R91 Sports and Recreation Activities

Fastnet Rock colt hits the magic $1m on first day

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 4 : 11-Jan-18

The Gold Coast’s annual Magic Millions yearling auction began on 10 January, with the total value of sales exceeding $A39m for the day. The average sale price was $A215,220, which is 10.2 per cent higher than the average for the 2017 auction. Tom Magnier of Coolmore Stud was the successful bidder for a colt that was sired by Coolmore’s "Fastnet Rock", paying about $A1m for the horse.

CORPORATES
MAGIC MILLIONS LIMITED, COOLMORE STUD, ARROWFIELD STUD, RACING NSW, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, THE CHINA HORSE CLUB

National vetting to halt sport doping

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Original article by Chip Le Grand
The Australian – Page: 3 : 20-Dec-17

The Australian Sports Commission will adopt a nationwide accreditation scheme for sports scientists and conditioning coaches. Such a scheme was one of the main recommendations of a Senate inquiry into the drug scandals at Essendon Football Club and the Cronulla Sharks. Sporting clubs that hire or continue to employ unaccredited sports scientists and support staff once the scheme takes effect will lose out on government funding. The scheme’s introduction has been welcomed by the Australian Institute of Sport.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB, CRONULLA SHARKS, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT, EXERCISE AND SPORTS SCIENCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AGENCY

Soccer’s turbulent times continue as Postecoglou exits

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 23-Nov-17

Ange Postecoglou resigned as Socceroos coach on 22 November, with rumours that he would quit having circulated for some weeks. The suggestions as to why he might resign included that he had received jobs offers from overseas, and that he had "fallen out" with Football Federation Australia, which the FFA has denied. His resignation comes just seven months before Australia takes part in the FIFA World Cup. Normally, the FFA board would be selecting his replacement, but FIFA is likely to replace its directors with a "normalisation committee" in the very near future.

CORPORATES
FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CALTEX AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX CTX, CAPE LAMBERT RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX CFE, PREMIER FRUITS GROUP PTY LTD

Lexus set to be named as Cup sponsor as prizemoney rises

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Original article by Brendan Cormick
The Australian – Page: 36 : 8-Nov-17

Lexus is expected to replace Emirates as the naming rights sponsor of the Melbourne Cup, with a deal likely to be finalised in coming weeks. The car-maker is already the sponsor of the Lexus Stakes during the Melbourne Cup Carnival. The Victoria Racing Club is also expected to announce an increase in prizemoney for the Melbourne Cup, although it will still fall well short of The Everest, which boasted prizemoney of $A10m in its first year. More than 90,000 people attended the 2017 Melbourne Cup, which was won by the Lloyd Williams-owned "Rekindling".

CORPORATES
THE EMIRATES MELBOURNE CUP, LEXUS, EMIRATES AIRLINES, VICTORIA RACING CLUB LIMITED, RACING NSW, AUSTRALIAN TURF CLUB LIMITED

Marmelo’s the mother of all Cup tips

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Original article by Chip Le Grand
The Australian – Page: 8 : 7-Nov-17

Marmelo, part-owned by property developer Ozzie Kheir and wife Linsey, is current favourite to win the $A6.25 million Melbourne Cup on 7 November. Kheir runs property group Resimax, while Phil Mehrten, who also has an interest in Marmelo, founded Probuild, a construction company that generates around $A2 billion a year in revenue. The Kheirs had an interest in 2011 Cup third-place getter Lucas Cranach and 2014 winner Protectionist. Linsey Kheir was heavily pregnant on both occasions, as is the case at the moment.

CORPORATES
RESIMAX,PROBUILD PTY LTD

Codes baulk at national sports court

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Original article by Chip Le Grand
The Australian – Page: 3 : 25-Oct-17

The Coalition of Major Professional & Participation Sports has rejected the Federal Government’s proposal to establish a national sports integrity tribunal. The CMPPS has argued that key sports codes are likely to favour resolving cases of corruption, doping and match-fixing via their own tribunals. Sports codes’ involvement in the national sports court would be on an "opt-in" basis rather than being compulsory. A review panel is also looking at issues such as imposing criminal penalties for match-fixing and increasing the powers of the National Sport Integrity Unit.

CORPORATES
COALITION OF MAJOR PROFESSIONAL AND PARTICIPATION SPORTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION, FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, NETBALL AUSTRALIA, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB, COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AGENCY, AUSTRALIAN ATHLETES ASSOCIATION, WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY, RACING NSW

Never before, never again: Storm farewell era of big three with premiership triumph

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Original article by Michael Chammas
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 2-Oct-17

Melbourne Storm have won the 2017 NRL Premiership, defeating the North Queensland Cowboys by 34 to 6. Melbourne had led the match, played before an audience of 79,722 at ANZ Stadium, by 18-0 at half time. Melbourne’s Billy Slater was named player of the match, winning the Clive Churchill Medal, while the game was quite likely Cooper Cronk’s last one as an NRL player.

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE STORM RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB LIMITED, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Quadrant muscles up with Fitness First buy

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Original article by Jessica Gardner, Sarah Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 30-Sep-16

Quadrant Private Equity has bought gym chain Fitness First from Oaktree Capital Management. Quadrant has recently been quite active in the gym market, acquiring the Goodlife Health Clubs network, Jetts Fitness and HYPOXI. Quadrant’s Fitness & Lifestyle Group, which is believed to be worth about $A800 million, comprises now 224 company-owned gyms and 188 franchised outlets.

CORPORATES
QUADRANT PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, FITNESS FIRST AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, GOODLIFE HEALTH CLUBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, JETTS FITNESS PTY LTD, HYPOXI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

It’s working-class hero v corporate titan in AFL clash

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Original article by Julie-anne Sprague
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 30-Sep-16

Sydney Swans will play against the Western Bulldogs in the grand final of the Australian Football League on 1 October 2016. The match could be seen as a clash between the clubs representing the corporate elite (Sydney Swans) and the working-class (Western Bulldogs). Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham is unperturbed by this perception. Fittingly, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will support the Swans while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will be supporting the Bulldogs on 1 October.

CORPORATES
SYDNEY SWANS FOOTBALL CLUB, WESTERN BULLDOGS FOOTBALL CLUB, MOELIS AND COMPANY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CITI PTY LTD, VOLKSWAGEN AG, WEST COAST EAGLES FOOTBALL CLUB, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, MISSION FOODS CORPORATION, CARNIVAL AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Aussie Open start overshadowed by match-fixing allegations

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jan-16

Buzzfeed and BBC claim in a joint report that tennis authorities have been given a list of 70 players who were allegedly involved in match-fixing over the past decade. The broadcasters allege that little has been done to properly investigate these cases. The report, published on 18 January 2016, prompted the organisers of the Australian Open to convene a press conference on the opening day of the tournament. Association of Tennis Professionals president Chris Kermode said there was no evidence of corrupt conduct being tolerated in tennis.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, BUZZFEED PTY LTD, WILLIAM HILL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ATP