IFAB radical proposals include shortening football matches from 90 minutes to 60

Football matches could be reduced to two halves of 30 minutes as part of a radical set of proposals announced by the International Football Association Board.

IFAB, the law-makers of the game, this week published their ‘Play Fair!’ strategy paper in conjunction with FIFA which aims to reduce negative aspects of the game.

“The aim of this document is to generate discussion and take a fresh look at how the Laws could make the game better”, the IFAB paper said.

The argument behind the time reduction is to try and limit time-wasting by players, by having 60-minutes of full play with time being stopped every time the ball goes out of play.

The strategy also includes proposals to let players dribble or pass to themselves from a free-kick or corner, play stopping if a penalty kick is saved or missed, and a Tennis style tie-break system for penalty shootouts where the first kicker alternates.

Any changes are years away from possible implementation, with discussions taking place over the coming year before the 2018 IFAB annual general meeting in March.

There, the body will decide which proposals should be trialled in competitive matches to see if they work.

Speaking about FIFA’s involvement in the ‘Play Fair!’ strategy, chief technical development officer Marco van Basten said the initiative aims to ensure fairness while keeping football “attractive”.

“The ‘play fair!’ initiative is a plan for football,” said Van Basten. “This strategy aims to promote fairness and integrity, ensure the game is accessible to everyone and optimise the use of technology.

“Since its approval, FIFA and The IFAB have elaborated on the first stage of discussions and trials, which focus on improving player behaviour and increasing respect, increasing playing time and increasing fairness and keeping the game attractive.”

By Christian Radnedge

SBC Betting Forum delivers specialist sports betting focus in Amsterdam

More than 15 leading industry speakers will take to the stage in the inaugural SBC Betting Forum at this year’s iGaming Super Show in Amsterdam (11-14 July).

SBC Events has joined forces with iGaming Business to create a dedicated one-day sports betting conference at the Amsterdam RAI on 12 July, while also providing a meeting place for the industry to come together to learn and network.

The SBC Betting Forum agenda has been designed for operators, suppliers, affiliates and service providers, with a focus on latest trends, strategies and opportunities in the sports betting industry, mobile user experience, in play betting, pricing, risk management and brand loyalty.

There will be refreshments available in the SBC Lounge throughout the conference, which will conclude with the Sports Betting Networking Drinks Party at The Corner Amsterdam, sponsored by Betcart, to lead into the evening’s festivities in the Dutch capital.

SBC Managing Director Andrew McCarron commented: “We’re really pleased that SBC can take greater involvement in the iGaming Super Show in the shape of the SBC Betting Forum. We think that there is plenty on offer for the sports betting sector to get their teeth into.”

Among the speakers confirmed are Guy Harding, Head of Commercial at Oddschecker, Meir Moses, VP of Business Development for Don Best Sports, Pinnacle Marketing Director Harry Lang, Sportito founder Riccardo Mittiga and Adam Kalmanson, co-founder at Bookee.

Referencing the ongoing battle between a bookmaker’s marketing and trading teams, Harding will deliver an analysis on overround erosion, margin for error and finding the pricing ‘sweet spot’.

Harding said: “Given my role at Oddschecker, I am well placed to discuss overrounds erosion (OR’s) and pricing within the sports betting industry. I am particularly looking forward to sharing insight on how this can translate into market share.”

Click here for more information about the SBC Betting Forum.

ANOC pleas with international sport community to not get involved in Qatar dispute

The Association of National Olympic Committees has urged the international sports world not to get drawn into the current political turmoil surrounding Qatar.

The Gulf state is currently in a state of diplomatic isolation, after a number of neighbouring countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others, severed economic relations with Qatar accusing it of supporting “terrorism”.

Qatar has strenuously denied the accusations.

The isolation has left the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts in a state of financial limbo, while construction continues apace for the tournament project.

But ANOC released a statement on Monday pleading with the international sport community to keep politics out of their world.

“ANOC today expressed its hope that the international sports movement in Qatar would not be endangered by the geopolitical situation in the Gulf region,” the statement said.

“The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and the neighbouring National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the Gulf region are valuable partners to the world’s Olympic Movement and have significantly developed sports in their countries in recent years.

“Sport has also played a key role in opening up the region to the world. Last year, the QOC brought together the world’s NOCs in Doha and hosted a fantastic ANOC General Assembly and ANOC Awards.

“Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar has shown itself to be a very willing and capable host of international sports events and will bring the world back to the region when it hosts the 2019 IAAF World Championships, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 2023 FINA World Championships and other international sports events.

