Location: Monaco

Closing Date: 15th October

Overview:

Responsible for the delivery of great services and facilities to the media so they can bring the excitement, case adrenaline and drama of Athletics to millions of fans and athletes around the world. Reporting to the Deputy Director of Communications (who carries overall responsibility for Media Operations at IAAF events) in all aspects related to Media Operations at all World Athletics Series (WAS) Events and be the main person responsible for all WAS events other than the World Championships (WCH) and World Indoor Championships (WIC). Work in close cooperation with the Local Organising Committees (LOCs) of each WAS event on all matters related to Media Operations and help to evaluate, review and recommend media services and facilities to all other key athletic events like the Diamond League.

Main Roles:

– Handle general tasks related to Media Operations for all WAS events, including but not restricted to:

– liaise with Press Delegate and Photo Commissioner (if applicable), as well as any other relevant IAAF staff and competition Delegates for the organisation of site visits and delivery of WAS event

– prepare site visits, including agendas, reports and action lists

– remain in regular contact with the LOC after each site visit to ensure Media Ops delivery is on track, help solve any issues

– in cooperation with the Press Delegate and Photo Commissioner (if applicable), ensure coordination with the TV Delegate, Technical Delegate(s) and IAAF Competitions staff regarding common working areas (Main Media Centre, Mixed Zone, Infield) as applicable and in particular Photo areas

– prepare all documents required for the online Press Accreditation Registration System for each WAS event and monitor accreditation requests in compliance with specific rules for each media category

– prepare debriefs after each WAS, in cooperation with the Press Delegate and Photo Commissioner (if applicable)

– maintain documents and charts required for planning and follow-up 

The Candidate

– Previous working experience in media operations at major sports events is essential, both in the planning stages and during the competition, in particular: o planning of press facilities and services o working with partners and suppliers to set up all required media facilities o pre-competition event services for the media o handle media operations during the event

– relations with the media

– liaising between athletes and the media

– editorial skills (capable of writing press releases and information for the media)

– Previous working experience in media operations at athletics events is preferred

– Excellent verbal and written communications skills in English & French essential, other languages an asset

– Proficiency in the use of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) ? University degree in Journalism or Communications a plus

How to Apply

Click HERE to apply

 

Chelsea FC are on the brink of signing a major sponsorship deal with sportswear brand Nike.

It comes after the Premier League side cancelled their deal with Adidas. 

It’s believed the deal could be up to a value of $75 million a year.

Find out more HERE.

English Premier League club Arsenal have announced a loss of £3.4 million in its financial results for the six months ended November 30, health 2015.

The club did, cheap ed however, generic see an increase in turnover to £158.0 million, up from £148.5 million in 2014.

Read more HERE.

The Premier League has awarded Star India its exclusive broadcasting rights in India for seasons 2016/17 to 2018/19.

Star India will continue to broadcast Premier League matches on a live or delayed basis across India on the Star Sports channels, as well as stream all matches on its digital platforms, Hotstar and starsports.com.

“We are very pleased that Star India has again chosen to invest in our broadcasting rights,” Premier League Executive Chairman, Richard Scudamore, said.

“The popularity of Premier League football has increased significantly in India in recent seasons and the quality of Star’s production, and their promotion of our competition, is a major factor in that.”

Sanjay Gupta, COO, Star India, said: “Our partnership with the Premier League is in line with our strategy of promoting and building football as a priority sport in the country.

“We have been broadcasting Premier League football for the last 15 years, and this renewal reaffirms our faith in the strength of the competition as the best international football property.”

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WEMBLEY STADIUM 1st and 2nd February 2015

2016 marks the 18^th Birthday of SMMEX International; to celebrate we have grown to become a two day event. The popularity of the show increases year on year allowing us to pack more in to this unique meeting of industry leaders, clinic sports clubs and powers within the licensing world.

Visitors

Held inside Wembley Stadium itself, asthma SMMEX gives buyers and key decision makers the chance to meet up with premier suppliers of unique products and services in a relaxed, informal environment. The event sees representatives from professional sports clubs, blue chip companies, hotel chains, licence holders, media owners, retailers, schools/universities and venue operators.

