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Formula One
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Category

Single seater

Country or region Worldwide Inaugural season 1950[1] Drivers Teams Constructors Engine suppliers Tyre suppliers Drivers' champion Constructors' champion Official website 24 12 12 Cosworth Ferrari Mercedes Renault Pirelli Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) Red Bull Racing www.formula1.com Current season

Formula One
Current season[show] Related articles[show] Lists[show] Records[show] Organisations[show]

v t e

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship,[2] is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fdration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The "formula", designated in the name, refers to a set of rules with which all participants' cars must comply.[3] The F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix (in English, Grand Prizes), held on purpose-built circuits and public roads. The results of each race are combined with a points system to determine two annual World Championships, one for the drivers and one for the constructors. The racing drivers, constructor teams, track officials, organizers, and circuits are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the highest class of racing licence issued by the FIA.[4] Formula One cars are considered to be the fastest circuit-racing cars in the world, owing to very high cornering speeds achieved through the generation of large amounts of aerodynamic downforce. Formula One cars race at speeds of up to 360 km/h (220 mph) with engines limited in performance to a maximum of 18,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). The cars are capable of lateral acceleration in excess of 5 g in corners. The performance of the cars is very dependent on electronics although traction control and other driving aids have been banned since 2008 and on aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. The formula has had much evolution and change through the history of the sport. Europe, the sport's traditional base, is where about half of each year's races occur. That said, the sport's scope has expanded significantly during recent years and an increasing number of Grands Prix are held on other continents.

Formula One had a total global television audience of 527 million people during the course of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.[5] Such racing began in 1906 and, in the second half of the 20th century, became the most popular kind of racing internationally. The Formula One Group is the legal holder of the commercial rights.[6] With annual spending totalling billions of US dollars, Formula One's economic effect and creation of jobs is significant, and its financial and political battles are widely reported. Its high profile and popularity make it a merchandising environment, which results in great investments from sponsors and budgets in the hundreds of millions for the constructors. However, mostly since 2000, due to the always increasing expenditures, several teams, including works teams from car makers and those teams with minimal support from the automotive industry, have become bankrupt or been bought out by companies wanting to establish a team within the sport; these buyouts are also influenced by Formula One limiting the number of participant teams.

Contents

1 History o 1.1 o 1.2 o 1.3 o 1.4 o 1.5 o 1.6

Return of racing The Garagistes Big business Manufacturers' return Manufacturers' decline and return of the privateers Political disputes 1.6.1 FISAFOCA war 1.6.2 FIAFOTA dispute o 1.7 Outside the World Championship 1.7.1 European non-championship racing 1.7.2 South African Formula One championship 1.7.3 British Formula One Series 2 Racing and strategy o 2.1 Qualifying o 2.2 The race o 2.3 Points system 3 Constructors 4 Drivers o 4.1 Feeder series o 4.2 Beyond F1 5 Grands Prix 6 Circuits 7 Cars and technology 8 Revenue and profits 9 Future 10 Media coverage 11 Distinction between Formula One and World Championship races 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links

History
Main article: History of Formula One

The Formula One series originated with the European Grand Prix Motor Racing (q.v. for pre-1947 history) of the 1920s and 1930s. The "formula" is a set of rules which all participants' cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed after World War II during 1946, with the first nonchampionship races being held that year. A number of Grand Prix racing organisations had laid out rules for a World Championship before the war, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the World Drivers' Championship was not formalised until 1947. The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One events were held for many years but, due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983.[7]

Return of racing

Juan Manuel Fangio's 1951 title-winning Alfa Romeo 159

The first Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa Romeo in 1950, barely defeating his Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. However Fangio won the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 & 1957 (His record of five World Championship titles stood for 45 years until German driver Michael Schumacher took his sixth title in 2003), his streak interrupted (after an injury) by two-time champion Alberto Ascari of Ferrari. Although the UK's Stirling Moss was able to compete regularly, he was never able to win the World Championship, and is now widely considered to be the greatest driver never to have won the title.[8][9] Fangio, however, is remembered for dominating Formula One's first decade and has long been considered the "grand master" of Formula One. This period featured teams managed by road car manufacturers Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, MercedesBenz, and Maserati all of whom had competed before the war. The first seasons were run using pre-war cars like Alfa's 158. They were front-engined, with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre normally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 world championships were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over the paucity of

Formula One cars available.[10] When a new Formula One, for engines limited to 2.5 litres, was reinstated to the world championship for 1954, Mercedes-Benz introduced the advanced W196, which featured innovations such as desmodromic valves and fuel injection as well as enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport in the wake of the 1955 Le Mans disaster.[11]

The Garagistes

Stirling Moss's Lotus 18 at the Nrburgring during 1961

The first major technological development, Cooper's re-introduction of mid-engined cars (following Ferdinand Porsche's pioneering Auto Unions of the 1930s), which evolved from the company's successful Formula 3 designs, occurred during the 1950s. Australian Jack Brabham, World Champion during 1959, 1960, and 1966, soon proved the new design's superiority. By 1961, all regular competitors had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99, a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined F1 car to enter a world championship race. It was entered in the 1961 British Grand Prix, the only front-engined car to compete that year.[12] The first British World Champion was Mike Hawthorn, who drove a Ferrari to the title during the 1958 season. However, when Colin Chapman entered F1 as a chassis designer and later founder of Team Lotus, British racing green came to dominate the field for the next decade. Between Brabham, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Graham Hill, and Denny Hulme, British teams and Commonwealth drivers won twelve world championships between 1962 and 1973. During 1962, Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. During 1968, Lotus painted Imperial Tobacco livery on their cars, thus introducing sponsorship to the sport.[13][14] Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design from the appearance of aerofoils during the late 1960s. During the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds (previously used on Jim Hall's Chaparral 2J during 1970). So great were the aerodynamic forces pressing the cars to the track (up to 5 times the car's weight), extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant

ride height, leaving the suspension virtually solid, depending entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface.[15]

Big business

Nigel Mansell's Williams FW10 from 1985

Damon Hill's Williams FW18 from 1996. The FW18 was one of the most successful cars of the era

Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged the management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the billion-dollar business it is now.[16][17] When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971 he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association and during 1978 became its President. Previously the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually, however Ecclestone persuaded the teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA.[17] He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package which they could take or leave. In return for the package almost all are required to surrender trackside advertising.[16] The formation of the Fdration Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) during 1979 set off the FISAFOCA controversy, during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre disputed repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations.[18] The Guardian said of FOCA that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used it to wage a guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view." FOCA threatened to establish a rival series, boycotted a Grand Prix and FISA withdrew

its sanction from races.[16] The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement, which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations.[19] Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it handed the administration of those rights to FOCA.
[citation needed]

FISA imposed a ban on ground effect aerodynamics during 1983.[20] By then, however, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977, were producing over 700 bhp (520 kW) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986, a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar pressure, estimated to be over 1,300 bhp (970 kW) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix. The next year power in race trim reached around 1,100 bhp (820 kW), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar.[21] These cars were the most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 and boost pressures in 1988 before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989.[22] The development of electronic driver aids began during the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension which first appeared during 1982 on the F1 Lotus 91 and Lotus Esprit road car. By 1987, this system had been perfected and was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining the outcome of races more than driver skill, banned many such aids for 1994. This resulted in cars that were previously dependent on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive (notably the Williams FW16), and many observers felt the ban on driver aids was in name only as they "have proved difficult to police effectively".[23] The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement during 1992 and a third in 1997, which expired on the last day of 2007.[24] On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s, with Brabham also being competitive during the early part of the 1980s, winning two drivers' championships with Nelson Piquet. Powered by Porsche, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz, McLaren won sixteen championships (seven constructors', nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford, Honda, and Renault to also win sixteen titles (nine constructors', seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988, and continued until Prost retired at the end of 1993. Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello, having taken over Prost's lead drive at Williams that year. The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also lost his life in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver has died on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car since, though two track marshals have lost their lives, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix,[25] and the other at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.[25] Since the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, the FIA has used safety as a reason to impose rule changes which otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams most notably the changes introduced for 1998. This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a

narrower track overall and the introduction of 'grooved' tyres to reduce mechanical grip. There would be four grooves, on the front and rear although initially three on the front tyres in the first year that ran through the entire circumference of the tyre. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and to produce racing similar to rain conditions by enforcing a smaller contact patch between tyre and track. This, according to the FIA, was to promote driver skill and provide a better spectacle.[citation needed] Results have been mixed as the lack of mechanical grip has resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip pushing more force onto the tyres through wings, aerodynamic devices etc. which in turn has resulted in less overtaking as these devices tend to make the wake behind the car 'dirty' (turbulent), preventing other cars from following closely, due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound, to be able to hold the groove tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure (e.g., rear wing failures), as the harder compound could not grip the track as well. Drivers from McLaren, Williams, Renault (formerly Benetton) and Ferrari, dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 and the teams themselves won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008. Due to the technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically. This increased financial burden, combined with four teams' dominance (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as MercedesBenz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive, but to stay in business. Financial troubles forced several teams to withdraw. Since 1990, twenty-eight teams have withdrawn from Formula One. This has prompted former Jordan owner Eddie Jordan to say the days of competitive privateers are over.[26]

Manufacturers' return

Michael Schumacher won five consecutive titles with Ferrari

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won an unprecedented five consecutive drivers championships (2000-2004) and six consecutive constructors championships (1999-2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91), wins in a season (13 of 18), and most drivers' championships (7).[27] Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005 when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula Ones youngest champion at that time. During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006

after sixteen years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes GP. During this period the championship rules were changed frequently by the FIA with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs.[28] Team orders, legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002 after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. Other changes included the qualifying format, the points scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a green future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would become an important factor.[29] And the tyre war ended, as Bridgestone became the sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season. Since 1983, Formula One had been dominated by specialist race teams like Williams, McLaren, and Benetton, using engines supplied by large car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault, and Ford. Starting in 2000, with Fords creation of the largely unsuccessful Jaguar team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since the departure of Alfa Romeo and Renault at the end of 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teamsRenault, BMW, Toyota, Honda, and Ferraridominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the constructors' championship. The sole exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes Benz. Through the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA) they negotiated a larger share of Formula Ones commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport.[citation
needed]

Manufacturers' decline and return of the privateers

In 2008 and 2009 Honda, BMW, and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within the space of a year, blaming the economic recession. This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance within the sport. The Honda F1 team went through a management buyout to become Brawn GP with the notable F1 designer Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP went through a painful size reduction laying off hundreds of employees but eventually won the year's world championships with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team Peter Sauber. The Lotus F1 Team (of 2012 - NOTE: this is not the same team as Team Lotus of 2010-11) are another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that has reverted to "privateer" ownership; with the buy-out of the Renault F1 Team, by Genii Capital investors in recent years. A link with their previous owners still survives however; with their current car still powered by a Renault V8. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari). Hence, during the 2010 season Mercedes Benz re-entered the sport as a manufacturer after its purchase of Brawn GP, and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. This leaves Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari as the only car manufacturers in the sport.

AT&T Williams confirmed towards the end of 2009 their new engine deal with Cosworth, who also supplied the wave of new teams Virgin Racing, Hispania Racing F1, and the newly formed Lotus Racing team. The exit of car manufacturers has also paved the way for teams representing their countries, with some having the funding by their respective national governments (such as Lotus being funded by Malaysia, Lotus Cars being owned by Proton, a Malaysian manufacturer, and Lotus Racing being run by Tony Fernandes, a Malaysian business man known for his Asian low-cost airline).

Political disputes
FISAFOCA war
Main article: FISAFOCA war

The battle for control of Formula One was contested between the Fdration Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), at the time an autonomous subcommittee of the FIA, and FOCA (the Formula One Constructors' Association). The beginnings of the dispute are numerous, and many of the underlying reasons may be lost in history. The teams (excepting Ferrari and the other major manufacturers Renault and Alfa Romeo in particular) were of the opinion that their rights and ability to compete against the larger and better funded teams were being negatively affected by a perceived bias on the part of the controlling organisation (FISA) toward the major manufacturers. In addition, the battle revolved around the commercial aspects of the sport (the FOCA teams were unhappy with the disbursement of proceeds from the races) and the technical regulations which, in FOCA's opinion, tended to be malleable according to the nature of the transgressor more than the nature of the transgression. The war culminated in a FOCA boycott of the 1982 San Marino Grand Prix months later. In theory, all FOCA teams were supposed to boycott the Grand Prix as a sign of solidarity and complaint at the handling of the regulations and financial compensation (and extreme opposition to the accession of Balestre to the position of FISA president: both Colin Chapman of Lotus and Frank Williams of Williams stated clearly that they would not continue in Formula One with Balestre as its governor).[original research?] In practice, several of the FOCA teams backed out of the boycott, citing "sponsor obligations". Notable among these were the Tyrrell and Toleman teams. FIAFOTA dispute
Main article: FIAFOTA dispute

During the 2009 season of Formula One, the sport was gripped in a governance crisis. The FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost cutting measures for the following season, including an optional budget cap for the teams;[30] teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings and an engine not subject to a rev limiter.[30] The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to

have such technical freedom would have created a two-tier championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. However talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India,[31][32] that they had no choice but to form a breakaway championship series.[32]

Bernie Ecclestone is known as the "F1 Supremo", and is the CEO of FOM and FOA

On 24 June, an agreement was reached between Formula One's governing body and the teams to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified,[33] and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for re-election to the FIA presidency in October.[34] Following further disagreements after Max Mosley suggested he would stand for re-election,[35] FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued a press release stating they had been informed they were not entered for the 2010 season,[36] and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting.[37] On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012.[38]

Outside the World Championship

The terms "Formula One race" and "World Championship race" are effectively synonymous; since 1984, every Formula One race has counted towards an official FIA World Championship, and every World Championship race has been held to Formula One regulations.[39] In the earlier history of Formula One, many races took place outside the world championship, and local championships run to Formula One regulations also occurred. These events often took place on circuits that were not suitable for the World Championship, and featured local cars and drivers as well as those competing in the Championship.[7] European non-championship racing In the early years of Formula One, before the world championship was established, there were around twenty races held from late Spring to early Autumn in Europe, although not all of these were considered significant. Most competitive cars came from Italy, particularly Alfa Romeo. After the start of the world championship, these non-championship races continued. In the 1950s

and 1960s, there were many Formula One races which did not count for the World Championship; in 1950 a total of twenty-two Formula One races were held, of which only six counted towards the World Championship.[39] In 1952 and 1953, when the world championship was run for Formula Two cars, non-championship events were the only Formula One races that took place. Some races, particularly in the UK, including the Race of Champions, Oulton Park International Gold Cup and the International Trophy, were attended by the majority of the world championship contenders. Other smaller events were regularly held in locations not part of the championship, such as the Syracuse and Danish Grands Prix, although these only attracted a small amount of the championship teams and relied on private entries and lower Formula cars to make up the grid.[7] These became less common through the 1970s and 1983 saw the last non-championship Formula One race; the 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, won by reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Cosworth in a close fight with American Danny Sullivan.[7] South African Formula One championship
Main article: South African Formula One Championship

South Africa's flourishing domestic Formula One championship ran from 1960 through to 1975. The frontrunning cars in the series were recently retired from the world championship although there was also a healthy selection of locally built or modified machines. Frontrunning drivers from the series usually contested their local World Championship Grand Prix, as well as occasional European events, although they had little success at that level.[citation needed] British Formula One Series
Main article: British Formula One Series

The DFV helped make the UK domestic Formula One series possible between 1978 and 1980. As in South Africa a decade before, second hand cars from manufacturers like Lotus and Fittipaldi Automotive were the order of the day, although some, such as the March 781, were built specifically for the series. In 1980, the series saw South African Desir Wilson become the only woman to win a Formula One race when she triumphed at Brands Hatch in a Wolf WR3.[40]

Racing and strategy

Main articles: Formula One racing, Racing flags, and Formula One regulations

Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg on the street circuit of Albert Park in the 2008 Australian Grand Prix.

A Formula One Grand Prix event spans a weekend. It begins with two free practice sessions on Friday (except in Monaco, where Friday practices are moved to Thursday), and one free practice on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up his seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for the race on Sunday.[41][42]

Qualifying

A typical pitwall control centre, from which the team managers and strategists communicate with their drivers and engineers over the course of a testing session or a race weekend.

For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more entire sessions in which to attempt to set their fastest time, sometimes within a limited number of attempts, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, fastest (on pole position) to slowest. Grids were limited to the fastest 26 cars and drivers had to lap within 107% of the pole sitter's time to qualify for the race; the 107% rule was re-introduced for 2011. Other formats have included Friday pre-qualifying, and sessions in which each driver was allowed only one qualifying lap, run separately in a predetermined order. The current qualifying system was adopted for the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods (or rounds). In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, running as many laps as they wish, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" at the end of the period and their grid positions set, based on their best lap times. Cars are eliminated in this manner until 10 cars remain eligible to attempt to qualify for pole position in the third and final period. For each period, all previous times are reset, and only a driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. For all periods, any timed lap started before the chequered flag falls signalling the end of that period may be completed, and will count toward that driver's placement, even if they cross the finish line after the period has ended.[41][43] In the first two periods, cars may run any tyre compound they wish, and drivers eliminated in these

periods are allowed to change their choice of tyres prior to the race. Cars taking part in the final period, however, must start the race with the tyres used during their fastest lap (exactly the same tyres, not just the same compound), barring changes in weather that require usage of wet-weather tyres. With refuelling not allowed during races from 2010, the final session is run with low-fuel configuration and the cars are refuelled after qualifying. The knock-out format has received minor updates since its inception, such as adjustments to the number of drivers eliminated in each period as the total number of cars entered has changed.[44] Currently, for a 24-car grid, all 24 cars take part in the first period. At the end of the period, the slowest seven cars are eliminated and take up the last seven grid positions (18 to 24). In the second period, the remaining seventeen cars take part, with seven more cars eliminated at the end, taking the next seven lowest grid positions (11 to 17). In the third and final period, the remaining 10 cars compete for pole position, and fill grid positions 1 through 10.[41]

The race
The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground provided he has not fallen to the back of the field). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction, and gives the pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid. Once all the cars have formed on the grid, a light system above the track indicates the start of the race: five red lights are illuminated at intervals of one second; they are all then extinguished simultaneously after an unspecified time (typically less than 3 seconds) to signal the start of the race. The start procedure may be abandoned if a driver stalls on the grid, signalled by raising his arm. If this happens the procedure restarts: a new formation lap begins with the offending car removed from the grid. The race may also be restarted in the event of a serious accident or dangerous conditions, with the original start voided. The race may be started from behind the Safety Car if officials feel a racing start would be excessively dangerous, such as extremely heavy rainfall. There is no formation lap when races start behind the Safety Car.[45] Under normal circumstances the winner of the race is the first driver to cross the finish line having completed a set number of laps, which added together should give a distance of approximately 305 km (190 mi) (260 km (160 mi) for Monaco). Race officials may end the race early (putting out a red flag) due to unsafe conditions such as extreme rainfall, and it must finish within two hours, although races are only likely to last this long in the case of extreme weather. Drivers may overtake one another for position over the course of the race and are 'Classified' in the order they finished the race. If a leader comes across a back marker (slower car) who has completed fewer laps, the back marker is shown a blue flag[46] telling him he is obliged to allow the leader to overtake him. The slower car is said to be 'lapped' and, once the leader finishes the race, is classified as finishing the race 'one lap down'. A driver can be lapped numerous times, by any car in front of him. A driver who fails to finish a race, through mechanical problems, accident, or any other reason is said to have retired from the race and is 'Not Classified' in the results. However, if the driver has completed more than 90% of the race distance, he will be classified.

When required, the safety car (above, driven by Bernd Maylnder) will lead the field around the circuit at reduced speed, until race officials deem the race safe to continue.

Throughout the race drivers may make pit stops to change tyres and repair damage (until the 2010 season they could also refuel). Different teams and drivers employ different pit stop strategies in order to maximise their car's potential. Two tyre compounds, with different durability and adhesion characteristics, are available to drivers. Over the course of a race, drivers must use both. One compound will have a performance advantage over the other, and choosing when to use which compound is a key tactical decision to make. The prime and option tyres have different colours on their sidewalls; this allows spectators to understand the strategies. Under wet conditions drivers may switch to one of two specialised wet weather tyres with additional grooves (one "intermediate", for mild wet conditions, such as after recent rain, one "full wet", for racing in or immediately after rain). If rain tyres are used, drivers are no longer obliged to use both types of dry tyres. A driver must make at least one stop to use both tyre compounds; up to three stops are typically made, although further stops may be necessary to fix damage or if weather conditions change.
Race director As of 2011 the race director in Formula One is Charlie Whiting. This role involves him generally managing the logistics of each F1 Grand Prix, inspecting

cars in Parc ferm before a race, enforcing FIA rules and controlling the lights which start each race. As the head of the race officials he also plays a large role in sorting disputes amongst teams and drivers. Penalties, such as drivethrough penalties (and stop-and-go penalties), demotions on a pre-race start grid, race disqualifications, and fines can all be handed out should parties break regulations. Safety car In the event of an incident that risks the safety of competitors or trackside race marshals, race officials may choose to deploy the safety car. This in effect suspends the race, with drivers following the safety car around the track at its speed in race order, with overtaking not permitted. The safety car circulates until the danger is cleared; after it comes in the race restarts with a 'rolling start'. Pit stops are permitted under the safety car. Mercedes-Benz supplies Mercedes-AMG models to Formula One to use as the safety cars. Since 2000,[47] the main safety car driver has been German ex-racing driver Bernd Maylnder. On the lap in which the safety car returns back into the pits the leading car takes over the role of the safety car until the first safety car line, which is usually a white line after the pit lane entrance. After crossing this line drivers are allowed to start racing for track position once more. Red flag In the event of a major incident or unsafe weather conditions, the race may be red-flagged. Then: If under 3 laps have been completed when the red flag is displayed, the race is restarted from original grid positions. All drivers may restart, provided their car is in a fit state to do so. If between 3 laps and 75% of the race distance have been completed, the race may be restarted once it is safe to do so, maintaining the race order at the time of the red flag. The two-hour time limit still applies however the clock stops when the race is suspended and restarts when it resumes. If more than 75% of the race distance has been completed then the race is (often but not always) terminated and the race result counted back to the second last completed lap before the red flag.

