Luca Rossetti, has praised his sponsors following his Turkish Rally Championship victory

The three times European Rally Champion and former Italian champion, won on Sunday the Yesil Bursa Rallisi, the last round of the Turkish Rally Championship.

With this victory, Luca Rossetti and his co-driver Matteo Chiarcossi have won the 2012 Turkish Rally Championship. With their Skoda Fabia S2000 from Pegasus Racing – Skoda Turkey – Yuce Auto, they obtained the fourth victory of the season in the Turkish National Championship, a series consisting of 7 races.

Luca’s sports marketing partner, United Business were proud of their involvemnet in his success.

Luca Rossetti, said: “A big thank you for the title of 2012 Turkish Rally Champion must go to all the advertising partners who have accompanied us during the season, this success came also thanks to them and to the work of the team that gave me a performing and reliable car.”

“This title has a very special meaning for me, to win in a country like Turkey where I have many friends and fans is beautiful. I am aware that I would not have been successful had I not had the support of Pegasus Racing – Skoda Turkey – Yuce Auto and Pirelli tyres which were very  performing at all times and in all race conditions.”

“When at the beginning of the year we were offered to take part in the Turkish championship with Skoda – said Pier Liberali of United Business – we had no doubt in giving an affirmative answer, we knew that for Rossetti all was new, but we also knew that for him, although difficult it was not an obstacle nor a problem to tackle rallies never seen previuosly, he is used to it and has raced and won all around  Europe, often competing in a race for the first time. For my company an unforgettable moment was  Ypres Rally, where Luca won on his debut. He is a professional driver, very fast, solid and constant, we all had great trust and once again he did not disappoint us, the goal was to win and Luca and Matteo reached it.”

Rosetti sponsors include: Yuce Cars, Pirelli, Mobiltrust, Di Vita, Omnia New Energy, Damaplast, Go Turkey, OMP, Skoda Rally Team Italia and TcHealth. 

Motprsport governing body, FIA, is keen to establish a series of cost control measures for F1, with teams been given until the end of the month to vote on plans to bring new measures into play.

The governing body made the announcement following the latest meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, where the FIA ‘reiterated its intention to make motor sport more affordable in all categories’.

With concerns about rising costs, the FIA and teams will hope to finalise an agreement reduce the expenditure required to compete in the sport, with the governing body they overseeing the policing of any agreement made.

“At their request, the FIA is having active discussions with teams regarding cost control and any amendments to the technical regulations resulting from a further limit on expenditure on the chassis will be submitted to the WMSC via a fax vote before 30 June,” a statement from the FIA read. “The intention is to help all teams participate in the Championship in a fair and equal manner.”

The FIA also confirmed that the deadline for entries for the 2013 season has been put back to September to allow negotiations regarding a new Concorde Agreement to be concluded.

“Constructive Concorde Agreement discussions are on-going between the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder, with the intention of finalising an agreement in the coming weeks,” the FIA revealed. “It was also decided that the deadline for the closing of entries be deferred to 30 September.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are searching for a new venue for their limited overs series against Australia in August after Sri Lanka dropped plans to play host.

In March Sri Lanka had agreed in principle to put on three one-day internationals and three Twenty20s, but the series now clashes with the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).

A deal signed this week by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed the SLPL will go ahead for the first time after the proposed 2011 edition was postponed.

Subhan Ahmed, Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief operating officer, said: “It’s disappointing. Initially Sri Lanka Cricket offered to host the series and we stopped negotiating with others.

“We were trying to finalise the Australia series in Sri Lanka but due to their Premier League which is to be held in August directly clashing with our plan, we have to find another venue.”

Nishantha Ranatunga, the secretary of SLC, said: “We will not have enough grounds and facilities with the SLPL being played. That is one reason. Also, if we are playing too much cricket, the wickets will not be in good condition for the World T20 in September.”

Following Sri Lanka’s announcement  the PCB have started negotiations with other countries about hosting the series, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia.

Ahmed confirmed: “We are looking for other venues and hope to finalise it soon.”

In an effort to ignite women’s sports in the country the first ever Qatar Women’s Basketball League has been created in 2020 bid city Doha with 10 teams fighting for the chance to become national champions.

The Qatar Women’s Basketball League is a six-week event taking place at the state-of-the-art Aspire Academy of Sports Excellence in Doha and involves series of teams battling it out in group games to the final cut May 24th. The competition finals will take place on June 2nd to decide the national winners.

Doha 2020 CEO, Noora Al Mannai, said, “It is great to see the establishment of the Qatar Women’s Basketball League and that so many women of all ages are showing the passion to participate in sport.

“National sporting competitions such as this league highlight that there is a great interest in Qatar to play sport and we are delighted to be able to create these new sporting opportunities for women.

