Soccerexpro 09

SoccerexPro (Print) - ISSN 2056-3604

Issue 9

GIVING CHASE Brighton & Hove Albion in pursuit of Premier League dream THE BUNDESLIGA GETS READY TO SELL

CHEVROLET DRIVING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

BEACH SOCCER’S MOMENT IN THE SUN

INSIDE ISSUE 9 6

EDITOR’S LETTER

8

A WORD FROM THE CEO

10 THE BIG PICTURE - Bans for Blatter and Platini - All change at the top - Newcomers head for Euro 2016 - Gallery: Global forum

18 BEYOND THE TOUCHLINE The way consumers relate to brands is evolving dramatically. Simon Tracey, head of client services at Wasserman Experiences, explains the importance of creating unique interactive content and activities.

20 FOOTBALL IN...

KOREA With South Korea’s domestic season set to kick off in March, SoccerexPro takes a look at one of Asia’s most advanced footballing countries.

22 FOSTERING HOPE Premier Legends International is primarily an events business, but it is also engaged in raising awareness and funds for organisations involved in fostering and adoption. Founder Mark Wright, the former captain of Southampton, Liverpool and England, explains how the two functions can work together to make a difference.

24 ONE FLIGHT AWAY Brighton & Hove Albion have enjoyed just a few years in the top tier of the English game since their foundation in 1901.

But, even amid another gruelling and competitive Championship season, they are preparing for a Premier League existence some day soon.

SOCCEREXPRO | 3

34 THE BUNDESLIGA: WATCH THIS SPACE While England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga have already begun bringing in broadcast deals at home and abroad, Germany’s Bundesliga has been waiting on the sidelines.

Now it is preparing to sell big. Jörg Daubitzer, managing director of league business arm DFL Sports Enterprises, discusses his plans to generate growth from the European TV market.

38 DRIVING CHANGES Chevrolet’s sponsorship deal with Manchester United is the biggest in football, a collaboration between two global brands. Both sides are working hard to ensure the social implications are as profound as the financial ones.

42 PREMIER BROWSER Football teams were once at the centre of their local communities. Premier Browser, a new project from David Berney, is designed to restore that element to the relationships between clubs and supporters, with all parties reaping the benefits.

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44 SAND AND DELIVER Beach soccer has traditionally existed on the fringes of the global industry ruled by its mainstream cousin. Yet, as Beach Soccer Worldwide executive vice president Joan Cusco explains, the sand-based game now occupies a rapidly maturing world of its own.

50 GIANLUCA VIALLI Gianluca Vialli was one of the stars of the golden age of Italian club football in the 1980s and 1990s, before a brief but decorated managerial career. He is now a pundit and ambassador for ‘fanfunding’ platform Tifosy but he still has ambitions within the game.

55 THE UPDATE - The Score: Behind La Liga’s rights spree - Global news - Signings: football deals and appointments

70 REPLAY Bosman rules

maximising the value of your digital rights

www.deltatre.com

EDITOR’S LETTER

LIFE IN THE ROUND

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hen Jimmy Hill died late last year, it was not the end of one footballing life but VHYHUDO )RU WKH EHQHÀ W RI readers outside the UK, Hill was one of WKH PRVW VLJQLÀ FDQW À JXUHV LQ WKH PRGHUQ KLVWRU\ RI (QJOLVK IRRWEDOO 7KH VFDOH RI KLV FRQWULEXWLRQ LV RIWHQ IRUJRWWHQ ² QRW EHFDXVH KH ZDV D GLVWDQW À JXUH EXW EHFDXVH his was an extraordinary, shape-shifting SUHVHQFH DURXQG WKH FHQWUH RI WKH JDPH Hill played for Brentford and Fulham, /RQGRQ FOXEV EDVHG QRW IDU IURP KLV ELUWKSODFH RI %DOKDP +H FKDLUHG WKH players’ union, the Professional Footballers’ $VVRFLDWLRQ DQG HDUQHG LWV PRVW GHFLVLYH HYHU YLFWRU\ WKURXJK WKH DEROLWLRQ RI WKH maximum wage in 1961. He then moved RQ WR &RYHQWU\ &LW\ ZKHUH PXFK RI KLV legend was built. As manager, he led the FOXE IURP WKH WKLUG WLHU WR WKH À UVW KH LQWURGXFHG PDWFKGD\ SURJUDPPHV LQ FRORXU HOHFWURQLF VFRUHERDUGV D QHZ VN\ EOXH NLW DQG QLFNQDPH DQG D FOXE VRQJ 7KHQ DV FKDLUPDQ KH FRPPLVVLRQHG (QJODQG¡V À UVW DOO VHDWHU VWDGLXP LQ Even beyond that, his adventures were UHPDUNDEOH +H KHOSHG UHVFXH )XOKDP from a merger with QPR. He lobbied the )RRWEDOO $VVRFLDWLRQ IRU WKH LQWURGXFWLRQ of three points for a win. He turned out as a substitute linesman in a game between

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR James Emmett EDITOR Eoin Connolly econnolly@sportspromedia.com

Arsenal and Liverpool, having arrived DV D VSHFWDWRU $QG KH ZDV EHVW NQRZQ DV D EURDGFDVWHU VHUYLQJ DV WKH IDFH RI IRRWEDOO FRYHUDJH RQ ERWK RI WKH 8.¡V PDLQ FKDQQHOV DQG FKDPSLRQLQJ WKH XVH RI punditry panels and video replays.

When I was a boy, and in the years just EHIRUH P\ WLPH +LOO KDG FRPH WR EH VHHQ DV D WHOHYLVXDO LUULWDQW PRFNHG IRU KLV GDWHG VW\OH DQG SURGLJLRXV FKLQ DQG GLVGDLQHG IRU KLV LQĂ H[LELOLW\ +H ZDV D SOD\JURXQG MRNH <HW WKHUH FDPH Ă DVKHV RI WKH VHULRXV IRRWEDOO PDQ KH KDG EHHQ IRU GHFDGHV 2QH VXFK LQFLGHQW WRRN SODFH LQ WKH awful hours after the Hillsborough disaster RI 7KH \HDUV WKDW IROORZHG ZHUH Ă&#x20AC; OOHG with misinformation, even slander, about WKH WUDJLF HYHQWV RI WKH GD\ +LOO KRZHYHU KDG DOUHDG\ HVWDEOLVKHG D FRKHUHQW QDUUDWLYH IDU FORVHU WR UHDOLW\ WKDQ WKH UHSRUWV FOXQJ to for all too long by those in authority.

1RW RQO\ WKDW EXW KH RIIHUHG D SHUFHSWLYH analysis of what had gone wrong at English grounds and what was needed to SXW LW ULJKW QHZ FOHDQ VDIH VWDGLXPV WKDW would be a â&#x20AC;&#x153;monumentâ&#x20AC;? to those lost.

Hill was often on the right side of history, but not always: plans to lead an (QJOLVK WRXU RI DSDUWKHLG HUD 6RXWK $IULFD DSSDO IURP WKLV GLVWDQFH KLV GHIHQFH RI FRPPHQWDWRU 5RQ $WNLQVRQ VDFNHG IRU PDNLQJ FUXGHO\ UDFLVW FRPPHQWV LQ D ÂśKRW

PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCIES Action Images Press Association MANAGING DIRECTOR Nick Meacham

ART DIRECTOR Daniel Brown CONTRIBUTORS Michael Long, Adam Nelson BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS Jon Abraham, Bobby Hare, Sam Renshaw BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGER YĂŠwandĂŠ ArulĂŠba

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SOCCEREX MARKETING DIRECTOR David Wright HEAD OF SALES David Clark GENERAL MANAGER Philip Gegan MARKETING EXECUTIVE Jamie Barr

PLF¡ LQFLGHQW LQ ZDV WKDW RI D PDQ JHQHUDWLRQV RXW RI WRXFK ,Q KLV ODVW \HDUV +LOO IHOO YLFWLP WR WKH FXUVH RI $O]KHLPHU¡V D FUXHO IDWH IRU VRPHRQH ZLWK VR PXFK WR UHPHPEHU But the tributes that followed his passing VSHDN RI D WLPH ZHOO VSHQW DPRQJ XV 7KDW IRRWEDOO FRXOG VXVWDLQ VXFK H[SHULHQFHV IRU so long, is a testament to the game that Hill KLPVHOI PD\ ZHOO KDYH DSSUHFLDWHG ZDV D FKDOOHQJLQJ \HDU IRU IRRWEDOO Hillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s example, perhaps, shows why weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re EDFN DJDLQ IRU DQRWKHU PRQWKV

Eoin Connolly Editor

SoccerexPro magazine is a joint venture between Soccerex and SportsPro Media.

SportsPro Media Ltd 3rd Floor, America House, 2 America Square, London EC3N 2LU Tel: +44 (0) 207 549 3250 Email: info@sportspromedia.com Web: www.sportspromedia.com (SportsPro Media Ltd is part of the Henley Media Group Ltd www.henleymediagroup.com)

Soccerex Power Road Studios 114 Power Road London W4 5PY UK Tel: +44 (0) 208 742 7100 www.soccerex.com

SoccerexPro (Print) - ISSN 2056-3604 | SoccerexPro (Online) - ISSN 2056-3612 PRINTER: Buxton Press Limited NOTICE: SoccerexPro magazine is published quarterly. Printed in the EU. EDITORIAL COPYRIGHT: The contents of this magazine, both words and statistics, are strictly copyright and the intellectual property of SoccerexPro. Copying or reproduction may only be carried out with written permission of the publishers, which will normally not be withheld on payment of a fee. Article reprints: Most articles published in SoccerexPro magazine are available as reprints by prior arrangement from the publishers. Normal minimum print run for reprints is 400 copies, although larger and smaller runs are possible.

Please contact us at: info@sportspromedia.com

A WORD FROM THE CEO

WELCOME BACK TO FOOTBALL

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irstly a very happy new year from all of us at Soccerex! I KRSH \RX HQMR\ WKLV Ă&#x20AC; UVW LVVXH RI SoccerexPro in 2016, and our best wishes for the year ahead.

Football has, over the last 12 months, spectacularly reminded us of its ability to excite and confound the expectations of even the most seasoned of fans â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like yours truly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and 2016 promises more of the same.

Domestic football across Europe will reach its climax in May, with the Premier League in particular producing perhaps the most dramatic and unexpected of seasons in its 24-year history. With its unrelenting drama and capacity for surprise, I am VWUXJJOLQJ WR UHFDOO DQ HTXDO , OLNH D Ă XWWHU more than most but there canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been many who even considered Leicester City being top at Christmas and Chelsea languishing in the bottom half of the table, even with their relative good and bad form towards the end of last season and odds of around 5,000-1 for each! Just goes to show what a wonderfully unpredictable and exciting game football is.

Just a few weeks later the Uefa European Championship will kick off in France, pitting many of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ă&#x20AC; QHVW SOD\HUV DJDLQVW HDFK RWKHU RYHU four action-packed weeks. Interest in the tournament is all the keener following a remarkable qualifying campaign that saw giants like the Netherlands being eliminated and smaller football nations such as Wales and Northern Ireland achieving far beyond expectations in securing their places in France. With some fascinating draws guaranteeing some PRXWK ZDWHULQJ Ă&#x20AC; [WXUHV OLNH (QJODQG Y Wales, Germany v Poland and Belgium v Italy, I look forward to a summer of yet more top-notch excitement.

By the time the tournament kicks off, Fifa will have a new president â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and,

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most likely, Uefa will too. The events in Zurich caused shockwaves throughout the football world â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the game for once providing an excitement that was unwanted â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the Fifa presidential elections in February are a chance to set the organisation back on course after the most tumultuous period in its history. Whoever wins, I hope that the game rallies around them and gives them the support required to implement the changes the organisation truly needs; they must recapture the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s faith and shift the focus on to the important work they do â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and still need to do â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in promoting the global development of football.

Just as a new year offers us new chapters in the history of the game, 2016 will afford us a glorious reminder of (QJOLVK IRRWEDOO¡V Ă&#x20AC; QHVW KRXU ZLWK WKH 50th anniversary of Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dramatic 1966 Fifa World Cup win over West Germany at Wembley.

I remember watching the game with my mumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aunts and uncles in, of all places, the Scottish mining town of Lochgelly. It took me years to understand why this amazing occasion and historic victory was greeted with such an underwhelming reaction by my motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scottish relatives!

The drama that unfurled that famous summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day sparked a national euphoria â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the likes of which only major sporting success can create â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the names of Moore, Charlton, Peters, Hurst and all the other heroes were etched into English football history in such a way that they are all still revered today.

The victory achieved in â&#x20AC;&#x2122;66 set the bar as high as it can go in terms of national success and while the likes of Brazil, Italy and Germany may smile at our single victory, allow us our moment in the sun: many great football nations are yet to achieve this feat and we should be proud

of what those great players achieved.

Speaking of great players, after England in 1966, the World Cup moved to Mexico in 1970 and gave us what is, in my mind, unquestionably the greatest side to ever SOD\ WKH JDPH WKH PDJQLĂ&#x20AC; FHQW %UD]LO side of Pele, Jairzinho, Gerson, Tostao et al â&#x20AC;&#x201C; what a team! â&#x20AC;&#x201C; captained by the great Carlos Alberto Torres, a wonderful defender and someone who I have always found to be a wonderful human being too.

Carlos will be returning to Mexico with us in May for the Soccerex Americas Forum where he will be joining some of the biggest names in football business from across the region, along with top LQWHUQDWLRQDO Ă&#x20AC; JXUHV OLNH 2VVLH $UGLOHV Gerard Houllier and David Dein. The Forum â&#x20AC;&#x201C; part of a busy 2016 for us which includes events in Asia, west Africa and, of course, our Global Convention LQ 0DQFKHVWHU ² LV RXU Ă&#x20AC; UVW HYHQW LQ WKH country and, hosted in conjunction with Mexico City and leading agency Global W Mexico, it will unite the burgeoning football industries in the US, Mexico and the rest of Latin America for two days of unrivalled business opportunities. I hope to see you there.

Whether you are looking forwards or reminiscing, 2016 promises to be a very exciting year for anyone involved LQ IRRWEDOO , ZLOO Ă&#x20AC; QLVK ZKHUH , EHJDQ by offering you all the very best for the year ahead.

Love & kisses, Duncan

BRING YOUR TEAM TO WEMBLEY...

With a capacity of 90,000 Wembley is the largest stadium in the UK and home to not only the biggest football events of the season, but also the NFL, Rugby World Cup and various music concerts throughout the year.

In addition to this we have a large number of fantastic spaces available to hire for all types of events ranging from small executive board meetings in a private box, to large conferences and exhibitions in our impressive Great Hall or an elaborate cocktail reception and gala dinner in the exclusive Bobby Moore suite.

In all of our spaces delegates are guaranteed state of the art facilities, world class cuisine, and impeccable service in an iconic venue that will be hard to forget! There are also opportunities to impress the guests further with pitch-side access, and private stadium tours where they can see the royal box, changing rooms and even walk out of the playersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tunnel.

If you have any questions about the venue and the options available then please contact our sales team on 020 8795 9660 or specialevents@wembleystadium.com who will be happy to answer your questions or book you in for a Venue Viewing Experience to show you all the spaces available.

INSPIRING MEMORIES

THE BIG PICTURE

BANS FOR BLATTER AND PLATINI

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he administrative careers of Fifa president Sepp Blatter and his Uefa counterpart Michel Platini (1) look likely to end in ignominy after both men were banned from football for eight years in December.

The two were found by the world body’s ethics committee to have placed themselves in ‘a situation of conflict of interest’ and violated their ‘fiduciary duty to Fifa’ when Blatter made a payment of CHF2 million (US$2 million) to Platini in February 2011. Both will appeal, but the sentence has ended Platini’s hopes of leading world football.

Meanwhile, Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke (2) was sacked in January, having already been suspended for his supposed part in an illicit ticketing ring ahead of the 2014 Fifa World Cup. Fifa will elect a new president on 26th February. Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino (3) and Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (4), whose candidacy has been criticised by human rights groups due to his alleged links to the 2011 imprisonment and torture of pro-democracy protesters including footballers, are the frontrunners.

Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein and former Fifa executive Jérôme Champagne are running again, and are joined by Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa.

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SOCCEREXPRO | 11 Matthias Schrader/AP/Press Association Images

THE BIG PICTURE

ALL CHANGE AT THE TOP

S

ome of the world’s biggest clubs made big changes as the European season reached its midway point.

Real Madrid sacked manager Rafael Benítez (1) on 4th January, just seven months after hiring him to replace Carlo Ancelotti. Zinedine Zidane, who inspired the club to a Uefa Champions League title as a player, was promoted from his role as head coach of the Real Madrid Castilla youth team to take his first senior managerial position.

Elsewhere in Spain, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville (2) became head coach of Valencia. Neville, who had been working as a coach of the England national team and a Sky Sports pundit, co-owns English non-league side Salford City with Valencia owner Peter Lim. In England, champions Chelsea sacked their most decorated boss, José Mourinho (3), for a second time. The Portuguese had signed a new long-term contract in August but left the team 16th in the Premier League after nine defeats in 16 games.

Finally, in Germany, Mourinho’s great rival Pep Guardiola (4) confirmed he would leave champions Bayern Munich for a new, as yet unconfirmed role in England. The aformentioned Ancelotti will replace him in the summer.

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Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport

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THE BIG PICTURE

NEWCOMERS HEAD FOR EURO 2016

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glut of teams will make their Uefa European Championship debut at the expanded Uefa Euro 2016 in France in June and July.

Some of Europe’s hitherto less heralded sides were the main beneficiaries of the 24-team format, with several of them taking full advantage in a re-energised qualifying campaign.

Albania reached their first major finals with a 3-0 away win over Armenia in October, edging out rivals Serbia and confining Denmark to a play-off place.

The Danes would go on to lose to their own neighbours, Sweden.

Slovakia (1) confirmed their first major tournament finals place with a 4-2 win away to Luxembourg. Two British sides will also be making their debuts at a full European Championship finals tournament, though both Northern Ireland (2) and Wales (3) have previously appeared at the Fifa World Cup. England will also be in France, as will neighbours Republic of Ireland.

Iceland (4), with their tiny population of 329,000, are perhaps the most remarkable new arrivals. They qualified ahead of the Netherlands and will be the smallest nation ever to appear in the tournament.

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SOCCEREXPRO | 15

GALLERY

GLOBAL FORUM

M

anchester Central held its second successive Soccerex Global Convention from 7th to

9th September 2015, bringing together global leaders from on and off the football pitch, and beyond the sport, to debate, network and do business.

Jordan FA president and Fifa presidential candidate Prince Ali bin Al Hussein with David Davies

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber 16 | www.soccerex.com

The conference was preceded by the Soccerex Football Festival on 5th and 6th September and complemented with events across the city.

