Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber is to speak at the Soccerex Global Convention 2015, which takes place at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, 7th-9th September. 

Garber will discuss MLS’ journey from its launch as a 10-club league in 1996 to one of the fastest developing leagues, attracting global stars such as Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Villa and Kaka.

Garber will also provide insight on the league’s international sponsorship and broadcasting deals, including a new multi-million dollar deal with Sky.

With MLS leading the way in respect to fan engagement, Garber will highlight the importance of digital media as a vehicle for connecting with soccer fans globally and the commercial benefits of being at the forefront of enhancing match day experience.

Garber has turned the league’s fortunes around since taking on the role of commissioner in 1999, bringing it out of a threatening period of financial underperformance and into one of stability and growth. 

Under Garber’s guidance, the league has expanded to 23 teams across America and Canada, and is well on the way to achieving its goal of 24 teams by 2020, with new franchises awarded to Atlanta and Minnesota. 

In 2015, Soccerex enters its 20th year and MLS celebrates its 20th anniversary. 

“As we begin the countdown to our 20th anniversary, it is only fitting that Don and MLS are involved in the year they celebrate the same milestone,” said Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie.

“Both our organisations have enjoyed significant growth during this period and I congratulate Don on the fantastic job he and his team have done in creating such a dynamic and forward thinking league. 

“Don’s insight into MLS’s expansion plans will prove fascinating; I am delighted he has agreed to part of this year’s event and his involvement is indicative of the top level right’s holders that will be featuring in this year’s programme.”

The Global Convention will consist of a thought provoking conference programme packed with business insight, alongside a market-leading international exhibition and extensive networking. A programme of social events completes the schedule for what is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading football business event.

For more information on Soccerex please visit http://www.soccerex.com/events/global-convention/2015, call +44 (0)20 8987 5522 or email enquiry@soccerex.com

The European Union (EU) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday signed an agreement which enables Emiratis through Europe without applying for visas. 

Under the agreement, Emiratis can now stay in Schengen zone countries for 90 days in any 180-day period. 

The diplomatic breakthrough coincided with the first week of Expo Milan 2015, where the UAE has a national pavilion designed by Foster + Partners. Dubai is to host the next such “universal” World Expo in 2020. 

The UAE is the first Arab country to be granted free entry to the Schengen zone, which includes 26 European countries. 

“Our UAE citizens have the full right to feel proud of their leadership, which exerts every possible effort to take care of their welfare internally, as well as anywhere else in the world,” Sheikh Abdullah said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the agreement. “Our UAE citizens have the full right to feel proud of their leadership, which exerts every possible effort to take care of their welfare internally, as well as anywhere else in the world,” he said.

The agreement will be a boost to business tourism from the UAE.

“It will also allow our students more opportunity to know European universities better and choose whichever suits them best in the pursuit of their education,” said Sheikh Abdullah.

UAE citizens now have visa-free access to travel without a visa to Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

They will also be able to travel to eight non-Schengen countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, the Vatican, Andorra, San Marino and Monaco.

Emiratis have since the start of 2014 been able to apply online for a visa waiver for travel to the UK.

Sheikh Abdullah also praised the UAE’s successful bid to host the 2019 International Energy Conference and Dubai winning the right to host the World Expo 2020. 

 Click here to see a list of countries that are in the Schengen area »

Wrestling and taekwondo and wrestling have joined five other Olympic sports in suspending their membership of SportAccord, amid tension between the umbrella organisation for sports federations and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Taekwondo has also pulled out of SportAccord's World Combat Games after a unanimous vote by the council of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

“Taekwondo is more than a sport; it is a philosophy," said WTF president Chungwon Choue at the federation’s general assembly on Monday.

"It is a philosophy based on self-discipline, integrity and respect and at the WTF we believe we have an obligation to stay true to these values.

"It is with regret that taekwondo will not participate in the World Combat Games.

