The organisers of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games have insisted the event will be delivered on time and to the budget agreed, viagra sale despite heavy criticism from IOC Vice-President John Coates.

Coates described the preparations for Rio 2016 as the “worst I have ever experienced”, anabolics labelling Rio as behind Athens 2004, who came under mass scrutiny for their lack of organisation.

However, the organising committee in Rio has responded by saying the city will host excellent Games that will be delivered within the agreed timelines and budgets.

A statement read: “It is time for us to focus on the work to be done and on engaging with society. The support of the International Olympic Committee is also crucial. We have a historic mission: to organise the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil and in South America.

“We are going to achieve this. In 2016, Rio will host excellent games that will be delivered absolutely within the agreed timelines and budgets.”

IOC remain confident

Following Coates’ remarks, the IOC also issued a statement and said they were working with their partners to support the Games and that they still believed Rio was capable of providing outstanding Games.

The IOC also confirmed that Executive Director Gilbert Felli would be visiting Rio again to assess the situation.

The IOC commented: “Mr Felli has received a very positive response on the ground in the past few days, and a number of recent developments show that things are moving in the right direction.

“Now is a time to look forward to work together and to deliver great games for Rio, Brazil and for the world, and not to engage in discussion of the past.

“We continue to believe that Rio is capable of providing outstanding games.”

The preparations for Rio 2016 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil have come under increased pressure for the lack of progress.

Many venues and infrastructure for Rio 2016 are behind schedule and Coates complained of a lack of communication from the organising committee.

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iSportconnect TV is proud to announce the launch of Weekly Round Up chat show on Friday evening, recipe with insights and analysis of three top stories in sports.

Hosted by James Pearce and with guests Ashling O’Connor, medicine columnist for The Independent and brand expert Nigel Currie, this week’s round up show focuses on the debt burden at Real Madrid, the likelihood of an NFL franchise in London and the appointment of Thomas Bach as the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Tune in to iSportconnect TV to hear the views of Ashling and Nigel on these topical subjects and make sure to tune in every Friday for more insights and analysis from industry experts.

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Digital sports media group PERFORM has announced the proposed acquisition of sports data company Opta for £40m ($61m).

PERFORM are owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik and will take over Opta conditional on a successful £120m ($183m) fundraising.

Opta is a market leader in collecting, ed packaging, analysing and distributing sports data in digital format to the media, betting and professional sports sectors.

Their clients include the Premier League, German Bundesliga, The ERC and the England and Wales Cricket Board, amongst others.

Oliver Slipper, joint CEO of PERFORM said the deal would allow the company to capitalise on the growing demand for sports statistics.

Slipper said: “We felt over the past year or two that sports data for the media sector?.?.?.?is becoming a more and more important part of their content mix.”

The £40m ($61m) purchase price could be increased by a performance-based incentive of up to £7m ($10.7m) that has been offered to Opta managers.

An official statement read: “The proposed acquisition would strengthen both PERFORM and Opta’s position in key European markets and would enhance PERFORM’s current portfolio of sports content solutions.

“Opta would also enable PERFORM to maximise the significant consumer opportunity in rich data by integrating Opta’s suite of products into PERFORM’s direct to consumer platforms, including leading global football site Goal.”

Patrick Yau, analyst at Peel Hunt, is reported as saying in the Financial Times: “This consolidates its critical mass in the industry and further raises the barriers to entry to prospective competitors, of which there are currently few.”

Yau also said that whilst the deal was ‘not particularly cheap,’ it did make ‘good strategic sense.’

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By Steve Moorhouse

Premiership rugby club London Welsh have no desire to move from the Kassam Stadium in Oxford, no rx because the area fits the team’s marketing model, according to the CEO.

London Welsh share the Kassam with League Two football club Oxford United, but CEO Tony Copsey believes that the area is perfect for a Premiership rugby club.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Copsey said: “The Kassam is perfect. It is a great stadium and the market place of Oxfordshire is great for us. I am a great believer in market places and this fits the model within this club. The economy in Oxford is also good and strong and there are a lot of good local businesses.

