FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke has stated that European clubs will not be compensated during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

A FIFA task force yesterday recommended a winter World Cup to take place in November and December, which will see European teams release players for that period.

The official dates will be confirmed at a FIFA Executive Committee Meeting in Zurich in March.

“There will be no compensation. There are seven years to reorganize. We are in agreement with the clubs,” said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.

Valcke was also adamant that clubs do not need an apology for the World Cup being staged in the winter and disrupting their domestic campaigns.

“Why should we apologise to the clubs? We have had an agreement with the clubs that they are part of the beneficiaries. It was 40 million (US) dollars in 2010 and 70 million in 2014.

“We are bringing all our people to enjoy the sporting and financial results of the World Cup.

“I definitely don’t feel I have to apologise for the decision made yesterday to confirm that the World Cup will not be played in the summer.”

Valcke also confirmed that the World Cup will be reduced from 32 days to 28 and that the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will be moved from January to July.

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A delegation of Beijing 2022 officials including Liu Peng, discount Chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and Wang Anshun, Chairman of the Beijing 2022 Bid Committee, will be in Lausanne tomorrow to hand over the Beijing 2022 Candidature File to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

A team of officials who ran the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games have spent the last several months working on a response to each of the IOC’s requirements regarding the Winter Olympic Games.

iSportconnect is delighted to announce the Directors’ Club networking event, in association with PwC,  will take place in Moscow for the first time in 2015.

The event will make its debut in the Russian capital on 12 February 2015, as the Directors’ Club continues to spread to new markets.

The event will gather an elite group of sports industry executives for an open and practical discussion of the Russian sports business.

During the event, directors of companies and clubs that have achieved success in their sports projects will share their experiences and views on the challenges and opportunities of doing business in sport.

The Moscow Director’s Club will feature a special international guest speaker.

Among other participants in the event will be executives of major companies sponsoring Russian football, marketing leaders of major international companies that sponsor and supply Russian sport, as well as owners and top managers of major Russian companies looking to invest in sport.

Each Directors’ Club event offers an unrivalled opportunity to network with some of the most influential people in international sport and sponsorship. They provide countless opportunities for debate and discussion.

iSportconnect Directors’ Clubs have thus far been held in London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Lausanne, Milan, Munich, New York and Paris, and are set to go to even more cities in 2015.

PwC Corporate Finance Partner Oleg Malyshev said: “This is a particularly interesting time in the development of Russian sport, with a real desire among leagues and clubs to establish sport as a viable business rather than just an area of corporate social responsibility. The Directors’ Club will be a great opportunity to explore this.”

iSportconnect Chairman Michael Cunnah said: “We are very excited to be taking the Directors’ Club to Moscow and have the opportunity to get a real insight into the sports business issues in Russia.”

To register your interest contact:  sylvia-line@isportconnect.com OR olga.suchkova@ru.pwc.com

Invitation Policy: iSportconnect Directors’ Club is an invitation only event open exclusively for CEOs, chairmen and director level executives from governing bodies, sports teams and sponsorship brands.

Social Media Policy: The iSportconnect Directors’ Club follows Chatham House rules and therefore all content must be kept confidential.

We encourage delegates to tweet pictures and use our hashtag #iSCDirectorsClub but not to quote panellists.

To watch highlights of previous iSportconnect Directors’ Clubs click here.

Save the date: Thursday 12 February 2015, 7-10:00 pm
Where: “PwC Club”, in the Moscow office of PwC Russia, White Square Business Centre 10^th floor

PwC helps organisations and individuals create the value they’re looking for. We’re a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 195,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services.

PwC has a proud history of providing professional services organisations and individuals in sport around the world. PwC has a strong sports business advisory track record in Russia, having served as official professional services provider to the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee and the Executive Committee of Universiade 2013 in Kazan.

PwC Russia has also carried out a range of projects for Russian domestic leagues and clubs, including the Kontinental Hockey League, the Russian Football Premier League, FC Spartak, FC Lokomotiv, FC Zenit and more.

Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

Global Partners:

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The mascots for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games were finally revealed over the weekend.

The mascots were inspired by Brazilian flora and fauna and pop culture, physician according to the Organising Committee.

“The Rio 2016 mascots represent the diversity of our culture, ambulance of our people, allergist ” said Beth Lula, the Rio 2016 brand director.

“They represent our joy, our way of being. Both of them are magical creatures with super powers and relate naturally with the young audience.”

A competition has been created for fans to vote for the names of the mascots. The names they will choose from are Oba and Eba, Tiba Tuque and Esquindim, or Vinicius and Tom.

“The mascots are one of the most representative symbols of the Games,” said Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee.

“Their purpose is to delight and engage the audience, particularly the children.”

Digital consulting firm Omnigon has appointed Creative Design Director, erectile Bora Nikolic, sale as their new Chief Creative Officer.

In his new role at the firm, Nikolic will be focused on growing the design team across Omnigon’s offices, driving innovation and supporting sales efforts across North America and overseas.

Nikolic is one of the founding partners of the company and has been important in establishing design leadership and the creative growth of Omnigon.

Igor Ulis, Omnigon’s CEO said: “He will continue to provide oversight of design and creative deliverables, working with the marketing department on fostering the Omnigon brand, as well as asserting our position as a leader within the sports, entertainment and media industries.”

Under the leadership of Nikolic, Omnigon has received numerous awards in recognition of outstanding work and achievements including The Webby Awards, OMMA Awards, Social Media Influencer Awards and Interactive Media Awards.

Clients of Omnigon currently include some of the world’s largest companies such as NASCAR, PGA TOUR, WWE, NFL, MLB, IMG, FOX Sports and FOX Broadcasting.

Over 80% of residents and workers in the Anfield area of Liverpool have backed the £260m ($405.3m) regeneration programme according to a survey.

Around 1, advice 700 people living and working in the area were asked for their opinion on proposals which included new housing, a business centre and the expansion of Liverpool Football Club’s Anfield stadium.

Liverpool FC, the City Council and housing providers created a consortium and drew up plans to create 250 new homes and an avenue through Stanley Park with a public square at the end.

Mayor Joe Anderson said: “People have given us invaluable information about the entire range of regeneration ideas and concepts which we unveiled.

“In the coming weeks we will use this information to refine our proposals and to undertake another listening and consultation exercise.

“We believe the plans are exciting and will deliver a massive improvement in quality of life for many thousands of people and be of major benefit to the city, not just Anfield.”

Liverpool FC have spoken about expanding the 45,522-seater Anfield stadium for years and have also explored the possibility of building a new stadium on Stanley Park.

The feedback from residents will now be considered in the future planning stages of the redevelopment. 

Key Responsibilities

• Achieve or exceed annual sales budget which includes sustaining and renewing client relationships.
• Develop and maintain corporate leads on a daily basis which includes creating and maintaining a prospect list by zone, business category, and size of company with a specific action plan for each prospective client.
• Develop and implement strategies to drive sales. This may include the research, review and maintenance of ongoing competitive market analysis including financial and demographic factors.
• Develop and execute a professional sales presentation, which creates a value statement based on benefits and features for each target audience.
• Activate brand in the corporate, conference and event planning communities by cultivating positive relations with key contacts.
• Provide oversight of the program’s portfolio and coordination of all communications with other Headquarters support departments.
• Evaluate market reactions to revenue programs.  Ensure that timely adjustments of marketing strategies and plans are proactively formulated and implemented to meet changing markets and competitive conditions.
• Create/work with event to ensure we are utilizing all assets to sell.
• Provide monthly evaluation of progress against set annual goals.
• Aggressively pursue prospects through initial contact strategy and execution, sales presentations, written proposals, follow-up information, negotiation, deal closing and contract execution.
• Identify prospects for sales for PGA TOUR properties including Media, PGA TOUR Title Sponsors, Official Marketing Partnerships, and other Corporate Marketing. This may include analyzing the market, consumer, and competitive information.
• Understands TOUR’s current business needs and potential partner opportunities and designs marketing campaigns which assist in the growth of marketing partnerships.

