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ISSUE 4 - Thursday, 19 April, 2018 #sportaccord www.sportaccord.com @sportaccord

International Federations were yesterday urged to take responsibility for addressing their major concerns and to use existing procedures to tackle such issues as discrimination, doping and preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The issues were among the matters discussed at SportAccord as the IOC met members of the GAISF Council and they have also arisen during other meetings this week.

ASOIF and AIOWF decided against going ahead with a planned joint meeting this week – a decision that AIOWF Secretary General

Sarah Lewis said reflects the frequent and productive contact between the two Associations – allowing them to pursue other matters at SportAccord.

Lewis added that AIOWF’s meeting with the IOC included a report on the success of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games and an update on preparations for Beijing 2022, with both cities working closely on the transfer of knowledge and with sports managers from Beijing having shadowed their counterparts in PyeongChang.

Concerns had been raised by some IFs at ASOIF’s General

Assembly on Tuesday about the facilities for Tokyo 2020 and the complexity of issues relating to allegations of doping involving Russian athletes.

Mark Adams, the IOC President’s Spokesman, said the matters were among the points raised during the meeting with GAISF and the responses were consistent – that the IFs have the authority to act.

Adams echoed the comments less than 24 hours after ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti had urged IFs to deal directly with Tokyo organisers regarding specific

IFs URGED BY IOC TOACT ON CONCERNS

SportAccord will wind down for another year this evening with the official closing event, which promises a feast of delicious food, drinks, dancing and music at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, just a short walk from the Centara Grand (p12).

Also in today’s edition of The Daily, we have reviews of the meetings at SportAccord yesterday (p1-2), as well as a review of every session from the SportAccord Summit conference programme (p3) and a round-up of LawAccord (p4).

Looking ahead, we have previews of today’s HealthAccord conference (p5) and a Big Interview with FIH Digital Manager Nikki Symmons (p11), who is part of the MediaAccord conference, which will take place in Conference Room Two on the 23rd Floor this afternoon.

We also speak to LaLiga’s Head of Global Partnerships and Sales, Grégory Bolle (p5), who is a late addition to today’s schedule. Delegates are also reminded that the final World Urban Games – Cities Information Session at SportAccord will take place today (10:30-11:30, Conference Room Two).

IPC President Andrew Parsons, NBA Vice President Sheila Rasu and ISA President Fernando Aguerre take part in yesterday’s Plenary Panel Session at the SportAccord Summit. A full summary of the Summit’s first day can be found on page 3

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CONTINUED ON P2

ARISF

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DE Federations encouraged to engage communities PAGE 2

FIH’s Nikki Symmons on the switch from field to management

PAGE 11

YOUR GUIDE TO WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY AT SPORTACCORD IN BANGKOK

CLOSING EVENT

ALSO4 LawAccord round-up

5 LaLiga’s Grégory Bolle

6 A year of milestones for FIBA

9 Chungcheongbuk-do’s ambition

The Daily - 19.4.182 Thursday - 19.4.18 3

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concerns. Adams told The Daily: “It is not unusual for IFs to become concerned about facilities for their particular sports as they approach the delivery stage of the Games. I don’t think we have any major concerns. The IFs are able to deal with their own issues.”

On doping, Adams said the IOC had advised IFs to use their access to Moscow’s Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), which contains all testing data between January 2012 and August 2015.

He said: “The IOC is acting on its responsibilities. We banned the National Olympic Committee and took action that needed to be taken against individual athletes. We have reminded the IFs that they can take responsibility outside the Olympic remit and deal with the individual athletes in their own sports.”

Adams added that the issue of discrimination and boycotts brought unanimous agreement

during the meeting with GAISF. He said: “There was a long discussion about the rise of nationalism and about the situations in Ukraine, Russia, Kosovo, Serbia and with Israeli athletes, and the IOC asked the IFs to take action.

“It was raised as one of the key issues at the moment. There is already a UN resolution which supports the independence and autonomy of sport. Governments should not interfere and anyone holding an Olympic competition must abide by that.

“We ask the Federations to report any infringements or worries as quickly as possible, because solving a problem once it has happened is much harder than setting guidelines before the event.

“The IFs and the IOC were on the same page on this. Individuals should be allowed to represent their countries without restriction. That’s one of the fundamental principles of sport.”

