Aamir Khan starrer Dangal has been performing phenomenally in China. The film’s performance has proved once again that Indian films have a huge demand in China. After collecting a total of 850.24 crores till 4th Saturday, the film showed a huge jump over 4th Sunday as it added more 41.76 crores in China. The film now stands with a grand total of 890 crores.
According to news report by koimoi.com, Dangal currently stands with an overseas total of 1122.25 crores. The film’s worldwide collections are 1664.60 crores – a new record set by any Bollywood film.
In the past, Aamir’s 3 Idiots and PK did well in China. In fact, PK was the first Bollywood film to mint over Rs 100 crore in China and it had done so in 16 days back in 2015.
Dangal is directed by Nitesh Tiwari and it is produced under the banners of UTV Motion Pictures and Aamir Khan Productions. The film also featured Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar and Sakshi Tanwar in key roles.
The film essentially revolved around the story of an Indian wrestler and his hardships to train his daughters to become world-class wrestlers.
An overwhelmed Aamir has been extremely pleased with the success of Dangal in China. Talking about the same, he said, “I am really happy that ‘Dangal‘ is getting appreciated in China and all over the world.”
On the work front, post the success of Dangal, Aamir will be next seen in Secret Superstar. Also, he has signed another film with YRF, titled Thugs Of Hindostan. The Vijay Krishna Arora film brings together for the first time on silver screen, Aamir along with Amitabh Bachchan. The film also stars Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Sheikh in key roles. It is slated to hit the theaters for Diwali 2018.
The weekend performance of “Sachin – A Billion Dreams” shows that the movie has done just fine for a docu-drama. The movie has collected 27.85 crores over the weekend. Now the next feat to look out for the movie would be to get listed onto 50 Crore Club.
The numbers over the weekend are just below “Half Girlfriend”, a much more conventional and quintessentially Bollywood entertainment flick, which brought in 32.04 crore over the weekend. In fact these are also the seventh highest weekend numbers of 2017 as only “Baahubali 2 [Hindi]”, “Raees”, “Jolly LLB 2”, “Badrinath Ki Dulhania”, “Kaabil” and “Half Girlfriend” have done better in theaters.
The film’s weekend collections are better than the likes of “Naam Shabana”, “Rangoon”,”Commando 2”, “Phillauri” and “OK Jaanu”, says a report on koimoi.com. Moreover, the numbers too have stayed on to be the highest over the weekend on day by day basis and that too when there was competition in the form of mainstream releases like “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”, “Hindi Medium”, “Baahubali 2” and “Half Girlfriend”.
The manner in which “Sachin – A Billion Dreams” is currently going, it should find its way into the 50 Crore Club. This is the first time ever when a docudrama has actually seen a mainstream release across the country (at over 2000 screens) and presented to a large section of audiences for their consumption.
There was capacity to earn much more given its wide release. However, that was more to do with this being a widespread release and if one takes into account that there is, in any case, a limited audience for such releases, “Sachin – A Billion Dreams” has been a fair play so far.
General secretary Kushal Das and I-League CEO Sunando Dhar will represent the All India Football Federation (AIFF) at the June 7 meeting of all stakeholders at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
According to IANS news report, AIFF president Praful Patel will skip the meet where all I-League and Indian Super League (ISL) clubs have been invited to discuss the next course of action as Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL), the organisers of ISL, mulls a longer league adding at least three more franchises to the existing eight.
“Me and Sunando will attend the meeting in Kuala Lumpur,” Das told IANS on Monday.
The meeting, which will be chaired by the AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John, will be attended by the appropriate AFC Directors.
Senior representatives from FIFA, as well as senior representatives from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India have also been invited.
Windsor John was recently in New Delhi at the invitation of Patel to discuss the future roadmap for Indian football. It was there that the June 7 meeting was decided.
Currently, the AIFF and FSDL are in a fix on including city giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in the newly planned longer league as both outfits have not submitted the bid documents, refusing to budge from their three-point demands.
The two bigwigs have refused to pay franchise fee of Rs 15 crore and have also asked for money from the central revenue pool and said they would like to play their home games in Kolkata.
In a meeting recently with state body Indian Football Association (IFA), the clubs said the venue won’t be a problem as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said an amicable solution will be reached after talking to three clubs which includes ISL champions Atletico de Kolkata.
