Tag: Fifa

Animax partners Sify for ‘Gaming Challenge 2007’

MUMBAI: Animax, the youth animation channel, in association with Sify Gamedrome, a gaming chain, has announced the first annual “Animax Grand Gaming Challenge 2007”, a gaming tournament to be conducted across 66 cities.

The event will feature top of the line games like Counter Strike, Fifa, NFS UG2, Defense of The Ancients and Gunz Online and aims to provide a platform to youth, recognizing the need take the passion of gamers to a competitive platform.

Trophies along with other prizes such as calendars, hiking bags, sippers, posters and DVDs from Animax, while one lucky winner will get a job as an actual game jockey aiding in the development process at Sify Gamedrome.

Gamers will be able to compete for prizes in several online game categories such as sports, racing, and strategy on-line and first person shooter. Research points to the huge potential of the gaming and animation industry in India. The gaming scenario in India is evolving from a nascent stage to that of a lifestyle hobby.

Participants can enter the competition by registering at any of the Sify Gamedromes or Sify iways across 66 cities by entering the “password of the day” which will be flashed on air on Animax and can also be accessed on-line or via the short messaging service on 2525. The registration kick off from 10 January 2007, informs an official release.

Following the preliminary elimination rounds which will end 2 February, the four zonal semi-finals will be conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore beginning 8 February followed by the mega final showdown at the Atria Mall in Mumbai on 28 February.

Animax country head Sunder Aaron said, “Through the Animax Grand Gaming Challenge, Animax proudly supports a very important and growing activity for the wired generation: gaming. While the core mission of Animax is to entertain youth, we also want to reflect and support the developing interests and passions of India’s Wired Generation. Working with Sify on the AGGC will truly boost the competition as they are the nationwide leader in online gaming.”

Commenting on the initiative, Sify Ltd. Access Media president Pijush Kanti Das said, “We are delighted to partner with the Animax Grand Gaming Challenge ’07, the largest online gaming tournament across 220 Sify Gamedromes in 66 cities. Our successful association with Animax in the past has encouraged us to back this tournament with aggressive promotional activities across the country. This year, apart from the multiplayer games we have added single player games to the portfolio of the tournament to increase the number of gamers.”

January 10, 2007
Fifa announces online initiatives for Club World Cup Japan 2006

MUMBAI: Football’s governing body Fifa has announced that its site is providing a host of features for the Fifa Club World Cup Japan 2006, which kicks off on Sunday 10 December 2006.

All matches will be covered live on the site: goals, cards, substitutions and additional statistics will be available in real time through the site’s ScoreCard service.

Breaking news, post-match quotes and analysis, interviews and features will be produced direct from the venues. Team profiles and squad lists, referees and venues profiles, profiles of the previous clubs who won the former Intercontinental / Toyota Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup since 1961 will be present.

A full Japanese language version of the tournament to offer local football lovers the same level of coverage as enjoyed in the four official languages the site operates in (English, Spanish, French and German). This Japanese version is available on www.FIFA.com/jp

The site will also offer a worldwide video highlights service for the tournament. Two minute video summaries will be made available free of charge shortly after the final whistle of each game (except Japan and Spain, where there is a 24 hour delay).

Fifa director of marketing and TV division Jérôme Valcke says, “Fifa is happy to be able to showcase world-class club football on its official Website and to offer fans a comprehensive coverage of this major Tournament. With the support of our friends at Dentsu, Fifa.com will feature video highlights of each match.”

December 7, 2006
Casbaa & Fifa take legal action against unlicensed airing of World Cup ’06

MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has announced that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) and Hong Kong Cable Television Limited have instituted legal proceedings against a number of public venues for allegedly airing unlicensed pay-TV broadcasts of the World Cup 2006 matches.

Speaking on behalf of the plaintiffs and 110 companies engaged in the regional pay-TV industry, Casbaa confirmed that writs had been served on five high-profile bars along with cease and desist letters served on an unspecified number of public venues across Hong Kong, informs an official release.

Thus, Fifa, Hong Kong Cable along with Casbaa are seeking monetary damages for the copyright infringements.

Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies said, “Although the industry reached out to the Hong Kong food and beverage industry in the run up to the World Cup, stating that pay-TV signal theft is not to be tolerated by government or industry, many bars blatantly screened unlicensed pay-TV broadcasts. We have had no choice but to take the matter to the courts.”

As an indication of the pay-TV industry’s commitment to the Hong Kong sporting community, Davies noted that the plaintiffs and Casbaa would donate any proceeds received from the defendants after costs to local sports charities. Casbaa believes it is important to return the funds to where they belong – the support of sports development.

