RubaiSport

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced an agreement with SKY Italia for the broadcast rights within Italy for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

SKY Italia, Italy’s leading digital satellite television network, acquired the rights across all broadcast platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile phone.

SKY Italia will be responsible for ensuring the broadest possible audience is able to access the Olympic Games across all of these platforms, including a guaranteed continuation of free-to-air television coverage. To achieve this commitment, SKY Italia will shortly begin seeking a partnership with a free-to-air network in Italy.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that Singapore will host the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010. The result was unveiled by the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Singapore beat Moscow in the final by 53 votes to 44.

The 105 IOC members entitled to vote⁽¹⁾ had cast their votes by post over the last few weeks. The sealed envelope with the name of the winning city was delivered to the IOC President during the announcement ceremony by the independent and certified notary who oversaw the process to guarantee confidentiality.

The enormous popularity of sport on Free TV is proven by the year-to-date program ranking, with the Rugby League, Tennis, AFL and Cricket securing the top 5 spots (refer to table below).
The highest rating program on television so far this year was the Rugby League Grand Final, attracting a combined average audience of over 3.7 million Australian viewers.

Top programs on Free TV so far this year
Rank Program Description Combined Average 000s
1 Rugby League Grand Final 3,748
2 Tennis: 2007 Aust Open - Men's Final 3,399
3 AFL Finals 2007: Grand Final Geelong V Port Adelaide 3,320
4 Twenty/20 Match - Australia V England 3,319
5 State Of Origin Rugby League QLD V NSW 1st - Match 3,251

Over 57.3 per cent of viewers in metro areas alone tuned into the Rugby World Cup on Free TV, despite Australia not making it to the semi-finals. Looking at all sports over the year, the major sporting codes (AFL, NRL, Tennis, Cricket and Motor Sports) each reached at least 85 per cent of the Australian population.

After three years of investment in the Eindhoven Team Time Trial, the Mayor and municipal representatives of the Dutch city decided yesterday to end their involvement in the organisation of the event. As a result, the event will be withdrawn from the 2008 UCI ProTour calendar.

The UCI regrets the decision by the city of Eindhoven, but takes it into account and thanks the authorities for their commitment to the race over the last three years.

The UCI will consult the teams and with them examine whether the race should be replaced by another team time trial or other type of event.

Several candidates from different continents have already expressed their interest in organising a UCI ProTour race to replace the Eindhoven Team Time Trial.

Following the withdrawal by Bangladesh from the Men’s WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier to be played in Santiago, Chile from 1 until 9 March 2008, Russia has been accepted by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) as the replacement team to participate in this event.

The National Federations/Cities of Argentina (city of Mar Del Plata), Austria (city of Vienna), Hong Kong (city of Hong Kong) and Turkey (city of Istanbul) confirmed their formal bid to the organisation of the 11th edition of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in 2012.

These two cities were part of a group of six potential bidders that also included: Australia (city of Sydney) and Brazil (city of Rio de Janeiro)

The host of the 11th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2012 will be decided and announced by the FINA Bureau on April 12, 2008 with the occasion of the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Manchester (GBR).

After Great Britain and before 2012, the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) will be held in Dubai (UAE), from April 7-11, 2010.

The UEFA Champions League Trophy is to visit four Latin American countries in the coming two months as part of a tour to celebrate Europe’s premier club competition.

Europe’s most prized club trophy will be touring Latin America for the first time when the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by Heineken kicks-off in Sao Paolo, Brazil, with a media day on Friday 15 February. It will then go on to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Mexico City and Monterrey.

The full schedule of the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour is as follows: Sao Paolo 16/17, Rio de Janeiro 23/24 February (Brazil), Buenos Aires 6 March (Argentina), Santiago 15/16 March (Chile), Mexico City 5/6 April and Monterrey 12/13 April (Mexico).

Commenting on the rationale behind the Trophy Tour, Philippe Le Floc’h, UEFA’s Director of Marketing, said: “The UEFA Champions League is a truly global brand attracting the world’s best players, many of whom are from Latin America. In fact in the Group Stage of the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League there were some 85 Brazilian players registered as eligible to play for the competing clubs, that’s more than 1 in 10 of all registered players.

UEFA announced that it has awarded the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup media rights for 2009-12 in the Middle East and North Africa to Al Jazeera.

Substantial offers from several of the major media groups and broadcasters in the region were received, providing further evidence of the increasing strength of both competitions. An extremely competitive sales process produced a very significant increase in the rights fee for the UEFA Champions League and set a new benchmark for the UEFA Cup. Despite intense competition among bidders, Al Jazeera’s offer set them apart as the clear winner of both sets of rights at the conclusion of the first round of bidding.

Al Jazeera is committed to providing extensive coverage on its Pay TV channels which will deliver UEFA’s club competitions to a wide audience throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, Al Jazeera will sub-licence live matches to a number of free-to-air broadcasters across the region. The platform-neutral approach means that Al Jazeera has also been granted Internet and mobile exploitation for all games.

