(Source: ICSS) Against the backdrop of growing global concern regarding ownership and investment structures surrounding professional and even amateur sports clubs, leading sport integrity and policy experts ICSS INSIGHT have launched a major independent study into the legal, financial and integrity aspects of sport club ownership.

As a first and crucial step in the project and to develop much-needed research in the area of financial integrity and club ownership in sport, ICSS INSIGHT and the International Association of Lawyers (UIA) have also announced a partnership to work together on the first phase of the major three-part global study.

The first phase of the three-part study will analyse current legislation and regulations in place that apply to club ownership and investment structures in world football. 

Over the coming months and as part of its ongoing efforts to champion the highest standards of governance and financial integrity in sport, ICSS INSIGHT will partner with other leading international academics and institutional partners for the second (financial) and third (integrity) phases of The FITS Global Study on the Legal, Financial and Integrity Aspects of Club Ownership.

Results of the first phase of the three-part study will be announced by the ICSS INSIGHT and UIA at the second edition of the FITS FORUM, which is due to take place in spring 2018, with the overall and final results of the FITS study to be finalised at the end of 2018.

The study is part of the Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport (FITS) Global Project – an initiative launched by ICSS INSIGHT (formerly ICSS EUROPE) in November 2014 to identify and address the emerging threats facing the financial integrity and transparency of sport and bring together stakeholders from all areas of the sports industry to drive long overdue reforms.

Key findings from the first independent report of the Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport (FITS) Global Project include:

• Only an estimated 25% of professional football clubs in top leagues around the world produce publically-available financial reports
• Only an estimated 40% of national associations are financially viable without the help of FIFA
• There are vast and significant ‘dark spaces’ in the finances of football, which must be addressed to protect clubs, players and leagues from the growing threat of organised crime.

Speaking in Toronto on 30^th October in front of legal experts and international law firms from around the world at the 61^st UIA Congress, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, ICSS INSIGHT CEO, said:

“Incredible sums of money are being invested in the acquisition of sporting clubs around the world. Investment in sport is welcome, but it must be clean and transparent.

“Whilst there are positive exceptions, there is very little due diligence and effective oversight. The existing regulations are simply too short and too poor to respond efficiently to the mounting challenges posed by a fast growing, globalised, financially sophisticated and increasingly complex industry.

“As the first FITS study highlighted, plenty of ‘dark spaces’ exist in the finances of football and the wider sports industry. This must change if we are to safeguard sport from the growing influences of corrupt and unfit investors, money launderers and organised crime.

“To help drive this positive change, ICSS INSIGHT is launching this major three-part independent study under the banner of the FITS Global Project. On behalf of ICSS INSIGHT, I look forward to working closely with the UIA and all other partners over the coming months to progress the first phase of the study, which will explore the current legal landscape relating to club ownership and investment structures in football.”

Speaking of the new collaboration with ICSS INSIGHT as part of the FITS Global Project, Mr. Pedro Pais de Almeida, President of the UIA (Union Internationale des Avocats), said:

“It is a great honour and responsibility for the UIA to partner with the ICSS INSIGHT and to be at the front line of the preparation of a most awaited and welcome “Global Study on the Legal, Financial and Integrity Aspects of Club Ownership in Football”.

“The UIA have always been in the forefront of integrity and governance issues and our members from all over the world will be pleased to be involved and contribute in the preparation of this important study that will certainly be a strong contribution towards important and urgent changes in a leading global business such as the football industry.

“In addition, it will also be a great opportunity to be involved with all the other partners including universities, financial entities, institutional partners and other.”      

For more information about ICSS INSIGHT and integrity products and services the ICSS offers to help safeguard sport, please visit www.theicss.org

Host City: Events involving multiple host cities are usually delivered by a local organising committee (LOC) in the host nation. What prompted UEFA to bring the organisation of its events in-house instead?

Christian Hirschmueller: UEFA’s approach is built on the understanding that knowledge and experience are critical success factors to deliver UEFA’s events on a very high service level in the most effective and most efficient ways.

Historically, UEFA started to be directly involved in event operations in 2002 for the UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal. For UEFA EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, the geographical proximity of the hosts still allowed to have a LOC model, with many synergies created between the LOC and UEFA Events SA. It was thus a kind of intermediary step on the process to fully bring operations in-house.

By founding UEFA Events SA – a 100%-owned subsidiary of UEFA – after a very successful UEFA EURO 2008, UEFA was able to keep in-house the knowledge and experience obtained during its two previous major sport events. Furthermore, this knowledge was structured in so-called ‘Competence Centres’, such as Technical Services & Overlay (TECH). With the in-house organisation of the annual UEFA Club Competition Finals as from 2013 onwards, UEFA Events SA has been able to use the knowledge and experience of the Competence Centres across all UEFA competitions and maximise the output in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

This process which lasted over several years, from the first operational steps in Portugal to the current performance of UEFA Events SA, was initiated, led and implemented by the CEO of UEFA Events SA Martin Kallen.

