Airbnb becomes an official provider for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Airbnb has signed a landmark agreement with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, becoming the Official Hosting Provider for the biggest multi-sport event ever in the West Midlands.

Birmingham 2022 is expected to attract more than one million spectators to the city from around the world, as well as around 4,500 athletes from 72 Commonwealth nations and territories.

Airspeeder announce groundbreaking two-year broadcast content deal with Fox Sports Australia for Flying Car Racing Series

Airspeeder are thrilled to announce a groundbreaking two-year broadcast content deal with Fox Sports Australia that will bring exclusive, cutting-edge flying car racing content to audiences across Australia. Under the agreement there will be four exciting content series shown over two years on Fox Sports which is available on Foxtel and streaming service, Kayo Sports.

Airspeeder's flying car racing series lands on DAZN in global content partnership

Airspeeder, a pioneering company in flying car racing technology (eVTOLs), has teamed up with DAZN, a leading global sports streaming platform, to bring exciting content from the Airspeeder EXA series race to audiences worldwide. This one-year non-exclusive content partnership will feature highlights from the first Airspeeder EXA Series Race in South Australia, the “Road to Flying Car Racing” series as well as "Finding Extreme Pilots" and "Building Flying Cars" series.

Ajax taking a stand against social hate

Every month, players from Ajax Amsterdam's men's and women's teams receive more than 1,500 hate messages on social media.

Al Ahly coach Mosimane takes Leicester 2016 success as inspiration in Club World Cup

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has said he is taking inspiration from Leicester City's 2016 Premier League success as he leads the Egyptian side at the Fifa Club World Cup. The nine-time African champions face local Qatari champions Al Duhail today in Doha. The prize for the winners is a semi-final game against European champions Bayern Munich.

"The level is the highest that it could possibly be and it's very difficult to win, but what's important is to go there and play to the best of our abilities," the South African coach insisted. We want] everyone to see that we've done the best against the best teams in the world so there's nothing bigger for me and Al Ahly.

"Any coach that goes to any tournament believes that he can win it, but the reality is how do you beat Bayern Munich - who have just defeated the mighty Barcelona 8-2 on aggregate with Lionel Messi on the pitch? But anything is possible - Leicester City has showed you that anything is possible." The global coronavirus pandemic means stadiums at the delayed tournament in Qatar will only be at 30% capacity.

Al Ahly board member Khaled Mortagy says his side is missing out on what could have been fantastic support had fans been allowed to attend matches. "There are a lot of Egyptians living here, which was obvious from the way we were welcomed at the airport by our fans wearing the red jerseys and cheering our club," he said.

"It made our players look into how they make these people happy. I believe if it was in normal circumstances, the stadium would have been full with Al Ahly supporters, so it's a pity, but we have to comply with the regulations in this extraordinary time. The focus is to win the first game and then take it from there I don't think anyone is looking at anything else. We are playing against a very good team - they have got 5 or 6 international players - so we have to take it step-by-step." Al Duhail's squad includes two African stars in Kenya striker Michael Olunga and Morocco's Mehdi Benatia, who joined the Qatari club from Italian giants Juventus.

"It is a match that everyone is waiting for with lots of quality players," said Benatia. "I know Egyptian teams - they have high quality players and I know they will be a tough opponent with their combative style and it will be a match of high level. But we have good quality and are in a good form ourselves. We work well so I think we have the ability to cause them problems."

Mortagy says that Mosimane has settled in well at Al Ahly since taking over in September, when one of his first tasks was to win the African Champions League. A convincing 5-1 aggregate win over Morocco's Wydad Casablanca in the semi-finals was followed by a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Zamalek in the final.

"He is a great coach and a world-class coach too, and he has adapted very well to our club," Mortagy explained. "The aim of bringing him - especially during the semi-final and final of the African Championship - was to have someone who has the experience and who knows the opposition player.

