Lionel Messi of Argentina, one of the nominees for the football player of the year, speaks prior to the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2011 gala held at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 9, 2012.... (Associated Press)

ZURICH — Already considered one of soccer’s greats at age 24, Lionel Messi on Monday became the first to win FIFA player of the year three times in a row.

The Barcelona and Argentina forward received the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for 2011, beating club teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

“It’s a huge honor,” Messi said after accepting the trophy from retired Brazilian great Ronaldo.

The only other three-time winners are Ronaldo (1996-97, 2002) and Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000, 2003). The FIFA award was renamed last year when it merged with France Football’s Golden Ball.

On a night of Barcelona dominance, Pep Guardiola was honored as men’s coach of the year. He was chosen ahead of Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho and Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson.

Among the women, Homare Sawa of Japan ended Brazilian forward Marta’s five-year reign as the top player. American Abby Wambach was a finalist. Sawa led Japan to win the 2011 Women’s World Cup and adds the FIFA prize to those as the tournament’s best player and top scorer.

Messi scored 55 goals in 2011 for Barcelona, which won its third Champions League title in six seasons, and he had four goals for Argentina’s national team. Barcelona won five trophies last year,

Messi received 48 percent of the points in votes cast by national team coaches and captains plus selected reporters. Cristiano Ronaldo finished second with 22 percent and Xavi had 9 percent to finish third for the third straight year.

“This one is very special because I want to share this with my friend and teammate Xavi. He deserves it,” Messi said.

A major international tournament victory is all that now eludes Messi. Guardiola and Ferguson agreed at an earlier news conference that Messi should be considered in the same elite category Pele, Diego Maradona and Alfredo di Stefano.

“Now he can sit beside them,” Guardiola said.

Messi joined Michel Platini in winning the Ballon d’Or for three consecutive years, though the France great won from 1983-85 when only European players were eligible. Platini called Messi “a pearl,” but said he must win soccer’s biggest prize to rival Pele or Maradona.

“Messi will always be great with or without (winning) a World Cup - but the World Cup, it’s something special,” Platini said. “I think the World Cup will stay in the mind of the people.”

Dutch forwards Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten also received three Ballon d’Or awards. Before starting his victory streak, Messi was runner-up twice behind Brazil’s Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi was outscored by Ronaldo in the Spanish league last season - 40 to 31 - but elevated his game in the biggest matches. Xavi described his teammate as “one of the best footballers in the history of the sport.”

“He’s still young. I think he’s probably going to break all the records that exist in the sport,” Xavi said.

U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann voted Messi first, followed by Ronaldo and Diego Forlan. American captain Carlos Boacanegra had Messi first, followed by Xavi and Ronaldo. Paul Kennedy of Soccer America, the U.S. media voter, had Messi first followed by Ronaldo and Xavi.

Messi missed a second trophy for the year’s most beautiful goal. Fans voted online from a list of 10 and chose the goal by Brazil forward Neymar in his club Santos’s 5-4 loss against Flamengo last July.

Ferguson received the FIFA presidential award from Sepp Blatter in recognition of his 25 years as manager at Old Trafford. The 70-year-old Scot has won 12 English League and two Champions League trophies.

“It is an honor for it to be given me in the twilight of my life,” he said.

Norio Sasaki was honored as best coach of a women’s team for guiding Japan to its World Cup title. Pia Sundhage, whose U.S. team lost in the final, and France’s Bruno Bini were also on the list.

The Japan Football Association received FIFA’s Fair Play award for its response to the earthquake and tsunami last March.

All three Ballon d’Or nominees were part of the 2011 all-star lineup chosen by the FIFPro group of players’ unions comprising 50,000 members worldwide. They selected a team entirely of Barcelona, Madrid and Manchester United players:

Goalkeeper (Iker Casillas); defense (Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic); midfield (Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso); forwards (Messi, Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney).

By GRAHAM DUNBAR, AP Sports Writer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkbsENyG7b0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=16HUamnrOnY

It therefore brings its own experience and expertise to the industry’s premier trade association, as well as looking to participate in and benefit from the MMA’s central mission to promote, educate, measure, guide and protect mobile as an indispensable part of the marketing mix.

“We are very excited about joining the MMA,” said Pedro Duarte, New Media Manager at Real Madrid.

“Mobile has become a key part of our communication strategy so we are looking forward to being able to share our experiences with the wider industry, as well as learning from the great work that other MMA members are doing in the space in order to extend our own initiatives.”

“We’re incredibly pleased to be able to welcome such a major sporting brand as Real Madrid as one of our new members,” said Paul Berney, MMA CMO and MD for EMEA.

