International Football
INTEGRAL BEGINS SALE OF OFFICIAL HOSPITALITY PACKAGES FOR FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP FRANCE 2019
Integral, Nigeria’s leading sports event and hospitality company has begun the sale of hospitality packages for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019.
After running a very successful hospitality package sale for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, MATCH Hospitality has once again appointed Integral as its exclusive sales agent for Nigeria.
MATCH Hospitality is the industry leader in the management and sale of commercial hospitality programme for major sports events and is the exclusive rights holder of the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 Official Hospitality Programme.
It is the only company worldwide authorized by FIFA to offer and guarantee exclusive ticket-inclusive hospitality packages for all matches directly or through its appointed sales agents.
MATCH Hospitality has years of experience in delivering world class hospitality for FIFA and at other international sports events. The Company has successfully operated the FIFA Commercial Hospitality Programmes for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, and more recently the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. MATCH Hospitality has also delivered the FIFA Hospitality Programme for the last two FIFA Women’s World Cup events which were hosted in Germany and Canada.
Given the tremendous growth in interest anddevelopment of women’s football worldwide, MATCH Hospitality is gearing up to deliver anunforgettable FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™experience to its ever-growing clientele viaits global network of sales agents.
Pascal Portes, Chief Operating Officer of MATCH Hospitality, said: “We feel a tremendoussense of pride in the product range offered by MATCH Hospitality as FIFA’s official hospitalityrights holder for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™.
“Nigeria is an established and very passionate market, and we are extremely optimistic about thesales potential for our hospitality programme in 2019. We know that Integral are our best partnersto open the door to a thriving Nigerian market ready for the extraordinary experiences promised bythis exceptional FIFA Women’s World Cup™ environment.”
Abimbola Ilo, Managing Director of Integral added: “We are delighted to act as the ExclusiveSales Agent of MATCH Hospitality in Nigeria for the sale of the FIFA Women’s World CupFrance 2019™ Official Hospitality Programme.
Having successfully operated the recentlyconcluded 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ Official Hospitality Programme as the exclusive sales agent in Nigeria catering to satisfied clients, this deal clearly confirms Integral’s pedigree to havebeen selected yet again, and on an exclusive basis in Nigeria.
This basically means that we have theentire inventory to deliver unforgettable experience to all our clients during the FIFA Women’sWorld Cup in France, right from the moment they think about attending the event to support theirteam.“
The FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ will take place from June 7 to July 7 in nine French cities. The Super Falcons of Nigeria will play in Group A alongside hosts France, Norway and South Korea.
International Football
Two Moroccan football players lost at sea, says club official
Two Moroccan players from top-flight soccer side Ittihad Tanger have been missing at sea since Saturday after strong currents drifted their small yacht, a club official said on Sunday.
They were in a group of five players from the club who went cruising off the northern city of Tangier when strong currents and heavy winds drifted their yacht away as they were swimming in deep waters, club deputy president Anass Mrabet told Reuters.
“Three players have already been rescued on Saturday, while research is still ongoing for the missing Salman Harraq and Abdellatif Akhrif,” he said.
The players did not have buoys on them when they jumped from the small yacht to swim, he said citing recounts by rescued players.
While Akhrif, 24, is already a full member of the squad, Harraq, 18, was about to move up to the senior team this year, Mrabet added.
Ittihad Tanger have been in the Moroccan top flight since 2015 and won the league title for the first and only time in their history in the 2017-18 season. However, they have struggled in the lower half of the standings in recent years.
-Reuters
International Football
FIFA launches ‘Football Manager’ World Cup with $100,000 in prize money
FIFA will host its first ever FIFAe World Cup of Football Manager this year to crown the best virtual manager on the highly-popular video game, world soccer’s governing body said on Thursday.
FIFA is partnering with Sports Interactive, the developers of the game that has sold millions of copies and has also been used by several football clubs to scout players and opponents thanks to its extensive database.
Players will compete for $100,000 in prize money in the final event from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1.
“This competition requires participants to demonstrate a profound understanding of football strategy and tactics,” said former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is the ambassador for the esports event.
“Success demands not only mastery of game mechanics but also in-depth football knowledge, making this format a fascinating blend.”
FIFA said in the inaugural year of the event, selected member associations will be invited to be represented at the final event.
Member associations from all six confederations are expected to be invited while players can sign up on FIFA’s website.
-Reuters
International Football
Former Italy international Roberto Baggio robbed at gunpoint
Former Italy international Roberto Baggio was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint at his home in northern Italy while watching his country’s match against Spain in the Euro 2024 tournament on Thursday, local police said.
Burglars broke into Baggio’s house near Vicenza, hit him on the head with a gun butt and locked him and his family in a room while they stole jewellery, watches and cash, daily Il Corriere della Sera reported. It said he suffered a deep wound.
“Luckily, the violence I suffered only resulted in a few stitches, bruises and a lot of fear. Now it is to overcome the fear,” Baggio was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA.
Baggio, 57, played for clubs including Juventus (JUVE.MI), opens new tab, AC Milan and Inter Milan. He also played 56 times for Italy, scoring 27 goals, and is widely seen as one of his country’s all-time greats.
After the robbery, Baggio, widely known as the “divine ponytail”, was treated at a local hospital where he received stitches for the head wound, Italian media reported.
Italy lost to Spain 1-0 on Thursday and now must avoid defeat by Croatia to guarantee progression in the tournament.
-Reuters
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