The Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES) has launched its Industry Partner Program with a partnership with EY (Ernst & Young). Representing the category “Assurance, Tax and Legal”, EY will use its expertise to support AGES in developing standards, procedures and any other appropriate tools to support the members of AGES when developing their business.

“Our members often need to assess business opportunities outside their core markets quickly and comprehensively before they enter into any commitments,” said Daniel Cordey, chairman of AGES.

“It is key to know exactly the import and export regulations or the tax implications when delivering works at an event in a new country, so we are pleased to get the expertise of EY to elaborate the necessary tools.”

EY has already supported AGES members. Wim Kurvers, partner at EY said “In recent years, sustainability has become one of the most important criteria in organizing large events. This has led to a significant increase in the use of temporary infrastructures.

“We see our partnership with AGES as a unique opportunity to further develop this fast growing industry and thus help building a better working world.”

AGES’ Industry Partner Program (IPP) is created for leading industrial companies who are directly connected with the business of its members and associate members and are willing to support the objectives of AGES in specific thematic categories.

Through knowledge transfer and active involvement by the partners, new standards and policies will be established for the event suppliers industry.

The IPP has identified 5 categories and AGES is now seeking an industry Partner for each of these categories.

The Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Switzerland which has been formed to become the label for quality and reliability for temporary infrastructure works for major events.

Japanese media giant Dentsu has been awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games from 2018 to and 2024 in 22 Asian countries. 

World leading advertising agency Dentsu was the Asian broadcast partner for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and is the broadcast partner in the region for the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

The agreement means Dentsu will continue to distribute broadcast rights in Afghanistan Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

In a statement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) described Dentsu as the “exclusive gatekeeper for broadcast rights” in all languages and all media platforms, including television, radio and the Internet. 

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This agreement ensures Olympic broadcast coverage for fans across the region, including on free-to-air television. Having begun our broadcast relationship with Dentsu at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, I am pleased we will continue through to 2024.”

The deal also encompasses Youth Olympic Games.

Kiyoshi Nakamura, Executive Officer of Dentsu said: "Following the acquisition of the broadcast rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, we are delighted to strengthen the ongoing relationship between the IOC and Dentsu through the distribution of the broadcast and exhibition rights for all the Olympic Games until 2024. We are dedicated to contributing to the long-term development of the Olympic Movement and to deliver the excitement of the Olympics to the fans in these Asian countries and territories.”

IOC Vice-President Zaiqing Yu, Delegate IOC Member for Broadcast Rights in Asia, said: “Dentsu has a good understanding of the region’s commercial and broadcast environment, and their expertise and insight will help the Olympic Movement develop its presence and ensure excellent Olympic broadcast coverage of future Games.”

The agreement follows the IOC’s recent awarding of 2018-2024 broadcast rights to Eurosport in Europe and beIN in the Middle East. 

With several FIFA officials charged with corruption just two days before the presidential election, HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has called for an end to FIFA’s ongoing crisis. 

“We cannot continue with the crisis in FIFA, a crisis that has been ongoing and is not just relevant to the events of today,” he said in a statement to the press.

“FIFA needs leadership that governs, guides and protects our national associations. Leadership that accepts responsibility for its actions and does not pass blame. Leadership that restores confidence in the hundreds of millions of football fans around the world.”

After a raid at Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on Wednesday morning, ten FIFA Executive Committee members will be questioned by Swiss authorities “on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs” in relation to 2018/22 World Cup bids. The arrests were instigated by US Department of Justice. 

Prince Ali is the only challenger to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who was widely predicted to be reelected on Friday. FIFA has faced calls from the English Football Association and Transparency International to postpone the election. 

Sepp Blatter has not been charged. FIFA spokesman Walter de Gregorio told press that Blatter was “relaxed” about the day’s events because he was “not involved in them at all”, going on to explain: “Well he is not dancing in his office. He is very calm; he is fully co-operative with everything. That’s what I meant. He’s not a happy man, saying ‘wow wow’.”

De Gregorio also said the presidential election would go on ahead on Friday as planned and that a revote on the 2018 and 2012 World Cup hosts was out of the question.

“This for FIFA is good. It is not good in terms of image or reputation, but in terms of cleaning up, this is good,” he said.