"He is beloved by the players, works very hard and at the same time he thinks with a long-term strategy and wants to make something for the future. He has the spirit of the club, he knows exactly the values of the club and at the same time, being Al Ahly coach is a great value for him - he wants to leave a legacy for himself at the club."

This will be Al Ahly's sixth appearance at the Club World Cup but their first since 2013, and they'll be looking to improve on their best finish in 2006 when they finished third. While today's winners face Bayern Munich, the losers will play in the fifth-place game. That play-off will be against the losers of the other quarter-final between North and Central American champions UANL of Mexico and Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea.

Al Mouj Golf adds new Environment Award to its international achievements

Al Mouj Golf is celebrating having won the International Environmental Golf Club Award for 2023 at the Golf Environment Awards, a UK-based program that recognises excellence in environmentally sustainable practices within the sport.

Located at the ocean’s edge within premium lifestyle destination Al Mouj Muscat, Al Mouj Golf is a World 100 course and the awards, organised by the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), reward outstanding clubs for how they protect and preserve their natural surroundings.

Alberta Whittle’s film premieres at Birmingham Cathedral for the Birmingham 2022 Festival

Grand Union Gallery and British-Barbadian artist Alberta Whittle are collaboratively embarking on a longterm visual art project for the Birmingham 2022 Festival — Congregation (creating dangerously) – to aid in the much-needed healing of Birmingham's community. Using public sculpture, film, workshops, Official Official and community gardening with women's groups, Grand Union seeks to address issues surrounding use and ownership of land, and uses the concept of congregation to consider notions of freedom and longterm healing.

Albion unveil Regis inspired away kit

West Bromwich Albion will celebrate its Official Charity Partner for the 2022/23 season, ‘The Cyrille Regis Legacy Trust’, with a special away kit honouring the iconic centre forward.

Albion Women to play historic first fixture at The Hawthorns

West Bromwich Albion Women will make history in March when they play their first official match at The Hawthorns, the home of their male counterparts since 1900.

Albion Women, who regularly play their Women’s National League games at Sutton Coldfield Town’s Coles Lane ground, host high flying Derby County on Sunday, March 6, 2022 (ko 2pm).

Alexander Stadium contractor extends helping hand to allotments

As National Allotment Week passes, it has been announced that the Walsall Road Allotments in Birmingham will be receiving a much-needed upgrade.

The work being done is thanks to McLaughlin & Harvey, the lead contractor at the Alexander Stadium redevelopment in Perry Barr.

Over the course of the next week, the construction team will be upgrading one of the roads in the allotment used by The Open Doors Project, a non-profit organisation that provides outdoor activities for young people with disabilities or additional needs.

The upgrade will be delivered as part of McLaughlin & Harvey’s You Matter Communities, which provides support to local communities through volunteer time, small grants and the use of excess materials from the construction process.

Kate Millington, Director at The Open Doors Project CIC, said: “Our allotment is a much-loved space and gives the children we work with opportunities to explore nature and take part in a range of activities.

“We are excited about the re-paving of the road next to our plot as it will make access much easier for the young people who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids.”

The works to the road will go on over three to four days and involve the volunteer contributions of nine members of the Alexander Stadium redevelopment team.

McLaughlin & Harvey Operations Director for the Alexander Stadium, Martin Keys, said “You Matter Communities is about making a positive contribution to Birmingham’s communities.

“As a neighbour to the Walsall Road Allotments, we are happy to use our skills in this way and delighted that it will improve the access for the young people involved in The Open Doors Project long after we have completed the stadium project”.

Betty Farrugia, Site Manager, Walsall Road allotments, added: “We are really pleased that McLaughlin & Harvey have made this generous offer. The road upgrade will make it much safer for the young people who take part in the activities. We’ve also benefited from donations of picnic benches and some loads of topsoil from the site team which has benefitted many of the plot holders.”

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Ian Ward, said: “Our partners at McLaughlin & Harvey really impressed us with their vision for the Alexander Stadium project when they outlined their vision for becoming good neighbours and an active part of the local community.

