A three week registration window for the international general public to apply for UEFA Champions League final tickets has closed this weekend after opening on February 24.

According to UEFA.com, applicants will learn if they have been successful or not by April 6, with the allocation of tickets decided by lottery, in similar vain to the London 2012 Olympic Games process.

Each valid application will enter a ballot, regardless of the time of submission within the application period and successful candidates will be entitled to purchase a maximum of two tickets.

Hopeful candidates will be able to check the status of their application by logging into the ticket portal from 6th April – with tickets delivered no later than Saturday 30th April.

UEFA has also underlined that no tickets will be distributed through agencies or brokers, and UEFA is encouraging fans not to purchase tickets through touts.

English football is well represented once again in the quarter finals with 3 clubs from the Premier League, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham qualifying. Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid join Ukraine’s Shakhtar, Germany’s Schalke and last years champions and Italian Serie A side Inter Milan.

The PGA Tour announced that Rolex has become a Global Partner of The Presidents Cup in an agreement that extends through 2015, covering the next three biennial matches.

This is an expansion of the PGA Tour’s long-standing, existing relationship with Rolex, in which it is the “Official Timekeeper of the PGA Tour” and “Official Sponsor of the World Golf Championships.” Rolex joins Citi, which became a Global Partner of The Presidents Cup in October 2008 for the 2009, 2011 and 2013 events.

As part of a multi-year agreement, Rolex will benefit from exposure across a broad array of PGA Tour media and marketing assets including: advertising and in-program enhancements on Golf Channel and NBC during television coverage of The Presidents Cup; strategic onsite branding, including prominent placement of Rolex-branded clocks at tee locations throughout the event course; onsite hospitality for Rolex’ commercial and consumer clients; and extensive exposure on tour-related media.

“The Rolex brand is synonymous with excellence and is one that has matched perfectly with the PGA Tour through a variety of official relationships over the past six years,” said Tom Wade, PGA Tour Chief Marketing Officer.

“We are thrilled to build upon this connection with Rolex as they now become a Global Partner of The Presidents Cup. The global nature of The Presidents Cup is a perfect fit for a prestigious, expansive brand such as Rolex, and we are confident that the awareness, reach and prestige of both will benefit through this partnership.”

“The Presidents Cup is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, and we are thrilled to support it as a Global Partner.” said Jean-Noël Bioul, Rolex International Sponsorship Director. “The level of play showcased by the teams at The Presidents Cup is a perfect extension of our brand’s key values: Precision, endurance and performance.”

The Presidents Cup 2011 returns to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Nov. 17-20, 2011. The 2013 event will be staged at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Presidents Cup 2015 will be staged either in South Korea, Japan, India, South Africa or Argentina, which are all now going through a bid process.

Infront Sports & Media has been appointed as the exclusive commercial partner for the new pan-European club ice hockey competition, canada sale the Board of the European Ice hockey Club Competition (ECC) announced today.

The cross-season, cialis international league format, featuring the top clubs from across Europe, will start as of the 2014-2015 season.

Infront will exclusively handle all commercial and media related areas of the new competition, which is being launched and fully backed by all relevant stakeholders in national and international ice hockey. The decision to enter the all-encompassing partnership was made at an ECC Board meeting taking place in Berlin last week.

Infront will be responsible for the worldwide distribution of media rights, the centralised marketing rights, merchandising rights as well as the high-quality multimedia production of all 149 ECC games in HD format. In addition, Infront will provide substantial support to the ECC rights holders in the overall development of the new competition, delivering services in the area of digital media, branding, promotion and rights delivery.

The new competition, which will start in August 2014, is fully owned and operated by the European Club Competition (ECC), which includes – as its shareholders – top European clubs, six national leagues and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). This means that all levels of national and international ice hockey are represented in the planning and implementation of the annual event.

The inaugural season will see 40 clubs from the national leagues in Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland take part, including the respective national champions and regular season winners. Discussions with the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) regarding the participation of KHL clubs are still on-going. The new brand name of the international league, which will stretch out from August to February each season, will be communicated in early 2014.

Anders Ternbom, Chairman of the ECC and representative of the clubs within the board, said: “The time is now right to establish a pan-European league for top club ice hockey. We all believe in the potential of this project and we are positive that with all stakeholders closely involved and having Infront as proven marketing partner, we will put in place a successful, competitive and financially viable league.”