“The issue of intellectual property rights protection requires concerted efforts on all fronts between the government, industry, bar and club owners and the general public, especially as we run up to other global events such as the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and recurring high value events such as the English Premier League. The sports leagues who stage major events need a fair return on their investment,” adds Davies.

The release also states that under Hong Kong law, bars and clubs may only display pay-TV channels under an appropriate subscription from Hong Kong licensed pay-TV operators such as Hong Kong Cable, now Television and TVB Pay Vision. For several years Casbaa has urged that the distribution of satellite-based pay-TV services from overseas should be given the same criminal protection as signals illegally tapped from local pay-TV operators.

Overseas pay-TV operators such as Dream of the Philippines, MultiChoice of South Africa and UBC True of Thailand are authorised to offer pay-TV subscriptions in their respective jurisdictions but they cannot, and indeed do not, offer subscriptions in Hong Kong. The display of overseas pay-TV channels in Hong Kong by bars and club owners, using special decoders is illegal, adds the release..

July 20, 2006
Fifa finals get a record audience in Europe

MUMBAI: Football’s governing body Fifa’s marketing agency Infront has announced that the viewing audiences in Europe for the key final matches of the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany exceeded predictions and broke records.

Infront says that the high in-home audience figures are even more impressive in comparison to past viewing, given today’s fragmented television market. There was also a lot of out-of-home viewing.

Italy – The Italian team’s penalty shoot out triumph over France in the final attracted a new tournament – and recent history – record audience for Italian television. An average audience of 23.9 million in Italy watched the Azzurri win the golden trophy for the 4th time in history. The figure represented 84 per cent of Italians that were watching television at that time. Italy’s top rated match during the 1998 event was 23.5 million. During the 2002 event, it was 23.7 million.

The record figure of 23.9 million does not include the large number of Italians who watched the games out of home at public viewing events, bars and restaurants. For example, at the capital city’s ancient Circus Maximus, a reported 200,000 fans watched the final on three giant screens. In Milan, a further 150,000 fans watched the victory on large screens in the Piazza del Duomo.

France – In France, national broadcaster TF1, attracted 22.1 million French viewers to its coverage of the Final between Italy and France. This figure represented over 80% of the available TV audience at that
time, the highest audience share of any French coverage of this year’s tournament.

France’s defeat on a penalty shoot out was endured by 800,000 more French viewers compared to the 1998 final when France triumphed over Brazil.

Germany – The German national side’s impressive progress through the event drew a consistently high television audience at home in the host nation and ended with a new record for the tournament – past and
present – despite millions watching out-of-home at public sites.

Germany’s 2-0 loss to Italy in the semi-finals was watched live by 29.7 million viewers at home in the host nation, scoring a market share of 84.1 per cent. Germany’s previous highest audience at this tournament was the 24.8 million who watched the side defeat Argentina in the quarterfinals.

The figure also beats the German audience in the final in 2002, when 26.5 million witnessed Germany lose to against Brazil. It also surpasses the hitherto unbeaten record in German football viewing of 28.66 million registered for the Germany v Argentina final back in 1990. However that figure does not include the new German states in the east of the country.

The 29.7 million audience also beats the highest German audience (24.4 million for USA v Germany) attained in 1998. As that eevnt was in France, was aired at comparable times to this year’s competition in Germany.

Germany’s six matches this year have scored a combined TV audience on German public service broadcasters ZDF and ARD of 142.1 million, which gives an average of 23.7 million per match. This represents a 45 per cent increase in viewing over 2002.

Neutral viewing – Data from Spain and France shows that the Germany vs Italy match was one of the most popular with ‘neutral’ viewers – those who watch a match that does not feature their own national side.

In Spain, the match had a combined audience on Cuatro and La Sexta of 5.9 million and a market share of 41.7 per cent. This Spanish audience was also higher than both the “neutral” semi-finals in 2002 but not as high as the 2002 final.

In France, the Germany vs Italy match was shown live on both C+ and TF1 and had a combined audience of 13.3 million and a market share of 57.2 per cent. This figure is higher than any audience during the 2002 edition when France made an early exit.

July 19, 2006
Communications network Avaya does the job for Fifa

MUMBAI: Avaya was the official convergence Communication provider for the recently concluded 2006 Fifa World Cup. For 32 days, the network handled a huge amount of voice and data traffic — including players’ and journalists’ accreditations, photo transmissions and match details sent around the world in real time.

The network had become operational on 15 May and carried over 21 trillion bytes of data and achieved 99.999 per cent availability without a single major outage and free of errors.

Avaya states that a total of 21,126 terabytes of voice and data traffic was transferred over the network between 15 May and 10 July. During that time, people have logged on to the converged communications network approximately 642,538 times and made 364,395 phone calls on the network, which represents 789,810 minutes of calling time.

