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A sport club in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, showing various paved and painted surfaces for futsal, basketball and volleyball, with two swimming pools in the foreground.

A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and may play other similar clubs on occasion, watched mostly by family and friends, to large commercial organisations with professional players which have teams which regularly compete against those of other clubs and attract sometimes very large crowds of paying spectators. Clubs may be dedicated to a single sport, or to several (multi-sport club).

The term athletics club is sometimes used for a general sports club, rather than one dedicated to athletics proper.

Organization[link]

Larger sports clubs are characterized by having professional and amateur departments in various sports such as football (soccer), basketball, futsal, cricket, volleyball, handball, rink hockey, water polo, rugby, track and field athletics, boxing, baseball, cycling, tennis, rowing, gymnastics and others, including less traditional sports such as airsoft, billiards, orienteering, paintball or roller derby. The teams and athletes belonging to a sports club may compete in several different leagues, championships and tournaments wearing the same club colors and using the same club name, sharing also the same club fan base, supporters and facilities. Many sports clubs have an associate system where the affiliated supporters pay an annuity fee. In those cases, the supporter becomes eligible to attend the club's home matches and exhibitions across the entire season, and have the right to practice almost every kind of sport at the club's facilities. Registered associate member fees, attendance receipts, sponsoring contracts, team merchandising, TV rights, and athlete/player transfer fees, are usually the primary sources of sports club financing. In addition, there are sports clubs, or its teams, which are publicly traded and listed on a stock exchange - several professional European football clubs belonging to a larger multistports club are examples of this (namely, Portuguese SADs (Sociedade Anónima Desportiva) such as Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal, or Spanish SADs (Sociedad Anónima Deportiva) Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. and Real Betis Balompié S.A.D., as well as Italian clubs like Società Sportiva Lazio S.p.A.).

Some sports teams are owned and financed by a single non-sports company, for example the several sports teams owned by Red Bull GmbH and collectively known as Red Bulls.^[1] Other examples of this are the several sports teams owned by Bayer AG and Philips corporations through the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven respectively, that originally were works teams, the teams owned by the Samsung Group, and the teams owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). They may compete in several different sports and leagues, being headquartered in some cases across several countries.

Sports clubs around the World[link]

In many regions of the world like Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Indian subcontinent or Latin America, sports clubs with several sports departments (multisports clubs) or branches, including highly competitive professional teams, are very popular and have developed into some of the most powerful and representative sports institutions in those places. In general, student sports can be described as composed by multisports clubs, each one representing its educational institution and competing in several sport disciplines.

In the United States of America major institutions like The New York Athletic Club, Los Angeles Athletic Club or many university athletic programs such as the California Golden Bears, Stanford Cardinal and Texas Longhorns are good examples of a sports club (see list of College Athletic Programs by US State). However, examples abound of sports clubs that are in effect one sports team. Each team from the NBA (basketball), NFL (American football) or MLS (association football) American sports leagues, can be called sports clubs, but in practice, they focus solely on a single sport. On the other hand, American varsity teams are generally organized into a structure forming a true multi-sport club belonging to an educational institution.

In the United Kingdom, almost all major sports organizations are dedicated to a single sport, with a few minor multisport clubs such as Catford Wanderers. In addition, like in several other countries, many universities and colleges develop a wide range of student sport activities including at a professional or semi-professional level. Fulham F.C. once ran a professional rugby league team and rowing club, which other football clubs have emulated since. Many football clubs originate from cricket teams. Today, most major cities have separate clubs for each sport (e.g. Manchester United football club and Lancashire County Cricket Club are based in Manchester).

Many clubs internationally describe themselves as football clubs ("FC" ,"Football Club", in English, "CF", Clube de Futebol in Portuguese and Club de Fútbol in Spanish). Generally, British football clubs field only football teams. Their counterparts in several other countries tend to be full multi-sport clubs, even when called football clubs (Futebol Clube do Porto; Futbol Club Barcelona).

See also[link]

• Community organizations
• Health club
• North American Association of Sports Economists
• Sociedad Anónima Deportiva
• Voluntary Sports Societies of the USSR

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

Benoît Poelvoorde presenting his film "Les Deux mondes" in 2007
Born	(1964-09-22) 22 September 1964 (age 47) Namur, Belgium
Occupation	Actor

Benoît Poelvoorde (born 22 September 1964, in Namur, Belgium) is a Belgian actor^[1] and comedian.

