2011 Daily - Day 4 - SportAccord Convention London 2011

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Triathlon Plan for Everyone

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7 Questions of Sport for Kipketer

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DAILY Issue 4 07|04|2011

www.sportaccordconvention.com

UCI CYCLES INTO BEIJING The new International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour event – the ‘Tour of Beijing’ – was announced yesterday at the SportAccord Convention.

Pat McQuaid, President of the UCI and Liu Jingman, Vice Mayor of the Beijing Municipal Government, signed a four-year agreement that will see the first ever UCI event held in Asia.

The road-race is symbolic of the Beijing municipality’s efforts to promote cycling as a healthy transportation option to the Chinese city.

“We are proud to be part of Beijing’s green commitments,” said McQuaid.

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‘WINNING COMES FIRST, CELEBRITY COMES AFTER’ TODAY AT THE CONVENTION Be sure not to miss today’s fascinating SportAccord Convention sessions, which will include: 1015 – 1100: Why Sport Matters to the Entertainment Industry.

1215 – 1300: Trend watch – What Sport Can Learn from the Economic Crisis.

There is also a unique opportunity today to get a first-hand insight into the presentations of the three cities bidding to host the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Munich (0930 – 1000), Annecy (1130 – 1200) and Pyeongchang (1430 – 1500) will make their presentations as to why they are best qualified to host the Games.

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“I don’t think you can become a sporting celebrity without first delivering on the track or the pitch,” Rugby World Cup-winning manager Sir Clive Woodward told the SportAccord Convention conference yesterday. “Too many young sportspeople try to fast-track themselves to fame – they’ve got to be kept focused on the need to win first of all.”

The British Olympic Association director of sport was one of a panel debating the possibility that sporting heroes might be in danger of becoming a protected species – and that the media might have had a hand in the process. Alongside him were Olympic greats Dame Kelly Holmes and Ed Moses, and British journalists Mihir Bose and John Jackson.

“The public remembers people who really come good, like England’s 1966 soccer World Cup team,” Woodward continued.

“In my view modern players like Wayne Rooney will achieve true hero status only if they succeed in repeating that feat.”

Commenting on the Manchester United player’s recent two-match suspension for swearing to the camera on live TV, he said: “I would hope that that kind of behaviour could never have happened in any team of mine. We would have done our best to train our players to understand the consequences of such actions.”

Woodward also warned ambitious young sportspeople of the dangers of taking the newspaper shilling by writing weekly columns. “These things are usually rather boring journalism, and can only be a diversion of energy from the real task,” he said.

“Sports people should wait until they hit the highest level before they even give a thought to sounding off in the papers.

However good you are, if you allow yourself

to be distracted, you stand a good chance of coming second.”

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SPORTACCORD CONVENTION HOTS UP The weather reflected events inside the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel yesterday – it got noticeably warmer. There was an audible buzz in every corner of the SportAccord Convention venue against a background of the major sessions taking place. This was networking at its most intense: every area of the hotel was a spot for chat at any time of the day or evening. It was business most urgent: the future of many different sports was being worked out.

FOLLOW EVENTS ON TWITTER

Delegates at the SportAccord Convention, and anyone else around the world interested in sports decision-making will be able to follow events this week on Twitter.

Our Twitter feed can be accessed by going to Twitter.com/saconvention When tweeting use the official event hash tag #SACon

GOLD SPONSORS

HOST PARTNERS

THE SPORTACCORD DAILY TEAM The SportAccord Daily is produced on behalf of the organisers by Trident Communications.

Editor : Mike Martin Production Editor : Rick Haden Journalists : Alan Dron, Brendan Gallagher, Tom Billinghurst.

Photographer : Liam Ritson Printed by : Manson Group If you have a story to tell at the SportAccord Convention then the SportAccord Daily wants to hear from you. The newspaper will be published every day this week and circulated at the event. It’s your event newspaper, so let us know what your organisation is doing. The daily team is located in the Media Centre on the 15th floor of the hotel. Drop in or call Mike Martin on 07585 136676.

The Convention Daily is printed on recycled paper.