On the day of the Final between France and Italy, 111,150 megabytes of data traffic traveled over the network, 55,037 people logged on to the converged network, and 3,456 phone calls were made, representing 6,217 minutes of calling time.

The converged network, which combined voice and data on the same infrastructure, connected the 12 host stadiums, the stadium media centers, and the Fifa headquarters in Berlin. Players, coaches, volunteers and fans alike benefited from the network that was used to issue accreditations for players and journalists, report results, track materials and inventory, confirm accommodations at Fifa’s official hotels and maintain security systems.

Avaya FIFA World Cup programme director Andrea Rinnerberger says, “For a highly visible event such as the Fifa World Cup, it was absolutely critical for the network to work without any downtime director of the. In a very real way, the network’s excellent performance contributed to the event’s smooth operations.

“Journalists and photographers who needed to file quickly connected to the internet directly from the field and sent photos and stories via an Avaya wireless LAN network. 32 teams, and tens of thousands of Fifa executives and employees, officials and visiting dignitaries all depended on the transportation and protocol application to get to hotels, cars, trains and airports.”

July 14, 2006
South African broadcaster SABC signs TV rights deal with Fifa

MUMBAI: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has been awarded the broadcasting rights for all Fifa competitions between 2007 and 2014, which include the two Fifa World Cup final competitions and the two Fifa Confederations Cups that are due to take place during this period.

The next edition of the Fifa World Cup takes place in 2010 in Africa.

The agreement consists of all main audiovisual rights for both free and pay TV as well as radio. In addition, SABC is committed to ensuring wide access for the entire South African media industry including potential sub-licensees.

Fifa president Joseph S. Blatter says, “We are convinced that we have found in SABC a partner that can deliver the beautiful game to South African viewers in an excellent manner. Importantly, its coverage will go far beyond Fifa World Cup broadcasts since it comprises guaranteed coverage of all other Fifa tournaments for men and women and at senior and youth levels so as to promote all of the different facets of the game and strengthen women’s and youth development particularly in South Africa. SABC is joining our alliance to use football to build a better future. I am extremely happy with this momentous deal.”

SABC says that it is committed to playing its part in ensuring that the radio and television broadcasts of the 2010 Fifa World Cup reach the largest possible audience. This contributes to its goal of national building and total empowerment of all African citizens.

July 10, 2006
Fifa to organise ‘Football For A Better World’ event on 7 July

MUMBAI: Just two days before the final of the 2006 Fifa World Cup between Italy and either France or Portugal, Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, will be the setting for a big football party: The ‘Football for a Better World – From Germany to South Africa’ show will kick off the four-year journey to the 2010 Fifa World Cup with a joyful celebration of football and music.Admission is completely free.

The show features multi-platinum selling acts from across the globe. Germany is represented by Xavier Naidoo, Wir sind Helden and Die Fantastischen Vier. South American star Ivete Sangalo will bring the samba spirit, dancehall and hip hop superstars Sean Pau,l Wyclef Jean and Lumidee will be moving the crowd all night long, and further special performances by Patrizio Buanne and other special guest stars are also lined-up.

One of the highlights of the evening will be the super-group put together spontaneously and specially for this show by African music legend Youssou N’Dour.

This unique group features fellow African artists such as, Angélique Kidjo, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Vusi Mahlasela, MC Solaar und Rokia Traore. Freshlyground, South Africa’s top selling artists complete the high quality line-up. The show will be presented by popular German TV sports and entertainment anchors Monica Lierhaus and Matthias Opdenhövel and stand-up comedian Michael Mittermeier will present a special set of his unique brand of humour.

High-ranking dignitaries such as the General Secretary of the UN Kofi Annan, South Africa president Thabo Mbeki, Fifa president Joseph S Blatter, the president of the 2006 Fifa Organising Committee Franz Beckenbauer, as well as the Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit will be addressing the show audience in Berlin and millions of television viewers watching the broadcast in over 120 countries. The former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela will be joining in via a video message from the 2010 host country.

In keeping with the upcoming change in venue for the soccer World Cup legends of African football will also grace the stage with stars such as George Weah, Roger Milla and Abedi Pele unveiling a special treat for the Berlin audience. The Giant video screens at the Fan fest will replay the greatest moments of the 2006 Fifa World Cup and provide the context for all the evenings entertainment. Fifa will also highlight its Official Charity Campaign “6 villages for 2006” in conjunction with SOS Children’s Villages. This project aiming at creating six new SOS children’s villages in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine, and Vietnam, providing a new home to at least 800 children in need.

