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Appointments round-up: Birmingham 2022, ECB, Dubai Arena and more

This week’s appointments round-up includes news of Ian Reid‘s confirmation as the chief executive for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.

The 41-year-old served as the chief financial officer for the 2014 Games in Glasgow and worked on that event for more than six years. Reid will serve Birmingham 2022 until March 2023.

Reid (pictured), who has served as interim chief executive with the Birmingham Organising Committee since May 2018, said: “Over the past eight months it’s been obvious to me that people from across Birmingham and the West Midlands are excited about the fantastic opportunities that hosting the Games provides. I’m determined that we will deliver an event that the city, the region and the whole country can be proud of and I’m committed to continuing to work closely with all of our partners to achieve this aim.”

Steve Tadlock has been named as the executive vice-president and general manager of Los Angeles’ Banc of California Stadium, home of Major League Soccer team Los Angeles FC. Tadlock formerly served as regional vice-president of stadiums, arenas and theatres for SMG, and general manager of the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

In his new role, Tadlock will report to Adam Friedman, president of Banc of California Stadium Entertainment and executive vice-president of LAFC Sports. Friedman also confirmed that Otto Benedict will continue to serve as senior vice-president of facility operations at the stadium and will report to Tadlock.

Thomas Ovesen has opted to leave his role as vice-president of programming for the soon-to-open Dubai Arena. Ovesen has also stepped down from his position as chief operating officer of the 17,000-seat arena’s manager, AEG Ogden, to work as an independent promoter.

“With the Dubai Arena getting ready to open with what will be an amazing calendar of events now is as great a time as ever for me to return to being a dedicated independent buyer and promoter,” Ovesen said, according to Pollstar.com.

Tony Singh has joined the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as its new chief commercial officer. Singh will join the ECB from telco BT. He will join the ECB’s senior management team at Lord’s and will oversee all revenue generations, key commercial relationships and customer-facing activities.

Roger McClendon has been appointed as the new executive director of the Green Sports Alliance, an organisation that seeks to promote sustainability amongst sports venues, leagues and teams. McClendon will lead the alliance of international sports and stadium executives, as well as sustainability experts, to use sports as a vehicle to promote healthy, sustainable communities throughout the world. More details on McClendon’s appointment can be found here.

Indy Eleven Professional Soccer has hired Greg Stremlaw as its chief executive. The announcement comes after the United Soccer League club last week saw its hopes of joining MLS boosted by the unveiling of a $550m (£426m/€484m) development that will be underpinned by a 20,000-seat multi-purpose stadium. Stremlaw will oversee day-to-day operations for the club and he cited the proposed Eleven Park development as a key factor in joining.

Manu Sawhney has been appointed as the new chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Sawhney previously served as chief executive of the Singapore Sports Hub and managing director of ESPN Star Sports. He will join the ICC next month before taking over as chief executive from David Richardson following the summer’s Cricket World Cup.

German Bundesliga football club Bayern Munich has extended the contracts of two if its executive board members, Andreas Jung and Jörg Wacker, by a further five years until June 30, 2024. Jung is responsible for Bayern’s sponsoring and events at board level and also oversees marketing and public relations for the club’s Allianz Arena stadium. Wacker is responsible at board level for internationalisation and strategy, as well as merchandising and licensing.

Eddie Kemsley has been named as the chief executive of Dreamland Margate, returning to a role she left two years ago. Kemsley worked for Dreamland Margate from January 2014 to January 2016 before moving to Kidzania at Westfield London. Dreamland Margate features an amusement park, music venues, entertainment, art installations and more.

Will Aitkenhead has been promoted to the position of industry affairs manager at Ascot Racecourse.

Do you have news of an appointment that we should know about? Get in touch by emailing news.editor@thestadiumbusiness.com and we’ll include it on our next round-up.

Image: Birmingham 2022