Frank Dassler, general counsel and chief compliance officer at the Adidas Group, was unanimously elected for a three-year term as president of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) during the organization's annual assembly just before the recent Ispo Munich fair, as expected.
As the representive of Europe, Dassler succeeds Motoi Oyama from Asics, who in turn replaces Rajan Mayor as vice-president for Asia/Oceania. The two other vice-presidents are Andy Rubin from the Pentland Group for Europe and Tom Cove from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association for the Americas.
Among the new members on the 25-strong board are Li Ning, from the Li Ning group, Wolfgang Schnellbügel from Sport 2000 International, Rajesh Kharabanda from Freewill Sports and James Zheng from Anta Sports Products.
Dassler was most recently the president of the Fesi, the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry. He is the second member of the Dassler family to take the helm of the WFSGI after his father, Armin, former chief executive of Puma. The 57-year-old Frank Dassler joked after his election that his late father would have been proud to see him take over the job – although Armin probably did not anticipate his son would get there as an Adidas executive. Others shared warm memories of a young and long-haired Frank getting started in the industry by doing odd jobs for Puma as a student in the 1970s – such as picking up guests for his grandfather Rudolf, the founder of Puma.
Among the hot topics that have started at the WFSGI under Dassler is the revision of two costly regulations imposted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on branding and advertising at the Olympic Games. The two parties started discussing a new agreement last month with Thomas Bach, the new president of the IOC, and Christophe Dubi, director of the IOC's sports department. The target is to obtain a memorandum of understanding by the end of this year.
One of the regulations, Rule 50, deals with the brands' identification at the Games, while Rule 40 bans most advertising by sporting goods brands during the Olympic period, starting eight days before and ending three days after the Games. The WFSGI wants these rules to be relaxed, estimating that they cost its members millions of euros for the adjustment of their products and advertising during the Olympics. In exchange, the WFSGI could offer more support on a range of topics.
Robbert de Kock, secretary general of the WFSGI, described the discussions as a full package of negotiations. With regard to the extra support to be provided by members, he pointed out that some 140 national Olympic committees lacked a sponsor. The issue of corporate social responsibility should also be included in the talks. For a start, the WFSGI has been invited to take part in an IOC working group on Rule 40.
Another move that should be finalized shortly is the opening of an Asian office for the WFSGI, to provide more service to Asian members and federations. This partly ties in with the group's interest in the topic of manufacturing: After its widely appreciated forum on the future of manufacturing in Taipei last December, the WFSGI is preparing further events and discussions on manufacturing and innovation. The location of the new Asian office has yet to be decided.
Meanwhile, the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) and the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi) have announced a memorandum of understanding with the International Ski Federation (FIS) to work together in the promotion of youth participation in snow sports.
Both organization are encouraging their members to donate protective gear, skis, ski bindings, ski clothing and fitting services to allow children in need to try out snow sports at little or no cost in connection with two FIS programs, SnowKidz and World Snow Day. Alberto Bichi, secretary general of Fesi, said that practically all the ski companies that belong to the European federatop, have pledged to provide free junior skis and ski bindings for the two events.