Early life[link]

His mother was a grocer and his father a driver, who died when Poelvoorde was still young. He studied at the Jesuit boarding school of Godinne) and then left home at 17 to take classes at the Félicien Rops Technical Institute in Namur (Belgium) where he met Rémy Belvaux. He developed a passion for theater and became noted for his atypical interpretations. Not only he was destined to become a draughtsman, he also developed a second activity as a photographer. During his graphic design studies at the Ecole de la recherche graphique in Brussels, he also became friend with André Bonzel and, together with Rémy Belvaux, realized in 1988 Pas de C4 pour Daniel Daniel, his first movie, a short student film (which he co-directed and co-wrote). It was a stylized trailer for a mock-spy film.

Career[link]

In 1992, Poelvoorde, Delvaux and Bonzel directed together their first long feature C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog internationally) originally a low-budget school graduation project (1992) and a kind of cynical "noir" movie, inspired from the famous Belgian series "Strip-Tease" which went on to become a critically acclaimed cult movie.

Poelvoorde subsequently starred in two series on the French pay-channel Canal+ and several movies such as Les Randonneurs, Le Boulet and Podium, which made him famous in France and Belgium. In 2001, he starred in Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert, a funny and touching movie about one of his passions, bicycling. In 2002, he received the Jean Gabin Prize, which recognized the most hopeful young talents. Poelvoorde became member of the Cannes Film Festival Jury in 2004, on Quentin Tarantino's request, a big fan of Man Bites Dog, who presided over the Jury, that year.

In 2005 he ranked in 7th place in the Walloon version of the Greatest Belgian. In the Flemish version he came in at nr. 400 outside the official list of nominations.

In 2008, his performance in the movie Astérix aux Jeux olympiques won him critical acclaim by both film critics and the public at large. His recurrent character as a pretentious person and a sore loser that he masters to perfection has drawn comparisons between him and the beloved French comic Louis de Funès. Poelvoorde does not confine himself to goofy characters, he also played tortured roles. He has starred in 2009 as Etienne Balsan in Coco avant Chanel by Anne Fontain, with Audrey Tautou; as Jean-René in 2010 with Isabelle Carré in a charming comedy by Jean-Pierre Améris Émotifs anonymes about two extremely shy persons who fall in love, and also as August Maquet in L'autre Dumas by Safy Nebbou, alongside Gérard Depardieu and Dominique Blanc, a movie about the creative ghostwriter, Maquet, whose played a crucial role in the production of French writer Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers. In 2011, he won the Audience Award at the Magritte Awards.

The actor mentioned in interviews^[2], that he suffered from bipolar disorder.

Filmography[link]

Benoît Poelvoorde in 2007

• 2012 : Le grand soir
• 2011 : Mon Pire Cauchemar by Anne Fontaine
• 2010 : Romantics Anonymous by Jean-Pierre Améris
• 2010 : Nothing to Declare by Dany Boon
• 2010 : Mammuth
• 2010 : Dumas
• 2009 : La guerre des miss by Patrick Leconte
• 2009 : Coco avant Chanel by Anne Fontaine
• 2008 : Asterix at the Olympic Games by Thomas Langmann and Frédéric Forestier
• 2007 : Louise Michel by Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine
• 2007 : Les Deux mondes by Daniel Cohen
• 2007 : Cowboy by Benoît Mariage
• 2006 : Selon Charlie by Nicole Garcia
• 2006 : Jean-Philippe by Laurent Tuel
• 2006 : Du jour au lendemain by Philippe Le Guay
• 2005 : Entre ses mains by Anne Fontaine
• 2005 : Akoibon by Édouard Baer
• 2004 : Podium by Yann Moix
• 2004 : Narco by Tristan Aurouet and Gilles Lellouche
• 2004 : Cinéastes à tout prix by Frédéric Sojcher
• 2004 : Atomik Circus by Didier Poiraud and Thierry Poiraud
• 2004 : Aaltra by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern
• 2002 : Rire et châtiment by Isabelle Doval
• 2002 : Le Boulet by Alain Berbérian
• 2002 : La Vie politique des Belges by Jan Bucquoy
• 2001 : Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert by Philippe Harel
• 2000 : Les Portes de la gloire by Christian Merret-Palmair
• 1998 : Les Convoyeurs attendent by Benoît Mariage
• 1997 : Les Randonneurs by Philippe Harel
• 1992 : C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog) by Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel

Voice acting[link]

• 2009 : A Town Called Panic

Short films[link]

• 1997 : Le Signaleur
• 1988 : Pas de C4 pour Daniel Daniel by Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel

References[link]

External links[link]

• Benoît Poelvoorde at the Internet Movie Database
• Benoît Poelvoorde at AllRovi
• (French) Theatre acting career summary (from L'Annuaire du Spectacle on the Centre de recherche et de documentation littéraires et théâtrales de la Communauté française de Belgique web site)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

Benoît Mariage
Born	(1961-07-19) 19 July 1961 (age 50) Virton, Belgium
Nationality	Belgium
Occupation	film director

Benoît Mariage (born 19 July 1961 in Virton, Belgium) is a Belgian film director.

