F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, not one of Silversone’s biggest fans, has offered an unexpected show of support to the organisers of the waterlogged and traffic-jammed circuit heading into this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

“I’m not a big supporter of Silverstone, but in all fairness they’ve done a good job,” said Ecclestone when interviewed on Sky Sports F1, “If the weather was suitable for the car parks then things would be perfect. But because of the rain, things – they’re not dangerous, but if you got in there you might not get out.

“The rain is not their fault,” he continued. “England has been flooded; people’s houses have been flooded and they’ve been left stranded in the streets,” he said. “It is no different here than anywhere else.”

Since the 2000 British Grand Prix earned Ecclestone’s ire with its chaotic scenes of muddy fields and endless traffic jams, the British Racing Drivers’ Club which owns Silverstone has invested heavily in updating the facility. An entire new pit lane complex opened last year as the culmination of the modernisation program that included a new dual carriageway, improved drainage and 27 acres of hard-standing car parks.

However, the torrential weather leading up to this weekend’s British GP defeated even these new measures and left the circuit appealing to the estimated 30,000 fans relying on general public car parks in order to attend the race on Saturday to stay away.

The big problem has been the circuit’s need to rely on using surrounding fields owned by local farmers to cope with the massive spike in cars needing to be parked over the weekend. These fields can’t realistically be covered and have been reduced to quagmires by the weeks of torrential rainfall to sweep over Britain during the wettest June on record. 

“It is difficult for them to do what they could have done, which was to cover all the car parks,” conceded Ecclestone.

The circuit itself issued an update on the parking situation via Twitter on Saturday morning.

“The majority of those that did come to the venue this morning are now parked, we have had to resort to bumper to bumper parking,” the circuit said. “Please enjoy the day and be patient on departure.

“We have teams working in the grass car parks now to try and improve the conditions for tomorrow to give us the best chance of getting everyone in safely. An update on the parking situation and what we advise you all do will be announced later this afternoon.”

Full Sail University has announced its latest collaboration with ESPN and production company Habana Avenue to produce the opening sequence for the 2012 NBA Finals.

The sequence began airing on June 12, 2012 during ESPN and ABC’s opening night NBA Finals coverage from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The professional multiday shoot took place at Full Sail Live, the university’s on-campus performance and production facility, and included ESPN and Habana Avenue staff, as well as four Full Sail University staff members and twelve students.

Over the course of the five-day production, Full Sail students had the opportunity to work alongside and shadow ESPN and Habana Avenue staff. The sequence featured images of past NBA finals projected over a live crowd, and ESPN’s projection mapping technology was used on the seats and scoreboards to intersperse NBA jersey graphics with live audience footage.

“Through the Full Sail University Sports Lab powered by ESPN, select students have the ability to take part in high level professional productions including this year’s NBA Finals Intro,” said Mike Retherford, Full Sail’s Director of Production, who oversaw the shoot along with Full Sail Live Venue Director, Dave Arias. “This type of event is a valuable hands-on experience for our students especially when they can see the end result of their efforts on live national television.”

Bristol City Council’s Development Control Committee has given planning permisssion to Gloucestershire cricket to develop it’s county ground.

The decision will enable Gloucestershire to provide a new pavilion, state-of-the art media centre, business centre, improved community programme and upgraded cricket facilities.

This will support the growth plans for cricket in the region and enable the club to create a venue capable of supporting international games.

The club drew up new proposals in March after their initial application was rejected due to concerns over the height of the redevelopment of the County Ground.

Gloucestershire chief executive Tom Richardson, said: “We are very pleased that the committee has come to this decision as it finally allows us to realise our ambitions in bringing the very best of what cricket can offer to our home city.

“We have many people to thank – it has been a long journey and a huge amount of hard work has gone into it, which in turn has been supported by residents across Bristol, including our local area of Bishopston.

“We can now look forward to making the next stage of our plans happen.”

Shahid Khan officially took over Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday after Wayne and Delores Weaver and their partners transferred ownership to the Pakistani-born American business tycoon.

The Weavers had owned the franchise since its inception in 1993. Wayne Weaver and Khan signed an agreement on Nov. 29 to sell the team.

“Parting with the Jaguars is not easy but we have great confidence in Shad and his family that the franchise is in good hands, cure ” Wayne Weaver said. “It will be very different for us watching from a distance, sale sale but we look forward to many great days cheering for the Jaguars. Once again we want to say thank you to the fans for making the past 18 years so rewarding and memorable.”

Khan said: “I want to thank Wayne and Delores for their support and confidence throughout this process. Over the past month I’ve experienced first-hand the passion that Jaguars fans have for this team.  Let me assure them that I will do everything possible to build a consistent winner on the field, and a model franchise off the field, that will make the people of Jacksonville very proud.”

