Governing Bodies

AMAZING! SOUTH AFRICAN AND TURKISH CONVERT ENGLAND’S 1966 WORLD CUP WIN FROM BLACK & WHITE TO FULL COLOUR

Published

4 years ago

December 1, 2020

***The black and white footage of the entire 90 minutes plus extra time will be restored and colourised***

For the first time, England’s only World Cup success can now be viewed in full colour.

With the iconic images of red shirts and a golden trophy glinting in the sun it is easy to be fooled into thinking you have seen England’s finest two hours in all its glorious colour when you haven’t.

There is no complete footage of the 1966 World Cup final known to exist other than the black-and-white film broadcast to the nation at the time.

But now England’s World Cup heroics of 1966 are to be immortalised in glorious colour.

The black and white footage of the entire 90 minutes plus extra time will be restored and colourised by the team behind the acclaimed First World War film ‘They Shall Not Grow Old.’

There certainly was a full colour film before, because a talented and eclectic team of filmmakers captured the game against West Germany in glorious technicolour and created a BAFTA award-winning documentary.

Goal! navigates the thrills and spills of the tournament: the pain of Pele, Italy’s demise at the hands of North Korea, the goals of Eusebio and its finale at Wembley Stadium.

It proved a hit in cinemas around the world and was produced by Octavio Senoret, an actor turned producer responsible for the official World Cup film in 1962 when his native Chile hosted the tournament.

He paid FIFA £15,000 for the rights to do it again four years later, inspired by Kon Ichikawa’s acclaimed Tokyo Olympiad, a colour film made for cinema to document the Olympic Games of 1964.

Senoret envisaged a cinematic masterpiece. He recruited as directors Abidin Dino, a Turkish artist and political dissident living in Paris, and Ross Devenish, a South African filmmaker living in London.

‘We wanted to go beyond just a straight account,’ 80-year-old Devenish tells Sportsmail from his home in Cape Town. ‘Beyond just a news report, to something that lasted. Octavio wanted to do for football what Ichikawa had done for the Olympics.

‘He saw the opportunity to do what television companies could not, liberating the world from gloomy black-and-white and see the World Cup for what it was, in Technicolour and in Vistavision, a wide-screen system, not a simple grey smudge of shadows.

‘As our film would be shown in cinemas, long after the event, we could not simply repeat what people had already seen. We had to go in another direction. What we could do was show the detail, taking the viewer within the experience, rather than having a bird’s eye view of the battle.’

New technology enabled Devenish and Dino to get in close and concentrate on the emotions of the players such as Pele and his injury against Portugal.

‘Watching the destruction of a legend, the departure of a warrior was a major moment,’ recalls Devenish. ‘We saw Pele’s slow exit, heightened by the effects.

‘Another good example is Eusebio. He was poetry in motion and we focused on him, helped by the facility we had to shoot the last few games in slow motion.

‘We could observe the mind behind the face. It was a homage to his stature as a player, and those of his calibre. The clarity of 35mm is much greater than 16mm so the material was amazing.

‘The other player who carved his own way into the film was Bobby Charlton with his few strands of hair flying untidily about and was a real star.

‘It’s fair to say Goal! changed the manner in which TV now cover games.’

Using 117 cameras, they shot 46 hours of footage on 35mm film, with high-speed cameras recording at 24 frames per second, amounting to more than 23 miles of film.

‘Apart from being expensive, you needed a lot of space to store the film,’ says Devenish. ‘We had to be conservative about exposing the film stock in earlier games. It was important to shoot only the crucial moments and cameramen had to pre-empt them.’

At Wembley, some cameras were low, others high to cover the action and the goalmouths. One camera was used solely to capture the emotions of the crowd.

‘Extra-time was particularly nail-biting,’ says Devenish. ‘Cameramen had been allocated film on the assumption it would be 90 minutes and, as the game went further into extra time, extra stock had to be rushed out.

‘I could feel the tension of the crew about whether we would run out, and the atmosphere in the stadium was overwhelming. The team I was filming with was behind one goal and we filmed the controversial third goal.

‘It was as if it had been scripted by a master. I am not really a sport fan but I love drama, and I appreciate the tension and excitement involved in a football match. I have never before or since experienced the intensity of feeling that reached me in that arena.

‘It was certainly much more than a game. Feelings were still intense even though the war had ended some 20 years before. My tension was enhanced by the potential disaster we faced if we had no film to cover the end.

‘I felt euphoric when it came to an end. That was how the English supporters felt as well. A national eruption of joy and our high-speed cameras were able to capture the elation.’

Goal! was edited at Samuelson’s studios in Cricklewood. The drama of the final was distilled into 20 minutes at the end of the feature. Distributed by Columbia, it proved a global hit and won a BAFTA award for best documentary.

