Thursday, 2nd August 2007

THIS WEEK

Sun, 6th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Chicago Open
Superbikes 2007: Race Day – Brands Hatch, UK


SPORTS SHORTS

* Singapore’s StarHub will offer its new Football Channel to subscribers to other services from its parent company. Football Channel will stream EPL matches live on its broadband internet service MaxOnline and 3G/High-Speed Packet Access mobile platform StarHub Mobile. The matches will be part of i.View and Mobile TV Xtra, and be available at no extra charge to digital cable customers who subscribe to the Sports Group package. Non-Sports Group subscribers must pay extra for the new services. StarHub is clearly using a key property to drive subscribers to take up more than one StarHub service, as well as seeking to combat a challenge from SingTel which recently launched an IPTV service. Source: Rapid TV News, Worldscreen, C21 Media, 1st Aug 2007

* The opening of X Games 13 will reach 267mil TV viewers in 145 Countries; plus countless others around the world through EXPN.com. Action sports fans in Australia, Asia, Brazil, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, India, Israel, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South America, Taiwan and the U.S. will share in the excitement as the action sports event kicks off its annual competition in Los Angeles Aug. 2-5, 2007. This year the event will feature over 150 of the world’s best athletes competing in BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Rally Car Racing. Source: Sports e-Media, 1st Aug 2007

* Online broadcaster MediaZone and the Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) launched RWC Plus, the official and exclusive broadband video On Demand service for Rugby World Cup 2007. RWC Plus is produced in association with MediaZone Rugby and will be streamed through the official tournament website at www.rugbyworldcup.com/video. RWC Plus provides rugby fans worldwide with delayed coverage of all 48 matches from the Rugby World Cup 2007, as well as live audio feeds, match previews, halftime and fulltime highlights and interviews. Source: Sport Business, 1st Aug 2007

* Jermain Taylor, the WBO and WBC middleweight champion, will defend his titles against fellow American Kelly Pavlik in New Jersey at the end of next month. The fight will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and will be shown live by pay-television operator HBO. Both Taylor and Pavlik are undefeated in the professional ranks. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

Vietnam/General: Big Leap in Sports

Since its rejoining in the Southeast Asian arena in 1989, Viet Nam's sports have made great strides, particularly in recent Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. The country has continuously been among the top three regional nations with its considerable achievements over the past seven SEA Games. At the 23rd SEA Games held in the Philippines in 2005, Viet Nam proved its position in the region by finishing third behind the host - the Philippines and second-ranked Thailand.

Though Viet Nam ranked seventh by snatching three gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze medals at the 15th SEA Games held in Indonesia in 1989, it gradually rose in following SEA Games and reached the peak at the 22nd SEA Games in 2003 when the country topped the competition with a total haul of 340 medals, including 156 golds, 91 silvers and 93 bronzes.

ASEAN press praised the "great" sportsmanship of Vietnamese athletes at the 22nd SEA Games. Indonesian and Cambodian press said that Viet Nam is emerging as a powerful country in Southeast Asia in terms of sport, winning admiration of many regional people.

Meanwhile, Bangkok Post ran an editorial saying that Viet Nam's successful hosting of the 22nd SEA Games is considered an outstanding example for other countries to follow, particularly in honesty, consistence and organising method.

Viet Nam is now willing to take part in the upcoming 24th SEA Games slated in Thailand by the end of 2007 with a total of 958 athletes. The head of the Vietnamese delegation at the 24th SEA Games, Hoang Vinh Giang, said Vietnamese athletes will compete in 32 out of 43 events at the games and target to retain their position among top delegations.

To improve its athletes' performance, the Viet Nam National Sports and Physical Training Committee has regularly exchanged delegation of sport officials, coaches, referees and athletes with other countries.

As a result, Vietnamese sports have more say at regional fora and conferences. Viet Nam was elected President and Secretary General of the Southeast Asian Federation, and Head of the Organising Board of the 22nd SEA Games. Additionally, the number of Vietnamese sport officials and referees of international standard taking part in regional tournaments has increased rapidly.

Viet Nam has to date signed sport cooperation agreements with Laos, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, and is discussing the signing of similar agreements with other countries in the region. In 2006, Viet Nam also made a deep impression on friends by successfully hosting the Southeast Asian Student Sport Festival, the biggest sport event for the youths in the region. At the competition, host students ranked first by winning 74 gold, 52 silver and 37 bronze medals.

Assessing the sport development of the region in general and Viet Nam in particular, General Secretary of Viet Nam Olympic Committee Tran Van Manh said Viet Nam and ASEAN member countries need to fortify their cooperation and mutual support to make the region keep up with sport development of other continents and the world at large.

Regional countries should also pay attention to a wide range of sport events at the Olympic and Asian Games (ASIAD) like athletics, gymnasium, swimming, fencing, regatta, Taekwondo and Karatedo, in stead of focusing on only events of host countries' strength, Manh said.

Elsewhere/General: Fifa More Adventurous than IOC in Award of Major Events

Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, soccer’s international governing body, has claimed that his organisation is more inclined to award its major event to countries outside the developed world than the International Olympic Committee and attributes this to the composition of the Olympic body. Speaking after the presentation of Brazil’s bid for the 2014 World Cup, Blatter said it was possible for countries in South America and Africa to host big sporting events but that the ‘IOC has always denied’ them.

Blatter, himself an IOC member, said: ‘The IOC is a club, a very special club. There are 115 members, 15 come from national federations, 15 from international federations and 15 are athletes. The other 70 members are co-opted or appointed.’

Under Fifa’s current rotation policy, South America is due to host the World Cup in 2014 and Brazil is the only country to have submitted a bid. Countries from the continent have staged the competition on three occasions – Uruguay in 1930, Brazil in 1950 and Argentina in 1978 – but the Olympics have yet to be held there. The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro failed with bids for the 2004 and 2012 Olympics but hopes to have more success in the race to stage the 2016 event.

Africa, like South America, is yet to host an Olympics, but South Africa will be the host of the next World Cup in 2010. Fifa has not yet decided whether to continue with its World Cup rotation policy in 2018 as there is pressure for the tournament to return to Europe that year. Source: Sportcal, 1st Aug 2007