“ANOC sincerely hopes that the geopolitical situation regarding Qatar will be resolved soon and that it won’t impact on the incredible value that Qatar brings to the sports world. Sport must be separate from politics in this Gulf issue.”

ANOC is led by president and International Olympic Committee member Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who is also a senior politician in his home country of Kuwait.

Kuwait is one of the nations leading the mediation process as the Gulf region seeks to resolve the dispute.

By Christian Radnedge

Badminton England appoint Sport Collective to support and implement commercial strategy

The National Governing Body for the world’s second largest participation sport has appointed sports rights and marketing agency Sport Collective to support the development of Badminton England’s commercial strategy and to deliver sport business training to its athletes.

With four million people getting on court to play each year, badminton is one of England’s most popular participation sports and is firmly established as the nation’s most played racket sport.

More than two million children also set out on a lifelong love of the sport via Badminton England’s schools programme.

Olympic medal winning athletes and the world’s oldest and most prestigious badminton Grand Slam event – the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships – are all also managed and organised by Badminton England.

Sport Collective will work closely with Badminton England to develop and implement new strategies to increase revenue from digital content, membership and major events.

Sport Collective Training will also deliver bespoke sport business training to Badminton England’s elite athlete network, building their knowledge to support their career pathway.

Adrian Christy, CEO of Badminton England said: “Our new Discover Badminton strategy tells a great story of the exciting opportunities ahead for English badminton and we are delighted to partner with Sport Collective to help us build and execute our commercial partner programme”.

Peter Daire, Director of Sport Collective said: “We are really pleased to be working with the talented team at Badminton England. Their participation numbers, Olympic success and major event staging make them a really attractive sport which we are delighted to be involved in growing further”.

Esteve Calzada becomes new main shareholder of CE Sabadell

Today Segunda División’s club Centre d’Esports Sabadell FC has started a new project, with Sabarcat Partners SL – led by Spanish entrepreneur Esteve Calzada – having acquired 63% of its shares.

The Spanish club was previously controlled by several shareholders led by Viacron SA.

The transaction will provide an immediate cash injection into the club and includes a bonus scheme consideration linked to sporting success in the coming years.

The agreements signed today also include a provision ensuring that Sabarcat Partners SL will retain a minimum 51% of Centre d’Esports Sabadell shares once current shareholder loans are converted into club shares.

This will happen as soon as the entity exits bankruptcy process shortly.

Antoni Reguant will continue to be the club’s president, and will be supported by a newly created executive committee including Antoni Reguant himself, Bruno Batlle, Alfredo Merino and Esteve Calzada. Such committee has been active for a few days already, with special focus on the decisions that must be taken in the sporting area.

In the coming days, there will also be changes affecting Centre d’Esports Sabadell FC’s Board of Directors, to reflect the new shareholding scheme at the club.

Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal: Tennis legends dominate on court again – but how do they compare financially?

Those who may have started to write the tennis obituaries of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been forced into a rewrite so far this year, with both men sharing the first Grand Slams of 2017.

Federer spent much of 2016 sidelined but staged a remarkable comeback to capture the Australian Open in January, extending his record Grand Slam tally to 18.

Meanwhile, Nadal, who lost out to Federer in Melbourne, underlined his status as the King of Clay by winning an unprecedented 10th French Open title at Roland Garros this weekend – his first Grand Slam in four years.

The Spaniard now has 15 Grand Slam titles, second only to the Swiss.

The claim that both these men are two of the sport’s greatest ever players is undeniable.

But it’s not just on the court where they continue to dominate. Here we look at how off the court, their star powers show no signs of diminishing:

Career Earnings:

Federer

$104m in prize money. As mentioned before, Federer now has 18 Grand Slam titles as well as 26 ATP Masters 1000 titles and a record six year-end championship crowns.

Nadal

$86m in prize money. Nadal has powered his way to 15 Grand Slams and 30 ATP Masters 1000 titles.

Earnings this year:

Federer

$64M.

Federer roared back into the Tennis mainstream in January with his win at the Australian Open, before going on to pick up Masters titles in Cincinnati and Miami.

Nadal

$34M.

His profile was kept alive by a gold medal in the doubles at the Rio 2016 Olympics and then this year he pocketed $2.4m alone from his French Open triumph.

Kit deals:

Federer

The Swiss’ 10-year $100m deal with Nike was inked in 2008 and is due to come to expire at the end of this year. One would not bet against some form of extension, however, with his return to Wimbledon next month being highly anticipated.

Federer also has an association with Wilson, signing a “lifetime” deal with the racquet maker in 2006. The deal reportedly earns him $2m a year.

