World Superbike action will be returning to the fabled Corkscrew and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and spanish circuit Jerez after the venues announced it has reached a three-year agreement with Infront Motor Sports.

Infront confirmed today that a three-year deal has been arranged stating “the United States round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship will take place at the Californian circuit next season and in 2014 and 2015.” The last time World Superbike riders competed at Laguna Seca was eight years ago when Chris Vermeulen won both races on the Ten Kate Honda. 

“We are absolutely delighted to be returning to Laguna Seca for the US Round for the first time since 2004. Over the ten-year period in which we were last there, medical we witnessed an extraordinary growth in interest and in overall attendance and we are sure that this event will once again become one of the most prestigious on the calendar. The return of Laguna Seca to the Superbike World Championship, site with its six competing manufacturers, will definitely be a boost to the championship’s growth in the US market as California has a special tradition and offers significant opportunities for the motorcycle industry, sponsors and media,” said Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports, in the press announcement. 

This means both of the world’s premier motorcycle road racing leagues will now be competing at California’s prestigious road course as MotoGP races there too. 

“We have a strong history with World Superbike and are thrilled to have them commit to a three-year race schedule,” said Gill Campbell, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca CEO/general manager. “Their return to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca solidifies our position as THE premier circuit in the U.S. for motorcycle racing.” 

The question now is whether the U.S. will get two World Superbike rounds or was 2012 the last year for an event at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park. The venue has hosted the lone U.S. World Superbike round since 2008. 

Infront Motor Sports announced it added Jerez de la Frontera to the 2013 schedule as well. The deal with the popular Spanish circuit is comparable to the one arranged with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a three-year collaboration from 2013 – 2015. The first race will take place on October 20, 2013, and will be the final round of the 2013 World Superbike season. 

“We are delighted with the addition of another prestigious name to our World Championship calendar. Jerez de la Frontera is a circuit that is synonymous with great motorbike racing in general and is situated in a catchment area with an extraordinary sporting tradition and cultural heritage. It gives us great pleasure to return to Jerez for the first time in over twenty years and we are sure that together we will work hard to make the event a great success,” said Flammini. 

The only World Superbike race held at Jerez de la Frontera was back in 1990 when Raymond Roche doubled up on race wins. Roche would go on to win the World Superbike championship that year.

Glamorgan County Cricket club have reported an operating loss of £1.7million for the financial year ending December 31 2011.

The Welsh county’s financial performance was influenced by the £1.2m loss sustained from staging England’s rain-affected Test against Sri Lanka last May.

The retained loss for the year amounted to £3m after the club took into account additional charges associated with the SWALEC Stadium re-development project.

Last month Glamorgan announced that terms had been agreed with their existing lenders and new investors for a financial restructuring that will put the club on a sound financial footing for several years.

Glamorgan chief executive Alan Hamer said: “Our 2011 results put into perspective the financial challenges the club has faced over the past few years.

“The challenging economic environment and the burden of servicing the debts were compounded by the losses incurred in staging last year’s England v Sri Lanka Test match and further one-off charges.

“If you exclude these, cialis the underlying performance of the business was comparable to the previous year. Whilst last year’s financial results were extremely disappointing, online the club’s financial future looks much improved and our accounts have been given a clean bill of health by our auditors.

“Last September, prescription the club was awarded a gold international match package by the England and Wales Cricket Board, which will now see the SWALEC Stadium stage a further 17 days of international cricket in the next five years at greatly reduced fees.

“Our 2012 membership numbers are also the highest they’ve been for the past five years and over 60% of the tickets for both this year’s England v South Africa one-day international and Friends Life t20 finals day have already been snapped up.”

Chairman Barry O’Brien added: “Over the past 12 months, the club has had to deal with some significant challenges. Action has now been taken to address these and the other factors contributing to the losses incurred in 2011.

“The recent announcement confirming that the club had successfully restructured its finances will have a material beneficial impact on the club’s future financial performance. We can look forward to 2012 and beyond with renewed confidence.”

by Ismail Uddin

NBA star Kevin Garnett is set to acquire a limited share in Italian soccer club, Roma, according to the Associated Press.

The American-owned soccer team recently confirmed that the 35-year-old Boston Celtics star accepted an offer from James Pallotta, one of the four Boston executives who closed a deal in August to become the first foreign majority owners of a Serie A club.

Pallotta also is a minority owner of the Celtics.

Garnett is following in the footsteps of other NBA superstars who are putting their money in other sports.

