Home Surfers Make Waves in France -- Federation Focus

(ATR) The 2019 ISA World Longboard Surfing Championship is in Biarritz, France this week.

A record 102 athletes from 31 countries are taking part in the event, which began last Sunday with the opening ceremony at the Côte des Basques, where the sport was first introduced to the continent in 1957.

The home country has plenty to cheer, as brothers Antoine and Edouard Delpero have impressed through the first four days of competition. Team France’s dominance has not been limited to the men’s division, with Alice Lemoigne earning the highest women’s heat total in the Main Event.

Denis Masseglia, the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), was on hand Wednesday to take in the action.

"The French athletes have been the best. Based on what I’ve seen today, they are in a great position to go for the team Gold Medal," he said.

The championship runs through this Sunday.

Wanda Group Visits House of Hoops

Basketball federation FIBA welcomes leadership of the Wanda Group to the headquarters of the federation in Mies, Switzerland.

Through its Wanda Sport division that includes Infront Media, the Chinese firm is FIBA’s worldwide exclusive partner for the sale and marketing of sponsorship and licensing rights for FIBA events through 2033. The events include FIBA Basketball World Cups and qualifiers, men's and women's Continental Cups and the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cups and Youth World Championships.

Wanda has been a FIBA partner since 2016.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis met with chairman Wang Jianlin and other representatives from Wanda. The inaugural 32-team FIBA Basketball World Cup, taking Aug. 31 to Sept. 15 in China was a major agenda item for the visit.

"We highly value our existing partnership with FIBA and are excited to be a part of the first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China," said Wang Jianlin.

"We look forward to jointly growing the sport of basketball in China, and globally, for many generations to come and are committed to doing this hand in hand with FIBA."

"We're honored by the visit of the Chairman, his second time to the House of Basketball, which shows the commitment and the level of cooperation between the two organizations," said Zagklis.

Table Tennis Strategic Partner Bids

The International Table Tennis Federation says it is "looking forward to receiving many strong bids this Friday for a long-term Commercial Strategic Partner to support its ambitious vision for table tennis".

Following the release of its Commercial Rights Tender in March, ITTF says 50 companies have expressed interest.

From 2021, all commercial rights to all major international ITTF properties will be available. The ITTF says it "wants to remodel the way in which these rights are monetized and main products are run, to finally unlock the full potential of table tennis so that it can compete among the highest-profile sports in the world".

A new commercial vehicle to be known as World Table Tennis will be formed to administer the program.

"It’s a time of challenge for many International Federations and, based on the recent ASOIF report, we believe that splitting the commercial and governance arms of the organization will be fundamental to driving our commercial growth via our new commercial vehicle, World Table Tennis. We believe this modern approach is the key to success," says ITTF President Thomas Weikert in a statement.

After the bids are received the ITTF will shortlist the candidates and seek final bids in July. The new strategic partner is supposed to be announced in October.

Written by Gerard Farekand Ed Hula.

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