Soccerex and the Football League have signed a memorandum of understanding, committing to work together to make sure that football continues to develop across the League. 

The agreement gives the Sky Bet Football League a major role at the Soccerex Global Convention, which takes place from 6-10 September in Manchester. 

The Football League, the oldest competition in world football, today encompasses the three top divisions immediately below the Premiership. 

Addressing issues such as club ownership, finance and betting, the League and Soccerex will work together to make sure that senior representatives from every one of the 72 Football League clubs attend the event. The League will also have a significant presence within the exhibition and play an integral part of the conference programme. 

“Networking and knowledge sharing is an extremely valuable component for our development and Soccerex is the best football business event for this,” said Shaun Harvey, CEO of the Football League. 

“We will be working closely with them to ensure a strong turnout from our club members so they can make most of the important opportunities that Soccerex presents.”

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said: “Having grown up amidst the excitement and success of the Football League with my dad at Leeds United and Manchester City, I have witnessed what this institution has done for our sport. Signing this MoU signals our intent to work with the best in the business and we look forward to welcoming all of the 72 clubs to Manchester.”

The Football League join an growing roster of names lining up for the Convention that already includes FIFA President Joseph Blatter, FIFA Vice-President Jim Boyce, British Olympic Association Chairman Lord Coe, RFU CEO Ian Ritchie and England and Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.

The Convention kicks off with the Football Festival on 6-7th September with the conference starting on Monday 8th September.

For more information please visit http://www.soccerex.com/global or email enquiry@soccerex.com

Preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are “the worst I have experienced” and “worse than Athens”, according to IOC Vice President John Coates.

“The situation is critical on the ground,” he said at an Olympic Forum in Sydney on Tuesday.

While the IOC is taking “unprecedented” action in an attempt to resolve “critical” construction delays, there is “no plan B” for the possibility of Rio not being ready to host the Games in 2016.

Coates has been involved in the Olympic movement for 20 years and has made six visits to Rio as a member of the IOC Coordination Commission, overseeing Rio’s preparations.

According to a statement from the Australian Olympic Committee, of which Coates is the president, IOC experts have been embedded in the organising committee, including construction project manager to ensure that works progress at the faster pace needed.

“The IOC has formed a special task force to try and speed up preparations,” said Coates. 

The Rio 2016 organising committee has not responded directly to Coates’ comments, but it has said that it welcomes the intervention from the IOC. 

“Very concerned”

“I’ve become very concerned, to be quite frank,” said Coates. “The last Coordination Commission visit earlier this month showed that they are really not ready in many, many ways. 

“And then we followed that up with a meeting in Turkey two weeks ago when 18 of the federations said the organisers were not ready in respect of their venues, particularly in the case of the eight sports in the second Olympic Park at Deodoro. Really, construction hasn’t commenced there apart from a bit of ground clearance.”

Speaking on the BBC World Service on Tuesday night, Jefferson Puff, a BBC correspondent in Brazil said “If Deodoro was their only concern I think the IOC would be in heaven, because it’s so much more than that.

“The subway in the city was supposed to be extended, and that has been delayed. The bay in which some of the maritime competitions are supposed to take place is completely polluted. Critics say it will be very hard to clean it up in time. 

“The budget for the Olympics is also a concern. You could argue that it’s basically a case of mismanagement of planning, of the money involved.”

“The challenges for sport leaders and team management is that they’re not getting answers to the questions when they go over,” said Coates. 

“Can they use the car parks in the village for recovery centres? What will be the time to take from this venue to this venue? All of those things, they’re being fobbed off. No one is able to give answers at the moment.”

"No plan B"

Despite the very real possibility that Rio might not be ready in time, there has been no mention of any other cities that might be ready to host if necessary.  

“The IOC has adopted a more hands on role. It is unprecedented for the IOC but there is no plan B. We are going to Rio,” Coates said. “From my experience it’s the worst that I have experienced but we just have to make it happen and that’s the IOC’s approach.

“You can’t walk away from this. And if this comes off, the first Games in the South American continent in the magical city in so many ways it will be a wonderful experience for the athletes.”

