More than 15 million people across the Caribbean will benefit from a strategic broadcast rights deal agreed and signed between Cable and Wireless Communications and CANOC Broadcasting Inc to televise performances of regional athletes at the Rio 2016 Olympics from the opening to closing ceremonies.
The announcement was made by CANOC CEO Larry Romany at a media conference at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
It means that viewers in this part of the world will no longer be saddled with the North American perspective of the games since this is where Caribbean broadcasters usually access their feeds.
CANOC, a subsidiary of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees, has secured the exclusive Olympic content rights across all platforms to 20 English-speaking countries, as well as non-exclusive rights in ten non-English speaking countries throughout the region.
In an effort to ensure that material packaged met international standards, CANOC enlisted the services of global sports broadcaster ESPN to achieve this. ESPN will also recruit the best sporting minds in the Caribbean to deliver commentary before and after athletes compete.
Romany said the production deal with ESPN will cost US$5 million but he declined comment on the value of CWC’s investment as the exclusive telecoms partner.
Like Romany, John Reid, president of CWC Consumer Group, did not disclose the value of the deal but was clear it was arguably the biggest of its kind in the region.
“This is a coming out event for us. This is a way to prove to the people that we are going to put our money where our mouth is. I think this is absolutely critical for us,” Reid said.
Under the agreement, CWC customers will view the games across 12 of its channels, including its video on the demand service.
Romany said bars and restaurants would also not be blocked from carrying the broadcasts.
The local women’s pair of Apphia Glasgow and La Teisha Joseph will depart for Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands today via Jamaica to compete in the women’s segment of the 2015 Norceca Beach Volleyball Tour opener at Seven Miles Beach from Friday until Sunday.
Glasgow and Joseph, who have competed on the tour in the past, earned T&T’s lone available spot to the first stop on this year’s NORCECA tour after topping the five-stage T&T Volleyball Federation Beach Volleyball Tournament Qualifiers ahead of Ayana Dyette and Nancy Joseph while Elki Phillip and Shenelle Gordon were third.
The pair of Glasgow and Joseph will also be one of two T&T women’s team which will contest the first round of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) 2016 Rio Olympics Beach Volleyball Qualifiers in Ocho Rios Bay Beach, Jamaica, April 30 to May 5. And according to coach David Thomas, the local women will be using the tournament this weekend in Cayman Islands as part of their preparations for Jamaica.
Speaking on the eve of their departure, Thomas who along with the pair will overnight in Kingston ahead of departing for Cayman Islands on Wednesday morning said the team will be aiming for a top ten finish. He added, “The girls had a few problems with regards to getting to train because of some financial constraits, and they also were lacking in some confidence as they did not feel they were getting the full support of everyone involve.
“That is now behind them and in the final set of training sessions we had before we leave you can see they had regained their focus, and I believe once they play to their full potential they will be able to represent themselves and T&T well, and finish among the top ten. “Our focus is really on the Olympic qualifiers the following weekend in Jamaica, so while we will want to place as high as we possibly can, our main focus will be on getting the team to gel in a very competitive environment ahead of the first round Olympic Qualifiers.
The other women’s team which will compete in the Olympic qualifiers is the pair of Phillip and Gordon. This after Joseph was forced to withdrew from the local qualifiers, due to work commitments, leaving Dyette, without a team-mate. Dyette redeemed herself in the second phase of the T&TVF qualifiers though as she teamed with World Junior Under-21 player Malika Davidson to top the Pan American Games qualifiers.
Last year in Cayman, Dyette and Joseph ended in 11th spot in Cayman Islands from 17 teams.
.....Whitfield, Williams return after two-years absence
Tomorrow (Wednesday), the top local men’s team of Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield will head for Cayman Islands, but via Miami, as they also look ahead to the first round of the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) 2016 Rio Olympics Beach Volleyball Qualifiers. The CAZOVA men’s Olympic Qualifiers are carded for the National Beach Volleyball Development Centre, here in Trinidad at Saith Park, Chaguanas from May 8-10.
Williams and Whitfield qualified to compete in Cayman Islands without dropping a match or set in the first phase of the local federation’s five qualifying tournaments held in February and March. They then emerged unbeaten in the second phase of qualifiers, four tournaments, between March/April for the Pan American Games to equal a feat of nine straight local tournament wins, achieved by Dyette and Joseph from last year to the opening tournament this year.
Unlike, Gordon and Joseph, the pair of Whitfield and Williams, who won a historic Norceca Beach Tour bronze medal at Mission Beach, Toco, three years ago have competed in Cayman Islands in the past, 2013 to be exact. Last year, Under-23 duo, Tevin Joseph and Tarandath Deonath who were preparing for the FIVB World Under-23 Championships competed in the opening leg of the tour while in 2013, Williams paired with Simon Blake.
Joining Whitfield and Williams in the Olympic qualifiers will be Tevin Joseph and Josiah Eccles, who ended as runners-up in both the first and second stage events hosted by the T&TVF.
The International Association of Athletics Federations became the first world governing body to confirm it had resigned from SportAccord following the attack by its President Marius Vizer on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) here earlier today.
The IAAF is one of three International Federations to have resigned, along with International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and World Archery.
Lamine Diack and Franz Schreiber, President of the IAAF and secretary general of the ISSF respectively, were also among at least 10 Olympic Federations to sign a letter claiming they did not agree with Vizer's comments and that they back Bach.
Uğur Erdener, President of World Archery, was also also among the signatories of the letter and later confirmed they suspended their membership of SportAccord.
Vizer had launched a scathing attack on the IOC at SportAccord's General Assembly, accusing them of running a system that is "expired, outdated, wrong, unfair and not at all transparent."
