ADDIS ABABA nike air presto schweiz , July 21 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) said Friday that it has deployed its election observation mission (AUEOM) to Senegal's legislative elections scheduled for July 30.


Following an invitation from the Senegal's Government, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission, has deployed the mission in the West African nation from 22 July to 4 August, according to a statement from the pan-African bloc on Friday.


Led by Catherine Samba-Panza, former Transition President of the Central African Republic (CAR), the mission comprises 40 short-term observers.


The observers are drawn from the AU members of the permanent representatives committee (PRC), the Pan-African parliament, election management bodies, civil society organisations working in the area of democracy, governance and elections in Africa, think tanks, and independent election experts.


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Last week’s launch of its upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics coverage and programming gave us a chance to look back on the road Sina Sports has taken to become the #1 sports digital media source in China. Since first launching over 17 years ago, Sina Sports has played a crucial role in changing the way that Chinese fans view and access sports content from around the world.


Landmark Coverage of the World Cup


Sina Sports was established in 1997 as China’s first comprehensive online sports media platform. Over the following decade, the platform would pave the way in China for unprecedented access to new sports content. In 1998, Sina Sports executed a landmark deal with FIFA to become the exclusive Chinese online partner for the ’98 World Cup in France. With that partnership, Sina Sports made history by offering 24-hour coverage of the event, marking the first time for any online media source in China to accomplish such a feat. This was to be a coming-out party for Sina Sports, as Chinese fans flocked to this new media outlet. Unique visits to the site surpassed 3 million during the ‘98 World Cup.


After the success of the ’98 World Cup, Sina Sports established a reputation as China’s go-to source for the World Cup. As Chinese fans began to grow their appetite for European football, Sina Sports began to flourish. As the official partner of the Chinese national team in the 2002 World Cup, over 10 million viewers came to the site. The 2006 World Cup proved to be even more popular. According to Nielsen, over 57 million unique visitors came to Sina Sports official World Cup site, accounting for over half of all Internet users in China. Sina Sports continued its groundbreaking coverage at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups as well.


On to the Olympics


Sina Sports also quickly built a reputation for providing comprehensive coverage for the Olympics. It began its Olympic coverage by becoming the official online partner in China for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Daily visits to the Sina Sports Sydney Olympics site surpassed one million on a daily basis.


Sina Sports went on to serve as the official Chinese online partner of the 2004 Athens Games, and would once again prove its ability to grow its user base. The Sina Sports Athens Games website garnered over 150 million unique visits during the two weeks of competition, including a single-day record of 30 million new subscribers. On August 282004, Sina Sports set a Chinese Internet record by recording over 32,000 individual messages sent through the Sina Sports Olympic channel by Chinese users. Sina Sports would also become the official online partner in China of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.


The 2008 Beijing Olympics was a watershed moment for all of China, and naturally, Sina Sports was there, too. Despite increased competition from new players, Sina Sports outshined its competitors for coverage of the Beijing Olympics. According to Chinrank.org, Sina Sports averaged 30.9 million unique page views throughout the 2008 Olympics, with an impressive single-day peak of 42 million visitors coming to Sina Sports on August 14th. These numbers significantly eclipsed all of Sina’s competitors.


Continuing to pursue excellence across the entire sports spectrum


Currently, Sina Sports broadcasts live and VOD for the Chinese Super League, PGA Tour, Chinese Undergraduate Basketball Association, AFC Champions League, Premier League, and Serie A matches. The platform consistently attracts a significant portion of Chinese online users to view this content.Daily page views on the PC website average around 120 million. Chinese users are increasingly mobile, and our numbers show significantly more users prefer to access our content on mobile devices. Visits to our mobile site average 260 million unique page visits a day.


Times are changing. As the habits of the Chinese user continue to change, Sina Sports will continue to adapt. We know that fans in China trust Sina Sports to always be there for them, 24 hours a day, providing quality content and diverse options. On the eve of 2016, we look forward anxiously to the Rio Olympics, and so much more.


For media inquiries, please contact:


Dan Redford


SINA Sports, Beijing, China