The IFA is supposed to send a mail to the AIFF asking about the “roadmap”, which was promised to them by president Patel during the May 7 meeting in Mumbai.
As giants Real Madrid and Juventus face off in Cardiff on June 3 at the National Stadium of Wales, the European football chiefs have been discussing special measures. The security issue has being cited as a potential reason for the roof to be shut for the prestigious final, reports Wales Online.
According to a news report in mirrorco.uk , the Football Association of Wales have announced that they have taken the decision to close the stadium’s roof for the game after “recommendations made by the authorities over the last few weeks”.
An FAW statement read: “Delivering a safe, secure and memorable event for all stakeholders, in particular the teams and the spectators, has always been the primary objective for both the Cardiff 2017 Local Organising Committee (LOC) and UEFA.
“Over the course of the past 24 months, comprehensive plans have been drawn up to ensure that this objective is successfully delivered – the security operation for the four-day period covering 1 to 4 June will be the biggest ever seen for a sporting event in the UK.
“These extensive security measures, details of which have previously been shared with both the public and the media, will ensure that the UEFA Champions League Final, UEFA Women’s Champions League Final, UEFA Champions Festival and all other associated events can be safely enjoyed by all.
“Cardiff has a proud history of successfully delivering some of the World’s major sporting events, and the Cardiff 2017 LOC remain confident that this year’s two UEFA Champions League finals will be the biggest and best to date.
“Following discussions between all stakeholders, the Football Association of Wales (FAW), as the organiser of the event, has made the decision to close the roof of the National Stadium of Wales for the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final – the roof will also be closed for the two official training sessions to be held at the Stadium on Friday 2 June.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Intel, which is also Innovation Partner for the Champions Trophy 2017, have introduced a new technological advancement for the tournament. A number of bats that will be used by batsmen in CT 2017 will have Intel developed chips installed inside the willow.
The installation of chips will mark the first time anything of this sort has been experimented in the sport. This Champions Trophy is termed “Smart Cricket Tournament”. As part of its continuous drive to use the next wave of powerful technologies, Intel will transform the cricket experience for fans, and help coaches and players improve performance, says an Xtratime.com report.
Chips placed in the bats will help track the movement of the players. Cameras will trail it and the data thus obtained will be analysed by the experts. Three players from each team will have to use these special bats installed with chipsets.
Apart from chipsets, the three venues hosting the tournament – the Oval, Edgbaston and Sophia Gardens have been equipped with hawk-eye cameras. Along with that the usual Spidercam and drone cameras will be seen in action covering the game for the very first time. Over the years, the sport has seen many technical innovations relating to broadcast, betterment of decision-making and analysis of match report.
Another technical advancement is that the team sheet with the name of the XI players fielded for the game will not be a physical. The captains will submit and sign their XIs on a tablet. There is also something to cheer about for the fans, as they will have HD Wi-Fi available at all the venues.
Steve Elworthy, the director of the tournament said: “I think it probably is up there [as the first Smart Cricket tournament]. Everything we’ve done when we’ve sat down and planned this, we say “Smart” immediately you jump a technology solution for it.”
Minister of Sports, Vijay Goel, has played down the possibility of a potential India-Pakistan bilateral cricket series in near future. Cricket and terrorism cannot go simultaneously.
Officials on India and Pakistan cricket board had met in Dubai on Monday. According to Pakistan media reports, PCB executive committee chairman Najam Sethi has said that the second round of the meeting, if the first fails to produce any result, will be held in the presence of ICC chief executive officer Dave Richardson.
India has not played a bilateral series with Pakistan since 2007. Even though Pakistan had toured India in 2012-2013 for a short goodwill limited overs series. Pakistan Cricket Board has claimed to suffer $200million (Rs 1,300 crore) losses due to India’s refusal to play bilateral series.
Over the last couple of years, there have been multiple efforts from cricket boards of both countries to organize a cricket series between India and Pakistan, but political tensions have not allowed it to take place. And now amidst the Dubai meeting between the top officials from the BCCI and PCB in order to discuss the MoU signed between the two countries in 2014, Goel’s statement adds to it a further layer of uncertainty.
“India and Pakistan can’t play bilateral series till the terror from Pakistan remains,” Goel told reporters in New Delhi. “BCCI should speak to the government before giving any proposal to Pakistan. I have made it clear that bilateral cricket with Pakistan is not possible till the time there is cross-border terror. We have, however, no say on multilateral events (ICC tournaments).”
