Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) vice-chairman Eric Boullier believes the organisation has an important role to play in improving Formula 1, even though some big-name teams left the organisation at the end of last year.

Boullier, who believes the fact that teams like Ferrari are still involved in discussions about cost cuts, testing – plus played an official part in this week’s FOTA Fans’ Forum – is important.

“I think the key thing is that even if some teams left officially the organisation, they are still committing on the main subjects – which are the RRA, and the testing agreements,” Boullier told Autosport.

“Teams are still actively working together, and FOTA also is now about thinking of changing the way we want to operate, and the way we see it perceived in the paddock.

“If all the teams are not together, it is a different position in the paddock. But there is still some interest for me for all the teams to sit down together and to participate in F1 development – and this kind of [fans’] forum is a good example.”

FOTA non-members Ferrari and HRT both sent representatives to speak on the panel at this week’s Fans’ Forum in Barcelona – something Boullier thinks bodes well for the future.

“It means the basis of FOTA is still remaining,” he said. “It has changed, it will change again, but I think the F1 teams should at least, for the fans, be together.”

Boullier also believes it important that FOTA continues with the Fans’ Forum, after another successful event in Barcelona was attended by more than 200 people.

“For me it is good to have fans which actually can ask you direct questions, and it is good to be in contact directly with the fans,” he said. “I think we should do this.

“I am clearly in favour of this contact with the fans of F1 and it is good to see them happy, to meet different people – and we are happy to be available for them to answer their questions.”

by Ismail Uddin

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club have announced a record surplus of over half a million pounds for the year to the end of September 2011.

The impressive figure of £542, illness 210 ($830, adiposity 725) is almost treble that of last year’s pre-tax surplus of £189, viagra discount 370 ($290,135), an amount that was the still the best from any of the 18 counties.

A statement from club chairman Peter Wright attributed the club’s excellent financial position to several factors. He said, “Strong ticket sales for international matches, coupled with a significant increase in Friends Life t20 attendances and a rise in membership numbers contributed to the financial results.

“Last year presented a number of challenges, not least a round of bidding for major matches, and delivering a record surplus against that backdrop reflects tremendously well on the people and the systems that we have in place at Trent Bridge.”

One of the main reasons for  Nottinghamshire’s success iis that they managed to secure Ashes Tests in 2013 and 2015; a Test against India in 2014; and numerous one-day international matches, putting them second only to Lord’s in terms of England Test match grounds.

The main reason for the success of their bid was almost certainly the redevelopment work that has been carried out at the ground in recent years, latterly under the leadership of departing chief executive Derek Brewer, which has created an outstanding arena for international cricket. The resulting excellent financial position that the club now find themselves in has already seen them strengthen their playing staff considerably over the winter period, with James Taylor and Harry Gurney recruited from Leicestershire, and Michael Lumb from Hampshire.

After 15 hours of talks Wednesday, medic NBA owners and players finally seemed to be making some progress over the labour dispute with discussions expected to resume today at 2pm.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, diagnosis said: “The energy in the room has been good, therapy the back and forth has been good,”

Throughout the day there were multiple reports that the two sides made progress discussing “system issues” — things such as the luxury tax and length of contracts. Both sides confirmed that.

Derek Fisher, Union President said: “We were able to work through a number of different issues today regarding our system. We can’t say that major progress was made in any way but there was some progress on some of our system issues.”

That leaves the big issue, the split of revenue, or basketball related income (BRI) untouched. BRI was not discussed at all on Wednesday, both sides confirmed.

“I think we’ll turn to the split when we finish with the system…” Stern said. “Right now it has been profitable to turn to the system.”

In the old system the players got 57 percent of BRI, they have offered to come down to 52.5 percent, but the owners have not budged off 50 percent. The system issues the two sides discussed would impact salaries and BRI, but at the end of the day the split is the key issue.

However, some in the negotiations believe that if they can solve the system issues the BRI will become easier and almost fall into place.

This may or may not happen but movement was made in the bargaining session that left a general sense of optimism that things might be moving forward again.

“I can’t describe (the progress made) other than to say it’s better than not making any progress at all,” Stern said.

A league source has revealed that as of April 11 – 30 days after owners locked out the players – National Football League (NFL) side the Arizona Cardinals coaches and front-office members under contract will lose 35 per cent of their bi-weekly salaries.

Cardinals ownership has the right to refund the money if no games are missed though, if so much as one game is canceled, the club are under no obligation to refund any of the money.

According to the source, there is also consideration within the team’s organisation of having one week of unpaid furloughs for employees in May.

NFL teams have varied in establishing employee plans during the work stoppage with some teams having announced pay cuts, while others are having staff take unpaid furloughs.

NFL Coaches Association executive director Larry Kennan told USA Today on Wednesday, March 16, that at least 13 teams have immediately cut or have language in their contracts to reduce salaries for assistant coaches by 25 to 50 per cent.

Among the sides to have already formally announced that employees will take a pay cut during the labor dispute are the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs.

