Friday, 8th December 2006

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

Mastercard Wins World Cup Lawsuit

Fifa, soccer’s world governing body, was today left reeling by a New York court judgement that it breached its obligation under law and did not observe its principle of ‘fair play’ in failing to offer credit card company MasterCard the right to remain a top-tier sponsor of the World Cup. The court ruled that Fifa's negotiating team, led by Jerome Valcke, lied repeatedly both to MasterCard and to the credit card's rival Visa, which replaced it as Fifa's financial services partner. The Swiss-based federation has been told that it must ditch its lucrative deal with Visa and proceed with a deal with MasterCard that had been provisionally agreed. Fifa said today that it would appeal against the ruling and ‘fully expects to prevail.’ Source: Sportcal, 7th December 2006

Mastercard has won a US lawsuit against the world football body, Fifa, which wanted to end its sponsorship of the World Cup in favour of rival Visa. The federal judge ordered Fifa to drop its planned eight-year deal with Visa and instead return to Mastercard for the 2007 to 2014 period. Mastercard, which has sponsored the World Cup since 1990, said it had right of first refusal on a future deal. Visa's deal was set to begin in January 2007. Visa said it was disappointed by the verdict and was considering all options. Fifa said it will appeal. Source: BBC News, 7th December 2006

FIFA officials were humiliated by a US District Court ruling today (AEDT) that awarded MasterCard an injunction against the world governing body's planned new sponsorship deal with rival Visa. US District Court judge Loretta Preska ruled that MasterCard has the right to sponsor the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, saying FIFA cannot breach a deal giving MasterCard first right to buy sponsorship rights after this year's Cup. Switzerland-based FIFA issued a statement saying it will appeal the verdict and is confident of winning the challenge. Source: The Australian, 8th December 2006

Mastercard has won a US court battle challenging Fifa's £150m deal to switch sponsorship of the World Cup to rival credit card company Visa. Football's governing body was sued by Mastercard in April, with the credit card firm arguing that Fifa had signed its deal with Visa for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups even though Mastercard had first right of refusal as an existing sponsor in that category. Visa swooped in, signing a shock sponsorship deal with Fifa for the next two World Cups that broke a long-standing relationship Fifa had with Mastercard. The 8-year deal was for a top-tier partner sponsorship for Visa under a revised structure that slimmed the number of primary sponsors from 15 to six, but charged each brand significantly more. Source: Guardian Unlimited, 7th December 2006


INFO DIGEST

Racquet Sports Events at Doha 2006 - Did You Know?
* Tennis: Speed and power are increasingly weighing into tennis matches. American Andy Roddick has delivered record 246.2km/h serve, while compatriot Venus Williams, known for her power game, set a 205km/h record.
* Soft Tennis: The rubber soft tennis ball is filled with air which makes them fly faster. This is one of the charming features of this fast-moving, yet precise game.
* Table Tennis: Before racquets or paddles were regulated, some unusual equipment was used at the tables, including a thick sponge, pure wood and sandpaper.
* Badminton: Badminton is the world’s fastest racquet sport and shuttles can leave the racquet at more than 300km/h.
* Squash: One of the most famous – although short-lived – squash courts, was onboard the Titanic. The ship’s blueprints note the court could be hired at 50 cents per session.
Source: Doha 2006 Gold Magazine

Torino Winter Olympics, 10-26 February 2006
* 3 Olympic Villages, 7 Media villages
* 2,500 athletes, 2,300 officials, 21,000 volunteers
* 15 disciplines
* 10,000 media, 10,000 sponsor guests
* 1 million spectators
* US$830 million TV rights income
* 4 billion TV viewers
* 160 countries watching
* 6,600 TV broadcast staff and technicians
* 80 rights owning broadcasters
Source: Infostrada Databox, December 2006


SPORTS SHORTS

* The rights for a key cricket property the International Cricket Council (ICC) from post World Cup 2007 - 2015 are expected to be decided on Saturday 9 December 2006. Three global bids have been put in by Zee Telefilms, Ten Sports-Infront and Nimbus. The last party has the rights to among other properties India cricket. ESPN Star Sports, has bid for the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. If Nimbus does get the rights it could market the rights to ESPN Star Sports. Nimbus has a distribution deal with Star. Source: Indian Television, 7th December 2006

* SK Telecom, Toshiba , Glocal Media, and International Mobile Broadcasting have formed the Pan Asian Mobile TV consortium to enable digital multimedia broadcasting for mobile operators in the region. Trials are set to begin in early 2007 with leading mobile operators in Asia. "The vision will bring a new era of Broadcasting in the Asia region. People can enjoy informative, educational and entertaining live contents from all over the world anytime and anywhere with cell phone most cost effectively by adopting S-DMB system that was commercially proven in Japan and Korea," commented Masashi Suenaga of Toshiba. Source: Advanced Television, Indian Television, 8th December 2006

