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.”

Rio 2016 Olympics organisers have revealed venue construction for the games is 38% completed just shy of two years from the commencement of the first Olympic Games on the South American continent.

Eleven of the 29 permanent venues scheduled for the Games are already operational, click while eight still need renovations. There will also be eight temporary venues constructed.

The Olympic Golf Course is being irrigated for the planting of grass to begin and the foundations of Olympic Halls 1, and 2, discount and 3 in the Barra Olympic Park continue. Depth studies at the rowing and canoe sprint venue of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas have begun, and the design of the integrated route for athletics, road cycling, and paracycling courses in Flamengo Park have also started.

“We are advancing in the construction of competition venues for the Rio 2016 Games, with all of the basic and executive projects concluded or in the conclusion phase, and with foundation works in full flow,” Rio 2016 Infrastructure Integration Director Alexandre Techima said. “Even though they may not be highly visible, the preparative groundwork and foundation construction, that occurs underground, are extremely important for the final structure and often account for 20 percent of the total volume of construction.”

A tender process in Deodoro for Rio 2016’s second-largest venue cluster has now started. The renovation of the National Shooting Centre, National Equestrian Centre, and Modern Pentathlon Aquatics Centre will begin later this year, four new venues will be constructed, and two temporary venues will be installed. The Maracana Stadium, which will host the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony at the Olympic Summer Games, is prepared to host the FIFA World Cup next month.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have looked to protect its future events from issues such as match-fixing and corruption by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Interpol, medicine the International Criminal Police Organisation.

Interpol will work with the IOC to identify and address issues which could affect the security and integrity of matches and competitions, such as doping, match-fixing and illegal or irregular sports betting activities, and attempted corruption of match officials and players, particularly during the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Interpol has the ability and the necessary instruments to instigate cross-border investigations, coordinate different law enforcement bodies, and gather intelligence. In our determined fight to protect the integrity of sport on behalf of clean athletes, Interpol’s involvement is absolutely crucial. The MoU has further cemented the close relationship we already enjoy.”

The agreement also provides for the world police body to give additional support to the IOC in ensuring the security of international matches and competitions.

“As the world’s largest law enforcement organization, it is natural for Interpol to team up with the International Olympic Committee to secure and protect such universal events as the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games,” said Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

“It is by providing the widest possible law enforcement support to global sports events that fans, competitors and officials can enjoy them as safely and securely as possible. Without our collective commitment and action against threats such as illegal and irregular betting, the confidence in fair play by the public and our youth will erode and eventually vanish.

“Interpol’s agreement with the International Olympic Committee therefore represents a significant step forward in protecting the integrity of sport,” concluded the Head of Interpol.

English Rugby Championship team, Nottingham RFC have revealed they are looking for fresh investment as promotion to the Aviva Premiership could be a possibility.

The Meadow Lane club have already secured their place in the end-of-season shootout for a place in the top-flight – with Nottingham set to face one of Bedford, Bristol, or Leeds in the two-legged RFU Championship semi-final.

However Nottingham, who have guaranteed second spot in the table behind runaway leaders Newcastle, are seeking £250,000 of new investment to complete this season and build for next year after existing owners and investors Luke Jones and Jason Brewer announced they can no longer provide the necessary funding.

“We’ve had an excellent season, better than we expected when we set out our objectives this time last year,” said Nottingham chairman Alistair Bow.

“But achieving this success comes at a high cost and due to a change in their circumstances our owners can no longer meet the current financial demands of the club.

“Luke and Jason would both like to stay involved, but in order for us to carry on playing at the top of the RFU Championship challenging for promotion, we need to bring additional funding in.

“We have already identified one or two new investors, but we still need more funds to bridge the gap this season.”

The NRL’s Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will now be known as the Kaspersky Sea Eagles in recognition of the strength of the relationship between the club and its principal partner.

Kaspersky Lab have been a loyal and valued partner since joining the club in 2011, with the world-leading IT security software company this year affirming their passion for the Sea Eagles by signing on as long-term principal partner.

The extended corporate relationship will see Kaspersky Lab featured on the front of Sea Eagles home and away jerseys until at least 2015 and now the team will also be referred to as the Kaspersky Sea Eagles.

