Team pays for rights to own nickname

(Reuters) - South Africa's Football Association (SAFA) will pay five million rand ($732,332.479) for the rights to the popular nickname of the country's soccer team, Bafana Bafana, ending a long running dispute with a licensing company who first registered it.

The sum will be paid over 12 months to Johannesburg-based licensing company Stanton Woodrush, who had registered the nickname almost 20 years ago, SAFA said Friday.

"We feel very happy about the acquisition of the Bafana Bafana name which allows us to exploit this great brand for the good of the game," SAFA president Kirtsen Nematandani told reporters.

It brings to a close a highly divisive issue which had pitted the association against the licensing company in court and also concludes months of post-World Cup negotiations.

Bafana Bafana was a moniker first attached to the team in 1992 by a newspaper reporter. Loosely translated from Zulu it means "our boys" and quickly became popular although was shunned at first by the football association.

After South Africa won the 1996 African Nations Cup, the nickname became firmly attached to the team and the association sought to embrace it but had already been beaten to the registration of the name as trademark by businessman Stan Smidt, who owned Stanton Woodrush.

SAFA lost a court case over the intellectual property rights nine years ago but later went into a partnership with Stanton Woodrush for apparel and licensing sales using the nickname, worth an estimated 50 million rand.

After last year's World Cup, SAFA made a renewed bid to gain sole rights to the nickname and held lengthy negotiations, at one time threatening to ditch Bafana Bafana and organize a public poll for a new nickname. ($1 = 6.827 South African Rand)

Cable-Laying Boom, Boost Internet

Dozens of new undersea internet cables are set to be laid over the next couple of years, providing a huge boost to worldwide capacity.

The huge boom in internet video has led to Domesday scenarios of the internet running out of capacity.

Yet, most of the bandwidth bottlenecks are found in the "last mile" of connections to the home, and not the undersea cables that underpin the worldwide internet infrastructure. Indeed, many experts believe that there is abundant amounts of "dark fibre" that remains unused in oceans across the world.

Nevertheless, the Financial Times reports that major telcos are pushing ahead with projects that will see dozens of new cables laid before the end of the decade.

At least 25 new cables will be laid by 2010, at a cost of $6.4bn, according to TeleGeography Research, a Washington-based telecoms consultancy.

"In light of the tremendous untapped potential capacity on many submarine cables, it may seem surprising that a new cable-building boom is underway," TeleGeography claims.

"The reasons for cable construction are often a combination of several factors; including dwindling available capacity on some cables, a desire for wider restoration options, the need for physically diverse routes, competition, and high capacity prices in some regions of the world."

The cables are predominantly set to be laid in areas such as Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, which are currently underserved.

Google, for example, announced plans to build a 10,000km fibre-optic cable linking the US and Japan in February.

South Africa's World Cup stadiums already proving useless

It's only been a little over a month since the World Cup ended and the stadiums that cost South Africa $1.5 billion to construct and renovate for the tournament are already proving to be a "massive problem." Despite government officials insisting that the stadiums wouldn't turn into white elephants as the World Cup drew to a close, it seems like some of them are already becoming just that.

The AP reports:

South African Rugby Union president Oregan Hoskins told members of parliament in Cape Town on Tuesday that there had been no discussions between Durban city officials and rugby representatives before the $400 million, 70,000-capacity Moses Mabhida Stadium was built, and now it did not have enough suites to accommodate the local suite holders for the Sharks rugby team.

Hoskins said that the Sharks, who compete in the annual Super Rugby competition and the domestic Currie Cup—and who could offer near year-round use of the stadium—would have a “massive problem” moving into it now.

Hoskins went on to say that discussions have also broken down between the Western Province rugby union and the operators of the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, which would result in Western Province remaining in their current stadium (as independent financial advisors are recommending). This leaves the Green Point Stadium on track for rare use and a cost of more than $6 million a year just to maintain it.

So if the stadiums can't be used for rugby, how about cricket? Well, failure to consult Cricket South Africa in the planning stage that also excluded rugby representatives has results in the fields being built too small for cricket matches.