FROM FRONT PAGE

The Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF) underlined its commitment to the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Active Society Commission with a joint workshop, with the aim of helping IFs to focus on what they do now in their communities and on how they could do more.

The IFs worked with a team from the IOC, providing input on the current projects they deliver with cities, schools, sport-makers and other partners.

They then compared templates to discuss best practice and were invited to consider how they would deliver a six-month sport programme for a specific amount of funding.

ARISF President Dr Raffaele Chiulli told The Daily: “The goal is using sport to improve physical activity among the population, giving access to sport as a right for all and engaging in sporting activities with a special focus on youth, because sport is more important in society than ever.”

The workshop for all IFs followed a meeting of the ARISF Council with key figures from the IOC,

headed by President Dr Thomas Bach.Chiulli said that he told the IOC how happy

he was to see ARISF sports included in the programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires and the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne in 2020.

He said: “We talked about the excellent collaboration during the past year and the relationship between the two organisations, which continues to go from strength to strength.”

Authenticity is a key component of successful influence marketing for IFs, but they have to understand they won’t be able to control all of the output, delegates were told during an engaging SportAccord Summit Plenary Panel Session yesterday.

The panel of experts agreed that sportspeople are leading influencers, but trust, credibility and relevance are all crucial aspects if athletes are to be utilised in any kind of marketing campaign.

NGU Consultants President Charmaine Crooks said that IFs are beginning to embrace influence marketing as a way of engaging with followers worldwide.

“Trust is essential, and that comes from the IF and the athlete,” she said. “We want the athletes to be real for the fans and to respect them, because they are the ones who make us.”

Speaking from the perspective of a brand, Jean-Marc Pailhol, Head of Group Market Management & Distribution at Allianz SE, said that an investment in sport is “an investment in emotion and innovation”.

He added: “We try to arrange a win-win-win process – for the influencers, for the followers and for us. The job of an influencer is to provide content and they exist because people trust them, and the quality of the content is the most important thing.”

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons acknowledged

that athletes are “the biggest influencers we have”, but he stressed the need to be genuine: “You do not want followers; you want fans and consumers. Authenticity has a lasting impact.”

Sheila Rasu, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the NBA, outlined how the North American basketball league uses a combination of so-called “micro-influencers” and those with a broader reach.

“It’s important to use influencers who are natural to the brand and are fans,” Rasu said. “In the digital age, you can’t control everything anymore, and you have to accept that and sometimes just let things go.”

Demographic targetingTroy Pugmire, Managing Director, gramercy global media, explained the depths of demographic targeting that are available through influence marketing. “We have so much data and everything is trackable,” he said. “We can figure out how much money was generated and that is very interesting for our clients.”

International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre reminded attendees that influencers “have been around forever”, but the industry is just using them in different ways in the modern age.

“We found people with inspirational stories that will reach out to young people,” he said. “If they are not credible, then the opposite happens and you are set for a downfall.”

Esports represents a “real” way to engage with new generations of sports fans, according to World Sailing President Kim Andersen.

In a presentation entitled ‘IF Innovation’ yesterday at the SportAccord Summit, Andersen outlined how World Sailing is continuing to undertake a number of new initiatives, including the launch of eSailing, to take the sport to a wider audience.

The IF launched the eSailing World Championships – aimed at everyone, from experts on the water to gamers – in November last year, with digital partner platform Virtual Regatta reporting that around half of the players are non-sailors with a young age profile.

“Esports is not only a game; it can also be real,” Andersen said. “It is a great way to get in touch with a new and younger audience, as sailing can be difficult to understand for non-sailors.”

Andersen also spoke about the ever-increasing role of data and digital technologies in the development of the sport. “It is our duty to broaden the global reach of our sport. This is where technology comes into play,” Andersen added.

Television is still “far from dead”, according to Jonathan Davies, Managing Director of Advertiser Partnerships at Eurosport & Discovery Networks International.

Reflecting on PyeongChang 2018 audience figures that “delighted” the international sports broadcaster, Davies told the SportAccord Summit that Eurosport’s digital platforms served as “a complement rather than a replacement” for its established television channels.

“The majority of our coverage was still consumed on live TV,” Davies said.

He also highlighted Eurosport’s track record of digital innovation, including the Eurosport Cube augmented-reality studio, which earned rave reviews during the PyeongChang Games.