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DAILY NEWS SPORT HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON SRI LANKAN PEOPLE The enthusiasm of the Sri Lankan community that permeated the 2011 International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup is an example par excellence of the positive impact sport is having upon the region, says Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Co-Chair of Sri Lanka’s 2018 Commonwealth Games bid and Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

“Sport has the special ability to unite people. Sport will support the ideas that

politicians are yearning to achieve; and do it much better.

“With an 8% economic growth last year, we are well placed to invest in sporting infrastructure for the future.”

And with plaudits world-wide for their hosting of the ICC cricket world cup, Sri Lanka demonstrated how quickly and successfully they can support and develop the international fervour for sport.

“But it is not just expenditure; in the medium-to-long-run sport can bring

incredible financial stability. We are looking at increasing our figures from 2000 per capita to 4000 per capita.”

The integral role sport has played in such a transformation, he feels is irrevocable.

And Cabraal is “confident of producing a new dimension to sport in Sri Lanka” through government implementation of sporting initiatives that aim to introduce more sports into the Sri Lankan milieu including

rugby, swimming and athletics.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka is an advocate of the notion that sport can support conflict resolution.

In the wake of the recent civil tumult in Sri Lanka “you only have to look at the Sri Lanka cricket team,” he said.

“You have players from Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim communities all working together with a spirit that you can find nowhere else. That is the true power of sport.”

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GLASGOW — “WE’RE LEARNING FROM LOCOG” “We have a memorandum of understanding with the London Organising Committee of the Oympic and Paralympic games (LOCOG) and are delighted with the co-operation we have received from them,” John Scott, chief executive of the organisers of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, said here yesterday. “Their willingness to share their experiences and lessons with us is incredibly beneficial.”

The London Games are also helping his team’s efforts in a commercial sense, said the former director of UK Sport’s Drug Free Sport initiative. “Far from competing with London 2012 for sponsorship and other commercial opportunities, we see the Olympics as a marvellous opportunity for us – it will raise consciousness, then we plan to ride that wave.”

Scott’s target for commercial revenues is £80 million. “We’re currently talking to potential sponsors and hope to sign the first this summer,” he said. “We’ve been addressing potential UK-based sponsors

Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. This gives sponsors the opportunity to regionally tailor their marketing.”

Other commercial activities under way relate to broadcasting. “We’re about to put out a tender for a provider to sell the TV rights across world except Australia, where they are already allocated,” said Scott. “And in the next couple of months we’ll invite proposals from potential suppliers of the host broadcast

since January – under the rules we couldn’t talk to them formally before that. One of our strengths is the fact that we hold rights to deal with all the UK Commonwealth territories - England,

TORONTO 2015 TO IGNITE SPORT The Pan-American spirit will be ignited through a celebration of its sporting culture at the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games, according to Ian Troop, CEO of Toronto 2015.

With cross-party support from current federal and provisional government, Troop is excited to be part of an extraordinary undertaking that will make a “profound and lasting difference.”

Furthermore, the flexibility that the Pan American Games permits its organisers will make it a tour de force, he explained at the SportAccord Convention.

“We have a flexibility with our planning for the ‘Pan-Am’s’ that the IOC don’t have for the Olympics. So we have a pretty compelling asset package.”

And despite latent feelings in the international sport community that the increasing ubiquity of regional multi-sport games are detracting from the special aura international events convey, Troop feels the “Pan-

Am” Games retains a deserving place on the sports map.

“I get the impression that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would like more regional games,” he said, “because the complexity of these games mirrors what the athletes and the organisers will see when they get to the next level.”

Notwithstanding the Hamilton Tiger-Cat stadium imbroglio, Troop feels such experiences are inevitable, but ultimately edifying.

“There were certainly a lot of twists-andturns to that story. I found the whole thing educational actually – it was my school of hard knocks. Moving through issues like that are part of my role here.”

Asked what the current position is on the Hamilton stadium issue, Troop replied: “We have a site that everyone agrees on - it’s a renovation of the Ivor Wynne Stadium.”

Troop and his 40-strong planning team at Toronto 2015 are set to be “breaking ground” with the major builds next year. ■

operation, which will cover the events and make the images available to other broadcasters internationally.”

Scott’s £80 million commercial target is part of an overall budget of £524 million, the balance of which will be provided 80 per cent by the Scottish Government and 20 per cent by Glasgow City Council.

The total includes £60 million for contingencies and a £20 million ultimate recourse. “That’s enough,” said Scott.

