UEFA president Michel Platini has said this will be his final term whether he is named as the new FIFA president or not.
The Frenchman confirmed this at a news conference following the Europa League draw today.
Read more HERE.
UEFA president Michel Platini has said this will be his final term whether he is named as the new FIFA president or not.
The Frenchman confirmed this at a news conference following the Europa League draw today.
Read more HERE.
Rome will officially submit a bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games after it was unanimously approved by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI).
The Italian capital will be competing with Hamburg, arthritis Boston and Paris for the right to host the Games, with Budapest also expected to announce its candidacy in the near future.
All 64 CONI members voted in favour of the bid at a meeting in Milan.
Luca Di Montezemolo, the Rome bid president, said: “This was not only a formal step, but also an important signal of support from across the world of Italian sport for an event that is, at heart, a celebration of sport and its athletes.
“It was very pleasing to receive the full backing and encouragement of the federation presidents at CONI today.
“We want these Games to be an opportunity for growth and investment for the whole country – a sporting festival that will represent a triumph of beauty, culture, technology and sustainability.”
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iSportconnect, the world’s largest global private network of sports business executives, is delighted to announce Richard Gould, Chief Executive of Surrey County Cricket Club and Ken van Someren, Head of Research & Development at the GSK Human Performance Lab as the latest panellists for the first ever Sports Performance Masterclass.
The exciting new event will take place in London on 14th July.
Gould and van Someren will be joining Les Reed, Executive Director at Southampton FC and Dr Raphael Brandon, Head of Science and Medicine at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Richard Gould became the CEO of Surrey CCC and the Kia Oval in 2011. In his time as CEO, he has been successful in bringing the team into profit with his work off the pitch, which has directly contributed to the success of the team on it.
Before joining Surrey, he enjoyed previous spells as CEO of Somerset CCC for almost six years and four years as the Commercial Director of Bristol City FC. Prior to this he spent 12 years as an Army Officer in the Royal Tank Regiment giving him unique insight in to another high performance environment.
In his role as Head of Research & Development at the GSK Human Performance Lab, a state of the art discovery research unit, committed to understanding human performance, Ken van Someren leads the discovery research and scientific support of high performance partners, impacting on athletic performance and translating to wider healthcare for GSK.
Prior to joining GSK, Ken was Director of Sports Sciences at the English Institute of Sport, leading the sport science support to British sports and athletes in the four years leading up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The iSportconnect Sports Performance Masterclass is the latest in a line of successful and insightful events this year and will gather industry professionals to discuss and share best practice on sports performance.
Invitation Policy: The Sports Performance Masterclass is an exclusive invite only event to senior industry executives and other similar positions at governing bodies, federations, teams/clubs and brands only.
To register your interest please contact Sylvia-Line Lamaro at sylvia-line@isportconnect.com
Sports Agencies, professional service providers & suppliers, please contact Mike Rocha-Keys for limited partnership opportunities.
Event Partners:
Headline Partner:
Global Partners:
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English Premier League club Aston Villa have appointed Charlie Wijeratna as their first ever chief commercial officer.
Wijeratna leaves his position as the commercial director of Baku 2015 to take up the role at the Midlands club where he will have responsibility for all areas of revenue generation and oversee the club’s marketing and media operations.
Read more HERE.
A week is a long time in politics – and FIFA presidential hopeful Jerome Champagne (pictured) will be using every minute of the next seven days to try and ensure he remains part of the battle for top job.
A year has passed now since Champagne, ailment a former official in world football’s governing body, generic pills was the first person to announce his intention to challenge his former boss Sepp Blatter and stand for the role of president.
But to be eligible for the election on May 29 in Zurich, ailment candidates must have five formal nominations from national associations by next week’s deadline on January 29.
Champagne this week sent an open letter to federations and their officials in an attempt to secure the support he needs.
In an exclusive interview with iSportconnect, the French former diplomat admitted that there was a “climate of fear” in world football at this time.
“We are one week before the deadline, I have said in these letters to all the federations it would be easier for me to get some votes in a secret ballot than having the letters which could be made public because there is a climate of fear and because some confederations already issued recommendations” he said.
“And of course I have to recognise the fact that president Blatter remains popular and people think he should be re-elected.