The format of the race has changed little through Formula One's history. The main changes have revolved around what is allowed at pit stops. In the early days of Grand Prix racing, a driver would be allowed to continue a race in his teammate's car should his develop a problemcurrently cars are so carefully fitted to drivers that it became impossible. In recent years, the focus has been on changing refuelling and tyre change regulations. From the 2010 season, refuellingwhich was reintroduced in 1994is not allowed, to encourage less tactical racing following safety concerns. The rule requiring both compounds of tyre to be used during the race was introduced in 2007, again to encourage racing on the track. The safety car is another relatively recent innovation that

reduced the need to deploy the red flag, allowing races to be completed on time for a growing international live television audience.

Points system
Points awarded for finishing Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Main article: List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems

Various systems for awarding championship points have been used since 1950. As of 2010, the top ten cars are awarded points, the winner receiving 25 points. The total number of points won at each race are added up, and the driver and constructor with the most points at the end of the season are World Champions. If both a team's cars finish in the points, they both receive Constructors Championship points. Nevertheless, the Drivers and Constructors Championships often have different results. To receive points, a driver must be classified. Strictly speaking, in order to be classified, a driver need not finish the race, but complete at least 90% of the winner's race distance. Therefore, it is possible for a driver to receive some points even if he retired before the end of the race. In the event that less than 75% of the race laps are completed by the winner, only half of the points listed in the table are awarded to the drivers and constructors for the listed positions. This has happened on only five occasions in the history of the championship, and it has decided the championship winner on one occasion. The last occurrence was at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix when the race was called off after 31 laps due to torrential rain.[48] This was the first time half points were awarded since the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

A driver can switch teams during the season and, for the Drivers Championship, keep all points gained at the previous team. In 2010, Formula One modified its points system, giving points to the first ten drivers instead of eight or six in previous years.

Constructors
See also: List of Formula One constructors and List of Formula One World Constructors' Champions

Since 1981,[49] Formula One teams have been required to build the chassis in which they compete, and consequently the terms "team" and "constructor" became more or less interchangeable. This requirement distinguishes the sport from series such as the IndyCar Series which allows teams to purchase chassis, and "spec series" such as GP2, which require all cars be kept to an identical specification. It also effectively prohibits privateers, which were common even in Formula One well into the 1970s.

McLaren (pictured with Senna) won all but one race in 1988 with engine partner Honda, and remains a championship contender in the present day

The sport's debut season, 1950, saw eighteen teams compete, but due to high costs many dropped out quickly. In fact, such was the scarcity of competitive cars for much of the first decade of Formula One that Formula Two cars were admitted to fill the grids. Ferrari is the only still-active team which competed in 1950. Early manufacturer involvement came in the form of a "factory team" or "works team" (that is, one owned and staffed by a major car company), such as those of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, or Renault. After having virtually disappeared by the early 1980s, factory teams made a comeback in the 1990s and 2000s and formed up to half the grid with Ferrari, Jaguar, BMW, Renault, Toyota, and Honda either setting up their own teams or buying out existing ones. Mercedes-Benz owned 40% of the McLaren team and manufactures the team's engines. Factory teams make up the top competitive teams; in 2008 wholly owned factory teams took four of the top five positions in the Constructors' Championship, and McLaren the other. Ferrari holds the record for having won the

most Constructors' Championships (fifteen). However by the end of the 2000s factory teams were once again on the decline with only Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Renault lodging entries to the 2010 championship.

Ferrari have competed in every season, and hold the record for the most titles

Companies such as Climax, Repco, Cosworth, Hart, Judd and Supertec, which had no direct team affiliation, often sold engines to teams that could not afford to manufacture them. In the early years, independently owned Formula One teams sometimes also built their engines, though this became less common with the increased involvement of major car manufacturers such as BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, and Toyota, whose large budgets rendered privately built engines less competitive. Cosworth are the last independent engine supplier. Beginning in 2007, the manufacturers' deep pockets and engineering ability took over, eliminating the last of the independent engine manufacturers.[50] It is estimated the major teams spend between 100 and 200 million ($125$225 million) per year per manufacturer on engines alone.[51] In the 2007 season, for the first time since the 1984 rule, two teams used chassis built by other teams. Super Aguri started the season using a modified Honda Racing RA106 chassis (used by Honda in the 2006 season), while Scuderia Toro Rosso used a modified Red Bull Racing RB3 chassis (same as the one used by Red Bull in the 2007 season). This decision did not come as a surprise as costs were increasing, Super Aguri was partially owned by Honda, and Toro Rosso half-owned by Red Bull. Formula One team Spyker raised a complaint against this decision, and other teams such as McLaren and Ferrari have officially confirmed they support the campaign. Because of this use of other teams' chassis, the 2006 season could have been the last one in which the terms "team" and "constructor" were truly interchangeable. This attracted the Prodrive team to F1 to the 2008 season, where it intended to run a customer car. After not being able to secure a package from McLaren, Prodrive's intention to enter the 2008 season was dropped after Williams threatened legal action against them. Now, it seems customer cars will be formally banned in 2010.
[52][dated info]

Although teams rarely disclose information about their budgets, it is estimated they range from US$66 million to US$400 million each.[53] Entering a new team in the Formula One World Championship requires a 25 million (about US$47 million) up-front payment to the FIA, which is then repaid to the team over the course of the season. As a consequence, constructors desiring to enter Formula One often prefer to buy an existing team: B.A.R.'s purchase of Tyrrell and Midland's purchase of Jordan allowed both of these teams to sidestep the large deposit and secure the benefits the team already had, such as TV revenue.

Drivers
See also: List of Formula One drivers and List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions

The Formula One Drivers' trophy, awarded to the driver finishing first in the championship. The trophy is inscribed with the signature of every Formula One world drivers champion since the championship's inception.

Every team in Formula One must run two cars in every session in a Grand Prix weekend, and every team may use up to four drivers in a season.[42] A team may also run two additional drivers in Free Practice sessions,[42] which are often used to test potential new drivers for a career as a Formula One driver or gain experienced drivers to evaluate the car.[54][55] Most modern drivers are contracted for at least the duration of a season, with driver changes taking place in between season, in comparison to early years where drivers often competed at an ad hoc basis from race to race. Each competitor must be in the possession of a FIA Super Licence to compete in a Grand Prix,[56] which is issued to drivers who have met the criteria of success in junior motorsport categories and having achieved 300 kilometres (190 mi) of running in a Formula One car. Drivers may also be issued a Super License by the World Motor Sport Council if they fail to meet the criteria.[56] Teams also contract test and reserve drivers, to stand in for regular drivers when necessary and develop the teams car; although with the reduction on testing the reserve drivers role mainly takes places on a simulator.[57] Although most drivers earn their seat on ability, commercial considerations also come into play with teams having to satisfy sponsors and financial demands. Each driver is assigned a number for the season. The previous season's champion is designated number one, with his team-mate given number 2. Numbers are then assigned in the previous season's constructors' championship order,[58] with the exception of the number 13, unused since 1976.[59] Historically, before the 1996 Formula One season, teams would hold their race numbers

from season to season, with only the world champion and their team-mate changing numbers to accommodate the number one.[60] The numbers were based upon the constructors standings from the 1973 season, which gave way to numbers being associated with a team, such as Ferrari's 27 and 28.[58] If the reigning driver's champion retires from Formula One, leading driver has the option of using the number 0 or 2; 0 was used in 1993 and 1994; with the retirement of Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost, Damon Hill used zero.[60] Jody Scheckter also used the number zero for two races toward the end of the 1973 season, though it is unclear why. A total of 32 separate drivers have won the world championship, with Michael Schumacher holding the record for most championships with seven, as well as holding the race wins and pole position records. Juan Manuel Fangio has won the next most, with five championships won during the 1950s, as well as having won the greatest percentage of wins, with 24 out of 52 entries. Jochen Rindt is the only posthumous World Champion, after his points total was not overhauled despite his fatal accident at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix. Drivers from the United Kingdom have been the most successful in the sport, with 14 championships from 10 drivers, and 214 wins from 19 drivers.

Feeder series

GP2, the main F1 feeder series

Most F1 drivers start in kart racing competitions, and then come up through traditional European single seater series like Formula Ford and Formula Renault to Formula 3, and finally the GP2 Series. GP2 started in 2005, replacing Formula 3000, which itself had replaced Formula Two as the last major "stepping stone" into F1. Most champions from this level graduate into F1, but 2006 GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton became the first F2, F3000 or GP2 champion to win the Formula One driver's title in 2008.[61] Drivers are not required to have competed at this level before entering Formula One. British F3 has supplied many F1 drivers, with champions including Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hkkinen having moved straight from that series to Formula One. More rarely a driver may be picked from an even lower level, as was the case with 2007 World Champion Kimi Rikknen, who went straight from Formula Renault to F1. American Championship Car Racing has also contributed to the Formula One grid with mixed results. CART Champions Mario Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve became F1 World Champions, while Juan Pablo Montoya won seven races in F1. Other CART (also known as ChampCar) Champions, like Michael Andretti and Alessandro Zanardi won no races in F1. Other drivers have

taken different paths to F1; Damon Hill raced motorbikes, and Michael Schumacher raced in sports cars, albeit after climbing through the junior single seater ranks. To race, however, the driver must hold an FIA Super Licenceensuring that the driver has the requisite skills, and will not therefore be a danger to others. Some drivers have not had the license when first signed to a F1 team; Rikknen received the license despite having only 23 car races to his credit.

Beyond F1

DTM has become a popular destination for retired F1 drivers

Most F1 drivers retire in their mid to late 30s; however, many keep racing in disciplines which are less physically demanding. The German touring car championship, the DTM, is a popular category involving ex-drivers such as two-time champion Mika Hkkinen and F1 race winners Jean Alesi, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. Some F1 drivers have left to race in AmericaNigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi duelled for the 1993 CART title, while Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Nelson Piquet Jr and Scott Speed have moved to NASCAR. Some drivers, such as Vitantonio Liuzzi, Narain Karthikeyan and Jos Verstappen went on to race in the A1 Grand Prix series. Since its inaugural season in 2008, Superleague Formula has attracted such ex-Formula One drivers as Sbastien Bourdais, Antnio Pizzonia and Giorgio Pantano. A series for former Formula One drivers, called Grand Prix Masters, ran briefly in 2005 and 2006.[62] Others, like Jackie Stewart, Gerhard Berger and Alain Prost, returned to F1 as team owners while their former competitors have become colour commentators for TV coverage such as James Hunt (BBC), Martin Brundle (BBC, ITV and Sky), David Coulthard (BBC), Luciano Burti for Globo (Brazil), and Jean Alesi for Italian national network RAI. Others, such as Damon Hill and Jackie Stewart take active roles in running motorsport in their own countries. Carlos Reutemann became a politician and served as governor of his native state in Argentina.

Grands Prix
See also: List of Formula One Grands Prix

The number of Grands Prix held in a season has varied over the years. Only seven races comprised the inaugural 1950 world championship season; over the years the calendar has almost tripled in size. Though the number of races had stayed at sixteen or seventeen since the 1980s, it peaked at nineteen in both 2005 & 2010. The 2011 season was expected to have 20 races, however there

were only 19 races as the Bahrain Grand Prix was postponed, then later cancelled due to political disputes in the country. Six of the original seven races took place in Europe; the only non-European race that counted towards the World Championship in 1950 was the Indianapolis 500, which, due to lack of participation by F1 teams, since it required cars with different specifications from the other races, was later replaced by the United States Grand Prix. The F1 championship gradually expanded to other non-European countries as well. Argentina hosted the first South American grand prix in 1953, and Morocco hosted the first African World Championship race in 1958. Asia (Japan in 1976) and Oceania (Australia in 1985) followed. The nineteen races are spread over the continents of Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America and South America.

Cars wind through the infield section of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the 2003 United States Grand Prix.

Traditionally each nation has hosted a single Grand Prix, which carries the name of the country. If a single country hosts multiple Grands Prix in a year they receive different names. For instance, a European country (such as Britain, Germany or Spain) which has hosted two Grands Prix has the second one known as the European Grand Prix, while Italy's second grand prix was named after nearby republic of San Marino. Similarly, as two races were scheduled in Japan in 1994/1995, the second event was known as the Pacific Grand Prix. In 1982, the United States hosted three Grands Prix. The Grands Prix, some of which have a history that pre-dates the Formula One World Championship, are not always held on the same circuit every year. The British Grand Prix, for example, though held every year since 1950, alternated between Brands Hatch and Silverstone from 1963 to 1986. The only other race to have been included in every season is the Italian Grand Prix. The World Championship event has taken place exclusively at Monza with just one exception: in 1980, it was held at Imola, host to the San Marino Grand Prix until 2006. One of the newer races on the Grand Prix calendar, held in Bahrain, represents Formula One's first foray into the Middle East with a high-tech purpose-built desert track. The Bahrain Grand Prix, and other new races in China and Turkey, present new opportunities for the growth and evolution of the Formula One Grand Prix franchise while new facilities also raise the bar for other Formula One racing venues around the world. In order to make room on the schedule for the newer races, older or less successful events in Europe and the Americas have been dropped from the calendar, such as those in Argentina, Austria, Mexico, France and San Marino.

Even more recent additions to the calendar include the Singapore Grand Prix which, in September 2008, hosted the first night race ever held in Formula One,[63] the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which hosted the first day-to-night race in November 2009, the Korean Grand Prix, first held in October 2010 and the Indian Grand Prix, first held in October 2011.[64] The United States Grand Prix may return in Austin, Texas from 2012 to 2021,[65] the Grand Prix of America will be held in New Jersey from 2013[66] and a Russian Grand Prix will be hosted in Sochi from 2014 to 2020.[67]

Circuits
See also: List of Formula One circuits

Autdromo Jos Carlos Pace in So Paulo hosts the Brazilian Grand Prix

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza, home to the Italian Grand Prix, is one of the oldest circuits still in use in Formula One

A typical circuit usually features a stretch of straight road on which the starting grid is situated. The pit lane, where the drivers stop for fuel, tyres, or minor repairs (such as changing the car's nose due to front wing damage) during the race, and where the teams work on the cars before the race, is normally located next to the starting grid. The layout of the rest of the circuit varies widely, although in most cases the circuit runs in a clockwise direction. Those few circuits that run anticlockwise (and therefore have predominantly left-handed corners) can cause drivers neck problems due to the enormous lateral forces generated by F1 cars pulling their heads in the opposite direction to normal.

Most of the circuits currently in use are specially constructed for competition. The current street circuits are Monaco, Melbourne, Valencia, and Singapore, although races in other urban locations come and go (Las Vegas and Detroit, for example) and proposals for such races are often discussedmost recently London and Paris. Several other circuits are also completely or partially laid out on public roads, such as Spa-Francorchamps. The glamour and history of the Monaco race are the primary reasons why the circuit is still in use, since it is thought not to meet the strict safety requirements imposed on other tracks. Three-time World champion Nelson Piquet famously described racing in Monaco as "like riding a bicycle around your living room".[68] Circuit design to protect the safety of drivers is becoming increasingly sophisticated, as exemplified by the new Bahrain International Circuit, added in 2004 and designedlike most of F1's new circuitsby Hermann Tilke. Several of the new circuits in F1, especially those designed by Tilke, have been criticised as lacking the "flow" of such classics as Spa-Francorchamps and Imola. His redesign of the Hockenheim circuit in Germany for example, while providing more capacity for grandstands and eliminating extremely long and dangerous straights, has been frowned upon by many who argue that part of the character of the Hockenheim circuits was the long and blinding straights into dark forest sections. These newer circuits, however, are generally agreed to meet the safety standards of modern Formula One better than the older ones. The most recent additions to the F1 calendar are Valencia,[69] Singapore,[70] Abu Dhabi,[71] Korea and India. A single race requires hotel rooms to accommodate at least 5000 visitors.[72]

Cars and technology

Main articles: Formula One car, Formula One engines, and Formula One tyres

A topdown view of the rear of a 2006 McLaren MP4-21

Modern Formula One cars are mid-engined open cockpit, open wheel single-seaters. The chassis is made largely of carbon-fibre composites, rendering it light but extremely stiff and strong. The whole car, including engine, fluids and driver, weighs only 640 kg (1411 lbs)the minimum weight set by the regulations. The construction of the cars is typically lighter than the minimum and so they are ballasted up to the minimum weight. The race teams take advantage of this by placing this ballast at the extreme bottom of the chassis, thereby locating the centre of gravity as low as possible in order to improve handling and weight transfer.[73] The cornering speed of Formula One cars is largely determined by the aerodynamic downforce that they generate, which pushes the car down onto the track. This is provided by "wings" mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle, and by ground effect created by low pressure air under the flat bottom of the car. The aerodynamic design of the cars is very heavily constrained to limit performance and the current generation of cars sport a large number of small winglets, "barge boards", and turning vanes designed to closely control the flow of the air over, under, and around the car. The other major factor controlling the cornering speed of the cars is the design of the tyres. From 1998 to 2008, the tyres in Formula One were not "slicks" (tyres with no tread pattern) as in most other circuit racing series. Instead, each tyre had four large circumferential grooves on its surface designed to limit the cornering speed of the cars.[74] Slick tyres returned to Formula One in the 2009 season. Suspension is double wishbone or multilink front and rear, with pushrod operated springs and dampers on the chassis. The only exception being that of the 2009 specification Red Bull Racing car (RB5) which used pullrod suspension at the rear, the first car to do so since the Minardi PS01 in 2001. Ferrari will be using pullrod suspension at both the front and rear in their 2012 car.[75] Carbon-Carbon disc brakes are used for reduced weight and increased frictional performance. These provide a very high level of braking performance and are usually the element which provokes the greatest reaction from drivers new to the formula.

A BMW Sauber P86 V8 engine, which powered their 2006 F1.06.

Engines must be 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8s, with many other constraints on their design and the materials that may be used. Engines run on unleaded fuel closely resembling publicly available petrol.[76] The oil which lubricates and protects the engine from overheating is very similar in viscosity to water. The 2006 generation of engines spun up to 20,000 RPM and produced up to 780 bhp (580 kW).[77] For 2007 engines were restricted to 19,000 rpm with limited development areas allowed, following the engine specification freeze from the end of 2006.[78] For the 2009 Formula One season the engines have been further restricted to 18,000 rpm.[79] A wide variety of technologiesincluding active suspension, ground effect, and turbochargers are banned under the current regulations. Despite this the current generation of cars can reach speeds up to 350 km/h (220 mph) at some circuits.[80] The highest straight line speed recorded during a Grand Prix was 369.9 km/h (229.8 mph), set by Antnio Pizzonia during the 2004 Italian Grand Prix.[81] A Honda Formula One car, running with minimum downforce on a runway in the Mojave desert achieved a top speed of 415 km/h (258 mph) in 2006. According to Honda, the car fully met the FIA Formula One regulations.[82] Even with the limitations on aerodynamics, at 160 km/h (99 mph) aerodynamically generated downforce is equal to the weight of the car, and the oft-repeated claim that Formula One cars create enough downforce to "drive on the ceiling", while possible in principle, has never been put to the test. Downforce of 2.5 times the car's weight can be achieved at full speed. The downforce means that the cars can achieve a lateral force with a magnitude of up to 3.5 times that of the force of gravity (3.5g) in cornering.[83] Consequently, the driver's head is pulled sideways with a force equivalent to the weight of 20 kg in corners. Such high lateral forces are enough to make breathing difficult and the drivers need supreme concentration and fitness to maintain their focus for the one to two hours that it takes to complete the race. A high-performance road car like the Ferrari Enzo only achieves around 1g. [84] As of 2010 each team may have no more than two cars available for use at any time. Each driver can use no more than eight engines during a season; if more are used, he drops ten places on the starting grid of the event at which an additional engine is used. Each driver may use no more than one gearbox for four consecutive events; every unscheduled gearbox change requires the driver to drop five places on the grid unless he failed to finish the previous race due to reasons beyond the team's control.[85]

Revenue and profits

Estimated budget split of a Formula One team based on the 2006 season.

Formula One is profitable for most parties involvedTV channels make profits from broadcasting the races, and teams get a slice of the money from the sale of broadcasting rights and from the sponsor's logos on their cars. The cost of building a brand new permanent circuit like the Chinese Shanghai International Circuit can be up to hundreds of millions of dollars, while the cost of converting a public road, such as Albert Park, into a temporary circuit is much less. Permanent circuits, however, can generate revenue all year round from leasing the track for private races and other races, such as MotoGP. The Shanghai circuit cost over $300 million.[86] The owners are hoping to break-even by 2014. The Istanbul Park circuit cost $150 million to build.[87] Not all circuits make profitsAlbert Park, for example, lost $32 million in 2007.[88] In March 2007, F1 Racing published its annual estimates of spending by Formula One teams.[89] The total spending of all eleven teams in 2006 was estimated at $2.9 billion US. This was broken down as follows: Toyota $418.5 million, Ferrari $406.5 m, McLaren $402 m, Honda $380.5 m, BMW Sauber $355 m, Renault $324 m, Red Bull $252 m, Williams $195.5 m, Midland F1/Spyker-MF1 $120 m, Toro Rosso $75 m, and Super Aguri $57 million. Costs vary greatly from team to team. Honda, Toyota, McLaren-Mercedes, and Ferrari are estimated to have spent approximately $200 million on engines in 2006, Renault spent approximately $125 million and Cosworth's 2006 V8 was developed for $15 million.[90] In contrast to the 2006 season on which these figures are based, the 2007 sporting regulations ban all performance related engine development.[91]

Future

A sign announcing that the safety car (SC) is deployed. Safety is of paramount concern in F1 since 1994.

