UCI Gives European Broadcasting Union Media Distribution Rights -- Federations Focus

(ATR) The International Cycling Union (UCI) is giving the distribution rights for all of its world championships over the next eight years to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and partner IMG.

The deal includes the annual Track, Road, Mountain Bike, Cyclo-cross, BMX and Urban Cycling World Championships from 2017 through 2024 and also includes the UCI Track Cycling and Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cups.

The EBU now controls the distribution rights across all media platforms throughout Europe while IMG will distribute the rights to the rest of the world.

Target cycling countries such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden will receive free-to-air coverage from the EBU as part of the deal.

"I am very pleased that we have agreed this new partnership with the EBU and IMG as I am convinced it will bring our main events to the broadest possible audience worldwide," said UCI president Brian Cookson. "The signing of such a long and significant agreement is further proof of the renewed confidence stakeholders have in the UCI and I am looking forward to working hand-in-hand with the EBU and IMG over the next eight years."

Costa Rica to host 2016 ISA World Surfing Games

The 2015 champions of the ISA World Surfing Games will be looking to defend their title on home soil in 2016.

The International Surfing Association (ISA) announced that the beach town of Jacó, Costa Rica will host the event this year from August 6 to 14.

Team Costa Rica, the champion of the 2015 ISA World Surfing Games in Nicaragua, will be looking to become the first country to win consecutive titles since Team Australia did it in 2008.

The ISA is expecting this year’s event to be even larger than in 2015, when 132 surfers from 27 countries participated.

It is possible that surfing could be one of the newest Olympic sports by the time the World Surfing Games get underway on August 6. The IOC will be making the final decision on which sports will be added for the Tokyo 2020 Games during the IOC Session in Rio in early August.

ISA President Fernando Aguerre said in a statement "With Team Costa Rica defending their title in their home waves and the pending Olympic announcement, this event has all the elements to be a monumental milestone for Surfing."

FIVB President Ary Graça to Stand Unopposed for Re-election

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) won’t be having a presidential election campaign in the coming months.

Current FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° will stand unopposed for re-election at the 35th FIVB World Congress in Argentina on Oct. 5. The deadline to enter the race passed on April 4 with no other candidates coming forward.

All five of FIVB’s Continental Confederations have previously unanimously supported the candidacy of Graça, who won election in 2012. His second term will run until 2024.

Graça said in a statement "It is an honor to be the president of the largest International Federation in the world and it is incredibly humbling to receive this vote of confidence. I am looking forward to having an opportunity to build on the FIVB’s rapid development as we work together to make volleyball the number one family entertainment sport in the world."

Written by Kevin Nutley and Gerard Farek

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.