“It is not a nice day, but it is also a good day. The process goes on and we are looking forward.” 

With charges of corruption within FIFA escalating, president Sepp Blatter announced on Tuesday that he will resign to make way for “deep-rooted structural change”. 

At a press conference in Zurich called at extremely short notice, Blatter announced he will resign “at the earliest opportunity”.

The announcement came shortly after reports that FIFA administered an alleged $10m bribe from the South African government to CONCACAF president Jack Warner in 2008, and an ABC News report claiming that Blatter was himself under investigation by FBI and US prosecutors. 

Two days before Blatter’s re-election, several officials were arrested in a dawn raid on the Baur au Lac Hotel. The US Department of Justice has since charged 14 officials employed by FIFA and associated agencies with 47 charges of corruption including racketeering, fraud and money laundering.  

"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football,” Blatter said. 

"Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress.”

The extraordinary Congress is likely to be convened between September 2015 and March 2016. 

“This will need to be done in line with FIFA's statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign,” said Blatter.

Waiting until the next ordinary FIFA Congress on 13 May 2016 would “cause unnecessary delay”, he said.

Blatter said by stepping down he would be able to focus on reforming FIFA. “Since I shall not be a candidate, and am therefore now free from the constraints that elections inevitably impose, I shall be able to focus on driving far-reaching, fundamental reforms that transcend our previous efforts. 

“For years, we have worked hard to put in place administrative reforms, but it is plain to me that while these must continue, they are not enough.”

He also said the structure of FIFA’s Executive Committee and its relations with the continental confederations must be overhauled. 

“The Executive Committee includes representatives of confederations over whom we have no control, but for whose actions FIFA is held responsible. We need deep-rooted structural change.

“The size of the Executive Committee must be reduced and its members should be elected through the FIFA Congress. The integrity checks for all Executive Committee members must be organised centrally through FIFA and not through the confederations.”

Blatter, who has presided over FIFA for 17 years, also called for term limits, “not only for the president but for all members of the Executive Committee.”

"I have fought for these changes before and, as everyone knows, my efforts have been blocked. This time, I will succeed.”

Blatter has asked Domenico Scala, Independent Chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee to oversee the transition over the coming months. 

“Mr. Scala enjoys the confidence of a wide range of constituents within and outside of FIFA and has all the knowledge and experience necessary to help tackle these major reforms.”

Blatter thanked all his supporters, saying “What matters to me more than anything is that when all of this is over, football is the winner."

Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan denied Blatter a majority in the first round of voting in Friday’s election and he has not ruled out standing again. 

Prince Ali told CNN "I think this is the right move from Sepp Blatter and I think we have to look to the future.

"I am always there to serve football and I think that's the most important thing and to do so much work to fix this organisation in a proper way.

"I am at the disposal of our national associations. I don't want to be somebody who kicks somebody in the knees. At the end of the day I will do my part to help the national associations.”

Other possible candidates include Michel Platini, Luis Figo, Jerome Champagne and Michel van Praag.

His resignation was welcomed by IOC president Thomas Bach, who said “We highly respect this decision of President Blatter to step down and to initiate the necessary reforms – and to make way for a new leadership of FIFA to drive these changes.”

Sepp Blatter remains an IOC member until his 80th birthday on 10 March 2016. 

In a historic deal valued at EUR 1.3bn, Discovery, the owner of Eurosport, has been awarded the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024 across all media platforms in all European countries, excluding Russia.

The rights, which were issued after a competitive tender process, extend to the development of the IOC’s planned Olympic TV Channel.

“This is a historic partnership, innovative and ground-breaking on a number of fronts,” David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications told journalists in a press conference. 

“We can reach more than 700m people across Europe. This agreement will bring the Olympic Games to more viewers on more screens than ever before.” 

According to IOC President Thomas Bach, a major deal-breaker was the broadcaster’s ability to reach young people via digital platforms.

“It is the first time one single media company has acquired all the rights across Europe,” said president Bach.

“This agreement concerns all the different platforms, so Discovery is the real gatekeeper for all these rights.

“This agreement allows us, in a very special and particular way, to address youth on the platforms they use. We can reach out to them directly through these platforms. 

“It will go from the telephones, over digital channels and many more. This is what made it very attractive for the IOC.”

