The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) president Francesco Ricci Bitti on Monday told SportAccord – the union of federations for both Olympic and non-Olympic sports – that it is not necessary for Olympic sports.

According to a report by Olympic news site Around the Rings, Ricci Bitti wrote to SportAccord president Marius Vizer and ASOIF’s members on Monday, describing SportAccord as “redundant and confusing" and confirming that ASOIF will suspend its participation in ASOIF meetings. 

The move is a reaction to Vizer’s outspoken verbal attack on the International Olympic Committee at SportAccord Convention in April.

Since then, nine international federations have suspended their association with SportAccord, with the International Triathlon Union the latest to do so.

“If we could find a positive side to what happened in Sochi, it is that you have triggered a clarification process that was both necessary and long overdue regarding the relationship between our associations vis-a-vis our common members,” Ricci Bitti told Vizer in the letter.

The letter goes on to make it clear that ASOIF members do not need SportAccord membership.

“What has never been felt necessary or desirable by the preponderance of our association is for there to be an additional ‘umbrella’ organisation that pretends to speak, often without consultation, on behalf of our members collectively. 

“To put it plainly, the reality is that the concept of a second collective umbrella organisation is considered redundant and confusing and unwanted by our membership.”

ASOIF will continue to work with other groups of international federations, the letter says, “because we acknowledge a need for all of us to work together in some specific activities that can bring added value such as the SportAccord Convention where ASOIF, as a major shareholder, is ready to play its full part."

Ricci Bitti’s letter also asks SportAccord Convention, which is a distinct organisation to SportAccord, “to confirm that it will respect the role of the shareholders by following principles of good governance including their participation in the decision-making process through appropriate engagement and consultation."

ASOIF will no longer participate in the SportAccord Council, Ricci Bitti said, withdrawing the participation of its two members “pending a full formal review leading to clarification and agreement on the future role, mission and constitution of SportAccord."

At its council meeting on Saturday, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) awarded the hosting rights to the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships to the German city of Stuttgart.

Stuttgart beat off close competition from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to host the sport’s international flagship event.

The Stuttgart Worlds in 2019 will be a crucial qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

Under the new Olympic qualification system accepted by the FIG Council at the weekend, the top three men's and women's teams from the 2018 World Championships will qualify for the 2020 Games. The top nine teams from the 2019 Worlds – not including teams already qualified in 2018 – will also advance to the Games.

Stuttgart and Rotterdam have strong traditions of hosting gymnastics events, both having hosted World Championships twice within the past 30 years: Stuttgart in 1989 and 2007; Rotterdam in 1987 and 2010. 

Stuttgart will also be hosting the 2015 Rhythmic World Championships, an Olympic qualifier, in September. The 2015 Artistic World Championships will be hosted in Glasgow in the last week of October. 

"Stuttgart is a beautiful town with a sports-loving and sport-experienced audience," said Stuttgart Mayor Fritz Kuhn, who was present in Melbourne to support his city's bid before the council's decision. 

We will be a cosmopolitan host in 2019, and welcome the international gymnastics family with us. But this is a close decision. Rotterdam and Stuttgart are absolutely on par in terms of sporting infrastructure." 

As Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB) celebrates its 10th birthday on Friday, the bureau revealed that major events secured, supported or managed by GCMB in collaboration with city partners over the past decade have injected nearly £230 million into Glasgow’s economy; attracting 4.6 million attendances.

During the past 10 years Glasgow has welcomed some of the biggest events and brands in the world to the city, from the Commonwealth Games, UEFA Cup Final and the World Irish Dancing Championships to Olympic football and the torch relay, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA).

“The decision to bring MTV’s most prestigious international awards show, the EMA, to Glasgow in 2014 was the culmination of several years working with the city,” said Bob Bakish, President and CEO of MTV’s global parent company, Viacom International Media Networks.

“Throughout that time we found Glasgow’s dedicated team to be a fantastic partner to work with – forward-thinking, creative and flexible, with a good understanding of how they can best contribute to the successful staging of major events.”

The legacy of last year’s Commonwealth Games will bring a number of coveted major events to Glasgow in the coming years, extending the city’s world-class sporting and cultural events portfolio until 2020. 