He never crossed paths again with Senoret, who reportedly killed himself in Los Angeles in 1990.

‘Octavio was handsome and polite, and perhaps a little aloof,’ recalls Devenish. ‘I always felt closer to his friend Abidin, who was an artist: a painter, a writer and a wonderful storyteller.’

Dino died in Paris in 1993 at the age of 80. As for the original colour film of the final, any that did not make the cut was probably destroyed to reclaim the valuable silver nitrate it contained.

‘Apart from the vast warehouses needed to store the film, the accountants would not have liked to see all that silver nitrate go to waste,’ says Devenish. ‘We were the only ones ever filming in colour. The games on television were only seen in black and white and when we see a colour clip today it is probably one of ours.’

Efforts to track down the original failed. The team from Final Replay ’66, the hit watch-along repeat of the final with Sir Geoff Hurst and Glenn Hoddle, screened this year, spent six months scouring the globe for it.

The search led them from the FA, the National Football Museum, the BBC, ITV, Pathe and the British Film Institute to the FIFA vaults in Switzerland, the German FA, and across the Atlantic to New York and Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles.

No-one could explain for the whereabouts of the colour film until they reached South Africa and found Devenish. They have concluded it is lost forever. Devenish’s theory about the recycling operation is probably accurate.

Yet the wonders of modern technology are about to restore and remaster England’s finest two hours. Once again, those heroes of 1966 will be conquering the world in glorious technicolour.

Governing Bodies

Zimbabwe sports minister among candidates for International Olympic Committee presidency

Published

5 days ago

September 16, 2024

Kunle Solaja

A total of seven candidates are running for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee with the winner replacing outgoing president Thomas Bach at elections in March 2025 in ancient Olympia, Greece.

Kirsty Coventry:

Age: 41

Country: Zimbabwe

Entry into the IOC: 2013

An Olympic swimming champion and Zimbabwe’s most successful Olympian, Coventry is Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister. She is the only woman among the candidates and the only one from Africa.

Prince Feisal Al Hussein:

Age: 60

Country: Jordan

Entry into the IOC: 2010

Prince Feisal heads the Jordan Olympic Committee and has been an IOC executive board member since 2019. An Executive Board member of the Olympic Council of Asia, Prince Feisal has also held several posts at the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

Sebastian Coe:

Age: 67

Country: Britain

Entry into the IOC: 2020

An Olympic track and field champion and head of World Athletics, Coe also led the organisation for the 2012 London Olympics. A former Conservative Member of Parliament, Coe is also involved in sports consultancy and is a former head of the British Olympic Association.

Johan Eliasch:

Age: 62

Country: Britain

Entry into the IOC: 2024

The wealthy Swedish-born entrepreneur with a variety of business interests has headed the international skiing federation since 2021. He only joined the IOC in July at its session in the Paris Olympics.

David Lappartient:

Age: 51

Country: France

Entry into the IOC: 2022

A rising figure in world sports administration. He heads the international cycling body, UCI, and is in charge of esports within the IOC, having helped seal a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this year for the Olympic esports Games.

Juan Antonio Samaranch:

Age: 64

Country: Spain

Entry into the IOC: 2001

The son of the late former IOC president, Samaranch has considerable IOC experience and influence in his six years as vice president and 23 as a member. He headed the coordination commission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Morinari Watanabe:

Age: 65

Country: Japan

Entry into the IOC: 2018

Watanabe has headed the gymnastics federation (FIG) since 2016, having been re-elected twice since. He is the first Japanese candidate to run for the IOC presidency.

Governing Bodies

World Athletics boss, Coe and multi-millionaire Eliasch among seven candidates for IOC presidency

Published

5 days ago

September 16, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Paris 2024 Olympics - Athletics - Women's Marathon Victory Ceremony - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 11, 2024. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach during the medal ceremony REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

World athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multi-millionaire and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch and Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry are among seven candidates for next year’s International Olympic Committee presidency election, the IOC said on Monday.

IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch, son of the late former IOC president, international cycling chief David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and international gymnastics federation head Morinari Watanabe are also in the running to succeed current president Thomas Bach.

The 70-year-old German is stepping down next year after 12 years at the helm. The election will be held at the IOC session in ancient Olympia, Greece in March 2025.

The candidates will all present their programmes, behind closed doors, to the full IOC membership in January 2025.

The IOC, with 111 members currently, is in charge of the Olympic Games and the multi-billion dollar industry linked to the world’s biggest multi-sports event.

Bach’s departure comes with the organisation in a financially robust position, having secured $7.3 billion for the years 2025-28 and $6.2 billion already in deals for 2029-2032.

The president is elected to an eight-year first term with the possibility of a second term of four years, if re-elected.