Arsenal’s former England striker Kelly Smith

Matthieu Ficot, chief commercial officer of France’s LFP

Former Premier League and Fifa referee Howard Webb

Australian cricket coach Darren Lehmann and the ECBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Andrew Strauss

Delegates gather in the main hall at Manchester Central

Louis Saha greets Tony Adams

FA chief executive Martin Glenn

The legendary Sir Bobby Charlton SOCCEREXPRO | 17

BEYOND THE TOUCHLINE The way consumers relate to brands is evolving dramatically. Simon Tracey, head of client services at Wasserman Experiences, explains the importance of creating unique interactive content and activities.

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FOOTBALL IN...

SOUTH KOREA With South Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s domestic season set to kick off in March, SoccerexPro takes a look at one of Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most advanced footballing countries.

I

f the development of football in South Korea got off to something of a false start, having been interrupted by the Second World War and the peninsulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s occupation and division, it has wasted no time in catching up. In 1948, the year of its independence and the formation of the Republic of Korea, the Korea Football Association (KFA) was founded and inducted into Fifa; the same \HDU WKH FRXQWU\ FRPSHWHG LQ LWV Ă&#x20AC; UVW major international football tournament at the Summer Olympic Games in London.

1954 marked the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bow at the Fifa :RUOG &XS Ă&#x20AC; QDOV LQ 6ZLW]HUODQG ZKHQ LW became only the second Asian country in history to qualify.

Since then, the game has blossomed, and football is now considered one of South Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national sports along with baseball. In 2002 the nation became WKH Ă&#x20AC; UVW LQ $VLD LQ SDUWQHUVKLS ZLWK neighbouring Japan, to host a World Cup Ă&#x20AC; QDOV WRXUQDPHQW ZKHUH WKH Âś7DHJHXN Warriorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; also achieved the feat of being WKH Ă&#x20AC; UVW $VLDQ WHDP WR UHDFK WKH VHPL Ă&#x20AC; QDO VWDJH 7KH\ HYHQWXDOO\ Ă&#x20AC; QLVKHG IRXUWK DIWHU ORVLQJ LQ WKH WKLUG SODFH SOD\ RII WR 7XUNH\ ,Q RQ WKH QDWLRQDO sideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s return to a London Olympics 54 years after their competitive debut in the same city and event, they went one EHWWHU WDNLQJ WKH EURQ]H PHGDO ZLWK D YLFWRU\ RYHU -DSDQ 7KH :RUOG &XS LQ %UD]LO ZDV 6RXWK .RUHD¡V HLJKWK FRQVHFXWLYH WULS WR WKH Ă&#x20AC; QDOV DQG QLQWK LQ total, more than any other Asian Football Confederation (AFC) representative.

For all their success on the international stage, however, it was not until 1983 that the country established a professional GRPHVWLF OHDJXH WKH .)$ DGPLQLVWHUHG K League. In 2003, the K League was joined by South Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second tier of professional football â&#x20AC;&#x201C; until then all levels EHORZ WKH . /HDJXH KDG EHHQ VHPL professional and amateur â&#x20AC;&#x201C; then known as

20 | www.soccerex.com

Park Ji-sung, formerly of Manchester United, is one of South Koreaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most recognisable stars

. /HDJXH 'XH WR WKH XQGHU GHYHORSPHQW of clubs outside the K League, however, relegation and promotion between the two divisions was rare, with most K2 League champions ineligible for a place in the top Ă LJKW GXH WR VPDOO VWDGLXP IDFLOLWLHV RU ODFN RI Ă&#x20AC; QDQFLDO EDFNLQJ In 2013 the KFA looked to remedy this by introducing a split format for the K League, now composed of two WHDP JURXSV WKH WRS WLHU . /HDJXH &ODVVLF DQG WKH VHFRQG WLHU . /HDJXH &KDOOHQJH 7KH ZLQQHU RI WKH &KDOOHQJH wins automatic promotion to the Classic, ZLWK WKH UXQQHU XS FRPSHWLQJ LQ D SOD\ RII ZLWK WKH WK SODFHG WHDP LQ WKH WRS WLHU 7KH 6RXWK .RUHDQ VHDVRQ UXQV from March until November.

&KD %XP NXQ QDPHG $VLDQ 3OD\HU of the Century by the International Federation of Football History and 6WDWLVWLFV ZDV WKH Ă&#x20AC; UVW 6RXWK .RUHDQ star to come to prominence in Europe.

Cha achieved fame in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, and has gone on to have considerable success as a manager in his home country.

In the 21st century, players such DV 3DUN -L VXQJ ² D 8HID &KDPSLRQV League winner with Manchester 8QLWHG ² DQG 6RQ +HXQJ PLQ VWDU IRU Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen and QRZ 7RWWHQKDP +RWVSXU KDYH KHOSHG cement the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation as a growing footballing power.

K League Classic club

Founded

Stadium (capacity)

2015 Finish

Key sponsors

Gwangju FC

2010

Gwangju World Cup Stadium (44,118)

10th

Joma, Hyundai Oilbank, Ho Ban

Incheon United

2003

Incheon Football Stadium (20,891)

8th

Hummel, Incheon Airport, Shinhan

Jeju United

1982

Jeju World Cup Stadium (35,657)

6th

Kika, Zic, eMart, Paldo

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

1994

Jeonju World Cup Stadium (14,477)

Champions

Hummel, Hyundai, JB Bank

Jeonnam Dragons

1994

Gwangyang Football Stadium (14,284)

9th

Kelme, Posco, Jeolla Namdo

Pohang Steelers

1973

Pohang Steel Yard (17,443)

3rd

Hummel, Creative Pohan, Posco

Sangju Sangmu

2011

Sangju Civic Stadium (15,042)

K League Challenge Hummel, NongHyup, Atemi champions

Seongnam FC

1989

Tancheon Stadium (16,250)

5th

Arbol, Rolling Jubilee, Hyundai

FC Seoul

1983

Seoul World Cup Stadium (66,806)

4th

Le Coq Sportif, Siemens, CocaCola, Hana Bank

Suwon FC

2003

Suwon Sports Complex (11,808)

K league Challenge play-off winners

Hummel, Damtuh, Ecostar

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

1995

Suwon World Cup Stadium (43,959)

2nd

Adidas, Samsung, Herbalife

Ulsan Hyundai

1983

Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium (44,102)

7th

Adidas, Hyundai Oilbank, HHI

Broadcast The K League has two broadcast partners within Korea – the national public network Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and subscription-based SPOTV. While KBS shows occasional games from the top division on its freeto-air KBS1 channel, the majority of games from the K League Classic and

K League Challenge are available only to paying subscribers on either SPOTV or KBS’s pay-TV KBS N Sports.

KBS is also the main broadcasting partner of the KFA for the national team, and airs all competitive matches of the men’s team and their home friendlies. Other international fixtures,

including those of women’s national team, are broadcast on SPOTV. As across much of Asia, European club football is hugely popular in South Korea.

In 2015, SPOTV and rival pay-TV service SBS Sports jointly signed a deal to share the rights to the Uefa Champions League and Super Cup for the next three seasons.

US$12.5 million a year to the KFA. The majority of the KFA’s key partnerships are with high-profile South Korean brands, notably Asiana Airlines, Hana Bank and carmaker Hyundai. It also counts US drinks brand Coca-Cola among its international sponsors.

The K League had several title sponsors from its inception until 2013, the most recent of which being Hyundai Oilbank. Since the KFA rebranded its

top two divisions, however, it has opted against selling the naming rights.

Blue-chip Korean electronics brand Samsung is also a big backer of football in the country with its ownership of the four-time K League winners the Suwon Samsung Bluewings, among other partnerships. Such set-ups were previously more common in South Korea, though in recent years firms such as LG and Daewoo have backed out of similar arrangements.

Sponsorship The KFA’s longstanding kit supply deal with Nike was called into question in 2007 after the sportswear manufacturer felt a ‘black-out’ clause – preventing players from displaying rival manufacturers’ logos while playing for South Korea – had been ignored. As a result, the KFA turned down a more lucrative offer from Adidas in order to stay with Nike and avoid legal action from the American firm. The two renegotiated terms again in 2012, with the resulting eight-year deal worth around

SOCCEREXPRO | 21

IN DEVELOPMENT

FOSTERING HOPE Premier Legends International is primarily an events business, but it is also engaged in raising awareness and funds for organisations involved in fostering and adoption. Founder Mark Wright, the former captain of Southampton, Liverpool and England, explains to Michael Long how the two functions can work together to make a difference.

Wright (first left, back row) leads a legends event for young people from London’s YESS Project

M

ark Wright’s career in football would be the envy of many a modern-day star. A tenacious central defender by trade, the Oxfordshire native captained Liverpool – with whom he won the FA Cup in 1992 – Derby County, Southampton, and the England national team during a successful playing career spanning 18 years. After hanging up his boots in 1998 Wright went on to try his hand at management, leading a succession of English lowerleague sides, including a title-winning stint with Chester City. In 2012 he then turned his attentions to event management, establishing Mark Wright Events and sister company Premier Legends International.

Based on the Wirral, just outside the northern English city of Liverpool, Premier Legends has organised tours and corporate hospitality events in collaboration with more than 60 former Premier League players, many of whom have, like Wright, represented top clubs

22 | www.soccerex.com

in England, including Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United. Specialising in producing stadium tours and legends games tailored towards high-end corporates, the company stages events at venues around the world that often combine golf days, gala dinners and audience Q&As with such past Premier League greats as Matt Le Tissier, Neville Southall and John Barnes.

As well as organising tours and events, Premier Legends also acts as a representative agency for the past players in its network – Wright is also an FA-approved intermediary – working on their behalf to source commercial opportunities including personal appearances and product endorsements.

It is, however, another key pillar of the business – one that is particularly close to Wright’s heart – that differentiates the company from others in the legends event sector.

“We [Wright and his wife, Sue] got involved in fostering several years ago and we have fostered children for the

last seven years,” Wright explains. “We adopted our daughter who came to us when she was three and she is ten now.

We thought, well, there’s a shortage of foster carers and prospective adoptive parents and we knew that football was the biggest thing worldwide, and we thought, we’ll set up a company and use it as a platform to make awareness of the need for foster carers. ´,·G ÀQLVKHG P\ IRRWEDOO FDUHHU DQG I wanted to get the business to run as a legends event, so to combine the two to raise awareness for adoption and fostering and just spread the word, not only in this country but worldwide, to make sure that children are looked after.

“Whichever household you enter in this country or worldwide, someone will be talking about football, and if we could spread the word to help the children in the world that’s a job well done. There’s no bigger platform than football. The legends all still want to live the life and they still want to go on trips so we got involved, not only to do 11-a-side events, EXW WR GR FRUSRUDWH ÀYH D VLGHV DQG WKHQ the winners play against the legends’ teams – it’s a full day out.

“So it’s about me using my contacts in the game to bring the legends to the table, to give them the life of travelling the world and spreading the word through their fame to try and recruit as many foster carers, or just raise awareness so that then people want to do something about it.”

Wright is now an active voice in the movement to raise awareness of the issues associated with fostering and adoption. It is, he says, an occupation that carries a set of challenges somewhat removed from those that concern an elite footballer.

“When you play you are in your own little bubble, and it’s not a bad thing,

Former Liverpool winger John Barnes holds a training session organised by Mark Wright Events for children from Thomas Fairchild School in London

but you’re so wrapped up in wanting to do well, striving to be the best you can in the professional world of football and you don’t look outside of that,” he UHÁHFWV ´6R HYHU\WKLQJ FRPHV RQ WRS RI \RX DQG WKHQ ZKHQ \RX ÀQLVK \RX think: what can I do to help?

“Let’s be honest, how much awareness is there in the world still today about

fostering and adoption? What does everybody perceive to be the pitfalls or the plusses of being a foster carer or adoptive parent? I don’t think many people really know or understand what goes on most of the time. And I was one of those people. And then when my wife opened my eyes, because she was a barrister in child protection, and both of

Wright celebrates captaining Liverpool to victory in the 1992 FA Cup final against Sunderland

us then wanted to get involved to see if we could play a small or a big part in it.”

Wright says the general response within football to Premier Legends’ work has been “fantastic”, but perhaps most pleasing of all for him is that his efforts to raise awareness and funds for organisations involved in fostering and adoption have spurred at least one former player to take direct action. “[Former Everton and Wales goalkeeper] Neville Southall has become a foster carer himself after having spoken to me so that was fantastic,” he says. “Some have got children of their own and they can’t do that, but there are those that can do it and want to do it and I suppose everybody wants to get on board and help if they can in some small way.

“These kids mostly have nothing – sometimes no family, no home, no one to love them – if we can all help in some small way whether its by fostering or supporting the cause, then what a game changer that would be.”

For more information visit www.premierlegendsinternational.com or telephone +44 7471 030500 SOCCEREXPRO | 23

ONE FLIGHT AWAY Brighton & Hove Albion have enjoyed just a few years in the top tier of the English game since their foundation in 1901. But as Eoin Connolly ďŹ nds out, even amid another gruelling and competitive Championship season, they are preparing for a Premier League existence someday soon.

Brighton & Hove Albion fans, at least those of a certain vintage, know what it is to be within striking distance of glory. The English south coast club have never won a major trophy in their 114-year history. The closest they came was in 1983, towards the end of their only spell in WKH (QJOLVK WRS Ă LJKW That year they were relegated but they also UHDFKHG WKH )$ &XS Ă&#x20AC;QDO ZDONLQJ WKHQ RQ WKH grandest stage in the national game and playing perhaps the most famous club in the country: Manchester United. With the scoreline poised DW DQG WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO PRPHQWV RI H[WUD WLPH trickling away, Michael Robinson broke on to a long ball over the top. He burst away from one defender, jinked inside another, and looked up into the penalty area to see his strike partner, Gordon Smith, standing alone in yards of space at the far post. Robinson rolled the ball across the Wembley turf, invitingly, into Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stride. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And Smith must score!â&#x20AC;? implored the BBC radio commentator Peter Jones. And Smith didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t score. And United won a replay. And Jonesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; commentary became a line in English football folklore; the title of Brightonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own fanzine.

But Brighton fans also know what it is WR EH LQ VLJKW RI REOLYLRQ 2Q WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO GD\ of the 1996/97 season, after a decade of mismanagement, they needed a point on the Ă&#x20AC;QDO GD\ WR DYRLG GURSSLQJ RXW RI WKH )RRWEDOO League and the professional system altogether.

All year long, the club had been on the brink RI FRPSOHWH Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO GLVLQWHJUDWLRQ NHSW LQWDFW only by fan-led fundraising and the looming sale of their Goldstone Ground home. Relegation might have proved fatal, and their opponents, Hereford United, led 1-0 at half-time. Enter Robbie Reinelt, who scored a late equaliser to VDYH %ULJKWRQ DW +HUHIRUG¡V H[SHQVH DQG EHJLQ a long and strong recovery.

Today, Brighton are in the second-tier Championship and are a different club entirely.

Property investor and professional poker player Tony Bloom became chairman after buying a 75 per cent stake in 2009 and has since invested heavily in infrastructure, most notably putting UKÂŁ93 million into the construction of the 24 | www.soccerex.com

FDSDFLW\ $PHULFDQ ([SUHVV &RPPXQLW\ Stadium, completed in 2009, and putting funds LQWR D 8.Â&#x2026; PLOOLRQ DFDGHP\ FRPSOH[ Yet the sense of being caught between one state DQG WKH QH[W KDV QRW \HW GLVVLSDWHG 0DQDJHU Chris Hughton was hired on New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eve EULQJLQJ KLV H[SHULHQFH LQ WKH &KDPSLRQVKLS DQG WKH 3UHPLHU /HDJXH WR D WHDP Ă LUWLQJ ZLWK relegation to the third tier. He stabilised the side and this season has brought a long spell at the other end of the table, with an unbeaten start stretching to 19th December and a place in the promotion play-offs, at least, still a realistic proposition as this publication went to press.

The prospect of Premier League football, and all its attendant riches, is an enticing one, but there are many clubs who have overstretched themselves in pursuit of it. At a club owned by a sometime gambler, the man weighing up what to stake and what to hold in reserve is chief H[HFXWLYH 3DXO %DUEHU )RUPHUO\ WKH GLUHFWRU RI marketing and communications at the Football $VVRFLDWLRQ )$ DQG WKH H[HFXWLYH GLUHFWRU RI Tottenham Hotspur, he returned to England IURP D VSHOO DV FKLHI H[HFXWLYH RI 0DMRU /HDJXH 6RFFHU 0/6 H[SDQVLRQ WHDP 9DQFRXYHU Whitecaps in June 2012.

With the Seagulls, Barber has not just been OLYLQJ EHWZHHQ OLIH LQ RQH Ă LJKW DQG DPELWLRQV of another. He has been leading a process of modernisation at a club with deep, traditional roots in their community.

Had you looked at the start of the season and thought of promotion as a realistic ambition?

It has to be every year, for a couple of reasons. One, because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve put in place the infrastructure that we believe is world class â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the stadium and the training ground are both in that category â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and secondly, the chairman has had an ambition for this football club to play at the highest level since he took over. We had two successive play-off seasons which, having been promoted from League One two seasons earlier, were a nice build. We

Ă&#x20AC;QLVKHG WHQWK LQ RXU Ă&#x20AC;UVW VHDVRQ EDFN LQ WKH &KDPSLRQVKLS WKHQ ZH Ă&#x20AC;QLVKHG IRXUWK WKHQ ZH Ă&#x20AC;QLVKHG VL[WK $QG WKHQ ODVW VHDVRQ >ZKHQ %ULJKWRQ Ă&#x20AC;QLVKHG WK RXW RI WHDPV@ ZDV D YHU\ GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOW \HDU ² DQG LW ZDVQ¡W H[SHFWHG LW ZDVQ¡W D SRVLWLRQ WKDW ZH¡G H[SHFWHG WR Ă&#x20AC;QG RXUVHOYHV LQ DW all. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not in any way being arrogant, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just that we had put ourselves in a situation where we felt that we could build on the previous two promotion challenges that ended up in us being in the play-offs, DQG WDNH LW WR WKH QH[W OHYHO )RU ZKDWHYHU reason, it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work last season and it was a bit of a shock to all of us. We had to recalibrate, we had to retrace our steps.

We had to look at some of our processes, look at different things we were doing and try and improve them wherever we could.

So in some ways, you could say it was a VKRUW VKDUS VKRFN RI MXVW KRZ GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOW WKH Championship still is. So, yeah, it was tough last year but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come through that. But going into the summer weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve absolutely set ourselves an ambition of being in a position where we could challenge again.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s explore the relationship between Brighton the city and Brighton the club. There has been a lot of expansion here, not just in the last few years but since the turn of the century. How do you pursue that and maintain the links that you have with the community?

Paul [Camillin, the head of FRPPXQLFDWLRQV@ VLWWLQJ KHUH ZDV D very big part of the fansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; movement that helped to save the club, way back in the day â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I say way back in the day, but it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that long ago.