Exhibitors

Last year with exhibitors from 22 different countries, SMMEX was indeed a truly international event. The growth has not gone unnoticed with our 2016 show already attracting a huge amount of interest and confirmed bookings from some of the biggest industry names. The 2016 event will be bigger than ever.

Seminars

Building on the success of last year’s programme, we will be including a full schedule of speakers, giving seminars from their unique positions within the licensing and merchandising world. On board already we have leaders from the worlds of football, retail, entertainment, licensing and tourism. Speakers are already from The FA, Samsung, IMG, Sainsbury’s, Nottingham Forest, Warner Brothers, Imperial War Museum, WWF, and British Library to name just a few.

SMMEX is focused on holding the best event in the industry, ever changing our approach and technique to suit the fluid landscape of the sports licensing world. So come and get involved on the 1^st and 2^nd of February 2016. SMMEX International is free to attend for all visitors making it a fantastic forum for networking, idea sharing and securing the big name contract your company is looking for.

To register for your free ticket to attend or to enquire about being part of the event as an exhibitor at SMMEX at Wembley Stadium on the 1^st and 2^nd of February visit our website at www.smmexevent.com

For more information, please contact us at info@smmexevent.com or on +44 (0)20 7821 8221

Former Real Madrid and Spain star Raúl has been named as the newest Laureus Ambassador.

Raúl, health who now plays for the New York Cosmos in America, sale said: “It is a privilege for me and also a responsibility to be a part of the Laureus Ambassadors team. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity of giving back everything that sport has given to me, thanks to this organisation that is involved in more than 150 social projects.

“I feel a great commitment to help get a better world and I will put all my effort into achieving that. It is an honour to be part of the Laureus Family.”

Laureus World Sports Academy Member and French World Cup winner Marcel Desailly said: “I am delighted that Raúl is now a Laureus Ambassador. He was a phenomenon as a player, one of the truly great goalscorers in the history of the game.

“I played against him many times for my clubs and my country and always found him a very talented, but very fair opponent. In a professional career lasting almost 20 years, he was never sent off. That is an amazing tribute to his sense of fairplay and honour. I look forward to working with him for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.”

Gabriel Masfurroll, President of the Laureus Foundation in Spain, said: “It is an honour to be able to have Raúl as an Ambassador of the Foundation.

“He is a legend of our football and a sportsman and person of impeccable credentials. I feel very happy to have Raúl as a member of the Laureus Family.”

Raúl joins a list of current and former sportsmen and women around the world who support and promote the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

FIFA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) for the implementation of the 2014 World Cup Legacy Fund.

The MoU was signed at FIFA headquarters by FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke and a CBF delegation.

The Legacy Fund will be a total of $100 million (£63 million) and will be used to promote development in areas such as infrastructure, women’s and grassroots football, healthcare and social programmes for underprivileged communities with a special focus on the 15 states that were not home to Brazil 2014’s Host Cities.

“The signing of this MoU confirms FIFA’s commitment towards the sustainable development of football in Brazil,” said FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.

“We are convinced that the legacy fund will be an excellent platform to spread the benefits of the unforgettable 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“As in South Africa and Brazil, it is also our intention to use the upcoming FIFA World Cups to promote the sustainable development of football in the host countries.”

CBF President José Maria Marin commented: “Through this legacy fund, the 2014 FIFA World Cup will prove a catalyst for Brazil’s football development, particularly at youth and grassroots level. We are truly convinced that Brazilians will remember the 2014 FIFA World Cup for generations to come as a tournament that made a fundamental contribution to our football.”

Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo added: “Today is an important day for Brazilian sport, as this legacy fund confirms the benefits the World Cup has brought and will bring to Brazil.”

The first project of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Legacy Fund unveiled by Valcke and Marin in July 2014, which will be four football pitches (three artificial and one natural grass) located next to Belem’s Estadio Olímpico do Para stadium, is almost complete.

While funding, monitoring and control will be the responsibility of FIFA, project proposals and implementation will be the responsibility of CBF based on specific plans submitted to and approved by FIFA.

