The International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB) has agreed during its annual one-day meeting to expand the FIVB Volleyball World League 2014 from 18 countries to 28 for the first time ever.

“This is an historic moment for the FIVB and the World League, order ” FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F said to the 28 federations represented in the meeting. “This new direction is all about growing volleyball and providing opportunities for federations to play.

“It is very clear for me, anabolics the future is today and we are doing something different. This is the new era and I would like to congratulate the new countries who are involved, impotent who now have an opportunity to play on the world stage.”

During the Intercontinental Round, Pools A to E will play double home and away matches, for a total of 12 matches per team. Pool F & G will feature two stand-alone tournaments per pool involving the four teams in the pool.

The World League Intercontinental Round will start on the weekend of May 23 to 25 with Pool A & B holding a Final Six – the top two teams in each pool (A & B), the hosts and the winner from the Final Four from Pools C, D and E – on the week of July 16 to 20.

Pools C, D and E will also have six rounds before their Final 4 on the weekend of July 4 to 6.

The Final Four for Pools F & G is expected to take place on June 27 to 29.

This year the World League featured 18 teams for the first time having had 16 teams from 2001-2003 and 2006-2012. The World League featured eight teams in its inaugural year in 1990, 10 in 1991 and then 12 from 1992-2000 and 2004-05.

The ATP this week launched a new global promotional campaign as the 2013 ATP World Tour season begins with tournaments in Chennai, Doha and Brisbane.

The campaign, which uses the tagline “BEAT THIS”, showcases the world-class entertainment and drama produced by the world’s finest athletes on the greatest stages across the ATP World Tour.

The multi-million dollar campaign features established global stars such as Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, as well as the next generation, including the likes of Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori.

Created as a flexible and adaptable central resource that can be utilised by all 62 ATP World Tour tournaments, the campaign will feature more than 70 players and iconic backdrops from the host cities on the Tour.

“We firmly believe that the entertainment product showcased on the ATP World Tour is sport at its very finest. The combination of skill, athleticism, and mental and physical strength that our athletes are displaying week in week out is quite simply phenomenal,” said Brad Drewett, ATP Executive Chairman & President. “This new campaign is a reflection of that, showcasing our global platform and the incredible venues that host ATP World Tour events, as well as featuring all the world’s best players who have taken our game to new heights.”

The campaign features bespoke photography as each player engages directly with fans by staring intensely at the viewer. Featuring a range of above and below-the-line executions, including a 30-second television spot, player vignettes, print ads, posters, billboards, and web and mobile treatments, the campaign will be implemented at events throughout the 2013 ATP World Tour season, starting off at this week’s Aircel Chennai Open, Qatar Exxonmobil Open and Brisbane International.

The campaign was developed with The Big Shot agency in London.

After a long search Red Bull is set to become the World Rally Championship’s new promoter in 2013 after beating off competition to succeed North One Sport.

The energy drinks company’s motorsport involvement is amongst the largest for a non-automotive manufacturer, notably owning its multiple title-winning F1 squad, the Red Bull Ring circuit in its native Austria and sponsorship of countless race teams and drivers. 

Now it appears to have defeated early favourites Eurosport and an unnamed South Africa bid to succeed North One Sport, whose deal was terminated by the FIA in January. The company was said to have “conspicuously failed to deliver its contractual obligations,” placing it in “fundamental breach of contract.”

Red Bull already enjoy a strong WRC presence as sponsors to French powerhouse Citroën. The French squad’s boss Yves Matton said he was positive about the prospect of Red Bull becoming the series’ new promoter. 

“When they do something, they do it properly and they don’t just want to make a good name with the promotion,” said Matton. “If they choose to invest in the World Rally Championship then it’s because they want to make a proper job, otherwise they would not even attempt to do it.”

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), believes the “biggest danger” to the sport is pirate websites streaming live cricket.

This follows the ECB closing down more than 700 websites illegally streaming live coverage of England’s Test series against India.