Comparisons have been drawn between Rio’s Olympic projects and Brazil’s last minute rush to host the 2014 World Cup, which starts on 12 June. 

“I think maybe the organisers of the Olympics are actually betting with destiny, betting with the future – hoping that they can accomplish the same,” said Puff. “Only for the critics, the delays for the Olympics are bigger than for the World Cup already, so one could argue that the game they are playing is quite risky.”

The International Triathlon Union [ITU], the sports federation that governs the Olympic sport of Triathlon, has hired Vero Communications to develop an international communications strategy, liaise with international sports media and promote the federation. 

Vero will also help boost the ITU’s profile on social media platforms and work on a digital media strategy to increase public engagement worldwide.

“Since Triathlon joined the Olympic Programme at Sydney 2000, the sport has grown in popularity around the world,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member for Spain. “ITU is immensely proud of Triathlon’s Olympic and Paralympic status and we look forward to continuing the sport’s development internationally and engaging new participants and fans.

“With Vero’s proven expertise in international sport, combined with the work of the ITU team, we know we have a very strong group to help us grow our communications and engagement over the coming years.”

Vero, based in London and led by chairman Mike Lee OBE, works with a number of international sports federations as well as cities bidding for mega-events, including Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018 and Qatar 2022.

“The federation has a real ambition to harness the appeal of Triathlon in existing markets and spread the message of the sport to new parts of the world,” said Lee. “ITU has a very positive story to tell and our role will be to help ensure that this story is communicated effectively to international sporting stakeholders, media and fans.”

Visitors to Casa da Russia – or House of Russia –  will be able to enjoy reading HOST CITY magazine, which is renowned for its insights into the business of hosting major sporting events. 

Casa da Russia will hosted in Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Modern Art and operated by Eventica Communications.

“With facilities for media, government offices, hospitality lounges and a programme of events for Russian and international guests, the Casa da Russia will be Russia’s home from home at Brazil 2014, and will provide a perfect opportunity for Russia – the next host country of the FIFA World Cup – to showcase preparations and the host cities of Russia 2018,” Eventica said.

As part of the partnership, HOST CITY will also preview activities at Casa da Russia as part of its online news coverage of the 2014 Brazil World Cup. 

During the World Cup, matches will be broadcast live on big screens. Casa da Russia also promises to host a Russian cultural extravaganza, with guest musicians, bands, DJs and artists participating in a month-long celebration of Russia.

Baltika has signed as the exclusive Beer Partner for Casa da Russia, following successful partnerships with Eventica over many years, including at the Russian Winter Festival in London’s Trafalgar Square from 2005 to 2008 and at Russia.Sochi.Park – the official Russian hospitality venues in London during the 2012 Olympic Games.

The accreditation process for the press centre at Casa da Russia is already open. In the first week of opening, the organisers Eventica Communications registered 160 Russian and British journalists from media including O Globo, TV Record Brasília, Sky Sports, Sportbox, Russia Today, Sport FM and many more. 

For more information visit http://www.eventica.co.uk/?p=5817#more-5817

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday awarded NBCUniversal the US broadcast rights for the Olympic Games through to 2032.

The deal covers all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile. The agreement will run from 2021 to 2032, extending an agreement in 2011 which gave NBCU the right to broadcast the Olympic Games until 2020. 

NBCU will now broadcast every Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games through to 2032, regardless of which host cities are elected to host these events.

The deal is valued at US$ 7.65bn with an extra US$100m signing bonus that will be used to promote Olympism and the Olympic values between 2015 and 2020, the IOC said in a statement.

“This agreement is excellent news for the entire Olympic Movement as it helps to ensure its financial security in the long term, in particular future host cities of the Olympic Games, the athletes of the 204 National Olympic Committees and the International Sports Federations,” said IOC President Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations.

“The IOC has worked in close partnership with NBC for many decades, and we are thrilled we will continue to work with them through to 2032. NBC’s expertise in sports broadcasting, as well as their passion for the Olympic values, will mean we shall be able continue to offer first-class broadcast coverage of the Olympic Games to the widest possible American audience for many years to come.”

Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal, said: “The Olympics are part of the fabric of our company, and we couldn’t be more excited that today’s announcement guarantees that this massively popular and profitable programming will continue to air every two years on the broadcast, cable, digital and mobile platforms of NBCUniversal for the next two decades."

NBCU first broadcast the Olympic Games in Tokyo 1964. By 2032, it will have covered a total of 23 editions of the world’s biggest multisport event.

HOST CITY: Which areas of preparation will require the greatest focus and dedication in the final two months before the Games?

David Grevemberg: The final areas are security and transport. You want people to have an absolutely safe time; you want things to be secure and people to really be able to trust that. It’s the same with transport: you want reliability, accessibility and making sure people are connected and able to get where they need to.

There are so many great learnings from London 2012, like good contract management when it comes to security in particular. What we’ve done is to diversify in terms of private contracting and stewarding: we have put together several lots on a site-specific basis. This requires good contract management but gives us better resilience.

HOST CITY: What impact do you think hosting the Games will have on the perceptions of Glasgow?

David Grevemberg: Glasgow has seen a reputation and recognition enhancement over the last 10 years of pursuing the Games.

It has garnered more recognition in terms of tourism, entertainment and sport, because of the number of events that are being awarded to Glasgow. Great examples beyond 2014 are the World Gymnastics Championships and the IPC Swimming World Championships. All these are testament to Glasgow being recognised as a place where great sport lives.

This is a huge confidence boost. We are raising the bar; we win together and we deliver – that’s going to make the history that Glasgow wants.

HOST CITY: What do you think Glasgow 2014 will contribute to the Commonwealth itself?

David Grevemberg: We’ve asked people what the Commonwealth means to them and they’ve said that the leadership of the Commonwealth is something that is admirable and inspiring: people like Her Majesty, Ghandi and Mandela.

We’ve also been incredibly provocative in challenging the Commonwealth, understanding the good the bad and the ugly: the tremendous industrial renaissance, but also some of the more uncomfortable connections that we have, such as empire, colonialism and slavery.

This has been a great occasion for a refreshed conversation about the modern Commonwealth. These values of peace, prosperity, democracy, humanity, equality and destiny are all at the heart of the Commonwealth secretariat.

Our focus is about looking at the citizens of the Commonwealth and truly empowering young people in a way that has not been done before. Whether that is offering the opportunity for young children to create our mascot or our tartan, or allowing 16-year olds to become volunteers – that has been seldom done at an event of this level.

What do you think the future holds for the Commonwealth Games?

David Grevemberg: There are very different markets right now in terms of hosting the events. You have emerging markets and regenerative markets, and some are a bit of a combination. Both have different opportunities and challenges, and it’s making sure that fits right for your event and your rights, as a rights owner.

One of the biggest challenges is to continue to make sure that the Games represent quality, quantity and universality. As the Commonwealth Games Federation moves forwards and future hosts come down, it’s about really making sure that the Games can manage all of that and perpetuate itself further by ensuring that it is continually relevant.

Do you have any plans or hopes for your own next moves after the Games?

David Grevemberg: My main focus right now is to deliver a fantastic Games. I have enjoyed the opportunity to deliver on ambition, particularly at a very anxious time in the world – to be part of something that is so ambitious and so positive.

I’ve learned quite a lot that’s going to really benefit me moving forward, in whatever roles I take on next, because it’s really given me a sense of what is possible when you get all the plans to align, in terms of the private, public and third sector.

When you look at sporting events not only as multinational events but also “multi-rational” events, with multiple rationales for why you are doing this, you are not just having an event that goes from city to city and becomes very nationalistic.

Beyond all that, we are a force for social, cultural, environmental and economic impact, from a local to a global level. All those things play into a broader agenda, which is where I think the world of sport is heading.

For the full interview with David Grevemberg, please read the current issue of HOST CITY magazine

Tickets for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will go back on sale on at 10 AM on Wednesday 21 May, the organising committee has announced. 

The website crashed shortly after opening on Monday after a rush for remaining tickets for the Games. The site will now be reopened on Wednesday, with tickets being made available for different events over the course of three days as part of a “phased approach”.

