Milan’s world-famous Stadio Giuseppe Meazza San Siro will host the Heineken Cup final in 2015.

The Board of the European Rugby Cup (ERC) has confirmed the iconic 80,000-capacity stadium as the venue for the 2015 final of the world’s most competitive club rugby tournament provided agreement on a new European club rugby Accord for the 2014/15 season and beyond can be reached.

Speaking at the event, the President of the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR), Alfredo Gavazzi, said: “We are especially proud that a Heineken Cup final could be staged in Italy as this is a tournament which plays a key role in the continued development of our top clubs, and which also is critical for the progress of our national team.”

The possible event may be halted after Anglo-French team revealed they would create a breakaway league called the Rugby Champions Cup.

Addressing the issue of the current negotiations towards the formulation of a new Accord, Gavazzi added: “Regarding the future, I do not believe that an Anglo-French competition would be in any way suitable. The six unions have stated that they wish to keep the Heineken Cup and they are absolutely united on this point of view.

“The Italian Federation also believes that it is crucial to keep four of our clubs in the Amlin Challenge Cup to allow our young players to develop. Overall, I am confident that an agreement can be reached.”

ERC Chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux, said: “We in are in a difficult period for European club rugby, and I too hope that a solution can be found and then we can look forward to 2015 and a celebration of 20 years of European club rugby in Milan. It would be a shame if Italian rugby lost such a major opportunity to promote the game in their country.”

Protective Life Insurance Company has announced it has activated its sponsorship of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team with their new Ultimate Fan Experience sweepstakes.

The new marketing campaign featured four tickets to the Alabama versus LSU football game on Nov. 9, symptoms the sweepstakes also includes four pre-game sideline passes, pills hospitality passes and University of Alabama fan packs.

“In celebration of our second year of sponsorship of the National Champion Crimson Tide football team, we wanted to give fans the opportunity to get up close at one of the most exciting games of the year,” said John D. Johns, chairman, president and CEO of Protective. “For two years running, the Alabama versus LSU game has been a key game in the run up to the SEC Championship, and ultimately the National Championship. We’re confident this will be the ultimate fan experience for anyone who loves Alabama football.”

The sweepstakes, which began Aug. 26 and runs through Oct. 13, can be entered by visiting and ‘liking’ Protective’s Facebook page, then completing the sweepstakes entry form.

Johns said, “Protective’s brand promise is ‘Protect Tomorrow, Embrace Today.’ And while we are passionate about helping our customers protect their family’s tomorrows, we can think of no better way to embrace today than a Fall football Saturday and our Ultimate Fan Experience.”

The SPEED EuroSeries will be one of the WTCC support races in three events during the 2013 season: at Monza, medic Slovakia Ring and Salzburgring.

The agreement signed between the promoter companies – Eurosport Events (WTCC) and World Sportscar Organisation SPEEDEuroSeries) – marks the start of a long term relationship with future broadcast opportunities discussed.

An official international series since the start of 2012, ed viagra the SPEEDEuroSeries is based on the FIA’s CN sports prototype race formula and benefits from important support from Honda Motor Europe which manufacturers the racing engines.

Jean-Louis Dauger, Eurosport Events Director of Operations: “We are delighted to welcome the SPEED EuroSeries in three WTCC events. It is a professional championship, very well organised and delivering exciting competition on the track. It suits very well our aim to offer motorsport fans a variegated and competitive range of different categories at our race meetings.”

Oli McCrudden, SPEED EuroSeries Organiser: “The potential in the CN sports prototype formula is immense; over 400 chassis have been built by manufacturers over the last decade and the quality of the engineering is superb. The chassis are excellent race machines which test drivers and develop talent at limited cost. By racing at the WTCC events in 2013 we are taking SPEED to a higher level and, in establishing the important relationship with a major international motorsport broadcaster such as Eurosport, we are taking another step towards creating an achievable global race formula.”

The SPEED EuroSeries will run in a 2-hour race at Monza and in two 90-minute races at both Slovakia Ring and Salzburgring.

FIA official Charlie Whiting declared Austin’s new Circuit of the Americas ready to host its inaugural US grand prix in November.

“Everything I’ve seen has been absolutely first class,” Whiting is quoted by the Austin American Statesman newspaper. “Progress since last time I was here has been amazing.”