Rupees 30 lakh for a 10-second spot and still no inventory available. That is the scenario for commercial spot values for the forthcoming India-Pakistan match in the ICC Champions Trophy.
It is not just sport when India and Pakistan play cricket. The duel defines the economics of sports. Sets new commercial parameters for the sports market. Scarcity of bilateral matches between the arch-rivals is of the defining factors, befitting the economics’ principle of demand and supply. But, bigger are the emotions of the nation, further ignited by the prevailing tension and bitterness in bilateral relations between the neighbours.
If India is playing Pakistan, the broadcasters’ reach penetrates to the territories which seldom register on cricket broadcast ratings. “Even the States that have shown less interest in this sport like Tamil Nadu, the North-eastern States with very low or no visibility for cricket also watch the game between India and Pakistan,” says Arshad Nizam Shawl, Director, Alliance Advertising and Marketing. The leading sports media buyer in the country, Arshad is among the most familiar professionals with Indian sports marketing economy.
“India-Pakistan match is a huge thing for broadcasters as it enables them to increase their on-air spot price,” adds Arshad.
India and Pakistan have met in ICC tournaments twice during the past two years, spot price has created new record. STAR has garnered 25% rise on the value of a 10-second spot for the Indo-Pak ties from the 2015 World Cup to 2016 World T-20.
There is more demand than available spots, in any left, with STAR for Sunday’s Indo-Pak tie in the Champions Trophy. No brand wants to miss the opportunity when viewers from across the country, across all age groups and categories will be hooked to the STAR Sports screens. The spots have become a rare commodity with brands ready to shell anything between Rs 27 lakh and Rs 30 lakhs for a 10-second spot.
“The best thing is that the match is on Sunday. Most people are at their homes. Netizens go crazy and social media buzz starts pre-match with trending hashtags and lot of memes. During the match every ball, wicket or a six calls for an update on social media platforms. That’s the involvement that creates and unprecedented market,” says Arshad.
Nothing sells on TV more than an India-Pakistan match, simply because nothing is watched more than the clash of emotions and patriotism. TV viewership ratings show a consistency in unprecedented growth in India-Pakistan cricket ties when compared to any other television property.
“Talking through India’s perspective, the game is not at all about winning rather it’s about defeating the opposition. Defeating Pakistan is a moment of celebration, like a festival in India,” adds Arshad.
Such is the impact of the game, that even the STAR Sport’s new Indo-Pak match promotional campaign SABSE BADA MOH is about to touch 25 lakh views in a week’s time.
For brands, this ‘moh’ of an average Indian is the biggest opportunity that sends the marketing opportunity prices soaring across all platforms.
The Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago has its luxury suite named after Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian batting legend will be present at the inaugural function on Saturday. Even though there has been some heat around naming the suite after Sachin. The opening ceremony will be marked by a match between Lara XI and Sachin’s XI with the two cricketing greats of yesteryears leading their respective sides.
A section had raised the issue whether a foreign player should be given prominence in a stadium in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, with those opposing the move conveniently forgetting that a West Indies great, Sir Frank Worrell, has a similar suite named after him at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.
Things came to such a pass that Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Darryl Smith announced that the cricketing icon wouldn’t be coming due to “scheduling conflicts”, leading to much disappointment and dismay, says a Yahoo report.
“There were few windows, very, very small windows that we were talking about to get him here but that window was closed because of scheduling conflicts and the show must go on. He may come at some other time, as I said, later on in the year, but at this particular point we don’t want to push back or change the opening date to suit that, so we have to move forward,” Smith had said.
Even so, Smith had struck a conciliatory note.
“Of course, Sachin, as he would tell you any day, has been a person who has pulled Lara, throughout his career. In fact, he has mentioned to me several times, Sachin is the reason why there is Brian Lara because they were head-to-head to be the best player in the world. He was pulling Brian, Brain pulling him, for many, many years,” he had said.
Thankfully, better sense prevailed and Tendulkar’s visit is on, with he and Lara leading their respective XIs in a match to mark the opening of the stadium that has seen several cost over-runs.
Clifford Narinesingh, a biographer of Lara, Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, has said in an interview that it is an insular view that a foreign player should be denied prominence in a large public park or stadium. “A more global view which transcends the parochial will warmly entertain such a gesture as this can be positive. It can open vistas and make sport more embracing, beyond the limited vision revealed by so many,” he had said.