With sports fans eager to grasp the remaining 50,000 or so tickets that remain, the organising committee has also introduced free postage and a freephone ticketing hotline to help relieve pressure on the website.

“While we sold more than 60,000 tickets through our ticketing website and hotline last week and saw the most incredible support and enthusiasm from the public, the experience of purchasing tickets was frustrating and unacceptable for some people,” said David Grevemberg, Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014. 

“Over the past few days we’ve been working with our Official Ticketing Agent Ticketmaster with the aim of re-establishing a positive ticketing sales experience for the many thousands of people who want to be part of the Games.”

It is hoped that spreading sales over a number of days and platforms will help manage demand on the website. 

The organising committee will announce which sports will be released for sale on which days early next week.

From Wednesday at 10 AM, customers will be able to buy from an initial batch of sports and Ceremonies, the organising committee said in a statement. Further tickets for further events will be available on Thursday and by Friday all remaining tickets will be on public sale.  “With additional measures in place aimed at managing demand and the addition of free postage on all orders and a Freephone Ticketing Hotline, we aim to get back to the business of ensuring remaining tickets are sold and that thousands more people can begin to look forward to experiencing the excitement of the Games,” said Grevemberg.

Ticketmaster – Glasgow 2014’s Official Ticketing Agent – has been investigating and testing the performance issues experienced since the closure of the online ticketing sales platform.

Chris Edmonds, Chairman Ticketmaster UK said: “Our team has been working tirelessly to review, analyse and rectify the issues that were experienced on the site. Our priority remains to ensure that customers have the best possible experience when securing their tickets for the Games.”

Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee announced the membership  on Thursday of 14 working groups that will develop “Olympic Agenda 2020” – the IOC’s roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. 

Agenda 2020 centres on five themes: the uniqueness of the Olympic Games, athletes at the heart of the Olympic Movement, Olympism in action, the IOC’s role and IOC structure and organisation.

Each working group is to be chaired by an IOC member. John Coates, an outspoken critic of Rio’s preparations, is to head up the working group on bidding procedure. Sir Craig Reedie is to lead on good governance and autonomy. 

The working groups include athletes and representatives of the International Federations and National Olympic Committees. A number of experts have also been appointed from outside the Olympic Movement, including representatives from leading international non-governmental and business organisations. 

The aim of the working groups is to compile and discuss contributions to the Olympic Agenda 2020, which the IOC describes as a “strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement”. Many contributions to the debate of the future of the Olympic Movement have already been received from the Olympic Family and wider public via a call for feedback via email. 

The working groups will first meet in June, close to Olympic Day, and their findings discussed at the Olympic Summit in July and at an Executive Board Meeting on 22-24th October in Lausanne. The resulting proposals for Olympic Agenda 2020 will then be presented to all IOC members for discussion at the IOC Extraordinary Session in Monaco on 8 and 9 December 2014.

The 14 Working Groups are: Bidding Procedure (Chair John D. Coates, AC); Sustainability and Legacy (Chair Prince Sovereign Albert II); Differentiation of the Olympic Games (Chair Sam Ramsamy); Procedure for the composition of the Olympic Programme (Chair Franco Carraro); Olympic Games Management (Chair Mario Pescante); Protecting Clean Athletes (Chair Claudia Bokel); Olympic TV Channel (Chair Thomas Bach); Olympism in action including Youth Strategy; (Chair Gerardo Werthein); Youth Olympic Games (Chair Ser Miang Ng); Culture Policy (Chair Lambis V. Nikolaou); Good governance and autonomy (Chair Craig Reedie); Ethics (Chair Youssoupha Ndiaye); Strategic review of sponsorship, licensing and merchandising (Chair Tsunekazu Takeda); IOC Membership (Chair The Grand Duke Henri of Luxemburg).

The complete list of Working Groups can be viewed here.

The World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte has revealed plans for its fan fest, which will show matches and a programme of other world class entertainment for a live audience of up to 21,000 people for free.