The UEFA Champions League media rights for 2009-12 will also include the UEFA Super Cup 2009, 2010 and 2011.

CONCACAF has announced the fixtures for the Caribbean Futsal Qualifying Tournament that will take place from 5-9 March at the National Sports Hall in Georgetown, Guyana.

The six-team Caribbean tournament, which will qualify two squads to the 2008 CONCACAF Futsal Championship, has two groups of three. Haiti and Sint Maarten join the hosts, Guyana in Group A, while Group B consists of Puerto Rico, Surinam and Trinidad & Tobago.

The two Caribbean qualifiers will join Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, USA and the host, Guatemala at the 2008 CONCACAF Futsal Championship at the Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala City from 2-8 June.

The CONCACAF Championship will also progress three teams to the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Brazil from 1-19 October.

2008 CONCACAF FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Caribbean Qualifying Tournament
Georgetown, GUYANA; National Sports Hall
Group A
05.03: GUYANA – SINT MAARTEN (20:00)
06.03: HAITI – SINT MAARTEN (18:00)
07.03: GUYANA – HAITI (20:00)

Group B
05.03: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO – PUERTO RICO (18:00)
06.03: PUERTO RICO – SURINAM (20:00)
07.03: SURINAM – TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (18:00)

Third Place
09.03: A2 – B2 (18:00)

Final
09.03: A1 – B1 (20:00)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will reveal on Thursday 21 February (at 11:00 GMT) whether Moscow or Singapore will host the very first edition of the Youth Olympic Games in 2010.

The announcement will be made by IOC President Jacques Rogge at the Olympic Museum. The event will be webcast live on www.olympic.org and fed live from Lausanne.

Yes, believe it or not, these are all genuine quotes from the man the people elected as the 43rd US President:

Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.

I admit it, I am not one of the great linguists.

For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it.

I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans.

I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them.

I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully.

I know how hard it is to put food on your family.

I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right.

I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here.

I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, was very impressed by his grasp of finances.

I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is underestimating.

I think war is a dangerous place.

I understand small business growth. I was one.

I wish I wasn't the war president. Who in the heck wants to be a war president? I don't.

I'm not a very good novelist. But it'd make a pretty interesting novel.

If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow.

If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier - so long as I'm the dictator.

I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.

I'm the master of low expectations.

I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being President.

It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber.

Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people and neither do we.

The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur.

There's an old saying in Tennessee, I know it's in Texas, probably Tennessee, that says 'Fool me once [pause], shame on…shame on you. [Long pause] Fool me. [Pause] You can't get fooled again.'

They have miscalculated me as a leader.

They misunderestimated me.

This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.

We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile.

We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.

We ought to make the pie higher.

We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House - make no mistake about it.

Will the highways on the Internet become more few?

Do you have blacks, too? (To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso)

When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible.

You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order - order out of chaos. But we will.

This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mential losses.

I think there is a Trojan horse lurking in the weeds trying to pull a fast one on the American people.

This is a world that is much more uncertain than the past. In the past we were certain, we were certain it was us versus the Russians in the past. We were certain, and therefore we had huge nuclear arsenals aimed at each other to keep the peace. That's what we were certain of…You see, even though it's an uncertain world, we're certain of some things.

It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas.

I think we agree, the past is over.

And there's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail.

The important question is, how many hands have I shaked.

General…I can't name the general.(When asked to name President of Pakistan)

We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.

The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself.

When I was a kid I remember that they used to put out there in the Old West a wanted poster. It said, Wanted: Dead or Alive.

My answer is to bring them on. (On Iraqi militants attacking US forces)

Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. -- May 1, 2003

Labels: stupid

“Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility--a development which we should waste little time dreaming about.”
- Lee de Forest, 1926, inventor of the cathode ray tube

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
- Thomas J. Watson, 1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM

“It doesn't matter what he does, he will never amount to anything.”
- Albert Einstein's teacher to his father, 1895

“It will be years - not in my time - before a woman will become Prime Minister.”
- Margaret Thatcher, 1974

“This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.“
- Western Union internal memo, 1876

“We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

“640K ought to be enough for anybody.”
- Bill Gates, 1981

“Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.“
- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

“We don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.”
- Hewlett-Packard's rejection of Steve Jobs, who went on to found Apple Computers

King George II said in 1773 that “the American colonies had little stomach for revolution.”

An official of the White Star Line, speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable.

In 1939 The New York Times said the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn't have time for it.

An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate.

“Airplanes are interesting toys, but they have no military value.”
- Marshal Ferdinand Foch in 1911

“With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.”
- Business Week, 1958

“Whatever happens, the U.S. Navy is not going to be caught napping.”
- Frank Knox, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, on December 4, 1941

“Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.’
- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929.

Labels: stupid