Gernot Tripcke, Managing Director of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) and representative of the leagues within the ECC Board, commented: “With the new European Club Competition we will create additional value – sportive, financial and emotional – for the European clubs, leagues and fans. Infront’s comprehensive and very detailed approach provides a perfect fit for the needs of the new league and its stakeholders. We are very confident to have the best partner on our side to develop a new, strong ice hockey property over the next coming years.”

Kalervo Kummola, IIHF Vice President and representative of the international federation within the ECC Board: “In many major European markets, club ice hockey is played on an impressive sportive level and is enjoyed by thousands of committed fans. It is therefore the logical next step to take club ice hockey to another level and go international. We are convinced that the joint forces of clubs, leagues and federations backing the ECC will make this project a boost for the European winter sports landscape.”

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront, said: “Ice hockey is a core element of our company’s DNA and the partnership with the ECC is a key priority for Infront. With Infront’s expertise, experience and strength in innovation we will together, with all stakeholders of the ECC, leave no stones unturned to position this league as one of the strongest and most popular pan-European club competitions — a ‘must have’ for players, fans, and commercial partners.” 

Infront has already entered a partnership with the sportsman media group, collaborating on the media rights exploitation in German speaking territories, for the distribution of certain marketing rights as well as selected specialised services

Optical retailer Visionworks, purchase Official Eyewear Retailer of the PGA TOUR, will activate its sponsorship with Visionworks-branded player health and fitness trailers at this week’s TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Visionworks associates will be on-site during tournament week, providing free vision screenings and eye health information as well as eyewear giveaways. Event goers can stop by the Visionworks expo booth, located in the PGA TOUR Pavilion at the main entrance to the event.

With 15 stores in the Atlanta area, Visionworks considers Atlanta one of its key markets. 

“Providing convenient locations throughout the Atlanta area to best serve its residents is a high priority for Visionworks. We recognize the impact the community makes on our sales and are very grateful for the business,” said Jim Eisen, president of Visionworks.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board recently secured a deal to acquire 39 per cent of motorcycle racing marketer Dorna Sports and a US$400-million financing for Formula One Group, the company behind F1 auto racing.

Andre Bourbonnais, senior vice-president of private investments at CPPIB, said of F1 and Dorna: “These sports generate a premium and command a premium and that’s what really attracted us to that.

“When we started looking into it, what we also saw was very predictable and stable revenues because they are long contracted revenues with the promoters of the races.”

Formula One Group holds the race promotion, broadcasting, advertising and sponsorship rights for the FIA Formula One World Championship.

“In Formula One, your counterparty for the circuit is the Principality of Monaco, you’re pretty sure that they are going to pay you and the broadcasters are all Tier 1 broadcasters,” said Bourbonnais.

Formula One signed a four-year deal earlier this month with NBC Sports Group for the exclusive U.S. media rights.

NBC will carry four races, including the Canadian Grand Prix and the final three races of the season, while the NBC Sports Network will show the other sixteen races.

The financial terms of the equity agreement with Dorna are yet to be disclosed, but the agreement is part of a plan to expand Dorna through its acquisition of another motorcycle series, the FIM World Superbikes Championship.

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) have today announced that they are to continue their partnership with Infront Sports and Media until 2017.

Infront are to continue its in-depth association with the CBA, salve and will continue to commercially develop the CBA League and be involved global sponsorship sales.

Infront will also handle media rights for all league games, aiming to raise awareness of the sport both inside and outside of China. As a result, Infront will continue to be involved in both the CBA League and Team China, with a view to bringing the best out of Chinese basketball.

The current agreement is an extension of the original deal signed in 2005 and has already helped realise the potential of the league. 

During their partnership, the CBA have had its number of sponsors increase from just nine in 2005/6 to twenty-seven in 2011/12, taking advantage of a global wish to be associated with China and its related growing markets. 

Infrontt have helped the marketing of the CBA league to the extent that the cumulative audience has risen by 130% to 725 million last year. Infront will be hoping to continue that work in the next five years, aiming to maintain the positive image of the CBA league while also increasing the quality and distribution of television output of the league. All of this is to ensure that the key priority – raising global awareness of the CBA league to bring in top international brands – is achieved.