“Their membership is testament not only to their own commitment to and success with mobile marketing, but also to the power of mobile for sports organisations all over the world.”

Source: roundrockitmedia.com

But before we see the two teams on the field, Audi’s marketing time wanted to give fans an automotive perspective of the match with a special spot titled “La pasión vuelve a dejar huella”.

The video shows two Audi A1 hatchbacks dressed in the colors and liveries of Real Madrid and Barcelona battling it off on the tarmac. You can watch the duel in the video after the break.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvQL8rO7scg

Source: carscoop.blogspot.com

Jose Mourinho’s side duly kicked off against Osasuna at 12.00pm in Spain on 6 November, winning the game 7-1, and Real subsequently reported that match had attracted a TV audience of 60 million in China.

Except it hadn’t. It appears that somebody at national broadcaster CCTV had made an error – or just invented the figure.

The true figure was 1.3m people watching in China, according to reliable audited data just available. That means CCTV – and Real – exaggerated the true total by almost 50 times.

The real figure comes via Kantar Media and has been reported on Sportcal (a subscription site but the headline is viewable on the news page on Monday afternoon).

Kantar collate viewing data in China via a subsidiary, CSM, who are the respected equivalents to BARB in the UK and Nielsen in the USA and many other countries.

The Real-Osasuna game was only shown on seven local channels in China with a potential total audience of just over 5m people. A figure of 1.3m was a decent proportion of the viewing public – but unfortunately 58.7m shy of the claimed 60m.

The midday games in Spain are likely to continue as La Liga tries to catch the world’s best-viewed domestic football competition, England’s Premier League.

Source: sportingintelligence.com

The new kit was presented last Sunday, and it was launched via the club’s website. The design was selected by its fans on Gremio’s Facebook page. The new fourth soccer jersey has a blue marine color with white and sky blue details on it. Banrisul (Largest Bank in Southern Brazil) runs across the middle of the shirt in white letters. The white topper logo is on the top right while on the opposite the club’s badge.  It has a cut in “v” neck, followed by a sky-blue band that ends almost at the chest level. The sleeves have shirt’s same color with no edges.

Do you like this soccer jersey? Please rate Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Wi-Fi Stadium

Cisco and Real Madrid C.F. have signed an agreement by which the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will continue to be a model for leading technology innovation by combining the Club’s sports entertainment vision and state-of-the-art Cisco® Connected Sports Solutions to provide soccer fans with a completely innovative experience.

As the first soccer club in Europe to deploy the Cisco Connected Stadium Wi-Fi solution, Real Madrid C.F. is poised to make the Santiago Bernabeu one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the world.

Once the new high density Wi-Fi network is deployed, fans will be able to easily utilise their mobile devices and smart phones to quickly and reliably access several applications specifically designed to engage with the Stadium, as well as accessing Internet and social media during the game. Encouraging fans to use the Connected Stadium Wi-Fi network for Internet connectivity will also help to free up cellular networks, allowing spectators to text and call throughout the games, something that can be challenging nowadays.

Providing new ways to reach fans and enabling enhanced fan experiences:
- Allow fans to share their game-day experiences with the thousands of supporters at the Santiago Bernabéu, and with millions more around the globe, via social media applications easily accessible from their mobile devices.
- Provide customized applications that create an immersive and interactive game-day environment, allowing fans to use their smartphones to engage Real Madrid in a more personalized fashion.
- Help ensure consistent and reliable connectivity to thousands of fans by efficiently off-loading all data traffic and freeing up the entire cellular network bandwidth for phone calls and text messages.
- Provide a new communication channel which Real Madrid staff will be able to use for security and operational purposes and other services, including a better service to the press and other media.
- In addition to this, there’s a whole spectrum of new possibilities to access content and engage with visitors during non-gaming days, especially for the Bernabéu stadium visiting tours.

Cisco will help to build the foundation for a unique visual fan experience at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Through a network of high-definition (HD) displays throughout the stadium, the Cisco StadiumVision solution will provide Real Madrid C.F. with a centrally managed digital media system.

“We are always looking to have cutting-edge technology and security and to offer a unique fan experience,” said Real Madrid C.F. CIO, Enrique Uriel. “When Cisco’s Connected Stadium Wi-Fi and StadiumVision are available at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, Real Madrid C.F. will take the fan experience at the Stadium to another level. These leading solutions will leverage all the potential of a state-of-the-art custom-built, high-speed network and new applications, thereby allowing us to connect and engage our fans in ways never seen before in Europe. We are excited to deliver a more customised game environment and provide fans with new options to interact and share their experiences via their mobile devices.”

