Pakistan Cricket Board has welcomed an inivtation from The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) for a Pakistani team to play in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament this year.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmed, said: “We feel it’s a significant and positive development. We had been in touch with the BCCI over the participation of a Pakistan team and hope that this step could lead to a revival of Indo-Pak cricketing ties.”

The tournament is contested by teams from India, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa and England. To date, no Pakistani teams have competed. The Sialkot Stallions were supposed to compete in the competition in 2009 but the plans collapsed after the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.   

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The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) has revealed it is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

According to Bloomberg News union executive director Billy Hunter was alerted by subpoena Wednesday of the investigation into their business practices.

“The NBPA will cooperate fully with the government’s investigation,” the union said in a statement.

Carly Sullivan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, said: “We have no comment. We don’t confirm or deny investigations.”

Just last week, the union’s executive committee voted 8-0 to oust union president Derek Fisher, who demanded a review of business practices even though an audit was conducted in February.

Fisher wasn’t specific about his issues with Hunter, who has several family members on the union’s payroll and working for companies for which the union outsources contract work. He has said he wants an independent review and “a firm of the players’ choosing may conduct the review.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder guard had this to say exactly a week ago after a shootaround:

“Anyone or any group who questions my intentions in any decisions I’ve ever made that I felt were best for our players I think needs to step back for a moment and ask themselves this: Why would I try and ask certain questions and call into review the association that I’m the president of unless I thought there were some serious questions that needed to be answered, things that I, as president, aren’t satisfied with?”

A joint study conducted by the National College Players Association (NCPA) and the Drexel Department of Sport Management found that TV revenues from five major athletic conferences and the NCAA average approximately $784 million per year in new annual revenues. They go on to conclude revenues from televised college football total nearly $2 billion a year.

The study, salve entitled “TV Money Windfall in Big Time College Sports”, viagra pills can be found on the NCPA website. As co-author Dr. Staurowsky explains the study was to address potential scholarship shortfalls in college athletics, ed

In explaining the purpose of the study, Drexel University professor Dr. Ellen J. Staurowsky noted, “During the past few months, proposals to address the scholarship shortfall have prompted questions regarding how such proposals would be funded. With this influx of new money, we argue that this is the time for college presidents, conference commissioners, and athletics administrators to make covering the full cost of attendance a budget priority.”

So, what is done with the $780+ million in new revenue? According to the study, trends indicate that colleges will likely spend the revenue on athletic facilities, and salary increases for coaches and athletic directors.

The study is released on the heels of various NCAA proposals which look to decrease roster sizes, potentially eliminating nearly 1500 scholarships in Division I college football and basketball.

Ramogi Huma, NCPA President and co-author of the study, stated, “It is inconceivable to me that the NCAA and its colleges are considering eliminating over 1500 educational opportunities while enjoying $784 million in new annual revenues that, thanks to their ‘educational mission’, they will receive tax free.” (via Press Release)

The NCPA, which was created in 2001, currently has over 14,000 members from over 150 Division I schools. They work as an advocacy group for college athletes across the nation.

A probe has begun centering around Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal who is suspected by FIFA of fixing internationals involving African and Asian national teams.

Perumal is now alleged to have offered seven Zambian players in the Finnish football league and the individuals have gone on trial in a match-fixing investigation

Prosecutors say Perumal offered the players bribes of US$682, ambulance 000 to fix games in a scam that targeted Rovaniemi Palloseura (RoPs) while he is also accused of trying to bribe players at two other Finnish clubs.

Perumal, cialis who was arrested in February and has previously tried to flee, was guarded by two police officers as the charges were read in the Lapland District Court.

FIFA believes Perumal organized an infamous match last September, sending a fake Togo team to Bahrain for a friendly that the hosts won 3-0 and he also has links to fixing involving Zimbabwe national team matches played in the Far East.

The accused RoPs players – which also include two Georgians – were charged with accepting bribes to affect the outcome of matches and in cases where the desired result was not achieved, the money was paid back to Perumal, according to the charges.

The club have fired the players after the investigation started and are set to review its policy of bringing in players from Zambia, a trait that has been going for over 15 years.

