Olympic Newsdesk - Field Hockey Revenue, Olympic Store in Beijing, Marion Jones

Field Hockey Looks at 6-year Plan

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) hopes to triple its revenue by 2016.

The FIH executive board begins 3-days of meetings on Dec. 4 in Melbourne, Australia. The board will examine a six-year strategy aimed at enlarging its $5 million annual budget.

FIH spokesman Arjen Meijer said hockey has a strong place within the Olympic Movement. The strategic plan represents the next phase in the development of the sport.

"The strategic plan through 2008/2010 was to maintain hockey as an Olympic sport. That was the most important part," he said. "Now we get into the next phase saying we want to triple our revenue. That is our aim by 2016."

To increase revenue, IHF will search for more sponsors and increase the stature of events. IHF will also examine how it controls rights for its events such as sponsorships and television.

The federation looks to expand its portfolio from five to eight global sponsors. IHF has relationships with motorcycle manufacture Hero Honda, Dutch bank ABN-Amro, Belgium accounting firm BDO International, Samsung and Ata Holding of Azerbaijan.

Part of the long-term strategy also includes holding World Cup events in India and Netherlands where hockey has a strong following. FIH will hold the 2010 Men's World Cup in New Delhi from Feb. 28-March 13.

IHF added Indian steel manufacturer SAIL as a World Cup sponsor two ago. Hero Honda is the Title Sponsor. The federation hopes to add more sponsors in the next three months, said Meijer.

The 2010 World Cup serves as an official test event for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The hockey stadium is one of a few Games venues that has experienced delays.

"We are monitoring it very carefully. The stadium at this stage is not completely ready," said Meijer. "We have people going there every two or three weeks to see what is happening and to help local organizers and to make sure that by the end of February that we can play and that it will be an excellent tournament."

Honav Opens Chinese Olympic Store

In the shadow of the Temple of Heaven, the Chinese Olympic Committee has launched a flagship store for licensed products.

The store opened Nov. 27 at 25 Qianmen Street, just north of Temple of Heaven landmark.

The store is operated by Honav, the Beijing company which is the master licensee for the Chinese Olympic Committee. Honav is also making its mark internationally as a licensee for London 2012 and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

Speaking at the opening of the flagship store, Honav chairman Jack Chen says he hopes to open 100 COC stores over the next two to three years “in an effort to help with the development of the Olympic Movement in China”.

Briefs…

…Olympic baseball umpire Nelson Diaz of Cuba reportedly defected to the United States on Sunday. Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald reported that Diaz arrived in the Miami with his wife and two daughters. In addition to working three Olympics, Diaz umpired the 2006 World Baseball Classic, and Pan American Games tournaments. He apparently made the decision to defect when Cuban baseball officials barred him from the 2009 WBC over fears he would defect then. While multiple baseball players have defected, Diaz is believed to be the first umpire to do so.

…Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones is apparently trying to make a comeback—this time in basketball. Jones, the five-time medalist at the Sydney Olympics in athletics from the United States, is reportedly in good physical shape and willing to play in the WNBA, the U.S.’ professional league for women, or in Europe. "I thought it would be an interesting journey if I decided to do this," Jones told The New York Times. "It would give me an opportunity to share my message with young people on a bigger platform." Jones hasn’t played organized basketball since 1996, when she helped the University of North Caroline win a national championship. She admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during the 2000 Olympics and was stripped of her medals.

…Fiji will appeal its Commonwealth Games ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee president Vidhya Lakhan made the announcement Tuesday, one day after the Commonwealth banned Fiji from competing at next year’s games. "We totally disagree with this decision. In our view it is tantamount to political interference in sports" Lakhan said."As such we will now be taking the matter up to the Court of Arbitration for Sports for a resolution."

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Written by Ed Hula III and Sam Steinberg.