Host City: Which aspects of event delivery does UEFA outsource most – from operational management and expertise, down to products and services?

Christian Hirschmueller: The daily business in the operational part of UEFA Events SA is to plan and produce UEFA’s events. This means to appoint and contract suppliers, organise the works and coordinate the several activities with all relevant stakeholders. These typically are tasks of companies offering main contractor services which we operate by ourselves.

Regarding operation, this seems one of the main differences between UEFA and other organisers of major sport events: While for other major sports events it might be key to involve a main contractor in order to deliver the event including all the above tasks, UEFA Events SA is covering this part itself and looks for specialised suppliers delivering the services directly.

This leads to a more direct interaction between internal stakeholders and suppliers and contractual relations are thus getting more transparent. Our experience shows that it saves financial resources, time for complex overhead management and reduces miscommunication between all parties due to less interfaces.

Host City: Can you give us an idea of the scale and scope of technical services and overlay required for an event like the European Football Championship?

Christian Hirschmueller: Generally speaking, TECH is responsible to provide and operate technical infrastructure at the stadiums for UEFA’s major sport events as e.g. UEFA EURO, UEFA Champions League Final or UEFA Europa League Final according to all stakeholders needs and agreed service levels.

On the one hand this includes the existing technical infrastructure, such as stadium and grid power systems, the proper functioning of the pitch floodlighting or the operation of sound systems, giant screens and stadium TV system.

On the other hand, this also includes the provision of temporary infrastructure inside and outside the stadium, as the technical and infrastructural needs for such major sports events are higher than existing systems are usually able to cover.

The list of figures and deliverables is long: for UEFA EURO 2016, TECH delivered 24 MW of temporary power systems for TV broadcasting and additional outside facilities with approx. 1,000 km of cables, 17,700 m2 of tent structures with water und air-condition installation, cleaning services for 500,000 m2 and removed 600 tonnes of waste, installed 1,700 TV commentary desks in 10 different venues, provided a total of 800m cable bridges, installed approx. 25,000 cable hooks, 100 camera platforms, 39 TV pitch view studios, implemented the sound system upgrade of 10 stadiums with 1,100 speakers and around 200 individual infrastructural changes in these 10 stadiums.

In addition, TECH was responsible for the health and safety procedures during the set-up and dismantling period with a 4,000-page documentation and 200 on-site briefings, the permission process for technical installations with approx. 15,000-page documentation as well as for the frequency management process with 5,000 frequency applications over all matches.

The TECH planning team was made up of seven people: three in Switzerland and four colleagues in Paris. The overall budget of TECH for UEFA EURO 2016 was EUR 26m.

Host City: For most mega events, the host nation benefits from the opportunity to engage with local suppliers and sponsors to deliver the event. How can hosts of UEFA events benefit if all the procurement and marketing is handled centrally?

Christian Hirschmueller: Let me give you the example of UEFA Technical Services & Overlay (TECH) for UEFA EURO 2016 in France.

All suppliers were chosen in an open and public tender process. Key factors for choosing suppliers are quality of equipment, availability of resources as well as experience for these very specialised fields in major sport event. Once this is given, local/national suppliers are very attractive for us as they have often the advantage of low logistics and accommodation costs. With these parameters, in total more than two thirds of TECH’s budget remained in the host country.

Beside the planning team mentioned above, the 10 TECH venue managers and the 10 TECH venue coordinators were all locals – half of them never participated in major events before, let alone in major sport events. This means that instead of hiring international crews, we developed a training programme and achieved a very successful knowledge transfer. This was mainly possible due to the model of UEFA Events SA and the core team in Nyon relying on the operational experience of several successfully delivered UEFA EURO tournaments.

Host City: In another innovation, UEFA is staging the 2020 European Football Championships in 13 host venues, all in different nations. It must be incredibly complex working in 13 different countries to deliver the event – how is this being managed?

Christian Hirschmueller: It is a project management challenge to organise a consistent UEFA EURO 2020 tournament under consideration of the new format with its multi-country aspect and cultural diversity. The main task is to prepare the stadiums – which are coming from different operational and infrastructural levels – for a EURO tournament operation.

At the beginning, the goal was to create a model that was as simple as possible, manageable, transparent and easy to understand for all stakeholders independent of their individual background.

For this purpose, UEFA Event SA has developed a process that regulates the activities of stakeholders to achieve agreed results together at certain stages, the so called ‘gates’. This process leads to the ‘UEFA Venue Operations Gate-Model’ summarising the process on one A4 page to support a common understanding in order to be ready for the next step in the planning phase.

