Monday, 26th November 2007

HEADLINE NEWS

Australia, China, Iraq in Group of Death

Australia, China and Asian champions Iraq were drawn together in a 'group of death' for the 2010 World Cup on Sunday, meaning at least one will not get through qualifying. From an initial 41 teams, Asian representatives have been whittled down to 20 with the first and second in each group from the third round progressing to the fourth and final round on the road to South Africa. Joining Australia, China and Iraq in Group 1 are Asian Games champions Qatar.

Japan, arguably the football power on the continent and a team that has qualified for the last three World Cups, will take on Bahrain, Oman and Southeast Asian powerhouse Thailand in Group 2 when qualifying starts on February 6. Korea Republic, Asia's most successful team on the world stage having qualified for the past six World Cups, face a trip to neighbouring Pyongyang after being pitted with arch-rivals DPR Korea in Group 3. Korean Republic, who made the semi-finals in 2002 on home soil, will fancy their chances of making their seventh finals with Jordan and minnows Turkmenistan also in their group.

Saudi Arabia, the losing finalists to Iraq at the Asian Cup earlier this year, will face Uzbekistan, Lebanon and tiny Singapore, who have never been this far before. In the final group, Iran, whose credentials remain strong despite a number of senior players reaching the end of their international careers, take on Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Syria.

Group 1 threw up an intriguing scenario. Australia are still learning the ropes of how football is played in Asia after their shortfalls were exposed in their inaugural Asian Cup in June where heat sapped their strength and they failed to make it past the quarters. Their task of making their second successive World Cup -- they qualified through Oceania for Germany in 2006 -- has been made harder with long trips to face Qatar and Iraq. Both matches are likely to be in Doha given the security situation in Baghdad.

China also has plenty to prove, as one of the region's underachievers. They had a taste of the World Cup in 2002 but has never quite lived up to expectations since. Asian champions Iraq will be in South Africa for the Confederations Cup in 2009 but whether they can return the following year will depend on whether new coach Egil Olsen can unite the team. According to goalkeeper Noor Sabri, "there is chaos within the technical staff and squad", leaving the Norwegian with his hands full. But he is hugely experienced, helping his home nation qualify for the World Cups in the United States in 1994 and France four years later.

And at least Iraq has a coach, in contrast to Australia, South Korea, and Iran who are all rudderless. Asia's best finish ever at a World Cup was in 2002 when South Korea finished fourth in the continent's first ever hosting of the showpiece event. And they have an excellent chance of making the finals again.

Japan, whose Ivica Osim had a stroke earlier this month, should top their group, with Thailand facing a test of their character against Oman and a tough Bahraini side. Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan will be favourites in their pool, but Group 5 is more open with Iran, Kuwait, UAE and Syria all capable of progressing. The winners and runners up from each group move to round four where they will be split into two groups of five with the first and second placed teams qualifying for South Africa.

GROUPINGS

Group A: Qatar, Iraq, China, Australia
Group B: Thailand, Oman, Bahrain, Japan
Group C: Turkmenistan, Jordan, DPR Korea, Korea Republic
Group D: Singapore, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia
Group E: Syria, UAE, Kuwait, Iran
Source: Asian Football Confederation Official, 26th Nov 2007


DID YOU KNOW…?

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang's legs have been insured for $13.3 million in the run-up to next year's Beijing Olympics. Liu, who describes his legs as ‘priceless’, is one of the country's most celebrated sports stars and Ping An Insurance has agreed to provide coverage as part of its sponsorship of the Chinese athletics team. Liu won the 110-metres hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, set a new world record in 2006 and claimed the gold medal in this year's world athletics championships in Osaka. The final of his discipline at the Beijing Olympics is expected to be one of the most-watched events of the games. Source: Sportcal, 23rd Nov 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* Several major networks will be showing live coverage of the Archery World Cup Final in Dubai tomorrow. The top 16 archers of the year are competing at a floating platform in a lake at the Madinat Jumeirah Souk, close to the famous seven-star hotel Burj Al Arab. Eurosport 2, CCTV in China, KBS N in Korea, RTR Sports in Russia, Powerkhnost in Ukraine, RAI in Italy, TRT in Turkey, ART in Arab countries and Zee Sports in India. The following week Eurosport 1 will show a 26-minute highlight as will many other channels such as ESPN Star Sport, Ten Sports, Sport+, Hong Kong TV, Czech Sports TV, Setanta Sports UK, Al Jazeera Sports, NTV+ in Russia, Bandeirantes in Brazil. Source: Sports Media, Sports e-Media, 23rd Nov 2007

