Former Formula 1 driver Alex Wurz has been appointed chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association on Friday, replacing Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa.

The GPDA said in a statement that McLaren’s Jenson Button and Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel would remain as directors of a body that represents the majority of F1 drivers.

“Alex will be a great GPDA Chairman. He is one of the most experienced drivers I know, full of positive new ideas, and he has seen so many different aspects of the sport throughout his career,” said Vettel.

Former Benetton, McLaren and Williams driver Wurz, who is currently competing for Toyota in the world endurance championship, hoped the GPDA could become “a more united voice for our sport”.

“We know our history, we know what heroes like Stirling (Moss), Niki (Lauda) and Jackie (Stewart), Michael (Schumacher)and Ayrton (Senna) have all helped create,” he added.

“With the support of (FIA head) Jean (Todt) and (Formula One supremo) Bernie (Ecclestone), the teams, the media and most importantly with the backing of our fans, the GPDA will now aim to become a more dynamic and positive influence for the future of our sport.”

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) will be promoting the celebration of World Softball Day 2014 all around the globe and among its 141 National Federation members on Friday, June 13th. 

The creation of World Softball Day was inspired by Olympic Day, which is celebrated annually on June 23rd, and the June 13th announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1991 that women’s softball was to be, for the first time in history, included on the Olympic programme, with its debut performance at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. 

For World Softball Day 2014, WBSC will be encouraging all its national federations and individuals of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to participate in softball activity as part of aglobal initiative to put softball at the service of society to promote heath, physical activity, social integration and international spirit, as well as to inspire future generations of boys and girls to seek excellence and become empowered through sport, and through softball. 

“World Softball Day will be a time of celebration to promote the idea that anybody in the world can become active in sport,” said WBSC Secretary General Ms. Beng Choo Low, “and that softball can serve as an attractive option for sport because it can be enjoyed almost anywhere and by children as young as two years of age to those beyond their eighties.” 

WBSC officials indicate that the World Softball Day 2014 has been set up to “boost awareness” — particularly during the Olympic Agenda 2020 review on the formation of the Olympic Programme — that softball, along with baseball, serves as a common bond for millions of people from diverse ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds in more the 140 nations around the world — and especially young people and females — to participate in sport and to make sport increasingly relevant to them. 

“With World Softball Day 2014, WBSC will continue building baseball/softball’s position together as one of the world’s leading and most inclusive, gender-balanced global sports,” added WBSC Executive Vice-President Dale McMann. 

The newly elected WBSC officials have already confirmed they will study the potential implementation dates of a World Baseball Day and a World Baseball Softball Day.

Premiership rugby clubs have reiterated they will not compete in the revamped Heineken Cup from next season.

English sides are unhappy with how they are dealt with by European Rugby Cup, the body that organises the tournament.

Owners and chief executives from all 12 Premiership teams met to discuss the decision made last week by France’s Top 14 sides to commit to the ERC-run format for the 2014-15 season.

“ERC does not structurally recognise the role of the leagues and clubs in driving the success of club competitions, under the overall governance of Unions,” read a statement from Premiership Rugby.

“The ERC voting structure is controlled by Unions even though the majority of commercial value is created by the independent clubs which represent 75 per cent of the participants.

“Proposals put forward to address a new structure within a Rugby Champions Cup were agreed by a majority of the unions in October, alongside meritocratic competition formats and equitable financial distributions.

“However, these have not been accepted by all.

“The English clubs have worked exhaustively over the last 18 months to propose solutions to the issues with the current European competitions and to provide a sustainable platform to grow the game in the various countries.

“The English clubs are now pursuing other options.”

Sports media agency, Infront Sports & Media have announced an extension to their partnership with the German Football Association (DFB) through to 2018.

The international sports marketing company exclusively handles the commercialisation of board advertising at all qualifiers and friendly matches of the German men’s national team both on domestic soil and abroad. In addition, the contract includes all advertising rights for the home games of the DFB women’s national teams as well as the Junior U21, U20 and U19 teams.

Wolfgang Niersbach, DFB president, said: “Spanning more than 30 years, the partnership between the DFB and Infront is one of the longest in German sport. This cooperation has always been marked by trust and innovation. We therefore step very optimistically into the next four years and together with Infront have a common goal of effectively integrating our partners in the highly attractive advertising environment of the national team games.”

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront, added: “As a long-term partner, we share the DFB vision for German football and its sponsors for which we offer a consistent and coordinated presence on all available platforms. Similar to the DFB Cup, together with the association we will gently but continuously and professionally evolve the premium character of the DFB national games. High exclusivity and digitally integrated marketing programs will be in the foreground. We thank the German Football Association for their continued confidence in our company.”

Assem Allam, owner of Premier League newcomers Hull City, has pledged to refund unhappy fans over the club’s name change.

