English League One club Notts County have appointed Aileen Trew as their new Chief Executive Officer.

Trew has been part of the club’s board for the past fours years. 

Read more HERE.

The Czech Republic Football Association has renewed its data and integrity partnership with Sportradar for a further four years.

The deal will now run until the summer of 2019.

Read more HERE.

Prince Harry has been appointed as Honorary President of England Rugby 2015, the Organising Committee delivering Rugby World Cup 2015.

Prince Harry is a big fan of the sport and is also currently Vice Patron of the Rugby Football Union (RFU).

As Honorary President, the Prince will play a big role in welcoming the 20 qualifying nations to the Rugby World Cup 2015.

England Rugby 2015 CEO, Debbie Jevans, commented: “With one year to go to the Tournament, we are delighted to announce that Prince Harry has agreed to be our Honorary President.

“The Prince is a great Rugby fan and recently inspired us all with the Invictus Games. We have no doubt that he will help us achieve our aim of staging a Tournament that reaches out to new and existing Rugby fans. 

“Our plans are fully on track and we are very pleased with the demand for tickets since they went on general sale on September 12.

“We still have a year of hard work ahead of us but with the Team Bases announced, the venues and city plans being finalised, excellent support from our stakeholders and tickets on sale we are able to move forward with confidence.”

International Rugby Board and Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman, Bernard Lapasset, added: “One year to go is a major milestone on the road to a Rugby World Cup that promises to be a very special and record-breaking global celebration of Rugby and the host nation.

“Rugby World Cup 2015 is on track to be the best-attended, most viewed and most-engaged with Tournament to date, furthering the growth and development of Rugby worldwide.”

Minister for Sport and Tourism, Helen Grant, said: “I am delighted with the progress that the England Rugby 2015 team are making with one year to go until the start of the Tournament.

“Prince Harry will be a fantastic Honorary President for the competition, with his great love of the sport and his experience putting on a fantastic Invictus Games.

“Rugby World Cup 2015 will further build on this country’s excellent reputation for putting on major sporting events. It will leave a great legacy for the sport, boost tourism and help grow the economy.”

RFU Chief Executive Ian Ritchie said:” With a year to go to the Tournament, the RFU is determined that hosting the Tournament will enable us to grow Rugby in England and to create a meaningful legacy for the game.  

“With that in mind, we are already investing and activating in a variety of key areas.  I cannot think of anyone more appropriate than Prince Harry, who loves his Rugby, to be Honorary President of England Rugby 2015 to help us achieve that objective.”

Location: London, ed UK

Closing date: 16th November 2016

Overview:

Commonwealth Games are recruiting for a Commercial Account Manager to effectively manage our commercial partners, remedy helping them to achieve their objectives. Commonwealth Games England’s (CGE) leads and manages the participation of Team England, who will be represented at The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games by more than 400 athletes across 18 sports, Gold Coast 2018 will also showcase the largest ever Commonwealth Games para sport programme, with 7 different para disciplines integrated in to the competition schedule. 

At the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, England topped the medal table with 174 medals. The challenge for our team in Australia will be significant and to create the right support team is critical. The management and development of our commercial partners is a key part of this support process.. 

Accountable to the CEO, the Commercial Account Manager will also work closely with CGE’s sponsorship and sales agency, Female Sports Group, to build the CGE brand to achieve further long-term sponsorship and a sustainable funding position. 

During the Games, the Commercial Account Manager will be ‘on the ground’ and based in the City HQ. They will be the main point for all commercial and VIP programme-related activity.

Click here to apply

Egyptian broadcaster ON Sport has agreed a media rights deal with Premier League side Chelsea FC to air their in-house television channel Chelsea TV until the end of the 2018/19 season.

The deal is set to include exclusive digital rights within Egypt and the Middle East. ON Sport is also set to air Chelsea TV throughout Egypt until the end of the deal.

Chelsea TV, medic founded in 2001, broadcasts Chelsea’s games as well as provides exclusive content to fans of the club.

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Hugo Boss and Paris Saint-Germain have announced that they have renewed their partnership for the next two seasons.

Since 2014, the men’s fashion brand has been the official tailor for the current Ligue 1 champions.

As part of this agreement, Paris Saint-Germain’s players, its coach and his assistants will all wear BOSS suits during their official appearances for home matches in Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions League.

Having been a sponsor of Formula 1 for more than 30 years (its association with Mercedes Petronas having replaced the brand’s long-term collaboration with McLaren in January 2015), and represented in other sports by golfers Martin Kaymer and Victor Dubuisson and sailor Alex Thomson, who will take part in the Vendée Globe in November, Hug Boss continuing to build it’s presence in the world of sport with the renewal of this partnership.

