England centurion and Chelsea ladies striker Eniola Aluko has become the first Volunteer Champion for UN Women NC UK.

Established in 2010 by the UN General Assembly, UN Women works to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. The organisation is a global movement for diversity, gender equality and equal opportunity.

The partnership, developed by Mediacom Sport & Entertainment, will see Aluko take an active role across a range of programmes and campaigns that will help make change happen including HeForShe Arts Week, the soon to be launched Student Champion Programme, FeelGoodForGood, the broader HeForShe movement and Step it Up for Gender Equality. Aluko is supporting these initiatives to win the hearts and minds of the next generation – young people in schools and Universities – to encourage them to work at creating a world with equal opportunities for all people.

Eni Aluko comments: “I’ve been fortunate to have had success in my career but I am also aware of the challenges on the journey to success that many women will also face in their lives. For me, there is no greater privilege than using my experience and profile to make a positive difference in society.

”I’m honoured to have the opportunity to work with a global organisation like UN Women to champion many causes that are close to my heart. I am grateful to have been chosen by UN Women NC UK and look forward to making a lasting contribution to their success over the coming years.”

Karen Parker, Vice Chair at UN Women National Committee UK comments: “As a relatively young organisation with very ambitious goals, we are delighted to welcome Eniola into our family. Her journey is filled with challenges that millions of women are faced with in our society, making her an ideal spokesperson to elevate what we’re trying to achieve. Her experiences and desire to bring about positive change around equality will be an inspiration to young men and women alike. We are very much looking forward to working together.”

Born in Nigeria and raised in Birmingham, Aluko has a long track record of breaking barriers and being an equality role model for both men and women in Britain. In addition to representing her country over 100 times, she has managed to become a qualified lawyer and establish herself as an influential voice in the media, making her a natural choice to champion importance of equal opportunity.

UN Women is focussed on engaging the active support of men, women, boys and girls from all backgrounds to empower women, eliminate discrimination against women and girls and create a world where equal opportunity exists for men and women.

The City Assembly of Budapest has officially voted to withdraw the Hungarian capital’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A petition to force a referendum on the bid attracted over 250,000 signatures; substantially more than the 138,000 required. The campaign from youth initiative Momentum Mozgalom prompted government officials to withdraw the bid, just weeks after the final deadline for documentation.

Mainstream political parties also u-turned on their pledges to back the bid, with that decision proving a crucial factor in the suspension of the Hungarian bid.

The Hungarian Olympic Committee will inform the International Olympic Committee of the decision in due course.

Los Angeles and Paris remain in the race.

Location: Twickenham, UK

Closing Date: March 2, 2017

Overview:

Premiership Rugby are recruiting a Communications Manager to join their busy and dedicated team working in Twickenham.

Working within a close-knit team running Aviva Premiership Rugby, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series, the applicant will report to the Communications Director. The successful candidate will work in a busy department and they must be used to working in a pressurised environment.

The right candidate will need to:

• have at least two years’ experience working in a PR or Communications role and have already worked in a direct rugby role;
• have in-depth knowledge of rugby union across the world and be particularly knowledgeable on Premiership Rugby’s clubs and the history of the League. This should be demonstrated in your application;
• be able to understand rugby’s complex working environment;
• have excellent communications stills, whether working externally or internally with Premiership Rugby and its clubs;
• have excellent writing and subbing skills as part of the role will be supplying content to a number of media platforms and editing a number of publications including the Premiership Rugby Magazine and the programmes for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final, Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series, and the London Double Header;
• be experienced within Social Media, as they will help develop our social media channels which include Twitter, Facebook and Instagram;

Day to day duties will also include, dealing with general media enquiries, operating the Premiership Rugby Accreditation system, drafting press releases, filing, handling telephone calls, research and generating reports as required.

S/he will show great attention to detail and be highly organised.  Good IT skills and excellent written and spoken English are essential.  Knowledge of Word, Power Point and Excel are vital.

The successful applicant will also be able to communicate confidently at all levels, handle confidential information with discretion and manage a busy workload calmly and efficiently.

This role will involve weekend work through the Aviva Premiership Rugby season as wanting to attend matches will be a key part of the role.