The FIA is responsible for making rules to combat the spiralling costs of Formula One racing (which affects the smaller teams the most) and for ensuring the sport remains as safe as possible, especially in the wake of the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in 1994. To this end the FIA have instituted a number of rule changes, including new tyre restrictions, multi-race engines, and reductions on downforce. Safety and cost have traditionally been paramount in all rule-change discussions. More recently the FIA has added efficiency to its priorities. Currently the FIA and manufacturers are discussing adding bio-fuel engines and regenerative braking for the 2011 season or from the start of the 2014 season. Former FIA President Max Mosley believes Formula One must focus on efficiency to stay technologically relevant in the automotive industry as well as keep the public excited about F1 technology. In the interest of making the sport truer to its role as a World Championship, FOM president Bernie Ecclestone has initiated and organised a number of Grands Prix in new countries and continues to discuss new future races. Confirmation for the 2011 Indian Grand Prix is only subject to the homologation of the circuit.[92] The United States Grand Prix will celebrate its return onto the Formula One calendar in 2012,[93] and another American race, the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey will join the calendar in 2013.[94] In October 2010, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin signed an agreement with Ecclestone establishing the Russian Grand Prix in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi from 2014, with the circuit to be run in and around the site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Park.[95] Formula One is also exploring the potential for a revival of the South African,[96] Argentine[97] and Mexican Grands Prix[98] while proposals for races to be held in Vietnam,[99] Ukraine[100] and Croatia[101] have also been put forward. The sport's rapid expansion into new areas of the globe also leaves some question as to which races will be cut.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin driving a Formula 1 car, 2010 (see the video).

In December 2010, reports emerged detailing new engine regulations set to take effect from 2013. The 2.4-litre V8 engines used since 2006 will be reduced to 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engines augmented by the KERS device,[102] with projected power outputs predicting that the new engine formula would remain constant from the 2006 design. The new engine regulations emphasise efficiency and eco-friendliness, and have been designed in an attempt to lure new engine suppliers back into the sport with the mass exodus of manufacturers Toyota, Honda and BMW ahead of the 2010 season, the number of manufacturers on the grid was at a thirty-year low, with just Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and the independent Cosworth supplying engines, the lowest since 1980. The new engines will reportedly consume 35% less fuel than the pre-2013 engine formula.[103] However, after discussion among the teams, the FIA agreed to postpone the introduction of the new engine regulations until 2014 with a revised formula; rather than the previously agreed-upon four-cylinder turbocharged engines, the teams will instead use 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines limited to 15,000 rpm, with the power of energy recovery systems such as KERS to be doubled.[104] It has also been reported that ground effects banned since 1983 are being considered for a future return.[105] In December 2010, a proposal created by Rory Byrne and Patrick Head emerged, which outlined design specifications that included the re-introduction of ground effects in addition to greatly reduced downforce, and much smaller front and rear wings.[103] It has been estimated that the cars will become harder to drive where drivers in 2010 can spend up to 70% of a lap at full throttle, they will only be able to spend 50% of the lap at full throttle from 2013.[103] Byrne and Head have speculated that their proposed regulations will make overtaking easier as a driver following another will lose less downforce when following closely courtesy of the car's shaped underside.[103]

Media coverage
See also: List of Formula One broadcasters

Track photographers at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

Formula One can be seen live or tape delayed in almost every country and territory around the world and attracts one of the largest global television audiences. The 2008 season attracted a global audience of 600 million people per race.[106] It is a massive television event; the cumulative television audience was calculated to be 54 billion for the 2001 season, broadcast to two hundred countries.[107] During the early 2000s, Formula One Group created a number of trademarks, an official logo, and an official website for the sport in an attempt to give it a corporate identity. Ecclestone experimented with a digital television package (known colloquially as Bernievision) which was launched at the 1996 German Grand Prix in cooperation with German digital television service "DF1", thirty years after the first GP colour TV broadcast, the 1967 German Grand Prix. This service offered the viewer several simultaneous feeds (such as super signal, onboard, top of field, backfield, highlights, pit lane, timing) which were produced with cameras, technical equipment and staff different from those used for the conventional coverage. It was introduced in many countries over the years, but was shut down after the 2002 season for financial reasons. TV stations all take what is known as the "World Feed", either produced by the FOM (Formula One Management) or occasionally, the "host broadcaster". The only station that originally differed from this was "Premiere"a German channel which offers all sessions live and interactive, with features such as the onboard channel. This service was more widely available around Europe until the end of 2002, when the cost of a whole different feed for the digital interactive services was thought too much. This was in large part because of the failure of the "F1 Digital +" Channel launched through Sky in the United Kingdom. Prices were too high for viewers, considering they could watch both the qualifying and the races themselves free on ITV. However, upon the commencement of its coverage for the 2009 season, the BBC reintroduced complementary features such as the "red button" in-car camera angles, multiple soundtracks (broadcast commentary, CBBC commentary for children, or ambient sound only) and a rolling highlights package. Different combinations of these features are available across the various digital platforms (Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media cable and the BBC F1 web site) prior to, during, and after the race weekend. Not all services are available across all the various platforms due to technical constraints. The BBC also broadcasts a post-race programme called "F1 Forum" on the digital terrestrial platforms' "red button" interactive services. An announcement made on 12 January 2011, on the official Formula 1 website, announced that F1 would adopt the HD format for the 2011 season offering a world feed at a data rate of 42

Megabits/second (MPEG-2).[108] The BBC subsequently announced later that day that their 2011 F1 coverage would be broadcast in HD[109] which has been made immediately possible due to SIS LIVE, the provider of the BBC's F1 outside broadcast coverage, having already upgraded their technical facilities to HD as of the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix.[110] It was announced on 29 July 2011 that Sky Sports and the BBC would team up to show the races in F1 in 2012. In March 2012, Sky will launch a channel dedicated to F1, with an HD counterpart. Sky Sports F1 will cover all races live without commercial interruption as well as live practice and qualifying sessions, along with F1 programming, including interviews, archive action and magazine shows.[111] The current deal secures Formula 1 on Sky up to 2018.[112] The BBC in 2012 will continue to show live coverage of half of the races in the season: China, Spain, Monaco, Europe, Britain, Belgium, Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi, and Brazil.[113] They will also show live coverage of practice and qualifying sessions from those races.[114] For the races that the BBC don't show live, they will show "extended highlights" of the race just a few hours after it has been broadcast.[115] Formula One has an extensive web following, with most major TV companies covering it such as the BBC. The official Formula One website has a live timing Java applet that can be used during the race to keep up with the leaderboard in real time. Recently an official application has been made available in the iTunes App Store that allows iPhone / iPod Touch users to see a real time feed of driver positions,[116] timing and commentary. The same application is now available for Android phones and tablets from 2011.

Distinction between Formula One and World Championship races

Currently the terms "Formula One race" and "World Championship race" are effectively synonymous; since 1984, every Formula One race has counted towards the World Championship, and every World Championship race has been to Formula One regulations. But the two terms are not interchangeable.

the first Formula One race was held in 1947, whereas the World Championship did not start until 1950. in the 1950s and 1960s there were many Formula One races which did not count for the World Championship (e.g., in 1950, a total of twenty-two Formula One races were held, of which only six counted towards the World Championship). The number of non-championship Formula One events decreased throughout the 1970s and 1980s, to the point where the last nonchampionship Formula One race was held in 1983. the World Championship was not always exclusively composed of Formula One events: o The World Championship was originally established as the "World Championship for Drivers", i.e., without the term "Formula One" in the title. It only officially became the Formula One World Championship in 1981.

From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the World Championship. This race was run to AAA/USAC regulations, rather than to Formula One regulations. Only one of the world championship regulars, Alberto Ascari in 1952, competed at Indianapolis during this period. From 1952 to 1953, all races counting towards the World Championship (except the Indianapolis 500) were run to Formula Two regulations. Formula One was not "changed to Formula Two" during this period; the Formula One regulations remained the same, and numerous Formula One races were staged during this time.

The distinction is most relevant when considering career summaries and "all time lists". For example, in the List of Formula One drivers, Clemente Biondetti is shown with 1 race against his name. Biondetti actually competed in four Formula One races in 1950, but only one of these counted for the World Championship. Similarly, several Indy 500 winners technically won their first world championship race, though most record books choose to ignore this and instead only record regular participants.

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2012 Summer Olympics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "2012 Olympics" redirects here. For the Winter Youth Olympics, see 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. "London 2012" redirects here. For the video game, see London 2012 (video game). For the Paralympic Games, see 2012 Summer Paralympics. Games of the XXX Olympiad

This is the clear version of the official logo. There are four official base colours, and another version for the 2012 Summer Paralympics. For more details, see section "Logo" below. Host city Motto Nations participating Athletes participating Events Opening ceremony London, England, United Kingdom Inspire a Generation 183 (qualified) 204 (estimated) 10,500 (estimated) 302 in 26 sports 27 July

Closing ceremony 12 August Stadium [hide]

Olympic Stadium 2012 Summer Olympics

Bid process Bid details Announcements and developme nts Venues Torch relay Paralympics Mascots Medal table (medalists) Opening ceremony (flag bearers) Closing ceremony
IOC BOA LOCOG

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will take place in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012.[1] Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris.[2] London will

become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times,[3][4] having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.[5][6] While budgetary considerations for the games have generated some criticism,[7][8] they have also been welcomed by others as having prompted a redevelopment of many of the areas of London in which events are to be held particularly themed towards sustainability.[9] The main focus of the games will be a new 200 hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford in the east of London.[10] The Games also make use of many venues which were already in place before the bid.

Contents

1 Bidding process 2 Development and preparation o 2.1 Since the 2005 bid o 2.2 Venues and infrastructure o 2.3 Public transport o 2.4 Financing o 2.5 Partners o 2.6 Volunteers o 2.7 Ticketing o 2.8 Countdown o 2.9 Security o 2.10 Logo o 2.11 Mascots o 2.12 Medals o 2.13 Test events o 2.14 Torch relay o 2.15 Opening ceremony 3 The Games o 3.1 Participants o 3.2 Sports 4 Calendar 5 Broadcasting 6 Environmental policy 7 Tourism and the 2012 Games 8 Cultural Olympiad 9 Marketing o 9.1 Stamps o 9.2 Merchandise o 9.3 Chariots of Fire 10 Controversy o 10.1 IOC's policy with athletes' use of social media o 10.2 Dow Chemical's sponsorship o 10.3 Housing o 10.4 Argentinian Olympic ad 11 See also 12 References

12.1 Book references

13 External links

Bidding process
Main article: Bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics

A London 2012 Olympics banner at The Monument in London.

By the bid submission deadline of 15 July 2003, nine cities had submitted bids to host the 2012 Olympics. These cities were Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York City, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.[11] The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone noted his primary motivation to initiate and lobby for the city's bid as to develop the east end of London, neglected for over thirty years.[12] On 18 May 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as a result of a scored technical evaluation, reduced the number of cities to five: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, and Paris.[13] All five cities submitted their candidate file by 19 November 2004, and were visited by the IOC inspection team during February and March 2005. The Paris bid suffered two setbacks during the IOC inspection visit: a number of strikes and demonstrations coinciding with the visits and a report coming out that one of the key members of the Paris bid team would face charges over alleged corrupt party political finances.[14] On 6 June 2005, the IOC released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. Although these reports did not contain any scores or rankings, the evaluation report for Paris was considered the most positive, now followed closely by London which had narrowed down most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004 regarding Paris. Also New York and Madrid obtained very positive evaluation reports.[15] Throughout the process, Paris was widely seen as the favourite to win the nomination, particularly as this was its third bid in recent history. Originally London was seen lagging Paris by considerable margin; however, this started to improve with the appointment of Sebastian Coe as new head of London 2012 on 19 May 2004.[citation needed] In late August 2004, some reports started

emerging predicting a London and Paris tie in the 2012 bid.[16] In the final run-up to the 117th IOC Session, London and Paris appeared to be increasingly in a neck-and-neck race. On 1 July 2005, Jacques Rogge, when asked who the winner would be, told the assembled press: "I cannot predict it since I don't know how the IOC members will vote. But my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close. Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes, or maybe less".[17] On 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York and Madrid. The final two cities left in contention were London and Paris. At the end of the fourth round of voting, London won the right to host the 2012 Games with 54 votes, defeating Paris's 50.[18] The celebrations in London were short-lived, being overshadowed by terrorist attacks on London's transport system less than 24 hours after the announcement.[19]
2012 Summer Olympics bidding results City London Paris Madrid New York City Moscow NOC United Kingdom France Spain United States Russia Round Round Round Round 1 2 3 4 22 21 20 19 15 27 25 32 16 39 33 31 54 50

Development and preparation

Since the 2005 bid
Main article: 2012 Summer Olympic development

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) was created to oversee the staging of the Games after the success of the bid, and held their first board meeting on 3 October 2005.[20] The committee, chaired by Lord Coe, is in charge of implementing and staging the games, while the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is in charge of the construction of the venues and infrastructure.[20] In April 2006 the Olympic Delivery Authority board was established.[21] The Government Olympic Executive (GOE), a unit within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), is the lead Government body for coordinating the London 2012 Olympics. The GOE reports through the DCMS Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Sports and the Olympics. It focuses on oversight of the Games, cross-programme programme management and the London

2012 Olympic Legacy before and after the Games that will benefit London and the UK. The organisation is also responsible for the supervision of the 9.3 billion of public sector funding.[22] In August 2011, security concerns arose surrounding the hosting of the Olympic Games in London[23] due to the 2011 England riots, with a few countries expressing fear over the safety of the Games,[24] in spite of the International Olympic Committee's assurance that the riots will not affect the Games.[25] The IOC's Coordination Commission for the 2012 Games completed their tenth and final visit to London in March 2012. They concluded that "London is ready to host the world this summer".[26]

Venues and infrastructure

Main article: Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics

Olympic Stadium in June 2011

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will use a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them in well-known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others will be resized or relocated.[27] The majority of venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. In addition to these are those venues that, by necessity, are outside the boundaries of Greater London, such as the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on the Isle of Portland in Dorset which will host the sailing events, some 125 miles (200 km) southwest of the Olympic Park. The football tournament will be staged at several grounds around the UK.[28] Work began on the Park in December 2006 when a sports hall in Eton Manor was pulled down.[29] The athletes' village in Portland was completed in September 2011.[30] In November 2004 the 500 acre Olympic Park plans were revealed.[31] The plans for the site were passed in September 2004 by Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney and Waltham Forest.[32] The redevelopment of the area to build the Olympic Park required compulsory purchase orders of property. The London Development Agency and the London and Continental Railways had a dispute about the orders in November 2005. The LCR accused the LDA of killing off development

in the area. The LDA planned alongside the Olympic Park to buy land for the Stratford City development project, which the 180-acre site of the former Stratford Rail Lands into a mixed-use development, including 4,500 new homes, office space, hotels and shops.[33] This resulted in 2011 with the completion of the largest urban shopping centre in Europe being operated by Westfield.[34] By May 2006 86% of the land had been bought as businesses fought eviction; this led to an enquiry being set up. 206 companies had to relocate by July 2007.[35] In addition, residents who opposed the eviction tried to find way to stop it by setting up campaigns. However they had to leave as 94% of land was bought and the other 6% bought as a 9 billion regeneration project started.[36] However, there were some issues with the original venues not being challenging enough or being financially unviable. For example, the road racing at the Olympic Games was originally scheduled to take place in Regent's Park and on Hampstead Heath. Instead the Olympic road races will start and finish on The Mall in central London, extend into Surrey to the south and include loops around Box Hill.[37] The Olympic mountain bike event will take place at Hadleigh Farm after the event was moved from Weald Country Park,[38] after the UCI labelled the course at the park "too easy" in July 2008.[39] A location in Kent was also considered.[40] The Olympic marathon course, which was set to finish in the Olympic stadium, was moved to The Mall.[41] The idea angered some members of the local community, stating that they had been left out of the Olympics as no events would take place in the boroughs. The change was made as closing Tower bridge would cause "gridlock" to London.[42][43][44] North Greenwich Arena 2 was scrapped in a cost-cutting exercise, with Wembley Arena being used for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events instead.[45][46][47][48]

Public transport

The Olympic Javelin service

London's public transport was an element of the bid which was scored poorly in the IOC's initial evaluation; however, they felt that if the improvements were delivered in time for the Games then London would cope.[49] Transport for London (TfL) carried out numerous improvements in preparation for 2012, including the expansion of the London Overground's East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line,[50] and the introduction of a new "Javelin" high-speed rail service,[51] using the Hitachi Corporation's "bullet" trains.[52] The platforms at Stratford International station (which are at a height designed for Eurostar trains) will

be temporarily raised to accommodate the Javelin trains.[53] According to network rail an additional 4,000 train services will run during the Games, with train operators putting on longer trains during the day.[54] TfL also propose the construction of a 25 million cable car across the River Thames, the "Thames Gateway Cable Car", to link 2012 Olympics venues.[55] It will cross the Thames river between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks, carrying up to 2,500 passengers an hour at a heights above 50 metres in the air. It is designed to cut journey times between the O2 arena and the ExCel exhibition centre both of which are Olympic locations. The system could provide a crossing every 30 seconds.[56] The plan is to have 80% of athletes travel less than 20 minutes to their event[57] and to have 93% of athletes within 30 minutes of their event.[58] The Olympic Park would be served by ten separate railway lines with a combined capacity of 240,000 passengers per hour.[59] In addition the LOCOG planned for 90% of the venues to be served by three or more types of public transport.[58] Two park-and-ride sites were off the M25 with a combined capacity of 12,000 cars 25 minutes away from the Olympic Park. Another park and ride site was planned in Ebbsfleet which would have capacity for 9,000 cars where spectators could board a 10 minute shuttle bus.[58] To get spectators to Eton Dorney, four park and ride schemes were set up. Spectators would be dropped off at Windsor Racecourse with a bridge going over the Thames linking the racecourse to the rowing venue.[60]

A London Underground train decorated to promote London's Olympic bid this coincided with plans for investment in the city's public transport network

Some lanes on some roads in London will be dedicated to athletes, officials and VIPs.[61][62] Concerns have been expressed at the logistics of spectators travelling to the events outside London. In particular, the sailing events at Portland are in an area with no direct motorway connection, and with local roads that are heavily congested by tourist traffic in the summer.[63] However the Weymouth area did undergo a major upgrade on its road infrastructure. A 77 million relief road connecting Weymouth to Dorchester was built and opened in 2011.[64][65] Some 16 million was put aside for the rest of the improvements.[66] In addition the plans removed 5 roundabouts to ease congestion and replaced them with traffic lights.[67][68] But some residents were unhappy that the roundabouts were removed.[69]

FirstGroup will provide the venue shuttle and park and ride services, services connecting peripheral park and ride sites on the M25 with the Olympic Park and Ebbsfleet, and a nationwide network of express coaches to the Olympic Park and the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue. The services will require around 900 vehicles in total, although some will be sub-contracted.[70][71]

Financing
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Public and private funding need to be separated more clearly. Comparisons with the original budget are missing. Section contains outdated figures and is generally hard to understand for non-business people.. Please help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (May 2012)

The costs of mounting the Games are separate from those for building the venues and infrastructure, and redeveloping the land for the Olympic Park. While the Games are privately funded, the venues and Park costs are met largely by public money. On 15 March 2007, Tessa Jowell announced to the House of Commons a budget of 5.3 billion to cover building the venues and infrastructure for the Games, at the same time announcing the wider regeneration budget for the Lower Lea Valley budget at 1.7 billion. On top of this, she announced various other costs including an overall additional contingency fund of 2.7 billion, security and policing costs of 600 million, VAT of 800 million and elite sport and Paralympic funding of nearly 400 million. According to these figures, the total for the Games and the regeneration of the East London area, is 9.345 billion. Then Mayor Ken Livingstone pledged the Games Organising Committee would make a profit.[72] The costs for staging the Games (2 billion) are funded from the private sector by a combination of sponsorship, merchandising, ticketing and broadcast rights. This budget is raised and managed by the London 2012 Organising Committee. According to Games organisers, the funding for this budget broadly breaks down as:

64% from Central Government; 23% from National Lottery 13% from the Mayor of London and the London Development Agency

On 18 August 2007, The Belfast Telegraph reported that jubilation over winning the right to stage the Olympic Games was becoming more muted as realisation dawns on the public of the enormous costs involved in creating facilities for the athletes.[73] Grassroot sport cuts will fund the Olympics, government figures suggested on 19 August 2007.[74] In November 2007, Edward Leigh MP, criticised the organisers for significantly under-estimating the cost of staging the games, suggesting they had either "acted in bad faith or were incompetent".
[75]

On 10 December 2007, Tessa Jowell announced confirmation of the budget announced earlier in 2007. In June 2007, the Ministerial Funders Group (established to manage the allocation of contingency to the ODA within the overall budget) met and agreed a first allocation of contingency to the ODA, being 360 million out of the 500 million of initial contingency announced in March, to enable the ODA to manage early cost pressures. Following its second meeting on 26 November 2007, the Funders Group has now agreed a baseline budget and scope proposed by the ODA. The total budgeted base cost to be met by the public sector funding package remains at 6.090 billion including tax and excluding general programme contingency as announced in March. This includes the allocation to the ODA of the remaining 140 million from the initial 500 million contingency announced in March.[76] There have, however, been concerns over how the Olympics are to be funded. In February 2008, a London Assembly culture and sport committee report expressed concerns over the funding of the games taking away money from London's sports and arts groups.[77] There have also been complaints that funding towards the Olympics has been to the detriment of funding other areas of the UK. In Wales, there has been criticism from Plaid Cymru about the games depriving Wales of money, by using UK-wide funding rather than English funding.[78] The Wales on Sunday newspaper claimed former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair broke his promise to not use National Lottery funding for the Olympic games.[79][80] As at December 2009, the Delivery Authority had allocated 702 million of Programme and Funders contingency, largely to cover the decisions to publicly fund the Village and Media Centre after it became clear private funding could not be secured on acceptable terms during the 2008 to 2010 economic crisis. According to the Government Olympic Executive and Olympic Delivery Authority risk assessments the remaining 1,270 million contingency is sufficient to manage risks to the Delivery Authoritys programme.[81] Also from May 2010, the Olympic budget will be cut by 27 million as part of the 6.2 billion cuts by the new Conservative-Liberal coalition government. On 19 July 2011, Hugh Robertson, Sports & Olympic Minister, revealed that he expected the project to be delivered on time and under budget. "With one year to go to London 2012, the Games construction is 88 per cent complete and ahead of time and under budget. That is an extraordinary thing for a Government Minister to be able to say a year out from the Games."[82]

Partners
[show]Sponsors of the 2012 Olympic Games

To help fund the cost of staging the games the London Olympic organisers have agreed partnership deals with major companies. The companies have signed up into four categories; worldwide, tier one, tier two and tier three.

