Azerbaijan’s President, capsule  Ilham Aliyev, was presented with information on all of the latest technological advancements and innovations to be used at the Baku 2015 European Games.

A team from Baku 2015 showcased the European Games’ innovations at the Bakutel International Exhibition and Conference for Telecommunications and Information Technologies being held at the Baku Expo Centre.

Bakutel is one of the leading specialised exhibitions in Azerbaijan, highlighting the country’s latest technological advancements.

The major event is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and more than 250 companies will be present.

The European Games is the first multi-sport event to entirely use cloud-based technology for both infrastructure and software applications, a model that is likely to be adopted by all major sports events in the future.

A new optical fibre network that connects all of Baku 2015’s venues is one of the main innovations that will be of lasting benefit to the nation.

Baku 2015 will also make use of more than 600 kilometres of fibre optic network to connect venues, as well as more than 1,000 kilometres of internal venue cabling to make the European Games come alive.

Mr Adrian Corcoran, Baku 2015 Director of Technology, said: “Baku 2015 is proud to be working with the best technology companies that Azerbaijan has to offer to provide an innovative approach to hosting a major multi-sport event.

“The European Games is an opportunity for Azerbaijan to be at the forefront of technological advancements in sport and we are extremely happy with how our preparations are progressing so far.”

The Baku 2015 European Games technology team are being supported by the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies in developing several advancements that will benefit Azerbaijan’s technical infrastructure.

Bakutel will run until Friday 5 December, and is the largest telecommunications exhibition in the Caucasus region.

The organisation of the Brazil 2014 World Cup was called into question again after reports emerged that three stadiums being built for the tournament would miss FIFA’s end of the year deadline.

Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal, Arena da Baixada in Curitiba and Sao Paulo’s Arena Corinthians are all going to miss the 31 December deadline.

The news is another set-back after two workers died after a crane accident at the stadium in Sao Paulo last month.

Arena Pantanal has abandoned its plan to have a retractable roof whilst the 41,000 capacity Arena da Baixada is also behind schedule.

FIFA General Secretary, Jerome Valcke said: “We don’t know when the green light [to resume work] will be given [in Sao Paolo].

“We are not in a crisis mood, looking at an alternative to Sao Paulo but Curitiba is facing the most problems and clearly won’t be delivered before February 2014.

“The people from Curitiba attended a meeting [on Monday] and promised to organise themselves to get the stadium ready by the end of February 2014.”

On the deaths in Sao Paulo, FIFA President Sep Blatter said: “We’re feeling sad for the families. Sao Paulo will be ready for the opening match.

“We deplore the loss of the two people who lost their lives.”

{jcomments on}

By Steve Moorhouse

The amount of tickets purchased by British fans who saw Olympiacos take the Euroleague Final Four title at The O2 in London was higher than the organisers expected.

The O2 hosted the Final Four on Friday 10 May and Sunday 12 May which was sold out at a 16,145 capacity.

It was the first time Euroleague Basketball had been witnessed on British soil and figures showed that 30% of tickets were bought through the UK ticket store.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Brand and Communication Director at Euroleague expressed his delight at the figures: “We are definitely happy with the figures. That is a very similar percentage to local fans that bought tickets in all the Final Fours where there was no local team participating.

“That’s a very good result and even higher than would be expected.”

As well as hosting the tournament, Euroleague set-up a Fan Zone in Trafalgar Square to help promote the brand and created grassroots programmes with Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur, QPR and Charlton Athletic, as well as the British Basketball League (BBL).

Kristjansson said that the progress made was good but was only a ‘little step’ to breaking the UK.

He added: “Having it at the O2 was nice but it was not our end goal. We had to present the event and make the UK people experience Euroleague through the Final Four and the event at Trafalgar Square.

“That gave local fans the chance to experience what Euroleague is and what the Final Four is.

“We also wanted key business people from the industry to attend the games. We invited lots of companies and agencies to experience the Final Four and that was important for us.”

The Final Four was broadcast in 199 countries across the world, by more than 70 broadcasters.

Kristjansson confirmed that Euroleague Basketball would be back in the UK, but it was too early to say when and if it would be the Final Four again.

Euroleague were also involved with the latest iSportconnect Directors’ Club, which was held before the semi-final on Friday.

Location: London, UK

Closing Date: Once filled

Overview:

iSportconnect, the world’s largest private network of sports executives is expanding its digital content team. We’re looking for a manager for an initial 12 months, to join us full-time.

You’ll work with the editor to create content for our channels, working to our mantra ‘Opinions you need to know’. 

The Candidate

– Experience working with social media

– Drive web traffic to the online community and producing digital content for both members and partners

– Provide quality control on the company’s digital assets and aligning digital content to brand guidelines

– Have a strong knowledge of sport, ideally sports business 

– Full of ideas for content and engagement. 

– Good writing background from a sports journalism course or proven experience. 

– Experience on social media – Twitter/LinkedIn, YouTube 

– Video and editing skills in Adobe Premiere Pro preferred 

– Ability on Photoshop is also a bonus. 

This is a great chance for an digital media executive to build a team focused on community engagement through content, forums, infographics.

Salary: Competitive 

How to Apply

To apply for the position, please e-mail thomas.lane@isportconnect.com with a CV and covering letter. 

Any examples of your work would be a bonus.

Manchester United have announced revenue of £515.3m ($683.52m) for year ending 30 June.

United have therefore become the first Premier League team to reach over half a billion pounds in revenue in the history of the English game.

Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward welcomed the news, drugs despite the club missing out on Champions League football this season.

He said: “Our record Fiscal 2016 financial performance reflects the continued underlying strength of the business and the Club is on target to achieve record revenues in 2017, abortion even without a contribution from the Champions League.

“This strong financial performance has enabled us to invest in our squad, team management and facilities to position us to challenge for, and win, trophies in the coming years.”

Manchester United saw a profit of £36m ($47.75m) while their debt has risen slight, up 2% to £261m ($346.20).

The club saw sponsorship revenue of £160.1m ($212.37m), an increase of £5.2m(6.90m) compared to the previous year.

{jcomments on}

 

Host Broadcast Services (HBS) has been selected as a production partner for the 2016 Copa America Centenario, symptoms a once-in-a-lifetime football event, shop sale which honours 100 years of the Copa America competition.

The tournament will be held from 3 to 26 June 2016, pharmacy across 10 cities in the United States.

HBS’ partnership with the Copa America Centenario organisers – CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) – provides broadcast partners and fans with coverage of the sporting event around the globe.

Read more HERE.