SOCCEREX THE GLOBAL LEADER FOR THE BUSINESS OF FOOTBALL

Thousands of delegates flocked to the Sandton Convention Centre last week for the 12th Annual Soccerex Convention. The biggest football business event kicked off in Gauteng on Sunday 23rd with the Kagiso Soccerex Football Festival featuring legendary players including Bryan Robson, Phil Thompson, John Barnes and George Weah. Manchester United regained the Legends Trophy after beating holders the African Legends.

The three-day 2008 Soccerex Conference Programme treated delegates to high level discussion on some of the most pertinent issues affecting modern football including the Importance of Emerging Markets, Foreign Ownership, FIFA 2014 World Cup and The Beckham Brand along with more sector-specific focus on topics such as stadia redevelopment and media rights for broadcasting football. As always, the Conference has generated significant interest around the world, with over 350 news articles from 37 different countries being written so far.

As the business hub of the global football community, Soccerex hosted an International Development Workshop, a closed session exclusively for football club executives from over 20 clubs including Tottenham Hotspurs FC, AC Milan, Olympique de Marseille, Liverpool FC, Sporting Lisbon, Mumbai FC.

The level of speakers at Soccerex 2008 was exceptional with some of the industry's most senior representatives using the Soccerex platform to address the International Football Community including a FIFA 2010 World Cup update from FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke and 2010 LOC CEO Dr Danny Jordaan, as well as insightful presentations from formidable speakers such as Gerard Houllier and David Dein.

Soccerex 2008 saw more networking opportunities available to delegates than ever before. In particular, this year's new sector-specific approach ensured that delegates continued to network with the right people and achieve their business objectives through industry-focused speed networking sessions, networking breaks in between sector-specific presentations, cross sector breakfasts not to mention networking drinks receptions and the Gala Dinner.

With the biggest business convention for football now over, Soccerex looks forward to 2009 which will see the inaugural Soccerex Brasilia Forum 2009 (17-18 March) taking place ahead of the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

For more information about the Soccerex Brasilia Forum, please visit www.soccerex.com/brasilia or call Soccerex on +44 208 742 7100.