Volunteers
Unpaid volunteers known as Games Makers[84] will perform a variety of tasks before and during the Games. A target of 70,000 volunteers was set as early as 2004.[85] When recruitment took place in 2010 over 240,000 applications were received.[86] Sebastian Coe said in February 2012 "Our Games Makers will contribute a total of around eight million volunteer hours during the Games and the Games simply wouldn't happen without them".[87]

Ticketing
Organisers estimate that some 8 million tickets would be available for the Olympic Games, and 1.5 million tickets for the Paralympic Games.[citation needed] It is estimated that 82% of available Olympic tickets and 63% of Paralympic tickets will be sold. LOCOG aims to raise 375 400 million in ticket sales. There will also be free events: for example, the marathon, triathlon and road cycling,[88] though for the first time in Olympic history, the sailing events will be ticketed.[89] Tickets for the London Prepares series, the Olympic test events, started to go on sale in May 2011. [90] To reduce congestion, ticket holders are entitled to free use of London's public transportation network on the day of the event.[91] Following IOC rules, people applied for tickets from the NOC of their country of residence.[citation needed] European Union residents were able to apply for tickets in any EU country.[citation needed] In Great Britain, ticket prices range from 20 for many events to 2,012 for the most expensive seats at the opening ceremony. Free tickets were given to military personnel, and children were invited to 'win' tickets.[92] Free tickets were also given to the survivors and families of those who died during 7 July 2005 London bombings.[93] Initially, people were able to apply for tickets via a website from 15 March 2011 until 26 April 2011. There was a huge demand for tickets, with 1.8 million people applying for 20 million tickets three times the 6.6 million tickets available in the first round lot, with 95% of the applications from Great Britain. More than 50% of the sessions went to a random ballot.[94][95] Over half the people who applied got no tickets, and the process was widely criticised, with a consumer group questioning the point of taking money out of people's bank accounts before they knew which tickets they had successfully purchased,[96] and triple Olympic Champion Bradley Wiggins labeling the process a shambles.[97] However, Lord Coe and the LOCOG insisted that the process was fair, and that there was no 'perfect' system.[98][99] There was a second round of ticket sales for events that failed to sell out in the initial allocation. [100] . This took place over a 10-day period between the 23 June and 3 July 2011, with priority given to those who were unsuccessful in the first allocation process. At this point there were about 1.7 million tickets for football and 600,000 for other sports, including archery, hockey, football, judo, boxing and volleyball, among other sports with 1.5 million tickets priced between 20 and 50. Unfortunately due to the amount of people buying tickets and because the Ticketmaster website did not update immediately, 15,000 had their application rejected, but 90% of people did get some tickets; as some events sold out in 15 minutes and by 8 am 10 sports had sold out.[101] People who were successful in the first round of tickets were allowed to buy more during the

period 817 July 2011. By this point 1.5 million tickets were available for football, 40,000 for Volleyball and 8,000 for freestyle wrestling on a first come first served basis. However by 10 July all the tickets for Volleyball had been sold, as 3.5 million tickets had been sold in total. Another round of tickets was promised to go on sale in 2012[when?].[102][dated info] In Russia people bought "Olympic vouchers" which one would have to redeem in London during July and August 2012, with people making their own accommodation and travel arrangements.[103] In Brazil, the ticket website and payment system did not work properly for the first three and a half days.[104] And the British government was asked to explain why it bought 9,000 tickets.[105] Nearly one million more tickets are set to go on sale starting on May 11, 2012.[106]

Countdown
During the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, the Olympic Flag was formally handed over from the Mayor of Beijing to the Mayor of London. This was followed by a section highlighting London,[107] One month later, the Olympic and Paralympic flags were raised outside the London City Hall[108]

Countdown clock in Trafalgar Square

A countdown clock in Trafalgar Square was unveiled, 500 days before the games.[109] The same location hosted one of a number of events to mark a year before the games.[110] Final countdown to the start of this year's summer games in London has begun with the ceremony of lighting of Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia in Greece.[111]

Security
Main article: Security for the 2012 Summer Olympics

The security operation is led by the police, with 10,000 officers available, supported by 13,500 members of the armed forces. Naval and air assets, including ships situated in the Thames, Eurofighter jets and surface-to-air missiles, will be deployed as part of the security operation. The

cost of security has also increased from 282m to 553m. This will be the biggest security operation Britain has faced for decades. The figure of 13,500 armed forces personnel is more than Britain currently has deployed in Afghanistan.[112] The Metropolitan Police and the Royal Marines performed security exercises in preparation for the Olympics on 19 January 2012, with 50 marine police officers in rigid inflatables and fast response boats, joined by up to 100 military personnel and a Lynx Navy helicopter.[113] The Ministry of Defence distributed leaflets to residents of the Lexington building in Bow, announcing that a missile system was to be stationed on top of the water tower.[114][115] This caused concern to some residents.[114][115] The Ministry said that probably would use Starstreak missiles and that site evaluations had taken place, but that no final decision had taken place.[114][115]

Logo
There have been two London 2012 logos: one for the bidding process created by Kino Design and a second as the brand for the Games themselves. The former is a ribbon with blue, yellow, black, green, and red stripes winding through the text "LONDON 2012," making the shape of the River Thames in East London. The latter, designed by Wolff Olins, was unveiled on 4 June 2007 and cost 400,000.[116] This new logo is a representation of the number 2012, with the Olympic Rings embedded within the zero.[117]

The Paralympics logo (far left) and the different official colour combinations for the Wolff Olins main logo design

This will be the first time that the same essential logo is to be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic games.[118] The standard colours are green, magenta, orange and blue; however the logo has incorporated a variety of colours, including the Union Flag to promote the handover ceremony.[119] The flexibility of the logo has also enabled sponsors to incorporate their corporate colours into a personalised version, such as Lloyds TSB,[120] British Airways,[121] and Adidas.[122] London 2012 has stated that the new logo is aimed at reaching young people. Sebastian Coe stated that it builds upon everything that the organising committee has said "about reaching out and engaging young people, which is where our challenge is over the next five years." One observer, a managing director of an advertising agency, noted that the logo bore a strong resemblance to the

logo for the 19741982 children's television programme Tiswas, commenting that appealing to young people is difficult, and that they will see right through attempts to patronise them.[123] Early public reaction to the logo, as measured by a poll on the BBC website, was largely negative: more than 80% of votes gave the logo the lowest possible rating.[124] Several newspapers have run their own logo competitions, displaying alternative submissions from their readers. The Sun displayed a design by a macaque monkey.[125] It was suggested that the logo resembles the cartoon character Lisa Simpson performing fellatio[126] and others have complained that it looks like a distorted Swastika.[127] In February 2011, Iran complained that the logo appeared to spell out the word "Zion" and threatened to boycott the Olympics.[128] Iran submitted its complaint to the International Olympic Committee, describing the logo as "racist", asking that it be withdrawn and the designers be "confronted". The IOC "quietly" rejected the demands, and Iran announced it would not boycott the Games.[129] A segment of animated footage released at the same time as the logo was reported to trigger seizures in a small number of people with photosensitive epilepsy. The charity Epilepsy Action received telephone calls from people who had had seizures after watching the sequence on TV. In response, a short segment was removed from the London 2012 website.[130] Ken Livingstone, then London Mayor, said that the company who designed the film should not be paid for what he called a "catastrophic mistake."[131] A blogger at the BBC said that "London 2012's new logo has got the country talking [although] not in the manner the organisers would have hoped."[132] One employee at a design firm described it as "well thought out" and anticipated it would "become a source of pride for London and the Games."[133]

Mascots
Main article: Wenlock and Mandeville

Wenlock and Mandeville

The official mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled on 19 May 2010;[134] this marks the second time (after Vancouver) that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time. Wenlock and Mandeville are animations depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton.[134] They are named Wenlock, after the Shropshire town

of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games, and Mandeville, after Stoke Mandeville, a village in Buckinghamshire where a forerunner to the Paralympic Games were first held.[134] The writer Michael Morpurgo wrote the story concept to the mascots, and an animation was produced;[135] it is intended that this will form part of an ongoing series concerning the mascots in the run-up to the Games in 2012.[134] Two stories have been created about the mascots: Out Of A Rainbow, the story of how Wenlock and Mandeville came to be, and Adventures On A Rainbow, which features the children from Out Of A Rainbow meeting the mascots and trying out many different Olympic and Paralympic sports.[136]

Medals

First glimpse of the medals in Trafalgar Square.

A total of around 4,700[137] medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been produced by the Royal Mint.[138] The medal, designed by David Watkins, weighs 375400g and is 7mm thick, with the sport and discipline engraved on the rim. Following recent tradition, the front of the medal features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stepping from Parthenon. The reverse side features has the Games logo, the River Thames, and a series of lines symbolising the energy of the athletes.
[139]

Test events
Main article: London Prepares series

Many test events will be held throughout 2011 and 2012, either through an existing championship such as 2012 Wimbledon Championships or as a specially created event held under the banner of London Prepares. Some events are closed to the public, others are ticketed. Basketball and BMX were the first events to be tested within the Olympic Park.[140]

Torch relay
Main article: 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay

The 2012 Olympics torch

The Olympics torch relay runs from 19 May 27 July, prior to the games. Plans for the relay were developed in 201011, with the torch bearer selection process announced on 18 May 2011.[141] The Olympic Torch arrived on flight BA2012 on 18 May 2012 from Greece.[142] The relay will last 70 days, with 66 evening celebrations, six island visits with about 8,000 people carrying the torch a distance of about 8,000 miles (12,800 km), starting from Land's End in Cornwall.[143] The torch will have one day outside of the United Kingdom when it will visit Dublin on June 6.[144] The relay is focusing on: National Heritage Sites, locations and venues with sporting significance, key sporting events, schools registered with the Get Set School Network, green spaces and biodiversity, Live Sites (city locations with large screens), festivals and other events.[145]

Opening ceremony
The Opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics will be called 'The Isles of Wonder.[146] Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle will be the artistic director for the opening ceremony. It was confirmed in February that Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will officially open the games at the opening ceremony.[147] A short film starring Daniel Craig as secret agent James Bond will be screened during the television coverage of the ceremony.[148]

The Games
Participants
Athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are expected to participate. The Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee, which had planned to continue functioning after the

dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, had its membership withdrawn by the IOC Executive Committee at the IOC session of June 2011. However, Dutch Antillean athletes who qualify for the 2012 Olympics will be allowed to participate independently under the Olympic flag.[149] Listed below are NOCs who have qualified at least one athlete. As of 21 May 2012, 183 countries have qualified at least one athlete.

Afghanistan[150] Albania[151] Algeria[152] American Samoa[153] Andorra[154] Angola[155] Antigua and Barbuda[154] Argentina[156] Armenia[156] Australia[156] Austria[156] Azerbaijan[157] Bahamas[154] Bahrain[154] Bangladesh[158] Barbados[154] Belarus[156] Belgium[159] Belize[154] Benin[160] Bermuda[154] Bhutan[158] Bolivia[154] Bosnia and Herzegovina[154] Botswana[154] Brazil[156] British Virgin Islands[154] Bulgaria[156] Burkina Faso[160] Burundi[154] Cambodia[161] Cameroon[162] Canada[156] Cape Verde[163] Cayman Islands[154] Central African Republic[164] Chad[163] Chile[156]

France[156] Gabon[154] Georgia[156] Germany[156] Ghana[154] Great Britain[156] (host) Greece[156] Grenada[154] Guam[163] Guatemala[156] Guinea[163] Guinea-Bissau[169] Guyana[154] Haiti[154] Honduras[153] Hong Kong[170] Hungary[156] Iceland[171] India[156] Indonesia[172] Iran[156] Iraq[158] Ireland[154] Israel[156] Italy[156] Jamaica[154] Japan[156] Jordan[150] Kazakhstan[156] Kenya[154] North Korea[156] South Korea[156] Kuwait[154] Kyrgyzstan[150] Latvia[154] Lebanon[173] Lesotho[154] Liberia[154] Libya[154] Liechtenstein[174] Lithuania[175]

Niger[163] Nigeria[154] Norway[156] Oman[154] Pakistan[180] Palau[163] Palestine[163] Panama[154] Papua New Guinea[181] Paraguay[182] Peru[154] Philippines[183] Poland[156] Portugal[156] Puerto Rico[154] Qatar[154] Romania[170] Russia[156] Rwanda[154] Saint Kitts and Nevis[154] Saint Lucia[154] Samoa[181] San Marino[156] Saudi Arabia[159] Senegal[154] Serbia[156] Seychelles[160] Sierra Leone[154] Singapore[170] Slovakia[156] Slovenia[170] Solomon Islands[163] South Africa[168] Spain[156] Sri Lanka[154] Sudan[154] Suriname[177] Sweden[184]

China[156] Colombia[165] Congo[162] DR Congo[163] Cook Islands[166] Costa Rica[154] Cte d'Ivoire[154] Croatia[156] Cuba[156] Cyprus[156] Czech Republic[156] Denmark[156] Djibouti[154][167] Dominica[154] Dominican Republic[156] Ecuador[154] Egypt[154] El Salvador[154] Eritrea[168] Estonia[154] Ethiopia[154] Fiji[154] Finland[156]

Luxembourg[170] Madagascar[153] Malaysia[176] Maldives[177] Mali[161] Malta[156] Mauritius[160] Mexico[156] Moldova[154] Monaco[178] Mongolia[156] Montenegro[154] Morocco[154] Mozambique[154] Myanmar[158] Namibia[168] Nauru[163] Netherlands[159] New Zealand[159] Nicaragua[179]

Switzerland[156] Syria[154] Chinese Taipei[156] Tajikistan[154] Tanzania[154] Thailand[156] Trinidad and Tobago[154] Tunisia[154] Turkey[156] Turkmenistan[151] Uganda[154] Ukraine[156] United Arab Emirates[156] United States[156] Uruguay[185] Uzbekistan[156] Vanuatu[186] Venezuela[187] Vietnam[188] Virgin Islands[154] Yemen[161] Zambia[154] Zimbabwe[154]

Sports
The 2012 Summer Olympic programme features 26 sports and a total of 39 disciplines. The 2012 Paralympic Games programme has 20 sports and 21 disciplines. For the first time, women's boxing is included in the programme, with 40 athletes competing in five different weight classes.[189] There is a special dispensation to allow the various shooting events to go ahead, which would otherwise be illegal under U.K. gun law.[which?] London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city. The IOC reinforced its decision to drop both sports during the 2006 Winter Olympics after they lost votes for reconsideration and were scheduled for the last time at Beijing in 2008.[190] Following the decision to drop the two sports, the IOC held a vote on whether or not to replace them. The sports considered were karate, squash, golf, roller sports and rugby sevens. Karate and squash were the two final nominees, but neither received enough votes to reach the required two-thirds majority.[190] The IOC has given the approval for the addition of golf and rugby sevens for the 2016 games.[191][192] Even though formal demonstration sports were eliminated following the 1992 Summer Olympics, [193] special tournaments for non-Olympic sports can be run during the games, such as the Wushu

tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[194] There have been campaigns to run Twenty20 cricket,[194] and Netball[195] tournaments parallel with the 2012 games, but neither campaign was successful.

Aquatics o Diving (8) o Swimmin g (34) o Synchroni zed swimming (2) o Water polo (2) Archery (4) Athletics (47) Badminton (5) Basketball (2) Boxing (13)

Canoeing o Sprint (12) o Slalom (4) Cycling o BMX (2) o Mount ain biking (2) o Road (4) o Track (10) Equestrian o Dressa ge (2) o Eventi ng (2)
o

Fencing (10) Field hockey (2) Football (2) Gymnastics o Artistic (14) o Rhythm ic (2) o Trampol ine (2) Handball (2) Judo (14) Modern pentathlon (2) Rowing (14) Sailing (10)

Shooting (15) Table tennis (4) Taekwondo ( 8) Tennis (5) Triathlon (2) Volleyball o Volleyb all (2) o Beach volleyb all (2) Weightlifting (15) Wrestling o Freest yle (11)
o

Jumpin g (2)

GrecoRoman (7)

Calendar
The final official schedule was released on 15 February 2011.[196]
OC Opening ceremony Event competitions 1 Event finals CC Closing ceremony

2 25 26 28 29 30 31 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 July / 7 3 10 Even We Th Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Sa Su August Fr Fri Fri ts d u t n n e d u t n n e d u t n i Ceremo nies Archery O C 1 1 1 1 CC 4

Athletic s Badmin ton Basketb all Boxing Canoein g Cycling Diving Equestr ian Fencing Field hockey Football Gymna stics Handba ll Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing 3 3

47

1 2

2 2

3 1 1

4 2

3 4 1

1 5 4 1 1

1 5

2 13 16

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1

18 8 6 10

1 2 1 1 1

1 1

1 1

1 1 1 1

2 2 18

2 14

2 2

1 4 4

2 14

Sailing Shootin g Swimmi ng Synchro nized swimming Table tennis Taekwo ndo Tennis Triathlo n Volleyb all Water polo Weightl ifting Wrestli ng Total events Cumulati ve total July /

2 2

2 1

2 2

10 15

4 4

34

2 2 1 3 1

8 5 2

1 2

15

18

12 14 12 15 20 18 22 25 23 18 21 17 22 16 32 15 302 11 13 16 17 20 21 23 25 28 30 3 8 1 9 0 7 9 5 7 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Even

12 26 38 53 73 91 25 26 2 28 29 30 31 1 2

7 We Th Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Sa Su August Fr Fri Fri d u t n n e d u t n n e d u t n i

ts

Broadcasting
Main article: List of 2012 Summer Olympics broadcasters

The International Broadcast Centre in June 2011

The London 2012 Olympic Games will be the tenth Olympic Games (counting both Summer and Winter Games) where Panasonic's digital technologies will be used as the official recording format, dating since the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. The official international video will be produced and distributed from the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in London Olympic Park, in 1080/50i High-Definition (HD) format.[197] Panasonic announced that DVCPRO HD will be the official recording format for capturing the Games. Olympic Broadcasting Services London (OBSL), the Host Broadcaster, will use P2 HD series equipment to support the broadcast of the competition. The cameras that will be used are the AG-HPX250, the companys first P2 HD handheld camcorder with AVC-Intra recording and two new AVCCAM HD handheld camcorders, the AG-AC160 and AG-AC130, with Full HD imagers and a new, wider 21X HD zoom lens.[198] According to the IOC's claim to providing over-the-air television coverage to as broad a worldwide audience as possible, London 2012 is scheduled to be broadcast by a number of regional broadcasters. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the home broadcaster for the Olympics and Channel 4 the home broadcaster for the Paralympics. The BBC aims to broadcast by various channels all 5,000 hours of the Olympic Games.[199] Much of the actual broadcasting is originated by the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). The United States television rights currently owned by NBC account for over half the rights revenue for the IOC.[book 1] Many television broadcasters granted rights to the games have bureaux and studios in London, but since at least the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, rights-holder operations are hosted in the dedicated International Broadcast Centre (IBC). London's IBC is planned to be inside the security cordon of the Olympic Park.

Internet technology is being developed for the London 2012 Olympics and YouTube will stream highlights of the games to countries all over the world as part of an IOC deal.[200]

Environmental policy
The Olympic Park will incorporate 45 hectares of wildlife habitat, with a total of 525 bird boxes, and 150 bat boxes. Local waterways and riverbanks are to be enhanced as part of the process.[201] Renewable energy will also feature at the Olympics. It was originally planned to provide 20% of the energy for the Olympic Park and Village from renewable technologies; however, this may now be as little as 9%.[202] Proposals to meet the original target included large-scale on-site wind turbines and hydroelectric generators in the River Thames. However, these plans were scrapped for safety reasons.[203] The focus has since moved to installing solar panels on some buildings, and providing the opportunity to recover energy from waste. Food packaging at the Olympics will be made from compostable materials like starch and cellulose-based bioplastics where it cannot be re-used or re-cycled. This will include fast food wrappers, sandwich boxes and drink cartons. After they have been used many of these materials will be suitable for anaerobic digestion (AD), allowing them to be made into renewable energy.[204]

Tourism and the 2012 Games

The 2012 Games park near Stratford is attracting new tourists to the area.[205] The upgraded Greenway cycle and walking path provides an ideal viewing point for the park while the site remains closed to the public. In 2011, a new initiative to bring tourists and visitors into the area will involve a public waterbus "hop-on hop-off" route, from Limehouse Basin to waterways near the Olympic Park.[206]

Cultural Olympiad
Main article: 2012 Cultural Olympiad The Olympic Charter, the set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games and for governing the Olympic Movement, states that

"The OCOG shall organise a programme of cultural events which must cover at least the entire period during which the Olympic Village is open."[207] The Cultural Olympiad comprises many programs with over 500 events spread over four years over the whole of the United Kingdom, and culminating in the London 2012 Festival.[208][209]

Marketing

The official 2012 Olympics book

A portable shop at VISA FIVB Beach Volleyball International (2011)

Stamps
In August 2009 the Royal Mail commissoned artists and illustrators to create 30 stamps which were released in batches of 10 during 2009 to 2011. The 30 stamps symbolise that the Games take place during the 30th Olympiad. Each stamp featured an Olympic or Paralympic sport and in addition carried the London 2012 logo.[210] The Royal Mail had initially approached photographers to be included as well but this was abandoned as the photos would have to be of dead people as the only living person allowed to feature on stamps in the United Kingdom is the Queen.[211] Stamps with an Olympic theme go back to the very first games in Athens in 1890 when the organisers commissioned the sale of stamps in order to balance the books and construct the last four venues. When London first held the Games in 1908 no stamps were commissioned. That occasion and 1912 are the only times when stamps were not issued. When London last held the Games in 1948, just four stamps were issued.[212] On 22 July 2011 the last of the 30 stamps were released.[213]

Merchandise
On 21 July 2009 the LOCOG announced that Hornby had won the license to develop and market a range associated with the Games. The license allowed the company to sell products across its

Corgi, Hornby, Scalextric and Airfix brands. Airfix will have model kits for all of the main venues, [214] including a 1:500 scale Olympic Stadium.[215] The centre-piece of the Scalextric collection will be a cycling Velodrome set.[214] The collection was launched by British cyclist Lizzie Armitstead in Hamleys toy store in June 2011.[216] In March 2011 the LOCOG commissioned and published a series of training guides.[217] The merchandise was sold online and in five shops known as "The London 2012 Shop" in London Heathrow Airport, London Stansted Airport, St Pancras International Station, Paddington Station and in John Lewis on Oxford Street. In addition Adidas sold its London 2012 range in its flagship store on Oxford Street and selected Next stores sold their 2012 range.[218] Sainsburys as official sponsors of the Paralympics also sold merchandise within their stores.[219] As with other Olympics since 1952, the Royal Mint will strike a set of commemorative one-kilogram gold and silver coins.[220] The striking of such large coins necessitated a new Act of Parliament, the Coinage (Measurement) Act 2011.