Sea Eagles General Manager David Perry said the club is pleased to have the opportunity to recognise the invaluable support and faith of its principal partner.

“We are proud to be so closely associated with such an internationally respected brand,” Perry said.

“Having the support of Kaspersky in the long-term is a huge boost for the club. They are an integral part of the Manly team and having their name in the team’s title gives them well-deserved acknowledgement.”

Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Mamonitis says the move signals their strong affiliation with the club.

“We are very excited about expanding our relationship with the Sea Eagles. We are strong Manly supporters and are passionate about the game.”

Donnafugata Golf Resort & Spa’s growing status in the game has been recognised after becoming the first Italian course to join IMG Prestige, impotent an exclusive collection of some of the world’s most celebrated golfing venues.

The deluxe five-star resort, anabolics which features 36 holes and hosted the 2011 Sicilian Open, joins an illustrious portfolio of courses including Kingsbarns, Scotland; Carton House, Ireland; Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand; Legend Golf & Safari Resort, South Africa; Spain’s La Manga Club and Yas Links in Abu Dhabi.

Donnafugata was recently named as the top golf resort in Italy in 2012 by prestigious magazine Condé Nast Traveller while it was also included in Rolex World’s latest list of top 1,000 courses.

IMG Prestige’s global reciprocal programme brings together a collection of the finest golfing facilities in the world in recognition of the exceptional experience they provide members and guests both on and off the course.

Pablo Rey Rodriguez, general manager at Donnafugata Golf Resort & Spa, said: “To join such a select and exclusive group of courses is a great honour.

“Being the first Italian venue to join IMG Prestige makes the new partnership extra special and we are looking forward to developing many new relationships with fellow members in the months and years to come.”

The venue boasts two 18-hole championship golf courses – the Links Course – designed by Franco Piras, a well knowned Italian member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA) and the Gary Player-designed Parkland Course – with the latter being used to stage last year’s Sicilian Open, won by Frenchman Rafael Jacquelin.

Donnafugata is located near to the historic town of Ragusa, the cradle of Sicilian Baroque architecture, with its neighbouring towns listed among the pearls of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Modica, Scicli and Noto.

As well as its golf courses, Donnafugata offers a 202-room five-star hotel, spa and wellness centre, swimming pools and fine-dining in three restaurants.

Dodge have announced that the manufacturer will not be returning to the NASCAR organization in 2013.

This news may not be entirely unexpected and the announcement may not be entirely voluntary. The only team using a Dodge Penske Racings, for sale has already announced that the team will be switching to Ford for 2013. This left Dodge out in the cold for 2013.

Though there had been speculation that Dodge may try to find another team, it now appears that this is not the case. 

Dodge has a long history with NASCAR racing. In the 1950s through the 1970s, the Dodge Charger was a track regular and was driven by some of the legends. Richard Petty snagged a few wins in a Dodge during his stellar career. His father Lee Petty also got a couple of wins in a Dodge. Junior Johnson loved the new Hemi engine when it came out in the 1960s. Buddy Baker and Charlie Glotzbach broke records in the Dodge Daytona. From 1977 until 2001, Dodge was not involved with the NASCAR organization. When the manufacturer returned to the organization, Dodge racked up 29 wins.

Argentina is close to bringing back Formula 1 to the country according to national president Cristina Fernandez.

Fernandez said the country has agreed a three-year deal that will see grand prix racing return to the South American nation from 2013.

She said the race will be hosted at a circuit in seaside resort Mar del Plata, 400 km from Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. There is currently no circuit in Mar del Plata.

The race, Fernandez said, will take place at the end of November from the 2013 season.

“We are closing [the deal],” Fernandez said. “For three years, in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in the city of Mar del Plata.

“For us it will be very important because after football, racing is the second favourite sport for Argentineans. Getting Formula 1 back to Argentina is something we deserve in order to be able to show the things we have.”

The Argentine President said that bringing F1 back to Argentina “is an accomplishment Argentina deserves, so we can show the world what we have”.

The Argentina Grand Prix was hosted by the South American country in an intermittent way from 1953 to 1998. Due to the organisers’ financial problems, the Grand Prix was suspended after 1998.

by Ismail Uddin

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