Xin Lancheng, Vice President of the CBA, said “Over the past seven years, the CBA League has made significant progress across the board – in terms of the sportive performance, the commercial value and the social impact. Infront has been a key partner in this process and shares the association’s vision regarding the long-term development of the league. We are looking forward to partnering with Infront for the next five years and to further enhancing the league’s profile as well as repaying the fans, society and commercial partners for their consistent support.”

Meanwhile, Philippe Blatter, President and CEO of Infront said, “We are proud of the extension to our successful partnership with the CBA for both, Team China and now also the CBA League. China is a key market for sport and the Infront Group will, in partnership with the CBA, continue to develop and deliver superior value to its key properties for the ultimate benefit of the sport, the clubs, the players, the partners and the fans. With our international expertise and local know-how, we will also continue to pave the way for strong national and international partners to take advantage of an association with China’s top sport.”

Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria says he will appeal against the “unfair” lifetime ban he received from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for spot-fixing.

Kaneria said he is angry at the decision because he thinks there is no evidence against him.

“They (ECB) don’t have any proof against me. I will definitely be doing an appeal,” he said.

“I’m very upset about this decision. For what reason they have convicted me I do not know.”

“It is a very, very unfair decision against me. I’ve come all the way from Pakistan to say the truth. I’ve been playing cricket with passion and love. I have done nothing wrong.”

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The National Football League (NFL) has begun an investigation into a “bounty” scandal which is reverberating across the NFL and threatens to tarnish the lovable image of the New Orleans Saints franchise.

The “bounty scheme” is known for paying players for injuring opponents or knocking them out of the game.

“It’s going to be a huge scandal,” senior Sports Illustrated writer Peter King told CNN. “This will give the NFL a chance to come down on something that’s sort of been a whisper campaign and a shadow story for a long time.”

The NFL said as many as 27 players were paid up to $1,500 for vicious hits that would knock opposing players out of the game or force them to be carried off the football field. Players just injured or “cart-offs” were given $1,000.

According to the NFL, players paid into a “bounty” fund, that reached as high as $50,000 and the Saints’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who is considered the main culprit, delving out the payments based on game performance.

On Monday, NFL security officials continued interviewing coaches and players across the league. According to NFL.com, league security officials met with Williams, who now works as the defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams.

Williams admits carrying out the cash-for-performance scheme.

“It was a terrible mistake,” Williams said in a statement to the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans. “And we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. Instead of getting caught up in it, I should have stopped it.”

Many former players say “bounty” incentive programs have existed in professional football for a long time. Players, who question why this scandal is shocking so many fans, say football is a violent sport built around punishing your opponent.

LaVar Arrington, a former Washington Redskins linebacker, now writes the “Hard Hits” blog for the Washington Post. Arrington said the best players in the history of football have always brought a “seek and destroy mentality” to the game.

“So in a culture where it’s an unwritten part of the game to get the best opposing player out of it, that’s what players have done and still do to this day. The fact that there’s such outrage appears to be a bit strange to me,” Arrington wrote on his blog Monday.

The NFL said the “bounty” program is a clear violation of rules intended to protect “player safety and competitive integrity.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hasn’t announced what kind of disciplinary action the league will take, but it’s clear the punishment could include “fines and suspensions.”

The NFL said that in addition to Williams, sanctions could be brought against New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.

The NFL statement said Payton was not a direct participant but “failed to stop the bounty program” after he was made aware of the allegations.

Saints’ general manager Micky Loomis could face harsh punishment as well. The league statement said Loomis was told by Saints owner Tom Benson to end the program and never followed through. Loomis also “denied any knowledge of a bounty program” according to the league statement.

The “bounty” program investigation is also growing beyond the Saints’ organization. The Washington Post reported the NFL is also investigating the Washington Redskins. Williams coached with the Redskins during 2004-2007 seasons.

And Coy Wire, who played for Williams during his stint with the Buffalo Bills, told CNN he was interviewed by NFL security officials on Monday and questioned about “performance incentive” programs.

Wire said Williams was one of the best coaches he’s ever played for but got carried away and let the Saints’ “bounty” program go too far. Wire is now a motivational speaker and worries about how this scandal will influence young kids learning to play football.

“You want an edge mentally. You want to break your opponent’s will to win. In football the best way to break their will is to break their body,” Wire said. “We really have to figure out where to draw the line and what kind of rules and regulations need to be drawn up to make sure that nothing goes too far anymore so that we can make a safer game for future players.”

by Ismail Uddin

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