Supersport Wins Right for EPL

The battle for who secure the Nigeria broadcast rights to the Baclays premier League has gone to SuperSport.
Multi Choice, owners of SuperSport will now have the premium content for the next three seasons from 2010/11 to 2012/13, wrestling the right from Hitv which held it since 2007.
Chairman of Multi Choice Nigeria, Adewumi Ogunsanya express delight to have the premium content back on their platform,but reiterated that their focus will remain firmly on showcasing home grown talent from the Nigeria Premier league.
The arrangement will include transmitting of all 380 Barclays premier league matches including 24-hour premier league, seven-day-a-week content service in high definition which will be launch on August 13.
It was also confirmed that Nigeria will be one of the very first countries to receive the 24-hour content service.
The Barclays Premier league is regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world, with an estimated 2.5 billion followership and broadcast to more than 500 million homes

JORDAN EYES CAF PRESIDENCY

Chairman of the organizing committee of South Africa 2010 Danny Jordan is set to contest for the presidential position of the confederation of African Football (CAF).
Report from South Africa indicates that Jordan’s name will be put forward ahead of the 2011 CAF general elections.
However, Jordan will have to contend with incumbent President, Isaa Hayatou for the top post.
Cameroon-born Hayatou, has been in the saddle of leadership since 1987, when he took over from Ethiopia’s Ydnekatchew Tessema, making him the 5th president of the Confederation of African football.
Vice President of SAFA, Nwelo Nonkoyana is confident Jordan has lofty ideas in improving soccer not only in Africa, but the world over.
The Organizing Committee Chairman of South Africa 2010 is believed to have strong backing from CAF Executive members, and he is expected to give Hayatou a run for his money during CAF general election next year.

IOC TO ANNOUNCE MULTI MILLION-DOLLAR SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH DOW

The International Olympic Committee will announce a multi million-dollar sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical this Friday, according to international and US Olympic officials familiar with the negotiations.

The deal with Dow will bring the IOC up to 10 companies in its top-tier sponsorship program for the 2012 Olympics.

The IOC already has secured close to $900 million in sponsorship revenue for the current four-year cycle, but is looking to break the $1 billion mark. The IOC’s global sponsorships usually cover at least four years and sell for up to $100 million.

The deal will also be a boost for the United States Olympic Committee, which currently gets 20 per cent of all global sponsorship revenue.

IOC president Jacques Rogge and USOC CEO Scott Blackmun are among those expected to attend the announcement in New York.

Henrietta backs falconets

Seasoned female football enthusiast Henrietta ukaigwe, has commended the performance of the falconets at the on going Fifa under 20 world cup in Germany.
Speaking after the falconets 1-1 draw with England on Hotline sports live,Henrietta bemoan the poor state of preparation to the tournament which saw the falconets playing only one friendly match.
she also added that the girls suffered psychological effect when the president of the federal Republic of Nigeria banned Nigeria from competing in International competitions, though the decision was later reversed, and for the falconets to surmount enough courage to secure the draw, she said they deserve commendation.
The Imo state born journalist, also made a clarion call for corporate bodies in Nigeria to support the falconets who are receiving a stipends of 500dollars for a win,and 250dollars for a draw, emphasizing on the need for improved welfare package if the girls are to go far in the championship.
The falconets have garnered four points from two matches,level on points with Mexico who they play later today in their final group game.
It would be recalled that the falconets where abandoned by the board of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF)who were busy,canvassing to keep their job after the super Eagles poor showing at the world cup in south Africa.

DROGBA:CITY DISMISSED LINK

Manchester City has denied claims by Didier Drogba’s agent that the club are in talks with the striker.
Drogba’s agent Thierno Seydi had hinted that Drogba could leave Stamford Bridge before the transfer deadline.
City, who have recently spent around £60 million on Jerome Boateng, David Silva and Yaya Toure, insist there is no truth in the whole story.
Drogba, 32, was the Premier League top goalscorer with 29 goals as Chelsea won the title last season.
The Ivory Coast international has scored 84 goals for the club since his £24 million signing from Marseille six years ago.
Seydi said Drogba is happy with life at stanford bridge,but will not rule out a possible switch before August if the financial benefits are good.
seydi also sees the possibility of Drogba returning to Marseille,where he spent just a year with the french side.

IOC set to announce Dow as global sponsor

The International Olympic Committee will announce a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical this Friday, according to international and US Olympic officials familiar with the negotiations.

The deal with Dow will bring the IOC up to 10 companies in its top-tier sponsorship program for the 2012 Olympics.