As FIFA president Sepp Blatter said before the World Cup final, "There is not one single European country which has so many good and high level stadiums as the ones which are here in South Africa." And now that all those good and high level stadiums are proving unfit for other uses and financial drains on the cities that have too foot the annual bills, you have to wonder how much longer that will hold true.

Photo: Getty Images

World Cup boosts TV viewing figures

The World Cup and the economic downturn contributed to the boost, Thinkbox said

The World Cup contributed to a rise in the number of hours people spent watching TV in the first six months of the year, according to research.

Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (Barb) data suggests that, in the year to June, viewers watched an average of 28 hours and 15 minutes each week.

That is up 48 minutes on the same period last year.

Commercial TV marketing body Thinkbox said the rise could also be attributed to more Britons staying at home.

It suggested people were staying in because of the economic downturn - and were tempted to watch more TV because of the increased choice in channels as more households went digital.

The findings were reinforced by financial results from cinema chain Cineworld, which reported a 3% fall in admissions in the first half of the year.

Thinkbox chief executive Tess Alps said new ways of measuring viewing - which more accurately captured second TV sets and watching on-demand - had also been introduced.

"We know that technology is also making TV ever more attractive and we should never underestimate the fundamental importance of compelling content," she added.

'Lack of variety'

The figures, published in Thinkbox's half-year viewing review, only include shows watched on TV sets, which were viewed live or within seven days of broadcast.

The data suggests that commercial TV accounted for 62% of viewing.

Recorded programmes and on-demand services accounted for 7.1% of all TV watched in the UK while 80.4% of "time-shifted" viewing took place within a week of original broadcast.

Meanwhile, a report by media regulator Ofcom suggests that more than half of people aged 65 and over think TV programmes have become worse.

Ofcom interviewed 2,044 adults between April and October 2009.

Of those adults who thought TV had got worse in the past year, 65% cited an increase in the number of repeats as a reason.

A third of of those who thought it had deteriorated cited "lack of variety".

The report also suggest that people in the UK spend seven hours a day watching TV, surfing the net and using their mobile phones.

Aladdin Sodiq Blog Profiles: Diego Forlán

Diego Martín Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979 in Montevideo) is an Uruguayan footballer who currently plays for Atlético Madrid of La Liga. He is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe.

He was born into a family of footballers. His father Pablo had played for the Uruguay national football team during the 1966 FIFA World Cup held in England and the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany and his grandfather (through his mother), Juan Carlos Corazo, played for Independiente in Argentina.



Club career
Early career

Forlán, son of former player and Uruguayan international Pablo Forlán, was a promising tennis player in his youth, but when his sister Alejandra was involved in a car accident which killed her boyfriend and left her in intensive care for five months, he decided to follow the family tradition and concentrate on football. He played for several South American clubs, including Argentine side Independiente before transferring in January 2002 to play for Manchester United in England for a fee of £6.9 million.

Manchester United

He made his debut for the team on 29 January against Bolton Wanderers, but did not score his first goal for the club, a penalty, until 18 September in a Champions League game against Maccabi Haifa. It took him eight months and 27 games to score that first goal, to the extent that he was dubbed "Diego Forlorn" and "Diego Birtles" (after Garry Birtles, a former United striker who had flopped) for his goal drought by some quarters of the English press.

Forlán enjoyed the occasional patch of scoring, but inconsistency blighted his time at United. He was, however, noted for scoring important goals, such as the late equaliser at home to Aston Villa and the remarkable volleyed winner in the last minutes of the home game against Chelsea during United's Premiership-winning season of 2002–03. During this period, Forlán became known for characteristically removing his shirt and baring his torso in celebration of his goals. The first such example of this routine resulted in quite an amusing incident; Forlán whipped his shirt off in excitement after scoring an 85th minute winner against Southampton in November 2002 but struggled to get it back on in time for the re-start of play, resulting in the spectacle of Forlán briefly running around the Old Trafford pitch bare-chested, with his shirt still in his hand, then recovering the ball for his team. The referee soon stopped play and ordered Forlán off the pitch to get dressed.

