Sport Executive April 15 by Lars Andersson

SPORT EXECUTIVE SPORT WITH A TIE

Let the Games begin The first European Games will see more than 6,000 athletes from 50 countries compete in Azerbaijan in the shadows of the country’s crackdown on human rights defenders.

FOOTBALL IS BOOMING//A LOT OF RACISM BUT NO ROUBLES IN RUSSIA// CHILD LABOUR IN THE FOOTBALL INDUSTRY//SHE IS ONE OF THE BOYS// COPENHAGEN: ARCHERY, DESIGN, ART, ARCHITECTURE AND FASHION// SPORT EXECUTIVE – INTERNATIONAL. NUMBER 1, APRIL 2015

Photo: All Over Press

SPORT EXECUTIVE The magazine is published by Tekstwerk, a Danish freelance bureau. Tekstwerk consists journalist Lars Andersson and journalist Kristian Boye. Editor in chief: Lars Andersson. You can contact us by mail: lan@tekstwerk.dk/kbo@tekstwerk.dk. Or phone: +4528201554. Design and layout: Søren Møller. Translation: Rachel Payne. Get our NEWSLETTER – sign up on www.sportexecutive.dk. Are you a journalist or photographer – and want to contribute? Contact lan@tekstwerk.dk. Do you want to advertise? Contact lan@tekstwerk.dk or phone +4528201554. Follow us at www.sportexecutive.dk, Facebook and Twitter.

THE FIGHT

2 MAY MGM GRAND GARDEN ARENA, LAS VEGAS. FLOYD MAYWEATHER – MANNY PACQUIAO READ PAGE 12

“It is the Super Bowl of boxing. This fight is absolutely essential for the sport.” Manny Pacquiao CONTENT 3 BLOG

Sport Executive in the wide world

4 EUROPEAN GAMES Where in hell is Azerbaijan

12 MONEY MACHINE The Fight of the Century

14 SPORTS GIANTS Sportswear on starvation wages

18 MOTION Climb the hills on two wheels

20 SEXUALITY She is one of the boys

24 CHILD LABOUR Clubs are hunting talented minors

30 SPORT CAN CHANGE

32 WORLD CUP 2018 Rouble crisis and racism in Russia

36 ART

From a bygone era and the presence

40 POWER, FIFA AND BLATTER

46 FOOTBALL ECONOMY And it goes up and up and up and up

53 COPENHAGEN Archery – art, design and so much more

Can you fight FIFA with humour

Nelson Mandela on sport and society

Frontpage photo:: 1st European Games/BEGOC

Photo: All Over Press

BLOG

SPORT EXECUTIVE GOES WORLDWIDE Sport Executive is the magazine that digs deeper than all the others. It is for the reader who wants to learn more. And it is available for free online.

Photo: All Over Press

BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK Sport is about passion. Sport is about emotion. Sport is about winning and losing. It is about being able to perform in a split second after years of training. It fascinates people all over the world. Sport is both fun and serious. It is about big business and politics – and so much more! No industry has grown as rapidly over the past several decades as the sport industry. This is regardless of whether you look at economic factors, media attention or cultural impact. Today, both elite and mass participation sport are billion dollar industries which generate astronomical returns. Hence, you could draw a straight line between the world’s highest paid athlete and the everyday runner on your street. But it is not simply a question of the superstar and the individual. Elite and grassroots sport each play the lead roles in a gigantic industry – and a big political game. One is sponsored by the major sports

brands, and the other buys their products in huge quantities. Sport Executive looks at sport from all sides. We delve deeper and ask the difficult questions – about the European Games

“If everybody turns right, turn left – that’s where you’ll find the stories to tell to your children!” in Azerbaijan, corruption in sports organisations, working conditions in the sports industry, and much, much more. This is what we have done for three years in Danish and now we are going to do it in English. Why? Because it is essential. And because so few others are doing it. Because sport needs to be taken seriously,

whether its being played for fun or at the top level. Elite sport should be viewed as something other than sheer entertainment. When it falls in love with dictatorships; when it is ruled by corruption and nepotism; and when its clubs are trading children. This is what Sport Executive has explored in depth for several years in Danish. Now we are going to do it in English! “Sport Executive was born out of our own search for a medium where we could find in-depth perspectives on the sports world – a place where sport, as an industry and vehicle for power, is examined from a societal point of view. This is what Sport Executive does, and now we are going worldwide in a language most can understand,” Sport Executive’s Editor-in-Chief, Lars Andersson, explains. Sport Executive is your free magazine on sport and society. Enjoy the read!

EUROPEAN GAMES

IT’S JUST A GAME

Europe will salute its athletes in June at the first European Games - a salute shadowed by Azerbaijan’s crackdown on human rights defenders. BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK European sport has to make its mark. Like every other continent, it wants to celebrate and promote its heroes on the sporting field. That is why, back in 2012, the European Olympic Committees decided to create a new event, the European Games, where 6,000 athletes from 50 countries vie for international glory in 20 sports. On 12 June, the first European Games will be launched in Baku, Azerbaijan, a country situated at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia and ruled by Ilham Aliyev. At last presidential election Aliyev received 85 percent of the votes – a stark reminder of the country’s past as a Soviet Republic. And for years the Azerbaijani government has had a poor human rights record with around 100 political prisoners, no freedom of the press, massive corruption and fixed elections. SWEEPING CRACKDOWN Or as Human Rights Watch summarizes it in ‘Tightening the Screws’ and its ‘World Report 2015’: “Azerbaijan’s record on freedom of expression, assembly, and association has been on a steady decline for some years, but it has seen a dramatic deterioration since mid-2012. Since then the government has been engaged in a concerted effort to curtail opposition political activity, punish public allegations of cor-

SPORT EXECUTIVE

ruption and other criticism of government practices, and exercise greater control over nongovernmental organizations. It has done so by arresting and imprisoning political activists on bogus charges, adopting restrictive legislative amendments, consistently breaking up public demonstrations in the capital, and failing in its duty to investigate and punish those responsible for violent attacks and smear campaigns against critical journalists.” Jane Buchanan, director of the European and Central Asia Division in Human Rights Watch, offers a similar description of the political situation in Azerbaijan: “The Azerbaijan government tolerates little criticism and has gradually closed the space for independent voices over the last several years. In the last year alone, it has undertaken a sweeping crackdown on human rights defenders and journalists, detaining and imprisoned dozens on fabricated, but very serious, criminal charges, including treason, financial crimes, narcotics possession, etc. Many other journalists and activist have fled the country or gone into hiding.” “The authorities have also shut down the work of many independent organizations by raiding them and closing them and by freezing organisations bank accounts and bank accounts of their directors. The authorities have also put in place a series of

laws that make it impossible for independent groups to receive funding.” NO POLITICS HERE Despite the above allegations – and despite a regime that is, at best, on the edge of democracy – will Azerbaijan be the place where Europe will salutes its athletes. And the decision to host the Games there is something the European Olympic Committees (EOC) is completely satisfied with: “The EOC will not seek to impose any political agenda on a sovereign state or society. However, we have sought and received the assurance from the authorities in Azerbaijan that the principles of the Olympic Charter will be protected throughout the European Games in June,” Patrick Hickey, EOC’s president, says to Sport Executive. “Azerbaijan made a compelling pledge to the EOC to host the inaugural European Games back in 2012. Their hosting concept was innovative and technically excellent and they offered an assurance that all Games infrastructure would be ready on time and delivered to the highest international standards, with strong legacy plans to elevate sport in the region. These was the only criteria the EOC considered when selecting Baku as the host city of the European Games because they are

Photo: All Over Press

EUROPEAN GAMES the only criteria that the EOC, as a sports organization, is qualified to consider,” Patrick Hickey continues. Human rights defenders are less convinced about the EOC’s rationale for awarding the Games to Baku. The Sport and Rights Alliance (see box, ed.), for example, demanded in April 2015 that Azerbaijan frees all of its ‘political’ prisoners before the Games. “The EOC are in a unique position to raise the pressing human rights concerns with President Aliyev. By remaining silent, the EOC risk sending a message that it is acceptable for the Azerbaijani government to silence critics while hosting an event that, according to the Olympic Charter, should stand for human dignity and sport at the heart of the harmonious development of society,” Eduard Nazarski, Amnesty International Netherlands director, says to Sport Executive. TRIBUTE TO A MAFIA BOSS But the Games will go on, regardless of the Olympic Charter. President Aliyev has used millions of dollars to build a 65,000 seat stadium and a state-of-the-art gymnastics arena to project himself and the state of Azerbaijan on to the international stage in the best way possible. As such, the event will pay a tribute to a man who, according to the US Embassy in Azerbaijan – published on WikiLeaks website, is “a mafia crime boss, leaving many to wonder if his government is actually democratic and whether people truthfully believed that Azerbaijan does not repress minority

Photo: BEGOC

populations.” Or as Jane Buchanan from Human Rights Watch explain President Ilham Aliyev’s strategy to promote Azerbaijan as a modern state by hosting sports events: “The Azerbaijan government and President Aliyev appears to crave the prestige and spotlight that major international events can provide. The hosting of events like the European Games seems designed to project a positive image of Azerbaijan internationally, and perhaps domestically, although it’s hard to know how the general public in Azerbaijan perceives these events. Azerbaijan has aspirations to host and has bid to host a summer Olympics, so they likely see events like the European Games as helping to increase its changes to host that kind of event,” Jane Buchanan explains. THE BILL IS ON ME And President Aliyev has increased his changes. He has paid for the prestige of hosting the first European Games - not just the millions of dollars he has spent on stadiums and infrastructure, but also cash to the National Olympic Committees in Europe and the EOC. In February, English newspaper The Guardian revealed to the public that Azerbaijan is paying for the British team to compete in Baku in June. “The net cost we’re hoping will be neutral for Team Great Britain,” the Team GB chef de mission Mark England told The Guardian. Sport Executive wrote to the British Olympic Association and other National

Olympic Committees about the fees from Azerbaijan, but have received either ‘no answers’ or ‘no comments’. But Patrick Hickey confirms that President Aliyev is paying well: “As a requirement of the host city contract, BEGOC (Azerbaijan’s National Olympic Committee, ed.) will also provide funding support to athletes and officials just like other Continental Games Organizing Committees. Athletes are at the heart of any great sport event, and for us it is only right that the bodies who prepare these athletes and give them the stage to perform are compensated for their efforts,” he says and continues: “And after the European Games, the EOC as the governing body will distribute a fund of 2.5 million euro from the Games revenue across all the European NOCs and the European Federations of all participating sports.” So while President Aliyev foots the bill, athletes will compete, the audience will cheer in Baku this June in the shadow of a national crackdown on human dignity and rights. Just as it is written in the Olympic Charter or… READ MORE: www.eurolympic.org/en/sports-events/ the-european-games.html?view=events www.baku2015.com/ www.hrw.org/europecentral-asia/azerbaijan www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/azerbaijan