Doping Special with Sir Craig Reedie President of WADA

The Spanish Women’s First Division fixture between Atletico Madrid and Athletic will be the first major European fixture to be streamed to Facebook by La Liga.

The match will be available worldwide in every country with no geo-blocking of content in place.

Stuart Ferreira-Cole is Regional Director of Western Europe for video technology experts Ooyala.

He believes this will be a trend for broadcasters in the future.

He said: “It is clear that audiences are becoming more and more fragmented as to where they consume content and so publishers are evolving their distribution strategies to follow their audiences.”

“As we saw with the Europa League and Champions League finals streamed by BT Sport on Youtube, so more and more rights holders will look to Facebook Live, where Ooyala is an official partner, to target a growing and highly engaged social audience.”

“For BT Sport the goal is to use social channels to generate subscriptions and for others such as La Liga’s foray is to engage and build an audience that is best served via social than say traditional linear TV.”

“One could argue that the days of audiences consuming content on publisher’s owned and operated sites are truly numbered.”

The deal between Facebook and La Liga follows a similar deal between the NFL and Twitter to broadcast Thursday night games live on the social media channel.

Ferreira-Cole believes that there will now be a steady flow of social networks acquiring rights to live fixtures.

He continues: “Twitter has already purchased rights to sporting events, namely Thursday Night NFL games. Will more social networks acquire rights?”

“It’s clear that they have the deep pockets to compete, look at how Netflix and Amazon are buying up digital movie and TV rights, but can social networks compete with the 24/7 storytelling and brand building that the likes of Sky Sports can provide to engage the audience outside of ‘game time’.”

“That’s debatable, but I am sure all eyes are on whether Twitter’s experiment will pay dividends and then we shall see.”

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By Christian Radnedge

Dr Chung Mong-joon, medstore former FIFA executive committee member and presidential candidate, plans to sue Sepp Blatter for embezzlement.

Speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London, the South Korean labelled the outoing FIFA president a “liar and a hypocrite” and said that world football’s governing body had become a criminal organisation.

Dr Chung revealed this week that he is being investigated by FIFA’s ethics chamber for charitable payments made in 2010, and he could face a 15-year suspension. He criticised the campaign as an attempt to stop him running to succeed Blatter at FIFA’s extraordinary elective congress in February.

“Mr Blatter is, in short, a hypocrite and a liar,” Chung, said in his speech to delegates. “FIFA has become a badge of shame. To call it a mafia is almost insulting to mafia, so blatant and arrogant is its corruption.

“At FIFA, money and power have blinded Blatter in the virtues of sportsmanship.

“For his payment without executive committee approval, I plan to sue Mr Blatter on his embezzlement in court.”

“They had even feigned the signature of the president of Visa to make a separate contract to deceive MasterCard. Why should FIFA pay the fine for president Blatter’s corruption? President Blatter and Mr Valcke, the general secretary [who is now] under suspension, should have paid the fine from their own pocket.

“At the executive committee meeting after the verdict I raised the issue and Mr Blatter tried to freeze me out. I was the only executive committee member to do so. This is another case on which I will sue president Blatter.”

When asked later how much he would sue for, Chung explained that it must be in relation to the crimes committed and that it could be in excess of $100m. He said that should he win the case, which would take place in a Swiss court, the money would go back to FIFA.

Chung also took aim at the controversial bid process for the 2018-2022 World Cup hosting rights. A member of FIFA then in December 2010, Chung took part in the votes but would not reveal who he voted for saying it was a “FIFA regulation” that it is secret.

He added: “It was Blatter who suggested that we decide the venues so early and at the same time. It is his responsibility. Now, if there is clear evidence that the vote was rigged one way or another, it should be held again.

“Michael Garcia’s investigation report should be published as soon as possible. To not publish this is criminal. The World Cup 2026 venue should be decided by the congress in 2020.”

Chung set out his election pledges in his manifesto. If allowed to run, he will compete with UEFA president Michel Platini and Prince Ali of Jordan who are the other confirmed candidates. October 26 is the deadline for presidential candidates to make themselves known.

Chung said: “If I am elected President of FIFA, this is what I will do for FIFA:

– Strengthen ‘checks & balances’ between the presidency, the Executive Committee and judicial bodies.

– Transform the Congress into an open forum.

– Impose term limit on the President.  I will serve one term.

– Increase transparency.

– Disclose the president’s salary, bonuses and expenses.

– Increase the Financial Assistance Program (FAP) to national football associations.

– Elevate the Women’s World Cup to a new dimension by raising the prize money.  Currently, the prize for the women’s World Cup accounts for only 5% of the men’s prize.  We must raise this to 50%.  Women’s World Cup can become a cash cow for FIFA.”

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