“The core challenge facing every media platform is to get people to care,” he added. “If you get people to understand more, you get people to care more and you get people to consume more. It’s a virtuous circle.

“Technology, used correctly, can bring the sport alive and the message here is that Eurosport is trying to push the boundaries for the best viewer experience.”

BE ‘REAL’ TO MAKE A LASTING IMPACT⊲⊲ The International Mind

Sports Association (IMSA) marked its General Assembly at SportAccord by welcoming its seventh Member into the organisation.

The IMSA also gave an update on two major sponsorship deals and on plans for new tournaments, including a SportAccord Mind Games in 2019.

The Federation of Card

Games (FCG), which has held observer status for the last 12 months, has now made the step up to become a full Member, having developed a programme of exhibitions, matches and tournaments as it works to transform card games from casual entertainment to a professional mind sport.

The IMSA also confirmed major sponsorship deals with Alibaba and AGTech.

In addition to the SportAccord Mind Games, the IMSA is working towards staging a Youth Mind Sports Games in Tianjin, China, in 2020 with the aim of attracting 600 participants from all over the world.

The emphasis on youth will be reinforced with plans for a network of academies stretching from Asia to the Middle East and the US.

⊲⊲ Zarah Al-Kudcy, Commercial Partnerships,

Formula 1, told SportAccord Summit delegates during her keynote speech yesterday that competitors, administrators, fans, the media and sponsors are all stakeholders that need to be part of the journey to change a culture. Al-Kudcy insisted that, despite being a difficult process, such an evolution can ensure long-term success.

“Diversity is not just about ethnicity, age or gender,” she said. “It can be about experience and being opened to non-traditional backgrounds. It should help us all to keep pace with our ever-evolving industry, rather than repeating our mistakes.”

Esports attracts new generation

Olympics shows TV still in control

The Daily - 19.4.184 Thursday - 19.4.18 5

A dependence on dialogue emerged as the key theme from a LawAccord session that looked at legal and commercial compliance for hosts and bidding regions, and also explored developments in the fight against doping.

The need for discussion was highlighted by Fréderique Reynertz (pictured), the IAAF’s Director of Legal and Business Affairs, as an essential part of a bidding process, but she also said it was unlikely that a party would pull the plug on a project if something went wrong.

Craig McLatchey, CEO of EKS-Lagardère Sports, said it was important to retain the “nuclear option” of pulling out of an event, but added that such a tactic should be used sparingly.

David Simon, President of the Los Angeles Sports Council, summed up the increasing complexity of sport when he revealed that a typical document for hosting an event when he started in the industry was three pages. Now it runs into hundreds.

Dr Robert Kaspar, Assistant Professor for Sports Management, Seeburg Castle

University, Austria, said IFs needed to demonstrate innovation and flexibility, because one size no longer fits all and parties can no longer adopt a take-it-or-leave-it approach.

Call for supportJeff Benz, a Certified E-Discovery Specialist, JAMS Mediator and Arbitrator and former General Counsel of the United States Olympic Committee, called for support for the CAS arbitrators whose specific expertise cannot be found in any other court.

On doping, Catherine Ordway, Senior Consultant at Snedden Hall & Gallop lawyers

and Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne, said figures from WADA for 2014 revealed that only one per cent of doping tests identified violations.

She said: “That’s been standard for years and there are a few reasons. The main one is that most athletes are not doping. There are also short excretion rates and some agencies and IFs are not testing at the right time or for the right substances.”

Matthieu Reeb, Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), provided an update on tests on Russian athletes and said the outcome of further appeals would be announced during the coming week.

Ben Cohen, who will leave WADA in May to take up the post of Director General of the International Testing Agency, said he would soon be hiring staff, defining services and setting the cost. “Each sport has to know what it’s going to test, when it’s going to test and why it’s going to test,” he said.

Stephen Townley, Co-Chair of LawAccord, said: “The quality of the event and the calibre of the speakers were exceptional, and there was a lot of valuable information.”

DIALOGUE IS CRUCIAL

LaLiga’s Head of Global Partnerships and Sales, Grégory Bolle, will lift the lid on the Spanish football body’s innovative approach to fulfilling its commercial potential worldwide at SportAccord today.