Host City: What are you most looking forward to about UEFA Euro 2020?

Christian Hirschmueller: The UEFA EURO 2020 will take place from Bilbao to Baku and from Glasgow to Rome. It is a fantastic professional and personal enrichment to meet and cooperate with this large variety of characters and cultures and their different ways of living, during one event.

Host City: Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing you speak at Host City 2017! What are your expectations of this important meeting of cities and events?

Christian Hirschmueller: The Host City 2017 summit is an ideal place to meet and exchange with inspiring people of different branches.  I look forward to gathering new aspects and impulses for the work of UEFA Events SA.

FOAMHAND has a reputation for successfully planning and delivering major event projects on the global stage as seen through recent major events such as the London 2017 IAAF World Championships, Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, America’s Cup Bermuda 2017 and even NFL’s Super Bowl 50. With on-going projects for the next Commonwealth Games host city Gold Coast 2018 and the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang 2018 FOAMHAND are helping to ensure you, your teams, contractors and event partners are ready.

Being Operationally Prepared – Case Study: London 2017

At the start of 2017, FOAMHAND were commissioned by the local organising committee for the World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships in 2017. Our main objective to review the anticipated event-time operations, facilitate operational readiness desktop exercises, and develop an appropriate Command, Coordination and Communication (C3) architecture that would support the safe running and coordination of the event.

With 24 weeks to go before the event started to receive its first arrivals there was a significant time pressure to ensure functional areas were familiar with their operational plans and were appropriately tested. Our team’s aim was to quickly evaluate the level of preparedness of all functional areas, highlight areas of potential risk and identify opportunities prior to the ‘Summer of World Athletics’.

Adam Down FOAMHAND CEO said “Readiness is not just a box on the organisational chart to give comfort to executives, nor is it something that can be purchased. For teams to ‘be ready’ is a state of preparedness that takes time, effort and commitment from everyone involved.”

Building on our team’s existing relationships with local partners, combined with our international event operations experience, enabled our team to quickly establish a Readiness Road Map for London 2017. The readiness programme provided direction to the functional areas and highlighted the touch points for interoperability, whilst reassuring senior management and financial investors.

As is often the case in major events, time and resource constraints meant that functional areas focus on their own operating plan and fail to discover the reliance placed upon them in other operating plans being developed across the organising committee. This gap becomes far more difficult to bridge the closer you are to the event.

In parallel, the FOAMHAND team was tasked to design and build a trusted Central Operations Management Centre that could support functional area operations and coordinate the Organising Committee event-time delivery. A key challenge balancing the expectations of external partners, many of whom had significant involvement with London 2012 Olympics only five years earlier in the same venue. This balancing act needed to meet the available budget and resources in comparison to the “greatest show on earth” as the Olympics is often referred to. Events smaller in scale but in many cases no less complex do not have the financial flexibility to over-scope facilities as a risk mitigation measure - which is usually central to any business case justification and is regularly discussed in post event lessons learned sessions.

FOAMHAND used their team’s delivery of the Readiness Programme for London 2017 to illustrate the importance of readiness at all levels to the functional areas, showcasing best practice for Venue based workshops and understanding the ‘Client Journeys’. Our readiness desktop exercises provided a platform to evaluate multiple scenarios in a safe environment to support learning, process improvement and ensure plans were deliverable. The most valuable outcome was taking staff and partners on the journey to becoming operationally ready to assist in the creation of what became the Championship Coordination Centre (CCC); a compact but agile C3 centre specifically designed for the event by FOAMHAND. During the event, the CCC was carefully resourced by the right mixture of event professionals, planning oversight, communications specialists, volunteer radio loggists, and all managed by FOAMHAND. The CCC enabled London 2017 to engage and respond to external partners, coordinate its own operations beyond the main venue footprint, and seamlessly integrate with the existing operations of both the London Stadium and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Cherry Alexander MBE, Managing Director for London 2017 and Major Events Director for UK Athletics, said: “FOAMHAND were flexible and accommodating of our programme and broader needs. They were able to use their experience to quickly enhance the deliverables and understand our constraints. Their team also had the capability to assist with our response to evolving challenges arising from the recent terror attacks within the UK in the run up to the Championships. This helped to ensure our LOC felt confident and ready to deliver two successful World Championships”.

The World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Athletics Championships were held in July and August 2017 at the London Stadium on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This was the first time both events have been held in the same summer in the same host city. With 20 days of sporting drama and 3,300 athletes from around the globe competing in 245 events and almost 1 million ticket spectators it truly was a ‘Summer of World Athletics’.

City Operations & Precision Planning 

FOAMHAND is a global major events consultancy specialising in four critical event planning disciplines with a focus on core themes of integration, seamless spectator journeys and event readiness.

