Wednesday, 22nd August 2007

HEADLINE NEWS

Badminton Federation Gets New Chair of Events

Anne Smilie has been appointed as the new chair of events at the troubled Badminton World Federation, the sport’s world governing body, replacing Paisan Rangsikitpho, who has stepped down because of family commitments. Datuk Punch Gunalan, the organisation’s executive deputy president, said that other changes would follow ‘as the federation steps up its office restructuring to suit the modern requirements of running an international office.’

Punch and three other leading figures in the federation were forced onto the defensive earlier this week when the BWF’s South Korean president Kang Young-joong responded to a vote of no-confidence with an outspoken attack on their running of the organisation. In a press statement published today, VK Verma, one of the federation’s vice-presidents, said that Kang ‘seems to have misunderstood the reasons for council expressing their lack of confidence in him. The approach he takes in decision-making has made council members lose confidence and faith in his ability to lead the federation into the future.

Verma added: ‘Dr Kang had repeatedly by-passed the voice of the majority members of the council and was making decisions on his own particularly in relation to the former general manager.’ He also claimed that Kang’s chairing of meetings ‘often ignored the constitution and failed basic meeting procedures. All of the issues concerned many on council.’

Kang had asserted that Punch had usurped the president's position and that of the chief operating officer P Ganga Rao, who was dismissed last month, and maintained that the BWF had spiralled downwards through a ‘dictatorship by democracy.’ A steering committee, chaired by Robin Bryant, another vice-president under fire from Jang, has been formed ‘to review the federation’s office structure, its functions and matters relating to the running of an international office.’ Source: BWF Official, Sportcal, 21st Aug 2007


THIS WEEK

Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Brooklyn Open
WWE Summerslam: Meadowlands, USA


SPORTS SHORTS

* Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has been awarded the contract of host broadcaster for this year’s Asian Indoor Games in the Chinese territory of Macau. As part of the agreement, CCTV will be an official broadcaster and games sponsor and responsible for the coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies. The games take place from October 26 to November 3. Source: Sportcal, 21st Aug 2007

* Encryption specialists NDS has secured a contract from China’s AGWL. Two million Anhui Radio & TV (AGWL) analogue cable subs in Southern China will be converted to digital, boosting the number of channels on offer from today’s 50 to 120, protected by NDS’ VideoGuard conditional access technology. Anhui province has about 59m people and stretches over the Yangtze River. Hefei City is its capital. Anhui Radio & TV is the major cable operator in the region. Source: Rapid TV News, 21st Aug 2007

* Internet TV site, Watchindia.tv, which provides ethnic Asian programming to those living outside their country of origin, has announced the launch of three new Indian TV channels on its internet TV platform: Zee Cinema, Zee Punjabi, and Zee Gujarati. WatchIndia.tv offers the 3.5 million Indian expatriates living in the US and Canada with live Indian TV, top rated channels and free video-on-demand all with only an internet connection. Source: Entertainment Asia, 17th Aug 2007

* India-based IPTV provider, IOL Broadband, plans to roll out IPTV services in 28 cities in India during the next 18 to 20 months. IPTV is currently available in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata. Under the agreement between IOL Broadband and New Delhi-based telecom, BSNL, IOL Broadband will provide the content and market the services, while BSNL will provide access to the customers. BSNL has revealed that the company plans to aggressively expand its broadband network and expects to add six million broadband connections each year. Source: Entertainment Asia, 17th Aug 2007

* ESPN has acquired Scrum.com, the rugby union news, scores and information portal, from privately-owned Scrum Limited, boosting ESPN’s online presence into another top non-US sport. ESPN already owns leading soccer/cricket news and information sites ESPNsoccernet.com and Cricinfo. Other rugby rights held by ESPN include the IRB U21 and U19 World Championships and Women’s Rugby World Cup in Latin America. It also holds rights to the Argentine URBA Championships until 2011 and all Argentina’s national team matches in Latin America until the end of next year. Scrum.com’s three markets are the UK, USA and Australia. Source: Sportcal, Worldscreen, 21st Aug 2007

* EPL’s Tottenham Hotspur has commissioned Input Media to produce a weekly three-hour television programme for the international market. The show will feature the club’s latest league match, highlights of midweek games and action from cup competitions as well as a magazine section comprising interviews with the team manager and players, training ground reports, archive footage and general news. The show is being distributed by sports rights distributor Pitch International. Input Media already produces content for the television channels of two other top London clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea. Source: Sportcal, 21st Aug 2007