Discovery is confident it will recoup the heavy price tag over time.

“This investment is consistent with our prudent approach to investing in content,” said Zaslav. 

“The EUR 1.3bn purchase price, to be phased in over time, will include the rights to four Olympic Games across all platforms, including the Olympic archives, and aligns with our strategy of acquiring world class IP to the Discovery Company.  

“And over the term of the contract, we expect the Olympic Games to be cash flow positive.”

The deal gives Discovery the exclusive rights to broadcast the most popular entertainment property in the world.

“There is no more exciting property than the Olympic Games,” said Zaslav. 

“The live, must-have and universal appeal of the Olympic Games make it unique and singular as a programming event. 

“The global reach, the fan engagement, the thrilling stories, the volume of content, the integrity of the brand – there is no rival in sheer global or mass appeal.

“Our ability to develop and follow the same characters and athletes all year, combined with access and rights to the Olympic archives, makes possible for the first time a programming strategy that can burn the Olympic flame with stories and content 365 days a year.”

The agreement includes cooperation on the IOC’s Olympic Channel, which is planned as part of the IOC’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” process of reform. 

“We are very happy that as part of the agreement we will cooperate with regard to the Olympic channel, which will be another tool to reach out to youth and to keep the awareness about Olympic sport and the Olympic values high throughout the year,” said Bach.

A launch date has not yet been set for the Olympic Channel. Timo Lumme, Managing Director, IOC Television and Marketing Services said, “This is not about speed, it is about quality and therefore we have not given a deadline for the start of the Olympic Channel.

“But today, this another milestone in the development of the Olympic channel, because with this agreement we can look forward to having the Olympic channel extended to other platforms and having a roll-out to ensure the whole continent.”

Eurosport already has agreements in place with many Olympic sports federations.

“As we look at the assets that we have, we have a real advantage as we sit down with the IOC to build the Olympic Channel,” said Zaslav.

“Almost half of what’s on Eurosport are Olympic sports that we have rights to for the next several years already.”

The agreement requires Discovery to broadcasting a minimum of 200 hours of the Olympic Games and 100 hours of the Olympic Winter Games on free-to-air television during the Games period, but it will sub-license a portion of the rights in many markets across Europe. 

“The flexibility to sublicense rights across territories will open up strategic partnership opportunities with a wide range of broadcasters and distributors on how best to exploit these and bring more coverage to more people on more platforms throughout the European continent,” said Zaslav.

This aspect of the deal is somewhat controversial as it introduces a middleman between the IOC and domestic broadcasters, who are seen to have played a crucial role in extending the reach of the Olympic Games.

“Of course they [European national broadcasters] have played a significant role in spreading and broadcasting the Games,” said Bach. 

“But Eurosport has also contributed to this in the past, so it is not the public broadcasters alone.”

The domestic broadcasters in Great Britain and France will retain the rights they have already been allocated to broadcast the 2018 and 2020 Games. 

“In Great Britain, you have the situation that the BBC has the rights for 2020 so there is ample time before 2022 and 2024 to have discussions with Discovery about their cooperation,” said Bach. 

“So this is not excluding anybody, but it is showing a new and broader approach to Olympic broadcasting by incorporating the Olympic Channel in a very intelligent and effective way and by offering the great experience of Discovery and Eurosport to work on their multiple platforms.”

Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC Executive Board Member and delegate IOC Member for European broadcast rights said: “Discovery and Eurosport will ensure the exposure of the Olympic Games through their own TV channels and media platforms, and, where relevant, by reaching sublicensing partnerships with other broadcasters in the various territories.”

FINA’s growing partnership with Chinese domestic appliance company Midea will run to 2017 and boost aquatics events in China, the international sports federation said on Thursday.

For Midea, the partnership brings access to the Russian market through FINA’s flagship event.

“We are very excited by the increased involvement of Midea and the sponsorship activation deployed for the World Championships in Kazan,” FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu said at a press conference in Russia.

“FINA is overall very satisfied with this agreement with Midea, a strong partner for the two biggest events in the aquatic calendar, the FINA World Championships and the FINA World Swimming Championships.

“Being a Chinese partner, this association will also enhance the popularity of these two events in a key market for FINA, where our six disciplines have a long standing tradition."