Asked how the F1 world will react to the venue, he said: “I think they’ll all be really stunned.”

Walking the entire layout on Tuesday, it was Whiting’s third inspection of the Austin venue, with the last to take place on the Monday before the race.

“It’s not supposed to be totally ready now,” he explained, “but we can see quite clearly that it will be (ready) without any problem at all.”

He said the best feature of the layout is turn 1; a sharp corner after a steep climb.

“Awesome is the only word I can find to describe it. Drivers and teams alike coming here for the first time are saying the same thing,” said Whiting.

Industry insiders say Li Ning will spend between 1.5 and 2 billion RMB (us $235m to $315m) sponsoring the China Basketball Association (CBA).

The company announced in Juneit would renew its sponsorship for five years and that it was impressed by the sports “massive market capacity”.

Some insiders have said the deal is structured so that Li Ning will provide 50 million RMB ($7.9m) in equipment and other contra and 250 million RMB ($39m) in cash each year. Others say the deal is a one-off 2 billion RMB ($315m) payment.

Analysts have said that deal is ten times than what the previous CBA apparel partner, store Anta, paid in 2009.{jcomments on}

The Sri Lanka Cricket board (SLC) has opened the floor for invitations to bid for their Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) franchises, a statement said on Monday.

The SLC said it will lease out seven teams for a period of seven years and has set in motion the process of identifying franchises for the Sri Lanka Premier League. Bids are invited for the T20 league which has been formed on the lines of cash rich Indian Premier League.

The last day to submit bids is 25 June, while the names of successful bidders will be announced the same day. Interested entities can bid for a maximum of three franchises.

The first edition of SLPL Twenty20 will feature seven provincial teams who will play a total of 24 matches at two venues Colombo and Pallekele. The SLPL will be played from 10-31 August before the ICC Twenty20 World Cup which will be held in Sri Lanka.

Each team will be allowed to have only 18 players in their squad with a compulsory ruling of no more than six overseas players in each squad.

However, teams can field only four overseas players in the playing eleven, while the remaining seven players will be Sri Lankan’s with one player mandatorily being an under-21 cricketer.

The players will be selected through draft process with players being divided into two groups. The first group will consist of players from Sri Lanka while the second group will include foreign players.

It was the Indian cricket board’s reluctance to allow Indian players in the SLPL that led to the postponement of the league last year.

However, the SLC has made it clear that it will go ahead with the league even without Indian players. “We will go ahead with the tournament with or without Indian players,” SLC Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said.

The Sri Lankan board has got the commitment of most full member countries, who have committed to release their players for the tournament, he added.

Somerset Entertainment Ventures is commercial rights holder for the tournament.

All the matches of SLPL will be televised live by Carlton Sports in Sri Lanka. CSN is owned by family members of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa which has caused a stur in the country. 

The much maligned Pro Bowl, NFL’s answer to an allstar game is in jeopardy after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said changes had to be made to the event, even dropping the game altogether.

The comments came about after Goodell was dissapointed by the quality displayed at the event. The event has always been considered an exhibition but the lack of interest from fans brought on from the lacklustre efforts of the players in the game has started to concern the NFL.

Even the introduction of tweeting during the game failed to spark enough interest to satisfy the NFL chiefs.

Speaking on ESPN Radio, Goodell says this year’s Pro Bowl wasn’t “the kind of football we want to be demonstrating to our fans, and you heard it from the fans, the fans were actively booing in the stands.”

Goodell made his remarks on Sunday, hours before the start of the Super Bowl.

Goodell has spoken to the NFL Players Association about his disappointment, adding, “We are going to either have to improve the quality of what we are doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes, or even consider eliminating the game if that is the kind of quality of game we are going to provide.”

The AFC won this years game 59-41.

Jerome Valcke, general secretary of world soccer’s governing body FIFA, has confirmed he will attend this year’s Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, running from November 26-30.

The event will be the second to be held in Rio after last year’s inaugural event in the city, which will host the 2016 Olympics as well as games during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Representatives from all 12 Brazilian 2014 World Cup host cities will be in attendance, as well as leading clubs and rights holders from across the globe.

Valcke stated: “I have attended many Soccerex events in several different countries. I have heard that the move to Rio was a great success and I look forward to meeting my friends and colleagues from across the industry at Soccerex in Brazil this year.”