Photo: EOC

SPORT EXECUTIVE

OLYMPIC CHARTER

“Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example, social responsibility and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles”. “The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity’. ‘The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play”. “Recognising that sport occurs within the framework of society, sports organizations within the Olympic Movement shall have the rights and obligations of autonomy, which include freely establishing and controlling the rules of sport, determining the structure and governance of their organizations, enjoying the rights of elections free from outside influence and the responsibility for ensuring that principles of good governance be applied”. “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. “Any person or organization belonging in any capacity whatsoever to the Olympic Movement is bound by the provisions of the Olympic Charter and shall abide by the decisions for the IOC”. SEE THE COMPLETE OLYMPIC CHARTER: http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf

EUROPEAN GAMES

The European Games is a multi-sport event for athletes from all over Europe and is held every four years. The Games are owned, organised and regulated by the European Olympic Committees. The European Games were created at the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees on 9 December, 2012 in Rome, Italy, when 84 % of the National Olympic Committees of Europe voted for the creation of the European Games. FIRST GAMES: 12-25 June in Baku, Azerbaijan. SPORTS: Archery, athletics, badminton, basketball 3X3, beach soccer, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe sprint, cycling bmx, cycling road, cycling mountain bike, diving, fencing, gymnastics acrobatic, gymnastics aerobics, gymnastics artistic, gymnastics rhytmic, judo, karate, sambo, shooting, syncronised swimming, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, trampoline, triathlon, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan is a republic in the Caucasus region, situated at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. THE PRESIDENT: Ilham Heydar Oglu Aliyev is the fourth and current president, since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee. He was elected in October 15, 2003 with 76,84 % of the votes. He was re-elected in 2008 with 87 % of the votes – and in 2013 with 85 %.

THE SPORT AND RIGHTS ALLIANCE DEMANDS:

Immediately and unconditionally release all unjustly imprisoned journalists and human rights activists. End the harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, and politically motivated prosecution of human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, opposition members and others. Refrain from arbitrary denial of registration to human rights and prodemocracy groups and amend the law on nongovernmental groups that unduly restricts media outlets, human rights organizations, and other independent groups from functioning and carrying out legitimate work. The Sport and Rights Alliance is: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIFPro, Football Supporters Europe, Supporters Direct Europe, Terre des Hommes and Transparency International Germany.

EUROPEAN GAMES

RIGHTS DEFENDER CONVICTED One of the leading human rights defenders Rasul Jafarov was on 16 April convicted in Azerbaijan. Jafarov’s conviction comes as Azerbaijan is in the international spotlight as host of the inaugural European Games starting 12 June. “Rasul Jafarov’s conviction is a terrible act of injustice,” said Giorgi Gogia, senior South Caucasus researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Jafarov was one of the most authoritative and outspoken critics of politically motivated prosecutions in Azerbaijan, and now he has become a victim of one.” Baku’s Grave Crimes Court convicted Jafarov on a range of politically motivated charges of tax evasion, abuse of power, illegal business activities and embezzlement. The court sen-

Photo: BEGOC

SPORT EXECUTIVE

tenced him to six and a half years in prison. Jafarov is the founder and chair of “Human Rights Club”, an independent human rights group. With his colleagues he began the campaign called “Sport for Rights” to raise awareness about politically motivated imprisonment and other human rights abuses in Azerbaijan in the period before the European Games. Jafarov had circulated the campaign strategy to his colleagues the night before his arrest in August 2014. Jafarov had led several similar campaigns, including the “Sing for Democracy” campaign ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest held in Baku in May 2012. READ MORE: www.facebook.com/sport4rights

Tell your story at

PlaytheGame2015 Global sport: reform or revolution? For the 9th time, the world conference Play the Game invites academics, journalists, sports officials and other stakeholders in sport to share their knowledge on crucial challenges to sport: •

The revolt against global events: A perfect storm for sport?

•

Governments vs. fixers: Will the rule of law beat the law of the jungle?

•

Good governance in sport: Setting standards, raising bars

•

A new World Code against doping: Anybody willing to comply?

•

The deadly disease of inactivity: Is the world ready for a cure?

•

Transfers and trafficking: The human cost of broken dreams

•

College sport in the USA: Unprotected amateurs in a billion-dollar business

Read more about the conference, the conference themes and submit your abstract no later than 13 May at

www.playthegame.org/2015

Photo credit: Mario Cliche

October

25-29

Aarhus Denmark

EUROPEAN GAMES

LETTERS FROM AN AZERBAIJANI PRISON

words more than g, as they fear my rin ht tig a d se po if! im Dear Ar . I have been ve not been writing the arrest). For a long time I ha xactly a year since (e st gu Au til un t then a nmen bullets. e end of 2015, and the term of impriso th ed at l nd ia te tr ex e th en til be un om jail Well, we both have they will give us fr we will be held in the articles hung, know their plans: of d h an nc nd bu ta ole rs de wh a un Now I e judgment, and ke place - given th circus trial will ta 10 to 15 years. arly... d Dinara. e understand all cle nc rie pe ex y m gether - you, me an to th be I wi t no ll wi we enitsyn. very scary that e other – A. Solzh th on , ov Scary? Scary. It is am al Sh On the one hand, V. Who supports me? uikov next to you. t of Stalinism... der No 227 and Ch lly revives the spiri fu ich wh ), ge na I know you have Or io -6 (esp infamous Article 58 We were given the lzhenitsyn - 8. So d are 60... 18 years, an ed rv se ov en arrested, and we am wh al Sh old s Yes, ar ed, but the spirit of ye 27 s l! Games were play lzhenitsyn wa jai So in g. cs un pi yo ym re Ol we e But they ss of holding th ized the shamefulne Pericles finally real rm Olympic... release. t the use of the te ng our immediate ns di ai an ag m s de wa s re les tu ric na Pe 00 sig tch TV. Channel of the Du l has collected 50,0 t na rs io Fi at e rn th te th In wi y st Amne in an interview . l this information family... an media and on TV Dinara has given al admiration for our eaks in the Europe g sp sin rly es la pr gu ex re r, e he sh to By the way reet and come up therlands. gnize her in the st mocracy in the Ne co De re d y an ad e nizare ac al Pe le r op fo Pe human rights orga the Institute ng d di re lea te e gis th re th ra wi p na hi On February 23 Di to work in partners s (!) will continue nu Yu by led D IP r ready found our Now ou u… But we have al yo t ou th wi ... rd rld ha wo e tions in th 37 years. It is very been together for Arif, my dear! We’ve place in history... Your Leyla.

Photos: Private

A recent letter from Leyla Yunus, a leading human rights defender in Azerbaijan, who was detained in August 2014, to her husband, Arif, detained a few days after her. She is former director of Institute of Peace and Democracy in Azerbaijan. The letter reached us through intermediaries and is published with the author’s permission.

SPORT EXECUTIVE

Dear Please forgive my long silence. I was put in solitary confinement after my last letter was passed through prison bars and published. My cell these was searched and all my notes, incl udin g lists of things I was requesting home, were taken. I have not rece from ived these back. I guess there are many devoted readers of mine at tiary. They are taking turns reading the pen itenmy notes. That is why it is taking them such a long time to return wha have taken from me. t they I have not been allowed to see my family, either. The arbitrariness of the penitentiary system allows me calls each week that I use to spea two phone k with my mother but, contrary to the law, denies her and my lawyer visits. I have access to very little regu lar information. At least I have books to keep me company. Maybe I will write a sequel to tell the stories of my five cellmates, and what their incarceration says abo country and its future. Among us ut this we have created a family, a tiny ecos ystem that gives us strength and stay strong. My cellmates are also helps us my new audience, that most precious thing that every journalist must hav even a journalist whom the govern e, ment is trying to silence and pack away. I am no longer on the air, but these walls I’m connected to the stru insi de ggles of Azeris in a more direct and personal way. ‘Why am I here’? Is a question that everyone in prison asks themselv es, no matter the crime. Corruption is reason I am in my prison, but the the regime’s corruption, not mine. The only way to prove oppressive regi is to continue exposing corruption, mes wro ng and I have promised more investig ations for 2015. Yes, there is a pric but it is worth it! My arrest proves e to pay , one more time that we must build a new reality where telling the trut require courage. h will not But what about the real crimes — the theft, the contempt for the law ? What pushes people to commit thes crimes? e Human dignity is not for sale In a country where unpunished crim es are at a record high and deeply rooted in all levels of government, a simple logic that prompts people there is to commit crimes. ‘If it is good, why can’t I do it? If it is bad, why are ing it’? And then the conclusion: ‘If they dothey can do it, I’ll do it, too’. This is the mentality bred by a morally regime that has turned my country ban kru pt ’s justice system into a corrupt mac hine. But the heart of the matter goes dee per than this. It is about power and greed, beginning with the presiden country down to the petty official t of the s who showcase the most dramatic examples of corruption and impunit a country where money and power y. This is can cover up any crime, and where truth and deception have traded plac We also constantly ask ourselves es. where are we going, and what will we get in the end? In prison, whe the usual answer is three-to-five or re I am now, five-to-12 years in jail. But my ans wer is that there is no end. The figh tween good and evil goes on, and t bethe most important thing is that this fight should not end. If we can con reject the thinking that is imposed tinue to on us and believe that human dign ity is not for sale, then we are the win and they, our jailers both inside and ners, outside prison, are the losers. Prison is not frightening for those trying to right a twisted scale, or for those who are subject to threats the right thing. We see clearly wha for doing t we must fight for. Life is very complicated, but sometim es we get lucky and are offered a clear choice, between truth and lies Choose truth and help us. . Khadija Ismayilova

Khadija Ismayilova is an investigative journalist and contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azerbaijani services who has reported extensively on the financial dealings of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and members of his family.. In December 2014, in a move widely viewed as retaliation for her reporting on the regime, she was arrested. The letter reached us through intermediaries and is published with the author’s permission.

THE FIGHT

MAYDAY IS PAYDAY

The Fight of the Century or? The showdown in Vegas between “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather and Manny “The Pac Man” Pacquiao is the biggest money machine in boxing history.

BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK “This will be the biggest event in the history of the sport. Boxing fans and sports fans around the world will witness greatness on 2 May.” Those were the words of “Pretty Boy” Floyd “Money” Mayweather when his fight against Manny “The Pac Man” Pacquiao was announced. And his opponent in the ring was equally excited: “It is the Super Bowl of boxing. This fight is absolutely essential for the sport.” Others have called it “the Fight of the Century”. The boxing scene certainly hasn’t been overwhelmed with great fighters in this Century, so the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is the one the fans have been waiting to see for the better part of six years. But it is also a fight between two combatants whose skills

SPORT EXECUTIVE

have noticeably faded. Undefeated, brash, enigmatic and extraordinarily talented Floyd Mayweather has dominated the boxing scene for 10 years, but his speed is waning. And reigning WBO welterweight champion and people’s champion Manny Pacquiao suffered a losing streak in 2012, and at the age of 36, is not quite the fighter he was years ago. MONEY TALKS So will it be “the Fight of the Century”? Maybe. In any case, it will be the greatest money machine – not only of this Century, but in boxing history. The bout could generate 400 to 500 million dollars in revenues. Pay-per-view subscriptions in the US alone will account for up to 360 million of this revenue, with an estimated 4 million homes paying 99.95

dollar one-off fee. On the top of this amount ticket sales, international broadcast sales, sponsorships and merchandise sales. Most of the revenue will go to the boxers themselves, with Floyd Mayweather earning 60 percent (120-180 million dollars) and Manny Pacquiao taking the other 40 percent (80-120 million dollars). Payout that will more than any other payday in boxing history. And Mayweather will probably take home more pay in a single day than any athlete has ever made in a single year. But as Floyd “Money” Mayweather once opined: “I don’t fight for legacy. I don’t fight for none of that. I fight for that cheque. I’m in the cheque-cashing business.” Certainly not a bad wage for one hour in the ring at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Vegas. Mayday is payday.

Photos: All Over Press

REVENUE

Pay-per-view: 270-360 million dollars. Ticket sales: Only 1,000 tickets, costing between 1,500 and 7,500 dollars will be available to the public. The total is difficult to estimate. International broadcast sales: At least 35 million dollars. Sponsorships: 13.2 million dollars. Merchandise sales: 1 million dollars. Estimated revenue at least 400 million dollars.

THE FIGHT

FLOYD MAYWEATHER – MANNY PACQUIAO 2 May at MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, US. Floyd Mayweather: Born: 24 February 1977. From: Las Vegas, USA. Fights: 47 – 47 wins, 26 KOs. Title: WBC and WBA Welterweight World Champion, WBC Light-middleweight World Champion. Manny Pacquiao: Born: 17 December 1978. From: General Santos City, the Philippines. Fights: 64 – 57 wins, 5 losses, 2 draws, 38 KOs.. Title: WBO Welterweight World Champion.

LIVING WAGES

WORK TIL YOU FAINT The giants of the sporting goods are outsourcing their production to Asia – to nations with low wages and poor working conditions. While we shop til we drop to buy their products, people in countries like Cambodia are working til they drop to make them. Welcome to the land of poverty. BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK She works 60 hours a week. 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. And often more – due to forced overtime. She earns 128 US dollars a month. She makes your football shirt. She is a she, because 90 percent of the 700,000 workers in Cambodia’s booming garment sector are female. Cambodia is the textile industry’s new Bangladesh – with a garment export of up to 5.7 billion US dollars in 2014. Although she had a salary increase of 28 percent on 1 January 2015, when the Cambodian state raised its minimum wage from 100 to 128 US dollars, she is still hungry and tired: “I just want a decent life for myself and my family,” she says to Sport Executive. “One or two days after payday we get healthy food. The rest of the time we get some rice and vegetables,” she continues. The president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), Yang Sophoan, notes that the garment worker’s story above is just one of many: “Life is hard for the garment workers in

SPORT EXECUTIVE

Cambodia. Despite the raise in minimum wages you cannot feed a family. There is not enough money to cover the expenses,” she says to Sport Executive. “Therefore you have to do much more overtime than the 2 hours otherwise the maximum daily according to the Labor Law. In practice garment workers work 12-13-14 hours a day.” THEY WORK TIL THEY DROP Garment workers in Cambodia work for local employers on contracts with international textile companies such as Nike, Adidas and Puma. This is because these sporting goods industry giants are outsourcing their production to Asian nations with low wages and poor working conditions, including Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, the Philippines and Vietnam. ”The working conditions in factories supplying Adidas, Puma and Nike are not much different from the rest. Maybe a little better, but not much. For example, Adidas allows unions, so if the local employer fire a union leader, Adidas will reinstated him,”

Yang Sophoan explains. Put simply, garment workers in Cambodia do not have a good life. This is underlined in a study published in October by the International Labor Organisation’s Better Factories Cambodia project, the French Development Agency and local analysis firm Angkor Research and Consulting Ltd; 43.2 percent of the garment workers in Cambodia suffer from anaemia and 15.7 percent are underweight. Malnourishment and poor working conditions have resulted in episodes of mass fainting in the factories. The Cambodian Ministry of Labour reported 1,800 fainting incidents in 2014, which was a more than 100 percent increase from the previous year. And the Ministry of Labour claims that in the first three months of 2015 more, than 200 people have collapsed in six factories across the country. Human Rights Watch also noted in a report released in March 2015 that: “Malnutrition, due to low wages and time poverty, is endemic in Cambodia’s garment workers. This has led to a situation where workers producing high street fashion for western

Photo: All Over Press

LIVING WAGES markets are constantly weak and prone to collapse.” And Yang Sophoan adds: “With so much overtime – and so little food – it’s clear that the workers have a health problem.” And that is only the tip of the iceberg. WAGES ARE A DIFFICULT MATTER Nike, Adidas and Puma each display a “Code of Conduct” and “Corporate Social Responsibility” statement on their websites to demonstrate how they are ensuring suitable conditions for their workers at the subcontractors’ worksites. While these are fine gestures, do they reflect reality? “A Code of Conduct is still a PR tool for these brands. The factories breach Codes of Conduct so often that they ultimately don’t mean anything. However, Nike, Adidas and Puma are some of the better ones in the clothing industry because they are responsive. If we approach them about a matter, they will try to do something about it. But the sub-contractors are generally of the opinion that if what they’re doing works, it works – and with the exception of child labour, you will find that factories that manufacture Nike, Adidas and Puma products can breach even the most basic regulations,” Bent Gehrt, the Workers’ Rights Consortium’s Field Director for South East Asia, says. Adidas’ headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, brushes off this criticism: “On the topic of wages, wage setting in a country requires the participation of many different parties such as individual suppliers, local trade unions, international union federations, labour rights groups, ILO officials, government and employer or industry associations. According to our Workplace Standards, the prescribed minimum wage or the wage that is usual in the sector, if the latter is higher than the prescribed minimum wage, must be paid. In addition, benefits and overtime must also be paid. In general, our suppliers are paying workers,

SPORT EXECUTIVE

on average, well above the country’s minimum wage,” Adidas’ sustainability communication senior manager Silvia Raccagni says to Sport Executive. “But why aren’t you writing a living wage in to your suppliers’ contracts?” “Wage setting in a country requires the participation of many different parties such as individual suppliers, local trade unions, international union federations, labour rights groups, ILO officials, government and employer or industry associations,” Silvia Raccagni repeats. With responses like this, you invariably leave the conversation none the wiser. Contacts at Nike and Puma, on the other hand, did not respond to Sport Executive’s questions at all in 2015. But back in 2014 Puma’s head of corporate communications Kerstin Neuber said: “In general, Puma respects and enforces among its supplier partners the minimum wages established by local tripartite bodies.” DO NOT DISTURB The poor living conditions in Cambodia’s biggest industry have for years caused unrest in the society. Strikes and demonstrations occur, and in January 2014 the Cambodian military shot several striking workers dead. In March 2015, the employers’ organisation, Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) wrote a letter to the state prosecutor inviting him to seek criminal prosecution of six union leaders – Ath Thon, Morm Nhim, Pav Sina, Chea Mony, Rong Chhun and Yang Sophoan. They are now facing several years in prison and cannot until the case is closed, “meet ‘certain’ people, organise groups, take any action in a public space which affects public order and must stay away from certain garment manufacturing centers.” This promoted the Workers’ Rights Consortium to write their own letter to the international brands and retailers outsour-

cing to Cambodia, foutlining the ongoing violations of freedom of association. Their letter has also gone to Adidas and Puma as their suppliers had signed the letter to the prosecutor: “We have communicated to our suppliers and to GMAC – which lodged the complaint with the Cambodian prosecutor – that the legal case against the union leaders has no merit and should be withdrawn,” Silvia Raccagni from Adidas says. “But why don’t you tell your suppliers to respect the freedom of association?” “To date, none of our suppliers have withdrawn their supporting affidavits, which detailed the property damage and financial losses incurred during the 2014 protests. We are waiting for confirmation from International Labour Organisation whether the collective action of GMAC constitutes a breach in the contracts. This will determine what enforcement action is viable,” she answers. To paraphrase Silvia Raccagni, we are waiting for wages people can live on. In the meantime, Sport Executive notes that Nike recorded a profit, before tax, of 2,809 million euro in 2014, Adidas had 835 million euro and Puma 122 million euro. The workers in their factories received 128 US dollars a month. The interviewed garment workers are known by Sport Executive. We have their names, addresses and work place details. Their identity is confirmed by several independent sources. Sport Executive has been researching the working conditions in Nike, Adidas and Puma’s factories in Cambodia for over two years. We have spoken with more than 20 garment workers and they all tell the same story – the one you have read in this article. We have received answers from Adidas and Puma, but never from Nike. The letters mentioned in this article are in Sport Executive’s possession.

Photo: All Over Press

SPORTS INDUSTRY PROFIT BEFORE TAX AND TURNOVER 2014: Nike: 2,809 – 21,422 Adidas: 835 - 14,534 Puma: 122 - 1,385 Million euro. Nike’s account is for the period 1 December 2013 to 30 November 2014. Source: Sport Executive , Nike, Adidas and Puma

WAGES AND ALLOWANCES FOR GARMENT WORKERS IN CAMBODIA

WHO EARNS ON A FOOTBALL SHIRT:

Monthly Wage: 128 US dollars. Bonus for not taking sick leave: 10 US dollars. Transport allowance: 7 US dollars. Working hours: 10 hours a day, 6 days a week.

PROPORTION OF THE FULL SALE PRICE: Worker: 0,6 % Factory: 4,0 % Brand: 12,0 % Transport etc.: 2,4 % Shop: 59,0 %

Source: Ministry of Labour in Cambodia.

Source: Fairwear Foundation

ON WHEELS

Adventures on two wheels

Fancy testing yourself on one of Europe’s most challenging cycling road routes? Sport Executive takes a look at three open events held in spring and summer.

BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK Photos: The organizers

GRAN FONDO FELICE GIMONDI-BIANCHI:

10 May, Bergamo, Italy. Distance: 90, 129 or 162 kilometres. Route: Two solid climbs on a Northern Italian route named after one of the greats of Italian cycling, Felice Gimondi. Give it a try – a stunning ride that is not to be missed. www.felicegimondi.it/en/home/

Photos: The organizers

IRATI XTREM:

16 June, Otsagabia, Spain. Distance: 128 kilometres. Route: Eight ports in Northern Spain – on a 3,600-metre slope – and some of the most beautiful landscapes in the Pyrenees. This route demands some serious training – but it is well worth the effort. www.iratixtrem.com/en/iratixtrem.php

Photos: The organizers

LA MARMOTTE GRANFONDO:

4 July, Bourg d’Oisans, France. Distance: 174 kilometres. Route: The world’s most popular open road cycling events, climbing to destinations such as Alpe d’Huez. All of the starting places for this year’s event were snapped up in 12 hours, but some travel agents are still offering tour packages. Otherwise, start training for 2016. www.sportcommunication.info/

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HOSTING WINNERS Everyone’s a winner when hosting events in Denmark. Volunteers, spectators, businesses and politicians all come together to empower your world class event. Everyone plays on your team to take it to a higher level. When you place your event in Denmark, you’re bringing it to a vibrant atmosphere served by a wealth of trustworthy and experienced partners. Together we’ll make your event a winner.

SEXUALITY

ONE OF THE BOYS In Amsterdam Tiffany Abreu feels 100 percent like a woman. But at her volleyball club, US Amsterdam, she is the most valuable attacker on the men’s team. Meet a sportswoman who is shifting the boundaries.

BY MANÔU ABREU TRANSLATION THORBJØRN SVENDSEN/RACHEL PAYNE Brazilian born Tiffany Abreu is the star of Amsterdam volleyball team ‘US Heren 1’. Before February 2015 she was known as Rodrigo. As a volleyball player, Rodrigo travelled the world, playing in Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Indonesia, France and Belgium. When he arrived in the Netherlands, his powerful attacking style quickly propelled him to the second-highest level, the ‘Topdivisie’. Over the course of his career, Rodrigo’s homosexuality was widely accepted by his respective volleyball clubs, as long as he didn’t make it obvious. Having a life outside of sport, which for him involved going out and partying late into the night, was no longer possible. “As long as I wasn’t prancing around and squealing when I arrived at the court, I could be whoever I wanted to be. But the strict confines of elite sport still do not

VOLLEYBALL MAGASINET

allow for lavish lifestyles, so without that kind of freedom I felt alone. Who would want to have a relationship with a travelling, homosexual volleyball player? Besides that, I wasn’t even sure that was who I really was.” Rodrigo resigned himself to playing volleyball at an amateur level. He felt pigeonholed into a category in which he didn’t fit. He wanted to find out what he could do to be happier, so he called a friend for some advice. His friend put him in contact with a volleyball club in Amersfoort in the Netherlands. While Amersfoort gave him a warm and friendly reception, it had no nightlife, so a switch to a club in Amsterdam was quickly arranged. FREE TO WALK DOWN THE STREET “I have never been so openly and warmly received as I have here in the Netherlands.

The beauty of the Dutch is that they immediately welcome you into their hearts. Regardless of whether you’re fat, skinny, beautiful or ugly, you’ll have a chance of getting a job as long as you work hard.” The transsexual athlete noticed that much more emphasis was placed on appearance in the southern European countries than in the Netherlands. “Here in Amsterdam I can walk down the street however I like. That wasn’t the case in Spain, Portugal or even Brazil. There it doesn’t matter how smart or capable you are; if your eyes aren’t the right colour, you won’t get a job.” The transition from having the physical characteristics of a man to having those of a woman is also better regulated in the Netherlands than in Rodrigo’s, now Tiffany’s, homeland. But it is a slow and complex process.

Photo: Private

SEXUALITY “That I can be myself here and continue to play volleyball is of great value to me. I don’t have to be anyone other than who I am. That wouldn’t have been possible in Brazil or Spain.” The Dutch Volleyball Federation has told Tiffany that as long as she does not undergo gender reassignment surgery she can continue playing for the men’s team. For important matches Tiffany pins her hair up and wears a headband and makeup. But she does not know if she will ever play in the women’s league. That depends on how her body responds to the hormone replacement treatments. HITTING LIKE A GIRL However, the hormone treatments have not caused Tiffany any problems yet. “I am grateful that I can continue playing volleyball at a high level until my transformation is complete. I don’t mind waiting to

have a shower until all of the others have finished.” ‘US Heren’ 1’s coach, Christophe George, has no problem with the changes Rodrigo is undergoing either. As long as everyone on my team gives 100 percent, I don’t care what they are outside of the sport. If my players feel good and play their best out on the court, that’s more than enough for me. Of course, it also helps that Rodrigo was our star player last season and that Tiffany will continue to fulfil that role this season. Her name might have changed, but her commitment and enthusiasm are the same.” Tiffany’s teammate, Robbert van Leeuwen, agrees: “Inside that 9 by 9-metre court, there is only one thing that matters: Winning! Tiffany plays hard. I might tease her once in a while and say, ‘You’re hitting like a girl. Are you having a bad day’? Then you can

Photo: Private

Foto: Privat

VOLLEYBALL MAGASINET

count on the next ball being smashed into the ground even harder!” Teammate Lennart Huibers points out that the tolerant approach on the court may not always be shared by the league’s spectators: “On the court Tiffany is just one of the guys, but sometimes people will heckle her from the stands at away games.” While this could be a challenge for Tiffany, she has her own way of dealing with it, coach Christophe George says: “At times I have to warn Tiffany that some clubs have less open-minded crowds than others. But she just replies, ‘They can yell all they want – I can’t understand them anyway’.” This article ‘Tiffanny is thuis’ was published in Het Parool on 18 June 2014. Sport Executive has borrowed it because we find the issue important. Thanks to Manôu Abreu.

Photo: Private

CHILD LABOUR

CHILDREN ARE SOMETHING YOU SELL

An arms race is going on in the football world. Increased competition in the market is forcing clubs and investors to search for even younger talents for their junior academies. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are only the tip of the iceberg in an industry that is trading children. BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK Takuhiro Nakai is a happy boy. He does what he loves. Playing football. But the 11-year-old footballer is not running and kicking on the green grass back home in Japan. He’s playing at “La Fábrica” in Madrid, Spain. He’s playing for Real Madrid’s “Alavin A”. Takuhiro Nakai is a talented footballer. But he has a problem – as do many of the other 200 minors at “La Fábrica” in Madrid. They are playing football in Real Madrid in breach of Article 19 of “FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players” (see box, ed.). That is because Article 19 clearly states that children under the age of 18 cannot change clubs across continents. And Takuhiro Nakai’s address has changed from Japan to Spain – across continents. NO ANSWERS Sport Executive would have liked to have spoken with Señor Emilio Butragueno, the

SPORT EXECUTIVE

director of institutional relations at Real Madrid, about the club’s interpretation of Article 19. But the message rang clear from Madrid: “Sorry to inform you Mr. Butragueno will not do any interview,” Marta Santisteban López, Real Madrid’s head of communications, says. “Is there anyone else in charge of Real Madrid who gives interviews?” “…,” Marta Santisteban López answers. However, Señor Butragueno did confirm in the Spanish media that the club is under investigation for being in breach of Article 19. But the director of institutional relations is “absolutely calm about the club’s behaviour”. In January 2015 FIFA also confirmed to Sport Executive that the football federation was investigating several Spanish clubs for trading minors. “FIFA is currently gathering all the relevant

information and documentation in order to be in a position to properly assess the matter. No formal disciplinary proceedings have been opened at this stage. No further information can be provided for the timebeing,” a spokesperson for FIFA, who prefers to be anonymous, said to Sport Executive back then. Three months later nothing has happened. Or, as a spokesperson in FIFA puts it: “Please understand we are not in a position to comment on any investigations that are ongoing so as not to compromise the process, nor do we provide any comments as to whether or not any investigations are underway,” the person tells Sport Executive. “Please also note that the timeframe for each disciplinary case can vary depending on the specific legal and factual elements, the cooperation of the parties involved and administrative processes of each case. It is essential that due process is followed and

Photo: All Over Press

CHILD LABOUR that the rights of all parties are respected. In particular, we refer you to Article 88 of - the FIFA Disciplinary Code– “Confidentiality”.” NOT QUITE AS HAPPY While Takuhiro Nakai is happy in Madrid nine other boys in Barcelona are not quite as happy. Seung-Ho Paik, Theo Chandri, Lee Seung Woo, Jang Gyeol Hee, Patrice Sousa, Bobby Adekanye, Ben Lederman, Takefusa Kubo and Kais Ruiz cannot do what they love – which is to play football for FC Barcelona. In December 2014, the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that it had found the Catalan club to be in breach of Article 19 of “FIFA’s regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players”. Therefore, the nine boys were not allowed to play for FC Barcelona. 12-year-old Kais Ruiz is now back in France where he will play for Paris Saint-Germain or Olympique Lyon. 16-year-old Bobby Adekanye is playing in PSV Eindhoven in his home country, Holland. And the others? 13-year-old Takefusa Kubo and his family haves decided to go back home to Japan. 14-year-old Ben Lederman, 16-year-old Patrice Sousa, 18-year-old Seung-Ho Paik, 17-year-old Lee Seung Woo and 17-yearold Jang Gyeol Hee remain in limbo in Barcelona, while Theo Chandri now is playing legally for FC Barcelona. As with Real Madrid, Sport Executive would love to talk with FC Barcelona about the future of these boys – especially as the club had tricked them into moving to Barcelona under false pretenses. And we would like to know what Sandro Reyes from the Philippines, born in 2003, is doing at FCBEscola in Barcelona. Or what Konrad de la Fuente from US, born in 2002- is doing in FC Barcelona’s “Under-14” youth team. But Señor Albert Montagut, FC Barcelona’s communications director, and Señor José Manuel Lázaro, who is in charge of the

SPORT EXECUTIVE

youth football at the club, won’t answer any questions from Sport Executive… FIFA is almost as silent as FC Barcelona: “With respect to the regularisation, we are in contact with FC Barcelona in order to gather all the required information to be in a position to fully assess this question,” the anonymous spokesperson says. However, 30 December 2014, FC Barcelona was given 90 days to remedy the situation in accordance with Article 19; a deadline that expired on 1 April. A BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are just the tip of the iceberg. The trade of minors in European elite football has been going on for decades and over the past couple of years it has grown into a significant business – and one that is growing at the same rate as the professional football industry itself. Football has become a billion dollar industry with astronomical turnovers. An increasing number of people want to have a share in its glamorous world of money, power and honour, dazzling billions of people around the world. The enormous profits it generates prompt teams to hunt for younger and younger football talents so they can achieve success in an increasingly competitive sport, minimise their costs – and maximise their profits. The Southern European clubs are often the most aggressive talent scouts. But it is not only the clubs that are looking for the future stars. Over the past decade, a new player has entered the field, with anonymous “investment funds” in tax havens also wanting profit from finding a new Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar. A few years ago, the talented minors bought by the clubs were typically aged between 12 and 15, but today the clubs’ attention has shifted to the 9 to 12-year-olds. They are cheaper and often fly under FIFA’s radar

