Wellington Phoenix to be in tip-top shape with Anytime Fitness

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Anytime Fitness and Wellington Phoenix
Image credit: Anytime Fitness

Wellington Phoenix has announced an exciting partnership with global fitness chain Anytime Fitness.

The deal will grant the entire club access to Anytime Fitness locations both in New Zealand and Australia.

Anytime Fitness has a considerable market share in both nations 24/7 locations found in 60 spots in New Zealand, and 540 clubs in Australia. The brand has in total 5000 gyms globally.

Under the agreement, club players will have access to all these facilities – a huge win for the often-travelling club.

In recent years, the Phoenix had struggled to find training facilities when they were away from their training base at The New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport in Upper Hutt.

However, with this new deal the club is confident that players both in the first teams and their academy sides will now have access to state-of-the-art facilities even when they are on the road.

The Phoenix’s head of strength and conditioning, Weijie Lim, heralded the deal as a ‘game changer’ for the club.

“I think it’s really beneficial for us at all levels of the club,” he said via press release.

“When the men and women are in Australia during the A-Leagues seasons the players now have top quality facilities they can utilise.

“In the past it’s been quite difficult for us to find accessible facilities in different cities and states across Australia. This partnership is going to make our lives a lot easier when we’re on the road.

“Anytime Fitness’ central Wellington gym is also great for the club, especially for our top end academy players, who can now get all their strength work done together in one centralised location.

“The staff at Kent Terrace are very welcoming and it’s a convenient gym for players to access and utilise throughout the season.”

Anytime Fitness New Zealand CEO Cam Ward also expressed his company’s thrill at paring with the nation’s club.

“At Anytime Fitness, we believe in the power of community and the transformative effects of fitness on individuals’ lives,” he added via press release.

“Teaming up with the Wellington Phoenix aligns perfectly with our mission to inspire healthier lifestyles and create a positive influence within the community.

“This collaboration marks an exciting chapter in our journey to make fitness accessible to all, and we can’t wait to see the positive outcomes it brings forth.”

This is an exciting deal for both partners as they look to grow.

For Anytime Fitness, they will be looking to the club’s branding power as a strong incentive to get more gym goers to choose them.

In the Phoenix’s case, the security this deal brings to their training and recovery programs may just be the push that the club needs to boost itself beyond the mid-table in the upcoming A-League seasons.

This partnership is also great for club members who will be able to get 10% off on a 12 month Anytime Fitness membership.

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WA Government and Virgin Australia Partner to Bring Discounted Flights for Italian Football Series in Perth

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

The Western Australian Government has partnered with Virgin Australia to offer discounted airfares to Perth ahead of a three-match series featuring AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Palermo, in a move that reflects how state governments are increasingly using major sporting fixtures as tools of tourism and economic strategy.

Subsidising travel costs rather than simply promoting the matches signals a shift in how state governments are approaching major sporting events. WA Tourism Minister Reece Whitby positioned the series within the state’s broader Winter of Unmissable Sport strategy, framing the partnership as a way to fill hotels, support local businesses and generate visible economic activity across a single week of programming. That logic places football alongside other major events states have used to justify public investment in visitor attraction, where the return is measured in tourism spend rather than ticket revenue alone.

A bet on Australia’s appetite for European football

Touring Italian clubs is not a routine occurrence in Australia, and Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti’s comments point to an underlying assumption behind the investment: that the existing fan base for European football in Australia is substantial enough to justify a state government underwriting travel costs to fill a stadium on the other side of the country.

Australian audiences for international football have grown considerably over the past decade, driven by streaming access, diaspora communities and the rising visibility of leagues once difficult to follow locally. State governments positioning themselves to capture economic value from that growth, rather than leaving it to broadcasters and travel operators, marks a change in how football’s commercial footprint in Australia is being treated by policymakers.

It also raises a question likely to recur as more international club fixtures are scheduled in Australian cities: whether public subsidy for travel around marquee football events delivers economic value beyond the host city, or whether the benefit is concentrated narrowly within the host state’s tourism and hospitality sectors. Virgin Australia’s involvement reflects the commercial logic on the airline side, with the partnership forming part of a broader push to connect Australians with major domestic and international destinations.

For the domestic football industry, the series is a reminder that international club football is competing for the same audience attention as the A-Leagues and grassroots competitions. Whether that competition proves complementary or extractive, in terms of where football-related spending in Australia ultimately lands, is a question state and national football bodies are likely to watch closely as similar fixtures become more frequent.

Referee Omar Artan appointed to UEFA Super Cup Final

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Image credit: BBC

The Somali referee will officiate the 2026 UEFA Super Cup in August between Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa.

 

World Cup controversy to Super Cup support

As 2025’s CAF Men’s Referee of the Year, Artan stands as one of the world’s leading match officials.

His expertise and skill allowed him to enter FIFA’s international list in 2018, and has since proved an outstanding ability as a referee, culminating in the CAF Men’s Referee of the Year award last year.

Despite Artan’s capabilities and reputation, his dream of officiating this summer’s World Cup tournament met a premature ending. The referee couldn’t enter into the US after arriving on a diplomatic passport and single entry visa, and was subsequently forced to return home to Somalia.

But Artan’s journey as a referee on the global stage is far from over, as UEFA and CAF confirmed that Artan will officiate the UEFA Super Cup clash between Champions League winners, PSG, and Europa League winners, Aston Villa, in Salzburg this August.

 

Upholding the partnership

In April of this year, UEFA and CAF signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which promised to utilise mutual support to encourage development, inclusion and wellbeing in football.

The MoU aligns unity, cohesion and partnership between two powerhouse continents of world football.

And now, the alignment is stronger and clearer than ever. In the midst of a major blow to Artan’s personal and professional dreams, UEFA and CAF’s partnership provided an opportunity.

“Omar is an excellent young but already experienced referee, who has proven himself at the highest competition level of the Confederation of African Football,” said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin via media release.

“Football is made to connect people, and UEFA wants to show its respect to Omar and his outstanding officiating skills, which had earned him such a prestigious nomination.”

Furthermore, CAF President, Dr Patrice Motsepe, outlined why the initiative perfectly embodies the nature of a partnership between UEFA and CAF.

“This is a great honour for Omar Artan and for African referees and is also an excellent example of football bringing together and uniting people from Africa and Europe and worldwide.”

 

Final thoughts

Out of bitter disappointment and controversy comes a far more positive reflection of football’s influence and impact. It also proves that an MoU is more than just signatures, but a genuine promise to support the game and all within it.

A partnership like this has the power to help millions at once.

But sometimes, helping just one person is all it takes to prove its worth.

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