Luxembourg, Luxembourg  - 16 June 2008

The DotSport® Consortium announced today the launch of a proposal to create .sport top level domain on the Internet.  It is expected that ICANN, the organization allocating new top level domains on the Internet will launch a call for proposals for new top level domains in Fall 2008.

The vision of the DotSport® Consortium is to create a globally visible domain that embodies the different actors of the sport community. Sport is a nearly universal value, associated with the physical development of human beings, with competition and performance. It benefits from a positive image in all cultures.

The sport community is large and global. It ranges from top international associations to millions of large and small sports clubs all over the world. Sports is also a large industry, ranging from individual and collective sporting equipment to media groups.  The .sport domain can be naturally used by individuals, businesses, organisations as well as community groups, promoting a diverse and dynamic community within the .sport namespace. This matches well and is consistent with the multicultural and vibrant community in sport.

“Sport” is also a word used in many languages. throughout the world. This makes the domain name truly international and able to cross cultures and languages, just like sport itself.  A dedicated domain can help cement a common identity that will be reinforced by the reinvestment of registry proceeds into programs using sports for the development of less favoured regions in the world.  Further, the fact that the “sport” word and context in nearly ubiquitous will help cement this identity and strong visibility.

The DotSport® consortium is looking forward to collaborate with the sport community actors to make this domain name a success. Several sport federations have already indicated their eagerness to see a specific top level domain. 

"We see this as a major opportunity to launch a successful top level domain. The possible uses are endless for the sport community", says Patrick Vande Walle, a veteran Internet expert and founder of the DotSport® consortium,

Press contact information: Anne Deschuyteneer  (anne@dotsport.info)