"However, we will continue to promote taekwondo and the Olympic values around the world and develop our sport for our athletes and our millions of fans worldwide.”

At the WTF assembly, IOC sports director Kit McConnell gave a presentation about Olympic Agenda 2020 and taekwondo within the Olympic Movement.

The Kosovo Taekwondo Federation was also granted full WTF membershipn at the assembly.

United Worldwide Wrestling (UWW), the international federation for wrestling, said it has also suspended its membership of SportAccord due to relations with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

“Our decision, which is based on our full commitment to the Olympic Movement and its leadership, implies that for the time being, United World Wrestling shall refrain to participate in the activities and games organised by SportAccord, until the relations with ASOIF has improved to the latter’s satisfaction,” said UWW president Nenad Lalovic.

UWW and WTF join the international federations for archery, athletics, boxing, canoeing, shooting in withdrawing their membership of SportAccord in the current climate. 

The moves follow SportAccord president Marius Vizer’s public criticism of the IOC at the SportAccord Convention.

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) president Francesco Ricci Bitti on Monday told SportAccord – the union of federations for both Olympic and non-Olympic sports – that it is not necessary for Olympic sports.

According to a report by Olympic news site Around the Rings, Ricci Bitti wrote to SportAccord president Marius Vizer and ASOIF’s members on Monday, describing SportAccord as “redundant and confusing" and confirming that ASOIF will suspend its participation in ASOIF meetings. 

The move is a reaction to Vizer’s outspoken verbal attack on the International Olympic Committee at SportAccord Convention in April.

Since then, nine international federations have suspended their association with SportAccord, with the International Triathlon Union the latest to do so.

“If we could find a positive side to what happened in Sochi, it is that you have triggered a clarification process that was both necessary and long overdue regarding the relationship between our associations vis-a-vis our common members,” Ricci Bitti told Vizer in the letter.

The letter goes on to make it clear that ASOIF members do not need SportAccord membership.

“What has never been felt necessary or desirable by the preponderance of our association is for there to be an additional ‘umbrella’ organisation that pretends to speak, often without consultation, on behalf of our members collectively. 

“To put it plainly, the reality is that the concept of a second collective umbrella organisation is considered redundant and confusing and unwanted by our membership.”

ASOIF will continue to work with other groups of international federations, the letter says, “because we acknowledge a need for all of us to work together in some specific activities that can bring added value such as the SportAccord Convention where ASOIF, as a major shareholder, is ready to play its full part."

Ricci Bitti’s letter also asks SportAccord Convention, which is a distinct organisation to SportAccord, “to confirm that it will respect the role of the shareholders by following principles of good governance including their participation in the decision-making process through appropriate engagement and consultation."

ASOIF will no longer participate in the SportAccord Council, Ricci Bitti said, withdrawing the participation of its two members “pending a full formal review leading to clarification and agreement on the future role, mission and constitution of SportAccord."

As relations between SportAccord and Olympic sports federations continue to deteriorate, SportAccord’s president Marius Vizer has requested meetings with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Dr. Thomas Bach. 

The meeting requests are a response to a letter from ASOIF president Francesco Ricci Bitti sent Vizer yesterday, in which he said ASOIF was suspending relations because SportAccord is not necessary for Olympic sports.  

“In order to define the way forward and relieve pressure from the IFs, I have decided to confirm meeting dates with ASOIF and have launched a meeting proposal with President Bach, a meeting which I believe needs to be held for the benefit and the unity of the Sports Movement,” Vizer said in a statement. 

HOST CITY contacted ASOIF’s director Andrew Ryan, who confirmed that a meeting with Vizer is being considered. 

“We have had a response proposing dates; we’ve got to now see which dates we can find time to get together,” Ryan told HOST CITY.

“We suspended our relations with them and now we have to sit together and discuss what the future holds. 

“The letter makes the ASOIF position very clear; we can’t in any way make it more clear. At the moment there’s nothing more to say. Everything that needs to be said was put in the letter yesterday.”