- the International Transfer Certificate (ITC), and the Transfer Matching System (TMS) - if they are under the age of 10. Chilean journalist and author Juan Pablo Mesnedes worked for two years as an undercover football agent in the South America. In his book “Niños futbolistas” and in Sport Executive, he has explains in detail, how it is possible to buy a talented young football player – no matter what age – for around 200 US dollars and easily sell the boy to a European football club at a profit. YOUNGER AND YOUNGER The intensifying global fight for young football talents prompted FIFA to lower the age requirement for international transfer certificates to 10 years of age in March 2015. “In order to strengthen the protection of minors and due to the increased number of international transfers of players younger than 12, the Executive Committee has approved a reduction in the age limit for which an international transfer certificate (ITC) is required to the age of 10,” a FIFA spokesperson said to Sport Executive in January 2015. “Why 10 years? Why not 8, 6, 4, 2 or 0 years?” “The Executive Committee deemed it appropriate to stick to the age of 10 since they believed that, at this stage, the international transfer of players younger than 10 should not be an issue. But if a trend of international transfers of players even younger than 10 is detected, this limit could be reconsidered. Therefore FIFA will keep monitoring the issue closely in order to take relevant measures, if need be,” the spokesperson said in January. Today FIFA notes: “The protection of minors continues to be of utmost importance for FIFA. We are convinced that the various measures currently in place, which we have communi-

Photo: All Over Press

FIFA ARTICLE 19 ON PROTECTION OF MINORS IN REGULATIONS ON THE STATUS AND TRANSFER OF PLAYERS 1. International transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18. 2. The following three exceptions to this rule apply: a) The player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is located for reasons not linked to football. b) The transfer takes place within the territory of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA) and the player is aged between 16 and 18. In this case, the new club must fulfil the following minimum obligations: i. It shall provide the player with an adequate football education and/or training in line with the highest national standards. ii. It shall guarantee the player an academic and/or school and/or vocational education and/or training, in addition to his football education and/or training, which will allow the player to pursue a career other than football should he cease playing professional football. iii. It shall make all necessary arrangements to ensure that the player is looked after in the best possible way (optimum living standards with a host family or in club accommodation, appointment of a mentor at the club, etc.). iv. It shall, on registration of such a player, provide the relevant association with proof that it is complying with the aforementioned obligations. c) The player lives no further than 50 km from a national border and the club with which the player wishes to be registered in the neighbouring association is also within 50 km of that border. The maximum distance between the player’s domicile and the club’s headquarters shall be 100 km. In such cases, the player must continue to live at home and the two associations concerned must give their explicit consent. READ MORE: www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/02/53/22/21/regulationsstatusandtransfer_e_2012_neutral.pdf

CHILD LABOUR

cated to you on previous occasions, have a positive impact on the situation of minor players. The situation continues to be carefully monitored in order for FIFA to be able to take the appropriate measures, if need be. We have no further comments.” The union for professional footballers, FIFPro, does not have much confidence in FIFA’s actions to fight the international trade of children: “Principally, it is a positive initiative from FIFA. But it does not solve any problems. Clubs and capital funds will just look for even younger talent. In the clubs – and in the capital funds – there are people who believe that they can spot a talent, no matter the age,” FIFPro board member Mads Øland says. “And then there is the enforcement of the rules. In theory, there is nothing wrong

Photo: All Over Press

SPORT EXECUTIVE

with FIFA’s ethical rules, but what are they really? It is the same with the ITC and the TMS - there has to be a willingness to apply them,” Øland states. “That is why a 10-years-of-age limit is no solution. The problem is that football players have been reduced to a commodity. This aspect of football is difficult to explain to parents, that their child is an item on a list – and not a person. And this goes all the way down to the amateur divisions,” Øland says. DISASTER AHEAD Mads Øland predicts that the “war” - will only escalate in the coming years: “Take the example of FC Barcelona’s purchase of Neymar. They wanted him for years. He ended up being extremely expensive for them, because the investment funds had to have their cut of the profit,

and the funds’ cut is several hundred percent. It was the worst scenario imaginable for FC Barcelona,” Øland argues. “In other words, you pay top price to all the traders of the world, and you do not even know how good a player will be. This is why both clubs and investment funds want even earlier access to the food chain in order to reap the benefits. In the example with Neymar, FC Barcelona lost a potential profit,“ Øland states, and concludes: “It will end in disaster at some point…” In the meantime, Takuhiro Nakai still loves to play football at “La Fábrica” in Madrid. Sport Executive has been following the international trade of children in football for three years. Many of its articles are available in English at www.sportexecutive.dk or http://www.playthegame.org/.

SPORT EXECUTIVE SPORTSISTERS

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YOUR AD COULD BE HERE! Contact: Editor Lars Andersson/lan@tekstwerk.dk ‘The addition of Rihanna, as a Brand Ambassador and as one of our creative directors, is a commitment to our increased focus on the female consumer segment, as we truly believe that the future is female.’ Bjørn Gulden, CEO Puma, in newsletter.

CHANGE

SPORT CAN CHANGE THE WORL 4

SPORT EXECUTIVE

Photo: All Over Press

â&#x20AC;?Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.â&#x20AC;? NELSON MANDELA

IN PUTIN’S WORLD

WHEN REALITY CAME TO RUSSIA

Rouble crisis, racism and Crimea. Putin, Russian football and the World Cup 2018 shakes.

BY TOKE MØLLER THEILADE On the 9th of April this year the Volgograd Region’s administration signed an official document which declared the historic football club Rotor Volgograd bankrupt, and thus was yet another of the 2018 World Cup host cities without a professional football team. The failure of Rotor Volgograd, who was one of Russia’s best teams in the 1990s, where they won two silver medals and knocked mighty Manchester United out of the UEFA Cup, is a good example of Russia’s preparation problems before the World Cup 2018. Despite the fact that the Russian rouble has recovered lately, the Western sanctions towards the country have hit the football world hard. Several of the biggest clubs and their players, who are paid in foreign currency, have agreed on a fixed exchange rate to prevent the club budgets from getting out of control, after the players suddenly experienced a large salary increase due to the rouble crisis. In the lower divisions times are even tougher, and many clubs have gone several months without paying their employees,

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and clubs, like Rotor, are going bankrupt. A FARCE IN SAINT PETERSBURG But it is not only the football players who are not being paid. In the middle of March a group of 50 electricians, working on the construction of the new World Cup stadium in Saint Petersburg, filed a lawsuit because of unpaid wages. The workers contacted the lawyer Arkady Chaplygin, and told him that they had not been paid since October last year. This was far from the first bad news that hit the construction in St. Petersburg, since the site had experienced an exodus of Central Asian migrant workers in January following the rouble crisis. According to Mikhail Demidenko, the head of St. Petersburg’s department for construction, around 20 percent of the migrant workers failed to return to Russia after their New Year holidays in their home countries due to the currency crisis, that have hit their pay checks hard and thus removed their incentive to do physical hard labour far away from home. The construction in St. Petersburg began in 2007 and it has since emerged into a farce.

The stadium has since seized the questionable title as the world’s most expensive stadium, and it is expected to be ready in 2017, eight years later than the first reports. The many delays even made the local club, Zenit, hire a Swiss company to build them a temporary stadium they can use until Zenit Arena is finally ready. Unfortunately, for the Russian authorities the stadium in St. Petersburg is not the only one to exceed its budget. In January the construction company Stoitransgaz said that the budgets for the stadiums in Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod were too small and needed to be increased. At the same time the owner of Stoitransgaz, Gennady Timchenko, who is a part of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, stated that he could be forced to call of the constructions due to a higher risk and lower income from the project, if the demands were not met. SAVING PLAN Around the same time Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, announced that the budget for hosting the World Cup had been cut by 10 percent. The money would

Phto: All Over Press

IN PUTIN’S WORLD however be taken from things such as the opening ceremony and non-essential expenses. Mutko later added that the construction budget would remain the same: “All the investment needed for the infrastructure remains the same. All the resources, which we planned to spend on the stadiums, infrastructure and temporary structures will not change.” In April Mutko elaborated his saving plan to the news agency TASS, when he told that the Russian government had decided to scrub plans for several luxury hotels. The construction of 25 hotels across the 11 host cities was cancelled while others were relocated or downgraded, which would overall save Russia around 495 million euro. This plan followed the downgrading of fixed seating in the stadiums in Kaliningrad and Yekateringburg from 45,000 to 35,000. “We do not need fashionable hotels, constructed to FIFA’s highest requirement, to stay empty after the championship,” Mutko said. This fear of so-called ‘white-elephants’, stadiums or infrastructure that is not being used after the sport event, has already made the Russian authorities plan to decrease the capacity of the stadiums in Saransk and Kaliningrad after the World Cup. SEVERE ACCUSATIONS Even though the economy is a major subject in the discussion about the World Cup, Russia is also fighting other obstacles. In December 2014 the British newspaper The Sunday Times published a report about the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup’s. The newspaper spent four years investigating before they published the report, which included several severe accusations against the Russian bid. The report states: “The Russia 2018 bid had lobbied for the support of Michel Platini by giving him a painting believed to have been a Picasso. The painting was believed to have been given to Platini by Viacheslav Koloskov, a former Russian executive committee member working for the 2018 bid.” The report also claims that the Belgian execu-

SPORT EXECUTIVE

tive committee member, Michel D’Hooghe, received a painting from Koloskov, which the Belgian later confirmed to the newspaper, although he denied it had any value. These are far from the only accusations about corruption and unfair advantages in Russia’s World Cup bid. The corruption blames strengthened the voice of the many people all over the world who demanded the World Cup in Russia to be boycotted. These demands started in October 2013, when the Ivorian Yaya Touré, a black midfielder from Manchester City, was abused by racist chanting from a group of CSKA Moscow fans. When asked if Russia needed to focus on the fight against racism before the World Cup Touré said: “Of course they do. It’s very important. Otherwise if we are not confident coming to the World Cup in Russia, we don’t come.” This statement came three years after Rafal Pankowski, head of UEFA’s East European Monitoring Centre, articulated Russia’s need for a new football culture, following FIFA’s official appointment of Russia as World Cup host. NAZI SYMBOLS AND RIOTS In February 2015 the international antidiscrimination network FAREnet published a report about racism among Russian football fans between May 2012 and May 2014. This report contained numerous incidents containing racist football fans, but it also urged the Russian government to deal with the far-right through a national action plan. Following this report the Russian Football Union created the position of anti-racism inspector, who will collect evidence to punish clubs for racist behavior. The clubs have also experienced that the punishments for racism among the fans are more severe now. Torpedo Moscow has been punished for racism four times already this season, which led the president of the club, Aleksandr Tukmavov, to brand the supporters as “the most aggressive in the country”. After the last incident that involved Nazi symbols and riots during an away

match against Arsenal Tula Torpedo were sentenced to play their next two home games for closed doors as well as the next three away matches without travelling fans. This sentence was added to an already existing penalty of two home matches in an empty stadium following racist abuse of Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Brazilian striker Hulk. SPORT AND POLITICS A few months after Touré’s statement Russia annexed Crimea which reignited the debate about a possible boycott of the World Cup. The British Labour politician Andy Burnham encouraged FIFA to ‘revisit’ their decision on not mixing politics and football while he also expressed the need to send Vladimir Putin ‘a message’. This opinion was later supported by a group of American senators, who wrote a letter to FIFA urging them to strip Russia of the World Cup, since it “inappropriately bolsters the prestige of the Putin regime”, as well as Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko who called a World Cup hosted by Russia “unthinkable” as long as there are Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. So far has FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s standard answer to these requests been that sport and politics should be kept apart, and that history has proven that boycotts are not the right way to resolve these kinds of problems, referring to the Olympic boycotts in 1980 and 1984. While politicians and NGOs around the world call for boycotts, Russia works towards a goal of hosting one of the best championships in the history of world soccer, as the Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters following Poroshenko’s appeal. It is still too early to conclude if this will be the case or not, but it is definitely not going to be cheap. The price tag for the Winter Olympics in Sochi ended up on 43.3 billion euro compared the original budget of 11.35 billion euro, and with the rouble crisis in mind we might experience something similar with the World Cup. Welcome to Russia 2018.