“Through activity like this, they are making a positive difference for many people in Perry Barr and I look forward to seeing many other groups and projects benefit from their efforts in the months and years ahead.”
 

Alexander Stadium is handed over for final leg of Games-time preparations

Almost three years of work to redevelop the city’s Alexander Stadium has reached its most significant milestone yet – with the venue handed over by the city council to Birmingham 2022 for this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

The council has overseen the £72million project to revamp the stadium ahead of the biggest event in the city’s history.

Alexander Stadium Redevelopment Making Great Progress

The full event schedule for Birmingham 2022 has been released, allowing sports fans to see the detail of exactly which events will be held in each of the 286 sessions that will feature at next summer’s Games. Women’s cricket T20, basketball 3x3, wheelchair basketball 3x3 and mixed synchronised diving will all debut in Birmingham, with the schedule set to includes two ‘Super Sundays’ for spectators to look forward to, with the second set to be the ultimate showcase of women’s sport.

With limited opportunities to attend live sports events in recent months, a huge amount of interest in tickets for the Games is expected, especially as the sports programme is the biggest in Commonwealth history and from today Birmingham 2022 ticket accounts can now be set up. The event schedule was launched with the help of Team England hopefuls who visited the host city’s Alexander Stadium - an important Games venue currently undergoing a £72 million refurbishment which is on budget and on schedule to be completed in Spring 2022.

Birmingham City Council Leader, Councillor Ian Ward, said: “The summer of 2022 is set for a spectacular Commonwealth Games, with 11 days of world-class sport in our city and wider region. The redeveloped Alexander Stadium will be at the heart of the Games, as the venue will not only host the athletics but the opening and closing ceremonies.

“The Alexander Stadium redevelopment is progressing at a lightning speed, with the roof of the new West Stand now complete. Once finished the Alexander Stadium will be truly befitting for the world’s best track and field athletes and as a bold centre piece of leisure, health and well-being activity in a regenerated Perry Barr.” 

“To see a world-class stadium developing on budget is fantastic, said Director of Sport for Birmingham 2022, Matt Kidson. “With more detail for our sports programme now revealed, the Games is really taking shape and it’s time for people to start planning which sessions they want to attend next summer, as our tickets will go on sale very soon,” he continued.

Aspiring Team GB Olympic heavyweight Delicious Orie said: "Some say I'm the new Anthony Joshua, but one day I aim to be even better and dominate." Raised in Russia, built in Wolverhampton, in Britain, the Super-Heavyweight England Boxing National Amateur Champion is targeting Birmingham 2022 and Paris 2024.

“This is a dream period in my life,” he said. “I originally played basketball and knew nothing about boxing. Away from the ring the calm and humble Delicious is appreciative of the sacrifices his family made to give him the chance of a better life away from racism in Russia.

He said: "I was born in Moscow and life was harder out there. We didn't have a lot of money and some people didn't like me purely because of the colour of my skin.

"I was seven when we moved to the UK and although it was difficult because I didn't speak the language and there were cultural differences, I could see there were more opportunities for kids to succeed." His father, Justin, left Nigeria in 1995 hoping for a better life in Russia and although he met his wife Natalie while studying, he had arrived in a country where Black people were often subjected to severe discrimination.

Orie, 23, found a love of sport as soon as he came to the UK and settled in Wolverhampton, but he had not even considered boxing before turning 18. "My first love was basketball and I looked up to Luol Deng,” he recalls.

“Born in Sudan, he was ‘killing it’ in the NBA. I knew nothing about boxing until I was introduced to the Wolverhampton Amateur Boxing Club. Now I aim to do the same in my sport”. Orie's ultimate target is an Olympic title for his adopted nation at Paris 2024, but first he must secure British citizenship.

“With 19 different sports and eight Para sports, we have such a rich and varied programme and there will be medal moments on every single day of competition,” says Matt Kitson. “We also have a really interesting mix of venues, with established facilities like the NEC and Arena Birmingham, beautiful parks like St Nicholas Park and West Park and exciting redevelopments like the Alexander Stadium, where the progress in the last 12 months has been phenomenal.”