Whether IOC president Bach will want to meet with Vizer, who criticised him publicly a month ago at SportAccord Convention in Sochi, remains to be seen. 

"We read Mr. Vizer's comments and press release in the media. The IOC President has responded directly to this letter before making any public comment," and IOC spokesperson told HOST CITY.

In his statement, Vizer said “I look forward to open and honest discussions which are for the benefit of sport. I hope to have positive discussions which will lead to tangible solutions.”

Since SportAccord Convention, ten summer Olympic sports federations and their primary representative body, ASOIF, have suspended their engagement with SportAccord.

Despite the exodus of Olympic sports federations, Vizer said the number of applications for SportAccord membership has actually increased over the last month. 

SportAccord is the union of Olympic and non-Olympic international federations.

“SportAccord continues and will continue to provide services to empower the International Federations and to defend their interests,” Vizer said.

This is a difficult time for football, the fans and for FIFA as an organisation. We understand the disappointment that many have expressed and I know that the events of today will impact the way in which many people view us.

As unfortunate as these events are, it should be clear that we welcome the actions and the investigations by the US and Swiss authorities and believe that it will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken to root out any wrongdoing in football.

While there will be many who are frustrated with the pace of change, I would like to stress the actions that we have taken and will continue to take. In fact, today’s action by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General was set in motion when we submitted a dossier to the Swiss authorities late last year.

Let me be clear: such misconduct has no place in football and we will ensure that those who engage in it are put out of the game. Following the events of today, the independent Ethics Committee – which is in the midst of its own proceedings regarding the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups -- took swift action to provisionally ban those individuals named by the authorities from any football-related activities at the national and international level. These actions are on top of similar steps that FIFA has taken over the past year to exclude any members who violate our own Code of Ethics.

We will continue to work with the relevant authorities and we will work vigorously within FIFA in order to root out any misconduct, to regain your trust and ensure that football worldwide is free from wrongdoing. 

The IOC’s new approach to issuing broadcasting rights in Europe will reduce free-to-air obligations to a minimum, according to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The IOC on Tuesday sold the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024 to Eurosport, through a competitive tendering process in which the EBU also bid.

“The EBU submitted a serious bid for the European television rights for the Olympic Games on behalf of its Members which reflected the free-to-air value of future events taking place mainly in the Asia Pacific region and thus in less attractive time zones,” the EBU said in a statement sent to HOST CITY.

“We understand that Discovery, together with Eurosport submitted a successful proposal to the IOC shaped by their strategic objective to newly position themselves in Europe. 

“This development illustrates the shift in the IOC’s previous positioning of the Olympic Games as a free-to-air event that reached all of the European television audience – to a pay and other platforms event with minimum free-to-air obligations. 

“Nevertheless, we congratulate Discovery/Eurosport on its successful bid – particularly as Eurosport was initially established within the membership of the EBU.”

Under the agreement, Eurosport is committed to providing 200 hours of the Summer Olympic Games and 100 hours of Winter Olympic Games to free-to-air broadcasters.

“We are indeed concerned for audiences in our Members' countries not getting full access to all the Olympic sports at the Games, but we understand the 200 hours that must be free-to-air is the minimum set by the IOC,” an EBU spokesperson told HOST CITY. 

National broadcasters will have to buy additional broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games from Eurosport.

The EBU, with 73 members in 56 countries, describes itself as the world’s most influential broadcasting union that negotiates on behalf of and advocates for the interests of public broadcasters across Europe and beyond.

At its first meeting of the year, the Expo 2022 Dubai Higher Committee heard on Wednesday that preparations are well underway for hosting one of the world’s biggest events. 

The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, president of Dubai of civil aviation and chairman and chief executive of Emirates airline and group. 

The committee discussed the development and final preparation of the Expo 2020 Dubai Registration Dossier, which it is due to present to the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), the governing body of World Expos, later this year. 

The committee also heard a progress report on the Expo site and marketing and communications strategies.