These include the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships; 2015 Turner Prize; 2015 British Athletics International; 2016 World Irish Dancing Championships; 2016 Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art; 2018 World Irish Dancing Championships; 2018 European Swimming Championships; 2020 World Men’s Curling Championships and UEFA Euro 2020.

“Glasgow’s continued success in delivering major gymnastics events is attributable to their unique ‘one Glasgow’ approach, which encourages partners, like British Gymnastics, to work in collaboration to deliver successful events, said Jane Allen, CEO of British Gymnastics.

“Glasgow’s willingness to strategically work with British Gymnastics over many years was instrumental in winning the bid to stage the prestigious 2015 World Gymnastics Championships – an Olympic qualification event – in the city later this year.”

Glasgow’s ability to attract the very best major events was further demonstrated recently with the announcement that the city will co-host the inaugural, multi-sport European Sports Championships with Berlin in 2018, following a decision by some of Europe’s top sports to bring together their prestigious European Championships for the first time, including cycling, swimming and athletics.

The event, which will attract a projected TV audience of around 850 million, will see nearly 3,000 athletes travel to Scotland in the summer of 2018 as part of a total delegation of around 8,200 including officials, media and others.

All these events are underpinned by a diverse range of year-round events held in Glasgow – from Celtic Connections, Glasgow Film Festival and Glasgow International Comedy Festival to the Merchant City Festival, Piping Live and the World Pipe Band Championships and more.

Glasgow’s investment of some £300 million in state-of-the-art infrastructure, including the SSE Hydro and the Emirates Arena, has extended the city’s world-class venue offering and capacity. 

“In its first year the SSE Hydro delivered an economic impact of £131 million and celebrated being the second busiest arena in the world,” said John Langford, Director of Live Entertainment at The SSE Hydro. “GCMB plays a pivotal role in supporting this success, through the development of world class content and tirelessly spreading the Glasgow gospel!”

A new “Major Events Charter”, launched after the Commonwealth Games, has further strengthened the city’s reputation for winning and delivering major events. This refreshed charter guarantees the provision of exceptional support for major events coming to the city – with Glasgow the only destination in Europe to make this promise to global event organisers. 

HOST CITY 2015, the largest meeting of cities and cross-sector events in the EU, is taking place in Glasgow on 9th and 10th November.

“Glasgow is a city with a sense of self belief that oozes confidence. We’ve been through a rite of passage, overcoming industrial decline and reinventing our economy to become a leading example of city regeneration,” said Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

“A real strength has been the resilience of our tourism sector and, more specifically, our strategy of attracting a diverse portfolio of major sporting and cultural events coupled with significant investment in new world-class venues.

“We have the infrastructure, the skills and expertise, and above all the friendliness, energy and can-do attitude of the people of Glasgow, which makes this city the complete package.

“In an increasingly competitive global events market, Glasgow is now firmly established as a major player with a hugely ambitious events industry and we will continue to punch above our weight for many years to come.”  

HOST CITY: Does the location of an event have a big impact on infrastructure requirements?

Martin Kallen: We would like it to be similar all the time – that would be easier for us, but wherever you go it’s different. 

Of course we have our criteria and documents we provide to stadiums and organisers to ensure that they meet certain standards. The standards are getting more even. 

However they are still different in terms of the size and quality of infrastructure. Some have better broadcasting facilities, better hospitality facilities or better technical facilities. 

HOST CITY: How does France compare with Poland and Ukraine in terms of event infrastructure?

Martin Kallen: We have 10 stadiums in France, four of which are brand new, 1 existing Stade de France and five refurbished stadiums. If you go to Parc de Princes, they have rebuilt all the hospitality zones, business seats, kiosks, technical area and refreshed the sanitary areas. The remaining seats will be soon replaced.

Lyon is a completely new stadium. Lens is in principle a rebuild, with the construction of a new roof, hospitality and technical area, replacement of seats, etc. Saint-Etienne is a rebuild as well – it’s almost a new stadium on the old foundations.

Bordeaux is a new stadium and Toulouse made an upgrade of the existing facilities as seating area, kiosks and access control system.

If you compare this to Poland and Ukraine, most of the stadiums there were new buildings, with one or two exceptions. 

In Poland, Poznan was a rebuild, but almost the whole stadium was rebuilt. All the other stadiums - Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw - were new. 