With this show, the world governing body of football wants to emphasise the power of football far beyond the boundaries of the pitch by bringing together with artists, football icons and world leaders to deliver a joint message to the world. The show, broadcast from Germany’s biggest public viewing event the Fan Fest Berlin, will spotlight the “Football for a Better World” alliance, which will allow the implementation of one of the main goals of world football’s governing body, which is to strive to build a better future through football, especially in Africa, but also throughout the world.

July 5, 2006
Record 138 million plus videos streamed on Fifa’s site

MUMBAI: Soccer fans around the world logged on to FIFAworldcup.com, the official website of the recently concluded 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany, in large numbers.

With more than 138 million video streams, the year 2006 marks the first year that video highlights of World Cup matches have been free on the Web, and fans took full advantage.

There were 4.2 billion page views. The site attracted more than two billion page views in the tournament’s first two weeks, topping the site’s total for the entire 2002 tournament less than halfway through the competition. By the end of the final match, FWC.com’s 2006 site had more than doubled the page view total from 2002.

3.5 million Flicker Photo pages were viewed via its photo-sharing site, Yahoo! enabling fans who attended World Cup matches to tag pictures and share their experiences with friends, family members and other soccer fans from around the world.

With 73 million page views on its Mobile Web Destination, it helped fans around the world access FIFAworldcup.com on mobile devices to follow all the World Cup action.

Also, over 875,000 Fantasy Sign-Ups Fans signed up to play free fantasy football on FIFAworldcup.com.

July 1, 2006
Visits grow for Fifa fan fest venues

MUMBAI: Since the 2006 soccer World Cup began on 9 June, around 11 million fans have celebrated at the official ‘Fan Fest’ sites in Germany in a peaceful, joyful and colourful manner and in keeping with the official slogan, A Time to Make Friends.

Football’s governing body Fifa says that the popularity of the Fan Fest sites in all 12 host cities has exceeded its expectations. Fifa president Joseph S. Blatter says, “We thought that around eight million fans would turn up over the course of the tournament, but that mark was easily surpassed at the halfway point. The host cities and Fifa wanted to do something for the fans without tickets.

“I can only congratulate the 12 host cities on these wonderful Fan Fest parties, which have taken the authentic stadium atmosphere into the city centres. The 18th Fifa World Cup will long be remembered for the unique sense of excitement and passion it has generated”.

Prime sites in the 12 host cities were chosen as “second venues” in the official World Cup design. Entry into the Fan Fest sites is free of charge, and as well as broadcasting all matches live on giant screens, the Fan Fest sites offer various other events that differ from region to region.

Berlin World Cup office head Jürgen Kiessling says, “Happiness has spread throughout the 12 host cities. We never expected such a sensational response. The whole world has seen some fantastic images from the host cities, which have joined together in this way for the first ever time, and with FIFA, they have created something unique.”

So far, 5,500 national and international media representatives have reported on the Fan Fest sites, with some TV channels as well as official German broadcaster ARD often reporting live from the sites themselves.

The Fan Fest system was developed by the 12 host cities and Fifa with the support of the local organising committee over a period of two years, thereby creating the biggest ever football party in Germany. The Fan Fest parties are organised by the cities themselves, together with regional organisers whose untiring efforts have helped to make them such a huge success.

Fifa is responsible for coordinating the entire operation, as well as for providing the basic infrastructure such as the giant screens, stages, sound, lighting and decoration of a total of 20,000 square metres in the official World Cup design. The Fan Fest system has received financial support from four Fifa partners: Coca-Cola, Hyundai, MasterCard and Toshiba.

Huge logistical operations have provided the foundations for the success. Around, 17,000 people have ensured that everything has run smoothly on the 14 stages and 34 giant screens, which have been provided by another FIFA Partner, Philips. Local authorities have developed comprehensive security measures, which have been implemented without any major incidents.

The local organising committee’s “Fan Embassies” also provide a first point of contact for the fans. TV rights holder Infront has provided the broadcasting licences free of charge. The biggest football party of all time is now ready for the second half.

June 28, 2006
Sifymax to offer Fiffa World Cup updates in five languages

MUMBAI: Broadband portal Sifymax is providing World Cup updates in five different languages – Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

This initiative is an attempt to enhance the reach and the accessibility to the Fifa World Cup available in “our national language and other south based languages”, according to an official release.

Besides providing Fifa updates on sify home page www.sify.com, the language channels have also been linked to the city channels namely, www.sifymax.com, www.bangalorelive.in and www.samachar.com.

Sify Limited VP Surya Mantha said: “Further to providing exclusive highlights and special video footages on FIFA World cup 2006, we are excited to go that extra mile to give more privilege to football lovers by providing them updates in 5 different languages. This includes our national language further enhancing the accessibility of the game nationwide.

June 15, 2006