External links[link]

• Benoît Mariage at the Internet Movie Database

This Belgian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Damián Rodrigo Díaz (born 1 May 1986 in Rosario, Santa Fe) is an Argentine footballer, who currently plays for the Ecuadorian club Barcelona Sporting Club as a attacking midfielder or usually as playmaker.

Club career[link]

Rosario & Boca[link]

Díaz started his career in Rosario Central's famous youth academy. Following the passes of Argentine elite players like José María Buljubasich, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Kily González, Ángel di María, among others, signing for Rosario as a 20-year-old.

His first professional appearances were very promising, because to his two goals in his first two games against Godoy Cruz and Nueva Chicago. The coach of the team Carlos Ischia, saw in Díaz a great share of talent, which meant to Díaz be seriously considered in the starting lineup. After a successful 2007–08 season with a total of 4 goals in 25 games, Díaz was transferred to Boca Juniors, following the passes of his coach Carlos Ischia, who also left Rosario Central for Boca.

After his successful incorporation to Boca, Díaz debuted in a 4–0 win over LDU Quito for the 2008 Copa Sudamericana. At the club of La Boca district won his first professional title, but never played during the tournament with the team. In January 2009, after of refuse go on loan to the Greek club Aris, he was part of the pre-season in where the team played a friendly tournament called Torneo de Verano (Summer Tournament). During that tournament, Díaz played a good role in the team, being a key player in the coach's scheme. Finally, he made his official debut in a 3–1 win over Huracán during the fourth week of the 2009 Clausura Tournament.

Universidad Católica[link]

In June 2009, Universidad Católica announced that they had reached an agreement with Boca Juniors over the transfer of Díaz and that he would join the club on a one-year deal. On 3 July, the Pre-cordilleran side completed the signing and Díaz was awarded the number 15 shirt. Díaz arrived as part of the transfer operation of Gary Medel to his former club Boca Juniors, in a loan barter without purchase option.

Díaz made his Chilean Primera División début on 27 July 2009, in a 2–0 win over Deportes La Serena at San Carlos de Apoquindo.^[1] He scored his first two goals for the club on 23 August, both in a single match against Cobreloa, in where Católica won 2–0 thanks to the goals of Díaz.^[2] One month later, he scored his first hat-trick in his career in Católica's 7-0 thrashing of Curicó Unido,^[3] should be noted that one of his three goals was olympic.^[4] Díaz also scored in the following week against Audax Italiano, match that was won 4–0 by Católica.^[5] In that season, Damián was fully consolidated in the position of playmaker at the scheme of Católica's coach, Marco Antonio Figueroa. He was also paired in attack with Juan José Morales and Milovan Mirosevic. The team reached the final against Colo-Colo, but lost 6–4 on aggregate. Following his debut season in the Chilean Primera División, Díaz emerged as one of the leagues finest playmakers.

Díaz began the 2010 season in fine form, scoring the first goal in Católica's 4–0 thrashing of Santiago Morning.^[6] In that season, he was playing of great form, but had too much lack of scoring. On 27 March, Díaz scored his second goal in the tournament against Santiago Wanderers in a 4–2 win, which ended a run of 239 minutes of football without a goal. On 14 April, Kitu scored his first goal in the Copa Libertadores, in a 2–0 home win over Flamengo. Due to his successful at Chile, the club of his country Colón de Santa Fe showed interest on him and also came up the possibility of return to Boca Juniors, one of the big teams of Argentina and South America. Despite of the possibility of play in Argentina, one of the best leagues in the world, Díaz was consistent and extended his scoring streak against Ñublense in a game that was won by Católica 4–2, and he was named the man of the match.

Finally, during the break of the league (because it was a long tournament of one year and was played the 2010 FIFA World Cup at South Africa) everything seemed be that Diaz would remain at Católica, but then the player reached an agreement with the club that attempted to sign him Colón and left the club.

Colón[link]

On 11 June 2010, Colón de Santa Fe signed him for one year, on loan from Boca Juniors.

Barcelona SC[link]

On 11 June 2011, Diaz signed with the Ecuadorian giants Barcelona.^[7]

Honours[link]

Champion[link]

Boca Juniors

• Argentine Primera División: 2008 Apertura

Runner-up[link]

Universidad Católica

• Chilean Primera División: 2009 Clausura Tournament

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Spanish) Argentine Primera Statistics
• Football-Lineups player profile
• Ficha tecnica en futbolchileno.com