In Ukraine you had three new stadiums: Donetsk was finished two years earlier for the club FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Kharkiv was similar to Saint-Etienne, where they rebuilt the stadium on old foundations. 

France is further ahead at this stage in terms of finishing – the infrastructure of most of the stadiums is now delivered. The last one Lyon, will be finished by the end of this year, whereas in Ukraine and Poland a lot of the stadiums were delivered in the last year and two close to the start of the tournament.

In terms of quality, a brand new stadium is much more modern than the one already existing. New stadiums in Ukraine and Poland are similar to the new stadiums in France. 

It is difficult to compare a rebuilding with a new stadium. You always have some challenges because there is a link to the foundations of the stadium, access and so on. If they were built in the seventies, eighties, it’s not the same as today.

HOST CITY: What opportunities are there for event infrastructure suppliers in France?

Martin Kallen: On the overlay side, we are now doing the last tenders. All the suppliers have put their tenders in. It’s now coming almost to an end, because the work will start next year but the tendering process is taking place now.

On the stadium side, all the suppliers were chosen by the stadiums because, except Lyon, the last ones will be delivered by this summer.

HOST CITY: What are the main criteria in choosing a supplier for a UEFA event?

Martin Kallen: One is of course their knowledge – they need to have experience. Secondly, they need to have state of the art, products and services. 

They also need to be sustainable. This means that what they are putting in also needs to be taken away and recycled, or ideally reused in a different form; and when it comes to waste management, that it’s not all going in the garbage – it needs to be sorted or treated. The more it can be reused, the better is the sustainability of the product. 

What is also important is the price. It doesn’t always need to be the cheapest price, but it needs to be a good balance between quality and cost.

Taxes in different countries are always a challenge for suppliers, because they have to establish daughter companies, to recover VAT etc.

For us, the suppliers are very important for the events, as they are in principle specialists in many areas. 

Through the Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES), they can exchange their knowledge, information, issues, problems, challenges and best practice – this is a very good initiative.

HOST CITY: How will EURO 2020 differ in terms of event infrastructure?

Martin Kallen: The first big difference is that infrastructure in most of the countries is already ready. 

We have only two locations where a new stadium will be built; one in Budapest and one in Brussels.

The other stadiums are already state of the art. We have to put on the EURO overlay; we will start working heavily with the stadium from approximatively 2018.

The overlay required for a big event is mainly for broadcasting and media facilities; then it’s hospitality, commercial facilities and all areas which will be either inside existing stadium premises or temporary facilities built outside. But it’s too early to give further information on that, because we have started the project not long time ago.

HOST CITY: What’s the biggest challenge for EURO 2020?

Martin Kallen: We have different challenges. The biggest one is surely to have a good EURO atmosphere in all the 13 countries as each one has 4 matches in only one host city of the country.

The other challenge is to ensure easy transport access. Or to have back to back matches in a host city, so fans can remain in the city until the next match – these are all important points to look at. 

Of course you have 13 different countries with 13 different legislations, so you have to analyse how you can build a unified ticketing concept which is the same for a supporter in London, Munich and Baku. 

HOST CITY: Will ticket prices be different in different countries?

Martin Kallen: That is a good question. That will be decided at a later stage, whether you can have a set price or a different price category that depends on the purchasing power of the people in the country to buy tickets. 

Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber is to speak at the Soccerex Global Convention 2015, which takes place at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, 7th-9th September. 

Garber will discuss MLS’ journey from its launch as a 10-club league in 1996 to one of the fastest developing leagues, attracting global stars such as Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Villa and Kaka.

Garber will also provide insight on the league’s international sponsorship and broadcasting deals, including a new multi-million dollar deal with Sky.

With MLS leading the way in respect to fan engagement, Garber will highlight the importance of digital media as a vehicle for connecting with soccer fans globally and the commercial benefits of being at the forefront of enhancing match day experience.

Garber has turned the league’s fortunes around since taking on the role of commissioner in 1999, bringing it out of a threatening period of financial underperformance and into one of stability and growth. 

Under Garber’s guidance, the league has expanded to 23 teams across America and Canada, and is well on the way to achieving its goal of 24 teams by 2020, with new franchises awarded to Atlanta and Minnesota. 

In 2015, Soccerex enters its 20th year and MLS celebrates its 20th anniversary. 