This city has one football club and one cricket club. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not like London: we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have 13 professional clubs. So a large part of the football clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history has been played in the lower divisions RI WKH )RRWEDOO /HDJXH S\UDPLG EXW

SOCCEREXPRO | 25

football club that sits in the community.

There is a genuine connection there, and it means a lot to the community.

Amex is a major employer in the region as well. Do you look to those kind of partnerships where you can or have you now reached a level where you have to be realistic about getting sponsorship in?

Paul Barber, the chief executive who is plotting Brighton and Hove Albionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ascent to the Premier League

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The city and the people that live in it feel that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a stake in this football club.â&#x20AC;? nevertheless, the football club has been a really important part of the city. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s EHHQ D VLJQLĂ&#x20AC; FDQW SDUW RI ZKDW SHRSOH GR KHUH RQ D ZHHNHQG IRU \HDUV So I think during that period when the club was almost lost, it hurt people here.

The people were determined not to let WKH FOXE JR $QG WKDW ZDV DQ LQFUHGLEOH period of campaigning, and bucket collections, of people standing in and paying bills that, frankly, a lot of people would never have done. Some of those people are still around and connected to the club, some of those people arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, but it was a massive community effort to stop the club going out of H[LVWHQFH ² DQG WKHQ DQ HYHQ ELJJHU community effort to get this place built. $QG DV D FRQVHTXHQFH RI WKDW WKH FLW\ and the people that live in it feel that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a stake in this football club that is perhaps way beyond what most supporters would probably say.

The name on the stadium isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a FRLQFLGHQFH WKH $PHULFDQ ([SUHVV &RPPXQLW\ 6WDGLXP ZDV D VLJQLĂ&#x20AC; FDQW part of the naming rights deal, to recognise the role that the community had played and, also, the way that the club wanted to continue to interact with the community. So when the Shoreham 26 | www.soccerex.com

disaster happened [when a vintage jet crashed at a local airshow, killing 11 SHRSOH@ LW ZDVQ¡W VRPHWKLQJ WKDW ZH IHOW we had to think too much about in terms of helping. It was a natural reaction. It happened in our community â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know at the time that one of our own staff was involved and someone else close to the club was involved, but we felt it was the right thing to do to offer our facilities, to do what we could to help. This was a small opportunity for the club to repay the community for the help that it had given the club all those years before â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and continues to give. $OELRQ LQ WKH &RPPXQLW\ RXU charitable arm, continues to do a lot of great work in the community across a QXPEHU RI GLIIHUHQW DUHDV $JDLQ WKDW¡V D VLJQLĂ&#x20AC; FDQW SDUW RI ZKDW ZH GR DQG how we operate as a club. The stadium here, you can see, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s members of the community here that have come here today for a meeting or a cup of coffee or a stadium tour: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a meeting place as much as it is an area of the football club that we use ourselves for meetings OLNH WKLV 6R , WKLQN LW LV D YHU\ VLJQLĂ&#x20AC; FDQW connection but it runs a lot deeper than just running a community scheme, or it runs a lot deeper than just having a

Well, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been really lucky because $PHULFDQ ([SUHVV KDYH WKHLU (XURSHDQ KHDGTXDUWHUV LQ %ULJKWRQ 6R WKDW¡V DQ accident of birth, or whatever you want to call it, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a real advantage to us to have such a major global brand in our city. So thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a natural connection. We have also looked outside the immediate vicinity for sponsors like Nike, for H[DPSOH EXW ZH¡UH DOVR YHU\ OXFN\ LQ WKDW a lot of the companies that supported us when we were at the Withdean Stadium KDYH VWD\HG ZLWK XV WKH\¡YH H[SDQGHG their relationship with us and paid a bit more so that as weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve grown, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve grown with us, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been massive.

But we also try, wherever we can, to use a lot of local suppliers as well, whether theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re catering suppliers, whether theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re building suppliers, whether theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re designers, PR companies, whatever it happens to be. If we can support our community by giving them our contracts, and they are the best people for the job and the price is right for the football club, we will always try and go local. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always work, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not always the perfect Ă&#x20AC; W LQ HYHU\ FDWHJRU\ EXW ZKHUH ZH FDQ we try very hard. I mean, the pies that we still sell at the stadium in their thousands, every matchday, are made by a local pie PDQXIDFWXUHU $ ORW RI IRRWEDOO FOXEV go to the big names to get their pies; we go to a local company. The ale that we serve here is brewed just down the road there in Lewes. Some fans think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a pipeline from the brewery in Lewes right the way to the stadium! But, again, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what our fans want: they want local suppliers, they want local products, and if we can deliver that, we will.

Is that something youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be keen to maintain if you went up a league?

'HĂ&#x20AC; QLWHO\ (YHQ PRUH VR EHFDXVH , WKLQN that gives those brands and those local companies an opportunity to genuinely put themselves on the map. I mean, I WKLQN WKH SURĂ&#x20AC; OH WKDW ZH JLYH WKHP DV

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Fans prepare to depart on the Brighton to Paris bike ride, an Albion in the Community initiative

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk about you for a moment.

You came here after a spell in MLS. At what time did you decide you wanted to return to English football?

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Mike Egerton/ PA Archive/PA Images

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Tony Bloom, owner of Brighton since 2009

Obviously, culturally, as youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve said, things are quite different in MLS. Structurally, things are different as well. But were there any lessons that you took from that experience that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been able to apply here?

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Brightonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s American Express Community Stadium is one of the best equipped in the Championship and hosted rugby during last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World Cup

fans is really, really good. At Vancouver, we were very lucky: we had Bell as our shirt sponsor, and they worked really, really hard at creating awareness of their brand with the Vancouver fans, creating opportunities to engage with those fans, and obviously creating opportunities for them to take the fansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; business as well in terms of mobile phones and internet and home telephones and so on. So thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of good experiences that came out of that. We had a very young staff who worked very hard to put on big events and they did a great job.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your overall impression been since youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come back to England â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly of the Championship?

I suppose the biggest thing I had to readjust to after three seasons away was just the relentless nature of football in this country. In MLS, the season starts in March and, if you make the playRIIV \RX Ă&#x20AC;QLVK LQ 1RYHPEHU ,W IHHOV somehow more condensed, even though the geography is massive and you travel further. Here, the relentless SaturdayTuesday, Saturday-Tuesday, SaturdayTuesday, cup game, Saturday-Tuesday, cup gameâ&#x20AC;Ś itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s incredible how you have 30 | www.soccerex.com

to really get everyone into a well-oiled machine mode. You need to be machinelike in the Championship, particularly â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in the Premier League, as well, but particularly in the Championship.

That took me a few months, to get back into that rhythm. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to get back into it but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d forgotten how hard it was, and the demands on the staff are enormous. Sometimes, if the Ă&#x20AC;[WXUHV ZRUN RXW LQ FHUWDLQ ZD\V ZH FDQ be staging three games here in seven days.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge strain on people and you have to therefore have good managers, good organisation, people have to know what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing, you have to make sure that standards are high and stay high.

But you know what? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I loved.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I missed. And I realised, when I came back, why Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d missed it, because you literally need to have everything working at its optimum level all the time to be successful. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why getting out of the Championship is so hard.

How realistic is it, ďŹ nancially, to be able to operate the Football League as an entity of its own, where clubs can sustain themselves?

Well, I think it depends on what your

ambitions are. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an ambitious Championship club and you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have WKH EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W RI SDUDFKXWH SD\PHQWV WKHQ youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to need an owner thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prepared to subsidise you substantially.

We will lose somewhere in the region of UKÂŁ1 million a month in an effort to give ourselves a budget that will give us a chance of promotion. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a massive amount of money for an owner to have to subsidise a club for and when you consider weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got one of the highest two or three attendances in the Championship, some of the best sponsorship deals, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still needing the owner to help us with that kind of subsidy. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s substantial.

Your ambition is to get into the Premier League but what are the things youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to keep doing to ensure the life of the club if that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen in the next few seasons?

:H KDYH WR PDNH RXUVHOYHV DV HIĂ&#x20AC;FLHQW DV we can possibly be. So every day, David -RQHV >WKH FOXE¡V Ă&#x20AC;QDQFH DQG RSHUDWLRQV director] and I are looking at our costs: KRZ FDQ ZH GR WKLQJV PRUH HIĂ&#x20AC;FLHQWO\" How can we do things more economically?

How can we improve some of our processes so that we can take as much cost

Making the numbers add up

O

ther than owner Tony Bloom, Paul Barberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key partner in the Brighton and Hove Albion project is ďŹ nance and operations director David Jones.

Between them, Jones and Barber have developed the ďŹ nancial strategy to help the Seagulls hover between their pursuit of the Premier League and the realities of life in the second tier. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think pretty well most Championship clubs lose money,â&#x20AC;? says Jones. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a very, very competitive league; everyone knows the prize of the Premier League and TV money is massive. Everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really working hard to get there. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re fortunate that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got an owner thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not only happy to build the stadium for us and build the training ground, but also bankroll the losses. We have lost money each year weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been here. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lost money and, whilst weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting a competitive team on the pitch, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to continue to lose money with the revenue streams that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got.â&#x20AC;?

Unlike in the Premier League, the most signiďŹ cant of those revenue streams for most teams in the Championship is matchday income â&#x20AC;&#x201C; particularly for a club like Brighton, who have a â&#x20AC;&#x153;very strong season ticket baseâ&#x20AC;? comprised of around 18,000 season ticket holders and 3,000 premium 1901 Members.

Sponsorship is the second biggest source of revenue, followed by â&#x20AC;&#x153;four or ďŹ ve million quid a year from the Football Leagueâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;the megastore downstairs, which is probably another UKÂŁ2 million income streamâ&#x20AC;?.

Clubs in the Football League must

out of the business as we possibly can?

And that has two effects. One, it gives us more opportunity to put more into the football budget, which should improve our chances of promotion, in theory. And secondly, if that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen, and we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t manage it this year, then it still leaves us with a lean business model to operate for next season in the Championship.

And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a process. I think when ZH Ă&#x20AC; UVW FDPH LQ ZKHQ 'DYLG DQG , Ă&#x20AC; UVW

operate within Financial Fair Play regulations, which now limit losses at UKÂŁ13 million â&#x20AC;&#x201C; up from the previous cap of UKÂŁ6 million. Financial modelling within the Championship, Jones explains, is â&#x20AC;&#x153;relatively staticâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that many variables,â&#x20AC;? he adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been here, our turnoverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been UKÂŁ23 million, UKÂŁ24 million, UKÂŁ22 million, and our cost base before football costs started at UKÂŁ16 million, we got it down to UKÂŁ12 million, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now at UKÂŁ11 million.â&#x20AC;?

That presents difďŹ culties when trying to assemble a playing staff that can compete with clubs coming down from the Premier League, whose TV â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;parachute paymentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; can inďŹ&#x201A;ate their revenues to around UKÂŁ40 million.

Monitoring that cost base, then, has been central to the gameplan Barber has laid out, and he and Jones have

not stopped looking for efďŹ ciencies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from cutting stafďŹ ng levels bloated by the move to the new stadium to rationalising supply deals.

Growing non-matchday income is another target. The Amex Stadium hosted three games in Rugby World Cup 2015, and the results have convinced the club to pursue more union matches. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We kept the majority of the catering revenue, and those guys can drink!â&#x20AC;? reveals Jones. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The spend per head, I think, was probably the biggest anywhere and it was over UKÂŁ10 for the South Africa-Japan game.â&#x20AC;?

A new hotel, adjacent to the stadium, is also in development. Its construction will be a boon to the groundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suitability as a conference venue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It will be part of the Brighton and Hove Albion Holdings Group, so it will probably be a standalone subsidiary,â&#x20AC;? Jones explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be part-funded by the owner and partfunded by some bank funding, but it will be a wholly owned subsidiary so whatever proďŹ ts the hotel generates will be ploughed back into the group.â&#x20AC;?

Jones admits to setting detailed ďŹ nancial plans only a couple of years ahead, saying that â&#x20AC;&#x153;it becomes a bit of a crystal ballâ&#x20AC;? to look too far beyond that. But there is no doubt that the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities are being undertaken with much longer-term goals in mind. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a fantastic infrastructure,â&#x20AC;? says Jones, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and it would be good to think that if we were in the Premier League, and I see no reason why we shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, we would be able to be a sustainable business that makes an annual proďŹ t.â&#x20AC;?

worked together, we looked at our cost base and it was far too high, and we went on a pretty radical and dramatic programme of reducing our costs, and that did mean some people had to leave. And I think what shocked people afterwards was that we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop. We kept looking for those improvements.

OK, we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done anything as dramatic DV WKH Ă&#x20AC; UVW \HDU EXW HYHU\ DUHD ZH FDQ ZH WU\ DQG Ă&#x20AC; QG ZD\V RI PDNLQJ WKH IRRWEDOO

FOXE PRUH HIĂ&#x20AC; FLHQW DQG EHFRPLQJ OHVV and less dependent on our owner. At the end of the day, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to wake up one morning and Tony says, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do this any more. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to do it any more.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; We want to try and make ourselves DV HIĂ&#x20AC; FLHQW DV SRVVLEOH VR WKDW ZH GRQ¡W rely on him as much. And if we can do that while weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still in the Championship, then when we get to the Premier League weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be in an even better position.

Brighton and Hoveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ nance director David Jones

SOCCEREXPRO | 31

THE BUNDESLIGA: WATCH THIS SPACE While Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Premier League and Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s La Liga have already begun bringing in massively increased broadcast deals at home and abroad, another of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s powerhouses, Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bundesliga, has been waiting on the sidelines. Now it is getting ready to sell, and sell big. JĂśrg Daubitzer, managing director of league business arm DFL Sports Enterprises, updates Eoin Connolly on plans to generate real growth from the European TV market.

What position is the Bundesliga in now in its rights sales process?

We are currently preparing the new European cycle, or term, starting 2017/18. This will last until the end of 2020/21, and we are currently in different talks and try to prepare this process as we have done it in the past â&#x20AC;&#x201C; quite accurate, and close to the QHFHVVLWLHV RI WKH PDUNHW ² IRU WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW half of the new year.

What does that process entail at this point in time? What kind of work are you doing to get that ready?

Understanding what the different participants in different markets are expecting from us. Understanding their needs, their wishes, and seeing how this matches with our intentions, our strategies. And trying to bring this to a point where we have a feeling that our rights are really helpful for the different interested parties all over Europe.

What do you expect to be different this time around? Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s changed in the market since the last time you sold your rights?

I think there are different changes. I think the technical development is on the next level â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the last level, there will be some levels following. We saw over WKH ODVW \HDU D VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW LPSURYHPHQW RQ the technical side: if we speak about the digital situation, if we speak about OTT [over-the-top] and all these aspects; this is from the pure technical side.

We saw, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s say, the education of consumers to pay for content, which is on the next level. We have the situation 34 | www.soccerex.com

now that more or less all the big media groups committed strongly to football.

If we see the activities of DiscoveryEurosport going away from the panterritorial activities to local business models, if we see the entrance of BeIN, for example, in Spain or in Turkey now; if we see that Sky took over the responsibility for Sky Germany and Sky Italy; the activities of Fox in Europe.

There are strong developments on this side as well.

So a lot of changes, a lot of aspects that bring us to the point where we say that we expect a really strong growth.

Do you have any ďŹ gures in mind for the kind of growth that you would expect?

Yes, but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell youâ&#x20AC;Ś Sorry for this, but I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do that! I think that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 per cent understandable that we have the expectation of this strong growth, because the results of other properties have shown that strong growth rates are possible. And the expectations from our clubs to have such growth rates and IXUWKHU GHYHORSPHQWV DUH DEVROXWHO\ Ă&#x20AC;QH because at the end they have to compete against teams from other leagues as well and we have to bring them into the best possible position to have the chance to compete in a serious way.

When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re preparing your projections, do you tag them to the way other leagues are performing or do you work up your own numbers?

Do you think, the Premier League has done this much in this market so we can expect this, or do you work it out from a different set of ďŹ gures?

If we do our calculations, there are a ORW RI IDFWRUV ZH NHHS LQ PLQG WR Ă&#x20AC;QG hopefully, the right number and the right growth rate or however you call it. This is, of course, one factor: to see what our competitors have been doing currently, their licence fees, what growth rates they have, where they come from. But also, we try to look at what competition surrounding these numbers are being FUHDWHG VR WKHUH DUH D ORW RI LQĂ XHQWLDO factors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the duration of the term, a lot RI GLIIHUHQW DVSHFWV WR Ă&#x20AC;QG \RXU RZQ reliable number.

You mentioned the technical developments on the digital side.

Would you look to go to market with different packages â&#x20AC;&#x201C; separating out the digital rights or doing anything else along those lines? Does it change the way you operate?

Decisions havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been made until now.

We are, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s say, in the development process of this rights process, and there are different opportunities, but I think the major perspective for us is to be DV Ă H[LEOH DV SRVVLEOH WR DFKLHYH WKH maximum revenues.

How much work goes into creating a Bundesliga brand at this point in the cycle and having something that people recognise internationally, where they know what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to get from Bundesliga football?

7KLV LV D VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;F GLVFXVVLRQ ,I ZH VSHDN about markets outside of Europe, this discussion will have a deeper impact on our strategy, because markets like the US, China, India, other different

Markus Schreiber/AP/Press Association Images

With the Premier League and La Liga having tied up huge television rights deals in recent times, Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bundesliga is now planning its own next move in the new broadcast landscape SOCCEREXPRO | 35

We are in continuous discussions with the clubs about further development, especially the major, relevant clubs like Bayern Munich, like Dortmund, like Schalke. Others are involved in this discussion as well to make the Bundesliga brand, and the Bundesliga as a product, more popular, and to bring more sympathy not only to the clubs, to the teams, to the players, but also to the league itself. So we are, over years now, in serious and continuous discussions with the clubs to reach not just the next level but higher levels.

JĂśrg Daubitzer, managing director of DFL Sports Enterprises, the Bundeligaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business arm

ones, also have a long-term strategic LQĂ XHQFH ,Q (XURSH WKH VLWXDWLRQ LV D little bit different.

Our clubs are participating in European club competitions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; currently, seven teams are around in Europe every three or four weeks.

They play in every single country against the respective teams, they are broadcast all over Europe, and I think the necessity of convincing people about the quality of the Bundesliga

is not as high as you have it outside of Europe. I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a different discussion, so the impact of this aspect is not as big outside of Europe.

How much work are you doing with clubs? You have an ofďŹ ce quite close to Borussia Dortmund in Singapore; you have Bayern Munich setting up other ofďŹ ces. Do you get feedback from them? How closely do you work together?

The Bundesliga also has a very strong reputation across Europe of being a league which has good relationships between clubs and supporters.

When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re putting together how the league is going to be packaged and broadcast in the years ahead, what do you need to deliver to those German supporters?