“The other thing is if you look at London Welsh’s attendances, from averaging less than a thousand last year in the Championship, to now averaging crowds of well over five thousand, it goes to show the level of support in the area.

“Of the five thousand, around 75% are from the Oxford area, so there is definitely an appetite for rugby, so there is much better marketing with these strategies in place.

“It is a great area where I think a Premiership rugby club can be successful.”

The Exiles have had a tough first season back in the Premiership and were recently docked five points for fielding an illegible player, a decision that Copsey described as ‘harsh.’

The team now have three games to secure their Premiership status and they are currently bottom of the league standings.

Tony Copsey spoke at length with iSportconnect about the points deductions, marketing strategies, battles with the RFU and more. Read the full interview here >>

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Emirates Airline have renewed a deal for an additional seven years which confirms Emirates as a Global Partner for all ICC events from 2016-2023.

The ICC and the Emirates relationship dates back to 2002, diagnosis when the airline came on board as a sponsor of the ICC.

The partnership was strengthened with Emirates becoming the ICC’s official partner for the 2007-2015 events cycle and the official sponsor of the ICC’s elite panel of umpires and match referees.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “I am delighted that Emirates has decided to continue its support for cricket by extending its partnership with the ICC.

“The ongoing support of the world class Emirates brand is a compliment to the health and popularity of the game and we are grateful for their assistance in ensuring that our events can continue to grow from strength to strength.”

This new deal is an extension and expansion of that partnership as Emirates will continue its sponsorship of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Match Referees; with the Fly Emirates logo being displayed prominently on the umpires’ clothing when they are officiating at all international cricket matches.

Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand said: “The renewal of our partnership with the ICC confirms our commitment to cricket, which dates all the way back to 1999 when we sponsored the Australian team, which went on to win the World Cup.”

“Since then, cricket has offered us a powerful platform to connect with fans and communities of cricket playing nations across Asia, Australasia and the UK. We look forward to celebrating the best moments of this inspiring sport for upcoming tournaments and events.”

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Sports and media company IMG has been awarded the live broadcast and digital clips rights by the Premier League for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia for the 2016-18 period.

The new deal takes includes 27 markets; Armenia, drug Belarus, ailment Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Richard Scudamore, Premier League Executive Chairman, said: “IMG is a current Premier League rights holder and we are very pleased they have again chosen to invest in our competition. We look forward to working with them to distribute all the best Premier League content to our many fans across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.”

Victor Blundell, SVP, IMG Media, said: “The Premier League is the most exciting league in the world and we are pleased to be offering live coverage to broadcasters in these regions, where it already has a massive following. Interest is enhanced by a number of top players from several of these countries plying their trade in the English top flight.”

David Beckham expects his new Miami Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise to be up and running in six weeks.

Beckham was speaking to the Daily Star Sunday and said he has plans to run the club in the mould of his former club Manchester United. 

“We want the club to be run professionally – everything needs to be run like a club like Manchester United. You have to look at it like that,” said Beckham. 

“Luckily, I’ve had a little bit of experience in that and I definitely will be a demanding owner.

“I definitely won’t get involved in team decisions though – the way players are playing and things like that.

“But I’m not going to manage or coach. I won’t get involved in any of that. I will just be the owner.”

Beckham, 40, says the process of forming the Miami franchise has been a long one, but they are in the best position they have been since deciding to create the team.

“We’re in a very good position – better than we were a year ago,” he added.

“It’s been a long process and I didn’t think it would be as difficult as it has been – but dealing with the political side of things in Miami has been a lot more difficult.

“I have never been an owner of a team before, so you have to deal with these things.

“But we’ve found a site where we want the stadium and we have to build it before we can come into the league. Our aim is 2018 but trying to build a team is something I’ve dreamed of since being a kid.

“There have been a few speed bumps along the way but I believe we are closer now than we’ve ever been.

“So hopefully in the next six weeks we’ll be able to announce the site of the stadium, the stadium plans and then we’ll move on – it’s really exciting.”