“The female athletes competing in the league are wonderful role models for young people and we can show that sport can help break down barriers, empower women and promote healthy and active lifestyles. I wish all the athletes competing in the event the best of luck and I hope one day they can realise their dreams to play at an Olympic Games in front of cheering fans in their home city of Doha.”

Ahlam Salem M. Al-Mana, head of the Qatar Women’s Sport Committee, added: “We are very pleased to launch the first-ever Qatar Women’s Basketball League and we want to ensure that this event becomes an annual fixture in the nation’s ever expanding sports events calendar.

“Following Qatar’s participation in the women’s basketball competition at the 2011 Arab Games in Doha, the Qatar Women’s Basketball League reaffirms the nation’s commitment to developing women’s sport across the country.

“The athletes competing in this event will provide inspiration to many more young girls in Qatar and throughout the Arab region. With the progress we are making in the development of women’s sport in Qatar, we are confident that this latest initiative will help a new generation of female athletes compete at an international level and ultimately become Olympians in many sporting disciplines.”

Qatar this year will send the first female athletes to the Games and is in the process of fostering their participation.

Doha is in the bidding against Baku, Istanbul, Madrid, and Tokyo to host the 2020 Games. The final decision will be taken on September 7th of 2013 at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

by Ismail Uddin

The NFL are considering on implementing a new tactic of only partnering with British brands as it looks to triple its UK fanbase leading to a London-based franchise being introduced.

The organisation already has several UK-exclusive sponsors, anesthetist including Virgin Atlantic, for sale Chrysler and Best Buy, although Alistair Kirkwood, the NFL’s UK managing director, believes the sport would also hope to attract more partnerships with “quintessentially British brands” to boost engagement.

Kirkwood says the league aims to become “engrained” in the British sporting landscape, like popular British sports football and rugby, by 2016.

He adds: “In the first four to five years we were making sure we could pull the [Wembley] games off operationally, that teams and coaches didn’t feel at a disadvantage and that fans could get used to the experience and fit that into their sporting calendar. Over the next five years we are looking to become more engrained in the British sporting landscape.”

Marc Armstrong, NFL UK’s commercial director, added: “Partners that use the NFL as a season-long engagement tool [through ticket promotions and digital activity, for example] are far more valuable than a big cheque alone.”

Sunday’s (23 October) NFL game between the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the fifth annual event at Wembley stadium, was the second most watched event on Sky Sports that day, only behind English Premier League football, according to overnight BARB figures.

The league’s season-long television ratings on Channel 4 and Sky Sports are up 20% year on year, which led to its owners recently committing to continue playing regular season games in the UK until 2016, meaning there could be two or more events a year.

The NFL is also considering forming a London-based team in the next three to four years that would play weekly in the US league, which would help increase UK interest and encourage further participation in the game. Currently there are only about five players from the UK registered with the NFL.

The brand will be further extended in the UK in 2012 through merchandise partnerships with Nike and New Era.

Estranged wife of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank, Jamie McCourt has asked a court to order the sale of the beleaguered Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise.

The couple have gone through a very public divorce since Frank sacked Jamie McCourt from her role as CEO of the Dodgers and the latter’s request has come less than a month after MLB commissioner Bud Selig appointed former Texas Rangers president Tom Schieffer to oversee the Dodger’s operations after serious doubts were raised about the financial predicament of the franchise.

Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon, who presided over the divorce of Jamie and Frank McCourt, set a June 22 date to hear arguments about why he should order the sale of the Dodgers.

Jamie McCourt stated: “As I’ve said all along, my goal is to resolve this situation for my family in a way that also advances the best interests of the Dodgers fans, players and franchise. This motion will hopefully provide some momentum in the right direction.”

According to The Associated Press, MLB officials believe the Dodgers do not have enough money to fulfil the team’s May 31 player payroll, though a representative of Frank McCourt has insisted his client has no intention of offloading the franchise.

A confirmation has been made by the SportAccord Convention that its 2011 City Forum in London will take place on April 5 in the Debating Chamber of London’s County Hall.

The annual gathering for registered SportAccord Convention delegates will explore how to avoid ‘white elephants’ and whether emerging markets are really ready to host sporting events. There will also be a session on bringing sports events to city centres, with a case study on Big Air Snowboarding.

H.E. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, secretary general of the Qatar National Olympic Committee, Olympic Park Legacy Company CEO Andy Altman and FIFA competitions director Inaki Alvarez will speak at the City Forum. Populous senior principal Jerry Anderson, Architecture for Humanity executive director Cameron Sinclair and Spyros Capralos, the chairman of the Athens Stock Exchange who served as the executive director of the Athens 2004 Olympics, will also take part.