Menu
2012 Year In Review

Names In The News 2012

F1 CEO BERNIE ECCLESTONE married for a third time in a ceremony at his ski chalet in Switzerland. The 81-year-old billionaire married 35-year-old Brazilian Marketing Dir FABIANA FLOSI at Le Lion, his £23M ($36.4M) chalet.

F1 driver and seven-time world champion MICHAEL SCHUMACHER was awarded with the honorary citizenship to the Belgium city of Spa.

The Russian delegation's flag-bearer during the London Olympic ceremony was MARIA SHARAPOVA. The Russians broke tradition by choosing the tennis star. In the past, the honor was only given to famous athletes who had won numerous Olympic titles.

Real Madrid footballer CRISTIANO RONALDO and his agent, JORGE MENDES, funded a 9-year-old boy's cancer treatment in a private hospital in Madrid. The family met the pair when they flew to Madrid to make one of Nuhazet's dreams come true -- see a Real Madrid match at the Santiago Bernabéu.

A Daily Sports Seoul survey revealed Samsung Electronics Chair and IOC member LEE KUN-HEE was regarded as the most influential figure in South Korean sports. South Korean figure skater KIM YU-NA placed second, followed by former FIFA VP CHUNG MONG-JOON, ManU midfielder PARK JI-SUNG and Korean Olympic Committee President PARK YONG-SUNG

Swiss tennis star ROGER FEDERER gave PRINCE CHARLES a bow at his first Wimbledon appearance since '70,

Chinese Basketball Association Beijing Ducks and former NBA player STEPHON MARBURY published his autobiography, Wo Shi Ma Zheng Wei (I am Commissar Marbury), which hit Chinese bookstores on June 30. The book was written alongside Chinese journalist WANG MENG, who covers basketball for Beijing newspaper Titan Sports Weekly

The Int'l Press Centre at Olympic Park now includes the JOHN RODDA Press Workroom. Rodda served as the Guardian's athletics and boxing correspondent for more than 36 years before he died in '09 at the age of 78. He also covered every Games between '60-92. LOCOG Chair SEBASTIAN COE said that Rodda opened up the world of sports politics to him and played an influential role in helping to advise on how to negotiate the corridors of power,

Former NBA player YAO MING and NBA China announced a partnership to further basketball participation, develop youth basketball, promote cultural exchange and conduct social responsibility programs in China. Yao will collaborate with the league to launch basketball and social development programs for Chinese youth through NBA Cares and the Yao Foundation for communities in need.

Birmingham Council erected a life-size wicker statue of USAIN BOLT to welcome the world's fastest man to the city. But there was a little problem; the 6-foot figure points to the right, rather than the left.

A tennis shirt worn by ANDY MURRAY in this year's U.S. Open final, as he ended Britain's 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam champion, sold at a charity auction in the U.K. for £8,500 ($13,687), 6.3% above its £8,000 ($12,000) high valuation Tuesday night. All funds from the sale benefited the Angelus Foundation, which aims to educate drug users on the dangers of taking both club drugs and legal highs.

South Korean-born U.N. Secretary General BAN KI-MOON received the highest medal given by the IOC for his contribution to the Olympic movement. He was awarded the Olympic Order, in gold, which was established in '75.

Great Britain Olympic champion JESSICA ENNIS revealed she wants to start her own fashion brand, citing ALEXANDER MCQUEEN and VICTORIA BECKHAM as style inspiration.

Procter & Gamble introduced Brazilian football legend PELÉ as a brand ambassador.

NBA player RAJA BELL traveled to India from July 12-17 to participate in a series of basketball events in Delhi to grow basketball and the popularity of the NBA.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC's name was wrongly engraved on the U.S. Open trophy. His name is spelled with a "C," but the trophy used a "K"

Australian RICKY PONTING, who scored 13,366 runs in 167 tests -- the second highest haul in the long history of the game, retried from cricket on Nov. 29.

In Australia, Fox Sports appointed former Football Federation Australia commercial boss JOHN O'SULLIVAN as COO.

Sydney FC appointed TONY PIGNATA as the team's CEO.

Barcelona FC named TITO VILANOVA as head coach for the next two seasons. The deal will expire on June 30, 2014.

Red Bull Salzburg appointed Frenchman GERARD HOULLIER as global football director and former Schalke 04 coach RALF RANGNICK as sports director. Rangnick is also be in charge of development at sister club RB Leipzig in Germany,

The ICC named ALAN ISAAC president, replacing SHARAD PAWAR, who completes his two year term at the end of the year. ICC GM DAVID RICHARDSON took over as ICC CEO in place of HAROON LORGAT.

The Japan FA promoted KUNIYA DAINI to president. Daini took over for JUNJI OGURA. Ogura was appointed honorary president. SABURO KAWABUCHI, the current honorary president was named Supreme Adviser.

Russian Football Federation President SERGEI FURSENKO resigned after Russia's early exit from Euro 2012.

Man City Manager ROBERTO MANCINI signed a new five-year deal with the club to remain as manager, worth at least £25M ($38.8M). The deal secures him at the club until '17.

Al Wasl of the UAE Football League sacked DIEGO MARADONA as its chief coach along with his support staff.

Russian-Finnish businessman GENNADY TIMCHENKO was elected the new chairman of the Board of the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League. Timchenko is also chairman of the Board for St. Petersburg-based hockey team SKA, which plays in the KHL.

Organizers of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics chose former military officer MARCO AURELIO COSTA VIEIRA to replace RODERLEI GENERALI as COO. Costa Vieira will be be responsible for relations with national Olympic committees, the athletes village, venues, opening and closing ceremonies, accommodation, transportation, security and technology.

DAVID HILL left Fox Sports for a new job at News Corp., as part of a restructuring of its media and entertainment properties. Hill, who launched Fox Sports in '93, become News Corp. Senior Exec VP, where he will focus on programming and digital initiatives across Latin America, Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S.

The NRL appointed former Lloyds Bank CEO David Smith as league CEO.

Cricket Kenya unanimously elected ZEHRA JANMOHAMMED as its chairwoman, the first woman to head a national cricket board. Janmohammed, a Nairobi-based lawyer, who previously served as a legal adviser to the former Kenya Cricket Association, was elected unopposed.

Brasileiro club Flamengo elected EDUARDO BANDEIRA DE MELLO as its president. De Mello will lead the club from '13-15.

Billionaire ALISHER USMANOV, an investor in businesses from Facebook to Arsenal, was re-elected president of the Int'l Fencing Federation before its 100th anniversary next year. Usmanov was elected for a second term.

Octagon hired JIMMY QIN as its Greater China VP, with his office located in Shanghai. Qin joined the company with more than 16 years of sports marketing experience. Prior to joining Octagon, Qin was senior sports marketing director for Li Ning. He also held positions at Coca-Cola and Nike.

The French Rugby Federation (FFR) re-elected PIERRE CAMOU as its president for another four years. The 67-year-old received 89.76% of the votes.

Puma announced CEO FRANZ KOCH will step down at the end of March. He will also step down as a member of the Group Exec Committee of PPR SA, the main shareholder of Puma SE.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2012/12/28/2012-Year-In-Review/Names.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2012/12/28/2012-Year-In-Review/Names.aspx

CLOSE