Manulife Insurance Company (Manulife Japan), has become title sponsor for the 2012 Pacific Basketball League (PBL) Climax Series.

Pacific League Marketing President and Representative Director, Hiroaki Nishina, said: “We extend our deep gratitude to Manulife Japan for their third year of sponsorship of the Series. With Manulife Japan’s support, I look forward to seeing the teams go all out as they compete, providing the fans with a moving and memorable experience. I welcome everyone to cheer on the teams at the 2012 Manulife Climax Series.”

Manulife Japan has been a sponsor of the PBL regular season and the title sponsor of the PBL Climax Series since 2010.

Manulife Japan President & CE,O Hitoshi Morita, said “In June this year, the Manulife Group celebrated its 125th global anniversary. Our first operations in Japan opened more than 100 years ago. As a trustworthy and professional company, Manulife Japan continues to build on the Manulife Group’s long heritage as a strong partner of communities, actively supporting initiatives that benefit society.

Manulife Japan identifies strongly with the PBL, which from Hokkaido to Kyushu carries on the long tradition of Japan’s national pastime, and is growing baseball’s fan base with great success through providing support to regional areas and attracting new fans through unique promotions.

We are pleased to continue our sponsorship of the PBL Climax Series in 2012. Through our sponsorship activities we look forward to promoting the PBL, professional baseball, and the dreams and hopes they inspire.”{jcomments on}

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided it will give one-year contracts to 120 cricketers from January next year.

Fifteen players from each of the eight designated region – Barisal, ambulance Khulna, physician Rajshahi, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rangpur, Dhaka and Dhaka Metropolis – to make Bangladeshi cricket less Dhaka.

BCB president Mustafa Kamal annouced the radical initiative an emergency board meeting. “We have decided to bring 120 cricketers under our umbrella by giving them contracts, which will include the national team players,” he said. “The aim is for grassroots development so there will be 15 cricketers from each of the eight regions. It will be effective from January next year, and we will also cover their insurance premium.”

Kamal said the board will spend Bangladeshi taka 35 million (approx. US $425,000) annually on the contracts. The payment scale will depend on experience and selection will be based on performance.

The board will appoint eight former cricketers as cricket operations managers. “They will be salaried by the BCB but under one condition, they have to be former players from the region,” Kamal said. “For example, someone from Rajshahi will be the operations manager for that region, not that of Sylhet, so that he can coordinate with everyone in that region.”

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Spain’s top soccer league ‘La Liga’ has become the latest major European league causing a stir. The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) has issued a warning over a wage guarantee fund.

This news follows in a week where ex-Roma and current Italian Players’ Association president Damiano Tommasi claimed the Italian Football League had yet to sign a new collective agreement, and now his Spanish counterpart Luis Manuel Rubiales has suggested the possibility that his members could delay the start of the new Spanish season.

Mr Rubiales is looking for the fund to protect players when clubs come under financial troubles and can not pay their employees.

La Liga club Racing Santander last month joined Real Mallorca, Real Zaragoza, Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Granada to seek protection from creditors.

“La Liga has to start when the problems are truly resolved with a will that we don’t see from the LFP at the moment,” Rubiales told Radio Marca. “We are very disappointed. We do not see how a league that is growing in income by eight to 10% each year has a fund that has more restrictions on it than in earlier agreements.”

Plans inaugural Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday 15 October have been announced.  

Hopes are high that the day will be a sell-out crowd of 30,000, which is Ascot’s capacity for an autumn raceday without the provision of substantial temporary facilities.

Entries for the five Group Races on Qipco British Champions Day are set to close on August 2.

Rod Street, chief executive of British Champions Series, said: “We see a sell-out crowd of 30,000, which is around double the number of people that enjoyed the Champion Stakes at Newmarket in 2010, as a very appropriate first year target for what will be by far the richest raceday ever staged in this country.

“Most of our hospitality facilities, including the entire Ascot pavilion which can accommodate over 1,000 people for lunch, have already been sold which is fantastic news and we expect ticket sales to start moving swiftly once our database marketing campaign starts later this month.

“Our message is that if you want to be part of this exciting new event and see some of the stars of the season chasing the £3m in prize money on QIPCO British Champions Day, then book your tickets in advance because there must be a strong chance that we’ll sell out before the day.”