“Having said that, one week is ahead of me and I’m explaining the situation in these letters that they are not commitments of voting. It is just to enable a candidate to continue in the debate.
“Because what is clear is we need ideas and platforms, we need programmes and I am the only one.”
Champagne was in Brussels this week taking part in a debate organised by the group New FIFA Now, set up by a number of British and European politicians.
Rather than call for wholesale change Champagne was advocating – as he has done throughout his campaign – a more progressive approach to reform in FIFA, and in particular redressing the imbalance in the global game.
He said: “I disagree on the fact that we need to scrap FIFA, that everything that was made was wrong. I think that was the wrong starting point.
“I said there that the responsibility of the problems in football are not because of one person, it’s because of a collective responsibility that is shared by the exco.”
Champagne went on to explain what he thought was the most pressing issue FIFA should deal with.
“This week we’ve seen the statistic that the wealthiest 1% of the planet control nearly 50% of the world’s wealth – and it in football it is exactly the same situation” he said. “This is the real issue FIFA should deal with.
“Of course we need to improve transparency, of course that is absolutely clear. We need to know about the report of Mr Garcia, we need to find a solution for the situation of the Nepalese workers in Qatar but the problem we face today is this growing inequalities…
“That’s why we need a strong FIFA to regulate the game and also to spread the wealth. I will continue supporting this vision; that is clear.”
His views on progressive reform are shared by many, including fellow candidate and FIFA vice-president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein (pictured left) who stands a more likely chance of unseating Blatter.
There is another challenger who recently threw his hat into the ring, to the surprise of almost the entire sporting world.
Former footballer David Ginola announced his intention to be a candidate, backed by a British bookmaker.
Critics have suggested it is a publicity stunt due to the majority of the bid funds having to crowdfunded and Ginola himself being paid a substantial wage.
Champagne had little time for Ginola’s campaign.
“I have seen someone reading a text off a prompter,” he said. “I’ve seen someone unable to mention one name of the FIFA exco, I’ve seen someone unable to express what he knows about IFAB – come on. If you want to run for the FIFA office it is a serious thing.
“First you don’t launch yourself supported by a bookmaking company. You don’t launch yourself with a guarantee of a quarter million British pounds as a salary. You don’t launch yourself with the guarantee of making 90% [of bid fund] through crowdfunding.
“I think it sends the wrong signal. The presidency of FIFA is a serious office. Football and FIFA needs as I said continuity and evolution, and that is really giving a bad image.
“But listen I think this launch has been largely criticised and I don’t think it is best we talk a lot about it.”
Back to his own bid, Champagne was remaining optimistic and without being too specific, confirmed that the number of nominations he has so far received is “more than one, and less than five”.
He admitted that the rest of his week will be taken up with “calling, phoning, trying to convince people” as he looks to push for his vision of a reformed FIFA.
Should he not acquire the support needed, he maintains he will still push for change as an outsider and contribute to the ongoing debate.
In the likely event that Blatter (pictured right) is re-elected to serve a fifth term in office, Champagne believed that serious reform could still take place – possibly even more so than before.
He said: “If he [Blatter] is re-elected, he won’t have any more elections to lose and to some extent he will probably be freer to implement the necessary changes that FIFA needs and football needs which were not implementable because of the political context of the FIFA executive committee.
“So I place hope in the fact that if it will be his last mandate, that reforms will be done.”
“A week is a long time in politics” is attributed to former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who also said “he who rejects change is the architect of decay”.
Whether Champagne is a candidate or not for the FIFA presidential election, hope prevails for an acceptance of change in Zurich.
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By Tariq Saleh
FISA President Jean-Christophe Rolland insists it is vital for rowing to continue to be part of the Olympic movement as the IOC prepares to convene for ‘Agenda 2020’ in February 2015.
Under his presidency, ambulance the 46 year-old Frenchman wants to grow the sport and sees it as vital that they continue in the Olympics.
Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, therapy he said: “The message I want to convey to all our member federations is that to remain a key Olympic sport, pills which is vital for our future, Rowing is competing against other sports.
“It is essential that we can adapt and adjust our sport to the moving context and environment. The IOC has launched the “Agenda 2020” process to review the fundamentals of the Olympic Movement and we must ensure that we take part of the trend.”