The sites cut across the ECB’s exclusive broadcast deals with Sky and the BBC, worth almost £300m to English cricket.

The ECB announced today a new six-year contract with the BBC for live coverage on the radio, guaranteeing Test Match Special on the air until 2019.

A new contract with Sky is impending with another six-year deal likely as the ECB looks to guarantee its income until 2019.

But it is the fight against pirate websites which the ECB will continue to wage, working with other sporting bodies and the Government.

“We all have to be vigilant,” said Clarke. “There are a huge number of pirate websites that stream cricket on the internet taken from television broadcasts, we and our broadcasters closed down 700 during last summer’s series against India.

“These pirate broadcasters are the biggest danger to cricket because they take money out of the game without commercial benefit to the sport.

“It is an extremely complex procedure to close down websites but it can be done and has to be done.”

Are you all surprised by Clarke’s recent sentiments or is this a issue in sports that has been bubbling for a while now? Have your say here

The NBA players have rejected the deal proposed by the NBA owners and want more renegotiations before the Wednesday afternoon deadline with the owners adamant the next deal wont be so accommodating.

NBA players have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to accept an offer from NBA owners on a revenue split or the next deal that’s offered will be much worse.

On Tuesday, the NBA player’s union said they were not going to fold in the face of the owner’s ultimatum.

“There isn’t any player that wants us to take a bad deal,” National Basketball Players Association president Derek Fisher said.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has said the newest proposal gives players between 49% and 51% of revenues. If the players’ association does not change its mind by Wednesday, the NBA will offer up another proposal — one that offers players 47% of basketball revenues and a hard salary cap.

Fisher said Sunday that the offer was not acceptable, and he reiterated Tuesday that the players’ association is holding firm.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t continue to negotiate,” Fisher said at a news conference after a meeting of players representing all but one of the NBA’s teams.

The current proposal says that if the league exceeds certain revenue forecasts, the players would receive 51%. If it didn’t, the share would fall to 49%.

But Fisher said Sunday that “there’d be no way in the world we’d ever get to 51%” under the provisions.

The players’ association’s executive director, Billy Hunter, told CNN sister network TBS that Tuesday’s meeting was intended to spell out the details of the owners’ proposal, which they were “misunderstanding” based on media reports that focused on the revenue sharing offer.

Once they heard the details of the proposal, he said, “they were all horrified by it.” He said it would “decimate” gains made by players in recent years.

Hunter said he is likely to meet with Stern before the owners’ deadline Wednesday to see if there was any movement in their position.

Fisher, during the news conference, said the players are confident an agreement giving players a better deal would still be possible despite the owners’ ultimatum.

The NBA season has been canceled through at least November 30, and the two sides are hoping they can reach a resolution before more games are called off.

Stern has said the 2010-2011 season was not profitable for most of the league’s 30 owners, who want cost-cutting help from players. The league lost as much as $300 million last season, according to Stern.

One of the battles has focused on the owners’ rejection of calls by the players’ union for an average $7 million player salary in the sixth year of a new labor deal. The current average salary is about $5 million.

Other big issues include a fight over a move by owners to gain the bigger share of revenues and whether the NBA will strengthen its salary cap.

Read Stern’s offer here

It was confirmed yesterday, April 18, by the National Football League (NFL) that Wembley Stadium in London will stage a regular-season game for the fifth consecutive campaign in 2011 – as long as there is an end to the current labour dispute by August 1.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are to ‘host’ the Chicago Bears in the 2011 International Series game on Sunday, October 23 at 18:00pm local time. However, in announcing the fixture ahead of the full 2011 season schedule at midnight UK time on Tuesday, April 19, the NFL stated: “Should the current NFL labour situation be unresolved by August 1, the game will be played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.”

