Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has blamed the Punjab province government for the cancellation of the Bangladesh’s April tour of Pakistan.

Ashraf said a statement from the Punjab government ended any possibility of Bangladesh touring Pakistan.

“The statement made by the Punjab government was that it was not aware of the Bangladesh team’s tour to Lahore and so how could it provide security damaged the tour,” Ashraf said.

“The statement sent out a wrong message to the outside world and to the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Believe me everything was in place for the series to take place and we had even started printing of tickets for the two matches and other arrangements were also being put into place.”

Ashraf is a member of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party executive council.

Analysts have said his role with the PCB led to the fallout between the board and the Punjab government that is run by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz group.

Bangladesh cancelled short tour to Pakistan when uncertainties arose over statements by the central and Punjab government officials regarding security arrangements.

No test-playing nation has visited Pakistan since a terrorist attackon the Sri Lankan team in March 2009 in Lahore in which 6 police officers and a van driver were killed.

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The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC) says the Rams’ plans to play one home game in London for the next three years violates the team’s stadium lease.

The CVC said that the lease requires the team to play all its home games at the Edward Jones Dome, and was awaiting a response from the team.

The London announcement last week came not far from a Feb. 1 deadline for the CVC to submit its proposal for stadium improvements required in the lease. The team can opt out of the lease after the 2014 season if the stadium is not judged among the top quarter in the NFL.

Rams owner Stan Kroenke is the majority shareholder of the Arsenal soccer team in London.

Discuss the story with former New England Patriots CMO Lou Imbriano: The Wembley Rams

American Football’s National Football League (NFL) secured a victory in its ongoing dispute with the players’ union on Friday as a US appeals court rejected an earlier order from a lower court to lift the lockout.

The ruling was issued shortly after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players’ Association chief DeMaurice Smith opened a second straight day of talks over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The lockout has been in place since March, but there are reports that the biggest remaining obstacles to a new deal are the free agency rules and a disagreement over the rookie wage scale.

The appeals court ruling allows the players’ antitrust lawsuit to move forward, but the court did take issue with the union’s decision to decertify on March 11, a move that cleared the way for players to file their still-pending antitrust lawsuit against the NFL.

In the wake of the court ruling on Friday, both sides on the debate suggested that progress was being made in talks over a new CBA.

A joint statement from the NFL and players’ union said: “While we respect the court’s decision, today’s ruling does not change our mutual recognition that this matter must be resolved through negotiation.”

Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) has completed the acquisition of the parent company of the popular ‘Leaders in Football’ conference, find Executive Sport Ltd (ESL).

London-based CSI was founded by Russian investors Vladimir Antonov and Roman Dubov alongside Chris Akers, a former CEO of Leeds United. The company also recently completed the takeover of North One Sport, the global promoter of the World Rally Championship, Isle of Man TT race series, Velux 5 Oceans Race and Clipper Round the World sailing events.

ESL has attracted more than 1,000 director-level delegates from over 45 countries through its flagship Leaders in Football operation in the past three years. ESL has also branched out into Leaders in Performance and Leaders in Sponsorship, while the annual Leaders in Sport gathering in Spain has also proved popular with industry executives.

James Worrall, the founder and CEO of ESL, stated: “The last three years have been incredibly exciting and rewarding as we have built a number of high level events from scratch under the ‘Leaders in’ brand. I would like to thank my staff for their outstanding work and I am delighted to say that my team will continue our roles under the Convers banner.”

Antonov added: “Convers Sports Initiatives are delighted to acquire a controlling interest in such a young, dynamic company as ESL. We will bring our experience and network to the table to assist ESL to become a truly global brand.” The annual Leaders in Football event will take place at Chelsea FC in London on October 5-6.

American surfer Kelly Slater won’t pick up a long rumoured $US10 million sponsorship bonus for winning a record 10th world surfing title, instead opted to take a stake in the company.

Quiksilver chief executive Bob McKnight revealed his company’s longterm superstar client was given the option of a hefty bonus to reward his ground-breaking achievement, but the 38-year-old American instead opted to take a 3 per cent of the giant surf company – that’s about $US22 million of a  $US740 million business – so is projected to become far richer from that choice than he would have by collecting a lump sum speculated about for so many years.

McKnight said the $US10 million figure was just speculation, although Slater would still receive a seven figure sum from the company for sealing his 10th world title in Puerto Rico last week.

“The answer is no. I think Kelly probably started that rumour by the way! It was meant years ago as a joke and then it just came to life on its own,” said McKnight, who admitted that Quiksilver has grown 10-fold since Slater came on board to endorse its products 20 years ago.

“We talked to Kelly about it. He obviously gets a big bonus … it’s into seven figures.

“We sat down and talked to Kelly about all that ($US10 million). We said ‘do you want us to put the money to something like that or would you rather us to back it with ownership in the company which will make you 10-fold that in years to come?’

