Month: October 2016

Super Rugby franchise Western Force have launched a public ownership model in a bid to boost the finances of the Perth based club.

The decision made by RugbyWA is said to be in direct response to speculation that the Australian Rugby Union is planning to cut one of the five Australian Super Rugby franchises at the end of the 2017 season due to financial pressure.

This has thrown into doubt the future of either the Force or Melbourne Rebels.

The new ownership model will give fans the chance to purchase one of 5,000 ownership certificates for $1,000 each, for a period of twelve months.

If successful up to $5 million could be raised for the Force.

For fan owners they would be entitled to voting rights plus power of approval of the reappointment of key positions within the Force.

Fans would also be entitled to have a say into match day and team activities as well as receiving discounts on both Force memberships and RugbyWA player registration fees.

President of RugbyWA, Hans Sauer, said: “The introduction of the Western Force into the Super Rugby competition took the profile and interest in the code in Western Australia to a whole other level. We hope that Western Australians will join us once again as we fight to save the Western Force.”

The club will be releasing further details of the ownership prospectus and constitution in the coming weeks.

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As reported by The Age, Australia is preparing to bid for men’s international basketball’s 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Basketball Australia chief Anthony Moore will this week travel to Geneva to get a closer look at who Australia might be vying with to win the rights to host the tournament.

Moore told The Age, “We have progressed to the next stage, which is a two-day forum in Geneva this week.

“This is a significant event and an opportunity for us to have a look at how we might host it.”

The newspaper reports that Australia is bidding against the Philippines, Germany, Qatar, Argentina and Turkey for the 2023 event.

The 2019 FIBA World Cup will be hosted in China.

Also touted is Australia potentially launching a joint bid with wither New Zealand or another Asian nation but no discussions have yet been held.

Australia has previously hosted FIBA’s women’s world championships in 1994 and the men’s under-23 world championships in 1997.

Most recently, Australia was the runner up to Turkey in the bidding to host the 2014 women’s world championships.

Source: The Age

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