We use specialist online tools to enhance collaboration; and have world class experts in crowd modelling and dynamics. FOAMHAND are currently engaged by the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Committee to provide crowd flow modelling and management across all competition venues and were engaged by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee to support crowd and transport management operations for the Rio 2016 Opening ceremony.

With offices in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, we work with city planners, event organisers around the world to ensure a safe and enjoyable event for all, offering expert knowledge from our team’s major event experience which is founded on the planning and delivery of over 40 global events over the last decade.

All our team have first-hand experience of event day delivery and use this valuable knowledge to support clients by providing ‘real world’ practical solutions. For an event to be successful for strategic supporters, funders and governments, a city needs to keep working. Our ‘one team, one plan’ approach to event planning considers a broad range of factors, identifies partner agencies and influential stakeholders, and engages them in the process as early as possible. FOAMHAND bring this all together in the run up to a major event with functional area engagement workshops and various readiness activities to ensure confidence is high, teams and functions are integrated, and clients receive the levels of service as planned.

This article was written by FOAMHAND. For further information please visit www.foamhand.com or contact the team on +44 (0) 207 205 4105, info@foamhand.com or @foam_hand

[Source: SportAccord Convention] Global sports sponsorship is set to achieve $44 billion in 2017 with strong growth projected to continue in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region as well as other parts of the world, including Europe and the USA. On top of this, the global spending power of Millennials is $2.5 trillion annually with 95% saying they will switch to a brand with a good cause.[1]

Influencer marketing, social responsibility, social activism, data rights, virtual reality, live streaming channels, brand purpose and brand co-creation, as well as attracting millennials who no longer watch television or visit websites – are some of the biggest challenges facing organisations today involved in the business of sport.

Activations on and off the field of play, content engagement, connected experiences and much more, will all be addressed at SportAccord Convention 2018, the only global sports gathering attended by every international sports federation as well as many of the key stakeholders in sport.

Set to take place from 15 – 20 April 2018 at the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre, Thailand, the plenary conference will focus on the theme: Uniting a Global Audience – Marketing and Sponsorship for the Future. As part of the full conference programme, additional conference streams - CityAccord, MediaAccord, LawAccord and HealthAccord, will also examine the challenges that lie ahead when it comes to sponsorship and marketing.

As a result, SportAccord Convention registrations have soared (compared to this time last year), and record numbers of international sports federations have committed to exhibition booths. Many partners are re-signing having experienced the intrinsic value the Convention brings, while Malaysia Major Events has moved up a tier (to Gold).

Other partners to re-sign include Sport Event Denmark, (Gold Partner and Co-Host of last year’s Convention in Aarhus, Denmark) and DB Schenker (Delivery Partner), both of whom have been closely involved with the Convention since its inception in 2003, and Host City has become a Delivery Partner for the first time. Silver Partners Edmonton Events and Event Scotland, and Bronze Partners FIBA and Visit Victoria, as well as many media partners, have already confirmed their commitment to return and will be in Bangkok.

Not wanting to miss out, newcomers from the APAC region such as MI Associates will experience the world sport and business summit for the first time. Other organisations are taking advantage of their global presence to send C-level teams from Asia-Pacific such as Lagardère Sports Australia, while Great Big Events is bringing its largest delegation to date from both Australia and the United Kingdom.

Regarded as the sports business hub for collaboration and discovery, Greg Bowman, Managing and Creative Director commented:

“Great Big Events has been attending SportAccord Convention since its inaugural event in 2003. Our team is very excited to be involved once again, as we always find it a great event for discussing innovation and progress in sport and discovering ways to continue to push our industry forward into new and exciting territory.”

With so much to address and so many opportunities to be gained from taking part in one of the most important summits in 2018, organisations are encouraged to register and take part in the SportAccord Convention. Currently priced at CHF 2,000 and due to rise by CHF 500 on 6 November 2017, a delegate pass provides access to the most exclusive network of key decision-makers, stakeholders and experts in the world of sport.

Delegates have access to the full conference programme, 3-day exhibition, the Thai Pavilion, and numerous networking opportunities, including social events, the Opening Ceremony and Closing Event, luncheons, evening cocktails, the After Hours Bar, and much more. Follow developments and updates via Twitter @saconvention using #SAC2018, as well as LinkedIn and Facebook.

Host City: What are the main challenges and opportunities facing the sports broadcasting sector right now and how is SPORTELMonaco addressing these questions?

Laurent Puons: The main issue the industry faces these days is that the world is becoming smaller for everybody. Broadcasting is not only a territorial effort, but with new technologies that enable broadcasting and streaming via internet and social media, territorial and legal matters have become a major headache for rights owners. Broadcasters are facing more and more competition from OTT providers and classic broadcasters must face the reality of extinction, although many still don’t believe it.