Chariots of Fire
The 1981 Best Picture Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, which depicts Britain's athletics successes in the 1924 Olympics, is also a recurring theme in promotions for the 2012 London Olympics. The film's theme tune was featured at the opening of the 2012 London New Year's fireworks celebrating the Olympics,[221] and the film's iconic beach-running scene and theme tune are utilized in The Sun's "Let's Make It Great, Britain" Olympic ads.[222] The five thousand runners who first tested the new Olympic Park were also spurred on by the Chariots of Fire theme tune.[223] As an official part of the London 2012 Festival celebrations, a new digitally re-mastered version of Chariots of Fire will screen in over 100 cinemas throughout the UK. The re-release will begin 13 July 2012, two weeks before the Olympic opening ceremony.[224] A 2012 stage adaptation of the same title also coincides with the Olympics, opening 9 May at London's Hampstead Theatre and transferring to the West End on 22 June.[225]

Controversy
IOC's policy with athletes' use of social media
The IOC has drawn criticism from Sweden and Denmark[226][227] for its social media guidelines which, those commentators argue, appear to infringe on athletes' right to free speech. The guidelines appear to prohibit athletes from commenting on other participants, promoting their own sponsors, or using the word "Olympic" in URLs or to refer to third parties. Further criticism[by whom?] has been levelled at the IOC's creation of a website intended to allow the reporting of suspected breaches of the guidelines.[citation needed][original research?]

Dow Chemical's sponsorship

The IOC and LOCOG have also drawn criticism due to accepting Dow Chemical Company as a partner for the London Games.[228] Human Rights activists have been campaigning to get Dow Chemicals to clean up the contamination in Bhopal, India, where gas leak at a Union Carbide (now a subsidiary of Dow) plant in 1984 killed 2259 people. In an email response in March 2012,

LOCOG refused to withdraw Dow as a sponsor and stated "Dow is an industry leader in terms of operating with the highest standards of ethics and sustainability... [it] has received several awards and accolades in this regard over the last few years."[228]

Housing
In February 2012, the housing charity Shelter alleged reports of landlords in east London raising rents or writing clauses into new rental contracts so tenants must be away during the Olympics, but as of 2 February 2012, the Department of Communities and Local Government said it had no evidence of the practice.[229] However, an 8 May news report by the BBC noted that Shelter had seen "more evidence of landlords acting unscrupulously and evicting people illegally. One estate agent said properties typically rented for 350 per week were being marketed for 6,000 per week." The BBC report noted that, "The potential profits are leading to some private landlords telling their tenants they have to leave their homes, with little notice."[230]

Argentinian Olympic ad
On 2 May 2012, the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Argentine ship General Belgrano,[231] Argentina released an ad depicting the captain of Argentina's hockey team, Fernando Zylberberg, training in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, under the slogan "To compete on British soil, we train on Argentine soil."[232] The ad was criticised by the UK Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, as "tasteless",[233] while the IOC denounced the ad, saying "the games should not be part of a political platform."[234] Following this criticism, Argentine Olympic Committee head Gerardo Werthein criticised the ad stating that the Olympic Games can not be used to make "political gestures".[235] Zylberberg was subsequently dropped from the Argentine Hockey squad which will take part in the 2012 Games.[236]

Association football
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "Soccer" redirects here. For other uses, see Soccer (disambiguation). For other uses, see Football (disambiguation). Association football

An attacking player (No. 10) attempts to kick the ball past the opposing team's goalkeeper and between the goalposts to score a goal. Highest governing body Nickname(s) FIFA Football, soccer, footy/footie, "The Beautiful Game", "the world game" Mid-19th century Great Britain, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield. Characteristics Contact Team members Mixed gender Categorization Equipment Venue Yes 11 per side Yes, separate competitions Team sport, ball sport Football (or soccer ball) Football pitch (or soccer field) Part of the Summer Olympic programme from 1900 to 1928 Returned to the Summer Olympic programme in 1936 to today

First played

Olympic

Paralympic

No

Country or region Worldwide

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. At the turn of the 21st century, the game was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries, making it the world's most popular sport.[1][2][3][4] The game is played on a rectangular field of grass or green artificial turf, with a goal in the middle of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms (unless the ball is carried out of play, where the field players are required to re-start by a throw-in of the game ball), while the field players typically use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition. The Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and have evolved since then. Association football is governed internationally by FIFA - Fdration Internationale de Football Association (English: International Federation of Association Football), which organises the FIFA World Cup every four years.[

8 Women's association football 9 Variants and casual play 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Etymology and names

Main article: Names for association football The rules of football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association".[6] Within the English-speaking world, association football is usually called football (colloquially footy) or occasionally soccer in the United Kingdom, and mainly soccer in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States. Other countries may use either or both terms, and may also have local names for the sport.

Gameplay

A goalkeeper saving a close-range shot from inside the penalty area Association football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a spherical ball (of 71 cm (28 in) circumference in FIFA play), known as the football (or soccer ball). Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain who has only one official responsibility as mandated by the Laws of the Game: to be involved in the coin toss prior to kickoff or penalty kicks.[7] The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they do use their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their body (notably, "heading" with the forehead)[8] other than their hands or arms.[9] Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though the ball cannot be received in an offside position.[10] In typical game play, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a team-mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee for an infringement of the rules. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart.[11]

A goalkeeper dives to stop the ball from entering his goal

At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 200506 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match.[12] The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper,[13] but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball in order to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, in order to distinguish them from the goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which the player spends most time. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time.[14] The layout of a team's players is known as a formation. Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager.[15]

History
Main article: History of association football

England playing Scotland in the first-ever international football game (The Oval, 1872)

The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 Games revolving around the kicking of a ball have been played in many countries throughout history. According to FIFA, the "very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific

evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China", which was known as cuju.[16] The modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played at the public schools of England. The history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century.[17] The Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857,[18] which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.[19] These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.[20] The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby football clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, or subsequently left the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game.[20] These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.[21] The laws of the game are currently determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).[22] The Board was formed in 1886[23] after a meeting in Manchester of The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association. The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by C. W. Alcock and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of C. W. Alcock. England is home to the world's first football league, which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor.[24] The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and the North of England. FIFA, the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association.[25] The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the International Football Association Board in 1913. The board currently consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the four British associations.[26]

Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams,[27] while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet.[28] A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football.[29] Football has the highest global television audience in sport.[30] In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations. R. Kapuscinski says that people who are polite, modest or even humble in Europe fall easily into rage with playing or watching soccer games.[31] The Cte d'Ivoire national football team helped secure a truce to the nation's civil war in 2006[32] and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouak, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time.[33] By contrast, football is widely considered to be the final proximate cause in the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras.[34] The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade degenerated into rioting in May 1990.[35]

Laws
Main article: Laws of the Game (association football) There are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game, each containing a collection of stipulation and guidelines. The same laws are designed to apply to all levels of football, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, seniors, women and people with physical disabilities are permitted. The laws are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game. The Laws of the Game are published by FIFA, but are maintained by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).[36] In addition to the seventeen laws, numerous IFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation of football.

Players, equipment, and officials

See also: Association football positions, Formation (association football), and Kit (association football) Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. Competition rules may state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team, which is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to play the ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal. Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws.[13] The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards. Headgear is not a required piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wear it to protect themselves from head injury. Players are forbidden to wear or use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player, such as jewellery or watches. The

goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easily distinguishable from that worn by the other players and the match officials.[37] A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted in most competitive international and domestic league games is three, though the permitted number may vary in other competitions or in friendly matches. Common reasons for a substitution include injury, tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or timewasting at the end of a finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has been substituted may not take further part in a match.[38] IFAB recommends that "that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven players in either team." Any decision regarding points awarded for abandoned games is left to the individual football associations.[39] A game is officiated by a referee, who has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The referee is assisted by two assistant referees. In many high-level games there is also a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace another official should the need arise.[40]

Pitch
Main article: Association football pitch

Standard pitch measurements (See Imperial version) As the Laws were formulated in England, and were initially administered solely by the four British football associations within IFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed in imperial units. The Laws now express dimensions with approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets), though popular use tends to continue to use traditional units in English-speaking countries with a relatively recent history of metrication (or only partial metrication), such as Britain.[41]

The length of the pitch for international adult matches is in the range of 100110 m (110120 yd) and the width is in the range of 6475 m (7080 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 90120 m (100130 yd) length and 4590 m (50100 yd) in width, provided that the pitch does not become square. Although in 2008, the IFAB initially approved a fixed size of 105 m (344 ft) long and 68 m (223 ft) wide as a standard pitch dimension for A international matches,[42] this decision was later put on hold and was never actually implemented.[43] The longer boundary lines are touchlines, while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines. A rectangular goal is positioned at the middle of each goal line.[44] The inner edges of the vertical goal posts must be 7.32 m (8 yd) apart, and the lower edge of the horizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2.44 m (8 ft) above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are not required by the Laws.[45] In front of each goal is an area known as the penalty area. This area is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m (18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has a number of functions, the most prominent being to mark where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member of the defending team becomes punishable by a penalty kick. Other markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs, goal kicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks.[46]

Duration and tie-breaking methods

A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is known as full-time.[47] The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time, while loss time can also be used as a synonym. The duration of stoppage time is at the sole discretion of the referee. The referee alone signals the end of the match. In matches where a fourth official is appointed, toward the end of the half the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time he intends to add. The fourth official then informs the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalled stoppage time may be further extended by the referee.[47] Added time was introduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa. Trailing 10 and with just two minutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty. Villa's goalkeeper kicked the ball out of the ground, and by the time the ball had been recovered, the 90 minutes had elapsed and the game was over.[48] The same law also stands that the duration of either half is extended until the penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed, thus no game shall end with a penalty to be taken.
[49]

In league competitions, games may end in a draw. In knockout competitions where a winner is required various methods may be employed to break such a deadlock, some competitions may invoke replays.[50] A game tied at the end of regulation time it may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the use of penalty shootouts (known officially in the Laws of the Game as

"kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to the next stage of the tournament. Goals scored during extra time periods count toward the final score of the game, but kicks from the penalty mark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part of the tournament (with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up part of the final score).[7] In competitions using two-legged matches, each team competes at home once, with an aggregate score from the two matches deciding which team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rule may be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is the team that scored the most goals in the leg they played away from home. If the result is still equal, extra time and potentially a penalty shootout are required.[7] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the IFAB experimented with ways of creating a winner without requiring a penalty shootout, which was often seen as an undesirable way to end a match. These involved rules ending a game in extra time early, either when the first goal in extra time was scored (golden goal), or if one team held a lead at the end of the first period of extra time (silver goal). Golden goal was used at the World Cup in 1998 and 2002. The first World Cup game decided by a golden goal was France's victory over Paraguay in 1998. Germany was the first nation to score a golden goal in a major competition, beating Czech Republic in the final of Euro 1996. Silver goal was used in Euro 2004. Both these experiments have been discontinued by IFAB.[51]

Ball in and out of play

Main article: Ball in and out of play Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play:

A player takes a free kick, while the opposition form a "wall" to try to block the ball

Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play.[11] Throw-in: when the ball has crossed the touchline; awarded to opposing team to that which last touched the ball.[52]

Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the attacking team; awarded to defending team.[53] Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the defending team; awarded to attacking team.[54] Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution or send-off an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly (without the ball first touching another player) from an indirect free kick.[55] Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls.[55] A goal may be scored directly from a direct free kick. Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area.[56] Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective.[11]

Misconduct
Main article: Misconduct (association football) On-field

Players are cautioned with a yellow card, and sent off with a red card. These colours were first introduced at the 1970 FIFA World Cup and used consistently since.

A player scores a penalty kick given after an offence is committed inside the penalty area A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in the Laws of the Game while the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping an opponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls", punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where the offence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick.[9] The referee may punish a player or substitute's misconduct by a caution (yellow card) or sending-off (red card). A second yellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and therefore to a sending-off. A player given a yellow card is said to have been "booked", the referee writing the player's name in his official notebook. If a player has been sent off, no substitute can be brought on in their place. Misconduct may occur at any time, and while the offences that constitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular, the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with most events that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed as specific offences. A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player, substitute or substituted player. Non-players such as managers and support staff cannot be shown the yellow or red card, but may be expelled from the technical area if they fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.[9] Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continue if doing so will benefit the team against which an offence has been committed. This is known as "playing an advantage".[57] The referee may "call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within "a few seconds". Even if an offence is not penalised due to advantage being played, the offender may still be sanctioned for misconduct at the next stoppage of play.[58] The referee's decision in all on-pitch matters is considered final[59]. The score of a match cannot be altered after the game, even if later evidence shows that decisions (including awards/non-awards of goals) were incorrect. Off-field See also: Misconduct_(association_football)#Post-match Along with the general administration of the sport, football associations and competition organisers also enforce good conduct in wider aspects of the game, dealing with issues such as comments to the press, clubs' financial management, doping, age fraud and match fixing. Some onfield incidents, if considered very serious (such as allegations of racial abuse), may result in further action than that which is in power of an on-field referee.[60] Some associations allow for appeals against player suspensions incurred on-field if clubs feel a referee was incorrect or unduly harsh. Sanctions for such infractions may be levied on individuals or on to clubs as a whole. Penalties may range from fines, points deductions (in league competitions) to expulsion from competitions. For example, the English and Scottish leagues will often deduct 10 points from a team who enters financial administration.

Governing bodies

See also: Association football around the world The recognised international governing body of football (and associated games, such as futsal and beach soccer) is the Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The FIFA headquarters are located in Zurich. Six regional confederations are associated with FIFA; these are:
[61]

Asia: Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Africa: Confederation of African Football (CAF) Europe: Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) North/Central America & Caribbean: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Oceania: Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) South America: Confederacin Sudamericana de Ftbol/Confederao Sul-americana de Futebol (South American Football Confederation; CONMEBOL)

National associations oversee football within individual countries. These are generally synonymous with sovereign states, (for example: the Fdration Camerounaise de Football in Cameroon) but also include a smaller number of associations responsible for sub-national entities or autonomous regions (for example the Scottish Football Association in Scotland). 208 national associations are affiliated both with FIFA and with their respective continental confederations.[61] While FIFA is responsible for arranging competitions and most rules related to international competition, the actual Laws of the Game are set by the International Football Association Board, where each of the UK Associations has one vote, while FIFA collectively has four votes.[26]

International competitions
Main article: List of association football competitions

A minute's silence before an international match The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period.[62] The most recent tournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, was held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July.[63]

There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles.[64] Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only,[25] however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professional players have been permitted, albeit with certain restrictions which prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men's tournament is played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team;[65] but that practice ceased in the 2008 Olympics. A women's tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women's Olympic tournament.[66] After the World Cup, the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa Amrica (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). The FIFA Confederations Cup is contested by the winners of all 6 continental championships, the current FIFA World Cup champions and the country which is hosting the Confederations Cup. This is generally regarded as a warm-up tournament for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and does not carry the same prestige as the World Cup itself. The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores de Amrica in South America. The winners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup.[67]

Domestic competitions
Main article: Association football around the world The governing bodies in each country operate league systems in a domestic season, normally comprising several divisions, in which the teams gain points throughout the season depending on results. Teams are placed into tables, placing them in order according to points accrued. Most commonly, each team plays every other team in its league at home and away in each season, in a round-robin tournament. At the end of a season, the top team is declared the champion. The top few teams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of the teams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division.[68] The teams finishing at the top of a country's league may be eligible also to play in international club competitions in the following season. The main exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues, which divide football championships into two sections named Apertura and Clausura (Spanish for Opening and Closing), awarding a champion for each.[69] The majority of countries supplement the league system with one or more "cup" competitions organised on a knock-out basis. Some countries' top divisions feature highly paid star players; in smaller countries and lower divisions, players may be part-timers with a second job, or amateurs. The five top European leagues the Premier League (England),[70] La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), the Bundesliga (Germany) and Ligue 1 (France) attract most of the world's best players and each of the leagues has a total wage cost in excess of 600 million/763 million/US$1.185 billion.[71]

Women's association football

Two players trying to win the ball Main article: Women's association football Women have been playing association football since the first recorded women's game in 1895 in North London. It has traditionally been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in the United Kingdom.[72] This perception began to change in the 1970s with the breakthrough of organised women's association football. Association football is the most prominent team sport for women in several countries, and one of the few women's team sports with professional leagues. The growth in women's football has seen major competitions being launched at both national and international level mirroring the male competitions. Women's football faced many struggles throughout its fight for right. It had a "golden age" in the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when crowds reached 50,000 at some matches;[73] this was stopped on 5 December 1921 when England's Football Association voted to ban the game from grounds used by its member clubs. The FA's ban was rescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognise women's football in 1971.[72] The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since.[74]

Variants and casual play

See also: Variants of association football and Street football Variants of football have been codified for reduced-sized teams (i.e. Five-a-side football) play in non-field environments (i.e. Beach soccer, Indoor soccer & Futsal) and for teams with disabilities (i.e. Paralympic association football). One of the attractions of association football is that a casual game can be played with only minimal equipment a basic game can be played on almost any open area of reasonable size with just a ball and items to mark the positions of two sets of goalposts. Such games can often have team sizes that vary considerably from 11-a-side, use a limited and/or modified subset of the official rules, and are likely to be self-officiated by the players.

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Formation (association football)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For a description of typical positions, see Association football positions. This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (July
2010)

In association football, the formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the pitch. Different formations can be used depending on whether a team wishes to play more attacking or defensive football. Formations are used in both professional and amateur football matches. In amateur matches, however, these tactics are sometimes adhered to less strictly due to the lesser significance of the occasion. Skill and discipline on behalf of the players is also needed to effectively carry out a given formation in professional football. Formations need to be chosen bearing in mind which players are available. Some of the formations below were created to address deficits or strengths in different types of players.

Contents

1 2 3 4

Nomenclature Choice and uses of formations Early days Classic formations o 4.1 235 (Pyramid) 4.1.1 Danubian School 4.1.2 Metodo (2323) o 4.2 WM o 4.3 WW o 4.4 334 o 4.5 424 5 Common modern formations o 5.1 442 5.1.1 4411 o 5.2 433 5.2.1 4312 o 5.3 442 diamond or 41212 5.3.1 4132

5.4 4321 (the "Christmas Tree" formation) 5.5 532 5.5.1 532 with sweeper or 1432 o 5.6 343 o 5.7 352 o 5.8 361 o 5.9 451 o 5.10 4231 o 5.11 460 o 5.12 541 o 5.13 163 o 5.14 4222 (Magic Rectangle) 5.14.1 4222 (Defensive and Attacking Mids) o 5.15 3313 o 5.16 3331 o 5.17 4213 6 Incomplete formations 7 See also 8 References
o o

9 External links

Nomenclature
Formations are described by categorising the players (not including the goalkeeper) according to their positioning along (not across) the pitch, with the more defensive players given first. For example, 442 means four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards. Traditionally those within the same category (for example the 4 midfielders in 442) would generally play as a fairly flat line across the pitch, with those out wide often playing in a slightly more advanced position. In many modern formations this is not the case, which has led to some analysts splitting the categories in two separate bands, leading to four or even five numbered formations. A common example is 4213, where the midfielders are split into two defensive and one offensive player; as such this formation can be considered a kind of 433. The numbering system was not present until the 424 system was developed in the 1950s.

Choice and uses of formations

The choice of formation is often related to the type of players available to the coach.

Narrow formations. Teams with a surfeit of central midfielders, or teams who attack best through the centre, may choose to adopt narrow formations such as the 41212 or the 4321 which allow teams to field up to four or five central midfielders in the team. Narrow formations however depend on the full backs (the flank players in the "4") to provide width and to advance upfield as frequently as possible to supplement the attack in wide areas.

Wide formations. Teams with a surfeit of forwards and wingers may choose to adopt formations such as 4231, 352 and 433, which commit forwards and wingers high up the pitch. Wide formations allow the attacking team to stretch play and cause the defending team to cover more ground.

Teams may change formations during a game to aid their cause:

Change to attacking formations. When chasing a game for a desirable result, teams tend to sacrifice a defensive player or a midfield player for a forward in order to chase a result. An example of such a change is a change from 451 to 442, 352 to 343, or even 532 to 433. Change to defensive formations. When a team is in the lead, or wishes to protect the scoreline of a game, the coach may choose to revert to a more defensive structure by removing a forward for a more defensive player. The extra player in defence or midfield adds solidity by giving the team more legs to chase opponents and recover possession. An example of such a change is a change from 442 to 532, 352 to 451, or even 442 to 541.

Formations can be deceptive in analysing a particular team's style of play. For instance, a team that plays a nominally attacking 433 formation can quickly revert to a 451 if a coach instructs two of the three forwards to track back in midfield.

Early days
In the football matches of the 19th century defensive football was not played, and the line-ups reflected the all-attacking nature of these games. In the first international game, Scotland against England on 30 November 1872, England played with seven or eight forwards in a 118 or 127 formation, and Scotland with six, in a 226 formation. For England, one player would remain in defence, picking up loose balls, and one or two players would hang around midfield and kick the ball upfield for the other players to chase. The English style of play at the time was all about individual excellence and English players were renowned for their dribbling skills. Players would attempt to take the ball forward as far as possible and only when they could proceed no further, would they kick it ahead for someone else to chase. Scotland surprised England by actually passing the ball among players. The Scottish outfield players were organised into pairs and each player would always attempt to pass the ball to his assigned partner. Ironically, with so much attention given to attacking play, the game ended in a 00 draw.

