The FEI (International Federation of Equestrian Sports) has revealed six European candidates will vie for the presidency of the FEI in December.

The election will end a 60-year run of royal leadership of the world governing body for horse sport after Princess Haya bint Al Hussein revealed her intention to step down from the role at the end of her term.

The FEI today released the final list of candidates, story following the September 1 deadline for nominations.

They are, in order of the filing of their nominations: Pierre Genecand, of Switzerland; Ulf Helgstrand, of Denmark; John McEwen, of Britain; Javier Revuelta del Peral, of Spain; Pierre Durand, of France; and Ingmar De Vos, of Belgium.

Brief intro to candidates:

-Pierre Genecand, 64, is proposed by the Swiss Equestrian Federation. A businessman, banker and insurance broker by profession, Genecand served as president of the Geneva International Horse Show from 1989 to 2003.

–Ulf Helgstrand, 63, is proposed by the Danish Equestrian Federation. A medical doctor by profession, Helgstrand is a professor of vascular surgery. He has served as President of the Danish Equestrian Federation since 2003.

–John McEwen, 69, is proposed by the British Equestrian Federation. A qualified veterinary surgeon with wide international experience, McEwen served as veterinary surgeon to the British Show Jumping and Dressage Teams until the London 2012 Olympic Games. He was vice chairman of the FEI Veterinary Committee from 1999 to 2003 and has been the Committee’s chair since 2006.

–Javier Revuelta del Peral, 57, is proposed by the Spanish Equestrian Federation. Revuelta is a lawyer and attorney at law for the Spanish government. He has held senior management positions at various Spanish and international companies in the telecommunications, media, food, financial, and renewable energy industries.

–Pierre Durand, 59, is proposed by the French Equestrian Federation. Durand holds a degree in business law, is a former professional rider and wine grower. He was Olympic Jumping champion at the 1988 Seoul Games with the 13-year old gelding Jappeloup. He also competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and became European Jumping champion in 1987.

–Ingmar De Vos, 51, is proposed by the Belgian Equestrian Federation. De Vos holds degrees in political science, business administration and international and European law and started his career as an advisor to the Belgian Senate

The election is set to take place on December 14 during the FEI General Assembly in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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English Championship club Middlesbrough FC have announced today a partnership with Pelican Procurement Services to undertake a review of its food-related procurement, thumb with a view of creating annualised savings of £30, link 000.

Via a supplier retendering process, medstore Pelican has already achieved a 10% saving for the club’s Food Wholesale category, with further work now underway to review a range of additional categories.

Following a competitive pitch, Pelican was awarded the contract to manage Middlesbrough Football Club’s food-related purchasing for its Riverside Stadium facilities and its Rockliffe Park training ground.

This includes overseeing supplier tendering, product sourcing, pricing negotiations to centralising supplier invoicing and payments.

Mark Ellis, Chief Operating Officer for Middlesbrough Football Club said: “As a club, we host on average 25 football games per year, which brings crowds of around 16,000 on the concourses, in addition to serving around 700 meals in the hospitality areas.

“Our chefs are responsible for creating menus for the varying events, however I felt it was time to bring in a procurement specialist to help not only reduce our food costs, but decrease the time our chefs spend on purchasing and administration.

“We selected Pelican for a number of reasons: the cost savings were clear and we are aiming to save at least 12% across all our food purchases over the course of the next 12 months. In addition, Pelican offered the most transparency, simpler terms and from our chefs’ perspectives, they trusted Pelican to deliver the products they want, when they want.”

As part of the partnership, Middlesbrough Football Club is adopting Pelican’s Purchasing Intelligence (Pi) online portal, which is a cloud-based procurement solution that is designed to provide complete visibility, management and control over purchasing spend, budgets, stock valuation and supplier invoices.

Shabaz Mohammed, Managing Director of Pelican Procurement Services said: “We are delighted to be working with Middlesbrough Football Club to manage its food-related procurement.

“Our comprehensive service enables the Club to completely outsource its purchasing requirements to us for its main Riverside Stadium facilities and also its training ground, Rockliffe Park,” Shabaz added.

“We pride ourselves on delivering a fully transparent, highly professional service and the team looks forward to creating both financial savings and operational efficiencies for Middlesbrough Football Club.”

The former host of the opening and closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, ANZ stadium is set to undergo a a major revamp.

In a $250 million dollar plan announced by the local Government, the stadium will recieve a retractable roof as well as updates to other areas of the ground. The move comes as the Australian Government look to improve the current state of Sydney’s Olympic Park.

Daryl Kerry, the managing director of ANZ Stadium, said weather-proofing the stadium was vital so that it continued to attract world-class sporting and entertainment events.

This month the stadium will not only host the Wallabies and British and Irish Lions decider but the third State of Origin clash and a showdown between Manchester United and the A-League All Stars.

“If we work hard with government and the stakeholders to bring this masterplan to reality, NSW will continue to lead the way in attracting world-class sporting and entertainment events,” Mr Kerry said in a statement.

“Putting a roof on the stadium will weather-proof the major events going forward, while moving stands north and south will create an even more dramatic atmosphere for the football codes that prefer a true rectangular field.

“Everyone who has watched the Sydney Olympic Park precinct grow as a destination since the 2000 Olympic Games should be excited about the vision for the Stadia Precinct. These are developments that will change Sydney forever.”

Australian Sports Minister Graham Annesley said of the improvements: “It’s a very exciting glimpse into the future as the park continues to evolve as a constant reminder of the wonderful Olympic legacy left behind for the people of New South Wales.”

The stadium was a key part of Australia’s Asia Cup bid, with them winning the right to host the contest in 2015.

The 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game logo was officially unveiled at Sporting Park during halftime of Sporting Kansas City’s nationally televised match against Chivas USA n Sunday.

The 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game logo, designed by Major League Soccer, features the colors of Sporting Kansas City – Sporting Blue and Dark Indigo – in celebration of the club’s avid fan base and the vibrant soccer movement happening in greater Kansas City. Detail of the iconic canopy roof structure at Sporting Park highlights the world-class venue that will serve as the perfect setting for the League’s 18th-annual summer showcase.

The annual event will feature three days of festivities, culminating in a match between the League’s top players and a renowned international club on Wednesday, July 31 at Sporting Park. The 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. CT on the ESPN, Univision, TSN and RDS family of networks. Exact networks will be announced at a later date.

U.S. Soccer selected Sporting Park to host the U.S. Men’s National Team on Oct. 11 in the team’s final home qualifying match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The U.S. Soccer Federation is also currently exploring a proposed project that would bring a new National Training and Coaching Development Center to Kansas City, Kan.