He became a fan favourite in 2002 when he scored two goals against Liverpool in a 2–1 victory at Anfield. Forlán's record of 17 goals from 95 appearances for the club does not compare favourably against his former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy's 150 goals in 210 games, and it was widely thought that he would not start the 2004–05 season in the Red Devils' team colours. That eventually proving true after signing for Villareal in August of 2004, the same month Manchester United signed Wayne Rooney.

Villarreal

Forlán was strongly linked to a move to Spanish club Levante UD, but signed on 21 August 2004 with another Spanish club, Villarreal CF, where he became the Spanish 2004–05 season Pichichi Trophy with 25 goals, helping Villareal to their first ever UEFA Champions League spot. He also jointly won the European Golden Boot award with Thierry Henry.

Atlético Madrid

Forlán was linked to transfer with Juan Román Riquelme to Atlético Madrid in exchange for Luis Perea and money in June 2007. On 30 June 2007, following the departure of their captain Fernando Torres to Liverpool, Atlético Madrid confirmed that they had agreed a fee of around €21 million.[1] He returned to England in February 2008 to take part in Atlético's UEFA Cup clash against Bolton Wanderers (the club against whom he made his Manchester United debut), but the side lost out 1–0 on aggregate. For the 2008–09 season, he was once again the recipient of the La Liga Pichichi Trophy award, with 32 goals in 33 matches, as well as the European Golden Boot for a second time.

On 22 April 2010, Forlán scored the only goal of the game in Atlético's Europa League semi-final first leg at home to Liverpool. A week later, Liverpool took the tie to extra time before taking a 2–1 aggregate lead. Forlán then scored again to make it 2–2 on aggregate, giving Atlético the away goal they needed to reach the final, in which they played against Fulham at Hamburg's HSH Nordbank Arena on 12 May. Forlán scored twice against Fulham in the Final, in a 2–1 win.

International career

Forlán debuted for the Uruguayan national team in 2002. He scored in the 2002 FIFA World Cup against Senegal with a volley. He also scored against Brazil in the 35th minute of the 2007 Copa América semi-final. However, he missed his shot during the subsequent penalty shootout, which Brazil ultimately won 5–4. Since the 2007 Copa America, Forlán has become a regular for Uruguay and often has a place in the starting XI. On 17 June 2008, he scored a hat trick in a World Cup qualifying game against Peru. During the second game in the 2010 FIFA World Cup against the South Africa national football team he scored a 25 yard shot that took a deflection off Aaron Mokeona. This was his 25th national goal.

Honours
Club

Manchester United

* Premier League (1): 2002–03
* FA Cup (1): 2003–04
* FA Community Shield (1): 2003

Villarreal

* UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2004

Atlético Madrid

* UEFA Europa League (1): 2009–10

Individual

* European Golden Shoe (2): 2004–05*, 2008–09
* Pichichi Trophy (2): 2004–05, 2008–09

(* Jointly shared with Thierry Henry)

Personal life

Forlán is in partnership with the Argentine fashion model and actress Zaira Nara.

Trivia

* Diego Forlán and Youri Djorkaeff were, respectively, members of the Uruguay and France squads that met in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Their fathers, Pablo and Jean, featured in the match between Uruguay and France at the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
* In 2009, Forlán appeared in a music video for Coti starring alongside Maxi Rodríguez.


Source: Wikipedia

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP: A GREAT EVENT DESRVES A GREAT SEGMENT

Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! The FIFA World Cup, South Africa 2010 is finally here and we start off with the opening ceremony which was a great deal of fun. The likes of R n B Legend Robert ‘R’ Kelly, Afrobeat Legend Femi Kuti and lots of other artistes are on parade at the Opening Ceremony.

But the big one was the death of the great-grand daughter of the man believed to be the greatest man to come out of Africa, Nelson Mandela who is also the country’s Ex-President; what a big loss it was for Papa Mandela who spent most of his life in Prison during the Apartheid period in South Africa. I hereby send my condolence to his entire family and the nation as a whole.

Let’s get into the business of the day, everyday we will be profiling a dedicated player from each of the Thirty Two teams at the Finals, though we have started on Friday as we profile players each from the South African and Mexican team. Now seat back, relax and read on as we profile other players who we believe will play an important role in their team’s performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

CIAO