Classic formations
235 (Pyramid)

The Pyramid formation

The first long-term successful formation was first recorded in 1880.[1] However, in "Association Football" published by Caxton in 1960, the following appears in Vol II, page 432: "Wrexham ... the first winner of the Welsh Cup in 1877 ... for the first time certainly in Wales and probably in Britain, a team played three half backs and five forwards ..." The 235 was originally known as the "Pyramid", with the numerical formation being referenced retrospectively. By the 1890s, it was the standard formation in England and had spread all over the world. With some variations, it was used by most top level teams up to the 1940s. For the first time, a balance between attacking and defending was reached. When defending, the two defenders (fullbacks), would watch out for the opponent's wingers (the outside players in the attacking line), while the midfielders (halfbacks) would watch for the other three forwards. The centre halfback had a key role in both helping to organize the team's attack and marking the opponent's centre forward, supposedly one of their most dangerous players. It was this formation which gave rise to the convention of shirt numbers.[2] Danubian School The Danubian School of football is a modification of the 235 formation as played by the Austrians, Czechs, and Hungarians in the 1920s, and taken to its peak by the Austrians in the 1930s. It relied on short-passing and individual skills. This school was heavily influenced by the likes of Hugo Meisl and Jimmy Hogan, the English coach who visited Austria at the time. Metodo (2323)

Metodo formation

The Metodo was devised by Vittorio Pozzo, coach of the Italian national team in the 1930s.[3] It was a derivation of the Danubian School. The system was based on the 235 formation, Pozzo realized that his halfbacks would need some more support in order to be superior to the opponents' midfield, so he pulled two of the forwards to just in front of midfield, creating a 2323 formation. This created a stronger defence than previous systems, as well as allowing effective counterattacks. The Italian national team won back-to-back World Cups in 1934 and 1938 using this system. It has been argued that Pep Guardiola's Barcelona is using a modern version of this formation.[4]

WM

WM formation

The WM system was created in the mid-1920s by Herbert Chapman of Arsenal to counter a change in the offside law in 1925. The change had reduced the number of opposition players that attackers needed between themselves and the goal-line from three to two. This led to the introduction of a centre-back to stop the opposing centre-forward, and tried to balance defensive and offensive playing. The formation became so successful that by the late-1930s most English clubs had adopted the WM. Retrospectively, the WM has either been described as a 325 or as a 343, or more precisely a 3223 reflecting the letters which symbolised it. The Gap in the centre of the formation between the two wing halves and the two inside forwards, allowed Arsenal to counterattack effectively. The W-M was subsequently adapted by several English sides, but none could apply it in quite the same way Chapman had. This was mainly due to the comparative rarity of Alex James in the English game.He was one of the earliest playmakers in the history of the game, and the hub around which Chapman's Arsenal revolved.

WW
The WW was a development of the WM created by the Hungarian coach Mrton Bukovi who turned the 325 WM into a 2323 by effectively turning the M "upside down".[5] The lack of an effective centre-forward in his team necessitated moving this player back to midfield to create a playmaker, with a midfielder instructed to focus on defence. This created a 2314, which morphed into a 2323 when the team lost possession, and was described by some as a kind of genetic link between the WM and the 424. This formation was successfully used by fellow countryman Gusztv Sebes in the Hungarian national team of the early 1950s.

334
The 334 formation was similar to the WW, with the notable exception of having an insideforward (as opposed to centre-forward) deployed as a midfield schemer alongside the two winghalves. This formation would be commonplace during the 1950s and early 1960s. One of the best exponents of the system was the Tottenham Hotspur double-winning side of 1961, which deployed a midfield of Danny Blanchflower, John White and Dave Mackay. FC Porto won the 200506 Portuguese national championship using this unusual formation under manager Co Adriaanse.

424

The 424 formation

The 424 formation attempts to combine a strong attack with a strong defence, and was conceived as a reaction to WM's stiffness. It could also be considered a further development of the WW. The 424 was the first formation to be described using numbers. While the initial developments leading to the 424 were devised by Mrton Bukovi, the credit for creating the 424 lies with two different people: Flvio Costa, the Brazilian national coach in the early 1950s, as well as another Hungarian Bla Guttman. These tactics seemed to be developed independently, with the Brazilians discussing these ideas while the Hungarians seemed to be putting them into motion.[5][6][7] The fully developed 424 was only "perfected" in Brazil, however, in the late 1950s. Costa published his ideas, the "diagonal system", in the Brazilian newspaper O Cruzeiro, using schematics as the ones used here and, for the first time ever, the formation description by numbers as used in this article.[6] The "diagonal system" was another precursor of the 424 and was created to spur improvisation in players. Guttmann himself moved to Brazil later in the 1950s to help develop these tactical ideas using the experience of Hungarian coaches. The 424 formation made use of the players' increasing levels of skill and fitness, aiming to effectively use six defenders and six forwards, with the midfielders performing both tasks. The fourth defender increased the number of defensive players but mostly allowed them to be closer together, thus enabling effective cooperation among them, the point being that a stronger defence would allow an even stronger attack. The relatively empty midfield relied on defenders that should now be able not only to steal the ball, but also hold it, pass it or even run with it and start an attack. So this formation required that all players, including defenders, are somehow skillful and with initiative, making it a perfect fit for the Brazilian player's mind. The 424 needed a high level of tactical awareness, as having only two

midfielders could lead to defensive problems. The system was also fluid enough to allow the formation to change throughout play. 424 was first used with success at club level in Brazil by Palmeiras and Santos, and was used by Brazil in their wins at 1958 World Cup and 1970 World Cup, both featuring Pel, and Mrio Zagallo, the latter of which played in 1958 and coached in 1970. The formation was quickly adopted throughout the world after the Brazilian success.

Common modern formations

Common modern formations

442 formation

433 formation

442 diamond formation

4411 formation

4321 formation

532 formation

532 Sweeper formation

343 formation

352 formation

361 formation

451 formation

4231 formation

541 formation The following formations are used in modern football. The formations are flexible allowing tailoring to the needs of a team, as well as to the players available. Variations of any given formation include changes in positioning of players, as well as replacement of a traditional defender by a sweeper.

442
This formation was the most common in football in the 1990s and early 2000s, so well known that it has even inspired a magazine title, FourFourTwo. The midfielders are required to work hard to support both the defence and the attack: typically one of the central midfielders is expected to go upfield as often as possible to support the forward pair, while the other will play a "holding role", shielding the defence; the two wide midfield players must move up the flanks to the goal line in attacks and yet also protect the fullback wide defenders.[8][9] On the European level, the major example of a team using a 442 formation was Milan, trained by Arrigo Sacchi and later Fabio Capello, which won three European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and three UEFA Super Cups between 1988 and 1995.[10] Under Milan's example, it became very popular in Italy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. More recently, commentators have noted that at the highest level, the 442 is being phased out in favour of formations such as the 4231.[11] In 2010, none of the winners of the Spanish, English and Italian Leagues, as well as the Champions League, relied on the 442. Following England's elimination at the 2010 World Cup by a 4231 Germany side, England National Team coach Fabio Capello (who was notably successful with the 442 at Milan in the 1990s) was criticized for playing an "increasingly outdated" 442 formation, despite the fact that Germany themselves can regularly be seen in versions of the same formation under coach Lw.[12]

4411 A variation of 442 with one of the strikers playing "in the hole", or as a "second striker", slightly behind their partner. The second striker is generally a more creative player, the playmaker, who can drop into midfield to pick up the ball before running with it or passing to teammates.[13] This formation has recently been used by Tottenham Hotspur to accommodate Rafael van der Vaart and Manchester United to accommodate Wayne Rooney. Interpretations of 4411 can be slightly muddled, as some might say that the extent to which a forward has dropped off and separated himself from the other can be debated. Recently, Wayne Rooney and his Manchester United strike partner Danny Welbeck, both drop off to some extent creating some ambiguity as to the formation.

433
The 433 was a development of the 424, and was played by the Brazilian national team in the 1962 World Cup. The extra player in midfield allows a stronger defence, and the midfield could be staggered for different effects. The three midfielders normally play closely together to protect the defence, and move laterally across the field as a coordinated unit. The three forwards split across the field to spread the attack, and may be expected to mark the opposition full-backs as opposed to doubling back to assist their own full-backs, as do the wide midfielders in a 442. When used from the start of a game, this formation is widely regarded as encouraging expansive play, and should not be confused with the practice of modifying a 442 by bringing on an extra forward to replace a midfield player when behind in the latter stages of a game. A staggered 433 involving a defensive midfielder (usually numbered four or six) and two attacking midfielders (numbered eight and ten) was commonplace in Italy, Argentina, and Uruguay during the 1960s and 1970s. The Italian variety of 433 was simply a modification of WM, by converting one of the two wing-halves to a libero (sweeper), whereas the Argentine and Uruguayan formations were derived from 235 and retained the notional attacking centre-half. The national team which made this famous was the Dutch team of the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, even though the team won neither. In club football, the team that brought this formation to the forefront was the famous Ajax team of the early 1970s, which won three European Cups with Johan Cruyff. Most teams using this formation now use the specialist defensive midfielder; Barcelona, Arsenal, and Chelsea are the most famous recent examples.[14] 4312 A variation of the 433 wherein a striker gives way to a Central Attacking Midfielder. This formation is adopted by Massimiliano Allegri for the 20102011 Serie A season for A.C Milan. The formation focuses on the attacking midfielder moving play through the center with the strikers on either side. It is a much narrower setup in comparison to the 433 and is usually incredibly dependent on the "1" to create chances, although this is not true for Massimiliano Allegri's A.C Milan, as Kevin Prince Boateng, who occupies this position. As Boateng is not a Trequartista, Milan have not faced problems when he is marked well, as their creativity comes from deep in midfield, and from individual talent up front.

442 diamond or 41212

The 442 diamond (also described as 41212) staggers the midfield. The width in the team has to come from the full-backs pushing forward. The defensive midfielder is sometimes used as a deep lying playmaker. Its most famous example was Carlo Ancelotti's Milan, which won the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final and made Milan runners-up in 2005. Milan was obliged to adopt this formation so as to field talented central midfielder Andrea Pirlo, in a period when the position of offensive midfielder was occupied by Rui Costa and later Kak.[15] This tactic was gradually abandoned by Milan after Andriy Shevchenko's departure in 2006, progressively adopting a "Christmas Tree" formation. 4132 The 4132 is a variation of the 41212 and features a strong and talented defensive center midfielder. This allows the remaining three midfielders to play farther forward and more aggressively, and also allows them to pass back to their defensive mid when setting up a play or recovering from a counter attack. The 4132 gives a strong presence in the forward middle of the pitch and is considered to be an attacking formation. Opposing teams with fast wingers and strong passing abilities can try to overwhelm the 4132 with fast attacks on the wings of the pitch before the three offensive midfielders can fall back to help their defensive line.Valeriy Lobanovskiy is one of the most famous exponents of the formation, using it with Dinamo Kyiv, winning three European trophies in the process. Another example of the 4132 in use was the English national team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, managed by Alf Ramsey.

4321 (the "Christmas Tree" formation)

The 4321, commonly described as the "Christmas Tree" formation, has another forward brought on for a midfielder to play "in the hole", so leaving two forwards slightly behind the most forward striker. Terry Venables and Christian Gross used this formation during their time in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. Since then the formation has lost its popularity in England.[citation needed] It is however most known for being the formation Carlo Ancelotti utilized on and off during his time as a coach of Milan. In this approach, the middle of the three central midfielders act as a playmaker while one of the attacking midfielders plays in a free role. However, it is also common for the three midfielders to be energetic shuttlers, providing for the individual talent of the two Trequatistas ahead.The "Christmas Tree" formation is considered a relatively narrow formation and depends on full-backs to provide presence in wide areas. The formation is also relatively fluid. During open play, one of the side central midfielders may drift to the flank to add additional presence.

532
This formation has three central defenders (possibly with one acting as a sweeper.) This system is heavily reliant on the wing-backs providing width for the team. The two wide full-backs act as

wing-backs. It is their job to work their flank along the full length of the pitch, supporting both the defence and the attack.[16] 532 with sweeper or 1432 A variant of the 532, this involves a more withdrawn sweeper, who may join the midfield, and more advanced full-backs.

343
Using a 343, the midfielders are expected to split their time between attacking and defending. Having only three dedicated defenders means that if the opposing team breaks through the midfield, they will have a greater chance to score than with a more conventional defensive configuration, such as 451 or 442. However, the three forwards allow for a greater concentration on attack. This formation is used by more offensive-minded teams. The formation was famously used by Liverpool under Rafael Benitez during the second half of the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final to come back from a three goal deficit.

352
This formation is similar to 532 except that the two wingmen are oriented more towards the attack. Because of this, the central midfielder tends to remain further back in order to help prevent counter-attacks. It differs from the classical 352 of the WW by having a non-staggered midfield. It was used for the first time at international level by the Argentine coach Carlos Bilardo.[17] Terry Venables notably used this formation (along with a 41212) during England's campaign in Euro 96, with Gareth Southgate or Paul Ince acting as defensive midfielder. Many teams also use a central attacking midfielder and two defensive midfielders, so the midfielders form a W formation. The formation was also used by Egypt national football team in their 3 successful 2006 African Nations Cup, 2008 African Nations Cup, 2010 African Nations Cup.

361
This uncommon yet modern formation obviously focuses on ball possession in the midfield. In fact, it is very rare to see it as an initial formation, as it is more useful for maintaining a lead or tie score. Its more common variants are 3421 or 343 diamond, which use two wingbacks. The lone forward must be tactically gifted, not only because he or she focuses on scoring but also on playing the ball back towards the own goal to assist with back passes to his teammates. Once the team is leading the game, there is an even stronger tactical focus on ball control, short passes and running down the clock. On the other hand, when the team is losing, at least one of the playmakers will more frequently play in the edge of the area to add depth to the attack. Guus Hiddink is one of the few coaches who has used this formation, recently for Australia during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

451

451 is a defensive formation; however, if the two midfield wingers play a more attacking role, it can be likened to 433. The formation can be used to grind out 00 draws or preserve a lead, as the packing of the centre midfield makes it difficult for the opposition to build-up play. Because of the "closeness" of the midfield, the opposing team's forwards will often be starved of possession. Due to the lone striker, however, the centre of the midfield does have the responsibility of pushing forward as well. The defensive midfielder will often control the pace of the game.[18]

4231
This formation is widely used by Spanish and French sides. While it seems defensive to the eye, it is quite a flexible formation, as both the wide players and the fullbacks join the attack. In defense, this formation is similar to either the 451 or 4411. It is used to maintain possession of the ball and stopping opponent attacks by controlling the midfield area of the field. The lone striker may be very tall and strong to hold the ball up as his midfielders and fullbacks join him in attack. The striker could also be very fast. In these cases, the opponent's defense will be forced to fall back early, thereby leaving space for the offensive central midfielder. This formation is used especially when a playmaker is to be highlighted. On the international level, this formation is used by the Spanish national team, the Dutch national team and the German national team in an asymmetric shape, and often with strikers as wide midfielders or inverted wingers. The formation is also currently used by Brazil as an alternative to the 424 formation of late 1950s to 1970. Implemented similarly to how original 424 was used back then, use of this formation in this manner is very offensive, creating a six-man attack and a six-man defence tactical layout. The front four attackers are composed as wide forwards and playmaker forward in support of a target striker in front. Mrio Zagallo also considers the Brazil 1970 football team he coached as pioneers of 4231.[19] In recent years with fullbacks having ever more increasing attacking roles, the wide players (be they deep lying forwards, inverted wingers, attacking wide midfielders) have been tasked with the defensive responsibility to track and pin down the opposition fullbacks. In the 2010 World Cup, this formation was successfully used by multiple sides such as Germany, Spain and Ghana. It has become increasingly more common in England and was popularized by Liverpool and their manager Rafa Bentiez in 2008. It has also been used at Stockport County with Jim Gannon and at another lower league side by Paul Dickov at Oldham.

460
A highly unconventional formation, the 460 is an evolution of the 4231 in which the centre forward is exchanged for a player who normally plays as a trequartista (that is, in the 'hole'). Suggested as a possible formation for the future of football,[20] the formation sacrifices an out-andout striker for the tactical advantage of a mobile front four attacking from a position that the opposition defenders cannot mark without being pulled out of position.[21] Owing to the intelligence

and pace required by the front four attackers to create and attack any space left by the opposition defenders, however, the formation requires a very skillful and well-drilled front four. Due to these high requirements from the attackers, and the novelty of playing without a proper goalscorer, the formation has been adopted by very few teams, and rarely consistently. As with the development of many formations, the origins and originators are uncertain, but arguably the first reference to a professional team adopting a similar formation is Anghel Iordnescu's Romania in the 1994 World Cup Round of 16, when Romania won 32 against Argentina.[22][23] The first team to adopt the formation systematically was Luciano Spalletti's Roma side during the 200506 Serie A season, mostly out of necessity as his "strikerless" formation,[24] and then notably by Alex Ferguson's Manchester United side in the 200708 Premier League season (who won the Premier League and Champions League that season).[25] The formation was unsuccessfully used by Craig Levein's Scotland vs Czech Republic to widespread condemnation.[26]

541
This is a particularly defensive formation, with an isolated forward and a packed defence. Again, however, a couple of attacking fullbacks can make this formation resemble something like a 36 1. One of the most famous cases of its use is the Greek National Team.

163
The 163 formation was first utilised by Japan at the behest of General Yoshijir Umezu in 1936. Famously, Japan defeated the heavily favoured Swedish team 32 at the 1936 Olympics with the unorthodox 163 formation, before going down 08 to Italy. The formation was dubbed the "kamikaze" formation sometime in the 1960s when former US national team player Walter Bahr used it for a limited number of games as coach of the Philadelphia Spartans to garner greater media and fan attention for the struggling franchise.[27]

4222 (Magic Rectangle)

Often referred to as the "Magic Rectangle". It's been used in France in the 80s[28] and a whole generation, for Brazil with Tel Santana, Carlos Alberto Parreira and Vanderlei Luxemburgo, by Arturo Salah and Manuel Pellegrini in Chile and Francisco Maturana in Colombia.[29] The "Magic Rectangle" born when you add two box to box midfielders with two deep lying forward and share the midfield. This provides a balance in the distribution of possible moves and gives the dynamic to midfield. This formation it was used by former Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini to much appreciation and positive feedback.[30] Pellegrini had also used this formation whilst at Villarreal. The formation is closely related 424 previously used by Fernando Riera master of Pellegrini[31] and that directed to Chile 1962 who learned from Frech Albert Batteux in the Stade de Reims of 50s. Also before in the Real Madrid, this formation was used most infamously used by Wanderley Luxemburgo during his failed stint at Real Madrid in the latter part of the 200405 season and throughout the 200506 season. Although this formation was branded "deeply flawed"[32] and "suicidal".[33] Luxemburgo is not the only one to use this although it had been used earlier by Brazil in the early 1980s[34][35]). Tel Santana firstly, Carlos Alberto Parreira and Vanderlei Luxemburgo proposed to base the "Magic Rectangle" in the work of the wing back. They should upload by the sides and triangular in the attack.[36] In another sense, the Colombian 4222 is closely related to

the 442 diamond of Brazil, style different from the French-Chilean trend and is based on the complementation of a box-to box with 10 classic. Emphasizes the triangulation, but especially in the surprise of attack. The 4222 formation consists of the standard defensive four (right back, two centre backs, and left back), with two centre midfielders, two support strikers, and two out and out strikers.[37] Similar to the 460, the formation requires a particularly alert and mobile front four to work successfully. The formation has also been used on occasion by the Brazilian national team,[35][38][39] notably in the 1998 FIFA World Cup final.[40] 4222 (Defensive and Attacking Mids) Positions:

RB Right Back RCB Right Centre Back LCB Left Centre Back LB Left Back RDM Right Defensive Midfielder LDM Left Defensive Midfielder RAM Right Attacking Midfielder LAM Left Attacking Midfielder RS Right Striker LS Left Striker

This formation is used with a lot of clubs but isn't as famous.

3313
The 3313 was formed of a modification to the Dutch 433 system Ajax had developed. Coaches like Louis van Gaal and Johan Cruyff brought it to even further attacking extremes and the system eventually found its way to FC Barcelona, where players such as Andrs Iniesta and Xavi were reared into 3313's philosophy. It demands intense pressing high up the pitch especially from the forwards, and also an extremely high defensive line, basically playing the whole game inside the opponents' half. It requires incredible technical precision and rapid ball circulation since one slip or dispossession can result in a vulnerable counter-attack situation. Cruyff's variant relied on a flatter and wider midfield, but van Gaal used an offensive midfielder and midfield diamond to link up with the front three more effectively. Marcelo Bielsa has used the system with some success with Argentina's and Chile's national teams and is currently one of the only high-profile managers to use the system in competition today. Diego Simeone had also tried it occasionally at River Plate.

3331
The 3331 formation was used by Marcelo Bielsa's Chile in the 2010 World Cup, with three centre backs coupled with two wingbacks and a holding player, although a variation is the practical hour glass, using three wide players, a narrow three, a wide three and a centre-forward.[41]

4213

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The somewhat unconventional 4213 formation was developed by Jos Mourinho during his time at Inter Milan including in the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final. By using captain Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso in holding midfield positions, he was able to push more players to attack. Wesley Sneijder filled the Trequartista role and the front three operated as three strikers, rather than having a striker and one player on each wing. Using this formation, Mourinho won The Treble with Inter in only his second season in charge of the club. Currently, under Mano Menezes management, the Brazil national football team uses this formation. As the system becomes more developed and flexible, small groups can be identified to work together in more efficient ways by giving them more specific and different roles within the same lines, and numbers like 4213, 4123 and even 4222 occur. Many of the current systems have three different formations in each third, defending, middle, and attacking. The goal is to outnumber the other team in all parts of the field but to not completely wear out all the players on the team using it before the full ninety minutes are up. So the one single number is confusing as it may not actually look like a 4213 when a team is defending or trying to gain possession. In a positive attack it may look exactly like a 4213.

Incomplete formations
When a player is sent-off (i.e. after being shown a red card or taken off the field due to injury or tactical reasons), the teams generally fall back to defensive formations such as 441 or 531. Only when facing a negative result will a team with ten players play in a risky attacking formation such as 432 or even 423. When more than one player is missing from the team the common formations are generally disbanded in favour of either maximum concentration on defence, or maximum concentration on attack.