Earlier this year, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James obtained a small stake in Liverpool from the Fenway Sports Group.

The Garnett and James deals are linked because new Roma President, Thomas DiBenedetto, is also a limited partner in the Fenway group, which owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

National Football League (NFL) team owners have been permitted to continue their labour lockout of players while awaiting an appeal ruling on their request to overturn a court order for them to end the ban.

The league is appealing U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s order directing them to end their embargo on player transactions and access to team facilities, sale | made on April 25. Nelson ruled that the suing players had shown a likelihood they would be irreparably harmed if the lockout continued.

The U.S. Court of Appeals granted the owners’ stay request yesterday, discount May 16, sildenafil citrate sale online enabling them to maintain the player ban, first imposed on March 12, until the panel rules on the merits of the NFL’s challenge to Nelson’s order.

The appeals court panel said in its 2-1 decision: “The district court gave little or no weight to the harm caused to the league by an injunction issued in the midst of an ongoing dispute over terms and conditions of employment.”

On April 29, the same panel, by the same margin, granted a temporary stay of Nelson’s ruling enabling the owners to re-impose their ban.

David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has suggested there would be a greater “enthusiasm” for catching doping cheats if different countries were responsible for testing each other’s athletes.

Howman claimed such an approach would help to make testing procedures more thorough across the globe whilst warning that the criminal underworld “controls a significant proportion of world sport” through drug trafficking and illegal betting.

Howman stated: “Why don’t we get France to drug test Germany and Germany to drug test France? Perhaps there would be more enthusiasm for catching cheats from another country.”

The WADA chief added that his warning about widespread criminal involvement in world sport had come from sources at Interpol and law enforcement agencies, “some of whom are actively engaged in projects that are trying to address the issue”.

He added: “They say the underworld is involved in betting and in distributing steroids and it’s the same jokers, it’s not anybody new. I have been saying this for five or six years and now Interpol are justifying it. They now have the numbers and the information and they are really worried about it.”

In an interview with BBC Sport, Howman also said that he believed some scientists at doping laboratories were opting not to report borderline cases. “It’s human nature,” he added. “You get a borderline case and you think: ‘What are the implications going to be? It’s going to be challenged, therefore I am going to be before a tribunal, I’m going to be rigorously cross-examined, I’m days away from the office.’ All those sorts of things go through a human’s mind.”

Birmingham will welcome top athletes from around the world next summer as the city hosts another big sporting event.

The city council has signed a three-year deal with UK Athletics to bring the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix to the Alexander Stadium.

It becomes one of 14 venues worldwide to host a meeting as part of the Diamond League.

Organisers say the events can attract 50 million TV viewers.

The Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr will join the ranks of New York, Rome, Shanghai and Monaco in staging the Samsung Diamond League meet in the summer of 2011.

The leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Mike Whitby said: “This is another major sporting coup for the city of Birmingham, underlining our status as Britain’s sporting city.”

UK Athletics Chief Executive Niels de Vos described it as “massive” for Birmingham.

“One of the reasons the IAAF, the International Federation, was keen to come to Birmingham was because of its reputation.

“It’s always hosted great meets.”

Commonwealth Heptathlon Champion and Birchfield Harrier Louise Hazel described it as an “amazing opportunity for Birchfield Harriers and the Alexander Stadium.”

Plans for a £12.25m redevelopment of the stadium were given the green-light in September.

They include a 5,000-seater stand with office space.

Council Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport Cllr Martin Mullaney said the development would be self-financing.

“What we’ve worked out is that the rent from the office space underneath [the stand] will actually generate enough money to pay back the building costs of the stand overall.”

The Football Association (FA) are close to imposing a blanket ban on all gambling within the upper levels of football following several high-profile cases.

Ronnie Moore was sacked by Tranmere on Tuesday having admitted a breach of current regulations – and a new FA proposal would prevent anyone employed in the top eight tiers of English football from betting.

The FA Council is expected to ratify the new regulations on Wednesday before judgement is passed on the 61-year-old Moore, buy cialis who is set to be banned from working in the game.

An FA statement read: “The FA has proposed that from next season, diagnosis participants at Step 4 and above of the English league system will be banned from betting, either directly or indirectly, on any football match or competition anywhere in the world.

“The changes to FA rules from the start of the 2014/15 season would also see a worldwide prohibition on betting on any other football-related matter, for example, the transfer of players, employment of managers or team selection.

“The passing of inside information to somebody that uses the information for betting remains prohibited.”