 Source: Real Madrid

The 19-year-old striker from a poor family had just signed a lucrative new contract with Santos, the team where soccer legend Pele spent most of his career, that will keep him there until at least 2014 when Brazil hosts the World Cup.

For years, Brazil exported most of its best young players, especially to European clubs.

But as the country’s economic power catches up with its time-honored soccer talent, celebrated players like Neymar are shunning big European teams and enjoying the comforts of home for similarly fat salaries.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea are among the teams that tried to tempt Neymar to Europe, the traditional route to success, wealth and recognition for Brazilians over the years.

But Santos put an end to months of speculation over Neymar’s future by announcing a package worth about $20.4 million a year in salary and sponsorship that vaulted the attacker into the ranks of the world’ best-paid players.

“Today Brazil is a different world economically speaking. Clubs know how to make money now and can pay the best players well. You only go to Europe now when you really want to,” Neymar’s agent Wagner Ribeiro told Reuters.

When Brazil claimed its fifth World Cup victory in 2002, few could have imagined its top players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo wanting to play in Brazil, whose teams’ financial clout reflected an economy that was only just emerging from years of instability.

While Europe struggles through a deepening economic crisis, Brazil’s economy is still growing relatively strongly after a long boom and its soccer league appears to have woken up to its own potential for profit.

Deals for television rights to matches played by Brazil’s biggest clubs like Flamengo and Corinthians were signed this year at up to 15 times the sums they fetched a decade ago, reaching 85 million reais ($48.4 million) for each team.

Some teams have also seen revenues balloon ten-fold from sponsorship and the sales of club merchandise.

Hanging on talent

The doubling in the value of Brazil’s currency, the real, against the dollar since 2003 has also increased the appeal of staying at home.

Neymar is the only player among 23 nominees this year for the FIFA Golden Ball award who does not play in a European team, but his decision is the latest in a trend of Brazilians electing to stay put or return home. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano, Fred and Elano are among the big-name players to have made the homecoming recently.

As foreign interest rises in the national league with the approaching World Cup, Brazil looks likely to hang on to more of its home-grown talent.

“These are choices that we have to make in life and mine was to continue in Santos,” said a smiling Neymar, announcing his decision to stay on at Santos on Wednesday. He wore a baseball cap and T-shirt that read “It’s good to be the king”.

Barely out of adolescence and close to his family, the player said his three-month-old son, born out of a short-lived fling, was an important consideration in sticking with Santos.

Some Brazilian players in the past have returned home from Europe having failed to live up to the early promise they had shown, saying they simply missed home. But the successful ones have typically spent most of their careers abroad.

Brazilian fans cheered Neymar’s decision to stay put this week, plastering his image over social networks, and his contract renewal also caught the attention of big business, eyeing marketing opportunities.

State-owned companies Banco do Brasil and the postal service Correios are close to sealing sponsorship deals with the player, according to sources involved in the deals.

“Neymar is one of the main idols of the sport in Brazil, which has the potential to mobilize youth and has a great ability to communicate in mass marketing campaigns,” the bank told Reuters by e-mail.

More sophisticated sports marketing deals — a crucial component of the Neymar package — have been important in pumping up players’ salaries to attractive levels.

Two-time FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho returned to Brazil in January to join Rio de Janeiro team Flamengo in a deal that sees his salary mostly footed by an investment fund that has the right to exploit his image.

Ronaldo, who was World Player of the Year three times, returned to Brazil in 2009, joining Sao Paulo team Corinthians under a similar deal.

The president of Santos, Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, was delighted by Neymar’s decision to stick with the club.

“Neymar is following in Pele’s footsteps,” he said.

Source: reuters.com

The BBC’s sports editor David Bond says an initial public offering (IPO) is one of a number of refinancing options the American family is examining.

But, he says, they are only considering selling a minority stake – perhaps no more than 25%.If successful, such a move could raise £400m ($657m).

The Old Trafford club was listed on the London stock market until it was taken over by the Glazers in 2005.

Small sale, big move

A partial share sale would mean that no outside person could take control of the club.

At the same time, it would provide the Glazers with much needed revenues that would help pay down some of the debt that was taken on to finance the takeover.

In March, Manchester United’s chief executive David Gill said that the club had net debt of £370m and annual interest payments of £45m.

“They clearly need to relieve their debt burden from a financial point of view,” Ben Heyhoe Flint of Fuse Media told the BBC’s Asia Business Report.

“Financially, this is going to make sense,” he added.