In a one-on-one interview Bolle will discuss LaLiga’s Global Network, which has stationed dozens of representatives of the body in strategic markets over recent months in order to maximise development opportunities.

The initiative has driven particularly impressive results in Asia, where highlights have included a sponsorship deal with MTN in Iran, corporate social responsibility agreements with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in India and the Uni Papua Football Community in Indonesia, while collaboration agreements have been secured in various countries, including Japan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

“At LaLiga we prioritise entering countries that are of strategic interest,” Bolle told The Daily. “We do so through our offices – of

which we’ve currently got nine across eight countries, including four in Asia, namely in Singapore, Delhi, Beijing and Shanghai – and our 45 LaLiga Global Network delegates who cover 44 countries.

“We complement that by working hand-in-hand with our international broadcasters to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the different markets, expand our social and audiovisual audiences, and reach out to potential sponsors. This is the result of a strategy that is also helping us to build our brand in these territories.”

Bolle, who added that it is crucial to know a market “inside-out” before entering it, said that LaLiga has “carried out a tailored, detailed footballing development strategy in Asia, leveraging collaborations with institutions, governments and competitions”.

He said: “On this score, we have signed several agreements centred on knowledge exchange in a range of fields, including sports administration and the development of marketing, internationalisation and competition-related strategies.”

LALIGA’S VIEW

⊲⊲ HealthAccord will bring a new dimension to SportAccord when

it makes its debut today, with a focus on driving positive change through the application of state-of-the-art sports science and sports medicine.

HealthAccord – which will be led by Co-Chairs Dr Margo Mountjoy, of ASOIF, and Prof. Fabio Pigozzi, a Member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission – will draw on the knowledge and work of experts from global health programmes and be of interest to IFs, cities, governing bodies, sports scientists, the medical fraternity and industries with a vested interest in sport.

Under the themes ‘The Power of Sport’ and ‘The Power to Change’, the programme will include presentations, panel sessions and case studies featuring stellar speakers, including International Ski Federation (FIS) Secretary General Sarah Lewis OBE, International Floorball Federation (IFF) Secretary General John Liljelund, International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) President Ivo Ferriani and International University Sports Federation (FISU) President Oleg Matytsin.

According to Mountjoy, delegates who attend HealthAccord can expect to learn about strategies that provide benefits spanning a range of issues, from sports sponsorship to social media.

“A healthier athlete will not only perform more spectacular feats that are ‘higher, stronger and faster’ to thrill global audiences, but will also remain active in sport for a longer duration,” Mountjoy told The Daily.

Mountjoy, who will make a presentation entitled ‘Moving Forward’ during HealthAccord, believes there are opportunities for IFs to “collaborate with other sports organisations to improve health through educational and monitoring initiatives”, but acknowledged: “Like with all new initiatives, the implementation of ‘change’ can pose a challenge within the sporting community.”

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The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has welcomed three more Member Associations over the past year as the pool of players and fans worldwide continues to expand ahead of a return to the Olympic Games. WBSC has been keen to engage as many people as possible as the IF prepares for what promises to be a warm welcome from fans at the Tokyo 2020 Games, 12 years after the most recent appearance of baseball and softball at the Olympics.

This pledge has extended to SportAccord delegates this week, with the WBSC stand offering an exclusive virtual-reality experience of what it is like to swing at a few lightning-quick pitches by trying out Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2018, ahead of the Konami video game’s release on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita later this month.

“This is an exciting and unprecedented time for our sport and Federation”, WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari told The Daily. “We now have around 200 million players and fans across 140 countries and territories.”

WBSC has loftier ambitions, though, with the aim of expanding its fan and player pool to more than one billion people in the coming years. With this in mind, WBSC will showcase its new five-on-five street discipline, Baseball5, in the Green Park sports exhibition zone at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

“WSBC will continue to roll out practical initiatives that can be easily applied to youth and mass audiences across genders and continents, helping to reach our growth targets leading to 2020, 2024 and over the next decade,” Fraccari added.

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Regular SportAccord Partner Edmonton Events arrived at this year’s convention with a message – and a massage!

The Silver Partner, which has a track record of offering some of the more offbeat gifts and attractions at its stand, this year presents the Edmonton Events Relaxing Zone, with complimentary massages by professional Thai therapists.