Tickets are priced at US$72.50 (£45) for Premier admission and US$42 (£26) for Grandstand admission, with a 10% advance booking discount available and greater reductions for group bookings of 10 or more people. Under 18’s will be admitted free.

Although only two of the Qipco British Champions Day races are officially Group 1 races, all five have Group 1 conditions in that there are no weight penalties to be carried in the two Group 2 races and one Group 3 contest, whilst all have a Group 1 level of prize money.  

Street added: “Our message to owners and trainers with Group 1 middle distance fillies and mares, stayers and sprinters is that these are Group 1 races in all but name.

“They have Group 1 prize money and conditions, which we hope will attract top class fields, enabling us to achieve Group 1 ratings and have them elevated to Group 1 status as soon as possible.

According to London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe, ticket applications for the 2012 London Olympics have far exceeded supply with more than half of the 650 sessions oversubscribed and set to go to a ballot.

More than 20 million tickets were applied for in total by the deadline, which was pushed back an hour until 01:00 GMT on Tuesday, April 26. A surge in demand caused a temporary glitch which forced the extension with the opening and closing ceremonies among the events to have been declared sold out.

Over than 95 per cent of the 1.8 million people who applied were British residents hoping to get a seat for ‘the greatest show on earth’ with a total of 6.6 million tickets having been made available for the general public at next year’s Games.

Organisers had hoped to raise about £400 million from ticket sales during a six-week window and Coe stated: “We are thrilled with the response right across the board, in all sports and all sessions.

“Certain events have seen massive demand – for example, the opening ceremony, which is more than 10 times oversubscribed, so there will understandably be disappointment and we will find a way to go back to those people with other tickets.”

Organisers revealed that track cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, triathlon, modern pentathlon, equestrian (cross country) and the opening and closing ceremonies were sell-out events. All will go to a ballot, as will most of the sessions for swimming and tennis.

A spokesman for London 2012 claimed that tickets allocated to those with insufficient funds to carry out their transactions from May 10 will not be immediately withdrawn but all applicants are strongly advised to ensure that they have enough money in their accounts to cover their applications.

Customers will receive confirmation in June, if successful, of what events they have tickets for, while unsuccessful applicants will be given further chances in June and July to buy unallocated tickets.

Coe added: “What is most encouraging is that the majority of applications are for multiple tickets and for several sports, which shows that friends and family are planning to go to the Games together.”

Thomson Sport has signed a three year deal to become the official travel partner of the National Football League (NFL) in the UK.

South Korea’s television network SBS TV has been fined US$1.64 million by the state regulator for not sharing coverage of this summer’s FIFA World Cup with other broadcasters, it has been reported.

SBS had exclusive rights to broadcast matches from South Africa, but following complaints from broadcasters KBS and MBC, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) told SBS to negotiate a share of some games.

And the KCC has now said that SBS has been fined because it did not “sincerely comply with the request” to negotiate a share of games.

Sydney FC has appointed Rebel’s Managing Director of Sports Retailing, cheap Erica Berchtold to the club’s Board of Directors, check Chairman Scott Barlow announced today.

Berchtold is responsible for merchandise, marketing and retail operations across all of retail giant Super Retail Group’s sport businesses, including Rebel, Amart Sports, Workout World and Goldcross Cycles.

She comes to Sydney FC with nearly 20 years of Australian retail experience and will advise on all merchandising and retail operations.

Chairman Scott Barlow said the appointment was an important step for the club.

“I’m very pleased to be appointing Erica as a Director to the Sydney FC board.  Erica is an expert in her field and she brings with her a broad range of skills and experience across the sports retailing sector, which will complement the capabilities of our board perfectly,” he said.

“Erica joins the board with a genuine passion for Sydney FC having been a Member for many seasons.

“I’m looking forward to working with Erica to ensure that Sydney FC can deliver the best range of retail products to our Members and fans.”

Berchtold has previously held senior management positions at Harvey Norman and Speciality Fashion Group and is looking forward to beginning her role with the Hyundai A-League’s most recognised club.

“The opportunities for a club like Sydney FC in the sports retail market are enormous and I hope to be able to help the club take advantage of them,” she said.

“Membership and support for Sydney FC is growing year on year, as well as in Australian football in general.

“It is important we achieve high standards for our supporters and meet the targets we set ourselves, as well as challenging our rivals in the retail sector.”

Erica Berchtold is also President of the Australian Sporting Goods Association.