* Starting August 25th, GolTV will bring viewers La Liga. Fans will be able to catch live matches from Spain from the La Liga season which begins August 26 and runs trough May 18, 2008. GolTV will also air other important games and tournaments throughout the fall. Some upcoming challenges include: South American World Cup Qualifiers, Copa del Rey, and Copa Campeones Central America and the Eurocup 2008 Qualifiers. The fall line-up will welcome back magazine shows Ole la Liga, HalloBundesliga, American Soccer, 45/45, FIFA Futbol Mundial and GolTV News. Source: Sports e-Media, 21st Aug 2007

* Britain’s Lord Sebastian Coe is one of the candidates bidding to become a vice-president of the IAAF at the federation’s congress in Osaka. Former Olympic gold-medalist Coe will be one of eight candidates for the four positions – among them, Sergey Bubka and Alberto Juantorena. It is widely believed if Coe wins one of the seats, he will make a challenge in 2011 for the presidential role. Lamine Diack – who will be returned unopposed during today’s meeting – has already gone on record to say he will not stand again when the new term expires in four years. Source: Sport Business, 21st Aug 2007

* World Champions Club, the company promoting the Golden Foot event, have awarded Romário de Souza Faria as one of the greatest football legends ever. The Brazilian has already confirmed his presence at the event scheduled for 3rd Sept. He will join other legendary forwards (who will be present in Monte-Carlo) such as German Gerd Müller, Paolo Rossi and Hristo Stoitchkov. In 1994, along with Bebeto, Romario guided Brazil to the World Cup, the first in 24 years. Source: Golden Foot Newsletter, 31st Aug 2007

* Eelco van der Noll, former head of marketing at Fifa, has joined Momentum Worldwide, the New York-based brand management and marketing agency owned by McCann Worldgroup. Van der Noll, who left Fifa at the end of July amid a major restructuring of the organisation, has been appointed group account director overseeing Momentum’s Verizon Communications account, as well as senior vice president of its sponsorship marketing discipline team. At Fifa, Van der Noll was responsible for a portfolio of sponsorship accounts worth more than $1 billion. Previously he had worked for MasterCard, Canon and Heikeken. Source: Sportcal, 21st Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

India/New Media: Crying Foul Over ‘Unfair Advantage’ to IPTV, Mobile TV

The opposition to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Mobile TV continues with the Indian media and entertainment companies joining ranks with cable distribution companies in demanding regulation for the yet-to-mature content delivery platforms. Indian Media Group (IMG), a grouping of major domestic media and entertainment companies, has come out strongly in favour of regulation on IPTV and Mobile TV platforms, saying these should be brought under the domain of the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry and made to comply with FDI regulations mandated for cable distribution services.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and also ministers for I&B, telecom and home, the IMG has expressed apprehension that full-scale operation of IPTV and Mobile TV would mean their "backdoor entry" into the terrestrial network that is yet to be opened to the private sector. Also, IPTV could lead to the entry of anti-national and obscene channels in Indian homes as it can freely provide hundreds of Internet TV channels that are not even registered with the government, IMG has alleged.

Elsewhere/General: Badminton a Smash Hit

More than 2 million people play badminton regularly in the United States, according to a 2007 study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. That means more Americans engage in badminton than archery, ice skating, racquetball, gymnastics, ice hockey and lacrosse. The numbers are rising as much as 8% a year, according to some surveys. The surge is fueled by a multicultural mix, led mostly by recent arrivals from Asia, where badminton is a way of life. That makes its growth in Colorado a natural. The state's Asian population is the fastest-growing minority here, increasing 27.3 percent since 2000.

You can go to four different badminton clubs and see a very crowded situation," says Ed Zimmerman, a medal winner at the Senior Olympics who plays badminton three times a week at the Denver Athletic Club. By his own informal estimate, "about 90% of the people are Asian, 8% Europeans and 2% Americans." They maintain a zeal for the game - despite the formidable inconveniences. A dearth of facilities, classes and coaches is complicated by a lack of understanding of how, exactly, the game is played.

Worse, badminton has something of an image problem. "Americans don't really see it as a serious sport," says Pavel Zelinksky, 17, who emigrated from Moscow and now runs the badminton club at Fairview High School in Boulder. Some say it's not even a sport, just a game. "The image of badminton is something you play on July 4 at a picnic," says Kevin Han of Colorado Springs, a native of China who has competed on the U.S. Olympic badminton team. "You have a hot dog in one hand, a beer in another, and you play some badminton."

In reality, badminton is an aerobic challenge that demands more snap and stamina than the other racket sports. "You need the whole athletic package to play," says Han. "Endurance, speed, agility and the power of using your body to jump up and smash the shuttlecock at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour." One study that compared tennis with badminton showed badminton players competed in matches for half the time but ran twice as far and hit twice as many shots. An average two-game match is the equivalent of running a mile. And it can be more exciting to watch than a Wimbeldon final. Source: The Denver Post, 20th Aug 2007