Along with the massage comes the message that Edmonton is assembling a vibrant and varied programme of sporting events, with a keen eye on

sharpening its ability to measure the benefits.

Lindsay Harrison, Director of Edmonton Events, told The Daily the city was the only one in Canada to crack the top 20 in Sportcal’s Global Sports Cities Index in 2017. Economic assessment of the Ford

World Men’s Curling, UCI-sanctioned ATB Tour of Alberta, plus accompanying Velothon Edmonton, and FISE (Festival International des Sports Extrêmes) World Edmonton by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance calculated the audience at over 172,000 and income of C$9.7m (€6.2m/US$7.7m).

Exciting new eventsComing soon is the Hlinka Gretzky Cup international best-on-best U18 ice hockey tournament, the Canadian Football League’s 106th Grey Cup, the Canada versus Scotland rugby match and Red

Bull Crashed Ice. Edmonton is also a Candidate Host City in the United Bid Committee’s quest to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Harrison said: “We aren’t slowing down in 2018 as we host some exciting new events and continue to align our strategies with government at provincial and federal levels to further strengthen our capacity to support and host major events. A challenge we are working through is how best to measure the qualitative, social benefits major events create in our community as we report to our stakeholders.”

FORECAST FOR THE FUTURE“Communicating to the most important stakeholder any sporting organisation has... the local community, who need to know not just that the event will be delivered, but why it will make a difference to them...”

Sebastian CoePresident, IAAF

“A challenge we areworking through is howbest to measure thebenefits major eventscreate in our community”

FIBA President Horacio Muratore has hailed a “year of milestones” for basketball’s global governing body and highlighted the addition of the 3x3 discipline to the programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as a “breakthrough moment”.

Muratore told The Daily that Tokyo 2020 approval for 3x3 represented the culmination of a 10-year process during which FIBA, a SportAccord Bronze Partner, has worked closely with the International Olympic Committee, including showcasing the format at the Youth Olympic Games.

“Promoting 3x3 is an important part of our development strategy, because it has massive appeal among young people,” he said. “3x3 will get more

people playing basketball and learning to love a game which already captivates players and fans on every continent, and our inclusion in the Olympic Games will offer our National Member Federations a fresh chance to win medals.”

Another important development has been the successful introduction of the qualifying system for the first-ever 32-team edition of the FIBA World Cup, which will take place in China next year.

The system is part of a new competition calendar and means that national teams will qualify for the World Cup through group stages, with sets of home and away games played during windows in November, February, July and September. “The first two windows

have proved an overwhelming success, with more than 600,000 fans flocking to arenas worldwide, and they attracted a massive digital audience of 667 million, with more than 115 million video views,” Muratore added.

“The new system is critical, because we believe that bringing the teams home to play competitive games in front of their own fans at times when basketball enjoys optimum media attention is vital to growing the game, creating new fans and attracting new players.”

FIBA’s Executive Committee also recently approved details of a new competition system for women. Starting next year, there will be qualifying tournaments for major competitions, which will be played during international windows.

Muratore welcomes FIBA’s ‘year of milestones’

WBSC AIMS FOR 1BN

Preparations are “firmly on track” for the first ever Rugby World Cup in Asia next year, according to World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont.

With the Olympic Games taking place in Tokyo in 2020, many IFs will be interested in World Rugby’s experience as it stages its showpiece tournament in Japan a year earlier.

However, with World Rugby also looking forward to rugby sevens returning to the Olympics for the second consecutive time in Tokyo following a successful debut in Rio two years ago, Beaumont is optimistic about the future of the sport in the country and across the continent as a whole.

“We are anticipating an incredible reception in Japan come 2019,” Beaumont told The Daily.

“Long-term, we believe the Rugby World Cup will be a game-changer for rugby in the region. It is the first Rugby World Cup to be held in Asia, so we’re hugely excited about bringing the biggest event in rugby to a region where interest in the sport is growing exponentially.”

With more than nine million players worldwide and a worldwide fan base of 338 million, it is perhaps little surprise that demand exceeded supply in the first ticketing phase for this groundbreaking Rugby World Cup. Such interest bodes well for rugby sevens at the Olympics in 2020.

“Olympic inclusion has been pivotal for rugby, projecting the dynamic, competitive sport of sevens and its players, and inspiring and engaging new audiences worldwide,” Beaumont added.