I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continually practised: to have a competition with the Bundesliga which is made for every single person in Germany, if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a man or a woman; if the people are young or old; if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re rich or poor; if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a businessman or worker.

DFL Sports Enterprises works closely with its biggest clubs, such as Bayern Munich (pictured) and Borussia Dortmund, to promote the Bundesliga brand 36 | www.soccerex.com

Making an impact

T

he Bundesliga will be hoping for a huge injection of funds when it goes to market for its next set of domestic and European TV rights, on terms running from 2017/18 to 2020/21. With competitors like the Premier League and La Liga generating considerable uplift in their latest rounds of rights sales, and competition to be exploited across the continent – from the potential entry of Discovery-backed Eurosport to the continuing battle in the UK between BT Sport, a Bundesliga partner, and Sky Sports – the total income should be comfortably into ten figures.

The broadcast picture, however, is only one part of the Bundesliga’s economic significance in Germany.

According to a report issued by American management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, 150,000 people were employed in the German football industry in some capacity during the 2013/14 season, 110,000 of them on a full-time basis. Business activities related to the game now generate €2.3 billion a year in taxes for the German government, reflecting a sector-wide growth which has far outpaced that of the national economy throughout the decade.

The economic impact of the Bundesliga system – taking into account suppliers and the attendant service industry, as well as the media and football-dedicated businesses – was reported to be €7.9 billion in 2013/14, a growth of 55 per cent from the first season measured by McKinsey & Company in 2007/8. €1.8 billion of this was said to have come from the clubs and league themselves, with a further €4.5 billion due to ‘indirect effects’ – ie, those suppliers and businesses that benefit from fans watching and attending games. The growth in ‘real added value’ from German professional football in that time is an estimated 6.1 per cent,

Whatever you mention, everybody ÀQGV WKHLU SODFH LQ %XQGHVOLJD VWDGLXPV and is addressed by their clubs, by the teams, by the league, and I think

Broadcast is a key growth area for the Bundesliga, which has the highest average attendances in Europe

bigger than any industry in the country other than aircraft construction.

McKinsey & Company also credits the wide distribution of growth to the ‘strong economic foundations of Germany’s professional football’, and suggests it is a good predictor for future success. The Bundesliga’s income from TV revenues has been lower than that of the Premier League, for example, but the league is also relatively less reliant upon it: broadcasting accounts for 50 per cent of the English league’s revenues, as opposed to 30 per cent of those in Germany.

Broadcasting nevertheless represents a key opportunity for further growth, particularly with

attendances already high and ticket price rises likely to be unpopular in a fan-centric league. McKinsey & Company also doubts that recent progress in sponsorship income can be maintained.

The pay-TV market in Germany is smaller than in Spain or, in particular, the UK, but it has considerable capacity to rise from its current level of 17 per cent penetration. Should that happen, domestic rights sales could be considerably more lucrative.

Nonetheless, McKinsey & Company has predicted continued, if slower, potential revenue growth of 35 per cent for German football between now and the end of the decade.

that’s the basis of all discussions regarding packaging of media rights, kick-off times, pay-TV versus free TV discussions – all these different

aspects that you always have. This is part of all of our discussions, to keep the connection to the people that love football and the Bundesliga.

SOCCEREXPRO | 37

DRIVING CHANGE Chevrolet’s sponsorship deal with English giants Manchester United is the biggest in football, a collaboration between two globally renowned brands. Through the carmaker’s ‘Beautiful Possibilities’ programme, as Adam Nelson discovers, both sides are working hard to ensure the social implications are as profound as the financial ones.

S

itting opposite the main entrance to Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, it’s not surprising that lunchtime on a Saturday sees Hotel Football – the soccer-themed hotel and bar established by the club’s former stars Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt – packed to the rafters.

38 | www.soccerex.com

Especially a Saturday on which the team are preparing for the derby match against their historic rivals Liverpool, presenting an early-season opportunity to win regional bragging rights.

Hotel Football claims to offer fans staying here, or even just arriving for a pre-game pie and pint, a “unique, exciting and memorable matchday experience”.

Among the attendees for the Liverpool game, though, are a few for whom this day will be more memorable than most.

For the second season in a row Chevrolet, Manchester United’s main sponsor, has brought 11 children aged between eight and 14 from underprivileged areas across India, Thailand, China, Brazil and the United States to spend a week in

Chevroletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mascots swap shirts with their heroes on the Old Trafford pitch before kick-off in Manchester Unitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Premier League game against Liverpool

Manchester, to tour the city, spend time with club legends, watch the current team WUDLQ DQG Ă&#x20AC;QDOO\ EHIRUH RQH RI WKH ELJJHVW games of the year, walk out on to the pitch as mascots with their footballing heroes.

Chevrolet has been putting the mascots and their families up in Hotel Football over the course of the week, and ahead of the match its lounge area is abuzz with anticipation as the children wait to hear which player theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be accompanying on to the turf. The clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea and, predictably, England captain Wayne Rooney generate the most intense excitement; internationally recognised icons of a global brand.

The mascots day is the most visible DQG PRVW KLJK SURĂ&#x20AC;OH SLHFH RI DFWLYDWLRQ around Chevrolet FC and its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Beautiful Possibilitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; programme, the social development initiative established

by the carmaker at the outset of its partnership with Manchester United, intended to use football and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the power of playâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to improve living and playing conditions in some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most underdeveloped areas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;First and foremost, this is about getting soccer to the places and to children that need it most,â&#x20AC;? explains John Gasloli, senior manager of global marketing for Chevrolet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the idea that play becomes this enabler, or that play is what turns possibilities into reality.

All you have to do is give a ball to a kid and the possibilities are endless.â&#x20AC;?

The journey of the mascots, from their homes to Old Trafford, begins with Chevrolet identifying areas around the world which lack suitable environments for children to play, working in communities which are â&#x20AC;&#x153;in need of a pitch refurbishment or a pitch

build,â&#x20AC;? as Gasloli says, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;completely transforming a space into a beautiful soccer pitchâ&#x20AC;?.

This process occurs hand in hand with the worldwide commercial development of Chevrolet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We start with: what are our priority markets for the brand?â&#x20AC;? says Gasloli. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And then we use those and we partner with our colleagues in those markets and we determine where to go.

This year it was Brazil, Thailand, India and the US. Sometimes weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re building completely new facilities, sometimes itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just refurbishment of a pitch, as we did in Brazil, in the favelas, where we went in and redid a play space so that kids would have a safe place to play.â&#x20AC;? +DYLQJ LGHQWLĂ&#x20AC;HG WKH ´SULRULW\ marketsâ&#x20AC;?, the next step is to work alongside Chevrolet FCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global partners â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Manchester United, along with One :RUOG 3OD\ 3URMHFW ² WR Ă&#x20AC;QG ORFDO 1*2V SOCCEREXPRO | 39

One and a half million â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;indestructibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; balls, shown here by the mascots and Fred the Red, have been delivered by Chevrolet to charitable projects globally

in those markets who can assist in the development of sporting facilities, but also work closely and directly with the people running the sports teams and with the children themselves. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the US we have a longstanding relationship with a charitable organisation called United Way,â&#x20AC;? says Gasloli. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We knew that the US, and VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ /RV $QJHOHV ZDV D NH\ growth market for us. We partnered with United Way, and they uncovered various programmes within the LA area that they supported and we started talking to those local organisations and they gave us a VHULHV RI SURĂ&#x20AC;OHV RQ WKH FKLOGUHQ WKH\ help out and from there we determined ZKLFK RQHV ZH IHOW EHVW H[HPSOLĂ&#x20AC;HG WKH brand ideals of possibilities and play, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how we selected the candidates for the mascots programme. ´:H WU\ WR Ă&#x20AC;QG FKLOGUHQ ZKR HPERG\ 40 | www.soccerex.com

this idea of the passion of play and how play has made an impact in their lives, and then we invite them to Manchester to walk out hand in hand with their heroes into the pitch, and we share their stories with our followers,â&#x20AC;? he explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You talk about a once in a lifetime moment! And hopefully planting that little seed in those kids is going to put them on to a path in the future to become the best they can be. They might not become a footballer, but they might grow up to become a teacher and inspire the next generation of kids, or to KHOS Ă&#x20AC;QG D ZD\ WR EULQJ VRPHWKLQJ EDFN into their community. We really feel that through this programme weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re beginning to show just how powerful play and possibilities are for kids.â&#x20AC;?

One of the partners Gasloli mentions, One World Play Project, is a manufacturer of an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;indestructibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

IRRWEDOO VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ GHVLJQHG IRU XVH RQ GLIĂ&#x20AC;FXOW WHUUDLQ ZKHUH QRUPDO footballs become easily damaged and unusable. This means that even in areas where the creation or redevelopment of facilities is less feasible, children are able to improvise and play within their environment without the worry of destroying the ball theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re playing with. $W KDOI WLPH GXULQJ WKH /LYHUSRRO Ă&#x20AC;[WXUH the mascots come back out on to the pitch and use the One World Play balls to hit penalties into the Stretford End goal with Fred the Red, the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Red Devil cheerleader and mascot, standing in as the goalkeeper. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In July of 2015 we reached a monumental milestone when we had delivered a million and a half balls in over 70 countries around the world, and that impacts around 45 million children,â&#x20AC;? says Gasloli. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re having an impact

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Play is what turns possibilities into reality. All you have to do is give a ball to a kid and the possibilities are endless.â&#x20AC;? at the community level, and then if you take it down to the personal level, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re changing kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lives, their parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lives.

So it helps from a business standpoint that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re improving the health of the brand, and then weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re adding tremendous value to communities.â&#x20AC;?

The partnership with a globally recognised football property like Manchester United, Gasloli believes, has massively increased the potential of the Chevrolet FC initiative, and opened it up to collaborations it might never have found without that endorsement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you have the powerhouse of two iconic global brands â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chevrolet and Manchester 8QLWHG ² WKHQ WZR SOXV WZR HTXDOV Ă&#x20AC;YH Âľ he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What comes out of that is the reason why we want to partner with such an iconic brand.â&#x20AC;?

The kit sponsorship deal between the two parties is the most lucrative in world football, costing Chevrolet US$80 million per year across seven seasons, and is now Chevroletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only involvement in European football after it transfered a smaller-scale deal with Liverpool to its Vauxhall marque a year ahead of time, an announcement

that coincided with the wider brand announcing its intention to partially withdraw from the European market.

Despite that move, however, Chevrolet SXEOLFO\ UHDIĂ&#x20AC;UPHG LWV FRPPLWPHQW WR Manchester United shortly afterwards, meaning that the brand would feature on the front of Manchester Unitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s playing VKLUWV IRU Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV ZLWKRXW LWV SURGXFWV being widely available in the territories in which the team plays its competitive Ă&#x20AC;[WXUHV *DVOROL GRHV QRW VHH WKLV DV D contradiction, however, and insists that it simply highlights the global nature of elite European football teams. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People might say that the [Chevrolet] doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have that much of a presence in Europe, so why partner with a Premier League team?â&#x20AC;? he says. ´:HOO Ă&#x20AC;UVWO\ \HV 0DQFKHVWHU 8QLWHG are part of the Premier League, but they are a global iconic brand. So if you change the way you look at Manchester United, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we entered into this partnership. They are not a local UK team, they are a global powerhouse. You could argue that there are more Manchester United fans

Chevrolet has contributed to the creation of football facilities in underprivileged areas around the world

in the US than in the UK. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the reason we entered into this sponsorship. When you look at their fan base, with the 650 million strong â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Red Armyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, with half of those being in Asia, such strong emerging growth markets for us, the future pay-off for us is the growth of the brand outside of our traditional markets and the more mature markets in the west of Europe and the US.â&#x20AC;?

The sponsorship has seen Chevroletâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s RQOLQH FRPPXQLW\ JURZ IURP ´Ă&#x20AC;YH Ă&#x20AC;JXUHV ² LI ZH ZHUH OXFN\Âľ LQ WR over one million on Facebook alone. To achieve this, Gasloli explains, Chevrolet has not simply been a â&#x20AC;&#x153;passive sponsorâ&#x20AC;?, using the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reach to promote its brand, but has actively â&#x20AC;&#x153;become a true supporter of the club, providing fans experiences they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get elsewhere, and that community just keeps growingâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;From an exposure standpoint,â&#x20AC;? he adds, â&#x20AC;&#x153;we are the number one Premier League shirt sponsor in terms of media exposure. The scale is there, as well as that really good more qualitative side as well. It has quantity and quality. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Last season when we debuted on the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shirt, when we launched that kit, we did it in such fan-centric way, we made it â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;for the fans, by the fansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and at the end we had Rooney declaring, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This shirt belongs to you.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; That was done hand in glove with the club, and that lit up the social network.

It was the most viewed piece of content in Manchester Unitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history until that point. It even surpassed the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. It just goes to show that when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re using the power of two brands, the impact you can have is quite tremendous.â&#x20AC;?

Through Chevrolet FC and its charitable partnerships, that impact is not just being felt in bank balances and social PHGLD SURĂ&#x20AC;OHV EXW LV EHQHĂ&#x20AC;WLQJ FKLOGUHQ DURXQG WKH ZRUOG :LWK Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV OHIW to run on the current deal, Gasloli is FRQĂ&#x20AC;GHQW WKDW WKH FROODERUDWLRQ VWLOO KDV much more to achieve. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The work weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing with the mascotsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; day, with Chevrolet FC, is something that we feel best represents so much of what the brand is about,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That idea of yearning for a better life, of never giving up, and seeing that through play, all things are possible. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a wonderfully pure way of describing what our purpose is in this space.â&#x20AC;?

SOCCEREXPRO | 41

PREMIER BROWSER Football clubs were once at the centre of their local communities, but elite teams now oversee a global fanbase.

Premier Browser, a new project from David Berney, is designed to restore the community element to the relationships between clubs and supporters, with all parties reaping the beneďŹ ts. Adam Nelson takes a look.

A

s cheap and fast internet connections become ever more available and fanbases continue to develop in more and more disparate parts of the world, fandom is increasingly becoming something that takes place in the digital space as much as on the terraces. Recent initiatives such as Realmadrid App and German club Bayern Munichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partnership with Goal.com represent attempts to capitalise on the vast potential of sporting properties across the globe, but these and other similar ventures are all outward-facing, intended broadly to simply engage larger numbers of potential fans with the clubsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; brands.

Premier Browser is an attempt to bring the community element and the spirit of the terraces into the digital era, giving both clubs and fans the opportunity to give something back to their local communities â&#x20AC;&#x201C; wherever that community may be.

Available as an app for iOS and Android and as a plugin for desktop programs Firefox, Chrome and Safari, Premier Browser is essentially an internet explorer branded by football FOXEV ZKLFK SURPLVHV EHQHĂ&#x20AC; WV WR DOO RI a teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stakeholders â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fans, sponsors, owners and their charitable foundations.

Currently available in Manchester City DQG (YHUWRQ Ă DYRXUV EXW VHW WR H[SDQG the app is the brainchild of David Berney, who explains that the idea for the platform â&#x20AC;&#x153;came from years and years of trying to connect opportunities between businesses and communitiesâ&#x20AC;?. %HUQH\¡V Ă&#x20AC; UVW PDMRU YHQWXUH ZDV actually an organic food company, which was eventually sold to Jordanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cereals. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Although that sounds very abstract,â&#x20AC;? he elaborates, â&#x20AC;&#x153;part of that was getting organic food into schools and connecting 42 | www.soccerex.com

Premier Browser is something â&#x20AC;&#x153;all clubs are going to want,â&#x20AC;? according to its CEO David Berney

education for school kids, getting them to understand where food came from and working in that kind of bigger space WKDW ZDV EHQHĂ&#x20AC; FLDO WR WKH EUDQG DQG DOVR educational to the kids. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I worked with charities for a number of years, looking at how communities can help each other and visibility around that; and then looking at football clubs and their fanbase but also their foundations and how thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an interesting ecosystem of a brand â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a business â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but also something that sits centrally to the community, and how that foundation can help the community and how it does help the community.â&#x20AC;?

Brands, Berney believes, do not have to change a huge amount about ZKDW WKH\ GR WR KDYH D VLJQLĂ&#x20AC; FDQW EHQHĂ&#x20AC; W WR WKH FRPPXQLW\ DURXQG them â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in fact, part of the philosophy WKDW KDV GULYHQ DOO RI KLV SURMHFWV is the understanding that the best way to help people give something back is to build a reward system into everyday behaviours. Premier Browser is, in part, a development of Berneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SUHYLRXV SURMHFW :LVKJHQLH 'HVFULEHG

as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;social gifting and fundraising SODWIRUP¡ SDUW RI :LVKJHQLH¡V SUHPLVH was that retailers who were signed up to the scheme would donate a SHUFHQWDJH RI HDFK VDOH WR D :LVKJHQLH customer to a designated charity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; meaning people could earn money for

One of Premier Browserâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s USPs is its integration into existing products, requiring little of the user

good causes simply by â&#x20AC;&#x153;doing things they would do anywayâ&#x20AC;?.

This reward function is built into what Berney calls the â&#x20AC;&#x153;first phaseâ&#x20AC;? of 3UHPLHU %URZVHU¡V HYROXWLRQ :KHQ D user performs a Google search for a product using the Everton browser, an Everton badge will appear next to the result if the retailer is affiliated with the programme. If the user then makes the purchase, Evertonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charitable foundation will receive a cut of the proceeds, and the user will earn points for themselves to spend with the club. ´:H ZDQWHG WR EXLOG VRPHWKLQJ WKDW required little or no change of behaviour from the user,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You download the browser, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two clicks to do that, and if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re shopping on any of approximately 800 retailers currently, you can gain something back.â&#x20AC;?

The next phase, Berney says, is ´DGGLQJ D GHJUHH RI JDPLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQ LQWR WKH SODWIRUPÂľ PHDQLQJ XVHUV DUHQ¡W MXVW rewarded for using the app, but gain more rewards the more they use it and the more they encourage others to get involved. This speaks to arguably the greatest opportunity around Premier Browser, and the biggest reason it is likely to attract interest from further clubs: data. :KHUH *RRJOH DQG RWKHU VHUYLFH providers will keep a userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s search data for themselves, Premier Browser allows clubs to know how their fans are browsing, what theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re searching for, and where theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing it from. This, in turn, gives a huge boost to sponsors, who can target their promotions to demographically and geographically VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;HG XVHUV â&#x20AC;&#x153;Looking at a brand like Toys â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Râ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Us, their target audience would be mothers of, say, 28 to 35,â&#x20AC;? says Berney. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking at a clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s audience and targeting an offer within that demographic. Something like creating a wish list at Toys â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Râ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Us, or asking your friends to engage with this offer, and get a chance to win a money-canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;tbuy prize, or potentially a prize based around the sponsorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offering. So very much looking at the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fanbase to be able to segment a demographic within that fanbase and give them a reward offering that suits what they want. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So instead of saying, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Right, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got

Everton manager Roberto MartĂ­nez starring in a Christmas-themed promotion for Premier Browser

a sponsor here and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to target the whole audience of a club,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; we look at segmenting that audience and giving them a reward and requesting them to engage with a sponsor that is their perfect marriage.â&#x20AC;?