As a new Alexander Stadium is coming on in leaps-and-bounds, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games just can’t come soon enough!

Alexander Stadium revamp contract awarded to McLaughlin & Harvey

The contract to redevelop Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium into a high-quality venue for diverse sporting, leisure, community and cultural events has been awarded by Birmingham City Council to McLaughlin & Harvey.

McLaughlin & Harvey has a strong track record in undertaking large prestigious projects across the UK and has previously successfully completed projects for major games events, including the London Olympics, and sporting developments for numerous football and rugby clubs.

The Alexander Stadium project, a scheme worth an overall £72million, received unanimous support from the Birmingham City Council Planning Committee in January 2020. It will see the venue’s permanent capacity increased from 12,700 to 18,000 – with the ability to temporarily increase up to a maximum of 40,000 for major events.

The regeneration of Perry Barr, which has the stadium at the centre, represents more than £500million of investment in the coming years, the wider plans for the area also include new housing, improved transport and related upgrades to infrastructure and public space.

The revamped stadium is set to host a range of tenants including the world-famous Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club and Birmingham City University.  Acting as the new home for the university’s sports and exercise students, it will bring an exciting new partnership and purpose to the stadium beyond athletics.

Ali iconic 'Thrilla in Manila' trunks expected to fetch $6m at auction

The trunks worn by the legend, Muhammad Ali, in his epic 'Thrilla in Manila' victory over Joe Frazier are expected to fetch more than $6m (£4.8m) at auction.

Alisha Lehmann the most influential on Women's World Cup Instagram list

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is less than three weeks away and interest in the tournament is increasing around the world. By using data from Nielsen and Instagram, Seat Compare have researched the competing players at this year’s tournament and their respective Instagram statistics. 

All Blacks and Springboks preparing for history

New Zealand and South Africa are both bidding to become the first nation to win the Rugby World Cup for a fourth time in Paris.

Altitude International announces partnership with the largest youth soccer club network in the world

Altitude International Holdings, Inc.  have announced that on March 7, 2022, its wholly owned subsidiary, CMA Soccer LLC  signed a Management Consulting and License Agreement with NYC-based soccer giant, Soccer Partners America, a Colorado not-for-profit corporation.

RUSH Soccer is a national competitive youth soccer club that administers boys’ and girls’ teams internationally (the “RUSH Programs”) with proprietary training methodology, documentation and materials (the “RUSH Material”), proprietary technologies and platforms (the “RUSH Technologies”), and a database of individuals (the “RUSH Database”).

AlUla Camel Cup set to be the pinnacle of the Saudi Arabian camel-racing season

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), in collaboration with the Saudi Camel Racing Federation (SCRF), announced today that the inaugural AlUla Camel Cup will be held from March 14-17, 2023.

The tournament will crown a ‘Champion of Champions’ and will complete with a grand prize pool of USD 21.33M. With the highest prize pots in the world per round of camel racing, the tournament honours the Kingdom’s revered sport in the stunning backdrop of AlUla, a place of extraordinary human and natural heritage.

AlUla hosting inaugural Arab Cup for camel racing and World Championship

AlUla's growing reputation as the home of diverse and exciting heritage sports from across the region and beyond will be further cemented when the city hosts two of the sector's newest and most high-profile contests – the Arab Cup for Camel Racing and the World Championship for International Camel Endurance.

Amazon exclusive docuseries about PSG to launch on Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video have announced that the four-part Amazon Exclusive docuseries about the Paris Saint-Germain football club, PSG Ô Ville Lumière, 50 Ans De Légende, will be available on Prime Video globally, excluding China and Middle-East, on 10^th September 2021.

The four-part docuseries gives fans a never-before-seen look inside the famous Parisian club, following players, coaches and supporters in the heart of the action during the last two seasons, including the club’s challenging journey in Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League.