Beaumont ‘excited’ by Japan prospects

It will come as little surprise to anyone who has explored the parks and gardens of Thailand that the orchid is the country’s national flower. Thailand is home to some 1,100 different types of orchid, with a large number grown each year in farms to maintain the country’s proud position as the No.1 exporter of the flower worldwide.

DID YOU KNOW?

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A growing capability for hosting international events coupled with a heavyweight financial commitment is driving the belief that Chungcheongbuk-do can build a future as a leading centre for sport with a strong focus on martial arts.

The province, which sits in the centre of South Korea, is working to maximise the benefits of a huge injection of KRW40tr (€30bn/US$37bn).

Chungcheongbuk-do, a Gold Partner of SportAccord here in Bangkok, said the investment is just the start.

“We have embarked on a journey to rise higher in the future and the world,” the team told The Daily.

“We are dedicated to building a sophisticated province with culture, tourism and sports. Thus, it strives to foster sports, hosting various domestic and international sports events.”

The Chungcheongbuk-do success story boasts events in a range of sectors, including the 2017 Osong Cosmetics and Beauty

Expo and the 2017 International Korean Medicine Bio Industry EXPO. In sport, the province hosted the 2013 World Rowing Championships and, more recently, the Korean National Sports Festival and the World Youth Martial Arts Masterships.

This year organisers are preparing to welcome the 13th World Firefighters Games in September to Chungju, 130 kilometres south of Seoul. The World Youth Martial Arts Masterships will return to the city next year, buoyed by impressive figures from last year’s

event. The competition was attended by 1,900 athletes and officials from 81 countries, and involved 17 events, including taekwondo, judo, kickboxing and kendo. The plan is to expand the 2019 Masterships, with 4,000 athletes and officials from about 100 countries competing in 20 events.

The province is also building the International Centre of Martial Arts Chungju (ICM), a Category Two Centre of UNESCO, to raise its status as a

hub of world martial arts. The Chungcheongbuk-do team added:

“On the strength of continued economic growth and successful hosting of various international events, we are striving towards promoting Chungcheongbuk-do as a hub of the world’s traditional martial arts and sports.

“The World Martial Arts Masterships will again enhance the status of Chungcheongbuk-do as a centre of international martial arts and sports.”

GOLD PARTNER 2018

Chungcheongbuk-do’s big futureThe Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA), a SportAccord Bronze Partner, has bolstered its resources for Members by updating a variety of industry tools.

Last month CSTA launched the inaugural Global Sports Impact (GSI) Canada Index, which had been developed in partnership with Sportcal, a SportAccord Principal Media Partner.

“The tool is designed to rank all cities hosting national sports championships and international sports events in Canada through a data-driven assessment of performance, enabling host cities to better understand the impact they are delivering through their sports event strategy,” CSTA CEO Rick Traer told The Daily.

In the initial ranking Montreal was ranked as the top city in Canada for hosting sports events, followed by Edmonton, Quebec City, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Another tool that has been launched is the Sport Tourism Assessment Template (STAT), designed for destinations, municipalities and communities to assess their position within the sport tourism industry.

“STAT allows CSTA members of any size, budget and stage of evolution as a sport tourism host market to conduct a self-analysis, and identify areas for strategic and tactical development in both

event bidding and hosting,” Traer added.

Since SportAccord last year the CSTA has also signed a three-year partnership with Destination Canada, Canada’s national tourism marketing organisation, to promote Canada as a preferred sport tourism destination on an international basis. As part of the agreement, Destination Canada is the lead partner in Canada’s delegation, organised by the CSTA, to SportAccord in Bangkok.

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⊲⊲ The Finnish Olympic Committee (FOC) is turning to a homegrown solution to drive its bid for

recognition as a pioneer in sustainable sports and events.A Bronze Partner at SportAccord, the FOC is

highlighting figures from the EcoCompass environmental management and certification system to underline the potential cost and revenue benefits of sustainability.

Helsinki World Gymnaestrada 2015 promoted the use of public transport, with the result that only five per cent of people used their own car, with the rest opting for buses, trams, trains, subway or walking.

At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Lahti 2017 the use of energy/bio waste and wind power helped avoid emissions to the equivalent of a car trip of 160,000km.