7KH XOWLPDWH EHQHĂ&#x20AC;W RI WKLV %HUQH\ says, is that clubs and sponsors are able to â&#x20AC;&#x153;give somebody what they actually want, not what you might think they wantâ&#x20AC;?.

As well as helping to fund clubsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; charitable foundations, Premier Browser offers a further helping hand to communities by promoting local businesses who have done good work in their area. Berney gives the example of Frank Bird, a Liverpool-based builder who gave up his time to put a roof on a school near his Merseyside home for free. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our tools can highlight sponsors that are engaged and reward you as a fan and, commercially, the club as a business offering,â&#x20AC;? says Berney, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but we also wanted to be able to highlight people and businesses locally in the community, businesses who might have helped in the community. So if someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s searching for a builder, the idea is that it could match you with a local story of someone who has done good work, like in the Frank Bird example, which would come to the top of the search when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re using the mobile application. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an interesting scenario when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got that sense of sustainability and relevancy. Sustainability in terms of, there needs to be a commercial driver for a product to work â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work if it was only the Frank Bird scenario, there needs to be that commercial element there for a club to push it out there to its fanbase â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but at

the same time giving relevancy to the fan, whether thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relevancy with the Toys â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Râ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Us and the matched demographic or ZKHWKHU WKDW¡V Ă&#x20AC;QGLQJ VRPHRQH UHOHYDQW if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for a new roof.â&#x20AC;?

Currently in advanced talks with two PDMRU (XURSHDQ IRRWEDOO FOXEV %HUQH\ wants another 20 on board by 2017, and LV FRQĂ&#x20AC;GHQW WKLV WDUJHW FDQ EH PHW DORQJ with further expansion in the future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our Android app is the highestrated sports application in the Android store,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;65 per cent of our users are setting it as their default EURZVHU :H KDYH D SURGXFW ZKLFK QHDU enough everyone uses â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a browser â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which requires no change of behaviour DW DOO LW¡V MXVW D GRZQORDG ZKLFK LV branded toward the club that you love and care about, but can also give you a reward for your engagement and your sharing, and can also highlight how that club might be helping in your community. These are things all fans and all clubs are going to want.â&#x20AC;?

Because of the simplicity of the format, Berney thinks Premier Browser could see roll-out to other sports over time, although he concedes that football will remain the primary focus for the present because â&#x20AC;&#x153;thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where you get the engaged audiencesâ&#x20AC;? required to drive the FRPPXQLW\ HOHPHQW RI WKH DSS :LWKRXW committed, engaged fans, he acknowledges, the platform will not succeed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I like to take it back to the fan all the time,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because if we can get it working for the fan, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be engaged and if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s working for the fans itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll work for the sponsors.

And if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s working for the sponsors and the fans, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s automatically going to be working for the clubs.â&#x20AC;?

SOCCEREXPRO | 43

SAND AND DELIVER Beach soccer has traditionally existed on the fringes of the global industry ruled by its mainstream cousin. Yet, as Beach Soccer Worldwide executive vice president Joan Cusco tells Michael Long, the sand-based game now occupies a rapidly maturing world of its own.

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each soccer is young by global sporting standards. Though played on beaches around the world for generations XQRIĂ&#x20AC; FLDOO\ WKH UXOHV IRU WKH JDPH ZHUH RQO\ FRGLĂ&#x20AC; HG DV UHFHQWO\ DV 7KH VSRUW KDV KRZHYHU PDGH PDUNHG SURJUHVV GXULQJ LWV UHODWLYHO\ VKRUW OLIHVSDQ and today Beach Soccer Worldwide %6:: WKH %DUFHORQD EDVHG ERG\ WKDW UXQV DQG FRPPHUFLDOLVHV LW JOREDOO\ LV LQWHQW RQ WDNLQJ LW WR WKH QH[W OHYHO Beach soccerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heyday is often DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK WKH OLNHV RI (ULF &DQWRQD WKH IRUPHU 0DQFKHVWHU 8QLWHG VWULNHU ZKR ZHQW RQ WR FDSWDLQ DQG PDQDJH WKH )UHQFK QDWLRQDO EHDFK VRFFHU WHDP LQ WKH V DQG WKH %UD]LOLDQ VDPED VWDUV 5RPDULR -XQLRU DQG

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Joan Cusco, executive vice president of BSWW and Fifa Beach Soccer Committee member 44 | www.soccerex.com

0DUVHLOOH )UDQFH XVKHULQJ LQ D QHZ HUD of international growth for the sport.

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Teams such as Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FC Barcelona, pictured here in the Mundialito de Clubes, are seeing the beneďŹ ts of using beach soccer as a promotional tool for the club

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WHDP PLJKW RWKHUZLVH QRW EH DEOH WR JR ´)& %DUFHORQD·V EHDFK VRFFHU WHDP MXVW YLVLWHG 7ULQLGDG 7REDJR µ VD\V &XVFR ´,I \RX H[SHFW WKH IRRWEDOO WHDP WR JR WKHUH WKLV LV DOPRVW LPSRVVLEOH %XW \RX FDQ WRXFK SHRSOH ZKR IROORZ )& %DUFHORQD·V IRRWEDOO WHDP DQG \RX FRQQHFW ZLWK WKHP LQ PDQ\ PDUNHWV 7KH\ ZLOO return to Nigeria in a few days and they ZLOO EH LQ 1LJHULD ZLWK DQRWKHU FRPPXQLW\ and they will be spreading the colours and ORYH IRU WKH VKLUW DQG WKH ORYH IRU WKH FOXE DQG WKH YDOXHV RI WKH FOXE ´7KLV LV D ZD\ WR LPSURYH RU WR KDYH D ZLGHU FRPPXQLW\ WKDW IROORZV \RXU FOXE 6R , WKLQN LW·V QRW RQO\ DERXW KRZ PXFK ÀQDQFLDOO\ LW FRVWV EXW LW·V XQGHUVWDQGLQJ WKH YDOXHV DQG WKH GLIIHUHQW DVSHFWV WKDW LW FDQ EULQJ µ ,Q RUGHU WR JLYH FOXEV PRUH RSSRUWXQLWLHV WR JHW LQYROYHG LQ EHDFK VRFFHU %6:: SODQV WR ODXQFK D QHZ JOREDO FOXE FRPSHWLWLRQ WR VLW DORQJVLGH LWV DQQXDO 0XQGLDOLWR GH &OXEHV %HDFK 6RFFHU WRXUQDPHQW WKH IRXUWK HGLWLRQ of which was contested in Barra da 7LMXFD %UD]LO ODVW 'HFHPEHU E\ WKH OLNHV RI $O $KOL /HYDQWH 6SRUWLQJ &OXEH GH 3RUWXJDO DQG &RULQWKLDQV DV ZHOO DV ZLQQHUV %DUFHORQD 7KRXJK LW LV HDUO\ GD\V &XVFR VD\V WKH QHZ FRPSHWLWLRQ ZRXOG PRVW OLNHO\ WDNH WKH IRUP RI D OHDJXH RI EHWZHHQ DQG WHDPV LQ ´D NLQG RI 1%$ IUDQFKLVH V\VWHPµ ZLWK VRPH RI WKH PRVW SRSXODU FOXE EUDQGV IURP DFURVV WKH JOREH LQYLWHG WR FRPSHWH “These clubs will be the clubs that WRXU LQ D QXPEHU RI HYHQWV DURXQG WKH ZRUOG WR EHFRPH WKH FOXE ZRUOG FKDPSLRQ LQ EHDFK VRFFHU µ KH H[SODLQV ´7KH QXPEHU RI HYHQWV ZH ZRXOG OLNH

Portuguese player Madjer (centre) is one of beach soccer’s few recognisable breakout stars

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With beach soccer having featured at the European Games, Cusco is targeting a place at the Olympics 46 | www.soccerex.com

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THE ANNUAL REPORT 2015

BIDDING, HOSTING, VENUES & LEGACY Examining the role of sport as a major economic driver for cities, regions and countries.

THE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

ABU DHABIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SPORTING STAGE

By David Cushnan

As the owner of many of Abu Dhabiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most prized sports facilities and the operator of many of its most important events, Zayed Sports City has established itself both as a global events hub and a focal point of the community.

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BUY TODAY

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Soccer training camps are a vital revenue stream, while 2014 and 2015â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events calendar includes major championships in tenpin bowling and tennis

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Zayed Sports Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world-class tennis facilities

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32 | www.sportspromedia.com

The Destinations Report 2015 | 33

Destinations Report 2015 Asia-PaciďŹ c

THE SHOW NEVER STOPS

By David Cushnan

Two World Cups and a return visit from the Volvo Ocean Race fleet are the highlights of Aucklandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2015 calendar, but they are but one element of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Developmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well-established, well-honed events strategy.

W

ith a population of just 1.4 million, Auckland doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it onto the list of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest cities, but New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest certainly punches well above its weight when it comes to bidding for and staging major events. As 2015 began, it was poised to welcome the Cricket World Cup and, in June, the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Volvo Ocean Race, meanwhile, was due to make a return visit in late February for a 17-day stopover.

Combined with an annual V8 Supercars date (the ITM500 Auckland) and the recently-launched Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines, which sees every team in Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Rugby League (NRL) make the short hop to New Zealand to compete in a nine-aside tournament, plus a multitude of non-sport and community-focused projects, Aucklandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event strategy has long been regarded as one of the most sophisticated on the planet.

Since 2010, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events acquisition arm has been part of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), an organisation formed when eight council bodies were amalgamated into one â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;super councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

It was one of several new bodies created as part of the administrative changes and was immediately thrust into action as Auckland staged 15 of the 48 matches at the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Major events planning, tourism and wider economic development now fall under the ATEED umbrella.

The approach to major event bidding, acquisition and hosting has been honed

ever since, event by event. In 2014, that translated into a dual approach: international events designed to drive tourism and stimulate the economy, and domestic events with a more local and community focus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For us, we have a consistent approach ZKHUH ZH FRQVLGHU YHU\ VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;F DWWULEXWHV for the hosting of both major sporting and non-sporting eventsâ&#x20AC;?, explains Rakel Liew, ATEEDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general manager of major events, who joined the organisation in December 2013. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But because we take a whole-of-portfolio approach when it comes to measuring our outcomes, each type of event may contribute in a different way towards achieving targetsâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;To provide some examples, cultural events like the Auckland Diwali Festival, $XFNODQG /DQWHUQ )HVWLYDO DQG 3DVLĂ&#x20AC;ND >D FHOHEUDWLRQ RI 3DFLĂ&#x20AC;F ,VODQG FXOWXUH@ capture the attention of the diverse Auckland audience and contribute towards our liveability targets. We FDQ JHQHUDWH VLJQLĂ&#x20AC;FDQW *'3 LPSDFW through concerts and business events. In WHUPV RI LQWHUQDWLRQDO SURĂ&#x20AC;OH VSRUWLQJ events tend to be the best way to achieve our targets. Obviously we always try to make sure we have balance in the portfolio and that all events held in Auckland are relevant to our city.â&#x20AC;?

Auckland is one of 14 host cities for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, played across Australia and New Zealand. The responsibility for securing the event sat with the central governments and cricket bodies of New Zealand and Australia; ATEED then led on the process to secure four matches during the

Auckland will welcome back the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015, an event which is designed to showcase the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s harbour and marine sector

tournament at the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 48,000-capacity Eden Park, including a clash between WKH FR KRVWV DQG RQH RI WKH VHPL Ă&#x20AC;QDOV Liew says there are many ways in which Auckland can optimise the opportunities of playing host to one of the largest sporting events of 2015. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What it does present is a very good platform to collaborate with the other cities and at the same time work on attracting more people to Auckland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our plan is to activate across the tournament as a whole, not just during the Auckland games, to showcase the city to the world and reinforce our brand positioning, because the world will be watching us.â&#x20AC;?

Liew adds that opportunities exist to showcase the city to business leaders

We ensure that every year we have events that globally reinforce our positioning.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

and to â&#x20AC;&#x153;demonstrate strength as one of the leading cities around the regionâ&#x20AC;? throughout the tournament. That is consistent with Aucklandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s positioning for the Rugby World Cup 2011.

The elongated format of the Cricket World Cup â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the tournament begins on Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day and does not conclude until the end of March â&#x20AC;&#x201C; means that EHWZHHQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW JDPH DQG WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO WKH

â&#x20AC;?

9ROYR 2FHDQ 5DFH Ă HHW ZLOO KDYH DUULYHG in Auckland, spent 17 days there and left, bound for the Brazilian coastal resort of ItajaĂ­. The race came to Auckland, a city sometimes nicknamed the City of Sails, during its 2011/12 edition, a stopover so successful that ATEED promptly signed up not only for 2014/15 but also the next event, in 2017/18. Again, there are VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;F UHDVRQV IRU GRLQJ VR

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been very deliberate in looking at the race as a catalyst for Aucklandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marine sector,â&#x20AC;? Liew explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To a great extent, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about showcasing our harbour, our marinas, and our marine expertise. The success of 2012 did not just capture the attention of New Zealanders who have a passion for sailing, it also reinforced the position of Auckland as a destination for all things marine and for a return of the Volvo Ocean Race stopover.â&#x20AC;?

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stopover, which begins on 27th February, is scheduled to be longer than in 2011/12, allowing for more footfall in the race village. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re anticipating about 400,000 people to come through the race village,â&#x20AC;? suggests Liew.

50 | www.sportspromedia.com

The Destinations Report 2015 | 51

WWW.SPORTSPROMEDIA.COM

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the sport itself, so the sport in general has to grow and the icons will grow as much as the sport grows,â&#x20AC;? Cusco adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are doing as much as we can. The recognition of the faces, the names, the players that we have deserve to be idols.

They are people with great skills, huge passion for the sport, and they deliver a great job. On the human side they are very special people.â&#x20AC;?

Beyond the club game, BSWW has big plans on the international front too. As well as striving towards a target of reaching 150 member associations by the end of 2016, the body is seeking a coveted spot on the Olympic programme. That goal is, of course, nothing new but Cusco believes beach soccer is among a group of â&#x20AC;&#x153;emerging, new and trendy sportsâ&#x20AC;? that could add value to the Games by engaging a youthful audience.

Beach soccer, as he points out, has already found a permanent home at continental multi-sport events like the Asian Beach Games and the Mediterranean Games. It was also well received at the inaugural European *DPHV LQ %DNX ODVW \HDU ZKLOH WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW ever ANOC World Beach Games, set to take place in San Diego in the autumn of 2017, will offer another opportunity for the sport to curry favour within the wider Olympic family. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For us it is important and it would help to develop the sport around the world because of course the Olympic committees in every country could

Cusco believes that beach soccer can bring a lot of value and colour to the wider game of football

invest in the sport and help us grow,â&#x20AC;? says Cusco. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But we are doing a soft way to get there, through the World Beach Games and the different continental beach games that are being developed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Proving to the Olympic family that we deserve to be in the Olympics, this will happen sooner or later. In the Baku Games, every Olympic member that came to the stadium was surprised by the level of play and the discipline and the way the sport was organised and the spectacle that we offer and the fair play, so we only received positive messages.

In the World Beach Games, we want to achieve the same.â&#x20AC;?

Cusco insists it is â&#x20AC;&#x153;grantedâ&#x20AC;? the IOC

BSWW wants to launch a new club competition to sit alongside the annual Mundialito de Clubes 48 | www.soccerex.com

would welcome beach soccer into the Games but he concedes it â&#x20AC;&#x153;is something that Fifa would not accept because football is so importantâ&#x20AC;?. A key hurdle is that, for the sport to be put in the frame for Olympic inclusion, Fifa would be forced to allocate a portion of footballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall athlete quota, thereby reducing the number of players competing in the existing competition.

For now, then, BSWW is focusing on taking beach soccer to new frontiers with competitions staged under its own banner. 2016, says Cusco, will see the creation of new womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tournaments, while a new menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event in China is set to help plug the gap in the historically underserved Asian market. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to have a strong competition in Asia, as we have in other places, to improve the teams in the region,â&#x20AC;? says Cusco. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The agreement that we have PDGH LV D Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDU GHDO ,W DOVR DOORZV XV to create a version of the beachsoccer. com website in Chinese, and to make VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;F SURPRWLRQV LQ &KLQD WR ZRUN with the national team of China and make a competitive team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not a one-shot, one-event strategy; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say a long but a medium-term objective to achieve success in a market that until now we had no experience. If we can touch the heart and the soul of the Chinese community, we can have a very good follow-up and we are sure that we will achieve a success story very soon in this Chinese event.â&#x20AC;?

Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport

PLAYERS’ LOUNGE

50 | www.soccerex.com

GIANLUCA VIALLI Gianluca Vialli was one of the stars of the golden age of Italian club soccer in the 1980s and 1990s, before a brief but decorated managerial career. He is now a pundit and ambassador for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fanfundingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; platform Tifosy but, as he tells Eoin Connolly, he still has ambitions within the game.

SOCCEREXPRO | 51

What is Tifosy?