Rolland also identified the areas they need to focus on in order to expand the sport to a wider audience.
“Attractiveness of the sport and development are key areas,” he said.
“We must connect more people with our sport and reach new audiences through all possible channels and in all of the forms of rowing like coastal, sprint or indoor, as well as para-rowing.”
“We must attract all the stakeholders: 1) men and women, young and older, through clubs, schools and universities, with a special focus on women 2) fans and non-rowers through social media and TV spectators with innovative coverage of our main products, the World Cups and Championships and 3) partners, as they are a key dimension to build and make the projects feasible.”
Rolland took over from Denis Oswald as president of FISA earlier this year and wants to continue to build on the foundations set by the former president.
“I’m a different person with a different background, a different personality and a different leadership style. Therefore I will make changes, but it will be more of an evolution than a revolution.
“In terms of sharing the vision for the sport and the future of the sport, I have similarities to Denis, that’s why I don’t think it’s a revolution.
“However I will bring my own personality in the way I connect with sports federations, with the member federations of FISA, the Council and the Executive Committee. Time will tell about the differences between the past and now.”
Callaway Golf Company has posted strong financial results and declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share on its Common Stock.
That dividend is payable on December 16 of this year to shareholders who were on record by November 21, anabolics 2013.
On top of this, unhealthy Callaway also reported a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.875 per share on its 7.50% Series B Cumulative Perpetual Convertible Preferred Stock.
CEO, President and Director, Chip Brewer said: “I’m happy to say we had a strong quarter, and I believe our results confirm our turnaround plan is on track and probably building momentum. I’d like to start by thanking the Callaway Golf team and employees for their hard work and commitment to turning this business around.
“In Q3, we delivered impressive revenue growth. On a constant currency continuing business basis, our year-over-year revenues increased 38% for Q3 and are up 13% for the first 9 months. We are confident this growth significantly outpaced our industry, which has experienced soft market conditions for the year in whole, especially in North America and Europe.”
The news prompted shares to jump, whilst the gross profit margin went to 34% from 21% in Q3 2012.
Location: Milwaukee, WI, USA
Closing date: 27th November 2016
Overview:
The Senior Director, Group Sales, will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Group Sales including the five all-inclusive group party areas. Responsible for setting the overall Group Sales strategy with the goal of maximizing group sales and group revenue.
Responsibilities:
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Other duties may be assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
Directly supervise 4-6 Group Sales AEs whose function is to sell group tickets & provide customer service to all Group Leaders. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems
Qualifications:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
Education and/or Experience
Bachelor’s degree (B. A.) from four-year College or university. Two or more years managing a staff of sales people and three plus years related experience selling group tickets, season tickets and/or premium seat inventory (club seats or suites) and /or sponsorships; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Computer Skills
To perform the job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft office software including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and Internet Explorer.
Other Skills and Abilities
Strong demonstrated work ethic with an innate sense of urgency, creative capacity and tenacity, team concept and attitude, passion to succeed by excelling at sales and relationship building, professional demeanor and appearance.
Work Hours
Business hours are Monday – Friday 9 am – 5pm, however, additional hours may be required on weekends, evenings and some holidays.
Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL), the parent company of Birmingham City, have confirmed they are ‘now in the hands’ of Trillion Trophy Asia Limited (TTA).
It means that the Club have new owners based in Hong Kong.
TTA entered a two-year period of exclusivity in June 2015 with the Receivers and BIHL and has been providing investment for new players and working capital to aid the Club’s operations.
Now Mr Paul Suen’s TTA are formally Blues new owners.
Mr Paul Suen said “I am delighted to be the majority owner of such an important English football club with a proud history since 1875. I am enthusiastic about the prospects for the Club and look forward with you to a successful future. The only reason that my company, Trillion Trophy, is making this offer for your shares is because it is legally required to do so under the rules of the UK Takeover Code.”
Panos Pavlakis, a director of Birmingham City, said: “Birmingham City has endured two years of uncertainty as its holding company became embroiled in litigation and receivership. My co-director, Victor MA, and I would like to thank all those involved in the restructuring of our holding company and settling various disputes to restore it to financial health, in particular Mr Paul Suen. We have been reliant on loans from Mr Suen for some time and welcome him as our new controlling shareholde