Narinesingh continued that he was not aware of how relevant this fact is in the context of the present controversy, but it is significant to note that the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, apart from honouring the late Sir Frank Worell, had gloriously bestowed its honorary membership on Vivian Richards and Michael Holding.
“All I can say at this moment is that an innocent hero has been drawn into a debate, a man whose heart is in West Indian cricket, apart from his home country,” Narinesingh said. Thankfully, the controversy is now at rest and all eyes will be on the opening of the Brian Lara Stadium on Saturday.
A PIL has contended that the logo of Shudh Plus, one of the IPL sponsors, is displayed on the jerseys of the Gujarat Lions team, which was against the law.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday issued notice to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sony Pictures Network and a pan masala manufacturing company for allegedly advertising and promoting tobacco products during the ongoing IPL tournament.
A division bench comprising chief justice D.B. Bhosle and justice Yashwant Varma passed the order on a public interest litigation filed by Prakash Kharwadkar, who contended that the logo of Shudh Plus, one of the sponsors of the tournament, is displayed on the jerseys of the Gujarat Lions team, which was against the law.
He further contended that according to Section 5 of the COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act), advertisement of tobacco products like pan masala is illegal unless the statutory warning “chewing or consuming tobacco products is injurious to health” is carried.
The petitioner further alleged that the jerseys of the Gujarat Lions team carried the logo without the statutory warning and that the pan masala manufacturer was also carrying out an ad campaign with the tag line “Shudh Plus khao IPL jao”, “which was direct promotion of a tobacco product”.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has opened public tenders for the European and African media rights for their World Athletics Series.
The governing body will select one or more media rights partners for the IAAF World Athletics Series in the two continents, with the agreement set to cover all of the competitions.
How long the contracts will run for are due to be determined following a negotiation process.
The IAAF claim that “new digital technologies” have created opportunities for its media partners to deliver more “flexible coverage” of athletics.
According to insidethegames.biz report, A two-month bidding process is now set to begin which will lead to presentations by the end of June by interested parties and the announcement of a preferred partner or partners in early July.
“Athletics needs to better embrace and exploit recent digital advances which allow more flexible delivery of our wonderful sport to the world, whether that audience is at home, in the office or on the move,” said IAAF chief executive, Olivier Gers.
“We also must ensure we present the excitement and spectacle of athletics at its best and for that a consistently high level of production is essential.
“We therefore look forward to engaging with partners who share our vision for the future of athletics broadcasting based upon consistently high standards and multi platform delivery that benefit our sport and our commercial partners.”
Athletics’ governing body also opened public tenders for the establishment of a joint venture for broadcasting and media production.
As part of its efforts to “enhance its fan, audience and sponsor experience”, the IAAF has issued the call for a partnership which will deliver a “more unified and consistent approach to the host broadcasting of athletics events”.
The aim is to develop production capabilities that can be used by all local Organising Committees to ensure a consistent level of broadcast and production.
At the end of a month-long selection process and interviews, the IAAF will award the selected company an exclusive negotiation period.
The joint venture is expected to be operational in January 2018.
An extra INR 526 Cr will be spent on preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, according to the nation’s Government.
Today the budget for the tournament was increased to just over INR 72000 Cr, with INR 39770 Cr coming from the Federal Government and INR 10400 Cr from regional sources.
It comes as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin approved plans to increase security measures during the World Cup and also this year’s FIFA Confederations Cup.
According to news agency TASS, the decree announced today states any mass rally during either tournament must be coordinated with the Interior Ministry’s regional departments and local security authorities.
Sales of weapons, firearms, ammunitions, explosives and poisonous substances will also be banned in certain areas.
The Confederations Cup, seen as a test event for the World Cup, is due to be staged between June 17 and July 2 with four stadiums in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sochi and Kazan being used.
Alongside Russia, defending World Cup champions Germany will be joined by Australia, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal and Cameroon in the competition.
The World Cup is scheduled to take place between June 14 and July 15 the following year.
Brazil is the only other team apart from the hosts who have qualified for the 32-team tournament so far.
The ESPN3 NBA Sidecast second screen broadcast experience is making another appearance, except this time it’s during the actual NBA playoffs versus the regular season, says a Sports Techie report.