“We’re on track with the budget.”

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THE OLYMPIC GAMECHANGER Exceptional athletes have the capacity to change the way we think about their disciplines. Think Dick Fosbury, Mohammed Ali or Kip Keino.

But it is the London Olympic and Paralympic Games next year that are likely to be the biggest gamechanger at the event. And it is as much about sustainability as the feast of sport in store.

If you are there, enjoying a bite to eat and admiring the view of the green Olympic Park, you might reflect that much of what you see – and even eat – is qualitatively different to anything you have found at a sports event before.

The difference is in the decision at the bidding stage to take ideas of sustainability in events to a new level.

“In the catering area alone, I think it is fair to say that we are being a catalyst for change in the industry,” said David Stubbs, Head of Sustainability for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

“The food offer will be different, with greater choice and an emphasis on variety and healthy eating. In all areas of procurement, our specified requirements were based on a sustainable approach which touched on everything from Fair Trade sourcing to reduced packaging.”

Catering is just one area of the LOCOG sustainable approach to event management which has been the catalyst for the creation of a new British Standard 8901 which is a template for a more sustainable approach to organising events. That work is currently feeding through to the International Standards Organisation which is

expected to create a new ISO world-wide standard covering events.

The Olympic Park site at Stratford is itself a model of urban regeneration, with two million tonnes of contaminated soil remediated in situ rather than trucked out of the area and replaced. A rundown region of East London is being transformed through the creation of the Olympic infrastructure and new transport links.

Back to that meal you are enjoying when the Games get underway. You will probably have worked up an appetite after cycling to the Olympic Park.

No cars will get near it, but everything has been created

to enable spectators to arrive by public transport, by cycle or to walk.

Stubbs said that he hoped the sustainability effect will be significant and long-lasting.

“I think we have achieved what we have because the principles of sustainability were agreed from the outset,” he said. “It is amazing what you can achieve when everybody involved thinks sustainability. It becomes the way we do things; almost a way of life.”

If, as the saying goes, you are what you eat, then if you are attending the London Games you can pat yourself on the back. You are on the way to being sustainable.

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DAILY NEWS SURFERS MAKE CONSISTENT WAVES TO SHOW WORLDWIDE AMBITION Representatives from the world of surfing are at the SportAccord Convention with what they describe as a realistic, value-enhancing proposition for the Olympic movement.

“Of course, every good sport has Olympic ambitions,” said International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre, adding that his talks with participants had received a positive reaction. Aguerre is also chairman of the SportAccord Beach Games.

“We’re here to continue to show surfing to the Olympic movement,” said Aguerre. The big difference compared with previous years was that the technology now existed to make consistent waves in any body of water.

“We’re now working on an Olympic-quality wave, 100 metres long and two metres high,” he added.

Plus factors for surfing included the relatively modest cost to get started in the sport – a reasonable, used board

could be purchased for $2-300 – and increasing popularity in regions beyond its US and Australian heartlands.

People in some regions used spare pieces of plywood as boards and didn’t even have to stand up on the board to enjoy the thrill of surfing a wave The sport had around 35 million active participants worldwide and, unlike some others, brought with it a whole lifestyle that could be enjoyed by casual or even non-participants, he said.

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ITU CHIEF TALKS TRIATHLON FOR MASS PARTICIPATION “In the past the public perception of our sport tended to be distorted by ‘ultratriathlons’ like the Hawaii Iron Man,” says International Triathlon Union (ITU) president Marisol Casado. “But in the past three years the number of participants has doubled – we think because we’ve managed to dispel the image of triathlon as the toughest thing to do, and turned it into a lifestyle activity.”

Leader of the only all-female delegation to the convention, and elected earlier this week to the council of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), Casado is a former university cross-country runner who took part in the first Madrid Marathon in 1978 and went on to compete in triathlon for four years from 1984.

“I was in the first generation of sport for all,” she says, “and now I’m happy to see

triathlon becoming more accessible to mass participation.”

Oddly enough, the next proof of triathlon’s growing appeal to the ordinary athlete could come this Sunday, when the ITU’s 2011 World Championship Series gets under way in Sydney, Australia. The seven-event series – the format was introduced in 2009 – will also take in Yokohama in Japan, Madrid, Kitzbuehel (Austria), Hamburg, London and Beijing.

“The event attracts the elite, of course,” says Casado. “But there are also age-group races for all athletes: last year in Hamburg there were more than 8,000 participants.”

Highlight of this year’s series are expected to include the grand final in Beijing and the London round, where the elite race will be the test event for its equivalent in the 2012 Olympic Games.

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SPORT FOSTERS CHANGE FOR DISABLED 80% of people who live with a physical or intellectual disability live in ‘developing countries’. Many of these people face basic challenges of exclusion, marginalisation and lack of access to education and employment. In some countries it is a taboo to be seen in public and therefore parents do not take their children out of their homes.

Sport has been identified as an effective tool in fostering positive change in the lives of persons with disabilities and is recognised as a fundamental right in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Against this background, the sports movement is required to act and contribute. This week, an extraordinary sidemeeting was hosted within the framework of the SportAccord Convention.

International federations (IFs) had the opportunity to meet with Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the UN SecretaryGeneral on Sport for Development and Peace, IPC President Sir Philip Craven, Joel Bouzuo, President of Peace and Sport,

and SportAccord President Hein Verbruggen to discuss possibilities of including persons with disabilities while at the same time developing their sport.

In his opening address, Lemke noted that “access and the right to sport for persons with a disability requires a firm and sustained global commitment and engagement of all stakeholders working in close partnership.” A principal stakeholder being the IPC, Sir Philip emphasised how “activities and projects should be athlete focused. We need to promote and increase leadership skills, promote coaches, train the trainers and increase sports opportunities for people with a disability. In turn, inclusive participation in sport will be found to have immense benefits to society in general.”

What can IFs do? There are manifold opportunities by working together with youth centres, NGOs or local associations, by providing appropriate adapted equipment and by developing sports programmes that are adapted to local needs and situations.

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ITU president Marisol Casado, vice-president Sarah Springman and secretary-general Loreen Barnett (left to right) form the only all-woman delegation at this year's SportAccord Convention

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SPORTING TALK STRA

London’s mayor Boris Johnson got the SportAccord Convention Conference off to a rollicking start with his characteristic fast-paced humour.

Welcoming delegates to London, the flamboyant Mayor Johnson treated his audience to his very individual ‘take’ on why sport matters to it.

No other city had seen so many sports originate as London, he said. For example, workmen cleaning the ancient hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall had discovered a 16th century tennis ball lodged in the rafters, hit there, he suggested cheerfully, by an irate Henry VIII.

“To a degree that people sometimes don’t realise,” he continued, “many of London’s great landmarks were built around sport.” Buckingham Palace had originally been built, he claimed, to give its occupant a good view of mall, “a very violent 16th century version of croquet” played on the road that is now known as The Mall.

Cantering through the capital’s attractions, he noted that it had “more bookshops than New York City, more museums than Paris and less rain than Rome.”

Huge amounts of money were being

poured into the city’s transport infrastructure and he proudly pointed out the 5,000 bicycles for hire that have appeared on the city streets in the past year under one of his initiatives.

Known to Londoners as ‘Boris bikes’ – the mayor is a keen cyclist – he proudly pointed out that fewer than 10 had been stolen in the first year. Taking a gentle dig at “a European city that I won’t embarrass by naming…but it’s the capital of France”, he noted that the latter city’s similar bicycle scheme had experienced 2,000 thefts “by the light-fingered people of Paris.”

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LONDON CLAIMS EVENT CAPITAL TITLE London is claiming the title of number one city in the world for hosting major events, the Mayor Boris Johnson announced yesterday at the SportAccord Convention.

The Mayor revealed the results of a new survey of global business in which 70 per cent voted it top city for delivering excellent investment returns and said they were keen to partner with London to create new annual, signature sports events in the city in the future.

The survey was commissioned by London & Partners, the capital’s new promotional agency, and over 100 global industry leaders in the events business were contacted. The results put London ahead of international rivals Sydney and New York, when it comes to investment returns on major events.

The global leaders also voted

London as the best city for generating the highest media profile for a major event, ahead of New York. Over 80 per cent said London’s attractiveness was due to the presence and strength of the city’s global commercial and brand partners.

Meanwhile, London & Partners commissioned a separate survey of nearly 4,700 people at home and abroad, of which almost 50 per cent said they would visit London for a major event, beating both Paris and New York.

The Mayor opened the SportAccord Convention at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, where he told 1,500 of the world’s top sporting officials and business people that London is the best place in the world to reap major business benefits from sporting events staged here.

Through preparing to host the 2012

Olympic and Paralympic Games, London has built on its existing excellent sports venue infrastructures and now offers possibly the best range of sporting facilities in the world for international sporting federations and supporting businesses, he said.

Mayor Johnson said: “London is rich in sporting heritage and is a natural backdrop for successful, profitable international sports events. It already boasts some of the world's most iconic sports arenas and our new state of the art 2012 sports venues are steadily being delivered ahead of schedule. The best Games legacy for London would be to welcome many more major events to our capital and this research shows we are right to have such confidence.

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A IGHT FROM THE TOP

With 478 days left before the Olympic flame is lit in London, it’s ‘All systems go’, the chairman of the London Organising Committee Lord Coe said yesterday.

While acknowledging that an event as major as the Olympics always had the ability to rear up and bite organisers at the least expected moments, “we can safely say that the things that we have under our control ARE under control.”

Addressing the SportAccord Convention, he said that there was always the risk of completely unexpected events disrupting plans – another Icelandic volcanic eruption two or three weeks before the opening ceremony would be bad news, for example – but that preparations were going well.

The major challenge this year was operational readiness – “Testing, testing, testing.”

The many former world-class athletes in the conference room, he said, would be very aware that the last thing they would have wanted as they stepped out to a final would have

been something that had not been thrown at them hundreds of times in training.

He said the legacy the Olympics would leave for London and the UK had been enshrined at the centre of the UK’s bid, not tucked away in the margins. What LOCOG needed to do, he said, was be better at collating some of the raw data flying around.

Some of the legacy ambitions had probably already been surpassed, he said.

Challenged about Sport England’s fears that more people were getting unfit despite the excitement of the approaching games, he said he took a different view. Local authorities and sporting bodies were already reporting higher numbers of people using sporting facilities.

Efforts to hit a target of getting 12 million people involved in some form of high-quality sport were steaming ahead, with numbers having already hit 10.8 million, a year and a half ahead of the Games.

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SPORTING BATON PASSES TO BRAZIL Brazil’s emergence as a major player on the world stage has given the country a new confidence as it prepares to host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, the SportAccord Convention heard yesterday.

The South American giant is due to record economic growth of more than 7% this year and between 5-6% in the years upto 2014, the audience heard. And economic growth has been accompanied by social progress, said Rodrigo Azerado, MinisterCounsellor at the Brazilian Embassy in London.

From 2003-9 some 30 million people had risen to join the middle classes and similar numbers are expected to follow in the next few years, he said.

Bringing the Olympics to a new continent for the first time was very important not only for Brazil

but to promote the image of developing countries in South America, added Azerado.

Leonardo Gryner, CEO of the Rio Organising Committee, noted that Rio’s previous reputation for crime had also been tackled and the city was now a much safer place for visitors.

Other benefits of the forthcoming events included a new level of co-operation and co-ordination between federal, state and municipal governments, while a major development programme meant that participation in sports in schools had doubled in recent years.

And around $18 billion in funding – most of it from the federal government – meant that close to 100 projects to improve infrastructure, particularly in the transport sector, were being undertaken.

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TURNING GAMES PLANNING INTO OPERATIONAL SUCCESS

By Magnus Enfeldt, of KPMG’s Major Sporting Events group

Let’s face it: members of an Organising Committee rarely have any hands-on experience organising a major multi-sport event, and very few cities ever host major international games twice in a lifetime. Rigorous planning, therefore, is critical.

Organising Committees will find that their success is directly related to their ability to shift their mindset from planning to operations early in the project.

Usually, venue operations planning is initially conducted by a few individuals focused on specific functional areas such as sport, technology, IT and security.

As the project moves forward, plans mature and change, so each of these functional area planners must delegate their plans and responsibility to Venue Functional Area Managers on each venue team.

These managers must quickly understand how they interface with (and depend on) each other. It is critical that each Venue Functional Area Manager understands how every change he makes affects the rest of the venue team. They must work together seamlessly to adjust and co-ordinate their plans.

Once the venue has been handed over to the Venue General Manager, the complexities multiply exponentially.

Thousands of staff and volunteers must be trained, plans must be tested and retested, and contingencies must be considered to eliminate last-minute surprises.

No athlete goes into an event ‘cold’; nor should a venue team. Venue General Managers should institute a schedule of operational readiness exercises to identify oversights, eliminate duplication and mitigate risk.

These will start as table-top exercises that bring together the functional leads to ‘walk through’ the event and various scenarios. As the team expands, these exercises will move into full-scale ‘dry-runs’, ensuring each staff member and volunteer understands their role and responsibilities.

As a competitor at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic Games, I was oblivious to all the behind-the-scenes co-ordination required for my event. As a first-time Venue Functional Area Manager (Sport) at the 2006 Torino Olympic Games, I was awed by the number of complexities and challenges to be overcome.

So, when I agreed to manage the Richmond Olympic Speed Skating Oval for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, I knew the only way to ensure success was a programme of operational readiness exercises. Each week, my ever-expanding team gathered to role-play scenarios, practice emergency response and gain experience in our roles and operations.

What can future Venue Managers and Organising Committees learn from my experience? Start thinking about operations early in the planning process. And, despite all the planning, expect weird problems at the last moment.

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ICE COOL SWEDEN Stefan Bergh, Chairman of the Steering Group of the Sweet Spot For Sweden, says Sweden’s social infrastructure is ready and anticipating the prospect of future major sports events.

The Sweet Spot Sweden is cooperation between the Swedish Sports Confederation, the cities Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö and the region of Jämtland/Härjedalen. The SportAccord Convention is “the perfect place to reach the international sporting community,” according to Bergh.

“For us, this is a perfect first step in communicating that Sweden wants to take a more active position in hosting major international sports events.

“Generally, coming from Sweden, knowing that it is a strong winter sports country, I think that a Winter Olympics should be something that we in the future should try to reach.”

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WHY SPORT MATTERS TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN WINE INDUSTRY John Siner is the owner of “Why Sport Matters”, a media company which focuses on the unique impact sport has on society and culture around the world. Along with video testimonials during the sessions and on SportAccord TV, each day here in the Daily newspaper John also gives us a personal account from some of his global travels. More information is found on his website www.whysportmatters.com.

Origin Wines is one of the world’s largest exporters of wines with production facilities in South Africa, Chile and Argentina. Their wines are “Fairtrade” certified, which means they adhere to ethical standards in labour, production and environmental conditions. For over 10 years, they have been taking a percentage of their profits to upgrade the living conditions of the less fortunate communities where their employees work. As a result, they have seen improvements in the relationship with employers, a more productive workforce and a higher quality of life for their employees. But it was only recently that they discovered the unique power that sport can play in their efforts.

In post-apartheid South Africa, it was still acceptable for employees to be partially compensated with the products they make. In this case, it was wine. As a consequence, it was feared that many of their employees had developed dependency. A 2007 research study at their South African winery near Stellenbosch (a region north of Cape Town) revealed astonishing results: 95% of their adult workforce was addicted to alcohol.

An immediate rehabilitation initiative was started with a combination of counselling services and the creation of an organised sports club. “We needed to provide the adults with the opportunity to be active during the weekend,” explains Origin Wines Director Pierre Smit. “They

would literally drink from Friday night until they had to go back to work again on Monday. Sport on the weekend was the perfect solution.”

Activities, leagues and competitions were organised for both adults and kids for a variety of sports including netball, football, rugby, and other activities like pool and dominoes. Competitions with other towns, training sessions, and leagues began to structure their employees’ lives in a more positive way. And the results were equally astonishing.

“We were able to take these people from the farm and introduce them into new environments,” says Smit. “South Africa is a sports mad country and everyone wants to excel on the pitch. But that meant they needed to train and look after themselves. To live healthier lifestyles and more importantly, cut back on the bad habits in their lives, which in this case was drug and alcohol abuse. Sport was able to do this.”

We met Smit in Mendoza, Argentina, where he was helping set up similar programmes in their employee communities.

He invited us to see the results of their Fairtrade activities, including new schools, medical clinics and low-income housing. They are sponsoring a football club created by a group of schoolteachers where poor kids from Mendoza can only play if they are registered and regularly attend the school. He still marvels at the impact sport can have on people.

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DAILY NEWS NEW ZEALAND READY FOR RUGBY’S GREAT SHOW The Rugby World Cup is one of the world’s largest sports events. The 2011 tournament will be hosted in New Zealand bringing together the people of New Zealand and over 85,000 visiting fans for a nationwide festival of world class Rugby and culture as 20 teams compete to lift the prestigious Webb Ellis Cup. The International Rugby Board (IRB) is promoting the Rugby World Cup 2011(RWC 2011) Observer Programme which will be run in conjunction with tournament organiser Rugby New Zealand 2011 and the Government agency New Zealand 2011.

The biggest selling sporting event in New Zealand before RWC 2011 was the very successful British & Irish Lions tour of 2005, which grossed US$17 million in ticket sales. RWC 2011 is a whole lot bigger with 1.65 million tickets available and a budgeted sales figure of US$194 million.

Sean Fitzpatrick, NZ 2011 Government Ambassador said: “RWC 2011 is a great opportunity to raise New Zealand’s international profile and to boost our economy, and for our industries and businesses to make global connections which mean that long after the teams have gone home, New Zealand will continue to benefit from hosting RWC 2011”.

The Convention Daily invited two writers connected with the event to give readers a taste of the event to come.

YOU GOTTA BE THERE

By Martin Snedden (right) CEO, Rugby New Zealand 2011 (Tournament Organiser For RWC 2011) What can fans expect from the hosting of the world’s third biggest sporting event in New Zealand?

The Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) in New Zealand will be a unique experience for fans from around the

world. Rugby is our national game and when we won the bid in 2005 we promised that RWC 2011 would be delivered by a “Stadium of Four Million” passionate Kiwis. True to that promise, matches will be held at 12 match venues from

Whangarei in the north to Invercargill in the south. The whole country is gearing up to give the teams and their supporters a wonderful welcome.

How advanced is planning for RWC 2011?

Our preparations are well on track.

Auckland’s Eden Park, the venue for nine

key matches including the Final, has had a major upgrade as have six other venues.

One new stadium is also being built in Dunedin which will be New Zealand’s first fully roofed Rugby venue. RWC 2011 will be a special moment in New Zealand’s history, so we hope you will join us for a unique celebration of our country and we promise some great Rugby too!

For further information about RWC 2011, please visit www.rugbyworldcup.com.

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CELEBRATING THE REAL NEW ZEALAND

By Leon Grice Director, NZ 2011 Office (Government Office For RWC 2011) What special events is New Zealand planning around the Tournament?

New Zealand is pulling out all the stops to deliver an amazing, totally New Zealand experience for our international RWC 2011 visitors.

This is the first time in Rugby World Cup history that a host nation will stage a nationwide festival alongside the Tournament, and it’s the biggest showcase of New Zealand in our nation’s history. This festival, the REAL New Zealand Festival, includes 1,000 events up and down the country which showcase New Zealand’s arts, food and wine, heritage, culture, entertainment, industries and business, experiences and lifestyle.

How is NZ 2011 helping businesses take advantage of the opportunities around RWC 2011?

The Festival and Showcase programme is designed to assist locals to host visitors and ensure they have a unique and authentic Kiwi experience. The NZ 2011 Business Club is a matching programme which builds connections between local business people and their peers visiting New Zealand. It is based on the ethics of hosting and relationship building so that visitors will receive a personal experience of our country, our capabilities and what makes living here special.

If you’d like to experience the real New Zealand in 2011, please visit nz2011.govt.nz.

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SEVEN QUESTIONS OF SPORT: WITH WILSON KIPKETER ■ What is your favourite sport?

Actually for me, every sport is my favourite.

■ Why? Because I look at the personalities of the different sports. In Formula 1 you have Michael Schumacher, in basketball you had people like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, boxing you had Muhammed Ali, football with Pelé – I am interested in how they achieve such great things, and what they do for young people because personality for me is the important thing about sports. And I think that all these personalities come together under a united ‘sport’, and so no sport is ‘better’ than another.

■ What is your earliest sporting memory?

I was always playing sport – football, volleyball, running, jumping throwing. I just liked to try everything to get an understanding of the different challenges in life.

■ What is your greatest sporting moment?

SHORT WALKS FROM THE HOTEL - THE EDF ENERGY LONDON EYE The EDF Energy London Eye is a mere ten-minute walk away from the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel.

Situated in the South Bank region of the River Thames, the colloquially known “London Eye”, is the tallest Ferriswheel in Europe, standing at 135 metres.

Upon the structure’s completion in 1999, it was the tallest in the world. It has since been surpassed by the 160 m Star of Nanchang (2006), and most recently the 165 m Singapore Flyer (2008).

The wheel carries 32 ovoidal, airconditioned capsules, each with a capacity of 25 people. Each capsule is representative of a London borough.

Rotating at 26cm per second, one complete rotation takes 30 minutes, allowing spectacular views across the London vista.

Since it was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, it has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people per annum.

The Eye’s ubiquitous appearance in world-wide film, television and fiction is symptomatic of the iconic image now ascribed to the landmark following its rapid integration into London’s modern culture.

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When I was sick in 1998, diagnosed with malaria, I came back to win the World Championships in 1999. And that was a big achievement for me. When the doctor told me I had malaria, all the people around me were talking negatively about my future in sport. But I remained positive and came back to prove them wrong.

■ Who is your sporting hero?

Well, we have to talk about Muhammed Ali. But there are so many, I cannot choose!

■ Why does sport matter?

It’s a great way of challenging and learning about yourself. But also, getting involved in sports is an amazing way of uniting people, and this more than ever is so important.

■ What is your greatest hope for sport in the future?

It would be to set ourselves more challenges that we can achieve. The happiness that sport brings I hope will continue in a way that brings people together. ■

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PARTNERSHIPS GO BETTER WITH COKE UKTI LAUNCH DIRECTORY Coca-Cola has been associated with sports for 125 years, but its current emphasis on partnership means that it is looking to team with organisations with flair and imagination where groundbreaking ideas can emerge.

That was the message from Scott McCune, Coca-Cola’s Vice President, Global Partnerships and Experiential Marketing, who addressed the SportAccord Convention yesterday.

Coca-Cola developed its partnership approach for sports and other organisations after an uncharacteristic dip in its fortunes prior to 2004. It is based on five principles: being like-minded; having clear goals; being better together; shared values; and the capacity to dream.

McCune said: “We used to be seen as a big red bank. That bank is closed. We can put money into something, but we are really looking for shared value.”

He added that Coca-Cola would continue its long association with sport, but

on a partnership basis that yielded new possibilities.

“We want to work with partners to do something that others did not think possible,” he said. “We want to inspire youth to participate in sports. We have an ambition to be in every country and encourage children into sports.”

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UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) launched the new ‘Springboard to Success’ business directory yesterday at the London SportAccord Convention.

The directory contains details of more than 400 UKbased suppliers for high-profile events – some of which have been used for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

“With the global sports market expected to generate $1.5 trillion over the next decade, the opportunity for UK business is huge,” said Lord Green, Minister for Trade and Investment.

The directory is a move from the UKTI that aims to procure a business legacy for UK companies long after the 2012 Olympics.

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GENERATIONS FOR PEACE TO LAUNCH ACADEMIC HUB

Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein of Jordan was at SportAccord Convention to announce the latest developments in Generations for Peace, the peace-throughsport programme launched in 2007.

The prince, together with his wife, Princess Sara, reported that to date seven Generations for Peace camps at locations like Abu Dhabi and Sochi in Russia had trained 526 delegates from 46 countries.

The resulting Pioneers have trained 4,300 youth leaders, who in turn have passed the message to 63,000 children in some of the most conflict-blighted countries in the world.

Next month will see the opening of the Generations for Peace Institute in Jordanian capital Amman. Designed to meet the need for high-level research for the community involved in applying sport

to peace and development, the institute will be led by Jadranka Stikovac, currently development director for the programme, and will have an initial staff of one fulltime researcher and one part-timer.

“The UN and the International Olympic Committee have responded very positively to the institute,” commented Princess Sara. “There can never be enough initiatives for peace and development out there.”

The institute will carry out research on its own account and will also engage other academic institutions around the world by sponsoring courses and scholarships.

The programme is in the process of opening satellite offices in Sudan, Somalia, Pakistan and a number of other locations.

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