At a Soccerex press conference in Mexico City on Wednesday, a panel of distinguished guests announced the plans for the Soccerex Americas Forum 2016 and confirmed the first selection of VIPs set to attend the event, including Carlos Alberto Torres, captain of the legendary 1970 FIFA World Cup winning Brazil team, lifting the trophy in Mexico’s famous Azteca Stadium.

The Soccerex Americas Forum, held in partnership with leading sports marketing agency Global W Mexico and the Mexico City Government (CDMX), will be taking place at the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City on 11-12 May. The event will bring together over 700 senior decision makers from the global football industry, with international experts delivering over 10 hours of top level business insight through a programme of conference panels and presentations and over 24 hours of unrivalled networking opportunities provided through an exhibition, featuring over 40 companies and a series of networking and social events.

Duncan Revie expressed his excitement at holding the first Soccerex in Mexico in partnership with the team at Global W Mexico and announced that the Americas Forum will see David Dein, one of the founders of The Premier League, look at the secrets of establishing league growth alongside representatives from MLS, Liga MX and LaLiga, who are partners of the event.

Revie also confirmed that the Forum will include a star studded session looking at the development of players, both in Mexico and globally, which will feature Gerard Houllier, former Liverpool FC Manager and now Head of Global Football, Red Bull, alongside Gaizka Mendieta and Carlos Alberto Torres. Torres is an ambassador for Soccerex and confirmed his attendance at the Forum via a specially recorded video message at the press conference.

Some of the topics to be addressed at the Forum include digital marketing, international growth, player transfers and the Hispanic influence on football business in the US.

Other topics to be addressed at the Forum include the impact of digital marketing in football, the international growth of the game, player transfers and the Hispanic influence on football business in the US.

Rodrigo Lopez Jurado welcomed Soccerex to Mexico and announced that Movistar will be partners of the event. He also spoke with former players Kikin Fonseca and Gaizka Mendieta about their experiences of Soccerex events and the impact they felt it could make on Mexico’s football industry.

With the support of key figures like Fonseca and Mendieta and football clubs such as Inter Milan, Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona and Valencia already signed up to join leading international brands such as Telefonica and Fox Sports, the Americas Forum will be a must attend event for anyone interested in doing business in the football industry.

For more information on the Soccerex Americas Forum, please go to www.soccerex.com/americas, call +44 (0)20 8987 5522 or email enquiry@soccerex.com.

Source: Soccerex

Mario Vázquez Raña, former IOC member, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and publisher, has died aged 82. 

A member of the IOC from 1991 to 2012, Vázquez Raña played a central role in promoting sport and the Olympic Movement in his home nation of Mexico, the Americas and around the world. 

“Mario Vázquez Raña dedicated a great part of his life to Olympic sport”, said IOC President Thomas Bach. “He served over decades with great commitment as President of PASO, even until his last moments.”

He headed the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) from 1979 to 2012, and was chairman of the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) from 1975 until his death – during which time he has also president and director of Latin America’s largest newspaper company, Organización Editorial Mexicana. 

Vázquez Raña was also president and director general of Cartones Ponderosa from 2001-2015, owner of United Press International from 1985 to 1988 and president of the board of directors of the Hermanos Vázquez Company from 1960 to 1980. 

A keen sportsman, Vázquez Raña participated in shooting competitions at the national and international level, going on to become president of the Mexican Shooting Federation (1969-1974) and the American Shooting Confederation (1973-1979). He was also vice-president of the Mexican Sports Confederation (1973-1976) and president of the Mexican National Olympic Committee (1974-2001).

Vázquez Raña’s roles within the IOC included appointments as Executive Board member, Chairman of Olympic Solidarity (2002-2012) and president of the Organising Committee for the 114th IOC Session in Mexico City (2002). 

He was also a member of a number of IOC Commissions: Olympic Movement (1990-1999); Preparation of the XII Olympic Congress (1990-1994); Apartheid and Olympism (1990-1992); IOC 2000 Executive Committee (1999); Marketing (2000); IOC 2000 Reform Follow-up (2002); and 2009 Congress (2009-2010).

“He had outstanding merit within the Olympic Movement and we will always remember him as a great Olympic leader. The Olympic flag at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne will be flown at half-mast in his honour,” said president Bach. 

The IOC also expressed its deepest sympathies to Mario Vázquez Raña’s family.

Mexico City has simultaneously been awarded the right to host archery’s two biggest events : the World Cup Final in 2015 and the World Championships in 2017. 

Mexico is a fast-growing region for the sport, developing into a key market for international archery following the team’s success at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Mexico was the only nation to put two athletes on the same podium at London 2012, with Aida Roman winning recurve women’s silver and Mariana Avitia winning bronze. 

The hosting rights were awarded through a bidding procedure.

“There is a formal bid process, with candidate cities, countries or federations submitting a World Archery-standard bid document and questionnaire, which is usually supported by an additional dossier produced by the LOC,” a spokesperson for World Archery told HOST CITY.

“Our Executive Board votes on its preferred hosts based on this bid documentation.”

Poland and Ukraine had also put in a joint bid for the 2017 World Championships. The World Archery federation was founded in Lviv and a bid is anticipated for future event, particularly as the 2019 World Championships will be the 50th edition. 

And for the 2015 World Cup Final, South Korea was the other party interested in hosting rights. 

World Archery cited the backing of Mexico City’s Mayor Dr Miguel Angel Mancera, Director of Sport and former athlete Mr Horacio de la Vega, national government and broadcasters as the key players in persuading the World Archery Executive Board to award both events to the same organiser.

“It is a sport on the rise in popularity and participation and there is a significant audience for its international events and athletes within the country,” de la Vega said.

2015 will be the second time that Mexico has hosted the Archery World Cup Final, after hosting the inaugural World Cup Final at the Mayapan Pyramids in 2006, when nearby Merida also hosted the World Archery Youth Championships.

Mexico City hosted the Olympic Games in 1968 and has also hosted the Pan American, Caribbean and Central American Games. 

Mexico City promoted its candidature by creating the Mexican Challenge, first held at the end of 2013. The innovative event – produced by Moveo Lab, the sports company that will organise both the newly-awarded tournaments – pitched eight of Mexico’s finest against eight top archers from the rest of the world.

World Archery Secretary General Mr Tom Dielen said “With the Mexican Challenge concept, this organising committee proved that it shares our values of putting athletes at the heart of international archery competition. We are confident it will build on that success with two of World Archery’s flagship tournaments.”

The two tournaments offer very different dynamics. The annual World Cup Final is held over a weekend, features the year’s top 32 athletes and focuses on individual match-play and sports presentation. The final of the 2014 Archery World Cup will be held in the Olympic capital of Lausanne, where World Archery has its headquarters. 

The biannual World Championships involve more than 500 archers from 70 nations over ten days. The 2015 World Archery Championships will be hosted in Copenhagen.

For future events, prospective host organisations can contact World Archery directly to see which events are currently open for bidding.