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or related area required.

• Five to Seven years of proven commissioned sales experience, in sports, event management, media or hospitality. Golf tournament or event management sales experience is a plus preferred.
• Demonstrated capacity to communicate effectively within and across diverse groups
• Solid organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to generate new sales leads and close sales deals. Travel as needed and may work on-site at select golf events for specified periods of time.
• Proficient with Salesforce or similar CRM applications and MS Office Software applications.
• A professional image and ability to work as a team is essential.
• Bilingual/multi-language skills is preferred, but not required.
• How to Apply
• Click HERE to apply

Jockey Club Services and Rewards4 have announced Glamorgan Cricket as a new partner on the loyalty platform ‘Rewards4Cricket’.

This follows the successful Rewards4Cricket partnership launches with Hampshire Cricket and Durham County Cricket Club in May 2015.

Rewards4Cricket is a loyalty platform that will power Glamorgan Cricket Rewards.

It will enable fans, health including members, pill to collect Rewards4Cricket points on purchases of matchday tickets and international tickets for matches staged at The SSE SWALEC, allergist and from everyday spending with more than 4,000 online retailers and in-store with over 30 High Street brands.

The validity and potential of the Rewards4 approach to loyalty has been proven with its hugely successful Rewards4Racing partnership with The Jockey Club, which now has more than 1,000,000 members. Rewards4Racing has been running for more than five years and is helping to reward loyal racing customers and increase the frequency of their return visits.

Hugh Morris, Chief Executive of Glamorgan Cricket, anticipates the new Rewards scheme will be a hit with supporters of both domestic and international cricket.

He said: “We know that if we want to grow our business we need to put our supporters at the heart of everything we do,”

“So we’re delighted to partner with Jockey Club Services and Rewards4Cricket to launch the Glamorgan Cricket Rewards loyalty programme. This is a proven loyalty scheme that has generated success stories in other sports and we’re delighted it will help all our supporters receive benefits in return for backing the team.”

Rob Quick, Director of Jockey Club Services, added: “Jockey Club Services already partners with Glamorgan to deliver ticketing and procurement solutions for the club. Glamorgan Cricket Rewards is the next exciting stage of the growing relationship. Through Rewards4Racing we had already built the customer interface with the ticketing platform so loyalty was always something that Glamorgan wanted as part of their customer marketing programme once the ticketing solution went live.”

“We have worked hard with the marketing and ticketing team to make sure that the programme meets their ambitious customer contact objectives and are very excited about delivering this proven rewards solution to a very passionate cricketing community in Wales.”

Aston Villa have confirmed that CEO Tom Fox has decided to step down with immediate effect.

Fox has been at Villa Park since 2014 after working at Arsenal as Chief Commercial Officer.

In a statement on the Aston Villa website, Mr. Fox said: “Joining Aston Villa was a huge privilege for me and while I’m bitterly disappointed by results this season, watching the Club compete at Wembley in the FA Cup Final last year is a memory I’ll cherish.

“I’m appreciative to the Board and the owner for the opportunity to help put Villa back on a solid footing and able to compete in the most competitive sports league in the world.”

“Aston Villa is a proud and storied Club which deserves to be among the elite in Europe and I have every confidence that it will once again find its way back.”

The Board will now commence its search for a permanent replacement. In the interim Steve Hollis will become the Executive Chairman.

Steve Hollis said: “The Board would like to place on record its appreciation to Tom for his many contributions and commitment over the last 18 months.”

“While the results this season have been disappointing he and his team have worked hard to put in place many changes necessary to put the Club on a more sustainable path for the future.”

“He leaves with our best wishes for the future.”

Kickboxing league Glory has announced a landmark partnership with UFC Fight Pass.

Through the deal between Glory and UFC Fight Pass, prostate future Glory SuperFight Series cards will air live on the UFC Fight Pass digital streaming platform.

Full story HERE.