“We will try to build the team first and foremost from Rovaniemi footballers, then players from Lapland and after that from the rest of Finland,” said managing director Antti Hietakangas.

Soccerex, anesthetist the global leader for the business of football, is once again leading the way in opening up new frontiers with the announcement that they are to hold a new event, the Soccerex Russian Summit on 23^rd -24^th June 2011, in Moscow.

The event will be held in association with leading international communications company, Eventica, at the magnificent Ritz Carlton Hotel, overlooking Red Square and the Kremlin.

With a limited capacity of 400 at the venue, the Summit will provide a highly exclusive networking environment and offer the worldwide football industry a first look at the burgeoning Russian market and the varied business opportunities in this prosperous territory, ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

European football’s governing body Uefa has announced that sales of the corporate hospitality programme for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine will be handled internally.

Its newly-created subsidiary Uefa Events SA will have full responsibility for the sales, which will start in Spring 2011.

Uefa said it came to the decision “after a thorough analysis of the market, based on a survey conducted in both host countries and a tender process that saw the responses of several well-known agencies”.

CEO of Uefa Events SA, David Taylor, said: “A high level corporate hospitality programme has become an important feature of recent Euro final tournaments.

“I am pleased that Uefa Events SA can take on direct responsibility for all corporate hospitality sales for Euro 2012. This emphasises the official nature of the programme and the commitment of Uefa to make Euro 2012 a football and commercial success.”

Earlier this summer Uefa announced the appointment of Austrian-based company DO & CO to implement hospitality and catering services at Euro 2012.

The International University Sports Federation (FISU) has officially launched the bidding procedure for the 2021 Winter and Summer Universiades.

The FISU Member Associations interested in bidding for the 30^th Winter Universiade 2021 or the 31^st Summer Universiade 2021 have time to send in their application until 1 March 2015. The Universiade is attributed six year ahead of schedule to give its host plenty of time to prepare for this major multi-sport event.

By March 1, 2015 the bidders are expected to have submitted the form and payment of bidding fee. From 1 April to 30 September there wil be Working sessions and Observers’ programme which will lead to a submission of a bidding book by interested parties. 

USA Canoe/Kayak are searching for a new Chief Executive Officer after current CEO Joe Jacobi revealed he will step down from his position later this year.

“I gave deep consideration in making this decision and remain firmly committed to a strong and healthy USA Canoe/Kayak anchored in Oklahoma City,” said Jacobi.

“But there are important calls to both my personal life and professional endeavors about which I am excited to pursue, including projects and initiatives that directly and indirectly support USA Canoe/Kayak’s mission. The goal is not to leave, but to create space in order to contribute more to national and international paddlesports objectives.” 

“Joe and I have worked closely together over the last 3 years and I can honestly say that he was always positive, earnest, professional and most importantly had USA Canoe/Kayak’s interest first and foremost,” said Bob Lally, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “This announced transition comes at a time when USA Canoe/Kayak has a coordinated and seasoned staff, a strong, and diverse board of directors, and our enterprise is exceptionally well positioned strategically. I have full faith the candidate we select will be well qualified, have a demonstrated track record of success and will lead USA Canoe/Kayak to continued growth and development.” 

Jacobi, a 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist in Canoe Slalom, took the helm of USA Canoe Kayak in 2009 facing challenges of a stagnant sport, diminishing USOC investment and low visibility at its Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters. Since then, Jacobi oversaw the move to the current headquarters in Oklahoma City, a more vibrant city and one that nobody would have expected to be a center for paddlesports. But Oklahoma City’s community chemistry made for a perfect match in developing the vitality of high performance paddlesports. 

Jacobi worked diligently with USA Canoe/Kayak’s Board to streamline the leadership and governance structure of the organization. And as leader, he and his small, hardworking office and coaching staff generated substantial “do more with less” outputs, never accepting failure as an option. 

“Working with minimal resources, our Board and staff came together to create a spirit of ‘we can/we will,'” said Jacobi. “Our athletes, coaches, clubs and programs who stepped up and took action, helped us move the needle towards better results, a more diverse organization and alignment with our mission as well as the mission of the United States Olympic Committee.”