The IOC already has secured close to $900 million in sponsorship revenue for the current four-year cycle, but is looking to break the $1 billion mark. The IOC’s global sponsorships usually cover at least four years and sell for up to $100 million.

The deal will also be a boost for the United States Olympic Committee, which currently gets 20 per cent of all global sponsorship revenue.

IOC president Jacques Rogge and USOC CEO Scott Blackmun are among those expected to attend the announcement in New York.

FOOTBALL CORRUPTION:KAOJE DEFENDS HIMSELF

Former sports minister, Bala Kaoje has added his voice to the ever rising calls for a drastic restructuring of Nigerian sports in general and football in particular.
Bala Kaoje identified corruption as the bane of Nigerian sport.
Speaking on Hotline sports Live on 101.5 star fm, Kaoje urged government to cleanse the country’s sporting landscape so as to breed an all-round excellence.
But when asked what he did to heal these wounds during his administration, Kaoje absolved himself of any blame, saying he had a very short stay in office and did not have the opportunity of handling any major tournament
In a swift reaction, CEO of Hally Sports International, Godwin Spiff Sagbamah, disagreed with the former minister’s claim. Sagbamah argued that his short stay in office is not an alibi for non performance. He said Kaoje was fully aware of the rot in the glass house and did nothing about it.
It will be recalled that Bala Kaoje had a brief stint in office as the minister of sports between 1999-2007, before becoming a casualty in a cabinet reshuffle by former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Blatter backs SA 2020 Bid

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has declared his backing to a possible 2020 Olympic bid from a city in this year’s World Cup host country South Africa.

Excited about the positive feedback from FIFA on the organisation the world’s biggest sporting event, South African president Jacob Zuma suggested the country could now bid for the Olympic Games.

“If a country can organize FIFA’s World Cup, it can also organise the Olympic Games because the Olympic Games are mostly confined in one city,” said Blatter.

He also praised the quality of the venues built and renovated for this year’s event: “There is not one single European country which has so many good and high level stadiums as the ones which are here in South Africa.”

Cape Town came third in the host city selection for the 2004 Olympics and Durban has already expressed its interest to bid for 2020. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said he would welcome a South African bid and promised to discuss the topic with President Zuma at the World Cup final on Sunday.

sportbusiness.com

Africa’s slots secured for 2014

After a rather disappointing first round performance by African teams at the 2010 World cup in South Africa, World Football Governing body(FIFA) has assured the continent that it will not reduce the African slots at future World cup finals.

Fifa allotted six slots to African teams at the ongoing 2010 World cup, but five out of the six countries failed to get pass the first round.

Reacting to speculations that Africa’s slots may be reduced at future World cup finals, Fifa secretary general, Jerome Valcke, stated that there was no such plans.

Valcke assured that the continent slots is secured and reiterated fifa’s commitment towards supporting African football, instead he said fifa’s focus will be on refereeing decisions which has been below average in South Africa.

Fifa is also expected to experiment with assistant referees with the intention of introducing this for the 2014 World cup, after a series of poor refereeing at the 2010 World cup in South Africa.

The Black Stars of Ghana were the only African team that qualified to the knockout stage, and after defeating the USA in the second round, they eventually lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter final.

Semenya to run again

South Africa atlhlete Caster Semenya has been finally cleared by the International Amateur Athletic Federation(IAAF) to compete again. The 800meters World Champion was suspended from competing in any athletics event when doubts were cast over her gender status.

The good news for the 19 year old South African is that the medical experts who have been monitoring her are now satisfied she can compete without an unfair advantage. It has been a sorry and traumatic experience for Semenya who have not compete since winning the 800 meters at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin last year.

The controversy over Semenya’s gender status had led to the removal from office of top officials in Athletics South Africa who knew there was a question mark over the sex of Semenya last year, but still went ahead to include her in the team to Berlin. Investigation revealed that former President of Athletics South Africa Leonard Chuene had lied about what was known about her case, and was asked to apologize to President Zuma and the people of South Africa.

Despite the controversy she has been allowed to keep the medal and the prized money she earned. Semenya would now have her sight set on the World Junior Championships in Canada this July, with the commonwealth games in New Delhi India, in October, likely to be her main target.

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Hally Sports International on Sportz Businezz 2010 Directory

Hally Sports International is the only listed Nigerian Sports Media/Marketing Communication company by the Global Sports Business Directory 2010 and Magazine. It is a compendium where only the best in the world who are involve in sports business are found.Full details