The fact is however that audiences worldwide demand variety and freedom of choice. This, for the sport industry is of course a great development and opportunity! The more fans can be rounded up across the globe to see just one sports event, the greater the opportunity to build brand, event and merchandise deals in multiple territories globally.

It’s impossible to cram all issues into one conference, there is simply not enough time to address all at once, but during SPORTELMonaco we can definitively address issues such as OTT, social media and new developments in Asia, which will lead up to our next spring convention SPORTELAsia 2018, in Singapore.

Host City: SPORTELMonaco is now described as “The World Sports Marketing & Media Convention”, reflecting a wider remit than the traditional focus on broadcasting. Why have you changed focus in this way?

Laurent Puons: We haven’t changed our focus, rather evolved “with” the industry, as more and more technologies appear every year that enable events, productions and broadcasters to deliver more sports content to viewers and fans on a massive variety of platforms and change the content business significantly. Also this part of the industry is a lot more influenced by marketing objectives of agencies, federations and brands. In result it is of course a necessary and natural progression of SPORTEL to provide these business opportunities to our community. No other event, but SPORTEL can realistically provide this wide variety.

3/ How can SPORTELMonaco help rights holders to find new ways to reach audiences?

Laurent Puons: For close to 30 years, SPORTEL has always been part of the industry development. Our team knows the industry personally, which is why we never address them as clients but our “community”. We have open and direct dialogues, built on years of trust and know how, understand which companies do what and know what will happen before most in the industry do. This gives us the advantage to prepare and build real business opportunities for the community.

SPORTEL truly is on the frontline of the industry and together with international decision makers we are in the position to see the future of our industry and react accordingly.

[Source: SportAccord] Making choices can be tricky when it comes to selecting which events to attend for organisations involved in the business of sport. With so much to consider, as well as Asia-Pacific set to overtake Europe in sponsorship spend, organisations who want to ensure they make the most from their investments, should register and become involved in the SportAccord Convention 2018 to be held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Why? SportAccord Convention is the only global sports business event guaranteed to have all the international sports federations present. Delegates can rest assured they will have access to 109 Members and Associate Member organisations, as well as 7 Observers, during the world sport and business summit.

SportAccord Convention offers a unique and exclusive networking environment, placing stakeholders in the perfect position to meet the key decision-makers in sport. Here are some compelling reasons for anyone who has a vested interest in sport, to invest and become an exhibitor at the 16^th edition in Bangkok, Thailand.

• APAC is becoming the hottest global market with sponsorship growth expected to reach record levels
• Nearly 40% of confirmed exhibitors are international sports federations who are actively looking to engage
• Over 30% of exhibitors are cities and regions - just under half of these organisations are partners too
• Every sport needs equipment manufacturers to operate an event
• 43% of the exhibition floor space has been reserved already – booths are being snapped-up quickly
• Exhibition booths always sell-out well in advance of the Convention
• For the first time, all delegates will pass through the exhibition area to access the conference auditorium and meeting rooms
• The SAC Café is larger than ever and located within the exhibition zone with many great locations for delegates to network and take in the experience
• Top speakers are signing-up for the #SAC2018 conference programme with the highly topical theme - Uniting a Global Audience: Marketing & Sponsorship for the Future

Commenting on the reasons why The World Games 2021 Birmingham (TWG 2021 BHM) and Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau (GBCVB) have secured an exhibition booth (No. 113), Steve Mistrot, Sport Director, TWG 2021 BHM said:

“SportAccord Convention provides opportunities to develop relationships with the IWGA Member Federations. Partnering with GBCVB this year as Exhibitors provides valuable visibility for both organizations:

“For TWG 2021 BHM, a branded space to meet with IWGA Member Federations; for GBCVB, visibility to market Birmingham as a viable host for future events.”

Entry-level booths for SportAccord Convention will start at 6m² and include 4 delegate passes (increasing with booth size), graphics, TV, furniture, information counter, Wi-Fi, power, lights and carpet. Visit the website for further information including the Official Schedule or to register, and become an exhibitor, partner or delegate.

Commenting on the importance of the partnership, Ben Avison, Editorial and Conference Director of Host City said:

“Host City is delighted to have become SportAccord Convention’s Delivery Partner. We see this as the natural evolution of an increasingly powerful relationship between two crucial platforms supporting the community of stakeholders in major international events.

“SportAccord Convention and Host City have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for many years through media partnerships and conference activities.

“Host City particularly values opportunities to reinforce and forge new connections with leading people and organisations involved in major events.