FINA and Midea’s partnership for the FINA World Championships, the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) and the World Record Programme was launched in 2010 and renewed in 2014.

The 16th FINA World Championships take place in Kazan, Russia, from July 24 - August 9, 2015.

Midea is using the event to launch their brand in Russia.

General Manager of Midea Russia, Mr. Alexey Obukhov, said: “Midea is certainly one of the biggest producers in the world, and while our launching product range here today appears modest in comparison to what we sell in other markets, today’s conference is also to give everyone a clear idea about the future for Midea in the Russian market.”

Midea, a Forbes 500 company headquartered in China, is a leader in developing and manufacturing domestic appliances. As well as Russia, the company has its sights on Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Canada, the US, Egypt, India, Russia, Belarus and Southeast Asian countries for future development.

FIFA’s executive committee met today to take the first steps towards transforming the organisation, discussing key areas of reform and setting the date for the presidential election and Extraordinary Congress at 26th February 2016 in Zurich.

This is significantly later than expected, with most observers predicting a December election. 

The meeting was chaired by outgoing FIFA President Blatter, who will not be standing for president again as “a new FIFA President will be elected”, according to a FIFA statement.

Candidates can now declare their interest in running for the office of FIFA President, with a deadline of 26 October. The Ad-hoc Electoral Committee will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, 21 July.

Domenico Scala, chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee delivered presentations on the proposed topics for reform. These include “enhanced centralized integrity checks for Executive Committee members, the introduction of term limits, higher standards of governance at all levels of football structures including confederations and member associations as well as individual disclosure of compensation.” 

FIFA is to set up a “Reforms” Task Force with a “neutral chairman”.

The “concrete and comprehensive reform proposals” will be presented at the next ordinary FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Zurich on 24 and 25 September and submitted for approval at the extraordinary Congress in February.

FIFA said its bidding procedure is being reformed in line with the guidance of the United Nations’ strategy for “Safeguarding against Corruption in Major Public Events”. Future World Cup bids will have to recognise the provisions of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, with which suppliers must comply. 

The Executive Committee also stated its firm commitment to reform and “its full cooperation with the on-going US and Swiss investigations”. 

Djimrabaye Bourngar from Chad has been appointed as the deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee.

The themes of sports governance and bidding procedures will be discussed at HOST CITY 2015 in Glasgow on 9th and 10th November.

The Organising Committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games revealed the design of the Games emblem today.

The unveiling coincided with the five year countdown until the Games, and comes just days after Zaha Hadid’s ambitious design for the national stadium was rejected. 

Based on the letter ‘T’, said to be inspired by the words ‘Tokyo’, ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Team’, the emblem was designed by award-winning Japanese designer Kenjiro Sano.

British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid’s futurist national stadium design, which formed part of the bid for the Games and which was due for completion ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, was finally rejected last week amid growing concerns over the cost of building the stadium. 

"If the decision was made to save money, it should go right in line with the IOC's Agenda 2020," Tokyo 2020 President Mori said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Mori today called for stakeholders to unite under the new emblem. 

“The Tokyo 2020 Games emblem is a wonderful work of art that represents the aspirations and the ultimate goal that athletes around the world aim to achieve – taking part in the Olympic Games,” he said.

“The emblem is also a symbol behind which the whole of Japan can unite as a single integrated body and join the collective endeavours of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the national government, the Japanese Olympic Committee, the Japanese business community, as well as the Games volunteers and everyone who is assisting with the preparations for the 2020 Games. 

“Let us all unite our efforts under the new Games emblems and work together as one to ensure the realisation of a truly inspirational Olympic Games in 2020.”

IOC Vice President Coates, who is leading the IOC Coordination Commission that monitors Games progress, said “I congratulate the Tokyo 2020 team on their work and believe that this emblem will have an important influence on the future of Olympic design.”

The 2015 European Games in Baku encompassed 17 days of competition, involving more than 6,000 athletes from 50 countries competing across 20 sports. It was Europe’s first major continental Games while the host nation, Azerbaijan had never hosted a major multi-sport event before. 

“The first European Games will go down in sporting history,” said Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports and Chief Executive Officer of Baku 2015 at the close of the event. 

“I am very proud of what has been achieved in Baku and the positive feedback we have been getting in terms of the setting, organisation, hospitality and action. It has been a success for Azerbaijan, and will be a launching pad for future sporting events we will host.”