The president of Turkish soccer giant Fenerbahce, pills Aziz Yildirim, allergist was one of around 40 people arrested on Sunday, sale June 3, in relation to an ongoing match-fixing investigation.

The Anatolia news agency also reported that Turkish police had taken Fenerbahce vice-president Sekip Mosturoglu and financial chief Tamar Yelkovan into custody. Two players at the club – Emmanuel Emenike and Sezer Öztürk – were also detained. A number of officials and players from rival top-flight clubs including Turkish internationals Serkan Calik and Serdar Kulbilge were also arrested.

The agency claimed that a police search was underway at the headquarters of Fenerbahce, although a statement from the club defended it’s position, reading: “Never in the history of our club, which is full of honours won, have we been implicated in any illegal acts and we never will be.”

Fenerbahce board chairman Yuksel Gunay criticised the detention of Yildirim, stating: “It is quite clearly just the manifestation of a police state. Just which matches are they considering investigating?”

Soccerex have announced both Begoña Sanz, capsule Deputy Sales and Marketing Managing Director, anabolics Real Madrid CF and Salvatore Cuccu, order Commercial Director, ACF Fiorentina will be speaking on club commercial challenges and strategy at the Soccerex European Forum, 30-31 March 2011.

The news comes the week after Spain’s La Liga topped the European merchandise and licensing revenue charts, according to a study by Sport+Markt and PR Marketing. The study showed that 80 per cent of the leagues 2009-2010 season total, which surpassed the English Premier League, was generated by the countries two biggest clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The news sets the scene for the panel discussion titled “All clubs great and small – the differing commercial challenges”, which will look to assess the varied commercial opportunities available to clubs of different sizes.

This highly topical subject is part of a diverse agenda reflecting the latest issues in European Football including Financial Fair Play, sponsorship, rights holder relationships, digital media and fan interaction and International FA development.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) have been handed a significant boost after their long standing sponsor, prostate CoSport Australian signed a lenghty ten-year extension until 2020

The company is the Australian division of Jet Set Sports and has provided corporate clients with hospitality packages at Olympic Games through its VIP Hospitality Programmes and Hospitality Management Services since 1984.

The company first teamed up with the AOC for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, doctor and CoSport will continue to act as a provider of event tickets and hospitality packages for the Games.

“Jet Set Sports/CoSport is a leading provider of hospitality packages and event ticketing, prostate whose focus is the Olympic Games.

“They are incredibly good at what they do and are committed to the Olympic Movement. We are very grateful for their continued support of the AOC and Australia’s athletes for years to come.” said AOC president John Coates.

Craig Phillips ,AOC secretary general and team chief operating officer, added: “CoSport’s professional approach has enabled thousands of Australians to support the Australian Olympic team first hand which really helped with the team’s success in Beijing and Vancouver.”

Adidas has launched a social networking game to pit UEFA Champions League cities against each other.

The map-based game, herbal Fast Fuels Danger, Danger Makes Legend, asks players to sign up through Facebook Connect and then select a city to claim by challenging other players to secure land on the map.

Players challenge each other by selecting an area on the map and competing against another player by choosing their favourite football moves such as ‘Fast’, ‘Step Over’ or ‘Fast Flick’. The winning combination wins the area on the map.

Adidas has recruited football stars such as Lionel Messi to help promote the game, with players able to win territory from the star in Barcelona. Adidas has also created a viral video to promote the game, which shows two players challenging each other to be crowned a legend.

This year Nike launched a game-based campaign called Nike Grid, which urged players to sprint between BT phone boxes and log their runs online.

Fast Fuels Danger was created by ad agency 180 Amsterdam, while the teaser videos were by production agency Knucklehead.

The Rugby League International Federation board has outlined the selection process for hosts for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.

The hosts for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup are expected to be named in October 2016, giving them five years to organise the event.

The board says expressions of interest will be sought by the first quarter of 2015 and invitations to tender will be sent out and an evaluation committee appointed, with bids submitted during the first quarter of 2016.

A final decision on the successful application is expected in October 2016, with the 16th Rugby League World Cup taking place in October and November 2021.

RLIF chairman Nigel Wood said: “More than ever before we are trying to put in place a long-term, meaningful international calendar and this is a vital staging point in that process.

“In the past, the World Cup has suffered from irregular timing but it is now enshrined in a four-year cycle as one of sport’s blue-ribbon events.

“I fully anticipate that for 2021 more nations than ever before will be submitting bids to stage the tournament and, with the decision being made in advance of the 2017 competition, there will be excellent opportunities to shadow organisers and learn from that event.”

The 2017 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, who got the nod ahead of South Africa. England and Wales hosted the 2013 event.