“As well as being a focus for Host City’s high quality editorial coverage, SAC2018 in Bangkok will also provide a welcome opportunity for us to build engagement in Host City’s own events – including Host City Asia, which will bring the world of international event hosting to Beijing at the end of May 2018, and our annual global conference and exhibition in Glasgow in November 2017.”

SportAccord Convention is also a Silver Sponsor to Host City 2017 taking place in Glasgow from 28-29 November 2017.

Nis Hatt, Managing Director of SportAccord Convention said, “As an Official Delivery Partner, we’re delighted to have Host City onboard, given the importance and complexities of hosting major sports events. Host City has provided first-class support and media coverage for SportAccord Convention, and in recent years, with Ben Avison involved as a moderator for our CityAccord conference. We value their expertise and encourage delegates to draw on their experience in the lead-up to and during the SportAccord Convention in Bangkok.”

To network and connect with delegates ahead of the SportAccord Convention 2018 including international sports federations, cities, regions, organising committees, rights holders and suppliers, organisations involved in the business of sport can register for the SportAccord Convention in Bangkok as a delegate, or become involved as a partner and/or exhibitor.

The annual SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit runs for 6 days and features an extensive Conference programme including CityAccord, a sell-out 3-day exhibition, and hosts the stakeholder General Assemblies attended by their Members. The Convention also offers many social and networking opportunities as part of its Official Schedule.

[Source: SportAccord Convention] Sir Ben Ainslie, four-time Olympic Gold Medallist & Team Principal, as well as Skipper of Britain’s America’s Cup Challenger, Land Rover BAR, will give the keynote on 8 November 2017 at the eleventh edition of the International Federation (IF) Forum focused on Sustainability.

Speaking ahead of this year’s event set to take place from 8-10 November at the Hotel Royal Savoy in Lausanne, Switzerland, Sir Ben Ainslie shared the following thoughts:

“It’s great that a flagship event like the International Federation (IF) Forum is focusing specifically on sustainability. Sports teams represent key role models in society and there is an opportunity for all sports teams to become truly sustainable businesses. At Land Rover BAR, we believe our influence should extend far beyond the race course, we look to educate and inspire to drive sustainability forward instinctively.”

This year’s IF Forum conference: ‘‘International Federation Impact - Leading the way towards a Sustainable Agenda’ will include Welcome Remarks from Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, and Philippe Leuba, State Councillor Department of Economy and Sport, Canton of Vaud.

Patrick Baumann, President of GAISF and SportAccord Convention will deliver the Opening Address to leaders of the international sports federations and discussed the significance of this year’s theme on Sustainability:

"Avery Brundage, 5^th president of the International Olympic Committee once described sport as ‘an international phenomenon like science or music’ and he was right.  Sport has significant influence to shape the way people think about issues such as sustainability which is central to the future of our planet. As leaders of International Sports bodies we have a responsibility to use that influence by ensuring promoting sustainability and ingraining best practice into our events and operations.”

Marie Sallois Dembreville, Director of Corporate Development, Brand and Sustainability, IOC, will lead the Welcome and Opening Remarks on Thursday 9 November, and outline the objectives for the IF Forum, as well as the importance of implementing a common strategy.

The IF Forum conference will focus on infrastructure and natural sites, sourcing and resource management, climate, mobility, and workforce. The programme is a collaboration between the International Olympic Committee and all International Federations, and hosted by the SportAccord Convention team.

Speakers will include:

• Inger Andersen, Director General of IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature
• David Stubbs, Sustainability Expert
• Antony Scanlon, Executive Director, IGF - International Golf Federation
• Gloria Scarano, Mountain Protection Coordinator, UIAA - International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation
• Sabrina Ibáñez, Secretary General, FEI - International Equestrian Federation
• Andreas Graf, Human Rights Manager, FIFA - International Federation of Football Association
• Elena Merdaca, Administration Director, FIE - International Fencing Federation
• John Liljelund, Secretary General, IFF - International Floorball Federation
• Max T. Edkins, Manager, Connect4Climate Programme, World Bank Group
• Janne Leskinen, Secretary General, Lahti 2017, FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
• Thomas Kurth, Secretary General, UIM - International Powerboating Union
• Denis Décosterd, Chef du Service du développement de la Ville et de la communication, ville de Lausanne
• Maël Besson, Policy Officer, Sustainable Development of Sport, French Ministry of Cities, Youth and Sport, French Government
• Dr Beate Grupp, IIHF - International Ice Hockey Federation
• Will Lloyd, CEO, Global Sports Jobs
• Roger Piarulli, Executive Director, THF - Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation, WT - World Taekwondo
• Jörn Verleger, Secretary General, IFA - International Fistball Association
• Volker Bernardi, Executive Director, WFDF - World Flying Disc Federation
• Magnus Sverdrup, Head of International Relations, Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports, Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games 2016

An additional speaker will be presented by IKEA.