Nadal

Nike also have a fruitful relationship with Nadal, having signed up the Spaniard around the same time as Federer, reportedly for the same $10m a year figure. Not much to separate these two megastars, here.

Nadal’s 10-year racquet deal with Babalot is due to expire this year also.

Outside Endorsements:

Federer

Federer is arguably the most successful sportsman in terms of off-court endorsements, racking up almost $45m a year.

He has deals with the likes of Credit Suisse, Mercedes, Rolex, Lindt, Jura, Moet & Chandon, Sunrise and NetJets. His most recent deal was with pasta brand Barilla. The deal runs for more than five years and is expected to net Federer roughly $40 million.

Nadal

Has long standing deals with Telefonica, Banco Sabadell, Richard Mille, Tommy Hilfiger and more.

His new deal with Kia Motors runs through to 2020, having been renewed in 2015. Kia have been partnered with Nadal since 2004.

Charity work:

Federer

Established in 2003, the Roger Federer foundation aims to help disadvantaged children and to promote their access to education and sports. To date it has raised almost $40m, with around $30m going to development projects in Africa.

Nadal

Nadal set up Foundacion Rafael Nadal in 2007 to help with social work and development aid particularly amongst children worldwide. So far the foundation has opened two full Tennis academies, one in India and one in Spain.

What next?

Federer

The 35-year-old chose to miss out on the French Open to concentrate on winning his first Wimbledon crown since 2012.

Nadal

Now 31, Nadal will be boosted by his latest triumph in his quest to try and overtake Federer’s record haul.

–

But both men will surely be hoping a resurgence in form brings about contract renewals from Nike.

Peter Schmeichel opposes introduction of video assistant referees in football – Exclusive

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has told iSportconnect at SportAccord Convention in Aarhus, Denmark, that he opposes the idea of introducing video technology to football, saying it would make the game “too clinical”.

Schmeichel, who was part of United’s treble-winning side of 1999, argued that the sport would lose out if it became a stop-start game.

Recent years have seen a sea-change in the attitude towards technology. Goal-line technology is now a permanent feature of top-level FIFA and UEFA competitions and several domestic leagues in Europe.

The International Football Association Board [IFAB], the law-makers of the game, approved a two-year period of video assistant referee testing from March 2016 which a number of federations signed up to – including France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Mexico.

The FA are due to trial VAR in the FA Cup from next season. But Schmeichel, who retired in 2003, believes that VAR would be a step too far.

“I’d hate football to be going in a direction where it has to be stopped for someone to review the situation on video,” he said.

“Football is not a stop-start game in that respect. You will have referee mistakes, you will have bad tackles but if you take all that out you make the game, for me, a little bit too clinical and basically you leave nothing to talk about.”

You can hear the Dane’s full views on video technology by watching our exclusive interview:

By Christian Radnedge

IOC Moves Closer to Fully Approving 2024/2028 Hosting Award After Board Meeting

The dual hosting award of the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games moved a step closer after the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board approved changes to the bidding process last week.

The proposal was announced at a press conference by IOC president Thomas Bach on Friday, following a day-long meeting with members of the EB.

A working group of the IOC’s four vice-presidents confirmed that the IOC could offer a mechanism which would not breach the terms of the Olympic Charter, following a study of the proposal which includes the two highly praised bids of Paris and Los Angeles for 2024, originally.

Therefore, an extraordinary session on July 11 and 12 will ratify the recommendation from the entire membership ahead of a formal vote of allocations in Lima in September.

Bach did not give an indication of which city would be preferred for 2024 or 2028, although it is expected that with a less congested window of opportunity, LA would be happier to wait 11 years to host.

“First of all the IOC members have to express themselves about this proposal coming from the executive board, and only after the members of the IOC have this opportunity, then it will be the time to enter into deeper discussions with the candidate cities,” Bach said, trying to curtail speculation on any prearranged award.

“Then discussions and negotiations may start if the IOC members should hopefully give a green light.”

City reaction

After the decision, LA2024 welcomed the news in a statement and highlighted how the city is an “ideal partner” for the IOC.

“We welcome the IOC Executive Board’s decision to recognize two excellent bids from two of the world’s greatest cities,” Casey Wasserman, LA 2024 chairman, and Eric Garcetti, Mayor of LA, said in a joint statement. “With no new permanent venues to build and unwavering public support, Los Angeles is an eternal Olympic city and ideal partner for the IOC.

“We look forward to… working together to offer the best path forward for our city and the Olympic Movement’s future.”

The team behind Paris 2024 also released a statement more specifically targeted at remaining on track to win the right to host the 2024 Games.