“They’re going to open the door to fans by creating a foothold in Asia. They’re also going to open up channels to new sponsors. I see this as a more aggressive move to make an even bolder presence in Asia.”

Growing market

United has more than 300 million fans around the world and more than 190 million of those are in Asia. The region has become a growth area for the club and other Premier League teams.

“Tottenham Hotspur are coming through here prospecting;Chelsea is setting up management operations,” Fuse Sport’s Mr Heyhoe Flint explained.

“All of them want to engage with the fans out here, find partners, increase their TV distribution and increase their commercial partnerships.”

Analysts said that the rise in football’s popularity may help Manchester United get a better price for its shares by tapping into this new fan base.

“They will pay a higher price to say they own a piece of Manchester United,” said Stephen Schechter, chairman of London-based investment bank Schechter Co.

He added that the Glazer family would also be keen to free up capital for reasons other than just servicing their debt.

“Obviously the leverage has been bothering the Glazers so they want to use whatever cash they get in to get a return for themselves on capital, to reduce leverage and to give Manchester United cash to go out and buy players,” Mr Schechter said.

No comment

Manchester United and chief executive David Gill have not commented on the plans for a share sale in Asia.

In March, Manchester United’s parent company said it made a loss of £108.9m in 2009-10. Red Football Joint Venture is the Glazer family parent company that owns the Old Trafford club.

Its loss, for the year to the end of July 2010, included one-off costs from setting up a £526m bond scheme last January to replace outstanding debts of £509m.

There was also a drop in player sale income, compared to the previous summer when Cristiano Ronaldo was sold.

Source: BBC.co.uk

The new agreements see the UK-based company installing two unique automated pitch protection systems at the home stadia of La Liga side Real Madrid and Swedish outfit IFK Göteborg.

According to an official announcement released by Matchsaver, the pitch protection system can be activated in less than ten minutes and almost entirely eliminates the need for match cancellation due to adverse weather conditions.

As well as reducing the costs incurred through cancelling matches, rescheduling and cancellation insurance, Matchsaver also can reduce the cost of undersoil heating by 70% due to its thermal barrier properties.

Paul Burgess, head groundsman at Real Madrid’s 81,1780-capacity Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, said, “At Real Madrid we constantly strive to keep our playing surfaces in world class condition, this is why we chose the Matchsaver system. It was excellent value, both in terms of cost and performance. The team’s training schedule is very tight and we didn’t want to be restricted by adverse weather conditions, I have been so impressed with the system that I have requested an additional two systems for our training ground.

Our Matchsaver system now enables us to train when we want, without interruption as the pitch can be protected from rain, frost and snow at the press of a button. I would have no hesitation in recommending Matchsaver,” Burgess added.

Financial details of Matchsaver’s new agreements were not released.

 Source: sportspromedia.com

The deal, announced at a press conference on Friday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, sees Emirates become a Partner and Official Airline to the world’s most successful football club.

With the aid of top players like Alfredo Di Stefano, Emilio Butragueño, Raul Gonzalez, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham and now Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Casillas, Real Madrid have clinched 31 La Liga titles, 18 Copa Del Rey trophies and have conquered the UEFA Champions League a record nine times.

“Emirates is a world-renowned company that has always respected and valued sport. The airline shares our belief in loyalty, effort, commitment and innovation and these common principles will create a special understanding. We strongly believe this is a strategic alliance bridging us with our many followers all over the world,” said Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid.

“Adding Real Madrid to our European football sponsorship line-up further enhances a superb list of European teams that we support including Arsenal, HSV, PSG, AC Milan and Olympiacos,” said Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.

“Having launched flights to Madrid on 1st August last year, this is a tremendous way for Emirates to mark the first anniversary of the route, while demonstrating our on-going support to sports and sports followers around the world,” added Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation.

Obaidalla was present for the announcement in Madrid, along with Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and Real Madrid President, Florentino Perez. Members of the first team also joined the event.

The sponsorship deal, over five seasons, gives Emirates international brand visibility at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Real Madrid City, as well as promotional and hospitality rights worldwide.

Aside from European football club sponsorships, Emirates is also an Official Partner of the FIFA World Cup™, the Official Airline of 12 golf tournaments internationally and supports a range of high-profile horse racing, tennis, rugby, sailing, and cricket events across the globe.

Emirates flies daily to Madrid, using an Airbus 340-300. EK141 departs Dubai at 0750hrs and arrives in Madrid at 1345hrs. EK 142 leaves Madrid at 1525hrs and gets into Dubai at 0030hrs the following day.

Source: gulfnews.com