Panel sessions will be led by David Eades, Anchor and Journalist, BBC World who will also serve as Master of Ceremonies for the IF Forum 2017.

The IF Forum is for international sports federations, speakers and official IF Forum partners by invitation only.

Official Partners include: JLT Specialty, Nielsen Sports, Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition, Sport Event Denmark, Lausanne and the Canton de Vaud.

Host City: In the current climate, what kind of events do you think cities and sponsors are most interested in investing in?

Nenad Lalovic: The current climate demands an event that can deliver in a variety of areas that match with a cities or regions current agenda. Promotion of sport as means to a healthy lifestyle, sustainable which is not a burden to a city in the years following an event and a legacy that provides more options and programmes for youth development.

Host City: How does UWW maximise the impact of its own events for stakeholders – the IOC, host cities, sponsors and fans?

Nenad Lalovic: With our new Host City Bidding process, we included a more direct dialogue with host cities while maintaining the existing relationships we have with our National Federations. In doing so it allows us to have the city’s commitment right from the beginning, which creates synergies in finding more sponsors, engaging with fans as well as an event with a legacy.

Host City: Which regions around the world do you see as having the greatest potential for growing wrestling and how can you reach new fans there?

Nenad Lalovic: Asia has a tremendous growth potential for wrestling. Especially, China and India are two markets where we see strong viewership through our livestream and rights holders, and strong future athletes coming up. In addition, Africa and Eastern Europe are also in regions where we have seen steady increase in participation and viewership.

Nenad Lalovic is speaking at Host City 2017 on 28 and 29 November in Glasgow. For more information visit https://unitedworldwrestling.org and www.hostcity.com

New Zealand’s mighty All Blacks may have walked away with the Webb Ellis Cup after beating Australia 34-17 in the final at Twickenham, but there’s no doubting which nation stole the limelight during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Japan sent shockwaves through the sporting world after a memorable 34-32 victory over South Africa in the Rugby World Cup Pool B encounter in Brighton.

Figures from the world of sport, the media and celebrities could not hide their excitement at Japan’s stunning performance on 19 September, 2015.

England’s World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward called it “the best game ever in World Cup history”. Japanese model and actress Risa Yoshiki tweeted: “And Japan won! I was transfixed from beginning to end! I can’t sleep now! Thank you to the Japanese players!”

Even J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, was locked to her TV screen when the “Brave Blossoms” secured the famous last-gasp victory. She tweeted to her 10 million followers: “#RSAvJPN #RugbyWorldCup You couldn't write this...”

After the 2015 tournament finished, Brett Gosper, the managing director of Rugby World Cup Limited, said: “Possibly the greatest story of 2015 has been the success of the Japanese team. The Japan-South Africa game, I’m sure they’ll make Hollywood films of that one day as they did with Miracle on Ice.

“This has been the most competitive World Cup ever and I think the performance of the Japanese inspired all the other tier two teams so we had the smallest winning margins in World Cup history.

“I’m sure 2019 will break records in some areas but it will be ground-breaking. It will look very different, feel very different and will sound different to any World Cup we have ever had.”

Japan’s victory over the Springboks was one of the most epic finishes in sport, let alone rugby, and it firmly placed Japan on the rugby map. Some might say it was fate, considering their destiny in taking over the Rugby World Cup hosting baton from England.

From Brighton to Yokohama

Two years on from that result in Brighton, Japan is busy preparing to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019 (RWC2019). Starting with the opening game at Tokyo Stadium on 20 September and finishing with the final on 2 November 2019 at Yokohama Stadium, the 2019 Rugby World Cup will feature 20 nations, 12 stadiums, 48 matches and will welcome 400,000 international fans.

As Gosper said, it’s going to be a huge moment in Japan and Asia’s rugby history. Japan will be the first Asian nation to host a Rugby World Cup and the tournament comes 10 years since 2009 when the World Rugby Council voted to award the hosting rights to the Japanese Rugby Football Union (JRFU).

There still may be two years to go until the opening kick-off on September 20, 2019, but this year is a huge one for the RWC2019 organising committee and the JRFU.

So far this year the HSBC Kitakyushu Sevens, the first ever HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series round to be played in Japan, was hosted from April 22-23 and the draw for the RWC2019 pools took place in Kyoto on May 10.

Another major milestone in 2017 was in March when a World Rugby delegation held a week of meetings in Tokyo for its third official review of Rugby World Cup 2019 hosting preparations.

Topics of discussion and plans for 2017 included the pool draw, the launch of the IMPACT Beyond 2019 legacy programme, the selection of the team camps, finalisation of the match schedule, and the announcement of ticketing programme details.