Tifosy is an online ‘fanfunding’ platform. It’s like crowdfunding, but VSHFLÀFDOO\ IRU IRRWEDOO ² HYHU\WKLQJ WKDW·V JRW WR GR ZLWK IRRWEDOO DQG IRRWEDOO SURMHFWV RQ EHKDOI RI WKH IDQV and football clubs. We look to raise PRQH\ IRU IRRWEDOO FOXEV WR ÀQDQFH JRRG SURMHFWV ZKHWKHU LW·V EHWWHU IDFLOLWLHV IRU WKH DFDGHP\ RU ZKHWKHU LW·V D QHZ VWDQG VRPHWKLQJ WKDW·V UHDOO\ FORVH WR WKH KHDUWV RI WKH IDQV 6R WKDW·V RQH WKLQJ DQG DOVR WKDW KHOSV VWUHQJWKHQ WKH UHODWLRQVKLS EHWZHHQ WKH IDQV DQG WKH IRRWEDOO FOXEV %HFDXVH QRZDGD\V , WKLQN WKDW LV RQH RI WKH SUREOHPV 7KH IDQV GRQ·W IHHO DV LI WKH\ DUH OLVWHQHG WR DQG VRPHWLPHV \HV WKH\ ZDQW VRPHWKLQJ VLJQLÀFDQW WR EH GRQH DQG WKLV LV RQH ZD\ WR JHW WKH FOXEV DQG IDQV WR ZRUN WRJHWKHU RQ D VSHFLÀF SURMHFW ZKLFK , WKLQN LV YHU\ JRRG ,W·V QHZ LW·V JRRG LW·V UHYROXWLRQDU\ ² LW·V VRPHWKLQJ WKDW·V JRLQJ WR KHOS IRRWEDOO EHFDXVH LW VWDUWV IURP WKH SDVVLRQ EXW WKHQ LW JRHV LQWR ÀQDQFLQJ DQG PRQH\ VR \RX QHHG ERWK $QG , WKLQN LW·V DOZD\V EHWWHU ZKHQ \RX VHH FOXEV DQG IDQV ZRUNLQJ WRJHWKHU UDWKHU WKDQ VHHLQJ WKHP TXLWH GHWDFKHG ,·YH NQRZQ WKH IRXQGHU IRU D ZKLOH ² )DXVWR =DQHWWRQ ² DQG ULJKW DW WKH EHJLQQLQJ ZKHQ 7LIRV\ ZDV JRLQJ WR VWDUW XS KH FDPH WR VSHDN WR PH WR VHHN VRPH LQVLGH NQRZOHGJH RI WKH LQGXVWU\ EHFDXVH ,·G EHHQ LQYROYHG LQ IRRWEDOO VLQFH , ZDV ÀYH \HDUV ROG $QG , WKLQN KH·G EHHQ PDGH DZDUH WKDW ,·G EHHQ ORRNLQJ WR JHW LQYROYHG LQ SURMHFWV ZLWK D YLHZ WR PDNLQJ IRRWEDOO D EHWWHU JDPH EHFDXVH , WKLQN , RZH LW WR WKH EHDXWLIXO JDPH ,·YH UHFHLYHG VR PXFK 6R P\ LGHD ZDV WR GR VRPHWKLQJ UHODWHG WR IRRWEDOO ZLWK WKH LQWHQWLRQ WR PDNH LW EHWWHU DQG ZKHQ KH H[SODLQHG WR PH KLV LGHD DERXW 7LIRV\ , WKRXJKW LW ZDV DQ H[FHOOHQW LGHD , WKRXJKW DW WKH WLPH LW ZDV SHUIHFW 7KH LGHD ZDV JUHDW WKH SHRSOH WKDW )DXVWR KDG SXW WRJHWKHU ZHUH YHU\ FOHYHU YHU\ KDUG ZRUNLQJ $OO WKH LQJUHGLHQWV ZHUH WKHUH WR PDNH LW VXFFHVVIXO VR , VDLG “Yes, please.”

How do you feel that your career in football – as a player and a manager – prepared you for life in business?

52 | www.soccerex.com

Adam Davy/EMPICS Sport

How did you come to be involved in it?

Former Juventus and Chelsea striker Gianluca Vialli during his work as a pundit for Sky Italia

I’m not a businessman, I’m just SDVVLRQDWH DERXW IRRWEDOO 2EYLRXVO\ , KRSH ,·YH JRW WKH NQRZOHGJH DQG WKH FUHGLELOLW\ ,·YH JRW WKH FRQWDFWV %XW I’m not a businessman. I’m not a man of numbers. , WKLQN , XQGHUVWDQG DERXW communication and football, and a bit RI RWKHU VWXII EXW , WKLQN ,·P PRUH OLNH WKH DPEDVVDGRU RI WKH FRPSDQ\ DQG , UHDOO\ VKDUH P\ LGHDV ZLWK )DXVWR DQG WKH UHVW RI WKH WHDP DOO WKH WLPH DQG , WKLQN WKDW QRUPDOO\ ZKHQ \RX VKDUH JRRG WKLQJV FRPH XS How well prepared do you think football players are generally for life after their playing careers?

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Gianluca Vialli

LUCA BRUNO/AP/Press Association Images

A

star of one of the brightest periods in the history of Italian club football, Gianluca Vialli was decorated and celebrated throughout a career spanning almost two decades. It all began in his hometown of Cremona, Italy, where he signed for local side Cremonese in 1980 at the age of 16.

After four years in Serie C1 and Serie B, he earned a transfer to Sampdoria and what was then the most glamourous league in Europe: Serie A. It was at Sampdoria that Vialli developed a reputation not only as an outstanding all-round striker, one capable of performing in a variety of attacking roles, but also as a player blessed with athletic gifts and charisma.

By 1985 he had been capped by the Italian national team, for whom he would make 59 appearances in the seven years that followed. He played in two Fifa World Cups, in 1986 and then at Italia ’90 as the hosts suffered the heartbreak of a semi-final exit on penalties. He also helped Italy to the semi-finals of Uefa Euro ’88 in West Germany.

Throughout that time, his club career flourished in the most successful era in Sampdoria’s history.

Three of the club’s four Coppa Italia wins came with Vialli on their books, as did their sole European trophy: a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990.

Then came the Italian title in 1991, Sampdoria’s first and only scudetto, with Vialli at the head of an outfit that also boasted the likes of Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Pagliuca.

Vialli’s last game for Sampdoria was in the last game of the old Uefa European Cup, the 1992 final at the original Wembley Stadium against FC Barcelona of Spain. Sampdoria lost 1-0 to a Ronald Koeman free-kick in extra time, and Vialli left for Juventus a few weeks later in a world record deal.

He would spend four years with the ‘Old Lady’, playing alongside the likes of Alessandro Del Piero and Fabrizio Ravanelli in a team that won the Uefa Cup at the end of the 1992/93 season and the Italian domestic double,

Vialli won five domestic and European trophies with Juventus in a four-year spell during the early 90s

followed by a Supercoppa Italiana title, in 1995. The following year he became a European champion at the second attempt, captaining Juve to a penalty shoot-out victory over Ajax.

Later in the summer of 1996, at the age of 32, Vialli left Italy for the first time in his career to join Premier League side Chelsea in England.

He arrived at a time when the west Londoners were shaking off decades of unfashionability on and off the field, enticing a glut of glamourous foreign signings to the capital and swaggering up the table with an expansive style of play that drew comparisons with their star-studded sides of the 1960s.

Vialli would become central to the Blues’ renewed success – at first on the field, where he formed part of Chelsea’s first trophy-winning squad in 27 years when they won the FA Cup in 1997, and then off it. When Ruud Gullit was abruptly sacked as Chelsea boss in February 1998, Vialli was installed as playermanager. He became, at the time, the youngest manager to win a European competition a few months later when

he led Chelsea to the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup. Playing retirement came in 1999 but Vialli would take Chelsea to third place in the Premier League that year and fifth in 2000, when the team also lifted the FA Cup in the last final at the old Wembley. That triumph did not keep him safe for long, however: Chelsea chairman Ken Bates sacked him five league games into the following season.

One more attempt at club management followed with Watford, then playing in England’s second tier.

Vialli’s appointment was trumpeted by a club keen on an instant return to the top flight and backed by a heavy investment in the playing staff, but the squad failed to gel or to adapt to the rigours of a promotion challenge and the sack came again at the end of 2001/02.

Since then, Vialli has worked as a pundit for Sky Italia, and released a book about his reflections football in Italy and England. He is now also an ambassador for Tifosy, a company which raises money for supporterbacked projects through ‘fanfunding’.

SOCCEREXPRO | 53

Gianluca Vialli: playing career Club

Country

League appearances

Goals

1980-1984

Cremonese

Italy

105

23

1984-1992

Sampdoria

Italy

223

85

1992-1996

Juventus

Italy

102

38

1996-1999

Chelsea

England

58

21

Appearances

Goals

59

16

International career 1985-1992

Italy

Managerial career 1998-2000

Chelsea

England

2001-2002

Watford

England

Left to right: Vialli during his early days in Italy with Sampdoria, his time as Watford manager, and celebrating Uefa Champions League victory with Juventus

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54 | www.soccerex.com

Do you have any thoughts about going back into football?

Do you have a speciďŹ c vision for how you would want to run a football club?

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THE UPDATE

AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama

NEWS AND DEALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

FC Barcelona’s Brazilian star Neymar celebrates with the Fifa Club World Cup trophy after the the Spanish champion’s 3-0 victory over River Plate of Argentina in the final.

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THE SCORE: REGAINING TRUST 2015 was a year of almost unprecedented disaster in sporting governance, with administrators lurching from one scandal to the next as revelations of years of misrule were unearthed. For those who remain in 2016, there are clear steps to take to start cleaning up the mess. Dennis Landsbert-Noon, chairman of BursonMarstellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s EMEA sports practice, presents eight golden rules from the corporate world

1. Communications is not the strategy

T

hese are dismal days for sports administrators. It has been a long while since the reputation of sports governing bodies has plummeted to such a collective low.

When Chris Eaton, integrity director at the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS), claimed, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fifaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems are the norm rather than the exception within International Federations [IFs],â&#x20AC;? it must have sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the sports world, all desperately trying to distance themselves from any comparison. And that was before world athleticsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; IAAF threw more toxic ingredients into an already poisonous brew.

How should a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cleanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sports organisation respond in this current maelstrom â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with everyone tainted by association? In particular, how should it communicate with its key stakeholders in the prevailing clamour of mistrust and outrage?

In the corporate world, there are eight golden rules to follow.

56 | www.soccerex.com

2. Be honest and transparent We live in a hyper-transparent world.

Nothing is guaranteed to stay secret.

The cast-iron rule, therefore, is that organisations which retain â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or quickly UHJDLQ ² UHSXWDWLRQ DQG LQĂ XHQFH DUH WKRVH that are totally honest and transparent.

When the fast-food industry came under attack from health campaigners, Burger King (closely followed by its competitors) responded by publishing calorie counts of its menu in every store â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including advice on how to order a meal of less than 650 calories.

But transparency must be genuine: heaven help you if you are caught Ă&#x20AC;EELQJ 9RONVZDJHQ *URXS KDV published its Sustainability Report annually since 2011. It includes

Yui Mok/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Dennis Landsbert-Noon, chairman of Burson-Marstellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s EMEA sports practice

A typical knee-jerk crisis response is to issue orders to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;improve our communicationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;: increase the channels used, talk to different audiences, talk about anything at all that might SRWHQWLDOO\ GHĂ HFW DWWHQWLRQ DZD\ IURP the elephant in the room.

Communications, though, is not a strategy. Communications can certainly WHOO \RXU VWRU\ %XW WR UHJDLQ LQĂ XHQFH and trust requires a concrete strategy of DFWLRQV Ă&#x20AC;UVW DQG IRUHPRVW Nor is communications merely what you as an organisation say. It is also everything you do: investments you make, partnerships you strike, hiring DQG Ă&#x20AC;ULQJ HOHFWLRQVÂŤ DOO FRPPXQLFDWH volumes about you â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and these actions are louder than words.

PHDVXUHPHQWV DJDLQVW 9:¡V WDUJHWV for environmental performance, its transparency, and its dialogues with stakeholders. Having built up a reputation for transparency and probity,

Through dialogue with its customers, Burberry transformed itself into a leading voice on fashion

5. Have a proper dialogue

Burger King hoped that increased transparency on its menus would improve the image of its brand

9:¡V IDOO IURP JUDFH RYHU WKH UHFHQW diesel emissions rigging scandal has been all the more punishing and precipitous.

3. Be authentic Authenticity is a leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important quality. They must truly â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;walk the walkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as well as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;talk the talkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. So, too, the organisation they lead: a weakness in either undermines the other.

'LYHUWLQJ EULHĂ \ IURP WKH FRUSRUDWH world to the divine: Pope Francis was selected amidst a torrent of sex abuse scandals around the world. Catholics were turning away from their faith and the gulf between the secular West and the church had never been greater.

Francisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; entire life shows him to be authentic. He leads with humility. He has for decades been the advocate of those without a voice, the champion of the disadvantaged and those on the fringes of society. He is a pope who VKXQV WKH WUDSSLQJV RI RIĂ&#x20AC;FH UHVLVWLQJ the allure of power and privilege.

But with every new historic scandal WKDW HPHUJHV ² Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO VH[XDO RU RWKHU â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Francis risks his whiter-than-white image and authenticity being tarnished.

CEOs are among the least trusted people by the public at large. A study for Burson-Marsteller in April 2015 suggested that 60 per cent believe CEOs are â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;motivated by personal SURĂ&#x20AC;W¡ DQG DUH WKHUHIRUH VHHQ DV ÂśOHVV trustworthy than their employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Corporate leaders are ranked close to politicians in terms of (mis) trust. Companies have therefore often found more junior employees to be their best ambassadors and spokespeople, more trusted by far than their senior leadership.

So, instead of your IF or national federation president, consider choosing an impartial spokesperson who is closely involved or affected by the issue itself but not necessarily part of your organisation, and who does not stand to gain from voicing a view.

Dialogue is not simply â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;doing social mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. You must be willing to act, or change, as a result of genuine dialogue.

Dialogue is not simply a PR exercise.

A (surprising) company that truly understands dialogue is Burberry, the company founded in 1856 that sells beige trenchcoats and tartan handbags.

Over a period of seven years, Burberry transformed itself from an underperforming, marginalised brand into RQH RI WKH PRVW YDOXDEOH OX[XU\ Ă&#x20AC;UPV LQ WKH ZRUOG WULSOLQJ VDOHV LQ Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV 7RGD\ it has four million Twitter followers (more than Coca-Cola and six times as many as UK market leader Marks and Spencer), its Facebook page has 17 million likes and it has 1.2 million Instagram followers.

Through real dialogue with its customers, Burberry took the decision to change itself from a rather stodgy clothes company to one of the leading voices on trends, fashion, music and beauty. Its chief executive, Christopher Bailey, recently declared Burberry to be as much a content-driven company as it is a leading fashion icon.

6. Make friends No organisation is as strong alone as it is in partnership. In a crisis, a supportive partner or partners can make the difference between sinking or swimming.

When Unilever discovered it was LQ WKH FURVV KDLUV RI D *UHHQSHDFH campaign protesting against overĂ&#x20AC;VKLQJ LW NQHZ LW KDG D WRXJK EDWWOH DKHDG 8QLOHYHU¡V PDMRU IUR]HQ Ă&#x20AC;VK brands were world leaders, making it WKH ELJJHVW FRUSRUDWH Ă&#x20AC;VK DQG Ă&#x20AC;VK RLO consumer on the planet.

4. Lead from behind Often, the leader is not the best representative for a particular audience.

In the corporate world, for example,

The Marine Stewardship Council was intended to be credible to both the corporate and NGO worlds SOCCEREXPRO | 57

The image of a broken pencil helped to engender a sense of solidarity after the Charlie Hebdo attack

So Unilever turned to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), an environmental group that was potentially its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;enemyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, to design D SURJUDPPH WR VRXUFH Ă&#x20AC;VK IURP sustainable sources that were LQGHSHQGHQWO\ YHULĂ&#x20AC;HG 7KH WZR organisations created the Marine Stewardship Council, an independent body credible to both the corporate and 1*2 ZRUOGV 7KH *UHHQSHDFH FDPSDLJQ QHYHU gained traction and was quietly dropped.

succinctly captioned: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Break One, a thousand will rise.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 8. Have a clearly articulated â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Purposeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; An organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Purposeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; explains the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;why we exist as an entityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;what we believe inâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Its Purpose is the

beacon that guides and directs every strategic decision and ensures everyone is aligned behind them.

Corporations have realised that to motivate employees, recruit the best talent and build trust with stakeholders and the public, they need to communicate their companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose loudly, clearly and frequently.

Notable examples include Danone â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;bringing health through food to as many people as possibleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, IBM â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;making our planet smarterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Disney â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;creating magical and memorable family experiencesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Johnson & Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Credoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is engraved in stone at its headquarters in New Jersey. Written in 1943, it has stood the test of time and guides every corporate decision J&J makes. According to the company, it is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;more than just a moral compass. We believe itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a recipe for business success.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; The fact that J&J is one of only a handful of companies that have Ă RXULVKHG WKURXJK PRUH WKDQ D FHQWXU\ of change is proof of that.

Dennis Landsbert-Noon is chairman of Burson-Marstellerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s EMEA sports practice, a network of sports marketing professionals EDVHG LQ WKH DJHQF\¡V RIĂ&#x20AC;FHV DURXQG (XURSH the Middle East and Africa. He has advised a wide variety of international clients including Olympic and Expo bids, national governments, and blue chip corporations, as well as a number of major International Federations.

7. Maximise images and storytelling We live in a highly visual world and WKH PRVW SRZHUIXO ZD\ WR LQĂ XHQFH DQ audience is through images and stories.

Stories are 20 times more memorable than facts on their own; stories convey emotion and inspire action; they also SUHYHQW ÂśFRQĂ&#x20AC;UPDWLRQ ELDV¡ D WHQGHQF\ WR interpret, or remember information in a ZD\ WKDW FRQĂ&#x20AC;UPV DOUHDG\ H[LVWLQJ EHOLHIV Add an image to a story and the HIIHFW LV DPSOLĂ&#x20AC;HG PDQ\ WLPHV RYHU The most enduring image of the Charlie Hebdo atrocity in January 2015 was the Lucille Clerk cartoon of a broken pencil, transformed into many new pencils, 58 | www.soccerex.com

Johnson & Johnson has its company â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Credoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; engraved in stone, informing every corporate decision it makes

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1 USA World champions to welcome world’s best World champions USA will host France, Germany and England in a new fourteam women’s international tournament this summer.

The SheBelieves Cup will be held across three venues in the south-eastern US from 3rd to 9th March: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida. :LWK IRXU RI WKH ÀYH WRS UDQNHG WHDPV in the world taking part, the tournament ZLOO EH WKH KLJKHVW SURÀOH HYHQW LQ women’s national team football before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

2 GUATEMALA Former Guatemalan FA chief arrested and prepared for extradition to US Bryan Jimenez, the former head of the Guatemalan Football Federation (Fedefut) accused of accepting bribes relating to the TV rights for the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups, has been arrested by Guatemalan police and faces extradition to the United States.

Jimenez had been on the run since his name was mentioned in connection with the widespread corruption at Fifa, and was found in Guatemala City in January having attempted to disguise himself by dying his hair and beard white. *XDWHPDOD·V IRUHLJQ RIÀFH KDG previously issued the order to the country’s prosecutor to extradite Jimenez to the US for trial upon his apprehension. Jimenez’s attorney has FRQÀUPHG WKDW WKH H[WUDGLWLRQ ZRXOG not be resisted, and stated that his client would prove his innocence in the courts.

3 HONDURAS Acting Concacaf president Hawit pleads not guilty to corruption charges Former Fifa vice president and acting Concacaf president Alfredo Hawit (above) has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges following his extradition from Switzerland to the United States. The 64-year-old Honduran, who has been suspended by Fifa from all football-related activities, is under investigation for his alleged involvement in the multi-million dollar bribery scandal that has rocked football in the Americas.

Hawit was arrested in Zurich on 3rd December and now faces 12 counts of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to obstruct justice and tamper with witnesses. His trial is taking place at a court in Brooklyn, New York.

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4 SPAIN Madrid clubs hit with player registration bans La Liga clubs Real Madrid and AtlĂŠtico Madrid have been banned from registering new players for the next two transfer windows after being found to have breached Fifa rules over the registration of minors. The ruling covers the summer 2016 and January 2017 windows. $WOpWLFR ZHUH DOVR Ă&#x20AC;QHG &+) DQG 5HDO Ă&#x20AC;QHG &+) 7KH WZR teams both deny signing foreign players under the age of 18 without proper registration, and will both appeal.