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Exponential-e, the British Cloud and Network provider, has announced that it will be providing iSportconnect, the world’s largest network of sports business executives, with the infrastructure to deliver digital content across a growing number of media platforms.

iSportconnect will keep sport executives up to speed on the latest developments within the industry using Exponential-e’s 100Gig Ethernet Network and to deliver its services, which include an online TV channel, a market place for investors and a recruitment portal.

“Excited by real-time intensity, today’s sporting executives demand a high definition digital experience. One that extends beyond the stadium and provides a gateway for consuming real-time information on the latest developments within the sporting world across multiple channels,” commented Sree Varma, Founder and CEO of iSportconnect.

“Exponential-e understands the expectations of today’s hyper-connected sports professionals and provides us with a platform that is capable of keeping them engaged. Given the company’s strong heritage working with some of the UK’s most prestigious sports organisations including Fulham FC and the Lawn Tennis Association(LTA), we are delighted to be entering into a strategic partnership that makes Exponential-e our exclusive IT solutions provider.”

Crucially, Exponential-e’s uncontended, private and secure network is capable of handling large media files, ensuring that iSportconnect can provide members with access to dynamic content – such as audio and video – online.

The low latency, high-speed network provides a robust infrastructure designed to reduce any jittering when content is being streamed, regardless of what device is being used or whether it is being accessed at peak times.

As part of the solution, iSportconnect will be able to monitor which of its services are being used by members and control the bandwidth allocated to each application to maintain a consistent, high-quality user experience.

In addition, the Exponential-e Cloud-ready network delivers all services down a single piece of fibre so iSportconnect can simply scale additional services up or down to cope with peaks and troughs in demand.

“Since it’s inception in 2002 Exponential-e has been providing services to the sports industry, supporting stadium connectivity links, online betting networks and club or federation TV channels,” concludes Maria Cappella, Chief Operating Officer of Exponential-e.

“As a result, we are confident that iSportconnect is the ideal partner for us to collaboratively deliver exceptional high-speed communication to the sporting industry in this digital age. This exciting partnership agreement will enable us to provide a better service the UK’s and Europe’s sporting arena, with iSportconnect’s members, which include senior decision makers from all sporting clubs, now having access to Exponential-e’s unique services ”

About Exponential-e

Exponential-e is a British Cloud and networking pioneer with a difference. Its Cloud services do not transcend the public Internet. Instead, they reside on a customer’s LAN, on the clean side of the firewall so security and privacy concerns are negated. Exponential-e wholly owns a super-fast 100 Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2 VPLS Network that guarantees a superior level of resilience, reliability and performance. Exponential-e also integrates with third party providers and bespoke applications for both the enterprise and SMEs with an end-to-end SLA.

That’s why it’s trusted by 1,700 customers, boasts 96% customer reference-ability and features in the London Stock Exchange’s Top 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain.

Exponential-e’s services are delivered down one pipe, enabling 100% network visibility and control. The company has demonstrated the highest levels of compliance with industry standards and has been awarded five ISO accreditations as well as the highly coveted Cloud Security Alliance STAR. Exponential-e’s product portfolio includes services for Cloud & IT, Voice, Networking, Data Centres and Professional Services.

Connect with Exponential-e:

Twitter:https://twitter.com/Exponential_e

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/29666

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Exponentialltd

The Millennium Stadium is unlikely to see a revamp of its two-tier north stand to complete three tiers all around the stadium.

BBC Wales is reporting that sources have told them the cost of the work would not be recouped and would only raise the capacity slightly.

However, order the ground in Cardiff could have an artificial pitch by the summer of 2014.

Speaking to iSportconnect in February, Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) CEO Roger Lewis said: “The reason why we are considering such a radical move for an international rugby stadium is because we use the stadium for a range of other activities.

“If we can avoid having to take the pitch out and then bring it back in, we would save a minimum of a quarter of a million pounds.

“Laying an artificial pitch is roughly half a million pounds which is obviously a considerable cost saving.”

An artificial pitch would however prevent the Millennium Stadium hosting a European football final, such as the Champions League or Europa League.

UEFA rules prevent games being played on unnatural surfaces.

If the pitch is installed it will be the first major rugby Test match stadium to adopt an artificial surface.