Asia

The Japanese government today (Friday) approved a $1.5bn (€1.3bn) contract for the main Olympic stadium in Tokyo for the 2020 Games, paving the way for construction work on the delayed project to begin in December.

With the signing of a strategic alliance, the European and Asian Tours hope they can create new opportunities for sponsors and widen media exposure. However, both are downplaying the chances of a joint brand.

The general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said the body will leave the restructuring of Indian club football in the hands of the sport’s governing body in the country, the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

When it comes to international development, few sports properties have been as pro-active and persistent as the NBA. SportBusiness International asked two expert but independent observers of the competition to reflect on its successes and the challenges facing the league.

Sports sponsorship expert Misha Sher, head of sport and entertainment EMEA for MediaCom, thinks the NBA represents a compelling opportunity for sponsors – but there are areas where he thinks it could improve.

A Tokyo government panel has urged the organising committee for the Japanese capital’s staging of the 2020 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to relocate some of the venues for the multi-sport event after warning that costs of hosting could soar to over 3 trillion yen (€25.8bn/$29bn).

A Tokyo government panel reviewing the cost of the Japanese capital’s hosting of the 2020 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games has said that more venues could be moved out of the city to help save money.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has opted to switch its Asian Beach Games multi-sport event to a four-year cycle and introduced a rule to cap the number of athletes from the same country that can compete in individual events.

Elections to decide three Asian members of the Fifa Council, a new body that has replaced football’s global governing body’s Executive Committee, have been postponed after a number of officials opted not to vote.

English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur has become the latest team to launch a development initiative in China as part of a wider move to boost the game at grassroots level across the Asian country.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has awarded hosting rights for the 2026 edition of its Asian Games multi-sport event to the Japanese city of Nagoya and the Aichi prefecture.

Organisers of the next three editions of the Olympic Games, which will each take place in Asia, have formed an alliance that is designed to ensure the successful staging of the events in the region.

The French Football League (LFP) and French Football Federation (FFF) have joined forces to announce they will open their first overseas office in Beijing, China.

Chinese sports marketing agency Mailman Group has today (Wednesday) secured new investment from the WeCapital and WeSai divisions of online ticketing company WePiao.

Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura has announced that the central Japanese city will rejoin Aichi Prefecture in their joint bid to host the 2026 Asian Games, after earlier threatening to withdraw from the project.

Fina, the global governing body for aquatic sports, has revealed that five bidders have come forward for the hosting rights to its World Swimming Championships (25m) in 2022 and 2024, including the Russian city of Kazan.