See also
oodlights.[7] Designs from the late 1960s and early 1970s are highly regarded by football fans.[59]

Modern era

Sponsored shirts, such as these worn in various seasons by Paris St Germain, became the norm in the modern era. In the 1970s clubs began to create strongly individual strips, and in 1975 Leeds United, who had changed their traditional blue and gold colours to all white in the 1960s to mimic Real Madrid,[60] became the first club to design shirts which could be sold to fans in the form of replicas. Driven by commercial concerns, other clubs soon followed suit, adding manufacturers' logos and a higher level of trim.[7] In 1973, German team Eintracht Braunschweig signed a deal with local alcohol producer Jgermeister to display its logo on the front of their shirts.[61] Soon almost all major clubs had signed such deals, and the cost to companies who sponsor large teams has increased dramatically. In 2008 German club FC Bayern Munich received 25 million in sponsorship money from Deutsche Telekom.[62] However Spanish clubs FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao refused to allow sponsors' logos to appear on their shirts as recently as 2005.[63] Until 2011 Barcelona refused paying sponsors in favour of wearing the UNICEF logo on their shirts while donating 1.5 million to the charity per year.[64] Players also began to sign sponsorship deals with individual companies. In 1974 Johan Cruijff refused to wear the Dutch national team's strip as its Adidas branding conflicted with his own individual contract with Puma, and was permitted to wear a version without the Adidas branding.[65] Puma had also paid Pel $120,000 to wear their boots and specifically requested that he bend down and tie his laces at the start of the 1970 FIFA World Cup final, ensuring a close-up of the boots for a worldwide television audience.[66] In the 1980s manufacturers such as Hummel and Adidas began to design shirts with increasingly intricate designs, as new technology led to the introduction of such design elements as shadow prints and pinstripes.[7] Hummel's distinctive halved strip designed for the Danish national team for the 1986 FIFA World Cup caused a stir in the media but concern was raised by FIFA over its appearance on television.[67] Shorts became shorter than ever during the 1970s and 80s,[52] and often included the player's number on the front.[68] In the 1991 FA Cup Final Tottenham Hotspur's players lined up in long baggy shorts. At the time the new look was derided, but within a short period of time clubs both in Britain and elsewhere had adopted the longer shorts.[69] In the 1990s shirt designs became increasingly complex, with many teams sporting extremely gaudy colour schemes. Design decisions were increasingly driven by the need for the shirt to look good when worn by fans as a fashion item,[7] but many designs from this era have since come to be regarded as amongst the worst of all time.[70] In 1996, Manchester United notoriously introduced a grey strip which had been specifically designed to look good when worn with jeans, but abandoned it halfway through a match after manager Alex Ferguson claimed that the reason why his team was losing 30 was that the players could not see each other on the pitch. United switched to different

colours for the second half and scored one goal without reply.[71] The leading leagues also introduced squad numbers, whereby each player is allocated a specific number for the duration of a season.[72] A brief fad arose for players celebrating goals by lifting or completely removing their shirts to reveal political, religious or personal slogans printed on undershirts. This led to a ruling from the International Football Association Board in 2002 that undershirts must not contain slogans or logos;[73] since 2004 it has been a bookable offence for players to remove their shirts.[74]

Replica strips on display. The market for replica shirts has grown enormously, with the revenue generated for leading clubs and the frequency with which they change designs coming under increased scrutiny, especially in the United Kingdom, where the market for replicas is worth in excess of 200m.[75] Several clubs have been accused of price fixing, and in 2003 Manchester United were fined 1.65m by the Office of Fair Trading.[76] The high prices charged for replicas have also led to many fans buying fake shirts which are imported from countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.[77] Nonetheless, the chance for fans to purchase a shirt bearing the name and number of a star player can lead to significant revenue for a club. In the first six months after David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid the club sold more than one million shirts bearing his name.[78] A market has also developed for shirts worn by players during significant matches, which are sold as collector's items. The shirt worn by Pel in the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final sold at auction for over 150,000 in 2002.[79] A number of advances in kit design have taken place since 2000, with varying degrees of success. In 2002 the Cameroon national team competed in the African Cup of Nations in Mali wearing shirts with no sleeves,[80] but FIFA later ruled that such garments were not considered to be shirts and therefore were not permitted under the Laws of the Game.[81] Manufacturers Puma AG initially added "invisible" black sleeves in order to comply with the ruling, but later supplied the team with new one-piece singlet-style tops.[71] FIFA ordered the team not to wear the tops but the ruling was disregarded, with the result that the Cameroon team was deducted six points in its qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup,[82] a decision later reversed after an appeal.[83] More successful were the skin-tight shirts designed for the Italian national team by manufacturers Kappa, a style subsequently emulated by other national teams and club sides.[71]
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Tennis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the sport. For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). Tennis

The US Open is a prestigious Grand Slam tournament. Highest governing International Tennis body Federation First played 19th century (Birmingham, England) Characteristics Contact Team members Mixed gender Categorization Equipment Venue Olympic No Single or doubles Yes, separate tours + mixed doubles Racquet sport Tennis ball, tennis racquet Indoor or outdoor tennis court Part of Summer Olympic programme from 1896 to 1924 Demonstrated in the 1968 and 1984 Summer

Olympics Returned to the Summer Olympic programme in 1988 to today Paralympic Part of Summer Paralympic programme since 1992

Country or region Worldwide

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a good return.[1] Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England in the late 19th century as "lawn tennis" which has close connections to various field/lawn games as well as to the ancient game of real tennis. Up to then, "tennis" referred to the latter sport: for example, in Disraeli's novel Sybil (1845), Lord Eugene De Vere announces that he will "go down to Hampton Court and play tennis. As it is the Derby [classic horse race], nobody will be there".[2] After its creation, lawn tennis spread throughout the upper-class English-speaking population before spreading around the world.
[3]

The rules of tennis have not changed much since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tie-break in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system, which allows a player to challenge the line (or chair) umpire's call of a point. Players have unlimited opportunities to challenge provided the challenges made are correct. However, once three incorrect challenges are made in a set, they cannot challenge again until the next set. If the set goes to a tie-break, players are given one additional opportunity to challenge the call. This electronic review, currently called Hawk-Eye, is available at a limited number of high-level ATP and WTA tournaments. Tennis is enjoyed by millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide spectator sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the "Majors"): the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open played also on hard courts.

Contents

1 History o 1.1 Predecessors o 1.2 Origins of the modern game

2 Equipment o 2.1 Racquets o 2.2 Balls o 2.3 Miscellaneous 3 Manner of play o 3.1 Court o 3.2 Play of a single point o 3.3 Scoring o 3.4 Rule variations 4 Surface 5 Officials 6 Junior tennis 7 Match play 8 Shots o 8.1 Grip o 8.2 Serve o 8.3 Forehand o 8.4 Backhand o 8.5 Other shots 9 Tournaments o 9.1 Grand Slam tournaments o 9.2 Masters 1000 o 9.3 250 and 500 Series o 9.4 Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments o 9.5 Premier events 10 Players o 10.1 Grand Slam tournament winners o 10.2 Greatest male players o 10.3 Greatest female players 11 In popular culture 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links

History
Main article: History of tennis

Augurio Perera's house in Edgbaston, Birmingham, where he and Harry Gem first played the modern game of lawn tennis

Predecessors
While the modern game of tennis originated in late 19th century England, most historians believe that the games' ancient origin is from 12th century France, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand. Louis X of France was a keen player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis, and became notable as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis out of doors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in Paris "around the end of the 13th century".[4] In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe.[4] Unfortunately, in June 1316 at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne and following a particularly exhausting game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine and subsequently died of either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there was also suspicion of poisoning.[5] Because of the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis X is history's first tennis player known by name.[5] It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called "tennis", from the Old French term Tenez, which can be translated as "hold!", "receive!" or "take!". An interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent.[6] It was popular in England and France, although the game was only played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, which is now known as real tennis.[7] During the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racquets sports emerged in England.[8]

Origins of the modern game

Between 1859 and 1865 Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom.[9][10] In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.[11]

In December 1873, Major Walter Clopton Wingfield designed and patented a similar game which he called sphairistike (Greek: , from ancient Greek meaning "skill at playing at ball"), and was soon known simply as "sticky" for the amusement of his guests at a garden party on his estate of Nantclwyd, in Llanelidan, Wales.[12] Sport historians agree that Wingfield deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis.[8][13] The world's oldest tennis tournament, the Wimbledon championships, were first played in London in 1877.[14][15] The first Championships culminated a significant debate on how to standardize the rules.

Lawn tennis in the U.S., 1887

In America in 1874 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda where she met Major Wingfield. She laid out a tennis court at the Staten Island Cricket Club at Camp Washington, Tompkinsville, New York. The first American National championship was played there in September 1880. An Englishman named O.E Woodhouse won the singles title, and a silver cup worth $100, by defeating Canadian I.F. Hellmuth.[16] There was also a doubles match which was won by a local pair. There were different rules at each club. The ball in Boston was larger than the one normally used in New York. On May 21, 1881, the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (now the United States Tennis Association) was formed to standardize the rules and organize competitions.[17] The U.S. National Men's Singles Championship, now the US Open, was first held in 1881 at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island.[18] The U.S. National Women's Singles Championships were first held in 1887 in Philadelphia.[19] Tennis was also popular in France, where the French Championships dates to 1891 although until 1925 it was open only to tennis players who were members of French clubs.[20] Thus, Wimbledon, the US Open, the French Open, and the Australian Open (dating to 1905) became and have remained the most prestigious events in tennis.[15][21] Together these four events are called the Majors or Slams (a term borrowed from bridge rather than baseball).[22] The comprehensive rules promulgated in 1924 by the International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation (ITF), have remained largely stable in the ensuing eighty years, the one major change being the addition of the tie-break system designed by James Van Alen.[23] That same year, tennis withdrew from the Olympics after the 1924 Games but returned 60 years later as a 21-and-under demonstration event in 1984. This reinstatement was credited by the efforts by the then ITF President Philippe Chatrier, ITF General Secretary David Gray and ITF Vice President Pablo Llorens, and support from IOC President Juan Antonio

Samaranch. The success of the event was overwhelming and the IOC decided to reintroduce tennis as a full medal sport at Seoul in 1988.[24][25]

International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino

The Davis Cup, an annual competition between men's national teams, dates to 1900.[26] The analogous competition for women's national teams, the Fed Cup, was founded as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the ITF.[27] In 1926, promoter C. C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.[21][28] The most notable of these early professionals were the American Vinnie Richards and the Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen.[21][29] Once a player turned pro he or she could not compete in the major (amateur) tournaments. This resulted in a schism between the amateur and pro tennis ranks that would last until the advent of the Open Era.[21] In 1968, commercial pressures and rumors of some amateurs taking money under the table led to the abandonment of this distinction, inaugurating the open era, in which all players could compete in all tournaments, and top players were able to make their living from tennis. With the beginning of the open era, the establishment of an international professional tennis circuit, and revenues from the sale of television rights, tennis's popularity has spread worldwide, and the sport has shed its upper/middle-class English-speaking image[30] (although it is acknowledged that this stereotype still exists).[30][31] In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island.[32] The building contains a large collection of tennis memorabilia as well as a hall of fame honoring prominent members and tennis players from all over the world. Each year, a grass-court tournament and an induction ceremony honoring new Hall of Fame members are hosted on its grounds.

Equipment
Main article: Tennis technology

Part of the appeal of tennis stems from the simplicity of equipment required for play. Beginners need only a racquet and balls.

Racquets

A tennis racquet.

The components of a tennis racquet include a handle, known as the grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings. For the first 100 years of the modern game, racquets were of wood and of standard size, and strings were of animal gut. Laminated wood construction yielded more strength in racquets used through most of the 20th century until first metal and then composites of carbon graphite, ceramics, and lighter metals such as titanium were introduced. These stronger materials enabled the production of oversized rackets that yielded yet more power. Meanwhile technology led to the use of synthetic strings that match the feel of gut yet with added durability. Under modern rules of tennis, the racquet must adhere to the following guidelines;[33]

The hitting area, composed of the strings, must be flat and generally uniform. The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches in length and 12.5 inches in width. The entire racquet must be of a fixed shape, size, weight, and weight distribution. There may not be any energy source built into the racquet. The racquet must not provide any kind of communication, instruction or advice to the player during the match.

The rules regarding racquets have changed over time, as material and engineering advances have been made. For example, the maximum length of the frame had been 32 inches until 1997, when it was shortened to 29 inches.[34]

Balls

A Penn tennis ball. Main article: Tennis ball

Tennis balls are of hollow rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant color was gradually changed to Optic Yellow in the latter part of the 20th century to allow for improved visibility. Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce criteria to be approved for regulation play. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41-68.58 mm (2.575-2.700 inches). Balls must weigh between 56.0 g and 59.4 g (1.975-2.095 ounces).[35]

Miscellaneous
Advanced players improve their performance through a number of accoutrements. Vibration dampers may be interlaced in the proximal part of the string array for improved feel. Racket handles may be customized with absorbent or rubber-like materials to improve the players' grip. Players often use sweat bands on their wrists to keep their hands dry as well. Finally, although the game can be played in a variety of shoes, specialized tennis shoes have wide, flat soles for stability and a built-up front structure to avoid excess wear.

Manner of play

The dimensions of a tennis court

Two players before a serve For individual terms see: Glossary of tennis

Court

Main article: Tennis court

Tennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, a hardcourt of concrete and/or asphalt and occasionally carpet (indoor). The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles matches.[36] Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (91.4 cm) high in the center.[36] The modern tennis court owes its design to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield who, in 1873, patented a court much the same as the current one for his stick tennis (sphairistike). This template was modified in 1875 to the court design that exists today, with markings similar to Wingfield's version, but with the hourglass shape of his court changed to a rectangle.[37] Lines The lines that delineate the width of the court are called the baseline (farthest back) and the service line (middle of the court). The short mark in the center of each baseline is referred to as either the hash mark or the center mark. The outermost lines that make up the length are called the doubles sidelines. These are the boundaries used when doubles is being played. The lines to the inside of the doubles sidelines are the singles sidelines and are used as boundaries in singles play. The area between a doubles sideline and the nearest singles sideline is called the doubles alley, which is considered playable in doubles play. The line that runs across the center of a player's side of the court is called the service line because the serve must be delivered into the area between the service line and the net on the receiving side. Despite its name, this is not where a player legally stands when making a serve.[38] The line dividing the service line in two is called the center line or center service line. The boxes this center line creates are called the service boxes; depending on a player's position, he or she will have to hit the ball into one of these when serving.[39] A ball is out only if none of it has hit the line or the area inside the lines upon its first bounce. All the lines are required to be between 1 and 2 inches (51 mm) in width. The baseline can be up to 4 inches (100 mm) wide.[38]

Play of a single point

Main article: Point (tennis)

The players (or teams) start on opposite sides of the net. One player is designated the server, and the opposing player is the receiver. The choice to be server or receiver in the first game and the choice of ends is decided by a toss before the warm-up starts. Service alternates game by game between the two players (or teams.) For each point, the server starts behind their baseline, between the center mark and the sideline. The receiver may start anywhere on their side of the net. When the receiver is ready, the server will serve, although the receiver must play to the pace of the server. In a legal service, the ball travels over the net (without touching it) and into the diagonally opposite service box. If the ball hits the net but lands in the service box, this is a let or net service, which is

void, and the server gets to retake that serve. The player can serve any number of let services in a point and they are always treated as voids and not as faults. A fault is a serve that falls long or wide of the service box, or does not clear the net. There is also a "foot fault", which occurs when a player's foot touches the baseline or an extension of the center mark before the ball is hit. If the second service is also a fault, the server double faults, and the receiver wins the point. However, if the serve is in, it is considered a legal service. A legal service starts a rally, in which the players alternate hitting the ball across the net. A legal return consists of the player or team hitting the ball before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures except the net, provided that it still falls in the server's court. A player or team cannot hit the ball twice in a row. The ball must travel past the net into the other players' court. A ball that hits the net during a rally is still considered a legal return. The first player or team to fail to make a legal return loses the point. The server then moves to the other side of the service line at the start of a new point.[40]

Scoring
Main article: Tennis score

Match The outcome of a tennis match is determined through a best of three or five sets system. Recreational players may agree to play any number of sets, depending upon time availability or stamina. On the professional circuit, men play best-of-five-set matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the Olympic Games and best-of-three-set matches at all other tournaments, while women play best-of-three-set matches at all tournaments. For men, the first player to win three sets wins the match, and for women, the first player to win two sets wins the match.[41] A set consists of games, and games, in turn, consist of points. Game A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as "love", "fifteen", "thirty", and "forty" respectively. If at least three points have been scored by each player, making the player's scores equal at forty apiece, the score is not called out as "forty-forty", but rather as "deuce". If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his opponent, the score of the game is "advantage" for the player in the lead. During informal games, "advantage" can also be called "ad in" when the serving player is ahead, or "ad out" when the receiving player is ahead.

The scoreboard of a match between Roddick and Saulnier.

The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the serving player's score first. In tournament play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., "fifteen-love") after each point. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score. Game point A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For example, if the player who is serving has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play. Break point A break point occurs if the receiver, not the server, has a chance to win the game with the next point. Break points are of particular importance because serving is generally considered advantageous, with the server being expected to win games in which they are serving. A receiver who has one (score of 3040), two (score of 1540) or three (score of love-40) consecutive chances to win the game has break point, double break point or triple break point, respectively. If the receiver does, in fact, win their break point, the game is awarded to the receiver, and the receiver is said to have converted their break point. If the receiver fails to win their break point it is called a failure to convert. Winning break points, and thus the game, is also referred to as breaking serve, as the receiver has disrupted, or broken the natural advantage of the server. If in the following game the previous server also wins a break point, it is often referred to as breaking back. Set A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alternating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent. If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an additional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 75. If the trailing player wins the game, a tie-break is played. A tie-break, played under a

separate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 76. Only in the final sets of matches at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, and Fed Cup are tie-breaks not played. In these cases, sets are played indefinitely until one player has a two-game lead. A "love" set means that the loser of the set won zero games, colloquially termed a 'bagel'.[42] In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the winner of the set and the overall score. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase "Game, set, match" followed by the winning person's or team's name. The final score in sets is always read with the winning player's score first, even if the winning player loses set(s) during the match (e.g., "62, 46, 60, 75").

Rule variations
See also: Types of tennis match

No ad From 'No advantage'. Scoring method created by Jimmy Van Alen. The first player or doubles team to win four points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is ahead by two points. When the game score reaches three points each, the receiver chooses which side of the court (advantage court or deuce court) the service is to be delivered on the seventh and game-deciding point. Utilized by World Team Tennis professional competition and ITF Junior Doubles.[43][44]

Pro set Instead of playing multiple sets, players may play one "pro set". A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tie-break is usually played when the score is 88 (or 1010). These are often played with no-ad scoring.

Match tie-break This is sometimes played instead of a third set. This is played like a regular tiebreak, but the winner must win ten points instead of seven. Match tie-breaks are used in the Hopman Cup for mixed doubles, on the ATP and WTA tours for doubles and as a player's choice in USTA league play.

Another, however informal, tennis format is called Canadian doubles. This involves three players, with one person playing a doubles team. The single player gets to utilize the alleys normally reserved only for a doubles team. Conversely, the doubles team does not use the alleys when executing a shot. The scoring is the same as a regular game. This format is not sanctioned by any official body.

"Australian doubles", another informal and unsanctioned form of tennis, is played with similar rules to the Canadian doubles style, only in this version, players rotate court position after each game. As such, each player plays doubles and singles over the course of a match, with the singles player always serving. Scoring styles vary, but one popular method is to assign a value of 2 points to each game, with the server taking both points if he or she holds serve and the doubles team each taking one if they break serve. Wheelchair tennis can be played by able-bodied players as well as people who require a wheelchair for mobility. An extra bounce is permitted. This rule makes it possible to have mixed wheelchair and able-bodied matches. It is possible for a doubles team to consist of a wheelchair player and an able-bodied player (referred to as "one-up, one-down"), or for a wheelchair player to play against an able-bodied player. In such cases, the extra bounce is permitted for the wheelchair users only.

Surface
Main article: Tennis court#Types of tennis courts

There are five types of court surface used in professional play. Each surface is different in the speed and height of the bounce of the ball. The same surface plays faster indoors than outdoors.

Clay Examples are red clay, used at the French Open, and green clay (an example of which is Har-Tru and used mainly in the U.S.). Almost all red clay courts are made not of natural clay but of crushed brick that is packed to make the court. The crushed brick is then covered with a topping of other crushed particles. This type of surface does not absorb water easily and is the most common in Europe and Latin America. Clay courts normally have a slower paced ball and a fairly true bounce with more spin.

Hard Examples of hardcourts are acrylic (e.g. Plexicushion used at the Australian Open, DecoTurf used at the US Open), asphalt, and concrete. Hardcourts typically have a faster-paced ball with a very true bounce and it is the predominant surface type used on the professional tour.

Grass Grass courts usually have a faster-paced ball, and a more erratic bounce. Grass is used at Wimbledon and until 1974 three of the four Grand Slams (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open) were played on grass. In 2001 Wimbledon changed the type of grass to make the courts more durable and thus better able to withstand the wear of the modern game. The new grass causes the ball to bounce higher and slows it down compared to the previous grass type.[45][46]

Carpet Any form of removable court covering, including carpeting and artificial turf. The bounce can be higher or lower than a hard court. Carpet surface has not been used on the ATP and WTA tour since 2009.

Wood Popular from the 1880s through the first half of the 20th century, wooden surface provides a very low bounce and plays very fast. There are no longer any professional tournaments held on a wooden surface although some tournaments (e.g. Rotterdam Open and Open Sud de France), are played on a wood-based court with an acrylic layer on top.