Other findings from the use of EcoCompass included an increase of 56 per cent in the use of environmentally-friendly chemicals, a 50-per-cent reduction in food waste and a 46-per-cent rise in the use of biodegradable or washable tableware.

Jeannette Good, Director of the Women’s World Floorball Championships 2015 and UEFA U19 Championships 2018, told The Daily: “Doing events in a sustainable manner is not just some petty business. In many cases, it is about saving money and having an image advantage when looking for sponsors.”

Finnish Olympic Committees Event Manager Essi Puistonen added: “If you would like your events to be executed in a sustainable manner, build up events of the future and have a reliable partner, come and meet us. We are happy to share our thoughts and start building the events together.”

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Engaging young people is a challenge that continues to face every International Federation in an era of increasingly squeezed attention spans.

However, according to Nikki Symmons, Digital Manager at the FIH, hockey’s global governing body, International Federations in general are not doing enough to attract the stars and spectators of tomorrow.

“Political factors” can provide obstacles, according to Symmons, who will join a roundtable discussion on ‘Adapting to the New Paradigm’ on the SportAccord Summit programme this morning, before focusing on ‘Millennials and the Media’ in a MediaAccord panel session later today.

Speaking broadly about the challenges for IFs, Symmons told The Daily: “Changes take much longer than they should and sometimes when things are approved, it can often be too late, as the world and especially millennials have moved on to the next big thing.

“This needs to change if sports want to keep up with even younger generations that are here now and on the way. In a world in which everything is available and available instantly, International Federations must adapt or die at this stage.

“The world is changing so rapidly that if you do not do this, you are going to disappear very soon.

“Also, sometimes we think we are going in the right direction, but we must stop, take a breath and figure out if we are really going in the right direction to appeal to a diverse, but ever-growing fan base. Adaptability is the key to success.”

Symmons speaks from a credible perspective, having enjoyed a stellar career

“Digital presence was one of ourdownfalls at London 2012. Beforethe ‘Hockey Revolution’ we didnot have a robust digital strategy”

2020UEFA 2020

EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

EUROPEAN WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS

ATP WORLD TOUR

IBSA GOALBALL U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

AND MANY MORE TO COME…

2018FINA SWIMMING WORLD CUP

WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

FINA WORLD JUNIOR ARTISTIC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

WTA WORLD TOUR

EAAF EUROPEAN ATHLETICS U18 CHAMPIONSHIP

EUROPEAN INDOOR ARCHERY CHAMPIONSHIP

MODERN PENTATHLON WORLD CUP

HUNGARIAN KICKBOXING WORLD CUP

MODERN PENTATHLON EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CANOE SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP

FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY MODERN PENTATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP

FINA YOUTH WATER POLO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

GYULAI MEMORIAL ATHLETICS GRAND PRIX

FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

EHF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL4

IHF WOMEN’S JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

2019WORLD TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP

FENCING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

MODERN PENTATHLON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

EUROPEAN MACCABI GAMES

ICF CANOE SPRINT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

FINA JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

WORLD ROWING MASTERS REGATTA

IWAS WHEELCHAIR FENCING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

PARA POWERLIFTING WORLD CUP

ATP WORLD TOUR

WTA WORLD TOUR

201717th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

FINA MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WORLD JUDO CHAMPIONSHIP

FINN DINGI GOLD CUP

EHF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL4

LEN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL6

FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX

RED BULL AIR RACE

WAKO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017

SPAR BUDAPEST MARATON 2017

100+ INTERNATIONAL SPORT EVENTS

THE SPORTS CAPITAL THAT DELIVERS GREAT VENUES AND WORLD CLASS EVENTS

MAJOR SPORT EVENTS IN BUDAPEST/HUNGARY

EMBRACE CHANGENikki Symmons, the FIH's Digital Manager, has a stark message for IFs that are unwilling to adapt

T H E B I G I N T E R V I E W

as a player, including 208 caps for Ireland, before moving into the administrative side of the sport. She combined her playing career with a teaching job in Dublin and is a graduate of the Master of Advanced Studies in Sport Administration and Technology course at AISTS in Lausanne.

Symmons joined the FIH in 2014, when the governing body’s ‘Hockey Revolution’ roadmap kicked in. Since then the organisation has made huge strides in the digital space. In 2017 alone the FIH enjoyed growth of 100 per cent on Twitter and Instagram, 62 per cent on Facebook and 110 per cent on Snapchat.