“As we begin the countdown to our 20th anniversary, it is only fitting that Don and MLS are involved in the year they celebrate the same milestone,” said Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie.

“Both our organisations have enjoyed significant growth during this period and I congratulate Don on the fantastic job he and his team have done in creating such a dynamic and forward thinking league. 

“Don’s insight into MLS’s expansion plans will prove fascinating; I am delighted he has agreed to part of this year’s event and his involvement is indicative of the top level right’s holders that will be featuring in this year’s programme.”

The Global Convention will consist of a thought provoking conference programme packed with business insight, alongside a market-leading international exhibition and extensive networking. A programme of social events completes the schedule for what is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading football business event.

For more information on Soccerex please visit http://www.soccerex.com/events/global-convention/2015, call +44 (0)20 8987 5522 or email enquiry@soccerex.com

Wrestling and taekwondo and wrestling have joined five other Olympic sports in suspending their membership of SportAccord, amid tension between the umbrella organisation for sports federations and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Taekwondo has also pulled out of SportAccord's World Combat Games after a unanimous vote by the council of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

“Taekwondo is more than a sport; it is a philosophy," said WTF president Chungwon Choue at the federation’s general assembly on Monday.

"It is a philosophy based on self-discipline, integrity and respect and at the WTF we believe we have an obligation to stay true to these values.

"It is with regret that taekwondo will not participate in the World Combat Games.

"However, we will continue to promote taekwondo and the Olympic values around the world and develop our sport for our athletes and our millions of fans worldwide.”

At the WTF assembly, IOC sports director Kit McConnell gave a presentation about Olympic Agenda 2020 and taekwondo within the Olympic Movement.

The Kosovo Taekwondo Federation was also granted full WTF membershipn at the assembly.

United Worldwide Wrestling (UWW), the international federation for wrestling, said it has also suspended its membership of SportAccord due to relations with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

“Our decision, which is based on our full commitment to the Olympic Movement and its leadership, implies that for the time being, United World Wrestling shall refrain to participate in the activities and games organised by SportAccord, until the relations with ASOIF has improved to the latter’s satisfaction,” said UWW president Nenad Lalovic.

UWW and WTF join the international federations for archery, athletics, boxing, canoeing, shooting in withdrawing their membership of SportAccord in the current climate. 

The moves follow SportAccord president Marius Vizer’s public criticism of the IOC at the SportAccord Convention.

The race to host the European Capital of Culture 2020 shifted up a gear on Saturday, when Dublin announced its bid and Galway revealed a new website for its bid. Limerick, which was City of Culture in 2014, is also in contention.

There are two European Capitals of Culture every year. The bid process starts when the European Commission calls for applications from the relevant national authorities, such as the ministry of culture.

Ireland and Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013, have been designated the hosts of the 2020 edition and the process is underway to select a host city from each of these countries. 

Christy Burke, Lord Mayor of Dublin on Saturday welcomed 28 young Dubliners to present their hopes for Dublin2020 in a “wishing tree ceremony”. 

“I am thrilled to join these young visionaries on Europe Day and to officially launch Dublin2020, our bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2020,” he said 

“Dubliners are proud Europeans and these young people, who will all be young adults in 2020, are the city’s future.” 

The cities will now prepare candidature files that will be judged on six criteria: contribution to the long-term cultural strategy; European dimension; cultural and artistic content; capacity to deliver; outreach; and management.

The title is awarded on the basis of a specific programme over and above the normal cultural activity of a city.

According to the European Commission, the size of a city is not a factor and surrounding areas may be incorporated into bids. Cities with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants have hosted the European Capital of Culture. 

The European Commission says success factors are: acting as a catalyst for a step-change in the city, or an area of a city; a measurable increase in the self-esteem of citizens and pride in the city; an increased engagement with the cultural offers of the city, especially with audiences less likely to attend or participate; development of new cultural offers, new skills, new opportunities for artists and cultural organisations; and a greater international understanding and profile, often seen in increased tourism and reputation.

Periodically, a third European Capital of Culture is awarded from a candidate or potential candidate to EU membership. The Serbian city of Novi Sad announced in March that it would make an official application for European Capital of Culture 2020 in autumn 2015.  

The host cities of the European Capital of Culture 2020 will be announced next year.

The European Union (EU) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday signed an agreement which enables Emiratis through Europe without applying for visas. 

