Gianni Infantino has been re-elected for a second term as FIFA president during the governing body’s congress meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
Infantino was re-elected unopposed for another four-year term, which will run until 2027. Following his re-election, Infantino revealed that the prize money for this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will increase to over $150m (£123m/€140m) – more than three times the value from the last tournament in 2019.
ASM Global has appointed Rob Wicks (pictured left) as managing director of the P&J Live events complex in the Scottish city of Aberdeen.
Wicks will join P&J Live on June 5 from Scottish Premiership football club Aberdeen, where he currently serves as commercial director. His role at Aberdeen covers all of the club’s revenue streams, including partnerships and sponsorships, hospitality, ticketing, retail, memberships, marketing, communications, events and new stadium planning.
P&J Live opened in 2019 and boasts 48,000 square metres of multi-purpose event space, conference facilities and exhibition halls, hospitality boxes and a restaurant, as well as a 10,000-seat arena. In January, the arena hosted Scotland’s largest-ever indoor show as 15,000 tickets were sold for a Lewis Capaldi concert.
Wicks said: “ASM Global is on a clear growth trajectory and P&J Live is a vitally important part of its European venue portfolio, so this a very exciting time to be coming on board. I see this as a terrific opportunity to play a leading role in Scotland’s new state-of-the-art event complex achieving its full potential.
“I already know some of the passionate and talented team who operate the venue and having spent the past five years in Aberdeen, I am able to bring a strong network and range of local experience to the role.
“The mix of a modern, world-class arena, sizeable conference and exhibition areas and flexible hospitality space means the venue is agile and able to adapt to meet the needs of a wide range of activities and entertainment genres which is going to be key to future growth.”
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that Clare Connor (pictured centre) will take up a new expanded role as deputy chief executive and managing director of England Women.
Connor took on the role of interim chief executive in June 2022, having previously served as the ECB’s managing director of women’s cricket. She begins her new role with immediate effect following Richard Gould’s recent arrival as chief executive.
Connor will work alongside Gould on board-level leadership responsibilities and her initial focus will be on the game-wide response to the ICEC (Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket) report. Her new role will also cover England disability cricket and other projects.
England’s Rugby Football League (RFL) has appointed Tony Sutton (pictured right) as its permanent chief executive.
Sutton has been acting as interim chief executive for the last three months following the departure of Ralph Rimmer in December. Sutton has worked at the RFL since January 2017, when he was appointed director of finance and facilities before later becoming chief operating officer.
He joined the RFL from Hull College Group, where he had been chief operating officer. He previously worked for 13 years at Super League club Hull FC in a range of roles, including financial controller, finance director and chief operating officer.
Premier League football club Arsenal has announced that Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke have become co-chairs, with Tim Lewis becoming executive vice-chair.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment assumed 100% ownership of the club in 2018. Arsenal said the appointments will bring “clarity” to the club’s structure to reflect the trio’s roles and responsibilities.
James Grove has started a new role as head of IT at Premier League club Chelsea.
Grove previously worked as director of IT at Southampton, having joined the club in November 2019.
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