Coe, 67, only joined the IOC in 2020 after a rocky relationship between World Athletics and the IOC over Coe’s ban of Russian track and field athletes almost a decade ago following the country’s doping scandal.

A former Olympic champion with a wealth of experience in the sports world, Coe was previously head of the London 2012 Games and the British Olympic Association. He is also a former Conservative Member of Parliament.

Coventry, 41, is the only woman running for president and the former Olympic swimming champion, who is Zimbabwe’s most decorated Olympian, could become not only the first female president but also the first from Africa.

MALE PRESIDENTS

All IOC presidents have been men, with eight of the nine from Europe and one from the United States.

The 62-year-old Eliasch, head of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), only joined the IOC in July, with the Swedish-born British businessman’s candidacy a surprise for some.

Prince Feisal, 60, is a member of the IOC executive board, having joined the organisation in 2010, while Spaniard Samaranch, with considerable IOC experience in his six years as vice president, headed the coordination commission for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

“The IOC and Olympic movement have made enormous strides over the past decade under the leadership of Mr Bach,” said Samaranch in a statement.

“The IOC now needs a new leader with deep experience of the Olympic movement who can help steer it through this period of upheaval.”

UCI chief Lappartient has been a rapidly rising figure within the sports world after joining the IOC in 2022.

The Frenchman also is in charge of esports within the IOC, having helped seal a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia earlier this year for the Olympic esports Games.

Japan’s Watanabe, 65, has headed the gymnastics federation (FIG) since 2016, having been re-elected twice since, and is his country’s first ever candidate for the IOC presidency.

Under current rules members have to step down when they reach 70, the IOC’s age limit, unless they are given a four-year extension.

-Reuters

Governing Bodies

Storm in CAF over proposed statutes amendments

Published

6 days ago

September 15, 2024

Kunle Solaja

There is currently insinuations that proposed certain elements may have smuggled modifications to amend the Statutes of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) when the body holds its General Assembly next month in Kinshasa, Congo next month.

The confederation will be having its 46^th General Assembly on 10^th October. It is at such gatherings that amendments are made to existing rules.

According to an article authored by Mansour Loum, the editor of Sports News Africa, some national football federations have denied being party to proposed amendments which were linked to them.

One of such is coming from the Equatorial Guinea Football Federation which has denied signing proposals being circulated relating to amendments to CAF Statutes.

It is claimed that a circular dated 8 September has been sent to CAF member associations. Signed by CAF General Secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba, it is titled: “Proposals for amendments to the CAF statutes and regulations for the application of the statutes, as well as the rules of procedure of the CAF General Assembly, presented by the national associations.”

Seven member associations were quoted as sponsoring the amendments. They are: Botswana, Comoros, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania and Niger.

But Equatorial Guinea has denied being party to the proposed amendment which seek to remove age barrier for candidates seeking to be CAF Presidents and also removing zonal considerations in election into FIFA Council.

The current Statute stipulates that a presidential candidate must not be older than 70 as at the date of election.

Most of the national federation members are already approaching that age. In the estimation of the author of the article, Mansour Loum, the current CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, is 62 years old. With the age limit, he could, for example, only run for two more terms.

Continuing, Loum wrote that regarding the elections to the FIFA Council, each zone has a representative on the FIFA Council and candidates for these positions can only be elected by the presidents of the member associations of their group zone.

Thus, the presidents of French-speaking federations can only vote for a French-speaking representative, the English-speakers for the English-speaking group, and so on.

The distribution of seats on the FIFA Council is currently as follows:

Francophone Group – Two members

Anglophone Group – Two members

Arabophone/Lusophone/Hispanophone Group – Two members

One female member elected from among the female candidates, regardless of language groups

The modification of the grouping by zonal unions would mean that all presidents could vote for candidates outside their group, or that the candidates would also no longer be limited to a group.

Several candidates from the same group could be elected to the FIFA Council, while at the same time some groups could no longer be represented.

Equatorial Guinea disputes any request for modification. The football federation president, Venancio Tomas Ndong Micha has reportedly denied being party to the proposed amendments.

“I am writing to you to present the disagreement of the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation with part of the content of the document sent to the CAF Executive Council on September 8, 2024 signed by you (…)

“In this document, there are amendments presented by the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation (…) By this letter, we confirm that the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation has not submitted any amendments to the CAF administration for the 46th CAF Ordinary General Assembly to be held on Thursday, October 10, 2024 in Kinshasa,” he denounces.

Enough to cast doubt on this document sent by the CAF secretary general and the objective targeted. Contacted, a federation president, whose body is not mentioned in the letter, is surprised by these two requests for amendments and wonders about their intentions.

The press release from the Equatorial Guinean Football Federation has sown doubt and now he is questioning the originality of the attachments included in this document which is likely to be talked about between now and the CAF General Assembly.

– Mansour Loum