The letter, obtained by insidethegames, claimed Vizer had spoken on their behalf without them being consulted.
"We the undersigned Members of the SportAccord Association are expressing to the SportAccord leadership our disagreement on the opinions expressed this morning by the SportAccord President during the opening speech which do not reflect the views of the International Federations," the letter said.
"We also express our strong support to the International Olympic Committee and to the Olympic Agenda 2020 which has been adopted under the leadership of the IOC President Thomas Bach in consultation and agreement with all the International Federations".
All of the Federations who have signed the letter are part of the Olympic programme at the Summer Games and, of the 13, eight are led by current or honorary IOC members.
All are considered to be close allies of Bach.
The most prominent name was Diack, a member of the IOC between 1999 and 2013 until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80 when he became an honorary IOC member.
The other Federations to sign the letter were the World Aquatics Federation, World Archery, World Badminton, the International Basketball Federation, International Canoe Federation, International Fencing Federation, International Hockey Federation, FIFA, International Modern Pentathlon Union and World Rowing,
The International Cycling Union, International Volleyball Federation and World Rugby have all confirmed to insidethegames that they also later signed the letter.
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Both the IAAF and the ISSF announced they had resigned from SportAccord during the General Assembly where Vizer had made his remarks during the opening address.
"I can confirm that the IAAF has announced earlier today its decision to withdraw its membership of SportAccord which we are entitled to do under Article 11 of the Sportaccord constitution," IAAF deputy secretary general and official spokesman Nick Davies told insidethegames.
“The reason is that we are unable to agree with the contents and tone contained in the speech of the Sportaccord President Mr Vizer at the opening this morning.
"So this resignation is a protest against the position taken by Mr Vizer against the IOC and his statements about the position of the International Federations viz a viz the IOC which the IAAF cannot accept."
Olegario Vazquez Raña, President of the ISSF, backed Diack's stance.
“The ISSF cannot accept the positions expressed by the SportAccord President Vizer during his opening speech at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi, today," Vazquez Raña, a member of the IOC since 1995, told insidethegames.
"We do not share his negative evaluations on the governance of the International Olympic Committee.
"The ISSF fully supports the work of the IOC President Thomas Bach and we see the IOC Agenda 2020 as an opportunity for the whole Olympic Movement.”
World Archery confirmed they had resigned a few hours after the meeting.
"World Archery has informed SportAccord of its intention to suspend its membership with immediate effect," the governing body's secretary general Tom Dielen told insidethegames.
The issue is set to be top of the agenda when the ruling Council of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), chaired by International Tennis Federation President Francesco Ricci Bitti and which also includes Erdener, are due to hold a meeting here tomorrow.
Leaders from all 28 sports that will make up the Summer Olympic programme at Rio 2016 are then due to meet on Wednesday (April 22) for the ASOIF annual meeting which Vizer, as President of the International Judo Federation, is expected to attend.
The IAAF, meanwhile, are a Gold Partner of the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit which is taking place here and are due to host a major event to promote athletics tomorrow.
But Bach claimed the row with Vizer would not affect the IOC's relationships with the International Federations.
"I think everyone was surprised [about his opening speech], even his own Executive Board did not have an idea and I think this speaks for itself," Bach told insidethegames."
We have - and always will have an excellent relationship with the different International Federations.
"Now, while we are talking, there is a workshop between the IOC and the IOC Recognised Federations (ARISF) going on.
"Our activities are accessible to everybody.
"Our support is obvious to everybody, so we will just continue in this way.
"So it is business as usual."
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CABLE AND Wireless Communications (CWC) will be the official broadcast sponsor and telecommunications network for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This announcement was made at a media conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port-of-Spain yesterday.
The rights for Cable and Wireless to air the Games was made by CANOC Broadcasting Incorporated (CBI), which is a subsidiary of CANOC (Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees). CANOC acts as the umbrella body for all Olympic Committees in the Caribbean region.
Steve Stoute, president and chairman of CANOC and CBI, told the gathering, “CWC will also be the first regional telecommunications partner to broadcast the Olympic Games on mobile devices. Each CANOC member will get the opportunity to partner with CWC if they so desire.
“This partnership will allow CANOC to bring the Games to the Caribbean audiences on cutting-edge technology,” added Stoute.
Elaborating on this point was John Reid, president of the CWC Consumer Group.
“Instead of taking a traditional linear approach to broadcasting, which limits our customers’ viewing choices, CWC will adopt a multi-platform approach to transmitting a wide variety of content,” Reid said.
“For our customers, this experience will be nothing short of spectacular,” he added. “They will have access to a unique variety of live video feeds, offered across a number of media platforms, including radio, ESPN’s live television coverage, video on demand, as well as mobile and Internet streams — all of which can be accessed from each customer’s preferred device.
“The best part is that we will do so at no additional cost to our customers.”
Reid noted, “from historical features to contemporary stories, our customers will have more than 12 hours each day of extra Olympic programming.
Much of this content is going to focus on our local and regional athletes because we want to showcase material that is relevant to our customers. We are proud to enable our viewers to see their hometown heroes in real time.”
He revealed that CWC will offer its commitment to the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) drive for “10 Olympic gold medals by the 2024 Games” Athlete Welfare and Preparation Fund. The fund is to garner financial support for TT athletes as they seek to amass 10 or more gold medals by the 2024 Olympics.
“While we’ve already made a donation to this important initiative, we plan to deepen our involvement and will actively look for other similar opportunities to nurture and develop our region’s youth and talent,” Reid pointed out. The agreement was endorsed by TTOC president Brian Lewis, who stated, “(yesterday’s) announcement represents an important step for the Olympic movement in the Caribbean.”