To deliver the Games, Baku turned to an experienced partner for support in Broadstone – an alliance of international major event professionals. The company’s chairman and managing partner Doug Arnot had served as operations director for three Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, Salt Lake City 2002 and London 2012 – but Baku was new terrain compared to other events of this size and complexity.

“It was quite different from a lot of perspectives,” he tells HOST CITY. “In the first place we had to work with the European Olympic Committees to define what the event would be; it had no real definition beforehand in terms of what sports would feature, how long the event would be, how we wanted to pitch it and at what level.” 

Working with the people of Azerbaijan was another fresh challenge. “They had never had anything that was even remotely close to this in terms of size and complexity.” 

And then there was the challenge of timing. As key delivery partner for the Baku 2015 Operations Committee, Broadstone had to assemble and mobilise a senior team of 100 people in 100 days and a further management team of over 350 in less than 18 months. Covering the entire span of operations, Broadstone’s team of industry experts delivered a major multi-sport event in a record time of only 22 months.

“There was no organising committee before got here, so we basically put together the entire organising committee. We did all the marketing, all the commercial, the links with broadcasting; we assembled not only the operations team but also the business team. And then we contracted out, together with the government of Azerbaijan, things like the opening ceremonies.”

The short timelines and unique local conditions required Broadstone to develop innovative approaches to event hosting, such as the use of “I-Zones” to replace traditional media mixed zones and the implementation of a technology infrastructure based entirely on cloud technology. 

This was coupled with a creative approach to developing skills locally through a “Games Academy” – the first graduate scheme to be developed and used by a sporting event organising committee.

“The most significant difference to us was having to assemble our own team of event experts right from the start. We got away from the old notions of distinct functional areas and we approached this much more as an event team.

“We knew we were going to be able to bring in local talent, with little to no experience. So we put together our Games Academy, where we worked with local universities to bring young people from Baku, Azerbaijan and in fact Europe into the academy and train them to come in and be able to do their jobs on day one.  This was both an adventure for the local universities from an academic perspective and something that was very important to us in terms of getting a well-qualified local work force.

It was this combination of international expertise and local engagement that was ultimately successful in Baku. 

“I think there is a lot of wisdom in taking a look at the organising committee structure and distinguishing what the local community can do better than anybody from outside, because of their local knowledge. And then recognising the benefit of international expertise and how we can bring in the best talent and event experience to an organising committee.

“I don’t think it’s ‘either or’ – I don’t think you want to outsource or have a turnkey solution for the entire organising committee, but I think what you want to do is recognise what the local hosts can do better because of their local knowledge and how you need to integrate with them, and at the same time understand that there is a great benefit in bringing in the international expertise and event experience that can really get you on a fast track.”

Broadstone is currently working with a number of high profile sporting events and organisations across the world, including Rio 2016 and the US Olympic Committee.

FIFA has appointed Dr François Carrard, former IOC director general and coordinator of the IOC 2000 Reform Commission to chair its 2016 Reform Committee. 

As an independent chairman, Carrard will oversee FIFA’s process of reform that has been initiated in response to investigations into corruption. 

As Director General of the International Olympic Committee, Dr Carrard guided the IOC through its own governance reforms in the wake of the bidding process for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. An internationally renowned Swiss lawyer, Dr Carrard brings specific experience of the challenges faced by global sports organisations such as FIFA.

 “It is vital for the future of global football to restore the integrity and reputation of its governing body,” Carrard said.

“As the independent chairman, I am committed to delivering the necessary package of credible reforms, working with representatives from within football and wider society. To that end, I will establish an independent advisory board, made up of representatives from outside football, to support the work of the committee and provide an additional layer of independent expertise.”

Carrard was appointed after consultation with the six football confederations, each of which have appointed two representatives to the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee.

FIFA President Blatter said: “We believe Dr Carrard is the right person to drive this reform process forward as an independent chairman with a proven track record in governance reforms. We are confident that he can help FIFA to strengthen its governance structures in a credible and meaningful way. FIFA’s commercial partners will also play a key role in the reforms, and we will be discussing with them the most productive way to include their views.”

The 2016 Reform Committee will present its comprehensive proposals to the FIFA Congress in February.