The companies represented include: Sony, Standard Chartered, Virgin Atlantic, Time, Deloitte, Canterbury, PricewaterhouseCoopers, StubHub, adidas and Barclays - many of whom will be visiting South Africa for the first time.
International organisations including: FIFA, the NBA, the NHL, NASCAR, the Australian Football League, the Qatar Foundation, Populous, SportAccord, UNICEF and many more will join South African businesses, sports federations and NGOs in Cape Town.
Nick Keller, the founder of Beyond Sport, said: "South Africa is an incredible country with a first-rate sport industry, countless business opportunities for international firms and an exciting future. Beyond Sport works to drive positive social change through sport, but that does not mean it is only about grass-roots projects - the investment of business in communities is absolutely essential and sits at the very heart of our work. As the international sport and business communities look to South Africa in December, there is a very real opportunity for the country to take another giant step forward."
Confirmed speakers at the Beyond Sport Summit include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Olympic legend Michael Johnson, multi-Paralympic Gold medallist Oscar Pistorius, Springboks star Bryan Habana, former South Africa national football captain Lucas Radebe, and a host of other star names from South African and international sport, politics and business, as well as representatives from English football clubs Manchester City and Liverpool, the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies - the four teams nominated for the Beyond Sport Team of the Year Award.
The Beyond Sport Summit will also have the winners of the Beyond Sport Awards announced at it. Thirty-five projects have been shortlisted, covering 18 countries and 22 different sports. They were chosen from close to 400 entries from more than 125 countries that submitted applications. The Beyond Sport Award winners will receive a substantial package of business support to help them grow and become sustainable in the future.
Beyond Sport is a global initiative that seeks to celebrate and support any organisation or individual with the goal to drive positive social change through sport. It is partnered with Barclays Spaces for Sports, Time and UNICEF.
For the full programme of the 2011 Beyond Sport Summit and Awards, or for more information on Beyond Sport, go to www.beyondsport.org.