After losing out in attempts to gain preferred bidder status for the Olympic Stadium, a crucial step in the process of the venue’s award, English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur are pursuing legal action against rival bidders West Ham, to ensure their proposals are upheld.

A vital impact on the decision to award West Ham with the Olympic Park Legacy Comapny’s (OPLC) backing, was that the club had promised to ensure the athletics legacy, and in turn the running track, was kept at the stadium.

Tottenham’s joint bid with AEG consistently refuted that these plans would work and opted to offer a solution of ensuring an Olympic athletics legacy elsewhere, and the club are reportedly seeking assurances that theri rivals will not do away with their proposals to leave the track intact.

A statement from Tottenham read: “The Olympic Stadium site is an essential element in the creation of a viable Olympic Park and we know that, together with AEG, we provided a first class proposal to support the sustainability of the whole project.”

The statement added: “It was never an option, however, that we would retain the running track as we believe this to be unacceptable for our supporters and therefore wholly unviable in the long term…Much has been made of the promise to keep the athletics track within the Olympic Stadium and, therefore, we should all expect to see the retention of this track firmly embedded and legally guaranteed by those entrusted with this legacy commitment, today and in the future.”

The statement continued: “The OPLC’s decision has still to be approved by two Government departments and the Mayor’s Office. We shall continue to monitor the bid process over the coming weeks up until its final determination, whilst reviewing our position and holding discussions with our advisors. We shall spend time assessing our situation in respect of a new stadium and when we have any further information we shall update our supporters.”

The financial services company IFD Kapital Group has become an official partner of Russia’s 2018 World Cup bid.

The company chairman, Leonid Fedun, is on of the richest men in the world and joins fellow oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov in supporting the Russian bid.

Consulting group BDO, law firm YUST and charity organisation Art and Sport are already partners of the bid.

Bid chief executive, Alexey Sorokin, said: “I am very pleased to welcome IFD Kapital to our expanding group of partners, who are vivid proof of the interest and sympathy Russia’s bid for the FIFA World Cup is enjoying at home.

“IFD Kapital is an investor active in a number of business areas and in particular in companies that are expected to be on the market’s high tomorrow. Their expertise will further help us to make a case for holding the FIFA World Cup in Russia – an opportunity which would allow football to tap into a huge market.”

Mr Fedun added: “Russia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup is a matter of pride for our country. Football is the most popular sport in Russia. If we win the right to host the World Cup, the largest celebration of world football will take place in Russia, a huge honour for our country.”

Hamane Niang of Mali has been elected as the new President of FIBA Africa at the zone’s 16th Congress, which took place on Thursday 31 July-Friday 1 August in the capital of Madagascar.

Mr Niang will replace the outgoing Dieudonne Eseka Mabusa and head FIBA Africa for the 2014-2019 term, representing the continent at FIBA’s Central Board meetings.

The 62-year-old becomes the eighth person to preside over the zone since its creation in 1961.

He previously headed FIBA Africa’s Financial Council from 2001 to 2014. He also served as President of Mali’s Basketball Federation from 1999 to 2007.

The two-day event also saw the elections of the presidents of FIBA Africa’s zones.

Omar El-Barshushi (Lybia), Juvenal Lufuma (Democratic Republic of Congo), Anibal Manave (Mozambique) were all re-elected to head Zones 1, 4, 6 and 7 respectively.

The newly-elected presidents are: Samuel Ahmedu (Nigeria), a former member of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) and previously President of FIBA Africa Marketing, was appointed to oversee Zone 3; Egypt’s Hesham El-Hariri will be in charge of Zone 5; Rokhaya Pouye (Senegal), who had been in charge of the board of Zone 2 for two years following the death of President Alioune Badara Diagne, was elected for a term in his own right.

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) have announced today a new partnership with global video distribution and monetisation company, doctor  Rightster. 

As part of their agreement with the ITTF, illness Rightster will collaborate closely with the ITTF to develop its YouTube channel (YouTube.com/ITTFChannel), and help maximise its exposure and revenue from the channel. 

The ITTF will be learning from Rightster’s advanced audience development knowledge to increase reach, audience and revenues. By joining the Rightster sports network, the ITTF will benefit from cross-promotion with Rightster’s extensive stable of existing International sports governing bodies, which will drive further audience engagement for the organisation.

In addition, Rightster’s media sales team will apply their expertise to increasing revenue through cross-platform advertising and sponsorship on behalf of the ITTF. 

ITTF Marketing Director Steve Dainton stated: “With a company that has great experience in assisting channels grow and commercialise, especially in the sporting digital environment, we felt it was only natural to start a relationship with Rightster for our ever growing YouTube channel. We hope Rightster can now use their expertise to take our channel to the next level.” 

Charlie Muirhead, Founder & CEO Rightster, added: ”The effective monetisation and distribution of sports content is an established area of focus for Rightster. We are therefore delighted to partner with the ITTF and support their YouTube presence and growth. As the need for targeted, engaged audiences continues to be paramount, we are looking forward to driving larger scaled, relevant audiences for the ITTF.”