News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch tops the London
GUARDIAN's list of the "50 Most Powerful People In Sport,"
and John Cassy wrote of Murdoch, "The geographical spread of
his companies, the number of sports he has an interest in
and his financial firepower combine to give him more power
to influence sport on a worldwide basis than the
administrators and owners, the traditional ringmasters." In
producing the list, the GUARDIAN focused on four attributes:
the number of sports an individual is involved with; his or
her position within them; the pulling power and global reach
of those sports; and the power of the individual to effect
change of a structural and long-term nature. The GUARDIAN
cited "notable" absentees on the list include athletes,
except for Tiger Woods, and women (London GUARDIAN, 3/27):
RK NAME ORGANIZATION/POSITION
1) Rupert Murdoch News Corp./Chair
2) Sepp Blatter FIFA/President
3) Juan Antonio Samaranch IOC/President
4) Leo Kirch Kirch Media/President
5) Ted Turner Time Warner/Vice Chair
6) Phil Knight Nike/Chair & CEO
7) Lennart Johansson UEFA/President
8) Dick Pound IOC/VP
9) Bernie Ecclestone Formula One Holdings/Owner
10) Dick Ebersol NBC Sports/Chair
11) Michael Eisner Disney/Chair & CEO
12) Tim Finchem PGA Tour/Commissioner
13) Bud Selig MLB/Commissioner
14) Mark McCormack IMG/Founder & CEO
15) Silvio Berlusconi AC Milan/President
16) Lamine Diack IAAF/General Secretary
17) Charles Fruit Coca-Cola/VP/Mktg. & Media
18) Paul Tagliabue NFL/Commissioner
19) Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum Racehorse Owner
20) David Stern NBA/Commissioner
21) David Hill Fox Sports Group/President
22) Mark Miles ATP Tour/CEO
23) Phil Guarascio GM/VP/Marketing & Advertising
24) Robert Louis-Dreyfus adidas/Chair
25) George Bodenheimer ESPN/President
26) Bob Arum Boxing Promoter
27) Pierre Lescure Canal Plus/Chair
28) Donald Fehr MLBPA/Exec Dir
29) Florian Haffa EM.TV/CFO
30) Bill Allard SFX Sports/President & CEO
31) Hein Verbruggen Int'l Cycling Union/President
32) Bob Kraft Patriots/Owner
33) Roland Smith Manchester United/Chair
34) Max Mosley FIA/President
35) Jagmohan Dalmiya ICC/President
36) Roberto Marinho Globo Group/Chair
37) Gianni Agnelli Fiat/Honorary Chair
38) The Dolan Family Cablevision/Majority Owner
39) Vince McMahon WWF/Chair
40) Franz Beckenbauer German FA/VP
41) Viviane Reding European Union/Education and
Culture Minister
42) Barclay Knapp NTL/CEO
43) Bart McGuire WTA Tour/CEO
44) Michael Jordan Wizards/President B-ball Ops.
45) Kim Un-Yong Assoc. of Int'l Sports
Federations/President
46) Don King Boxing Promoter
47) Ma Guoli CCTV Sports/President
48) Tiger Woods Pro Golfer
49) Jean-Louis Dupont Attorney
50) Leigh Steinberg Assante Sports/CEO
-30-
