Emerging Sports Nations Become Focus At Global Sports Industry Congress

A recent Global Sports Industry Congress was held in London on Monday. The participants discussed financing, sponsorship, marketing and broader development issues concerning future major sports events. As our London correspondent Li Ningjing reports, the role of "emerging sports nations" was the focus of the congress.

The Global Sports Industry Congress has brought together some 150 sports administrators, executives, investors, contractors, suppliers and other key market players.

Most speakers at the conference have agreed that the global sports industry is seeing a shift towards new and rapidly developing markets, reflecting the trends sweeping the world economy as a whole. These new markets include the Middle East, the BRIC nations-namely Brazil, Russia, India and China-Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.

It's estimated that the sports industry is worth $500 billion worldwide. But rapidly developing markets have generated the bulk of recent growth.

Craig Reedie, a member of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, says that there have been huge changes during the last three Olympic Games bids, although he rules out any policy inclination towards moving the Olympics to emerging markets.

"If you look back at the last three or four bidding processes, the trend of today's conference can be seen. Way back in 2001, the IOC chose Beijing, again an emerging market. I questioned. I think it was the fact that we could not deny the capital of 23 percent of the world's population, and certainly from my point of view, it was quite simple. I knew that Beijing was the only city in the world that London could not beat. So Beijing winning the Games was hugely significant from London point of view."

The one-day congress explored the relations between business, sports and community, development and regeneration issues as well as how to leave a sports legacy after the games.

Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, says even though Rio has a lot of contradictions and poor people, he envisions a different city after the 2016 Games.

"By 2016, it's finished. The Games are over. People are gone. We had a great party. The city is more peaceful. The city is wealthier. There's more investment. There are more people coming. It's going to mean a lot of opportunities. It's going to mean employment. That means more people have conditions to get from a poor situation into a rich situation. It's going to be a better city."