“Paris 2024 remains totally focused on preparing its presentation to the Lausanne meeting where we will have an opportunity to present to all the IOC Members our proposal for centenary Games of passion and purpose,” the statement said.

“We are proud to represent the City of Light and to promote a plan, in partnership with the IOC, all the key stakeholders and the people of Paris and France, that would deliver Games of wonderful celebration and genuine legacy.

“We continue to work hard to win the support of IOC Members and the broader sports family for a Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games based on that vision.”

Changes were also proposed for the bidding system of the 2026 Winter Olympics. This will last only one year, not two as per the current system hopefully resulting in greater cost-saving and therefore opening it up to more bidders.

Concerns have been raised before about the cost of bidding to host the Winter Olympics, with only Almaty and Beijing bidding to host the 2022 edition which the Chinese capital won.

By Christian Radnedge

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Programme Changes Will “Freshen” the Games, Says Reedie – Exclusive

The inclusion of mixed gender events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics should “freshen the programme” according to former International Olympic Committee vice president Craig Reedie.

Reedie, the president of the World Anti Doping Agency, told iSportconnect about his excitement for the shake-up of the programme ratified by the IOC in Lausanne last week.

The IOC executive board approved a number of changes to the Tokyo programme, focusing mainly on addressing the gender imbalance by increasing the places for women participating.

Reedie was pleased with the board’s decision, and was also interested in the proposal to elect the host of the 2028 Games at the same time as deciding the home of the 2024 Olympics.

“The mix of new events should freshen the programme,” he told iSportconnect. “[I’m] Pleased that Golf and Rugby 7’s stay for 2024.

“I look forward to the meeting in July when the IOC Membership will see the process for electing cities for 2024 and 2028.”

Mixed gender events were added to sports such as aquatics, archery, table tennis and triathlon with a first mixed gender event in athletics in a 4x400m relay.

However, athletics took a hit by having 105 athletes cut from its programme. Weightlifting and wrestling lost the second and third most athletes as the IOC dropped their quotas by 64 and 56, respectively.

In total, 15 International Federations received changes to their event programme in either the number of disciplines contested or number of athletes.

Agenda 2020

In a statement, the IOC said: “The approval of the event programme for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will make the Games more youthful and more urban, and they will include more women.

“The new event programme will see the highest-ever representation of female athletes in Olympic history, while also introducing sports events with youth and urban appeal.

“These changes reflect the continued evolution of the Olympic programme and build on the reforms outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, which aim to create more flexibility through an event-based Olympic programme.”

Tokyo 2020 will therefore feature 339 events, compared to the 306 at Rio 2016 with female participation to rise up to 48.8 per cent.

The new programme will also include 3×3 Basketball, which has previously featured successfully in the Youth Olympics.

“The fascinating new events that we approved today, together with the five new sports that were added to the Tokyo 2020 program last year, represent a step-change in the Olympic program,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.

“I am delighted that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be more youthful, more urban and will include more women.”

By Christian Radnedge

Cristiano Ronaldo Retains Top Spot in Forbes World’s Highest-Paid Athletes List

Cristiano Ronaldo is still the richest sportsperson on the planet, according to Forbes World’s Highest-Paid Athletes annual list.

The Real Madrid striker topped the list for the second year in a row, with a net worth of $93m (£72.05m). However, the Spanish club lost its top spot in the football rich list.

Basketball superstar LeBron James was second with $86.2m (£66.79m).

Both Ronaldo and James saw an increase in the revenues. The Portuguese footballer saw his earnings rise $5m, whilst the Cavaliers’ power forward earned $9m more.

Basketball dominated the list with 32 NBA players among the top 100, followed by baseball with 22 and American football with 15.

The top 100 people earned a total of $3.11bn (£2.4bn) over the last year, a slight decrease from last year’s earnings of $3.15bn (£2.43bn).

Serena Williams is the only female athlete in the top 100. The American tennis player is 51st, having made $27m (£20.92m) in the last 12 months.

Here’s the top ten list:

  • Cristiano Ronaldo – football ($93m/£72.05m)
  • LeBron James – basketball ($86.2m/£66.79m)
  • Lionel Messi – football ($80m/£61.98m)
  • Roger Federer – tennis ($64m/£49.58m)
  • Kevin Durant – basketball ($60.6m/£46.95m)
  • Andrew Luck – American football ($50m/£38.74m)
  • Rory McIlroy – golfer ($50m/£38.74m)
  • Stephen Curry – basketball ($47.3m/£36.64m)
  • James Harden – basketball ($46.6m/£36.10m)
  • Lewis Hamilton – formula 1 ($46m/£35.64m

Read the full list here