A lockout is currently in place in the league after talks over a new collective bargaining agreement between the players and League owners collapsed, therefore if progress is not made over the summer months, next season could be delayed or even cancelled altogether. However, despite the disruption, teams and NFL officials are pressing ahead with plans for the 2011 campaign.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated: “Our past four games in London have demonstrated the tremendous passion for NFL football that exists in the UK. We hope by staging another extraordinary game at Wembley that we can continue to grow our existing fan base and attract even more new fans.” The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added: “Continuing London’s love affair with the hugely popular stateside sport, we are proud to once again welcome two of America’s top NFL teams to the capital.”

It will be a nostalgic return to Wembley for the Bears, on the 25th anniversary of playing in the first official NFL game staged in the UK. The Buccaneers also feature prominently in the NFL’s history at the stadium, having played a home game there against the New England Patriots in 2009.

Fox will provide live television coverage of the game in the United States, while live coverage in the UK will air on Sky Sports and BBC Radio, with highlights on BBC TV.

The two closest aides to sacked Delhi Commonwealth Games organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi have both been arrested on suspicion of corruption for their involvement in the running of last year’s event.

In an interview with the BBC, a spokesman for India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) stated that organising committee secretary general Lalit Bhanot and another leading executive, VK Verma, have been accused of inflating costs while procuring timers and scoring equipment from a Swiss manufacturer, Swiss Timing.

The alleged scam cost the Indian government nearly US$24m, but Swiss Timing has rejected all accusations against it with the company’s director general, Christophe Berthaud, insisting the claims were “absolutely wrong”.

Bhanot and Verma will appear in court later today, February 24, and have both denied the allegations.

Last month, new Indian Sports Minister Ajay Maken dismissed Bhanot from his role as secretary general, along with Kalmadi from the organising committee to enable police to conduct “impartial and unhindered investigations”. Pressure is now thought to be mounting on Kalmadi, with a number of similar corruption allegations made against him.

The Australian Olympic Committee has appointed lawyer Fiona de Jong as their new Secretary General, becoming the first woman to take up the role.

Ms de Jong, who assumes the role of chief administrative and financial officer, has spent 10 years at the AOC as their Director of Sport.

A former international triathlete, de Jong is a graduate of Harvard Business Schools Advanced Management Program.

During her time at the AOC, de Jong has assumed much of the AOC’s legal work particularly around team agreements, its many by-laws, selection disputes and anti-doping matters.

She replaces Craig Phillips, who resigned in June after 23 years with the AOC.

Currently on maternity leave following the birth of her first child, de Jong will start her new position on October 7.

“I thank (AOC president) John Coates and the AOC Executive for their trust and support and I will relish this new challenge.” de Jong said.

“I’ve always been passionate about sport and I have a huge desire to advance the AOC and the Olympic Movement. I can’t wait to get back to work.”

Coates said the AOC was very focused on succession planning and de Jong was totally prepared to assume her new role after a decade of operational experience with the organisation.

“Fiona has developed a close working relationship with our member sports, she understands perfectly their needs and she will continue to forge stronger ties with the sports and our other key stakeholders in her new role,” Coates said.

De Jong is looking forward to working with another senior female member of the AOC hierarchy, the 2016 Australian Olympic Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller.

The Women’s Tennis Association has launched a new app for Windows 8.1.

The app gives women’s tennis fans the opportunity to check out news, store photos, buy stats, unhealthy rankings and more of their favorite players.

“The official WTA app on Windows 8.1 is a great new addition to WTA community,” said WTA Chairman and CEO, Stacey Allaster.  “It was important for us to build an app for our fans that could provide rich content, while giving them compelling features to explore their favorite players making history on the Road to Singapore.”

“Windows is supported by a rich app ecosystem that offers a variety of quality apps and games that take advantage of the platform’s unique features and design such as Live Tiles, snap and share integration, allowing users to easily share content and stay connected,” said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Apps and Store, Microsoft Corp. “The official WTA app on Windows 8.1 takes advantage of all of these features and more to help everyone from tennis enthusiasts to casual fans stay current on their favorite players, photos, stats and more.”