* Screen Digest says Asia has more than 15m subscribers to mobile TV, but revenues are miserable. Mobile TV, at least the free-to-air version, is growing at a pace in Japan and South Korea. Japan has some 6.5m adherents, while Korea’s free version has almost 4m registered users (Korea’s pay version has about 2.4m subs). South Korea’s broadcasters have seen revenues of just $24,000 last year. SD says for meaningful revenues to be achieved in the mobile space alone (as distinct to ad-revenues for simulcast broadcasts) the number of users has to grow. SD supplies a list of monetising free-to-air mobile services, including interactive income, data-services which need a subscription and sharing revenues on handset sales. Source: Rapid TV News, 23rd Nov 2007

* India cricket’s BCCI, confirmed the owners of two English football clubs had joined the battle to buy one of eight clubs in its new Twenty20 premier league. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi told The Sunday Times the club owners were among a group of British business-men interested in investing. He declined to reveal their identities, although widespread speculation says they are Stan Kroenke, the American who owns a 12% stake in Arsenal, and George Gillett and Tom Hicks, owners of Liverpool FC. If ownership rumours are true, they’ll be joining Russell Crowe, Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay Mallya. Sources close to Modi said the new Indian Premier League (IPL) could double BCCI’s revenues to about $2 billion (£970m) a year, with each of the eight new club franchises generating hundreds of millions more. Source: Times Online, 25th Nov 2007

* The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to issue tender forms for broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the coming week. According to industry sources, the winner might have to fork out over Rs1,000 crore (approx. US$250 million) for a five year telecast rights. The IPL, which will kick off in April 2008, will host 56 matches in the Twenty20 format and will have international and domestic cricketers playing in eight teams. The tournament based on the soccer event English Premier League, each team will be owned by a corporate. The company will have to buy team ownership rights from BCCI for around $50 million. This apart, the company will have to deal separately with each cricketer it wants in its team. Source: Business Standard, 25th Nov 2007

* Kenyan soccer is in line for a financial boost after South African-based pay-TV, Supersport, signed a four-year deal to televise matches from its top league. Starting in 2008, Supersport will show live matches from the Kenya Premier League throughout Africa. Supersport is understood to have outbid GTV, the new pan-African pay-TV operator which is seeking to challenge its rival’s influence on the continent. GTV has already agreed a five-year deal worth more than $5 million to sponsor and broadcast soccer in Uganda and a similar-length deal worth $3.5 million with the Tanzanian Football Federation. It has also concluded a four-year deal worth $6 million covering the competitions of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Association. GTV offered Ks41 million ($633,625) a year to the KPL, only to be outmanoeuvred by Supersport. Source: Sportcal, Kenya Broadcasting Corp., 23rd Nov 2007

* Tennis Channel has the exclusive US telecast rights to the exhibition series between all-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras and the current threat to his crown, Roger Federer. Sampras is taking on Federer in a three match series in Asia. The event started in Seoul, South Korea, then to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will concluded in Macau in China. “Tennis Channel is proud to offer tennis fans the opportunity to see this monumental event in sports, both live as it happens on the other side of the world, and again in prime time,” said Victoria Quoss, Tennis Channel’s executive vice-president of programming and network strategy. Rafael Nadal’s clash with Richard Gasquet in another Asian exhibition match, will be aired via broadband on www.tennischannel.com on December 4. Source: Sports Media, 23rd Nov 2007

* The German Football League (DFL) has decided to shelve next year’s League Cup, on account of the Euro 2008 finals taking place in Austria and Switzerland. The League Cup acts as the traditional season opener in Germany, with Bayern München having won six of the 11 tournaments played since its inauguration in 1997. However, DFL president Dr. Reinhard Rauball believes a 2008-09 competition would be devalued with many Bundesliga star players turning out just weeks earlier at Euro 2008. Rauball told the DFL’s official website: “The competition cannot take place in any sensible sporting fashion, due to Euro 2008. For that reason, we have decided not to run the League Cup.” Source: Football Insider, Sportcal, 23rd Nov 2007


MORE NEWS

Elsewhere/Rights: French League Increases Rights Packages to Maximise Revenue

The LFP, the French professional soccer league, has confirmed that its new broadcast rights tender will be split into 12 packages, compared to four in 2004, as it aims to attract new bidders. The league is to issue the tender on November 30 and is hoping that the separation of the rights, coupled with a recent move to extend contract lengths from three to four years, will entice more competitors to a market traditionally dominated by Canal Plus, the pay-television broadcaster.

