FIFA Seeks Club World Cup Investors -- Federation Focus

(ATR) FIFA invites commercial and investment proposals for its new club world cup tournament that launches in 2021.

Football’s governing body says it has put a Dec. 19 deadline for those entities "that have the necessary financial and operational capacity together with experience in managing a football property of this magnitude" to submit their proposals.

The process will include the creation of a strong and unique name and brand for the tournament. According to FIFA, all revenues from the event will be redistributed across the entire football community supporting the development of football globally.

FIFA says that since it announced in October that the inaugural edition of the tournament would be held in China, a high level of interest has been shown from companies potentially wanting to be involved. The new iteration of the event, which will be held every four years rather than annually, expands the number of teams from seven to 24.

The new tournament will also be played during the Northern Hemisphere summer rather than in December.

The penultimate edition of the seven-team version of the Club World Cup began on Wednesday in Qatar and runs through Dec. 21.

ISSF Approves New Constitution

The adoption of a new constitution highlighted the International Sport Shooting Federation Extraordinary General Assembly in Munich.

The ISSF’s old constitution had been in place since 1980.

The new document significantly increases direct representation of Confederations and Federations in the management structure of the ISSF.

It allows for a potential increase in the number of competitions, expands prospects for direct financial support to Member Federations, strengthens the role of athletes and fully implements good governance principles, the Olympic Charter and the WADA code.

Other measures approved by delegates at last weekend’s general assembly included a reduction in membership fees to $500, a third of the previous cost. Delegates also supported the decision to have an equal number of World Championships in shotgun, rifle and pistol in each Olympic cycle.

AirBadminton Community Project Unveiled

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) and HSBC jointly launch the AirBadminton Community Project.

The first of a number of planned permanent AirBadminton courts were unveiled at a special exhibition at the Tianhe Gymnasium in Guangzhou, China, in conjunction with the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals.

The event was attended by BWF President and Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games men’s singles gold medalist Poul-Erik Høyer, President and Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited, David Liao, and representatives from the Chinese Badminton Association (CBA) and Guangzhou Sports Bureau (GSB).

"This is something we are very excited about and something we believe will be a game-changer for the development of AirBadminton and the sport in general," Høyer said.

"We will be opening more courts in a further four locations in Guangzhou City before the end of the year, and it has been agreed that for the next phase of the rollout we will be laying more courts in nearby Shenzhen.

"If successful, we hope to see permanent AirBadminton courts erected all around the world."

The AirBadminton project began five years ago centered around the development of a new outdoor shuttlecock. The AirShuttle, with increased durability, stability and wind resistance, will allow people to have a more positive experience of badminton outdoors.

The first AirShuttles will be available on the market in the first quarter of 2020.

Written by Gerard Farek

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