“Digital presence was one of our downfalls at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Before the ‘Hockey Revolution’ we did not have a robust digital strategy,” she added.

“Over the past three years we have

changed this and now in 2018 we have a clearer strategy, with a roadmap to lead the way. We have a huge number of young fans, so our strategy had to reflect this, ensuring we are catering to all our fans’ needs across all digital channels.”

Personal journeyReflecting on her personal journey, Symmons outlined the difficulties facing sportspeople who are coming to the end of their careers.

“It is a very tough transition to leave the sport you have played for basically your whole life to working in it,” she said. “You also see the ‘other’ side to sport, which can be mind-blowing sometimes, but it is great and challenging.

“It takes a huge effort and time to transition well. I started the process four years before I retired, as I felt it was not going to be easy considering all I ever wanted to do was play hockey for my country. Now I am grateful for the decision and how I am building a career in Switzerland.

“Realistically, you are catching up on many people who have been in the business world for all of their 20s and you are arriving in your early 30s, so you need to be prepared for this. Attitudes are changing towards athletes now, though, and how they can be hugely beneficial within any team.”

Symmons, though, would like to see more diversity and inclusion in sport.

“Working in this area provides me with a super platform to help these changes move on,” she added. “We still have a long way to go regarding issues that arise in the diversity and inclusion area, but this will change, believe me.”SportAccord Summit Roundtable: Adapting to the New Paradigm (today, 11:05-11:50); MediaAccord Panel Session: Millennials and the Media (today, 14:30-15:10)

Nikki Symmons

The Daily - 19.4.1812

A TREAT FOR YOUR SENSESExquisite cuisine and traditional Thai music and dancing in a majestic setting will greet delegates who attend SportAccord’s official closing event this evening.

Just a short walk from the Centara Grand, the Grand Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel will host the event, which promises to be a delight for all the senses, from 19:00-22:00.

Elegant Thai Lanna dancing will be on display – a traditional routine that depicts the respect in a Buddhist ceremony and offers blessing and peace towards visitors from foreign lands. Later in the evening, a Ramvong Thai folk dance will wrap up the festivities, with delegates welcome to join in.

A gastronomic feast will be provided via a variety of culinary treats, including miang kham-roasted coconut, satay moo-grilled pork, chicken tandoori skewers, Andaman Sea snapper and coconut-crusted tiger prawns.

Alongside other Thai delicacies will be dishes to suit every taste, including slow-roasted Australian beef sirloin with Yorkshire pudding, Chinese roast duck and mushroom risotto infused with Champagne.

A selection of Thai pastries, as well as lime and meringue pie, peach and raspberry crumble, crème

caramel and dark soft-centred chocolate pudding will be among the desserts.

Drinks will include vintage red and white wines, as well as local beer, while the khim, a traditional string instrument played with two flexible sticks of bamboo tipped with leather, will add to the relaxed atmosphere.

With stunning chandeliers and delicate touches of silk, the Grand Ballroom will provide the perfect backdrop to an evening of informal networking as SportAccord winds down for another year.

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Sport Bureau of Macao SAR Government_H.pdf 1 14/2/2018 18:19:19

THURSDAY, 19 APRILMEETINGS:• Beach Games Meeting (09:00-10:00)• Combat Sports Meeting (10:30-11:30)• World Urban Games – Cities Information Session (10:30-11:30)• Urban Games Meeting (12:00-13:00)• GAISF Council Meeting (14:00-17:30)• Social Responsibility Roundtable (14:00-15:30)• How to set up National Federations in Thailand (16:00-17:30)CONVENTION:• Exhibition (08:30-18:30)CONFERENCE:• SportAccord Summit (09:30-12:30)• HealthAccord (14:00-16:30)• MediaAccord (Conference Room Two, 23rd Floor – 14:00-16:30)SOCIAL:• Morning Activity (06:30-07:30): today – sepak takraw, tomorrow – yoga• Lunch (12:30-14:00)• Exhibition Showcase Cocktail (17:00-18:30)• SportAccord Closing Event (19:00-22:00)• After Hours Bar (22:00-00:00)

TODAY AT A GLANCEGrand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok