Sportel closed its doors last night. It was an opportunity to look back at the events that marked the 2018 edition, which took place over three days, from October 22 to 24.
Among the new features of this 29th Sportel convention, the presence of the two main social networks, Facebook and Twitter, stood out. This alternative could prove very interesting for these two media platforms, whose user engagement has been slightly declining over the past few months. Mark Zuckerberg’s social network also announced in August that it will broadcast Spanish football league matches in certain countries of the Indian subcontinent. The countries currently involved are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. It remains to be seen whether broader broadcasting might be feasible in the future.
Another highlight of the convention was the exceptional presence of Didier Deschamps. The head coach of the French national team, which won the World Cup in Russia, reflected on the team’s journey during the World Cup in an initial conference. It was an opportunity to engage with football enthusiasts, business leaders, and also about twenty young people from the AS Monaco training center, who came to ask him some questions.
Finally, the Sportel Awards were held on Tuesday evening at the Grimaldi Forum in front of no fewer than 1,000 spectators. The audience was able to participate in the awarding of the Golden Pods, which recognize the most beautiful sports images of the year, as well as the Renaud de Laborderie Book Prize awarded to the most beautiful sports book. This year, the jury was chaired by Linford Christie, the American Olympic sprint champion in Barcelona in 1992. Alongside him, the jury was composed of former high-level athletes such as Daniel Narcisse and Elisabeth Görgl. On this occasion, Didier Deschamps received the award for sports legend.