Photo: All Over Press

WORLD CUP 2018 VENUES Already finished stadiums: Luzhniki (No club) Otkritie Arena (Spartak Moscow) Kazan Arena (Rubin Kazan) Fisht Olympic Stadium (No club) Stadiums are currently under construction in: Saint Petersburg (Zenit St. Petersburg) Kaliningrad (Baltika Kaliningrad) Nizhny Novgorod (FC Volga) Samara (Krylya Sovetov) Volgograd (Rotor Volgograd/No club) Saransk (Mordovia) Rostov-on-Don (FC Rostov) Yekaterinburg (Ural Yekateringburg) READ MORE: www.farenet.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/SOVA-monitoring-report.pdf

RACIST AND FAR-RIGHT DISPLAYS IN RUSSIAN FOOTBALL MAY 2012-MAY 2014 Banners and other visual displays 75 Discriminatory chanting 8 Football related discriminatory graffiti 10 Rallies 2 Manifestos and statements by fan groups 4 Total: 99 TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION: Far-right and neo-Nazi symbols 72 Anti-Caucasus displays 22 Anti-Black 5 Total: 99 RACE AND POLITICALLY MOTIVATED VIOLENCE BY FOOTBALL FANS: Assaults on antifascists 5 Assault on people of Caucasian origin 15 Migrant pogroms 1 Total: 21 Source: Sova-Center.ru & FARE

ART

SPORT INSPIRES ART

Sport, art and culture. It’s all for you. BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK

Sport fascinates people all over the world. Even painters. Sport Executive gives you a few examples of a bygone era. Enjoy.

Photo: All Over Press

The painters: George Wesley Bellows 1882-1925. Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins 1844-1916.

SPORT EXECUTIVE

George Wesley Bellows: “Counted Out No. 2”

Photo: All Over Press

Thomas Eakins: “John Biglin in a Single Scull”

Photo: All Over Press

George Wesley Bellows: “Dempsey and Firpo”

ART

AND ART TODAY

Meet Daniel Nyari. Football and art. Enjoy. DANIEL NYARI Daniel Nyari was born in Romania and grew up in Austria before moving to New York City where he continued his education in Film, Design, Fine & Graphic Arts. He currently lives and works in New York City and enjoys football, avantgarde cinema, heavy metal and nutella. He draws his influences from post-impressionism, De Stijl and web design. Merging principles of traditional illustrations in rendering important parts of an image and principles of modern web and graphic design, Daniel describes his working philosophy to be: “Communicating an image with least amount of visual information but at the same time maintaining a grid-like harmony where each component flows into each one another”. He has worked with clients such as ESPN, MLS, WIRED, GQ and Microsoft and has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, FourFourTwo, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Match Of The Day.

SPORT EXECUTIVE

NEW FIFA NOW

WHEN SPORT AND POLITICS DO MIX Is corruption and nepotism such a big problem in FIFA today that politicians and the public need to intervene? Jaimie Fuller, CEO of sportswear company, SKINS, believes so. In this interview, he talks about the need for change in the world of football – and for using humour, among other tactics, as a weapon. BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK He may not look like it, but Jaimie Fuller is a successful businessman. As the founder and CEO of SKINS, he has watched his sportswear company grow from zero to a hundred employees over the last decade. But Fuller is not your average businessman either. Unlike many other businesspeople, he meddles in sport’s otherwise untouchable world – first with his anti-doping lobby group ‘Change Cycling Now’, and now with his initiative ‘New FIFA Now’. At the end of January, the Australian businessman posted a tongue-in-cheek full-page advertisement in FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s local Swiss newspaper, Walliser Bote, featuring the tagline “The World’s First Official Non-Sponsor of FIFA” and a clear message that the world’s most powerful sports federation needs to change – now. “The strategy was purely to look to drive maximum impact from clever communication in an affordable media,” Fuller explains to Sport Executive. “If we had bottomless budgets we would be focusing on mainstream newspapers; but we don’t, so it’s important we get maximum impact. The social media response was particularly positive and generated enormous interest and positive sentiment.” “The notion of humour is not just to make the message more understandable, but to make the message and the issue more talk-

SPORT EXECUTIVE

ed about and be noticed. Let’s face it, you are now asking serious questions about a serious problem as a result of our humorous and quirky campaign. We are a small brand and business, and we do not enjoy the sorts of marketing budgets that brands like adidas or Nike enjoy. Therefore, as a challenger brand, we need to get maximum cut-through from whatever we do. It’s in our brand DNA.” “So couldn’t it be argued that you are in fact using corruption in sport to brand your own company, SKINS”? “Absolutely, because these are our values. When we started taking our brand development and brand building seriously, one of the first things we did was to define what we stood for. We wanted to be able to articulate a set of values that we live and die by, both as a brand and as a company culture. We came up with the notion that we stand for “Fuelling the True Spirit of Competition’. This mantra informs many things we do as a brand, from our communications strategy through to the professional athletes and teams we may sponsor. Taking a stand on issues like this, or antidoping, or even athletes’ behaviour, allows us to make clear what our values are and why we are for or against certain issues.” PURE NONSENSE For Jaimie Fuller, sport, business and politics are inextricably linked in reality.

“The notion that sport and politics don’t or can’t mix is pure bollocks; likewise sport and business. I don’t believe it is possible to untangle sport from business now – sport is a business.” “Having said that, sport is such a special concept and I’d argue that, aside from family, the two most influential things for children are sport and music. The key difference is that whilst music is generationally divisive – it’s rare for a grandfather, father and grandson to enjoy the same music – sport, on the other hand, is generationally inclusive. The tribal nature of sport supports the notion of mutual generational enjoyment.” “Once one understands the importance and impact of sport in society and shaping values and behaviours, then it’s a very short step to seeing how and why it’s important that it mixes with politics. Take the abolition of apartheid in South Africa as an example. One of the key driving factors behind its successful abolition was the impact of sporting sanctions. Ask any South African who lived through that and they will tell you that the inability to compete with other countries at the highest level in rugby and cricket was the thing that hurt most. Anyone who says they shouldn’t mix either hasn’t really thought it through or most likely has an inherent conflict. One tends to hear the “sport and politics don’t mix” argument when it’s

Photo: Skins

THE WORLD’S FIRST OFFICIAL NON-SPONSOR OF FIFA. SKINS are delighted to announce this exciting global anti-association of FIFA. After looking at many non-sponsorship opportunities, we believe that this one perfectly represents everything we stand for. We’ve always loved sport played with fairness, flair and sportsmanship. It’s at the heart of everything we do. We needed a non-sponsorship that un-matched these values perfectly, especially one that totally un-valued sport free from corruption and wasn’t afraid to flaunt it. We gladly welcome other non-sponsors to join us. Due to a conflict of values, un-non-sponsorship FIFA partners are not eligible to apply for non-sponsorship. These include: adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai etc. We’re pleased Emirates and Sony are now eligible to apply. Here’s to a not-too-long but fruitful non-relationship.

Join us at officialnonsponsor.com

OFFICIAL NON-SPONSOR

#NewFIFA Now

NEW FIFA NOW being used to justify making money – take the Formula 1 debate and Bahrain as an example.” “I don’t believe that politicians should get involved in sport unless it cannot be helped. Sports administration and federations should be self-regulating and self-managing and should be able to do so free from political interference, assuming they meet basic standards around governance and transparency. Unfortunately, FIFA has shown a continued level of recalcitrance in this regard and therefore it is appropriate that politicians step in and do whatever can be done to force reform and basic compliance. The current levels of FIFA’s obduracy and recalcitrance reflect our levels of desperation when we have to turn to the politicians to help sort it out.” A VIRTUAL IDEA That is why the outside world must put pressure on FIFA, according to Fuller: “#NewFIFANow is just a thought; it’s a virtual idea and a movement that is a vehicle through which we, the public and football influencers, can express our opinions, concerns and desires for reform. It is not a formal organisation or company with statutes and officers. It exists in the notional form for as long as it needs to atPhoto: Skins

SPORT EXECUTIVE

tempt to force change. We will continue to agitate for that change through to the presidential elections in May and beyond that, should Mr. Blatter be successful. This is a long-term project and, regardless of who is president, reform is imperative.” “How can supporters, companies and politicians make football better”? “Simply by applying to FIFA, Sepp Blatter and the FIFA ExCo, plus national federations, to demand FIFA be accountable just like any other multibillion dollar international business such as public companies, quasi government operations or even NGOs. We must continually push for an appropriate level of governance and transparency.” “It’s time for him to step aside and let new blood reform the cancerous toxic nature of the organisation that he has run for the past many years. At his age, he is not the right person to undertake such a massive and draining project such as cultural reform within FIFA, even if he wants it – which is hard to believe that he truly does.” “I have try to get the sponsors to engage, but it isn’t easy. There is a real reluctance from them to even acknowledge what we are doing and their role. And the national federations? We have been writing to all

209 and we have got one answer, from Ukraine!” TOO MUCH FINANCIAL GAIN “In the immediate future, football will likely continue to grow at the highest levels in commercial terms and popularity. The concerns are around football’s reputation and grassroots development. See just the record deal of in excess of 5 billion British pounds being achieved for the broadcast rights to the Premier League for 2016/17 through 2019. This money will flow into the Premier League and, unfortunately, the Premier League currently spends approximately 12 million pounds a year on grassroots football. I don’t begrudge professional players making an excellent living, however it cannot come at the expense of the sport and future development. Don’t get me started on the issue of the conflict that exists between the English FA and their desire to improve English football and the Premier League. There is too much focus on short term financial gain at the expense of long term development,” Fuller concludes. READ MORE? www.newfifanow.org/

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INFIGHT IN FIFA

THE CANDIDATES…

And the winner is… Sepp Blatter… BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK

29 May there will be a presidential election in FIFA. Sport Executive present: Photo: All Over Press

SEPP BLATTER Born: 10 March 1936. Job: FIFA President. Agenda: Continuity.

