The President of UEFA, Michel Platini, has today announced his intention to stand as a candidate for the FIFA presidency. In a letter sent to the presidents and general secretaries of the 209 member associations of world football's governing body, he said: "This was a very personal, carefully considered decision, one in which I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future. I was also guided by the esteem, support and encouragement that many of you have shown me." Mr Platini pledged that he would work tirelessly "in the interests of football".

Amid the high-flying tricks of the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour stop at Madrid's Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, Riedel Communications equipment provided the communications and signal management capabilities critical to an exciting, well-coordinated Freestyle Motocross event. On July 10, as more than 23,000 fans looked on, top professional freestyle riders impressed the fans with their tricks. The Red Bull production team used Riedel's Artist digital matrix intercom systems and MediorNet real-time signal distribution and management platform to produce and bring the spectacular live event to the world.

The first European Games took place in Baku Azerbaijan from June 14h until June 28th. LMC LiveMotionConcept as professional production partner played a major role producing parts of the TV production which was distributed in more than 140 countries world wide.

Around 2,700 athletes representing 190 countries are competing in Kazan. They will compete for 75 sets of medals – an unprecedented number for FINA World Championships – in six disciplines: diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo, open water swimming and high diving. Swimming and synchronized swimming events will be held in the pools constructed for that purpose within the Kazan Arena football stadium. Three other venues will be used for the Championships: the Aquatics Palace for the diving events, the temporary Water Polo Arena and the open water and high diving venue at the Kazanka River in front of the Kremlin. Two towers have been installed at the Kazanka River embankment, the High Diving tower and a 20-metre TV tower opposite of it.

Dejero today announced that New Zealand production company Kinetic Media used Dejero's award-winning LIVE+ mobile transmitters to stream live HD video from field locations to outside broadcast (OB) trucks during televised coverage of the inaugural Challenge Dubai triathlon. Mounted on motorcycles, the rugged and portable LIVE+ transmitters allowed Kinetic Media to transmit live video directly from the men's and women's swimming, running, and cycling courses.

Back in January we noted the emergence of Virtual Reality (VR) as a serious alternative to the traditional and digital broadcast model for consuming sports. We concluded that this was an area that should be closely monitored, even though we thought it might be a few years before the technology presented itself as a viable alternative. While we were right concerning the first point, VR in sports might become a reality sooner than anticipated.

ASCOT, United Kingdom – Bonhomme’s sensational victory in Ascot a year ago in tricky wind conditions, with compatriot Nigel Lamb in a close second en route to his winning his first championship, gave the home country plenty to cheer about on a brilliant day for racing at the world-famous horse racing track. But Bonhomme, the 2009 and 2010 champion who won the first two races of this year’s eight-race season, knows this year’s race will be not easy, with Arch and Hall flying fast in the last two races and the new knock-out format causing upsets. The high-speed, low-altitude racing competition has never seen a championship fight this close with six of the 14 pilots still in contention for the world championship.

As university athletes from around the world took part in the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade in South Korea, host broadcaster Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) employed Riedel Communications equipment to produce the international feed for the event, the world's second-largest multi-sport competition. The Riedel solution enabled flexible and reliable transport of HD video, data, and intercom signals throughout the competition, which extended from July 3-14.

Cliff diving – in a place where diving from great heights has been a tradition for four-and-a-half centuries – a hand selected group of 14 of the world’s best cliff divers will be part of the first ever World Series competition at the ‘Stari Most’, the old bridge of Mostar, and the country’s most recognizable landmark. The first dives from the bridge date back to 1664, the first competition to 1968, and August 15, 2015 marks the day when Gary Hunt, the leading Brit, will launch acrobatically from the 27m platform to continue the pursuit of the ‘perfect season’. After the season’s closest finish on the Portuguese Azores and two new faces on the podium, the World Series will meet fanatical cliff diving fans and touch new grounds in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Blackmagic Design announced today the Swatch Freeride World Tour Alaska leg was broadcast globally with the help of Fountain Media Group (FMG) using Blackmagic Design 4K products, including production switchers, monitors, converters and SSD recorders. The broadcast HQ for the event was 1,500 meters up an Alaskan ridge adjacent a mountain face known as "The Venue.” The crew staged and camped for 11 days with Blackmagic Design equipment, waiting for the perfect weather conditions to run the one day competition and live broadcast.

As the 98th Giro d'Italia cycling race wound its way from the Italian Riviera to Milan May 9-31, Riedel Communications equipment provided Italian broadcaster RAI with a flexible decentralized fiber-based network supporting real-time distribution of audio, video, and communications signals. Host broadcaster RAI deployed Riedel MediorNet Compact Pro and RockNet systems to link the announce booth, finish line, helicopters, and other key production areas to enable thorough coverage of each race stage. The equipment was supplied by Riedel partner Broadcast Solutions Srl.

SPORTEL is the one event that unites the international sports marketing and media industry. For over 26 years, top level executives from all over the world, representing sports networks, international sports federations, sports marketing agencies, production companies, sports content right owners, distributors, technology, new media and more come together every year to determine the future of major sports events for the 21st century media platforms. SPORTEL conventions are the most important business platforms to do business and find valuable insight on influential business trends and practices.

Mario Biondi is one of the few Italian artists who can claim some sort of esteem and saleability outside Italy, perhaps on account of the characteristics of his kind of music, or perhaps because he sings in English. Before taking on a huge number of concerts in major European and Asian capitals, he embarked on a tour of theatres in Italy to mark the release of his latest work BEYOND. This album also features foreign artists and producers.

Gearhouse Broadcast has partnered with production service providers McGuire Media to perform host broadcast service duties at the Netball World Cup SYDNEY 2015. This is the third time in 2015 that Gearhouse has acted in this hugely important role – first at the AFC Asian Cup and then the Australian Open tennis.

Drafted in by organizers of the America’s Cup World Series, Fonix LED was tasked with delivering all of the audiovisual infrastructure at the opening regatta of the 2017 cycle, which for the first time in its history, took on the Solent hub of Portsmouth, England.