Belo Horizonte’s announcement is in sharp contrast to problems elsewhere in Brazil. 

Providing a fan fest is a contractual obligation for all FIFA World Cup host cities. FIFA is still waiting for confirmation about whether the host city of Recife will be able to fulfil its obligation to provide a fan fest during the World Cup. Funding for the project has yet to be confirmed.

Salvador might also have to break its obligation to provide a fan fest, for similar reasons. The Secretary of Ecopa Salvador, the municipal office responsible for World Cup activities there, admitted last week that fulfilling the Fan Fest depends on the outcome of continuing sponsorship negotiations.

Belo Horizonte is hosting six World Cup matches, including a semi-final on 8th July. Its fan fest will be open on all match days in Belo Horizonte and every weekend during the World Cup. 

The site, encompassing three pavilions and located in the city’s 16,000 sq m Expominas centre, will host more than 40 events during the World Cup tournament in a celebration of Brazilian music, entertainment and cuisine. 

The programme will feature a selection of famous Brazilian musicians including Daniela Mercury, with at least one major national artist will perform every day. ABRASEL, Brazil’s association of bars and restaurants, has partnered with the fan fest to provide high quality catering including local specialities.

The fan fest site will also host the media centre for accredited and non-accredited journalists, with 84 working stations, free wifi, televisions for transmission of the games and a direct view of the Belo Horizonte fan fest arena. 

Work stations and leisure space will also be provided for all volunteers taking part in the World Cup project. Embassies and consulates of national teams competing in the tournament will also have a dedicated area onsite.

“We have spent a lot of time looking at how we can deliver the best visitor experience for all of the football fans that will come to Belo Horizonte and we believe that they will have a fantastic time celebrating this festival of football at our FIFA fan fest,” said Camillo Fraga, Municipal Secretary for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – Host City, Belo Horizonte.

“We have also invested in our local infrastructure to ensure that all of our visitors and residents will be able to move swiftly and safely from our fan fest site to the stadium and around our city. We cannot wait for this global football experience to start and welcoming fans from across the world to Belo Horizonte.”

The international media expresses prejudice within developed nations against the capacity of developing countries like Brazil to host global sports events, the country’s deputy sports minister said on Wednesday. 

Speaking at a press conference in response to a question from HOST CITY about the severe delays in Brazil’s preparations to host mega events, Luis Fernandes said “In sectors of the public opinion of richer countries, there is prejudice directed against developing countries and their capacity to deliver major global sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympic Games.

“I’ll give you an example: We had a sad tragedy in the preparation for the World Cup in a city in Southern Brazil where there was a fire in a nightclub and in which a number of youngsters were killed. And sectors of the press, both international and national, took up that specific case to question Brazil’s capacity of organizing the World Cup and Olympic Games. 

“When similar accidents occurred in the UK, in France, in Russia, in China before hosting major global events, the same questioning or the same scepticism was not directed against those countries; so that is a prejudiced point of view from our perspective.”

HOST CITY asked if he thought that FIFA’s deadlines should be more lenient in certain countries where there may be a tendency for preparations to take longer. 

“We are not happy with whatever delays exist," Fernandes said. "It would have been better to have all World Cup stadiums delivered already by December 2013 so that we could, in sequence, test all aspects of operations of those stadiums throughout the first semester.

“We had two stadiums that were delivered late and that had more acute problems of delays; those were the stadiums in São Paulo and Curitiba, so that put extra pressure on our organizational capacity because we had to make a number of tests in parallel that would have been held easier and in a more calm fashion if they could have been done in sequence.”

Fernandes drew parallels with the Confederations Cup, preparations for which also ran behind schedule. “The same type of doubts or scepticism or prejudice also manifested itself with respect to the Confederations Cup, saying that Brazil wasn’t prepared to hold that event—and the event was a huge success.

“We also had stadiums that unfortunately were delivered late, but the operation was a success. So we already showed the world that we can organize such a competition efficiently and with success, although maybe, personally, the operational cost of organizing such an event is greater due to certain delays. 

“But our message is one of absolute confidence that we will have a spectacular World Cup here in Brazil starting two weeks on."