 “There has been substantive progress on many fronts this year, both in the UAE and across the world,” said Reem Al Hashemi, UAE Minister of State, board representative of the Dubai Expo 2020 Higher Committee and director general, Bureau Dubai Expo 2020.

“We also plan to continue to build strong momentum throughout 2015 with a number of robust awareness engagements and collaborative initiatives that will collectively ensure we deliver an event worthy of the history of World Expos and that does justice to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the UAE.”

Expo 2020 Dubai launched a nationwide community engagement campaign earlier this month under the banner of ‘For Everyone’. 

The ‘For Everyone’ campaign, an awareness building and engaging series of public activities, will support the UAE and Expo 2020’s participation in the Expo Milano 2015, which takes place from 1 May to the end of October. 

The UAE’s country pavilion at Expo 2015 will focussing on the UAE’s efforts to address food and hunger issues while also promoting the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, which is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”.

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that Toyota has joined The Olympic Partner (TOP) programme in a new “mobility” category. 

The deal will see the Japanese company supply sustainable transport solutions through to the 2024 Games. 

Toyota's global rights begin in 2017 but the company’s sponsorship rights in Japan are effective immediately. 

Toyota joins Bridgestone Group as the second Japanese headquartered multinational to sponsor the IOC since Tokyo was awarded the hosting rights to the 2020 Olympic Games in 2013.

“Long-term partnerships are the backbone of our commercial programmes and they enable the financial security of the entire Olympic Movement,” said Tsunekazu Takeda, the IOC’s Marketing Commission Chairman, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee and Vice-President of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. 

The IOC’s twelve worldwide TOP partners also include McDonalds, Coca Cola and Visa.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed but domestic Japanese media have cited a figure of US$835m (GB£565m).

The mobility partnership will focus on sustainability, the central principle of the IOC’s Agenda 2020 programme of reform. 

“It is the first time in the successful history of the TOP programme that we have had a mobility category, said IOC President Thomas Bach. 

“It is in the spirit of the Olympic Agenda 2020 not just in terms of innovation but also in terms of sustainability in mobility.

“Toyota is the world leader in its field and this partnership signifies a strong commitment to the future of the IOC and the Olympic Movement. Toyota and the IOC share the same values and we welcome Toyota Motor Corporation to the Olympic family.”

Toyota will work with the Organising Committees through to 2024 to provide sustainable mobility solutions for hosting the Olympic Games and the legacy of the host cities.

These solutions include intelligent transport systems, urban traffic systems and vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems.

Toyota will also support the Olympic movement through its global promotional reach.

The Dubai Convention & Events Bureau has signed a deal to sponsor the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO).

Dubai Convention & Events Bureau joins the Glasgow Convention Bureau, Barbican and Hiscox Insurance as sponsors of ABPCO. 

ABPCO is the UK’s leading organisation for professional conference and event organisers, industry associates and those studying for, or seeking a career in the conference and meetings industry.

“Having the official convention bureau for Dubai as a sponsor of ABPCO is of course fantastic news for us,” said Caroline Windsor, joint-chair of ABPCO. 

“Their support will enable us to continue growing as an association and it will benefit our members as we seek to promote best practice for individuals and organisations within the industry. 

“Dubai is one of the leading business event destinations in the world so we look forward to working with them to benefit the industry as a whole.”

The Dubai Convention & Events Bureau’s main aim is to establish Dubai as a premier business event destination to help grow economic development, jobs and knowledge in the region. It offers free, impartial advice, guidance and support to international meeting planners.

“As sponsors of ABPCO we hope to further benefit the industry we work in as well as promote Dubai as a dynamic host city for international meetings and events,” said Maris Kuklis, senior manager of Business Events UK & Europe at Dubai Convention & Events Bureau. 

“We have been members of ABPCO for some time and now we are looking forward to taking our relationship with ABPCO one step further whilst further strengthening our position within the industry.”