Officials

An umpire informing two players of the rules Main article: Official (tennis)

In most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make factual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during service. The umpire has the right to overrule a line judge or a net judge if the umpire is sure that a clear mistake has been made.[47] In some tournaments, line judges who would be calling the serve, were assisted by electronic sensors that beeped to indicate the serve was out. This system was called "Cyclops".[48] Cyclops has since largely been replaced by the Hawk-Eye system.[49][50] In professional tournaments using this system, players are allowed three unsuccessful appeals per set, plus one additional appeal in the tie-break to challenge close line calls by means of an electronic review. The US Open, Miami

Masters, US Open Series, and World Team Tennis started using this challenge system in 2006 and the Australian Open and Wimbledon introduced the system in 2007. In clay-court matches, such as at the French Open, a call may be questioned by reference to the mark left by the ball's impact on the court surface. The referee, who is usually located off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision if the tennis rules were violated (question of law) but may not change the umpire's decision on a question of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire's decision (This would only happen in Davis Cup or Fed Cup matches, not at the World Group level, when a chair umpire from a non-neutral country is in the chair).[47] Ball boys and girls may be employed to retrieve balls, pass them to the players, and hand players their towels. They have no adjudicative role. In rare events (e.g., if they are hurt or if they have caused a hindrance), the umpire may ask them for a statement of what actually happened. The umpire may consider their statements when making a decision. In some leagues, especially junior leagues, players make their own calls, trusting each other to be honest. This is the case for many school and university level matches. The referee or referee's assistant, however, can be called on court at a player's request, and the referee or assistant may change a player's call. In unofficiated matches, a ball is out only if the player entitled to make the call is sure that the ball is out.

Junior tennis
Main article: Junior tennis

In tennis, a junior is a player 18 and under who is still legally protected by a parent or guardian. Players on the main adult tour who are under 18 must have documents signed by a parent or guardian. These players, however, are still eligible to play in junior tournaments. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) conducts a junior tour that allows juniors to establish a world ranking and an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking. Most juniors who enter the international circuit do so by progressing through ITF, Satellite, Future, and Challenger tournaments before entering the main circuit. The latter three circuits also have adults competing in them. Some juniors, however, such as Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Frenchman Gal Monfils, have catapulted directly from the junior tour to the ATP tour by dominating the junior scene or by taking advantage of opportunities given to them to participate in professional tournaments. In 2004, the ITF implemented a new rankings scheme to encourage greater participation in doubles, by combining two rankings (singles and doubles) into one combined tally.[51] Junior tournaments do not offer prize money except for the Grand Slam tournaments, which are the most prestigious junior events. Juniors may earn income from tennis by participating in the Future, Satellite, or Challenger tours. Tournaments are broken up into different tiers offering different amounts of ranking points, culminating with Grade A.

Leading juniors are allowed to participate for their nation in the Junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup competitions. To succeed in tennis often means having to begin playing at a young age. To facilitate and nurture a junior's growth in tennis, almost all tennis playing nations have developed a junior development system. Juniors develop their play through a range of tournaments on all surfaces, accommodating all different standards of play. Talented juniors may also receive sponsorships from governing bodies or private institutions.

Match play

Convention dictates that two players shake hands at the end of a match

A tennis match is intended to be continuous.[52] Because stamina is a relevant factor, arbitrary delays are not permitted. In most cases, service is required to occur no more than 20 seconds after the end of the previous point.[52] This is increased to 90 seconds when the players change ends (after every odd-numbered game), and a 2 minute break is permitted between sets.[52] Other than this, breaks are permitted only when forced by events beyond the players' control, such as rain, damaged footwear, damaged racquet, or the need to retrieve an errant ball. Should a player be determined to be stalling repeatedly, the chair umpire may initially give a warning followed by subsequent penalties of "point", "game", and default of the match for the player who is consistently taking longer than the allowed time limit.[53] In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score as at the time of the delay, and the players at the same end of the court when rain halted play, or at the same position (north or south) if play is resumed on a different court. Balls wear out quickly in serious play and, therefore, in ATP and WTA tournaments, they are changed after every nine games with the first change occurring after only seven games, because the first set of balls is also used for the pre-match warm-up.[35] As a courtesy to the receiver, the server will often signal to the receiver before the first serve of the game in which new balls are used as a reminder that they are using new balls. However, in ITF tournaments like Fed Cup, the balls are changed in a 911 style. Continuity of the balls' condition is considered part of the game, so if a rewarm-up is required after an extended break in play (usually due to rain), then the re-warm-up is done using a separate set of balls, and use of the match balls is resumed only when play resumes.

A recent rule change is to allow coaching on court on a limited basis during a match.[54][55][56][57] This has been introduced in women's tennis for WTA Tour events in 2009 and allows the player to request her coach once per set.[58]

Tim Henman preparing to hit a serve. The left arm is extended, having just launched the ball into the air. The right arm will be raised up and forward at speed so that the racquet connects with the ball

Roger Federer preparing to hit a forehand. He is "loading" his body weight on his back (right) foot and coiling his shoulders with the help of his left hand. From this position, he will "uncoil" his body beginning with his legs, progressing to his hips and then on to his arms. This is how the "modern" forehand, utilizing the open stance, is executed.

Rafael Nadal performing a backhand volley

Justine Henin performing a backhand volley

Shots
Main article: Tennis shots

A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob.

Grip
Main article: Grip (Tennis)

A grip is a way of holding the racquet in order to hit shots during a match. The grip affects the angle of the racquet face when it hits the ball and influences the pace, spin, and placement of the shot. Players use various grips during play, including the Continental (The "Handshake Grip"), Eastern (Can be either semi-eastern or full eastern. Usually used for backhands.), and Western (semi-western or full western, usually for forehand grips) grips. Most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting; for example, slice shots and serves call for a Continental grip.[59]

Serve
Main article: Serve (tennis)

A serve (or, more formally, a "service") in tennis is a shot to start a point. The serve is initiated by tossing the ball into the air and hitting it (usually near the apex of its trajectory) into the diagonally opposite service box without touching the net. The serve may be hit under- or overhand although underhand serving remains a rarity.[60] If the ball hits the net on the first serve and bounces over into the correct diagonal box then it is called a "let" and the server gets two more additional serves to get it in. If the server misses his or her first serve and gets a let on the second serve, then they get one more try to get the serve in the box. Experienced players strive to master the conventional overhand serve to maximize its power and placement. The server may employ different types of serve including flat serve, topspin serve, slice serve, and kick (American twist) serve. A reverse type of spin serve is hit in a manner that spins the ball opposite the natural spin of the server, the spin direction depending upon right- or lefthandedness. If the ball is spinning counterclockwise, it will curve right from the hitter's point of view and curve left if spinning clockwise.[61] Some servers are content to use the serve simply to initiate the point; however, advanced players often try to hit a winning shot with their serve. A winning serve that is not touched by the opponent is called an "ace".

Forehand
Main article: Forehand

For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of the body, continues across the body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of the body. There are various grips for executing the forehand, and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the continental, the eastern, the semi-western, and the western. For a number of years, the small, frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shotmaking techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players. No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s, the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used

a two-handed forehand to achieve a devastating effect against larger, more powerful players. Players such as Monica Seles or France's Fabrice Santoro and Marion Bartoli are also notable players known for their two-handed forehands.[62]

Backhand
Main article: Backhand

For right-handed players, the backhand is a stroke that begins on the left side of their body, continues across their body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the right side of their body. It can be executed with either one hand or with both and is generally considered more difficult to master than the forehand. For most of the 20th century, the backhand was performed with one hand, using either an eastern or a continental grip. The first notable players to use two hands were the 1930s Australians Vivian McGrath and John Bromwich, but they were lonely exceptions. The two-handed grip gained popularity in the 1970s as Bjrn Borg, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, and later Mats Wilander and Marat Safin used it to great effect, and it is now used by a large number of the world's best players, including Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.[63] Two hands give the player more control, while one hand can generate a slice shot, applying backspin on the ball to produce a low trajectory bounce. Reach is also limited with the two-handed shot. The player long considered to have had the best backhand of all time, Don Budge, had a powerful onehanded stroke in the 1930s and 1940s that imparted topspin onto the ball. Ken Rosewall, another player noted for his one-handed backhand, used a very accurate slice backhand through the 1950s and 1960s. A small number of players, notably Monica Seles, use two hands on both the backhand and forehand sides.

Other shots
A volley is a shot returned to the opponent in mid-air before the ball bounces, generally performed near the net, and is usually made with a stiff-wristed punching motion to hit the ball into an open area of the opponent's court. The half volley is made by hitting the ball on the rise just after it has bounced, once again generally in the vicinity of the net. The swinging volley is hit out of the air as the player approaches the net. It is an offensive shot used to take preparation time away from the opponent, as it returns the ball into the opponent's court much faster than a standard volley. From a poor defensive position on the baseline, the lob can be used as either an offensive or defensive weapon, hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court to either enable the lobber to get into better defensive position or to win the point outright by hitting it over the opponent's head. If the lob is not hit deeply enough into the other court, however, an opponent near the net may then hit an overhead smash, a hard, serve-like shot, to try to end the point. Finally, if an opponent is deep in his court, a player may suddenly employ an unexpected drop shot, by softly tapping the ball just over the net so that the opponent is unable to run in fast enough to retrieve it. Advanced players will often apply back spin to a drop shot, causing the ball to "skid" upon landing and bounce sideways, with less forward momentum toward their opponent, or even backwards towards the net, thus making it even more difficult to return.

Tournaments

See also: List of tennis tournaments

Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men's singles, women's singles, and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net. Tournaments may be arranged for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. Example of this include the Orange Bowl and Les Petits As junior tournaments. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities, such as wheelchair tennis and deaf tennis.[64] In the four Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 players for each gender. Most large tournaments Seed players, but players may also be matched by their skill level. According to how well a person does in sanctioned play, a player is given a rating that is adjusted periodically to maintain competitive matches. For example, the United States Tennis Association administers the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP), which rates players between 1.0 and 7.0 in 1/2 point increments. Average club players under this system would rate 3.04.5 while world class players would be 7.0 on this scale.

Grand Slam tournaments

The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. They are held annually and include, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).[65] The ITF's national associations, Tennis Australia (Australian Open), the French Tennis Federation (French Open), the United States Tennis Association (US Open), and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and Lawn Tennis Association (Wimbledon), are delegated the responsibility to organize these events.[65] Aside from the historical significance of these events, they also carry larger prize funds than any other tour event and are worth double the number of ranking points to the champion than in the next echelon of tournaments, the Masters 1000 (men) and Premier events (women).[66][67] Another distinguishing feature is the number of players in the singles draw. There are 128, more than any other professional tennis tournament. This draw is composed of 32 seeded players, other players ranked in the world's top 100, qualifiers, and players who receive invitations through wild cards. Grand Slam men's tournaments have best-of-five set matches while the women play best-of-three. Grand Slam tournaments are among the small number of events that last two weeks, the others being the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters. Currently, the Grand Slam tournaments are the only tour events that have mixed doubles contests. Grand Slam tournaments are held in conjunction with wheelchair tennis tournaments and junior tennis competitions. These tournaments also contain their own idiosyncrasies. For example, players at Wimbledon are required to wear predominantly white. Andre Agassi chose to skip Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 citing the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code.[68] Wimbledon has its own particular methods for disseminating tickets, often leading tennis fans to follow complex procedures to obtain tickets.[69]
Grand Slam Tournaments

Date

Tournament Australian Open French Open

Location

Surface Hard (Plexicushion) Clay

Prize Money

First Held

January

Melbourne

A$26,000,0 1905 00 18,718,00 1925* 0 14,600,00 1877 0 US$21,016, 1881 000

MayJune

Paris

JuneJuly August September

Wimbledon

London New York City

Grass Hard (DecoTurf)

US Open

* non-international tournament began in 1891

Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a group of nine tournaments that form the second-highest echelon in men's tennis. Each event is held annually, and a win at one of these events is currently worth 1000 ranking points. When the Association of Tennis Professionals, led by Hamilton Jordan, began running the men's tour in 1990, the directors designated the top nine tournaments, outside of the Grand Slam events, as "Super Nine" events.[70] These eventually became the Tennis Masters Series. In November at the end of the tennis year, the world's top eight players compete in the ATP World Tour Finals, a tournament with a rotating locale. It is currently held in London, England.[71] In August 2007 the ATP announced major changes taking place in 2009. The Masters Series was renamed to the Masters 1000, the addition of the number 1000 referring to the number of ranking points earned by the winner of each tournament. Contrary to earlier plans, the number of tournaments was not reduced from nine to eight and the Monte Carlo Masters remains part of the series although, unlike the other events, it does not have a mandatory player commitment. The Hamburg Masters has been downgraded to a 500 point event. The Madrid Masters moved to May and onto clay courts, and a new tournament in Shanghai took over Madrid's former indoor October slot. As of 2011 six of the nine 1000 level tournaments are combined ATP and WTA events.[72]
Masters 1000 Tournaments[73] Start Month March Tournament Location Surface Hard Environme First nt Held Outdoors 1987

Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells

March April May May August August October November

Miami Masters

Miami1

Hard Clay Clay Clay

Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Outdoors Indoors

1985 1897 2002 1930 1881 1889 2009 1968

Monte Carlo Masters Monte-Carlo2 Madrid Masters Rome Masters Canada Masters Cincinnati Masters Shanghai Masters Paris Masters Madrid Rome

Montreal, Toronto Hard Cincinnati3 Shanghai Paris Hard Hard Hard

1. Actual location in the adjacent suburb of Key Biscayne, Florida 2. Actual location in the adjacent French commune of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin 3. Actual location in the suburb of Mason, Ohio.

250 and 500 Series

ATP World Tour 500 and 250 logos

The third and fourth tier of men's tennis tournaments are formed by the ATP World Tour 500 series, consisting of 11 tournaments, and the ATP World Tour 250 series with 40 tournaments.[73] Like the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, these events offer various amounts of prize money and the numbers refer to the amount of ranking points earned by the winner of a tournament.[66] The Dubai Tennis Championships offer the largest financial incentive to players, with total prize money of US$2,313,975 (2012).[74] These series have various draws of 28, 32, 48 and 56 for singles and 16 and 24 for doubles. It is mandatory for leading players to enter at least four 500 events, including at least one after the US Open.

Challenger Tour and Futures tournaments

The Challenger Tour for men is the lowest level of tournament administered by the ATP. It is composed of about 150 events and, as a result, features a more diverse range of countries hosting events.[75] The majority of players use the Challenger Series at the beginning of their career to work their way up the rankings. Andre Agassi, between winning Grand Slam tournaments, plummeted to World No. 141 and used Challenger Series events for match experience and to progress back up the rankings.[76] The Challenger Series offers prize funds of between US$25,000 and US$150,000. Below the Challenger Tour are the Futures tournaments, events on the ITF Men's Circuit. These tournaments also contribute towards a player's ATP rankings points. Futures Tournaments offer prize funds of between US$10,000 and US$15,000.[77] Approximately 530 Futures Tournaments are played each year.

Premier events
Premier events for women form the most prestigious level of events on the Women's Tennis Association Tour after the Grand Slam tournaments. These events offer the largest rewards in terms of points and prize money. Within the Premier category are Premier Mandatory, Premier 5, and Premier tournaments. The tiering system in women's tennis was introduced in 1988. At the time of its creation, only two tournaments, the Lipton International Players Championships in Florida and the German Open in Berlin, comprised the Tier I category. In 2009, four tournaments are Premier Mandatory, five tournaments are Premier 5, and ten tournaments are Premier.

Players
Professional tennis players enjoy the same relative perks as most top sports personalities: clothing, equipment and endorsements. Like players of other individual sports such as golf, they are not salaried, but must play and finish highly in tournaments to obtain money. As of 2012 the "Big Four" men's tennis players includes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray[78] In recent years, some controversy has surrounded the involuntary or deliberate noise caused by players` grunting.

Grand Slam tournament winners

See also: Tennis statistics

The following players have won at least five singles titles at Grand Slam tournaments:

Male

Roger Federer (16) Pete Sampras (14) Roy Emerson (12) Rod Laver (11) Bjrn Borg (11) Bill Tilden 10 Rafael Nadal (10) Fred Perry (8) Ken Rosewall (8) Jimmy Connors (8) Ivan Lendl (8) Andre Agassi (8) William Renshaw (7) Richard Sears (7) William Larned (7) Henri Cochet (7) Rene Lacoste (7) John Newcombe (7) John McEnroe (7) Mats Wilander (7) Lawrence Doherty (6) Anthony Wilding (6) Donald Budge (6) Jack Crawford (6) Boris Becker (6) Stefan Edberg (6) Frank Sedgman (5) Tony Trabert (5) Novak Djokovic (5)

Roger Federer has won 16 Grand Slam singles titles

Female

Margaret Court (24) Steffi Graf (22) Helen Wills Moody (19) Chris Evert (18) Martina Navratilova (18) Serena Williams (13) Billie Jean King (12) Maureen Connolly (9) Monica Seles (9) Molla Bjurstedt (8) Suzanne Lenglen (8) Dorothea Douglass (7) Maria Bueno (7) Evonne Goolagong Cawley (7) Venus Williams (7) Justine Henin (7)

Doris Hart (6) Louise Brough (6) Blanche Bingley (6) Margaret Osborne (6) Nancye Wynne (6) Lottie Dod (5) Alice Marble (5) Helen Jacobs (5) Charlotte Cooper (5) Pauline Betz (5) Althea Gibson (5) Daphne Akhurst (5) Martina Hingis (5)

Greatest male players

Further information: Tennis male players statistics, World number one male tennis player rankings

A frequent topic of discussion among tennis fans and commentators is who was the greatest male singles player of all time. By a large margin, an Associated Press poll in 1950 named Bill Tilden as the greatest player of the first half of the 20th century.[79] From 19201930, Tilden won singles titles at Wimbledon three times and the U.S. Championships seven times. In 1938, however, Donald Budge became the first person to win all four major singles titles during the same calendar year, the Grand Slam, and won six consecutive major titles in 1937 and 1938. Tilden called Budge "the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived."[80] And in his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the greatest player ever.[81] Some observers, however, also felt that Kramer deserved consideration for the title. Kramer was among the few who dominated amateur and professional tennis during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Tony Trabert has said that of the players he saw before the start of the open era, Kramer was the best male champion.[82] By the latter half of the 1950s and 1960s, Budge and others had added Pancho Gonzales and Lew Hoad to the list of contenders. Budge reportedly believed that Gonzales was the greatest player ever.[83] Gonzales said about Hoad, "When Lew's game was at its peak nobody could touch him. ... I think his game was the best game ever. Better than mine. He was capable of making more shots than anybody. His two volleys were great. His overhead was enormous. He had the most natural tennis mind with the most natural tennis physique."[84] During the open era, first Rod Laver and then more recently Bjrn Borg and Pete Sampras were regarded by many of their contemporaries as among the greatest ever. Andre Agassi, the first of two male players in history to have achieved a Career Golden Slam in singles tennis (followed by Rafael Nadal), has been called the best service returner in the history of the game.[85][86][87][88] He is the first man to win slams on all modern surfaces (previous holders of all slams played in an era of grass and clay only), and is regarded by a number of critics and fellow players to be among the greatest players of all time.[85][89][90] Roger Federer is now considered by many observers to have the most "complete" game in modern tennis. He has won 16 grand slam titles, the most for any male player. Many experts of tennis, former tennis players and his own tennis peers believe Federer is

the greatest player in the history of the game.[91][92][93][94][95][96][97] Federer's biggest rival Rafael Nadal is regarded as the greatest competitor in tennis history by former players and is regarded to have the potential to be the greatest of all time.[98][99]

Greatest female players

Further information: World number one women tennis players, List of WTA number 1 ranked players

As with the men there are frequent discussions about who is the greatest female singles player of all time with Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova being the two players most often nominated. In March 2012 the TennisChannel published a combined list of the 100 greatest men and women tennis players of all time.[100] It ranked Steffi Graf as the greatest female player (in 3rd place overall), followed by Martina Navratilova (4th place) and Margaret Court (8th place). The rankings were determined by an international panel. Sportwriter John Wertheim of Sports Illustrated stated in an article in July 2010 that Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever with the argument that "Head-to-head, on a neutral surface (i.e. hard courts), everyone at their best, I can't help feeling that she crushes the other legends.".[101] In a reaction to this article Yahoo sports blog Busted Racquet published a list of the top-10 women's tennis players of all time placing Martina Navratilova in first spot.[102] This top10 list was similar to the one published in June 2008 by the Bleacher Report who also ranked Martina Navratilova as the top female player of all time.[103] Steffi Graf is considered by some to be the greatest female player. Billie Jean King said in 1999, "Steffi is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time."[104] Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players.[104] In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press. [105] Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the best female player of the 20th century, directly followed by Martina Navratilova.
[106]

Tennis magazine selected Martina Navratilova as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005.[107][108] Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova "arguably, the greatest player of all time."[109] Billie Jean King said about Navratilova in 2006, "She's the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived."[110]

In popular culture

David Foster Wallace, an amateur tennis player himself at Urbana High School in Illinois,[111] included tennis in many of his works of nonfiction and fiction including "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm of Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness," the autobiographical piece "Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley,"

and Infinite Jest, which is partially set at the fictional "Enfield Tennis Academy" in Massachusetts. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) features Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson), a tennis pro who suffers from depression and has a breakdown on court in front of thousands of fans.[112] Wimbledon (2004) is a film about a discouraged pro tennis player (Paul Bettany) who meets a young woman on the women's tennis circuit (Kirsten Dunst) who helps him find his drive to go and win Wimbledon.[113] In The Squid and the Whale (2005), Joan (Laura Linney) has an affair with her kids' tennis coach, Ivan (William Baldwin). In a symbolic scene, Joan's exhusband, Bernard (Jeff Daniels), loses a tennis match against Ivan in front of the kids.[114] Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) features a love affair between a former tennis pro (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who falls in love with his best friend's fiance (Scarlett Johansson).[115] Confetti (2006) is a mockumentary which sees three couples competing to win the title of "Most Original Wedding of the Year". One competing couple (Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan) are a pair of hyper-competitive professional tennis players holding a tennis-themed wedding.[116] There are several tennis video games including Mario Tennis, the TopSpin series, Wii Sports, and Grand Slam Tennis.[117][118] In the Japanese anime and manga series known as Prince of Tennis, the main character is Echizen Ryoma, a tennis prodigy who recently moves to Japan and attends Seishun Academy. He joins the tennis club and has defeated many of his upperclassmen, gaining a spot in the team's regulars. The team's ultimate goal is to compete in the National Middle School Tennis Championship but they must play against other teams along the way to reach their goal.

See also