Canal Plus is the present holder of the live rights to the top-tier Ligue 1, but has repeatedly warned that it is not willing to match its current €600 million- ($888.6 million-) a-year deal for the rights from 2008-09. Fees from other rights holders, including France Télévisions, the public service broadcaster which shows highlights, lift the LFP's annual broadcasting income to €653.5 million. The league is reportedly looking to secure a minimum of €750 million per season from new deals. Competition in the French pay-television market has decreased since Canal Plus’ merger with rival TPS.

By tripling the number of Ligue 1 packages, the LFP is hoping to bring new broadcasters and telecommunications companies to the market, rather than rely on a single deal with Canal Plus. The LFP has also succeeded in preventing the clubs from showing their own matches in full for 24 hours in order to sell delayed rights to broadcasters. France Télévisions, commercial network M6 and cable operator Numericable could all be interested in different packages, although TF1, another commercial broadcaster, is looking to reduce programming costs after a significant investment in the 2006 World Cup.

Orange France, the French telecommunications company, has previously stated that it is not in a position to compete with Canal Plus for the bulk of the Ligue 1 rights and that it would rather concentrate on renewing its mobile rights deal. However, the operator could yet be tempted by certain packages, including the video-on-demand rights. Other internet operators that could join the bidding include Neuf Cegetal, Free and Iliad. Source: Sportcal, 23rd Nov 2007

Elsewhere/General: Eredivisie Set To Undergo Streamlining

The Eredivisie is set to undergo a drastic overhaul that will see the Dutch top flight cut from 18 to 16 clubs, according to a report in AD Sportwereld. The changes will take affect from the 2009-10 season, according to an Eredivisie spokesman, in a bid to increase the competitiveness of the league, and the news is set to be confirmed on December 13. The new Eredivisie will see 16 clubs play 30 games apiece. Following the conclusion of this stage, the top eight clubs will play a mini-league of seven games from which the Dutch champion, and the recipient of the lucrative ticket to the UEFA Champions League, will be decided, along with UEFA Cup qualifiers.

The club finishing bottom after the first 30 games will be automatically relegated, while the club above it will face a promotion/relegation match against the team finishing second in the Jupiler League. PSV Eindhoven director Jan Reker is believed to be behind the plan, with the goal to provide the Eredivisie with more top games, a new form of play-offs and fewer clubs to share the TV money. However, the 20 Jupiler (sponsor) League clubs in the second tier will need to agree with the proposals, which would see their competition turned on its head.

A further two clubs would swell the League to an unacceptable size, with one proposal being to form a ‘Topklasse’ consisting of the top amateur teams and Jupiler League clubs. If this is not agreed then some clubs could be disbanded with the Eredivisie spokesman providing a stern reminder of the top flight’s ambitions. The spokesman told AD Sportwereld: “If the Jupiler League doesn’t want to go with us in this plan, the Eredivisie will end the payments out of our TV money to them. We now finance, for a large part, that division.” Source: Football Insider, 23rd Nov 2007

Elsewhere/General: SportsQuest title sponsors US Pro Golf Tour

The re-launched US Pro Golf Tour has secured a three-year presenting title sponsorship agreement with sports and entertainment marketing company SportsQuest. Under the agreement, SportsQuest will underwrite all purses and expenses for ‘official’ USPGT events through 2010, subject to certain performance conditions. In 2008, purses for ‘official’ USPGT events are expected to exceed $2.1 million.

"This agreement is one of the major steps toward the previously announced re-launch of the USPGT in 2008, said Thomas Kidd, CEO, SportsQuest. “With the recent addition of ZC Entertainment to our holdings, we now have the experienced operating and marketing resources to assist the USPGT in rebuilding to its former state, delivering value to USPGT partners and professionals.”

In 2008, four 'official' USPGT events carry a purse of $400,000 each, while the official Tour Championship purse is $500,000. Purse amounts and official tour events are scheduled to increase beginning in 2009. The US Pro Golf Tour Presented by SportsQuest will be managed by SportsQuest Golf, a division of SportsQuest. Source: Sports Media, 23rd Nov 2007