Kamui Kobayashi is fearing for his Formula One seat after revealing an inability to get sponsors.

Sauber is yet to name its 2013 driver lineup, but Japanese Kobayashi was considered likely to stay because his current teammate, Sergio Perez, is heading to McLaren.

Kobayashi also boosted his chances with an impressive podium at Suzuka last Sunday.

But he admitted in Korea on Thursday: “At the moment I have no sponsors to be here. It’s a very strange feeling.

“Getting a sponsor is very important for the future,” he is quoted by Sapa-AFP news agency.

Kobayashi admitted that having to find sponsorship in order to stay in formula one is a frustrating task for an established driver.

“Driving and thinking about the car is the driver’s job, but now we have to think about sponsors. It’s not what a driver should have to do,” he said.

“I’m a little bit surprised, but I will try to stay in formula one for the next few years.”

The 26-year-old said even his breakthrough podium on home turf in Japan last weekend has not opened the sponsorship floodgates.

“At the moment I have been very busy, but I will need to look (for sponsors),” said Kobayashi. “I really need to think about this. It’s a pity.”

Former Houston Rockets player, medstore Yao Ming and Caron Butler of the L.A. Clippers  Caron Butler will lead campus activities and clinics this weekend as the NBA focuses on earthquake-stricken areas in Sichuan province in the lead up to the China Games this fall.

Butler will work with students at a mini camp at Mount Qingcheng High School in Dujiangyan- a city destroyed in the Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008.

Yao will join Butler on Saturday in Leshan to attend the final of the Yao Foundation Hope Primary basketball season.

Yao and NBA China aim to work with sports authorities to develop a high school coaches training programme, story a basketball training centre in Shanghai for both amateur and professional players, and an annual basketball camp that will focus on developing elite young players. {jcomments on}

There is plenty of enthusiasm for the privatisation of cricket in Sri Lanka, adiposity with a number of potential investors expressing interest in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).

A Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said they have issued 13 bid applications for the seven franchises to date.

“The last date for submitting the bids is June 25, medstore so we could see as many as 15 or 16 applications being bought,” the official said.

The base price for the franchises has been set at $(US) 3 million, far less than $(US) 50 million the IPL set for the first team auction in 2008, but the SLPL franchises are being being leased for seven years, rather than sold outright. After seven years, the franchisees would have to agree new deals.

The deadline to submit bids for the franchises is 2pm on June 25 and the tournament starts on August 10.

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NFL’s Buffalo Bills have reduced their trips north of the border after announcing Tuesday that they won’t be playing their scheduled preseason “home” game at Toronto this summer.

The game will instead be played at Orchard Park as a result of what the team described as “scheduling conflicts” at Toronto’s downtown Rogers Centre. It was unclear what the conflicts are.

It was supposed to be the third and final preseason game the Bills were scheduled to play in Toronto as part of a five-year, $78 million agreement the team reached with Toronto-based Rogers Communication in 2008. The deal, which expires after this year, was supposed to include three preseason games and five annual regular-season games.

In announcing the preseason game being switched, the Bills said they will still play their annual regular-season game at Toronto this year. The date and opponent of that game will be determined once the NFL releases its schedule in the next two months.

Bills CEO Russ Brandon said the team is in negotiations with Rogers to extend the series beyond this year.

“Our core goal is to continue to regionalize our franchise and continue our series in Toronto, which has served us so well,” Brandon said. “We will provide more information once terms are finalized.”

Bills owner Ralph Wilson told The Associated Press in December that he was optimistic the deal would be renewed.

The Bills also announced Tuesday that there will be no increase to their season-ticket prices, and have dropped prices for certain sections by as much as $15 per seat for the upcoming season.

by Ismail Uddin

physician helvetica, sans-serif” class=”Apple-style-span” color=”#000000″>Jérôme Valcke, FIFA Secretary General, will deliver the Keynote Address at the Inside World Football Moscow Forum.

Mr Valcke played a key role in the organisation of the 2010 World Cup™ in South Africa and will be instrumental in the organisation of Russia 2018. As one of the most senior officials in FIFA, his presence in Moscow will add a completely new dimension to the Forum programme.

“We are delighted that Jérôme Valcke will be joining us in Moscow. His contribution will be invaluable to our discussion about the strategy and vision that will shape preparations for 2018,” said Sergei Kolushev, CEO, Mildberry Sports Lab, hosts of the Forum.

Other confirmed speakers include Alexey Sorokin, CEO of the Russia 2018 Organising Committee, who will talk in a wide-ranging on-stage interview about the challenges facing Russia in preparation for the tournament.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA has received more than 2 million ticket requests upon the opening of UEFA Euro 2012 ticket sales – though fans still have until 31 March to make an application, conducted exclusively via Uefa.com.

Just ten days have elapsed since the ticket sales began for next years’ UEFA European Football Championship taking place in Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012, with more than 2 million requests notched worldwide.

Around 700,000 people from 178 countries registered for an account on Uefa.com and the demand for the various types of tickets available for Euro 2012 has already exceeded supply in the case of 28 of the 31 matches of the final tournament.

This means that lotteries, to be carried out in April, will decide the allocation of tickets for all oversubscribed matches.

The three Group D games not involving Ukraine – two in Kyiv and one in Donetsk – still have a few hundreds tickets left and present the best chance for applicants, particularly due to the large capacity of these stadiums.

Around 90 per cent of the overall requests are believed to have originated from the co-host nations of Poland and Ukraine, though other countries such as Germany, with 3.3 per cent, and Russia, with 1.9 per cent, also have high subscriber numbers.

Moreover, Follow My Team tickets for Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain and Ukraine are already oversubscribed and several other nations are very close to reaching that point.

All requests will be treated equally between the date when applications are made during the sales window of 1-31 March is not important, so all requests made within the month will enter the ballots.

USA Table Tennis (USATT), clinic the national organising body for table tennis in the United States, for sale has announced the appointment of Gordon Kaye as its new chief executive officer.

In this role, Kaye will be responsible for increasing USATT’s brand awareness and growing its more than 9,000-person membership.

“This is a pivotal time for USATT. We are excited to invest in an executive of Gordon’s caliber and experience. His expertise will help us as we examine and address the challenges and opportunities we face as an organization,” said Michael Babuin, USATT Board Chairman. “Gordon’s proven track record of success as an agent of strategic and successful evolution will help USATT better serve its members and bring increased exposure to the sport.”

A USATT member since 2009 and table tennis aficionado, Kaye brings more than 20 years of diverse sports management experience to the organization. Most recently, Kaye was the Executive Director/General Manager of Rockford Area Venues and Entertainment (RAVE).

The entities for which Kaye was responsible, the BMO Harris Bank Center, American Hockey League (AHL) Rockford IceHogs, Davis Park and the Coronado Theater, all saw record attendance and sales growth and increased visibility under his leadership. Earlier this year Kaye was honored with the 2013-2014 James C. Hendy Memorial Award which is given annually to an outstanding AHL executive.

“I’ve personally experienced the greatness of the sport, the environment and the culture. There are very few times in life where you get the opportunity to marry your professional background with your passion,” said Kaye.  “I am honored to be chosen to lead this new era of USA Table Tennis and to have the opportunity to grow the organization and the sport.”