SPORT EXECUTIVE

Photo: All Over Press

MICHAEL VAN PRAAG Born: 28 September 1947. Job: Chairman at Netherland’s Football Federation, KNVB. Agenda: Change and transparency.

Photo: All Over Press

LOUIS FIGO Born: 4 November 1972. Job: Former player. Agenda: Change and transparency.

Foto: Marc Serota/Getty Images/All Over Press

Photo: All Over Press

PRINCE ALI BIN AL HUSSEIN Born: 23 December 1975. Job: Chairman at Jordan’s Football Federation, JFA. Agenda: Change and transparency.

Photo: All Over Press

JEROME CHAMPAGNE Born: 15 June 1958. Job: Former employee at FIFA. Agenda: Didn’t get nominated.

THE BIG FIVE – MONEY LEAGUE

THE ROOF IS ON FIRE

England and Germany are the driving forces of growth in European professional football, where the “big five” leagues have now passed the magical revenue milestone of 10 billion euro. In fact, the “big five” generated a turnover of over 11 billion euro in 2013/14, which almost doubled the revenue they earned in 2003/04

BY KRISTIAN BOYE, TEAM TEKSTWERK Thierry Henry finished the Premier League season as the top scorer, with 30 goals. At the same time, he celebrated Arsenal’s unbeaten, championship-winning season. In Chelsea, Roman Abramovich bought his way into the team, spending 100 million pounds on players. That’s the way things were a little over a decade ago. At the end of the 2003/04 season, it already felt like an immense amount of money when the “big five” leagues in Europe reported a combined turnover of 6 billion euro. Now they have passed the 10 billion mark, with particularly explosive growth in England and similarly impressive growth in Germany. But the impact of the financial crisis can still be felt in Spain, Italy and France. This extraordinary rate of growth in international football is often met by remarks that the ceiling must now have been reached in terms of turnover, television rights deals and exorbitant purchases of players such as Gareth Bale, Neymar and James Rodriguez – or whoever else is hot

SPORT EXECUTIVE

property in the top leagues. But rather than hitting the ceiling, the clubs have set fire to it, causing the leagues’ growth to reach heights that may seem ridiculous to the average fan who just wants to see a good game of football. THIS GROWTH IS SUSTAINABLE Glancing at the turnover figures in the different leagues, it is not surprising that the Premier League has broken away from the pack. The world’s strongest football brand has a turnover worth more than the French Ligue 1 and the Italian Serie A’s combined, and its income grew by a staggering 29 percent from the 2012/13 to 2013/14 season. Germany’s Bundesliga followed with a solid 13 percent growth, whereas Liga BBVA and Serie A lagged well behind with growth rates of 2 and 0.7 percent respectively. Ligue 1 in France, however, has experienced an impressive growth of 15 percent in recent years, but much of this can be attributed to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Monaco’s huge

marketing agreements, which UEFA has closely monitored in accordance with its Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. PSG has now received a 60 million euro fine and a decision is pending on UEFA’s investigation into Monaco’s accounts. The 2013/14 accounts indicate their the FFP rules have had a positive influence on the two largest football leagues in particular, with the Premier League and Bundesliga clearly becoming more sustainable businesses. Consultancy firm Deloitte recently published a report on the 2013/14 season in England, which revealed surprisingly positive results. For the first time in 15 years, the Premier League’s clubs recorded a combined gross profit of 190 million pounds. Another important benchmark was the wage-toincome ratio. In 2012/13 England’s professional clubs spent 71 percent of their income on salaries, but this figure dropped to 58 percent in 2013/14. In Germany, however, the wage share is as low as 47 percent. Salaries from its football busi-

Photo: All Over Press

THE BIG FIVE – MONEY LEAGUE ness alone were down to 37 percent, according to the “Bundesliga Report 2015”. Deloitte’s Adam Bull, Senior Consultant in the Sports Business Group, sees the latest accounts as a positive sign. “The introduction of cost control regulations at both a European and domestic level has caused many clubs to watch their spending more closely than ever before and created a useful tool for clubs to reduce the inflationary pressures during negotiations with players and agents. Also, the current broadcast deal has given Premier League clubs such a large revenue advantage over the vast majority of European clubs that they can still attract the top playing talent without over stretching themselves financially,” he says. NEW RECORD AGREEMENT It will be interesting to see if this trend will continue, now that the Premier League clubs have made a record agreement on the sale of their television broadcasting rights for 2016-2019. The 5.1 million-pound deal represents a 70 percent increase for the elite clubs and a stark contrast from the 2004-07 agreement, which was worth just over one million pounds. This poses an obvious challenge to league’s European competitors, and it also increases the risk of inflation when it comes to the players’ already lucrative salaries and transfer deals. In addition, it will put more pressure on the professional leagues to ensure that grassroots clubs are benefitting from football’s money circus.

Photo: All Over Press

VOLLEYBALL MAGASINET

“We do welcome these results, which show that the Premier League clubs are starting convert their impressive revenue growth into a more sustainable net result. With the recent announcement of another record Premier League broadcast deal, the revenue increases shows no sign of ending and should make this season’s profit a regular outcome. Such profits provide the clubs with a great opportunity to invest further in their facilities and youth development activities, but will also no doubt make Premier League Clubs even more attractive to potential investors than they already were,” Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, says. BUNDESLIGA ON THE MOVE Germany is faring particularly well in the football business. “The Bundesliga Report 2015”, released by the German League Association, commends its sustainable economy as well as its favourable growth rates. According to UEFA, the European clubs use 65 percent of their revenue on players’ salaries, and the Bundesliga used only 36.7 percent for the same purpose in its 2013/14 season. The German figures are generally quite positive, with 13 out of 18 clubs ending last season with a surplus. “For the tenth consecutive time, revenues generated within the 18 Bundesliga clubs hit a new record high. In 2001-2002, revenues reached the billion euro mark for the first time. Twelve years on, they amount to 2.45 billion euro – up 12.9 per-

cent over the previous year,” the German League Association writes in the report. Germany is also aware of its potential for even more growth from the sale of broadcasting rights and from other sources. It expects an increase of 200 million euro in revenue within the next three years. SOUTHERN EUROPE STAND STILL Spanish and Italian clubs, however, are still suffering from the effects of the financial crisis. The top clubs, including Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, are doing well, but the Spanish and Italian leagues have very low growth rates overall. On the positive side, wage levels are more sustainable. Thus, the La Liga players’ salaries increased by only five percent in 2013/14, in comparison with the previous season, and the Serie A players’ salaries increased by three percent. In the meantime, the economic collapse of Parma last season has done little to lift the mood in Italy. Despite this, the countries has three clubs in this year’s Champions League semi-finals, so its larger clubs are doing relatively well. The big question will be whether they can keep up with the English and German clubs if there continues to be such a great difference in growth rates between the five leagues. Right now, everything indicates that the Premier League and Bundesliga will break away from all of the other European leagues in the long run – even if Real Madrid and FC Barcelona continue to keep up with the English-German peloton.

Photo: All Over Press

THE BIG FIVE – MONEY LEAGUE The “Big Five” accounts in 2013/14 (million euro):

Liga Revenue TV Sponsorships, etc. Match Other Salary Premier League, England 3,839.3 2,008.5 1,089.4 739.1 - 2,295.7 Bundesliga, Germany 2,275.2 716.8 827.3 482.5 248.6 1,063.3 Liga BBVA, Spain 1,925.5 784.1 454.2 591.0 96.3 1,141.3 Serie A, Italy 1,675.6 997.7 325.9 196.1 153 1,185.1 Ligue 1, France 1,497.7 604.8 375.0 143.6 374.2 959.3 Total 11,213.3

Ligue 1 accounts (million euro):

2013/14 2012/13 Change TV rights 604.8 632.2 - 4% Sponsorships, etc. 375.0 197.9 + 89% Match 143.6 139.5 + 3% Other 374.2 327.7 + 14% Total 1497.7 1297.3 + 15% Staff costs 959.3 861.8 +11%

Serie A accounts (million euro):

2013/14 2012/13 Change TV rights 997.7 976.1 + 2% Sponsorships, etc. 325.9 315.2 + 3% Match 198.2 189.3 + 5% Other 153.8 184.7 - 17% Total 1,675.6 1,665.3 + 0.7% Staff costs 1,185.1 1,154.0 + 3%

Liga BBVA accounts (million euro):

2013/14 2012/13 Change 2011/12 TV rights 784.10 775.40 + 1% 687.40 Sponsorships, etc. 454.20 451.40 + 0.7% 466.70 Match 591.00 566.70 + 4% 570.20 Other 96.30 92.20 + 4% 118.80 Total 1,925.60 1,885.70 + 2% 1,843.10 Staff costs 1,141.30 1,086.50 +5 % 1,132.70

Bundesliga accounts (million euro):

2013/14 2012/13 Change 2011/12 2010/10 TV rights 716.8 619.9 + 16% 546.2 519.6 Sponsorships, etc. 827.3 699.2 + 18% 647.0 602.0 Match 482.5 469.3 + 3% 440.8 411.2 Other 248.6 229.1 + 9% 237.7 213.7 Total 2,275.2 2,017.5 + 13% 1,871.7 1,746.5 Staff costs 1,063.3 974.7 + 9% 897.5 874.4

Average attendance 2013/14: Bundesliga 42,609 Premier League 36,631 Liga BBVA 26,843 Serie A 23,385 Ligue 1 20,965

SPORT EXECUTIVE

Premier League 2013/14 accounts (million euro):

Club Total TV Commercial Match day Salaries Salaries/income Man. United 540.4 169.3 236.2 134.9 268.2 50% Man. City 432.3 166.3 206.7 59.3 255.8 59% Chelsea 399.3 174.7 136.0 88.6 240.8 60% Arsenal 372.7 150.7 96.9 125.0 207.6 56% Liverpool 318.9 125.9 129.5 63.5 179.7 56% Tottenham 225.2 118.5 52.4 54.9 131.0 58% Newcastle 161.8 97.9 31.9 32.3 97.9 60% Everton 150.3 110.4 15.8 24.1 86.1 58% Aston Villa 145.8 90.7 39.2 16.0 86.1 59% West Ham 143.4 94.1 24.9 24.3 79.8 56% Southampton 132.3 99.2 10.4 22.6 78.5 59% Sunderland 126.0 89.8 16.2 20.0 84.8 67% Swansea 123.1 100.7 11.0 11.5 78.6 64% Stoke 122.7 94.8 17.5 10.0 76.1 62% Crystal Palace 119.8 92.3 13.7 13.7 49.9 42% West Brom. 108.3 83.6 13.5 8.7 82.3 76% Hull 105.3 84.8 11.2 9.2 53.6 51% QPR 48.3 34.9 6.4 7.0 93.6 195% Leicester 38.9 15.0 15.3 8.6 45.3 116% Burnley 24.5 14.9 4.7 4.9 20.0 79% Total 3,839.3 2,008.5 1,089.4 739.1 2,295.7 58% 2012/13 2,940 2,100 71% Change 29% 6%

TV rights in the UK (million pounds): 2004/07 1,024 2007/10 1,706 2010/13 1,773 2013/16 3,018 2016/19 5,136 Photo: All Over Press

SEE M0RE. pay lESS.