For ESPN’s coverage will give NBA viewers the opportunity to watch the game on one part of the screen while NBA commentators and media personalities will rotate in and out of the other boxes, giving fans additional options to the traditional linear experience.
The rotating cast will include the likes of Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst, Amin Elhassan, Pablo Torre and Tom Haberstroh, among others from the NBA podcast The Basketball Analogy — newly-named after layoffs led to changes in the TrueHoop Podcast — at the ESPN Los Angeles Production Center. Viewers will receive analysis and commentary around the Games and discussion pertaining to NBA Playoffs storylines and league culture.
Earlier this April, the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder were some of the first teams to debut on the NBA Sidecast experience. Like the playoffs, the regular season broadcast on ESPN3 and the network’s app also featured real-time analysis along with topical league discussion.
Adidas is emerging the hands down winner. Soccer teams, supporting the three-striped logo T-shirt, are performing well in Europe’s soccer leagues. Brand Adidas is set to score a rare hat-trick over its rival Nike.
After Manchester United and Ajax Amsterdam booked their spots for the final in soccer’s UEFA Europa League, one winner is already certain – Adidas AG.
The German sporting-goods maker is sponsoring both teams, as well as the finalists of Europe’s more prestigious Champions League tournament – Juventus and Real Madrid. Adidas’s three-stripe logo also appears on the jerseys of teams that have won or are poised to secure the titles of at least three of the continent’s biggest national competitions, in England, Germany, and Italy, says a BloomburgPursuits report.
The near sweep is unusual in the high-stakes world of soccer sponsorship, where Adidas competes fiercely with arch-rival Nike Inc. as well as Puma SE, Under Armour Inc. and other providers of gear, paying hundreds of millions of dollars for the right to adorn the biggest clubs’ shirts. Nike last year signed a 15-year contract with Chelsea worth $1.1 billion (Rs 7,060 crore) after a deal with Adidas ends this year.
Adidas and Nike for years have been battling for the top spot in sales of soccer equipment, with the German company emerging as the clear leader in 2016. Adidas spent about $2.7 billion (Rs 17330 crore) on marketing last year, in line with its guided range of 12 percent to 13 percent of revenue. If it maintains the ratio and lifts sales according to its financial targets, it may add another $1.09 billion (Rs 690 crore) to its marketing budget by 2020.
While both companies are spending heavily on sponsorship, Adidas has had a better run of luck this year. Nike’s entire Champions League roster — including Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Monaco and Paris St. Germain — bowed out of the pan-European tournament. Puma didn’t fare any better with Dortmund, Arsenal, and Leicester; nor did Under Armour and Tottenham Hotspur.
Adidas-sponsored Bayern Munich has already secured the German Bundesliga title, while Chelsea is poised to win England’s Premier League and Juventus leads Italy’s Serie A. In Spain’s La Liga it’s still an open race between Adidas’s Real Madrid and Nike’s Barcelona, while in France’s Ligue 1, Nike is set to come out on top with Monaco or Paris St. Germain vying for the title.
Even if Adidas outfits end up winning, there may be something in it for Nike. While shirt sponsors are chosen for an entire team, each player can pick his own shoes. While Adidas’s Real Madrid is the oddsmaker’s favorite to win the Champions League, the team’s top player, Cristiano Ronaldo, plays in Nike.
The Host City Contract for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been made public today.
The Contract was first signed between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), following Tokyo’s selection as the host city of the Games on September 7, 2013.
Tokyo 2020 signed a joinder agreement to become a full party to the Host City Contract 2020 in 2014.
“In line with the Olympic Agenda 2020 framework, which reflects the positive evolution of providing Organising Committees of the Olympic Games and host cities more flexibility, all of the Host City Contract 2020 signatories worked to incorporate, to their benefit, the updated operational requirements that were published by the IOC in 2015,” a Tokyo 2020 statement reads.
“With this agreement now finalised to the benefit of all stakeholders, the organisations are publishing the Host City Contract, reinforcing their commitment to transparency.”
According insidethegames.com , The Host City Contract is made up of 12 sections such as basic principles, principles of planning, organising and staging, and organisation of accommodation.
Other sections include organisation of sports programme, organisation of cultural programme and city activities, and Ceremonies, Olympic flame and Torch Relay, medals and diplomas.
Intellectual property-related matters, financial and commercial obligations and media coverage of the Games are also areas of focus.