The punishments are similar to that meted out to Spanish champions Barcelona in 2014, and will not prevent either club from conducting transfer business. New signings, however, will not be allowed to play until after the ban has ended.

5 ENGLAND Bolton Wanderers given stay of execution English second-tier club Bolton Wanderers have until 22nd February to repay a UKÂŁ2.2 million debt to the UK tax body, HMRC, or they could face a winding-up order. The Championship side, UKÂŁ172.9 million in debt and under a transfer embargo for breaching the leagueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Financial Fair Play rules, had their case adjourned by the High Court in mid-January.

Bolton will now be expected to attract a suitable takeover bid or raise shortterm funds from asset sales in order to cover their repayment. Relegated from the Premier League in 2012, they face an uphill battle to avoid the drop to the third tier this season.

6 GERMANY Former Bayern president Hoeness set for early release from prison Former FC Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness (below) is set for an early release from prison in Germany, having served half of a 42-month sentence for tax evasion. The 64-year-old, who helped West Germany to World Cup glory in 1974, will be freed on 29th February but will be placed under probation for three years following his release.

Hoeness was locked up in the city of Augsburg in March 2014 after being found guilty of evading taxes on â&#x201A;Ź28.5 million. In 2015, he was granted regular periods of monitored release, during which he has been working in Bayernâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s academy and attending club events.

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7 CHILE Chilean FA among ďŹ ve ďŹ ned by Fifa after homophobic chants Chileâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Football Association has been Ă&#x20AC;QHG &+) E\ )LID DIWHU DQ investigation into alleged homophobic chanting by fans during four 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying matches. )LID DOVR DQQRXQFHG VPDOOHU Ă&#x20AC;QHV RI CHF20,000 for the football associations of Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay for individual instances of homophobic chanting, with proceedings underway against the Honduran FA for the same charge. ´)LID KDV EHHQ Ă&#x20AC;JKWLQJ GLVFULPLQDWLRQ in football for many years and one part of that has been through sanctions,â&#x20AC;? said Claudio Sulser, chairman of the disciplinary committee at footballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ruling body.

8 ARGENTINA Argentina and Uruguay unite for 2030 tilt The football associations of Argentina and Uruguay will bid to jointly host the 2030 Fifa World Cup. Mauricio Macri, president of Argentina, and his Uruguayan counterpart Tabare Vazquez made the announcement in January.

The 2030 event would mark the 100th DQQLYHUVDU\ RI WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW WRXUQDPHQW which was hosted by Uruguay in 1930. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have decided that our best opportunity is to jointly nominate ourselves as candidates,â&#x20AC;? said Macri.

Fifa has only once awarded the World Cup to joint hosts: in 2002, when Japan held the tournament in tandem with South Korea.

7 8 62 | www.soccerex.com

9 SUDAN CECAFA targets women and youth development The Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) has UROOHG RXW D Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDU VWUDWHJ\ IRU WKH development of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and youth football across the 12-member region.

7KH ERG\ FRQĂ&#x20AC;UPHG LQ 1RYHPEHU WKDW Uganda would stage the Under-17 and Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Championship this year, while Burundi will stage the Under-20s. It was DOVR FRQĂ&#x20AC;UPHG WKDW WKH .DJDPH &OXE Cup will be held in Zanzibar and the Senior Challenge Cup in Sudan.

CECAFA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Arabian FA for a youth football and development exchange programme.

10 KUWAIT Fifa issues further ďŹ nes to Kuwait for government interference The Kuwait Football Association (KFA) KDV EHHQ Ă&#x20AC;QHG &+) DQG RUGHUHG to forfeit an upcoming 2018 World Cup TXDOLĂ&#x20AC;HU DJDLQVW 0\DQPDU DV WKH IDOORXW from alleged government interference in sport in the country continues.

Fifa originally suspended Kuwait from international activity in October â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;for changes to be made to the sports lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the Gulf state.

Kuwait, who have also been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), are currently second in Asian qualifying Group G, level on ten points with Lebanon and eight behind leaders South Korea. Their Ă&#x20AC;[WXUH DJDLQVW 0\DQPDU ZDV GXH WR WDNH place on 17th November.

12 CHINA Emerging leaguesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; audiences grow While the powerhouses of Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bundesliga and Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Premier League continue to pull the biggest attendances in world football, a recent study has found that leagues in China, the US and India are now drawing crowds comparable to their European rivals in Italy, France and Spain.

The survey found that the Chinese Super League (CSL) was the biggest riser in 2015, with a 16.7 per cent year on year increase to record an average attendance of 21,800, only just short of Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Serie A and Franceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ligue 1.

The Indian Super League (ISL) recorded average attendances of 26,376, higher than Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s La Liga in the 2014/15 season.

North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Major League Soccer (MLS), driven by the introduction of two new franchises in New York City FC and Orlando City, continued its upward trend, growing 12.8 per cent to an average of 21,536 spectators per game.

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Eugene Hoshiko/ AP/Press Association Images

11 THAILAND Fifa closes in on Makudi Fifa has extended the temporary suspension of Thailandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former executive committee member Worawi Makudi. The global governing body is examining allegations of ethics breaches by the controversial Thai.

An initial 90-day suspension was imposed in October, and has now been extended by a further 45 days. Makudi was found guilty by a Thai court of forgery in relation to the 2013 re-election as head of his own football association. He was given a suspended 16-month jail term. With the newly extended Fifa suspension, he will now be unable to contest the next Thai FA presidential election.

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SOCCEREXPRO | 63

SIGNINGS A selection of the major deals agreed by the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading clubs, players and competitions in the past three months. For daily updates visit www.sportspromedia.com or follow @SportsPro on Twitter.

New investors in Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande Shenzhen Grandland Decoration Group has invested in Asian club champions Guangzhou Evergrande. $FFRUGLQJ WR D UHSRUW RQ Ă&#x20AC; QDQFLDO QHZV site Hexun.com, the company plans to spend 150 million yuan (US$23.48 million) on 3.75 million shares in the Chinese Super League side. The deal comes as Guangzhou RZQHUV (YHUJUDQGH 5HDO (VWDWH DQG WKH $OLEDED *URXS FUHDWH D VKDUH LVVXH ZLWK WKH DLP RI EULQJLQJ LQ XS WR QHZ LQYHVWRUV and drive up the market value of the club. $W SUHVHQW (YHUJUDQGH 5HDO (VWDWH RZQV D SHU FHQW VWDNH LQ WKH FOXE ZKLOH e-commerce giant Alibaba holds 40 per cent. In 2014, Alibaba bought a 50 per cent stake in the club from Evergrande for around US$192 million, only to sell back ten per cent in June last year.

Fox Sports expands media rights deal with Conmebol )R[ 6SRUWV KDV VLJQHG D QHZ PHGLD ULJKWV GHDO ZLWK &RQPHERO WKH JRYHUQLQJ ERG\ IRU 6RXWK $PHULFD WKDW ZLOO VHH WKH SD\ 79 EURDGFDVWHU VKRZ WKH &RSD /LEHUWDGRUHV WKH &RSD 6XGDPHULFDQD DQG WKH 5HFRSD Sudamericana in Latin America until 2018.

Under the terms of the agreement VWUXFN EHWZHHQ )R[ ,QWHUQDWLRQDO Channels and Conmebol, Fox Sports ZLOO FRQWLQXH WR EURDGFDVW WKH WKUHH 64 | www.soccerex.com

*XDQJ]KRX (YHUJUDQGH ZKR KDYH ZRQ WKH &KLQHVH 6XSHU /HDJXH HYHU\ year since 2011, took their second AFC

Champions League title in three years in 1RYHPEHU ZLWK D DJJUHJDWH ZLQ RYHU (PLUDWL VLGH $O $KOL LQ WKH Ă&#x20AC; QDO

professional club tournaments live and exclusive through its sports channel portfolio, including Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, their Premium and HD versions, and its digital platform Fox Play.

Additionally, Fox Sports has picked up the broadcast rights for the Copa Libertadores Under-20 tournament, the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Copa Libertadores, the Futsal Copa Libertadores and the Beach Soccer Copa Libertadores.

Carlos Martinez, the president of

Fox International Channels Latin America, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are proud to have been chosen to broadcast these championships. We share Conmebolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-term vision and reinforce our commitment to continue bringing them WR SUDFWLFDOO\ HYHU\ SD\ 79 KRXVHKROG LQ WKH UHJLRQ D UHDFK YHU\ GLIĂ&#x20AC; FXOW WR EH VXUSDVVHG E\ DQ\ RWKHU QHWZRUN Âľ Conmebolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former president, Juan Angel Napout, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Conmebol is pleased to be able to deliver to the clubs greater economic value as a result of our expanded UHODWLRQVKLS ZLWK )R[ 7KH &RSDV KDYH an incredible history. The passion and the stories cannot be invented. They are fantastic things. The Libertadores is irreplaceable, and the Sudamericana is JHWWLQJ VWURQJHU HYHU\ \HDU Âľ The deal sees Fox Sports add to its portfolio of live rights in South America, ZKLFK FXUUHQWO\ LQFOXGHV WKH ,WDOLDQ 6HULH A, the Uefa Champions League and Europa League, the German Bundesliga, WKH 6SDQLVK /LJD %%9$ DQG WKH (QJOLVK Premier League.

APPOINTMENTS

River Plate and Adidas pen record-breaking kit deal 5HVXUJHQW 5LYHU 3ODWH KDYH VHFXUHG WKH largest kit deal in Argentinian football history after extending their partnership ZLWK $GLGDV 7KH QHZ DJUHHPHQW ZLOO UXQ XQWLO DQG LV UHSRUWHG WR EH ZRUWK D WRWDO RI 86 PLOOLRQ RU 86 PLOOLRQ D \HDU 7KH FRQWUDFW VXUSDVVHV WKH GHDO 5LYHU Plateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cross-city rivals Boca Juniors have ZLWK 1LNH ZKLFK LV VDLG WR EH ZRUWK US$8 million annually.

Adidasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; record-breaking investment continues the impressive revival at 5LYHU 3ODWH ZKR VXIIHUHG UHOHJDWLRQ WR $UJHQWLQD¡V VHFRQG WLHU IRU WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW time in their history in 2011. Under

QHZ SUHVLGHQW 5RGROIR '¡2QRIULR ZKR MRLQHG 5LYHU LQ ODWH WKH FOXE KDYH ZRQ VHYHUDO PDMRU WURSKLHV LQFOXGLQJ ODVW yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Copa Libertadores.

7KDQNV WR WKDW WULXPSK 5LYHU 3ODWH represented South America at Decemberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fifa Club World Cup in Japan.

TalkSport gets radio rights for Uefa Euro 2016 and 2020 TalkSport has agreed a deal to EURDGFDVW 8HID (XUR DQG (XUR 2020 in the UK. TalkSport and its soon-to-launch VLVWHU VWDWLRQ 7DON6SRUW ZLOO EURDGFDVW DOO PDWFKHV IURP WKH WRXUQDPHQW ZKLFK LV VHW WR WDNH SODFH in France from 10th June to 10th July.

Calum Macaulay, TalkSportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s managing director, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Uefa Euro ZLOO EH WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW WLPH WKDW IRXU nations from the British Isles have been involved in a major tournament since 1958, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a massive opportunity for RXU FRPPHUFLDO SDUWQHUV WR HQJDJH ZLWK a mainly male audience next summer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Having TalkSport 2 up and running

ZLOO DOORZ XV WR EURDGFDVW WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO group games across either station and give listeners their choice of matches. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a major investment for us and WR EURDGFDVW ERWK WKH DQG tournaments signals our continued FRPPLWPHQW WR LQYHVW LQ OLYH ULJKWV WR JURZ DXGLHQFHV IRU RXU FRPPHUFLDO SDUWQHUV Âľ (XUR ZLOO EH KHOG LQ PXOWLSOH FLWLHV DOO RYHU (XURSH ZLWK ERWK VHPL Ă&#x20AC;QDOV DQG WKH Ă&#x20AC;QDO WDNLQJ SODFH DW Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wembley Stadium.

TalkSport has previously broadcast (XUR DV ZHOO DV WKUHH )LID :RUOG &XSV DQG WKH 879 RZQHG UDGLR VWDWLRQ LV DOVR WKH RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDO EURDGFDVWHU of the Barclays Premier League, the FA Cup, England international matches DQG WKH &DSLWDO 2QH &XS

Laurent Colette , WDOLDQ 6HULH $ VLGH $6 5RPD have hired former FC Barcelona executive Laurent Colette as their QHZ FKLHI PDUNHWLQJ RIĂ&#x20AC;FHU Colette joins the club having been replaced at Barcelona by former Juventus executive )UDQFHVFR &DOYR &ROHWWH ZLOO EH EDVHG LQ 5RPH DQG ZLOO UHSRUW directly to the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief executive Italo Zanzi.

Grant Grant Mayer Australian A-League club Adelaide United FC have named Grant Mayer as their QHZ FKLHI H[HFXWLYH 0D\HU EHJDQ KLV QHZ UROH DW WKH 5HGV on 2nd November, replacing founding chief executive Michael 3HWULOOR ZKR UHVLJQHG LQ HDUO\ September. Mayer has more than 20 years of experience in sports administration, most recently KHDGLQJ XS 1DWLRQDO 5XJE\ League club Wests Tigers.

Michael Friisdahl Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has named 0LFKDHO )ULLVGDKO DV LWV QHZ president and chief executive.

Friisdahl joins the Toronto VSRUWV JLDQW ZKLFK RZQV and operates the National Hockey Leagueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (NHL) Maple Leafs, the National Basketball $VVRFLDWLRQ¡V 5DSWRUV DQG Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), from Air Canada. ,W LV \HDU ROG )ULLVGDKO¡V Ă&#x20AC;UVW job in sport.

Cliff Baty Manchester United have appointed Cliff Baty as their FKLHI Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO RIĂ&#x20AC;FHU 7KH 45-year-old joins the Premier League giants from Sportech plc, a pool betting operator and WHFKQRORJ\ VXSSOLHU ZKHUH KH KDV VHUYHG DV FKLHI Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO RIĂ&#x20AC;FHU VLQFH 3ULRU WR 6SRUWHFK %DW\ ZRUNHG IRU several years at Ladbrokes plc in D QXPEHU RI VHQLRU Ă&#x20AC;QDQFH UROHV SOCCEREXPRO | 65

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CMC Holdings invests US$400m in City Football Group China Media Capital (CMC) Holdings has acquired a minority stake in City )RRWEDOO *URXS &)* WKH RZQHUV RI 0DQFKHVWHU &LW\ )& 1HZ <RUN &LW\ FC, Melbourne City FC, and a minority VKDUHKROGHU LQ <RNRKDPD ) 0DULQRV CMC, described as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading media, entertainment, sports and Internet dedicated investment and operating companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, has teamed up ZLWK &,7,& &DSLWDO DQ LQYHVWPHQW PDQDJHPHQW DQG DGYLVRU\ Ă&#x20AC; UP WR invest US$400 million for a 13 per cent shareholding in CFG, valuing the group at US$3 billion.

The agreement comes after more than six months of discussions among the parties involved. The capital from WKH VKDUH DFTXLVLWLRQ ZLOO EH XVHG E\ &)* WR IXQG LWV JURZWK LQ &KLQD DV ZHOO DV IXUWKHU LQWHUQDWLRQDO EXVLQHVV DFTXLVLWLRQ ZKLFK FRXOG OHDG WR WKH addition of more clubs to its portfolio.

66 | www.soccerex.com

According to a statement, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CMC and CITIC Capital representatives and CFG executives have already been ZRUNLQJ WRJHWKHU DORQJ ZLWK WKLUG parties, to identify and implement China-based initiatives for the CFG portfolio of clubs and companies.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; CMC already has a strong presence LQ &KLQHVH IRRWEDOO DV WKH RZQHU RI exclusive media rights to the Chinese Super League (CSL) and the Chinese Football Association (CFA).

7KH GHDO ZLOO VHH QHZ VKDUHV FUHDWHG in CFG, adding to those held by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), Sheikh Mansourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investment vehicle ZKLFK SULRU WR WKH DQQRXQFHPHQW ZDV the sole shareholder of CFG. )ROORZLQJ WKH DJUHHPHQW &0& FKDLUPDQ 5XLJDQJ /L ZLOO VLW RQ the City Football Group Holding &RPSDQ\ %RDUG ZKLFK ZLOO QRZ include seven members.

5XLJDQJ /L VDLG ´)RRWEDOO LV QRZ at a fascinating and critical stage

of development in China. We see XQSUHFHGHQWHG JURZWK RSSRUWXQLWLHV in both its development as an industry, EHLQJ &KLQD¡V PRVW ZDWFKHG VSRUW DQG its inspirational role bringing people of DOO DJHV WRJHWKHU ZLWK D VKDUHG SDVVLRQ â&#x20AC;&#x153;CMC has long been dedicated to creating opportunities that facilitate positive developments in Chinese IRRWEDOO IURP GLIIHUHQW DVSHFWV ZLWKLQ the ecosystem. With its unique business model and distinct successes, &LW\ )RRWEDOO *URXS ZKRP ZH KDYH FRPH WR NQRZ ZHOO UHSUHVHQWV D differentiated systematic approach to building a global platform for football NQRZ KRZ SOD\HU GHYHORSPHQW academy programmes and commercial SDUWQHUVKLSV WKDW ZLOO EHQHĂ&#x20AC; W &KLQD¡V football industry on multiple levels. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We and our consortium partner CITIC Capital also see this investment as a prime opportunity for furthering the contribution of China to the global IRRWEDOO IDPLO\ Âľ

Ten Sports renews I-League rights deal 7HQ 6SRUWV 1HWZRUN KDV UHQHZHG LWV FRQWUDFW WR VKRZ PDWFKHV IURP WKH I-League, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary domestic competition, for a further year.

,0* 5HOLDQFH ZKR KROG WKH commercial and broadcasting rights for WKH , /HDJXH QHJRWLDWHG WKH GHDO ZKLFK ZLOO VHH DOO PDWFKHV IURP WKH I-League season broadcast on Ten Sports.

7KH OHDJXH JRW XQGHUZD\ LQ -DQXDU\

La Liga sells two domestic TV packages for â&#x201A;Ź2.65 billion La Liga has sold a package of domestic PHGLD ULJKWV IRU WKH WR cycle to Telefonica and Mediapro for a FRPELQHG ½ ELOOLRQ 86 ELOOLRQ

7HOHIRQLFD ZKLFK VQDSSHG XS WKH Ă&#x20AC; UVW batch of collectivised rights for the top tier of the Spanish league game for this VHDVRQ KDV VLJQHG D GHDO ZRUWK ½ PLOOLRQ 86 PLOOLRQ SHU VHDVRQ over the next three-year cycle.

7HOHIRQLFD VXEVLGLDU\ 0RYLVWDU ZLOO KDYH WKH Ă&#x20AC; UVW FKRLFH RI RQH PDWFK IURP HDFK URXQG RI Ă&#x20AC; [WXUHV 0HGLDSUR PHDQZKLOH KDV FRPPLWWHG WR ½ PLOOLRQ 86 PLOOLRQ SHU season for rights to eight La Liga games HDFK ZHHNHQG 7KH WZR SDFNDJHV DZDUGHG ZHUH ORWV Ă&#x20AC; YH DQG VL[ LQ /D /LJD¡V WHQGHU SURFHVV 7KH UHPDLQLQJ ORWV ZKLFK LQFOXGH IUHH WR DLU SDFNDJHV PRUH SD\ 79 JDPHV DQG D &RSD GHO 5H\ SDFNDJH DUH \HW WR EH DZDUGHG

Discovery agrees â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;largest TV deal in Norwegian sports historyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 'LVFRYHU\ 1HWZRUNV 1RUZD\ KDV DFTXLUHG WKH GRPHVWLF PHGLD ULJKWV WR 1RUZD\¡V WRS WZR GLYLVLRQV LQ D GHDO UHSRUWHGO\ ZRUWK MXVW over US$278 million.

The media and communications FRPSDQ\ ZLOO EURDGFDVW PDWFKHV IURP the top-tier Tippeligaen and second-tier 2%26 OLJDHQ FRPSHWLWLRQV DFURVV LWV 791RUJH 0$; DQG (XURVSRUW FKDQQHOV

APPOINTMENTS Adrian Hanauer US side Seattle Sounders have announced Adrian Hanauer DV WKHLU QHZ PDMRULW\ RZQHU UHSODFLQJ -RH 5RWK 5RWK DQG Hanauer founded the Sounders IUDQFKLVH WRJHWKHU LQ ZLWK 5RWK VHUYLQJ DV PDMRULW\ RZQHU VLQFH ZKHQ WKH WHDP MRLQHG 0/6 %HWZHHQ DQG Hanauer held the position of general manager at the club. +H ZDV UHSODFHG LQ WKDW UROH E\ *DUWK /DJHUZH\ LQ 5RWK ZLOO UHPDLQ DQ LQWHJUDO SDUW RI WKH 6RXQGHUV¡ RZQHUVKLS JURXS Mediapro has been marketing La /LJD¡V QHZO\ FROOHFWLYLVHG LQWHUQDWLRQDO rights across 2015 and combined EURDGFDVW UHYHQXHV KDYH QRZ ULVHQ from around â&#x201A;Ź800 million per season to QHDUHU ½ ELOOLRQ D VHDVRQ ZLWK PRUH deals to come.

EHWZHHQ DQG 7KH VL[ \HDU GHDO VLJQHG ZLWK WKH 1RUZHJLDQ )RRWEDOO $VVRFLDWLRQ 1))

DQG 1RUVN 7RSSIRWEDOO LV ZRUWK VRPH NKr 2.4 billion (around US$278 million), according to Sportcal.

5HSRUWV LQ 1RUZD\ VD\ WKH FRQWUDFW LV the largest broadcast rights agreement in 1RUZHJLDQ VSRUWV KLVWRU\ ´6SRUW LV D PDMRU QHZ JHQUH IRU Discovery and acquiring strategically important local sports rights like Tippeligaen to supplement our fantastic pan regional rights creates a VWURQJ RSSRUWXQLW\ IRU XV ORFDOO\ Âľ VDLG Dominic Coles, the chief operating and Ă&#x20AC; QDQFLDO RIĂ&#x20AC; FHU DW 'LVFRYHU\ 1HWZRUNV Northern Europe. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Football is one of the most LPSRUWDQW VSRUWV LQ 1RUZD\ DQG WKLV six-year deal gives us the chance to FUHDWH QHZ YDOXH IRU SDVVLRQDWH IDQV LQ WKH PDUNHW Âľ 'LVFRYHU\ ZKLFK LV VHW WR UHSODFH 79 DV WKH 7LSSHOLJDHQ¡V GRPHVWLF EURDGFDVWHU ZLOO WHDP XS ZLWK 1RUZHJLDQ QHZVSDSHU 9* WR FRYHU WKH OHDJXH 9* ZLOO SURGXFH GDLO\ VSRUWV QHZV WKURXJKRXW WKH VHDVRQ ZKLOH 'LVFRYHU\ ZLOO DOVR SURYLGH PDWFK coverage on its online streaming service Eurosport Player.

Peter Cassalette Peter Cassalette has been QDPHG DV WKH QHZ SUHVLGHQW RI *HUPDQ FOXE 769 0XQLFK Cassalette, a former head of market management and communications at the Allianz Global Assistance insurance JURXS ZRQ RI D SRVVLEOH votes at the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s elections. He succeeds Gerhard Mayrhofer, ZKR OHIW WKH UROH LQ -XQH Steven Lowy 6 WHYHQ /RZ\ KDV EHHQ HOHFWHG DV WKH QHZ FKDLUPDQ RI WKH Football Federation Australia (FFA), the governing body for WKH JDPH LQ WKH FRXQWU\ /RZ\ the co-chief executive of global UHWDLO SURSHUW\ JURXS :HVWĂ&#x20AC; HOG &RUSRUDWLRQ ZDV HOHFWHG unanimously at the FFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual general meeting in November.

Phillip Chiyangwa 3 KLOOLS &KL\DQJZD KDV EHHQ HOHFWHG DV WKH QHZ SUHVLGHQW RI WKH =LPEDEZH )RRWEDOO Association (ZIFA). The businessman and former SROLWLFLDQ ZKRVH IRUWXQH LV estimated at UKÂŁ180 million, beat opponents Trevor Carelse-XXO /HVOLH *ZLQGL DQG -DPHV Takavada in a vote at a ZIFA (*0 LQ 'HFHPEHU &KL\DQJZD replaces deposed president Cuthbert Dube in the role.

SOCCEREXPRO | 67

Real star Ronaldo endorses virtual sports arcades Smaaash Entertainment, a sports-focused YLUWXDO HQWHUWDLQPHQW FRPSDQ\ FR RZQHG by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, has VLJQHG &ULVWLDQR 5RQDOGR ULJKW WR IURQW its entry into the Middle East.

7KH 5HDO 0DGULG IRUZDUG¡V SURIHVVLRQDOO\ PRLVWXULVHG IDFH ZLOO be used to promote Smaaashâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sportsWKHPHG DUFDGHV ZKLFK DUH VHW WR RSHQ in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Dubai this year, across the Gulf and in India for WKH QH[W Ă&#x20AC; YH \HDUV 7KH QHZ WLH XS ZLWK 5RQDOGR KDV EHHQ FRQĂ&#x20AC; UPHG WR $VLDQ QHZV RXWOHWV E\ 6PDDDVK IRXQGHU 6KULSDO 0RUDNKLD ZKR declined to reveal the monetary terms of the contract.

Smaaash launched its virtual arcade JDPH FRQFHSW LQ 2QH JDPH IHDWXUHV D ERZOLQJ PDFKLQH WKDW FDQ UHSOLFDWH WKH GHOLYHULHV RI WKH ZRUOG¡V EHVW FULFNHWHUV ZKLOH DQRWKHU IRRWEDOO YHUVLRQ SURMHFWV passes and shots for the user to trap, volley or block as they please.

6PDDDVK SODQV WR ODXQFK VTXDUH foot arcades in city centre malls in Jeddah DQG 'XEDL ZLWK 5RQDOGR VHW WR IHDWXUH LQ an accompanying advertising campaign WKDW ZLOO UHSRUWHGO\ EH VKRW LQ 0DUFK Indian cricketing hero Tendulkar RZQV DQ SHU FHQW VWDNH LQ 6PDDDVK and also serves as a brand ambassador for the company.

Premier League extends Nike deal to 2019 The Premier League has extended LWV VSRQVRUVKLS DQG VXSSO\ GHDO ZLWK JOREDO VSRUWVZHDU JLDQW 1LNH IRU D further three years.

Nike becomes the second Premier League sponsor - after goal-line

68 | www.soccerex.com

WHFKQRORJ\ SDUWQHU ($ WR VLJQ RQ ZLWK the league until 2019.

The league is currently restructuring its sponsorship offering after taking the decision not to sign a title sponsor after FXUUHQW WLWOH SDUWQHU %DUFOD\V VWHSV DZD\ at the end of the current season.

Nike has been a Premier League partner

VLQFH WKH VHDVRQ DQG ZLOO FRQWLQXH WR DFW DV WKH RIĂ&#x20AC; FLDO EDOO SURYLGHU WR WKH OHDJXH XQGHU WKH WHUPV RI WKH QHZ GHDO 7KH FRPSDQ\ ZLOO DOVR SURYLGH VXSSRUW for the Premier Leagueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Playersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Kitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; VFKHPH ZKLFK VXSSOLHV VFKRROV DQG ORFDO WHDPV ZLWK DSSDUHO â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nike is the number one brand in football, and a natural partner for one RI WKH ZRUOG¡V PRVW SUHVWLJLRXV IRRWEDOO OHDJXHV Âľ VDLG /RUHQ]R 0RUHWWL YLFH president and general manager for Western Europe Football at Nike. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nike is able to continually innovate WKURXJK WKH UHODWLRQVKLSV ZH KROG ZLWK WKH ZRUOG¡V EHVW SOD\HUV FOXEV federations and leagues. With this UHQHZDO ZH ORRN IRUZDUG WR IXUWKHU VWUHQJWKHQLQJ WKH 3UHPLHU /HDJXH Âľ 1LNH DOVR FXUUHQWO\ DFWV DV WKH RIĂ&#x20AC; FLDO ball provider to La Liga and Serie A among RWKHU FRPSHWLWLRQV DURXQG WKH ZRUOG

Qantas extends FFA partnership Qantas, the national air carrier of Australia, KDV H[WHQGHG LWV SDUWQHUVKLS ZLWK WKH Football Federation of Australia (FFA).

4DQWDV ZLOO FRQWLQXH DV WKH RIĂ&#x20AC;FLDO DLUOLQH RI $XVWUDOLD¡V PHQ¡V DQG ZRPHQ¡V QDWLRQDO WHDPV NQRZQ DV WKH 6RFFHURRV DQG WKH :HVWĂ&#x20AC;HOG 0DWLOGDV DQG KDV increased its sponsorship to include the A-League and the W-League, the top OHYHOV RI PHQ¡V DQG ZRPHQ¡V FOXE IRRWEDOO

APPOINTMENTS Ross Christie 5 RVV &KULVWLH KDV EHHQ SURPRWHG IURP WKH UROH RI Ă&#x20AC;QDQFLDO controller to replace the departing -DYHG .KDQ DV WKH QHZ GLUHFWRU RI Ă&#x20AC;QDQFH DQG DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ DW Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Premier League. Khan announced his retirement from the role in December after 17 years at the organisation.

John Raoux/AP/Press Association Images

Dryworld signs ďŹ ve-year kit supply deal with Fluminense 'U\ZRUOG ,QGXVWULHV DQ LQGHSHQGHQW VSRUWVZHDU PDQXIDFWXUHU EDVHG LQ &DQDGD KDV VLJQHG D GHDO ZLWK %UD]LOLDQ club Fluminense to supply their playing NLWV IRU WKH QH[W Ă&#x20AC;YH \HDUV 'U\ZRUOG ZKLFK GHVFULEHV LWVHOI DV ÂśWKH ZRUOG¡V OHDGLQJ LQGHSHQGHQW VSRUWV brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, has developed its Dryskyn fabric VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDOO\ IRU )OXPLQHQVH DQG WKH humid climates of Brazil. The deal is the ODUJHVW LW KDV VLJQHG VR IDU DQG LWV Ă&#x20AC;UVW outside of North America.

7KH 5LR EDVHG FOXE ZLOO ZHDU WKH QHZ NLWV IRU WKH &DPSHRQDWR Brasileiro season. ´7KH ODXQFK RI 'U\ZRUOG LQ %UD]LO LV WKH Ă&#x20AC;UVW DQG PRVW LPSRUWDQW VWHS WRZDUG OHYHUDJLQJ RXU EUDQG LQ WKH JOREDO PDUNHW ZKLOH ZH EULQJ D QHZ TXDOLW\ DQG LQQRYDWLRQ IRU WKH %UD]LOLDQ PDUNHW Âľ VDLG 0DWW :HLQJDUW FR IRXQGHU RI 'U\ZRUOG

in the country respectively. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Qantas has been a fantastic partner and supporter of football over a long period and their decision to further their involvement into the Hyundai $ /HDJXH DQG :HVWĂ&#x20AC;HOG : /HDJXH LV WHUULĂ&#x20AC;F QHZV IRU WKH JDPH Âľ VDLG ))$ chief executive David Gallop.

In December, the FFA also signed a UHQHZHG GHDO ZLWK 1DWLRQDO $XVWUDOLD %DQN another of its major national partners.

Mårio Celso Petraglia and Gilvan de Pinho Tavares Mårio Celso Petraglia and Gilvan de Pinho Tavares have been appointed as co-presidents of the /LJD 6XO 0LQDV 5LR %UD]LO¡V QHZ regional football tournament.

Petraglia, an executive at AtlĂŠtico35 DQG 7DYDUHV RI &UX]HLUR have been appointed to administer the competition alongside chief executive Alexandre Kalil. Liga 6XO 0LQDV 5LR GXH WR EH KHOG LQ )HEUXDU\ DQG 0DUFK ZLOO IHDWXUH club teams from the southern %UD]LOLDQ VWDWHV RI 5LR *UDQGH GR Sul, Santa Catarina, ParanĂĄ, Minas *HUDLV DQG 5LR GH -DQHLUR David Pourre David Pourre has been appointed as chief executive of the Brisbane 5RDU RQ D SHUPDQHQW EDVLV Pourre had been in interim control at the Australian A-League side since managing director Sean Dobson quit in May. The club DUH VWUXJJOLQJ ZLWK GHEW DQG ZHUH WKUHDWHQHG ZLWK D ZLQGLQJ XS order by the Football Federation Australia (FFA) in 2015.

Levan Kobiashvili / HYDQ .RELDVKYLOL ZKR ZRQ 100 caps for the Georgian QDWLRQDO WHDP EHWZHHQ DQG 2011, has been elected as the QHZ SUHVLGHQW RI WKH *HRUJLDQ Football Federation (GFF) at the associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual congress in Tbilisi. Kobiashvili received the nod from 18 of the 33 delegates, three more than his FORVHVW ULYDO 5HYD] $UYHODG]H Kobiashvili replaces retiring president Zviad Sichinava.

SOCCEREXPRO | 69

REPLAY

BOSMAN RULES

JEAN CLAUDE ERNST-LUXPRESS/AP/Press Association Images

WKH GD\V DIWHU WKH (&- YHUGLFW KRZHYHU there was considerable confusion about LWV UDPLĂ&#x20AC; FDWLRQV DV VKRZQ LQ WKLV H[FHUSW from a report in The Independent on 16th December 1995.

The case of Jean-Marc Bosman (right) transformed the transfer market for players and clubs

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ntil 1995, Jean-Marc Bosman was a footballer whose early promise had led only to a journeyman career. Little did he know that, when that journey was held up, he would become synonymous with one of the most important developments in modern football history. %RVPDQ ZDV D PLGĂ&#x20AC; HOGHU SOD\LQJ IRU %HOJLDQ WRS Ă LJKW FOXE 5)& /LqJH ZKHQ KLV FRQWUDFW H[SLUHG LQ +H VRXJKW D PRYH WR 86/ 'XQNHUTXH EXW WKH )UHQFK FOXE FRXOG QRW DJUHH D WUDQVIHU IHH /LqJH UHWDLQHG %RVPDQ DJDLQVW KLV ZLOO DQG DV KH ZDV QR ORQJHU D Ă&#x20AC; UVW WHDP SOD\HU SDLG him a reduced salary. Bosman sued his

70 | www.soccerex.com

employers for restraint of trade.

By 15th December 1995, the case KDG UHDFKHG WKH (XURSHDQ &RXUW RI -XVWLFH (&- %RVPDQ ZRQ 7KH UDPLĂ&#x20AC; FDWLRQV ZRXOG EH VHLVPLF QRW only were clubs in the European Union (8 QRZ REOLJHG WR UHOHDVH SOD\HUV at the end of their contracts, but all manner of restrictions on the number of EU nationals in a club team, in both domestic and continental competition, would be dissolved.

In time, the liberalisation of European footballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s labour market would make WKH FRQWLQHQW¡V WRS OHDJXHV D PDJQHW IRU international talent as never before. In

Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s football authorities were clinging last night to what is almost certainly a forlorn hope that it can escape the major ramifications of yesterdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision in the Jean-Marc Bosman case. The transfer system that has existed for 100 years disintegrated into confusion at the hands of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

As expected, the court endorsed a recommendation made in September from one of its legal advisers, which backed the Belgian player -HDQ 0DUF %RVPDQ¡V Ă&#x20AC; JKW WR VWRS FOXEV KDYLQJ WKH right to buy and sell out-of-contract players.

Even as Rick Parry, the chief executive of the Premier League, seized on the fact that the judges had not included transfers between clubs of the same country in the ruling, however, the escape clause was becoming narrower. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ruling should not be a cause for panic or over-reaction,â&#x20AC;? he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;particularly since, as we forecast, the judgement may only apply to transfers which involve a player moving between countries within the European Union.â&#x20AC;? Other opinion suggested he was wrong. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The animal [the European transfer system] is injured but the animal will die, believe me,â&#x20AC;? one of Bosmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lawyers, Luc Misson, said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As far as limits on foreign players are concerned, the animal is dead.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hope that in a few years players will remember what I did for them,â&#x20AC;? added Bosman, ZKRVH Ă&#x20AC; YH \HDU OHJDO Ă&#x20AC; JKW OHG WR WKH UXOLQJ %RVPDQ WKHQ ZLWK 2O\PSLF &KDUOHURL would retire at the end of that season, QHYHU HQMR\LQJ WKH NLQG RI ULFKHV WKDW his case helped his peers to realise. %XW GHVSLWH VLQFH VXIIHULQJ WKURXJK depression, imprisonment and problems with alcohol, and despite WKH FRQVHTXHQFHV RI WKH UXOLQJ EHLQJ OHVV HJDOLWDULDQ WKDQ KH KDG KRSHG Bosman told interviewers on the 20th anniversary of the case that it was D FKDOOHQJH KH ZRXOG WDNH RQ DJDLQ $QG KH LV KDYLQJ MRLQHG SOD\HUV¡ XQLRQ ),)3UR¡V FDPSDLJQ WR HOLPLQDWH WUDQVIHU IHHV DOWRJHWKHU

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SPORTS + RECREATION + ENTERTAINMENT CONTACT Chris Lamberth | chris.lamberth@hok.com | +44 (0)20 7636 2006