The Egypt-born businessman has changed the company name to Hull City Tigers in order to make the club more marketable, prompting fierce criticism from fans’ group City Til We Die.

But Allam insists he will do as he pleases and has offered to give fans their money back if they don’t want to continue supporting the team.

“There’s no need for a referendum. The crowd we get inside the stadium is the perfect referendum,” the 74-year-old told the Daily Mail.

“Fans can choose to vote with their feet. If they are not happy, they can stay away.

“I am also willing to refund any unhappy season ticket holder who wants their money back.

“I understand that fans have purchased or may have purchased season tickets in the expectation they were for Hull City AFC. Having learned the AFC is now not present, they are perfectly entitled to seek a refund.”

But regardless of opposition, Allam said he will not be swayed.

“It’s up to me. Nobody in the world will decide for me how I run my companies,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I will never change the colour, I will never change the logo, I will never remove Hull, I will never remove Tigers.”

In order to change the club’s playing name, which is separate to the company name, Allam would need to submit an application to the Football Association by April 1 next year.

In a statement, the City Til We Die group said: “Our group has already had extensive contact with key figures at the FA, and we anticipate they will take a dim view both of this announcement and of Dr Allam’s rubbishing of our club’s proud history at the meeting we had with him last week.”

Hull were promoted to the Premier League last year after a three-year absence from the English top flight.

European golf legend Colin Montgomerie OBE will be among the speakers at the 10th anniversary KPMG Golf Business Forum at St Andrews, impotent Scotland, June 3-5, 2013.

The 49-year-old Scot, who topped The European Tour’s Order of Merit a record eight times and memorably captained the victorious European Ryder Cup Team in 2010, will join a stellar cast of contributors at golf’s most important annual industry event in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The Forum, hosted at The Fairmont St Andrews Hotel and supported by Visit Scotland, Scottish Development International and Fife Council, with the assistance of Golf Tourism Scotland, will bring together up to 300 delegates including leading brands, developers and world-class golf and leisure operators from more than 40 countries.

Monty, who will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May, will be joined by a line-up of VIPs and speakers including:

• Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive, Aberdeen Asset Management
• Giles Morgan, Global Head of Sponsorship and Events, HSBC
• Dana Garmany, Chairman and CEO, Troon Golf
• Marc Player, CEO, Black Knight International
• Tim J. Merrett, Vice President, Global Platform – Turf & Utility, John Deere
• Mike Cantlay, Chairman, Visit Scotland
• Hamish Grey, Chief Executive, Scottish Golf Union
• Peter Dawson, Chief Executive, R&A
• Tim Trinka, President, Asian Golf Industry Federation
• Guy Kinnings, Global Co-Managing Director, IMG Golf

Andrea Sartori, Head of KPMG’s Golf Advisory Practice, said: “Colin Montgomerie is a giant of world golf and has been a tremendous ambassador for Scotland, so we are honoured he will be joining us at St Andrews. We have a special panel discussion focusing on the golf business in Scotland as it looks forward to The Ryder Cup in 2014, and we look forward to hearing Colin’s thoughts and opinions.”

KPMG will also honour the outstanding achievements of two of golf’s most influential leaders.

George O’Grady CBE, Chief Executive of The European Tour, and Tim Finchem, PGA TOUR Commissioner, will jointly receive the 2013 Golf Business Forum Lifetime Achievement Award.

A Formula One French grand prix will not occur in 2013, viagra 100mg according to the sports daily L’Equipe.

There was speculation that the country’s defunct grand prix, at either Paul Ricard or Magny Cours would be resurrected. 

But L’Equipe said the French sanctioning body FFSA had not, by Tuesday’s deadline, received a request to apply to be added to the FIA’s 2013 schedule.

The deadline was in place ahead of the forthcoming World Motor Sport Council meeting in early December, which is the last chance to make changes to the provisional 2013 race calendar.

Chinese Basketball Association’s (CBA) Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers will buy a private team jet for the 2012-13 season.

The Flying Tigers will become the first team in CBA history to use a chartered jet.

Team GM, cough He Changjiang, ask said: “Xinjiang is very far away from the other teams. During a season, apoplectic players use up a lot of their bodies. So next season, we’ll probably elect to use a private jet.”

Every team in the CBA flies with commercial airlines and apart from a few superstars and coaches who have clauses in their contracts, players and staff fly standard class.{jcomments on}

 

The Board of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) will meet today to discuss and ratify the technical committee’s recommendations for overhauling domestic cricket.

The technical committee recommended significant changes.

Per the recommendations, the Elite and Plate groups will be replaced by three groups of nine teams. Each team will play eight matches during the league stage.

Three teams from Groups A and B, and two from Group C, will qualify for the knockout phase. The quarterfinals, semifinals and the final will be five-day games.{jcomments on}