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Free access to 74 museums and attractions Free transport by train, bus and Metro in the entire metropolitan area one adult can bring along 2 children under the age of 10 for free

Copenhagen Card app The Copenhagen Card guide is also available as an app for iPhone or Android.

SPORT EXECUTIVE

COPENHAGEN Photo: Das Büro for Team Denmark

ARCHERY – AND DESIGN, ART, ARCHITECTURE, FOOD, FASHION AND DIVERSITY.

WORLD ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP - DENMARK 2015

HISTORICAL BACKDROP FOR WORLD ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIPS The World Archery Championships are set to take place in front of the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen from 26 July to 2 August 2015. The organisers promise an event that will be as spectacular and historic as its outdoor venue in the heart of the city.

BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK Once upon a time, it was the archer’s job to follow the king around to protect and preserve his political power. This year, the World Archery Championships will once again see archers being stationed alongside a political power when they compete in front of Christiansborg, the Danish Parliament. This time, the 500 archers from around the world will be not shooting to secure political power in Denmark, but for their own national and individual sporting honor, medals and a ticket to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016. The World Championships will take place in the midst of historic Copenhagen, with Christiansborg, the Stock Exchange (Børsen), the famous naval church, the Church of Holmen, and the city’s canals as a backdrop.

SPORT EXECUTIVE

“It will be an event with a distinctly historical flavour: The world’s best archers competing in the most central and historic place in Copenhagen. It’s going to be spectacular, not least because of the event’s location,” Mads Bang Aaen Kornerup, the Event Director for the World Archery Championships, explains. “We intend to use the entire city space to shape the event, which will be a treat for the senses. Beyond being an archery competition, it will be an iconic event with unique branding,” says the Event Director, who has dedicated his time to creating a one-of-a-kind spectacle since 1 November 2013. INCREDIBLE IMAGES Especially archery has a tradition for spectacular events. As World Archery

President, Ugur Erdener, explains it: “World Archery has a history of putting international archery events in iconic, fantastic and memorable locations. Christiansborg Palace, the home of the Danish Parliament and the venue for the finals of the Copenhagen 2015 World Archery Championships, follows that trend.” “This summer’s finals will produce incredible images for television and photographers, while showcasing the best of our exciting and intense sport with a backdrop uniquely identifiable with Copenhagen and Denmark. It puts the city at the heart of the production, and gives the city’s residents the opportunity to see something unusual and spectacular. It’s an honor for our sport, and our athletes, to shoot in such a place.” “Previous venues for archery finals at

Photo: All Over Press

WORLD ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP - DENMARK 2015

the World Archery Championships and Archery World Cup include Copenhagen’s own Nyhavn Canal – in 2009 – the Eiffel Tower in Paris, at the Bosphorus in Istanbul, the Mayapan Pyramids in Mexico and the Olympic Capital of Lausanne. Our athletes and the audience – both live and over broadcast – love the variety and excitement of such unusual and interesting locations.” MADE IN DENMARK Denmark has made a name for itself in recent years by repackaging sporting events, just as it is doing with the archery championships. Via the government-run

organisation Sport Event Denmark, the small Scandinavian country has edged out larger nations with much bigger budgets to host major sporting events, and has done so by looking outside the box. Its staging of the UCI World Championships in road cycling, for example, saw professional cyclists competing in the streets of Copenhagen – as did the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, in which 20,000 runners took part. “Denmark has a tradition of staging major events, including archery events, in the heart of Copenhagen with the city as a spectacular and epic venue. We did it with the World Cup Final in Nyhavn in 2009,

SPORT EVENT DENMARK Sport Event Denmark is the Danish national sports event organisation with the main objective of attracting and organising major international sports events and sports congresses. In the pipe line for sporting events in Denmark are the IHF Women’s Handball World Championship 2015, World Archery Championship 2015, Made in Denmark European Tour Golf 2015, FIG Trampoline and Tumbling World Championship 2015, UCI World Cycling Tour Final 2015, Copenhagen Half Marathon 2015, ISAF Sailing World Championship 2018, IIHF World Men’s Ice Hockey Championship 2018, IHF Men’s World Handball Championship 2019 and UEFA EURO 2020 (part of).

SPORT EXECUTIVE

and we are going to do it again with the World Archery Championships this summer. Volunteers, spectators, businesses and politicians all come together to empower major international sporting events staged in Denmark, and our aim is to take the event to an even higher level,” says Lars Lundov, the CEO of Sport Event Denmark, which is a partner of the 2015 World Archery Championships. “For example, the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships last year was a truly spectacular event, and it is amazing how it paved the way for an annual, international half marathon for both recreational runners and elite athletes,” he says.

WORLD ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP 26 July - 2 August in Copenhagen, Denmark. Finals at Christiansborg – the Danish Parliament. 500 archers from 75 countries participate. The archers can get a ticket to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016. The tournament is for compound (50 m) and recurve (70 m) – and is for men and women, team men, team women and team mix. In recurve the athletes also fight for a ticket to the Olympics 2016. 150 volunteers are involved. World Championship is going on every other year.

Photo: Das B端ro for Team Denmark

RELAXATION THROUGH ARCHERY

ARCHERY FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE Exercise, relaxation and community. Archery has it all.

BY KIR KLYSNER, DANISH FEDERATION FOR COMPANY SPORTS Ole Sørensen’s son once nagged him that he wanted to go to archery. He gave in and said yes. Over the next couple of years, his son’s interest swayed back and forth from archery to football, which was ultimately more appealing to him. Then Ole suddenly caught the archery bug – so much so that he now owns every type of bow. “That means I’ll probably never master them all,” he says. But it doesn’t matter, because to him archery is a healthy break from everyday life. “It helps you get away from the hustle and bustle of work. We practice three times a week, and if there’s a day where we’d rather go for coffee and have a chat, we’ll do that instead.” Ole Sørensen is now the president of

SPORT EXECUTIVE

his club, which is constantly attracting new members. Two years ago there were only 40, but now there are 70 members who belong to the Grindsted Family and Company Sports Federation, which offers archery. The association does not have an elite training programme, but it does nurture a couple of talents every now and then. Instead, it offers a varied training programme, which can include hunting skills practice (shooting at cardboard animals) and filling the training hall with balloons. Danish Federation for Company Sports is the smallest of the Danish sports federations and archery is the smallest sport in Danish Federation for Company Sports.

THE SMALLEST SPORTS IN THE DANISH FEDERATION FOR COMPANY SPORTS

Hang gliding Cricket Roller skating Weightlifting Water ski/wakeboard Agility Curling Ice hockey Taekwondo Archery The Danish Federation for Company Sports organises sporting activities at factories and in companies.

Photo: Peter Brix

COPENHAGEN - DESIGN – ART – ARCHITECTURE – FASHION – FOOD

FOR LOVERS OF THE CITY Danish design, art, fashion, food – and more. Much more. Copenhagen’s city life is for modern people. BY LARS ANDERSSON, TEAM TEKSTWERK/VISIT COPENHAGEN

DEMOCRATIC FASHION Ever heard of the term democratic fashion? It covers wearable and high quality clothes, which are affordable to most. Not many places can boast having so many mid-priced shops with quality fashion as Copenhagen. Copenhagen and Denmark have gradually gained a higher level of fashion consciousness too with shops and fashion designers such as Mads Nørgaard, Henrik Vibskov, Stine Goya and Wood Wood. READ MORE: www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/shopping/ top-10-danish-fashion

Photos: Visit Copenhagen

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HAVENS FOR ART LOVERS Copenhagen is a great city for art lovers. The city is home to internationally acknowledged art museums attracting artists from all over the world. Situated in scenic surroundings Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, a little North of Copenhagen, and ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, a little south of Copenhagen, are both havens for lovers of modern and contemporary art. Whereas The Danish National Gallery in central Copenhagen houses temporary exhibitions as well as three permanent collections of paintings and sculptures, graphic art and plaster casts. READ MORE: www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/sightseeing/top-10-art-museums

LIGHT, WATER, OPEN SPACES AND SUSTAINABILITY The centre of Copenhagen is dominated by four to six-storey buildings rather than the typical glass and steel skyscrapers found in many other capital cities. However, the city is far from coming to an architectural standstill. Contemporary architectural additions to the city are popping up everywhere and manage to blend in beautifully with the old historic buildings and palaces. Light, water, open spaces and sustainability are the key elements in the recent architectural boom in the Danish capital. The emergence of bold urban planning and world-class architecture is found in four key parts of the city, namely Ă&#x2DC;restad, Nordhavn, city centre and not least along Copenhagenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waterfront. The proximity to and reflection of the water in these new buildings are a common characteristic. READ MORE: www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/sightseeing/top-10-architecture

COPENHAGEN - DESIGN – ART – ARCHITECTURE – FASHION – FOOD

TRAVEL TO EAT Seasonal ingredients. Organic. Innovative. These are just some of the words describing the Danish and New Nordic cuisine today. In the past, Danish food was not on anybody’s lips, and certainly no one would travel to eat it. This has changed drastically with the opening of the world’s best restaurant, noma, in Copenhagen and the ‘Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen’. Nowadays, Copenhagen is one of the leading gastronomic destinations in the world. Dig in! READ MORE: www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/gastronomy/danish-cuisine

SIMPLY MADE FOR LIVING Functional. Edgy. Timeless. Minimalistic. Quality. Danish design is known all over the world for its clean, simple lines, great materials and classic creations that never go out of style. Originally, Danish design was a product of the 1950s. The post-war period experienced a lack of materials, and therefore durability and high quality was in demand. Design in this period was thus characterised by simple design, functionality and minimalism. Danish design is simply made for living. READ MORE: www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/design/ danish-design-architecture www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/shopping/ top-10-danish-design

Photos: Visit Copenhagen

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iconic venue. iconic competition. iconic sport. world archery championships. christiansborg palace, copenhagen. 1-2 august 2015.

tickets www.archery2015.com

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SPORTSISTERS CHECK OUT IN JUNE SPORTEXECUTIVE.DK Photo: All Over Press

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