In terms of Games planning, organising and staging, Tokyo 2020 vows to provide to the IOC, at its own expense, updates, details and deliverables regarding Tokyo 2020’s general planning, organising, financing and staging processes.
As for financial and commercial obligations, it is stated that any surplus resulting from the celebration of the Games will be divided three ways between the JOC, the Organising Committee and the IOC.
Twenty per cent will go to both the JOC and the IOC, while the other 60 per cent will go to the Organising Committee “to be used for the general benefit of sport” in Japan.
The surplus resulting from the celebration of the Games is due to be calculated based upon the planning, organising and staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games combined.
Jacques Rogge signed the Tokyo 2020 Host City Contract in one of his final acts as IOC President.
The Organising Committee has since had to overcome hurdles in its preparations, including controversy surrounding their logo in 2015.
The initial design by Kenjiro Sano had to be scrapped due to allegations of plagiarism, after Belgian Olivier Debie claimed that it resembled his Théâtre de Liège logo too closely.
The process of choosing a replacement was also criticised.
Nearly 15,000 entries were received in an open contest to pick the new emblem, with the Commission chaired by Japan’s Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Ryohei Miyata.
This was in contrast to the first time round when only those who had won a specific design award were allowed to take part.
Allowing the public to get involved was seen as a way of spreading the Olympics across Japan, but others argued that this impacted negatively on the quality of the eventually selected designs.
In December 2015, the American Institute of Graphic Arts urged Tokyo 2020 to scrap the open contest and said that a “remarkable” design could only be the result of a professional designer working directly with their client.
In February, the IOC announced that the incorporation of human rights principles is among the changes it is making to its Host City Contract.
The revised Host City Contract, developed with recommendations from a coalition of leading rights, transparency and athletes’ organisations, will first apply to the 2024 Olympic Games.
Paris and Los Angeles are the only two candidates left in the race, with the IOC due to elect the winner during its Session in Peru’s capital Lima in September.
For the first time, the IOC has made specific reference to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP), a set of guidelines for states and companies to prevent, address and remedy human rights abuses committed in business operations.
The Guiding Principles detail how commercial enterprises ought to assess human rights risks, take effective measures to prevent human rights issues, and guarantee a remedy for abuses that take place despite those efforts.
As part of the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020, IOC President Thomas Bach met representatives of the Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA), which includes Transparency International Germany, UNI World Athletes, Terre des Hommes, the International Trade Union Confederation, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
In September 2015, not specifically mentioning human rights in its Host City Contract for the 2024 Games was described as an “astonishing omission” on the IOC’s part and one that did not live up to the expectations created by the Agenda 2020 reform process. The Tokyo 2020 Host City Contract can be seen here : hostcitycontract-EN.pdf
India Premier League set to start all afresh from Season XI. All new commercial deals. Teams bound to release their all players. All acquisitions through auctions. The scenario has left the teams who don’t want to lose their star players worried. In all likelihood, the IPL Governing Council is set to send all the players back to the auction pool.
A ‘right-to-match’ option could be the only hope left for IPL teams to retain their big stars. Times of India has reported quoting sources that the Board of Control for Cricket in India members are firm on sending all the cricketers back to the auction.
However, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad are in favour of having the option of matching cards, which permits team owners to retain players by matching their auction price.
According to TOI report, Team like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians which are lead by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma respectively are keen to retain their star players . Meanwhile , Kings Xi Punjab co-owner Priety Zinta had said that she been told by BCCI a week back that all players would be back in the auction pool without retention.
However, the two teams who will be joining the league after serving their two-year suspension -Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals – have a different take. CSK promoters are keen to get their old players like MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, but the other teams are against the idea of the Chennai-based franchisee getting any undue advantage. IPL sources confirmed that CSK promoters are even open to the draft system which was given to two new teams Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions.
Lastly, It is all been reported that some of the top Indian cricketers are also backing the idea of retention. Whether the IPL GC will take this into account or not remains to be seen.So all these scenario puts the teams in tricky spot ahead of the auctions next year.
Indian Premier League. Cricket’s biggest commercial venture is often talked in terms of finances, contracts, runs and records. These are the ingredients that will enthrall cricket lovers, market and certain corporate. However, there is the other side of the league, too. That goes far beyond the boundaries and boardrooms, for the cause of common masses, society and issues like environment.
