01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

SIR CRAIG REEDIE
IOC EXECUTIVE BOARD
MEMBER
THE SPORTBUSINESS DEBATE
“Golf was the last great, international
game not to be in the Olympics. It is
set to become a significant part of the
Games and that will give a particular
boost to women’s golf.”
“Which incidents, decisions and
developments have had the
greatest impact on the business
of sport during 2009 and how will
they influence the future”
THE DECISION TO AWARD the 2016 Games to
Rio means that Brazil will now hold the world’s
two biggest sporting events - the Olympic Games
and FIFA World Cup - in quick succession. That
is real evidence of the country’s emergence from
Third World status and of the way that our world
is changing.
Elsewhere the World Swimming
Championships in Rome provided evidence of a
governing body facing up to a major issue and
making the right decision.
For some time swimming has been dogged
by issues around swimwear. As with any sport,
the difference between success and failure can
be measured in millimetres and thousandths of
seconds and swimming was, to an extent being
determined by swimwear technicians and fabric
developers as well as athletes.
This is one of the world’s great natural sports
and I am delighted that FINA has decided to take
steps to return it to its natural state.
The World Athletics championships in Berlin
provided a fantastic showcase for the phenomenal
talents of Usain Bolt whose exploits on the track
has surely helped to move the sport of athletics
forward. The event itself was very TV friendly.
It looked distinctive and, of course, it helps
when the home team does well. But it was two
magic moments from Bolt which defined the
athletics year and will do so much for the sport.
I am pleased that the IOC completed its journey
from Singapore to Copenhagen by adding two
sports to the programme to replace those lost.
I think golf was the last great international
game not to be in the Olympic programme and
its inclusion will be of an enormous benefit to
the sport. It is set to become a significant part of
the Games and that will give a particular boost to
women’s golf.
Likewise, the inclusion of Rugby Sevens
will help the development of the rugby code
worldwide. The 15-a-side game would be
impossible to accommodate during an Olympic
Games but Sevens will provide a global platform
for some of the emerging rugby nations such as
Kenya, to show what they can do.
On the face of it, 2009 may not go down as a classic sporting year. Of course
there were many, many highlights among the hardy perennials which
decorate the sporting landscape, but it was a year which lacked either of the
two sporting mega-events, the Olympic Games or FIFA World Cup.
Yet 2009 remained an important year for sport in many other ways. It
was a year which saw sport breaking new ground in key areas and one
which saw the potential revival of an elemental sporting discipline which
has been too long in the doldrums.
This will go down as a year in which the geography of sport continued to
change. The shock elimination of Chicago in the first round of voting for
the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games sent out a signal that nothing
would ever be the same again.
American influence appears to be on the wane within the Olympic
Movement while that of emerging nations continues to grow. That Rio won
and will be the first South American host of the Greatest Show may be seen
as evidence of a New World Order.
That view is given further credence by the energy and enthusiasm being
demonstrated by the State of Qatar in the sports sector. The tiny but hugely
wealthy Gulf State is busy with an ambitious but ultimately credible bid to
host the 2022 FIFA World Cup while news of a bid for the 2020 Olympic
Games has also emerged.
Were the IOC to adopt a more relaxed policy to the timing window for
the Games, the door would be open to serious bids not only from Qatar but
also from the other Gulf States whose stupendously hot summers would
otherwise preclude them.
The IOC also voted to include Golf in the Games, a move which brought
an instant response in China which has embarked on a massive talent
development and course building programme. Anybody prepared to bet on
the next golfing megastar being from China rather than the US
And then there’s athletics. In Berlin this summer, Usain Bolt put on a
one man show which rolled back the years for a sport that had been in the
doldrums. Bolt has helped breathe fresh life into the sport at the right time.
With the new Diamond league set to debut in 2010, track and field may be
on its way back to sport’s top table.
Each of these events and decisions ultimately had an impact on the
business of sport and the opportunities and challenges it faced this year. We
asked our experts for their personal points of view.
70 SportBusiness International • No. 152 • 12.09