaign website www.briancookson.org together with some of the messages of support I have been proud to receive from across the cycling world, from those most familiar with the work of my administration.

“That website also contains a summary of the many things which have been achieved over the last four years of my leadership of the UCI across anti-doping, governance, transparency, women’s cycling, communication and the development of the sport.

“Having recently had confirmation from the IOC that at the Tokyo Games we will have additional medals for men’s and women’s events in both the Madison and BMX Freestyle, I am proud that cycling is now the third largest Olympic sport.

“Having changed the constitution of the UCI to introduce term limits and improve the election process after the controversial events of four years ago, I respect other people’s right to announce their candidature. I note that so far David Lappartient has not set out very much detail in his plan or any vision he may have beyond his well known personal ambition for the role.

“I look forward to debating what matters for the future of cycling over the coming months.”