“And he said, ‘definitely stock.’

“Everybody asks that question about the $US10 million bonus and I just go, `isn’t it great when you write a big cheque like that and they take half out to taxes immediately?’

“Ownership of the company is a forced savings thing for him and we’re a public company so he can set up for the rest of his life and take care of his family and we think that’s a lot more important than a one time bent-for-hell bonus like that.”

Movie and book deals are also in the works for Slater, and soon he will unveil his Kelly Slater Artificial Wave company project, which has the potential to change the face of surfing.

Slater and McKnight, in conjunction with the University of Southern California, have developed technology which produces a perfect circular artificial wave.

Tokyo based nes agwncy Kyodo News has been unveiled as the national news agency for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

A statement on Kyodo News’ website read: “The International Olympic Committee has appointed Kyodo News as the host national news agency for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the IOC informed Kyodo in a recent letter. 

“It is the second time that Kyodo has been appointed as the host national news agency, following the Nagano Winter Olympic Games in 1998. 

“The IOC has also invited Kyodo to establish a National Olympic Photo Pool, or NOPP, for the Tokyo Olympics, Lawrence F. Probst III, chairman of the IOC Press Commission, said in the letter.”

Allison Melangton will join Hulman Motorsports as senior vice president of events, Hulman & Co. Chief Executive Officer Mark Miles announced today.

Melangton, currently president of the Indiana Sports Corporation (ISC), will be responsible for overall production of major events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including those during the Month of May, the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400, and Verizon IndyCar Series special events, such as the pre-season kickoff and post-season celebration parties.

“The Indiana Sports Corporation has been pivotal to the growth of Indianapolis, as well as the entire state, for decades and Allison’s contributions to that effort have been enormous,” said Miles. “Staging major events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is much more complex than may be apparent. Allison is the best event organizer in the country. We will be very fortunate to have her working with our leadership team to ensure that we meet our aggressive goals for further enhancing the prestige and growth of our events.”

“For more than 20 years, Indiana Sports Corp has been a huge part of my life – professionally and personally,” said Melangton. “At this point in my life, I have decided to make a professional change. My time at the Sports Corp and with the Super Bowl Host Committee has allowed me to work alongside the most talented people in our industry on many of the world’s largest sporting events. I’ll leave Indiana Sports Corp with friendships that will last a lifetime and memories I’ll always cherish. I love all that Indiana Sports Corp does in the community and globally to use sports as a vehicle to enhance quality of life and drive economic impact. At the same time, I’m excited for the opportunity to join Mark Miles and their talented team in executing events at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and for INDYCAR.”

As the president of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, Melangton led what is widely regarded as the most successfully organized Super Bowl in the NFL’s history and one that changed the way the NFL approaches fan involvement. It drew more than 1 million people to downtown Indianapolis, attracted more than 8,000 volunteers, and led to a $154 million investment in the city’s Near Eastside through the Legacy Project.

“Allison is the rare individual who combines keen creative vision and peerless operational expertise,” said Frank Supovitz, president of Fast Traffic Events & Entertainment, who worked closely with Melangton as the NFL’s lead executive for Super Bowl XLVI. “Her collaborative leadership style will rally the organization to achieve greater success in providing a world-class fan experience in both substance and service.”

She will transition to Hulman Motorsports in October and become part of the company’s leadership team.

Hornets Sports & Entertainment announced today that the organization renewed its partnership with Ticketmaster, a division of Live Nation Entertainment, to continue to serve as Charlotte Hornets ticket and ticketing technology partner.

Live Nation will continue to book the entertainment for Time Warner Cable Arena.

Through this multi-year agreement, Hornets Sports & Entertainment will operate its ticketing system for all Time Warner Cable Arena events (Hornets, concerts, family shows, etc.) with Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster will manage the official re-sale marketplace of the Hornets, at NBATickets.com, giving fans the only secure secondary marketplace to purchase verified tickets. Ticketmaster has been responsible for all aspects of the arena’s ticketing systems since 2007.

“We are very pleased to continue with Ticketmaster as our ticketing and event marketing solution provider,” said Hornets President & COO Fred Whitfield. “As the industry leader they have always worked to provide the best, most efficient options for our patrons. With Hornets Sports & Entertainment serving as operators of Time Warner Cable Arena, our goal has always been to attract the highest quality entertainment possible. We believe our partnership with Live Nation will enhance our opportunities to continually secure the premier concerts, family shows and entertainment acts available.”

“We have invested in our platform to deliver industry-leading products and services to our clients and their fans. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Hornets and Time Warner Cable Arena to deliver the most secure and convenient ticket options for fans,” said Cole Gahagan, executive vice presidents of clients, Ticketmaster.

“We have always delivered top talent to the southeast region, and this new partnership is only going to help us grow that footprint in Charlotte, and throughout the Carolinas,” said Mike Evans, president of arenas, Live Nation.