IPL associates – franchisees and sponsorship brands – have been engaged in campaigns where service to the society is integrated with marketing initiatives.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: #PlantA6
Kolkata Knight Riders introduced their campaign “Citizens for tomorrow” for this year. They also tried to make their fans aware about the alarming effects of plastics use. Polyethylene flags are replaced wth recyclable paper stick flags.
The franchisee also brought new initiative #PlantA6 – drive to plant a sapling for each six hit Eden Gardens.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Education For All
The Education for All initiative (EFA) was launched in 2010 with the objective of providing access to quality education in India. Through a partnership with several NGOs, Reliance Foundation and Mumbai Indians have positively impacted the lives of 100,000 of underprivileged children during the last few years.
Mrs. Nita Ambani spearheads the Education for All initiative. The EFA programme supports various initiatives that work with underprivileged children, promote girl-child education and impart life skills to the differently abled. In 2017, the programme supported twelve partner NGOs: Aarambh, Akanksha, Aseema, Deepalya, MelJol, Milaan, Mumbai Mobile Crèches, One Billion Literates Foundation, Sakhi, Slum Soccer, Ummeed, and Yuwa.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: Mother Dairy and Dare to Care
UNICEF India and Delhi Daredevils have come together to help empower girls in India. The partnership aims to support the efforts to protect millions of adolescent girls still facing obstacles in their lives by experiencing various forms of discrimination, exploitation and abuse on account of their age and their sex.
Dare to Care is an effort to help focus on issues related to empowering girls with education, which will further give them the courage to say no to an early marriage and the power to take decisions which directly impacts their lives.
Delhi Daredevils will help spreading awareness through their franchise, the squad and the ever-loyal fans. Some percentage from IPL ticket and merchandise sales will go into ‘Dare To Care’ funds. Some Daredevils memorabilia will be put up for auction and funds will be used in this campaign.
Along with this, the team sponsor Mother Dairy took this opportunity to bring forward their farmers for this season of IPL.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Tamahar and Lloyd
Tamahar, which was founded in 2009, was envisioned to provide a holistic intervention for children with special needs, to give personalised care and to enable caretakers to be a part of the rehabilitation process. In an institution where brain damage is identified, assessed and intervened, Tamahar certainly stepped out of the crease for their children with RCB.
Lloyd ACs, also the associate sponsor, took this initiative forward by contributing Rs 100 for every Lloyd AC bought. And through first-of-its-kind-initiative it also vowed to give 501 free ACs to hospitals that cannot afford to them in critical areas like ICUs, labour rooms and other significant areas.
RISING PUNE SUPERGIANTS: Mukul Madhav Foundation
Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited (GOLIL), in association with Mukul Madhav Foundation, organised an interactive session between specially abled children from the ‘Apang Kalyankari Shikshan Sanstha’ and cricketers from Rising Pune Supergiant, the Pune-based IPL franchise.
The session was organised to acknowledge and motivate the children to follow their dreams, it also helped in rejuvenating the players from their daily schedule.
KINGS XI PUNJAB: Yuva Unstoppable
Kings XI Punjab announced their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative for the season when they decided to refurbish a girls’ school each in both their homegrounds — Indore and Mohali. The projects will be executed with a NGO, Yuva Unstoppable, whereby Kings’ XI Punjab will provide them better sanitation, drinking facilities and overall infrastructure.
As a part of the project, team director Virender Sehwag along with David Miller, Eoin Morgan, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Akshar Patel and Gurkeerat Mann visited Govt. Middle School 27, in Indore on Monday and interacted with the students. The students performed a small skit for them as well, followed by the players playing a one-over friendly match with the students of the school.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: YouWeCan and Sun Foundation
Sunrisers Hyderabad, in collaboration with the Sun Foundation and Yuvraj Singh’s ‘YouWeCan’ Foundation, visited St Jude India Child Care Centre in Hyderabad on Friday, where they spent time with cancer crusader children.
Yuvraj, since his own brush with cancer, has been taking time out of his schedule to raise awareness about the different kinds of cancer, tests and treatments available.
IPL is showing the way how growth of sport can contribute to the well-being of the society. That given another sense of hope to billions of sports lovers in India – for whom this game has been a religion.
Sales of weapons, firearms, ammunitions, explosives and poisonous substances will also be banned in certain areas.