* The NFL has few peers in the world of sports entertainment. The league has long-term deals with NBC, CBS and Fox worth nearly $12 billion, in addition to another $8.8 billion deal with cable sports network ESPN. Meanwhile, for the first time in league history, the NFL has begun to air games exclusively on NFL Network in every market except the home towns of the two teams playing. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other cable operators want to carry NFL Network on sport tiers so that sports fans shoulder the cost of the programming. However, the league is seeking widest possible distribution. Source: Digital Animators, 7th December 2006

* Brazil could be confirmed as the host of the 2014 World Cup as early as next year and Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, has now awarded long-term television rights in the South American country. At its end-of-year meeting in Zurich, Fifa’s executive committee decided that if only one application to stage the event is received, the bidding process will be accelerated and a decision on the host made in November 2007 rather than in 2008 as had been anticipated. Fifa had received two for Brazilian TV rights and opted for TV Globo over rival TV Record. Source: Sportcal, 6th December 2006

* The PGA Grand Slam of Golf, the end-of-season event featuring the winners of the year’s four ‘majors,’ will move from Hawaii to Bermuda next year. The two-day tournament has been held at Hawaii's Poipu Bay Golf Course for the past 13 years. It will be the first time in the tournament's 24-year history that it will be held outside USA. The 2007 Grand Slam, staged by the PGA of America, will be held on October 16-17 at Bermuda's Mid Ocean Club. Tiger Woods won the competition for the seventh time last month, seeing off world number-two Jim Furyk. Source: Sportcal, 7th December 2006

* Buenos Aires-based Nexus Sports has added poker to its portfolio with the Tower Texas Hold ´Em Tournament taking place in the Dominican Republic. The production will use 18 cameras to cover the competition. Nexus is offering four 52-minute shows. Source: Sports Media, 7th December 2006

* ESPN has reached an agreement with the organizers of the Tribeca Film Festival to sponsor a special slate of sports-related screenings and live events to run concurrently with the 2007 film fest. The Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival will gather all the sports-related films that are scheduled to screen at Tribeca and offer them as a standalone program dubbed Sports Saturday. Since its inauguration in 2002, the Tribeca Film Festival has featured 29 films about sports, including Once in a Lifetime, the documentary about the New York Cosmos that ESPN acquired before it was screened at last year’s festival. Source: Mediaweek, 6th December 2006


MORE NEWS

Don King: Nigeria Nightmare is Next Tyson

American Promoter, Don King, has described Nigeria ‘Nightmare’, Samuel Peter, as the new iron-man of world boxing. He said Peter’s punches were as hard as that of the former heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. The boxing big wig, who managed Tyson during his reigning days, didn’t look too far before he discovered another legend in the Nigerian pugilist. Don King is so convinced that nobody can stop Peter’s power punches when he files in his re-match bout against James ‘Light Out’ Toney.

“For everyone who has been waiting for the next Mike Tyson, Peter could be that heavyweight. His lone loss came by decision last year against Wladimir Klitschko, after Peter had knocked him down three times. Every time he enters the ring, Peter exemplifies unsurpassed courage and delights fans with intoxicating excitement,” King was quoted by a boxing web.

The hottest young heavyweight in the world, Peter, and one of the craftiest pugilists in history, Toney, are billed to meet in a World Boxing Council-ordered re-match on Saturday, January 6, in the Hard Rock, Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The first meeting between Peter and Toney in September 2 was an action-packed affair that featured excellent exchanges and few clinches. Source: Daily Sun Nigeria, 7th December 2006

India/General: ESS adds flavour to Premier Hockey League

The third edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL), which is the brainchild of ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), kicks off its third edition in January 2007. To add flavour to the proceedings, ESS has announced that each team will have a brand ambassador. A series of spots have been created which will air on the channel.

The ambassadors have been chosen due to their love of the game and their pride in representing their regions. ESS cricket commentator Ravi Shastri will support the Maratha Warriors, VVS Laxman will back the Hyderabad Sultans, Bollywood actor Jimmy Shergill will root for Sher-e-Jalandhar and Chandigarh Dynamos, South Indian film star Madhavan throws his lot behind the Chennai Veerans. Prakash Padukone will champion the cause of the Bangalore Lions. Debashish Mohanty will back the Orissa Steelers. Source: Indian Television, 7th December 2006

Bangladesh/Broadcaster: ETV Goes on Air Again

Ekushey Television (ETV) in Bangladesh has resumed transmission after its broadcasts were stopped four years ago, The Daily Star reports. ETV Chairman Abdus Salam said ETV has got permission to “re-broadcast” its programmes using their previous facilities. Mr Abdus said ETV is hopeful it will regain the viewers' attention by presenting quality programmes and neutral and investigative news.

The transmission of ETV was stopped on 29 August 2002 following a Supreme Court order. The ETV got its permission for transmission on 14 April 2005, but did not resume transmission due to disagreements with Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Board. Source: Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union, 5th December 2006