Under the agreement, Emiratis can now stay in Schengen zone countries for 90 days in any 180-day period. 

The diplomatic breakthrough coincided with the first week of Expo Milan 2015, where the UAE has a national pavilion designed by Foster + Partners. Dubai is to host the next such “universal” World Expo in 2020. 

The UAE is the first Arab country to be granted free entry to the Schengen zone, which includes 26 European countries. 

“Our UAE citizens have the full right to feel proud of their leadership, which exerts every possible effort to take care of their welfare internally, as well as anywhere else in the world,” Sheikh Abdullah said.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the agreement. “Our UAE citizens have the full right to feel proud of their leadership, which exerts every possible effort to take care of their welfare internally, as well as anywhere else in the world,” he said.

The agreement will be a boost to business tourism from the UAE.

“It will also allow our students more opportunity to know European universities better and choose whichever suits them best in the pursuit of their education,” said Sheikh Abdullah.

UAE citizens now have visa-free access to travel without a visa to Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

They will also be able to travel to eight non-Schengen countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, the Vatican, Andorra, San Marino and Monaco.

Emiratis have since the start of 2014 been able to apply online for a visa waiver for travel to the UK.

Sheikh Abdullah also praised the UAE’s successful bid to host the 2019 International Energy Conference and Dubai winning the right to host the World Expo 2020. 

 Click here to see a list of countries that are in the Schengen area »

On his first visit to New Zealand on Tuesday, president Thomas Bach said the IOC is ready to look into a wider range of potential host nations – including New Zealand.

“You cannot restrict the right to host the Olympics to just 20 countries”, he said at a press conference.

“The Olympic Games are universal and we should open doors and windows. If New Zealand is ready to look into it, we are ready.”

He also said the changes brought about by Olympic Agenda 2020 encouraged countries to think about how the Olympic Games could fit into the social, economic, environmental and sporting needs of a country.

Bach was visiting to open the new National Olympic Committee headquarters in Auckland, where he was welcomed with a traditional “powhiri” welcome ceremony.

“Like the Olympic Movement, the welcome ceremony signifies peace, friendship and equality, and it shows how New Zealanders embrace the same values we do of tolerance and understanding through sport”, he said.

He was greeted by IOC Members Barry Maister – who is also tourism director at Destination Marlborough, and Barbara Kendall, who is also vice president of the International Surfing Association.

He also met with Minister for Sport and Health, Dr Jonathan Coleman, as well as members of the National Olympic Committee and national sports federations.

On Wednesday, Bach visited athletes at the Rowing New Zealand High Performance Centre in Cambridge, and after a visit to the local school he went on to the Avantidrome home of New Zealand Cycling, where he met a number of New Zealand Olympic medallists and hopefuls for next year's Games in Rio de Janeiro.

President Bach discussed discussed Rio 2016, changes to the sports programme and the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms with a group of 20 New Zealand athletes at the Avantidrome.

The Plasticity Forum will hold its fourth annual conference on 8 and 9 June in Cascais, on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal. The forum will bring together approximately 200 business leaders and experts to discuss innovative solutions to the growing plastic pollution problem facing land and marine environments.

A global event, The Plasticity Forum was launched in Rio de Janeiro, and has since been held in Hong Kong and New York, with the upcoming conference marking its first European event. 

The venue for this year's event will be the Pousada de Cascais - Cidadela Historic Hotel, an old fort facing the Atlantic Ocean that has been converted into a boutique resort. The event will also include a dinner for all attendees at The Presidential Palace in Cascais.

A recent study from the University of Georgia's College of Engineering found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline. That year, a total of 275 million metric tons of plastic waste was generated in those 192 coastal countries. Globally, some 280 million tons of plastic is produced annually, yet estimates suggest that only 10 percent is actually recycled. 

Capturing this waste stream presents a significant and untapped business opportunity, as does the redesign of packaging and the thought process around waste creation. The Plasticity Forum presents ideas and opens up discussions on how to harness this material in new ways.

"Companies are beginning to realize that environmental sustainability has a positive impact not only on the communities they serve, but also their own bottom line," said Doug Woodring, founder of Plasticity. “Managing the plastic ecosystem through recycling, reuse and closed-loop methods can make our planet healthier while also creating efficiency in corporate supply chains.”