London 2012 Ceremonies Budget Doubles; SportAccord Unveils Convention Theme

London 2012 Ceremonies Budget Doubles

The U.K. government will dole out an additional $64 million for the London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

The BBC reports that British prime minister David Cameron agreed to double the budget from $63 million to more than $126 million.

London 2012 CEO Paul Deighton says the government committed the additional funds to boost tourism and business in the U.K.

"Ceremonies do require a judgement call in terms of investment as the global audience and scale of the opportunity are far greater than the operational need," he said in a statement to Around the Rings.

"The Government has chosen to make this investment because they believe there will be a substantial return to tourism and business legacy and we will continue to work hard to deliver four brilliant ceremonies which showcase the UK to the world in the best possible way."

The funds were announced in a London 2012 quarterly report by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Baseball Congress

The International Baseball Federation will have a new tournament format over the next few years.

IBAF Congress voted over the weekend for the changes, which president Riccardo Fraccari says will increase revenues.

"There is still work to do on eligibility rules for the players and we will have to agree on very strict time frames for the tournaments," he said in a statement.

"But I am confident we have a great chance to see the revenues rise dramatically".

The format includes two new tournaments – a 21-and-under world cup every other year starting in 2014 and a senior tournament named Premier 12 every four years beginning in 2015.

Under these changes, the World Baseball Classic will be the flagship IBAF tournament instead of the World Cup.

"It is not true that we won't have the World Cup anymore," Fraccari explained. "It is true that the Classic has been transformed into a real World Championship".

Don Porter, head of the International SoftballFederation, also attended the Congress and offered his support for a joint softball and baseball bid to join the Olympics.

The two sports are on a shortlist of eight to be possibly included in the 2020 Olympics.

Beyond Sport Summit Begins

The Beyond Sport Summit is underway in Cape Town, South Africa.

From Monday through Thursday, athletes, government officials and humanitarians from around the world will convene to drive social change through sport.

Speakers includeformer British prime minister Tony Blair, four-time Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson, "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius and Wilfried Lemke, the United Nations Secretary -General's Special Adviser on Sport for Peace and Development.

On Wednesday and Thursday, this year’s winners of the Beyond Sport Awards will also be announced.

SportAccord Announces 2012 Theme

SportAccord’s theme for its 10th annual convention will be "A Decade of Change, A Future of Promise."

The conference, to be held in Quebec City from May 20-25, will focus on major developments in sports over the past 10 years.

"Since the creation of our event in 2003, the world of sport has changed enormously before our eyes and the pace of change has been accelerating," said Anna Hellman, executive director of the SportAccord Convention.

"Our conference in Québec City will focus on understanding the transformation that has been taking place and helping to show the way forward for sport and businesses involved in sport."

Russia Wins Volleyball World Cup

Russia beat Poland over the weekend to win the FIVB World Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

Both of the countries secured a spot in the London Olympics, and Brazil defeated Japan to earn the third place up for grabs in the Games next summer.

Russian player Maxim Mikhaylov was named the most valuable player.

Written by Ann Cantrell.

20 Years at #1:

Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.