Gosper, who led the World Rugby delegation in March, said: “This is an exciting and important year in the tournament’s lifecycle. Milestones in 2017 will lay the foundation for the successful delivery of RWC2019, including the pool draw, the match schedule announcement and launch of the ticketing programme – these are all major moments that will bring the tournament to life for the teams and fans around the world.

“With an accessible ticketing programme set to be announced later this year, it is important that our friends at the Japan Rugby 2019 organising committee continue to ignite excitement throughout the host cities, who will be central to inspiring people to be a part of a once-in-a-lifetime event that has fan-experience at its core.”

Akira Shimazu, CEO of the 2019 Rugby World Cup organising committee, said: “Hosting this first tournament review meeting of 2017 marks an important phase as we begin to move from planning to delivery. The meetings were detailed, constructive and provided us with an opportunity to outline progress and be guided by World Rugby’s knowledge.

“We are doing our best to deliver a ground-breaking tournament for teams and fans in partnership with our colleagues in the host cities and the Japanese government, who fully support us.”

Refitting of FIFA World Cup venues

From the Sapporo Dome in the north to the Oita Stadium in the south, some venues chosen for the 2019 Rugby World Cup were previously used when Japan co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

“Match venues are being refitted to be suitable for RWC performance,” a spokesperson from the organising committee told Host City. “Some venues have previous experience as FIFA 2002 sites. Others are being renovated or being newly built for the purpose.

“As for the transport links, plans are being made from this fiscal year working with local governments. With regard to the accommodations, we have already secured the necessary capacity for the teams, guests and officials.”

Legacy plans for venues and host cities will also be confirmed later this year. “JRFU and host cities feature in the legacy plan of RWC2019 and they are in the planning process targeting late 2017,” added the spokesperson. “JRFU lead rugby development across the nation with particular focus on the cities and towns that provide a match venues and/or team bases. Twelve host cities aim at making a positive impact on the society in their own context.”

Japan’s biggest event this decade

With rugby in Asia growing year on year, the Rugby World Cup organisers are optimistic that Japan 2019 can emulate the 2015 tournament held in England.

More than 400,000 international visitors are anticipated for the first Rugby World Cup to be held in Asia and strong demand is expected for the 48 matches in the 12 host venues.

Another milestone being achieved this year will be the appointment of the tournament’s official travel agents. The official travel programme for the 2019 Rugby World Cup is aiming to be more successful than England’s 2015 Rugby World Cup where more than 185,000 ticket-inclusive travel packages were sold across 48 matches.

For the 400,000 international rugby fans predicted to visit Japan, plans are in place for the creation of city activities, fan-zones and festivals throughout the tournament.

It’s not just international visitors though that Japan is hoping to attract to the 2019 tournament. With the 12 venues located throughout the length of the country it means that 75% of the Japanese population will live within one hour of a match venue.

According to the organising committee’s tournament vision the impact of hosting Japan’s biggest sporting event this decade will have a major impact for both rugby and the country’s economy. The 2019 nationwide festival of rugby activities will “further the reach and popularity of a sport that has seen an 11 million person increase in its fan-base since Rugby World Cup 2015” and the tournament is expected to deliver an estimated JP¥420 billion (US$3.82 billion) economic impact across the 12 host cities.

Huge IMPACT in Asia

It’s also at the grassroots level where rugby is gearing up to grow across Asia. Launched in May by the JRFU, Asia Rugby and World Rugby, the “IMPACT Beyond” programme pledges to attract, inspire and retain one million new players across the world’s most populous region.

Despite already having 300 million fans and 8.5 million participants in Asia, the IMPACT Beyond programme will aim to make rugby accessible and inclusive to all across Asia and convert a new generation of rugby participants in the region.

Shimazu said: “Japan is preparing to welcome the world. We are committed to Rugby World Cup and we’re aiming to deliver the best yet. It will be a celebration of rugby and of Japanese culture as we will show off the best of our country and our hospitality on a global stage.”

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont added: “With 75 per cent of the population within an hour of a match venue or host city, everyone is welcome to be a part of what promises to be the biggest-ever festival of rugby in Asia and it is great to see so much interest from cities and prefectures as preparation accelerates within this big year for Rugby World Cup 2019.”

With big plans in place off the pitch in preparation for the 2019 spectacle, the JRFU will also be working hard to make sure the team again gets the results on the pitch when the action starts.

It’s going to take a lot of work to emulate the heroics of 2015, but the Brave Blossoms can take inspiration from the team they spectacular beat in Brighton, South Africa.

“A very inspiring movie called Invictus was made based on South Africa’s winning the 1995 World Cup,” said Shimazu, chief executive of the RWC 2019 organising committee. “Hopefully we can do similarly in 2019 to inspire Invictus II: the Japanese version.”

This article first appeared in the summer 2017 issue of Host City magazine