How to apply: For a full Job Description email recruitment@premiershiprugby.com

All applications must be accompanied by a one page PR plan to re-launch our HITZ community programme nationally. This should include a launch press release, plans for a specific Launch and PR ideas (with a timeline) to take this campaign to the front of the national agenda on health and well-being.  Also explain which areas of the media you would target and how.

Electric car-racing series Formula E has received further investment with the news that Chinese private equity firm Yao Capital has acquired a stake in the organisation.

Yao Capital is eponymously named after its founder, 7ft6′ former NBA basketball star Yao Ming, and was established in 2016. It has already made investments in the sports industry, but the Formula E move represents a substantial investment for the firm.

This latest investment deal comes after news that Motorsport Network acquired a stake in Formula One.

Image messaging app Snapchat has established its international HQ in London, Snap, the company behind the app, took the decision despite Ireland being a more common International HQ for American technology businesses.

The UK is home to over 10 million daily snapchatters, with Snapchat also boasting a number of British partners and backers.

The UK’s rate of corporate tax currently stands at 20%, 7.5% higher than Ireland but still one of the lowest in Europe.

Over one fifth of Snapchat’s users and many of its biggest advertisers are based in Britain, with Snapchat currently employing 75 UK staff.

Snapchat is estimated to be worth around $20m, having turned down a takeover approach from Facebook in 2013.

Snapchat has become an invaluable sports marketing tool in recent years.

Latvia have become the first nation to confirm they will boycott the bobsleigh and skeleton World Championships in Sochi.

The Baltic state, cialis who currently hold the world record for four-man bobsleigh, announced, “We will be glad to race in World Championships at any track of the world, but we are not participating in the World Championships in Sochi, Russia.”

Their decision comes after the McLaren Report published findings that implicated 1000 Russians in a state-sponsored doping program.

Rugby Union side London Welsh is seeking voluntary liquidation, find over 130 years since its inception in 1885.

London Welsh competed in the English Premiership as recently as the 2014-15 campaign, but made history by becoming the first top-flight English side in over a decade to lose every competitive fixture in a season.

London Welsh Chairman Gareth Hawkins, said: “London Welsh has reached a difficult point in its illustrious history. Due to a playing budget of £1.7million and gates at games numbering as low 400, the Club’s current business model is totally unsustainable.

“The debts accrued from trading in this way have left the Club with no alternative but to seek liquidation. Having to break that news to 40 staff members yesterday was extremely difficult.’’

Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer has been named the official timekeeper and official watch of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2016-17.

Launched as the first day of the Dubai Sevens got underway, fans watching in more than 100 countries around the world will see TAG Heuer countdown clocks at each match, half-time and full-time. On big screens in the stadium, TAG Heuer will also count down to kick-off.

With more fans than ever before, rugby sevens is a perfect fit with the #DontCrackUnderPressure spirit of TAG Heuer. The motto will be the guiding principle behind TAG Heuer’s operations throughout the season and #DontCrackUnderPressure and spotlight videos, highlighting many of the high pressure moments in the game, will feature on World Rugby platforms. 

Speaking at the launch in Dubai on Thursday, World Rugby Vice-Chairman Agustín Pichot said: “It’s fantastic to welcome TAG Heuer to the rugby family. This will be a great partnership as we join up rugby sevens with this leading brand and countdown to another great season ahead.”

Tag Heuer Global Sports Director, Marc Biver said: “We are very proud to be the first luxury watch brand to enter into the world of rugby sevens. The team spirit of rugby sevens ties in with TAG Heuer’s #DontCrackUnderPressure motto. The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series will give a tremendous visibility to TAG Heuer all around the world.”

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Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital city, is set to host the 2019 Special Olympic World Games after winning a unanimous vote.

Celebrating the announcement, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, said via Twitter, “UAE’s hosting of the 2019 Special Olympic World Games reflects the world’s confidence in UAE’s capabilities, youth & humanitarian image.”

“We welcome the world’s best athletes to the UAE, congratulate Special Olympics leadership on promoting inclusion & tolerance through sport.”

“Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi is revolutionary for our movement and for the Middle East region,” said Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics chairman.

“There’s no better or more profound location than Abu Dhabi to invite the world to come together in celebration of sport, in celebration of people of all kinds, and to demonstrate to the world that the lines of division can be erased.”

The World Games happen once every two years, with the next event scheduled to take place in Austria in March 2017.

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