UPS has renewed its sponsorship of Japanese touring car team, health Team TAISAN.

UPS has only been a major sponsor of the successful team for one year and the deal is through UPS Japan.

UPS will continue to have branding on the team’s Porsche and on the driver and team member uniforms.

UPS has leveraged the sponsorship through its community program, specifically its support of children from foster homes.

UPS Japan President, Masato Umeno said the company is pleased to continue the sponsorship and support the team with its global network and services.{jcomments on}

 

Lotus team principal Eric Boullier is convinced that the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) has a strong future, despite the departure of several members.

Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Sauber all decided to quit FOTA at the end of 2011 as a legacy of the ongoing row over the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA).

The move prompted doubts over the future of FOTA, but Boullier, who remains as vice-chairman for 2012, is confident that the body can not only survive but also thrive because co-operation with the non-member teams is still ongoing.

“FOTA was created in 2008 by car manufacturers to fight against some people and to maybe go for a breakaway series – that story we know,” he said at a Lotus launch event at Jerez on Monday.

“FOTA today faces a different challenge, and to understand if FOTA is relevant, that is the first question. The second question is, what do we want to achieve with FOTA? I think this question has been asked, and we have got a proper answer now.

“Even the teams who have resigned from FOTA are still working with FOTA, in terms of factory shutdown, testing agreement, and RRA. So, from that perspective, there will be no change.

“So at least if we can still work on making F1 better, more sustainable and help F1 to be better, that is what FOTA should be.”

Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn said that despite leaving FOTA, her outfit would remain keen to work with the other teams on future plans.

“Our FOTA membership has now come to an end and, because of that, definitely we will be on our own like others are,” she explained at Jerez.

“I would not exclude that we will still be talking about points like this because, in other areas, we are definitely continuing our talks with FOTA.

“We are respecting the agreements that were signed under FOTA, even though legally they are not depending on us being a member of FOTA or not – like the RRA. We also agreed on the factory shutdown this year which is again done under FOTA originally.

“So getting out of FOTA does not mean that we have just broken all contacts over there. We had our reasons [for leaving] which we explained to FOTA, but that does not stop us cooperating with other teams.”

Former English county cricketer Mervyn Westfield has pleaded guilty on Thursday to a corruption charge linked to his bowling in a 40-over one-day game.

Westfield, ed 23, who played for Essex, admitted accepting or obtaining a corrupt £6,000 payment to bowl in a way that would allow the scoring of runs when Essex played Durham in a Pro40 match in 2009, during a hearing at the Old Bailey in London.

The court heard he had agreed to bowl his first over in a way that would let Durham score a set number of runs in the game in September 2009.

Westfield will be sentenced on February 10 and was warned he will face a jail sentence.

Judge Anthony Morris told Westfield: “I hold out no promises to you as to the eventual outcome of this case. It’s open to the court in this case to pass an immediate custodial sentence.”

Morris added the name of the other party involved in the deal would be known to cricket fans, but it was not revealed in court.

This continues to hurt the reputation of the sport after Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed in Britain last year for their role in a ‘spot-fixing’ scandal in a Test match against England.

Huge sums are bet on cricket matches, especially in the Indian sub-continent — the sport’s financial powerhouse but an area where gambling on cricket is generally illegal — because of the way incidents in matches, and results, can be manipulated.

The court heard the seamer, who was released by Essex in 2010 “on cricketing grounds,” agreed to bowl the first over so that 12 runs could be scored, but only 10 were achieved.

Westfield conceded 60 runs from seven overs as Durham scored 276 for six, a target surpassed by Essex, who won by seven wickets with 19 balls to spare in the Pro40 game played in Chester-le-Street.

His admission of guilt came just two days after former England captain Mike Brearley, now the chairman of MCC’s world cricket committee, urged players to “take ownership” of the issue of corruption in cricket.

The England and Wales Cricket Board’s anti-corruption chief Chris Watts, formerly a detective with London’s Metropolitan Police, recently suggested the domestic game may be more vulnerable to malpractice because of its lower profile and the fact players involved are generally earning less than their international counterparts.

But Angus Porter, the chief executive of England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association, told the Press Association: “Our view on it is that the world has moved on quite a long way since he (Westfield) committed those offences.

“We’ve invested a huge amount in educating players as to their responsibilities, but I think that none of us can be complacent.”

As for suggestions the county game was particularly vulnerable, Porter added: “I’m not convinced that we know who the high-risk groups are.

“There is no doubt that where there are threats of corruption they will be linked to gambling and that gambling will predominantly be on televised games.

“International cricket certainly is a risk and I think domestic cricket is also a risk because some games are televised on the Indian sub-continent so I suppose those specific matches are the ones we need to worry about.”

Porter added the PCA had advised Westfield.

“We did offer him advice in the early days and one thing that was important, given that that case involved a number of people in the Essex dressing room, was to make sure he had independent legal advice and we helped him to source that,” he said.

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National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Philadelphia 76ers have been bought from Comcast-Spectacor by a group led by Joshua Harris after having been approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors.

“My partners and I are thrilled to have become owners of the Sixers,” said Harris. “It is an honor to be a part of this storied franchise – we have a lot of work to do but we have a rich history, a strong foundation and a bright future. My partners and I want to thank Ed Snider and the Comcast-Spectacor team for all their efforts to make this outcome possible. As we move forward, we want to build on the team’s momentum and be world class and cutting edge in everything we do.”

The new owners have named Adam Aron, a native Philadelphian and the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts, Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harris said: “Adam is a superb executive with deep and broad experience, and we are very pleased he will be returning to Philadelphia as CEO of the Sixers and a member of our ownership group. Adam and I both have strong ties to the Delaware Valley, and we are committed to providing an exciting, high-quality experience to the great fans in Philadelphia in the years ahead.”

Aron added: “Being named CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers is truly a dream come true. Having grown up in Abington, I have always been a fan of this team. I’m excited about celebrating and building on the extraordinary heritage of the 76ers, the third winningest team in NBA history. We will work tirelessly to make Philadelphia sports fans proud.”

The investor group is led by Harris, who will serve as Managing Owner of the 76ers and as the team’s Governor on the NBA Board of Governors. Other investors include David Blitzer, who will serve as Co-Managing Owner and an Alternate Governor of the NBA, CEO Adam Aron who will also serve as an Alternate Governor of the NBA, Martin Geller, David Heller, Travis Hennings, James Lassiter, Marc Leder, Jason Levien, Michael Rubin, Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith, Handy Soetedjo, Erick Thohir and Art Wrubel, all of whom have made personal investments in the team.

dosage pills helvetica, therapy sans-serif;”>A national poll conducted by Bloomberg last week has revealed that 43 per cent of those surveyed side with the players union and 20 per cent with the National Football League (NFL) owners with regards to the labour dispute in the game. The remaining 37 per cent either don’t follow football or aren’t sure which side they favor.

allergist helvetica, sans-serif;”>David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California, said in an interview“Fans live vicariously through the players, and are more sympathetic to player causes.”

Among the issues are what share of the league’s US$9 billion in revenue players should get and whether to expand the season to 18 from 16 games and impose a rookie wage scale.

The NFL Players Association has rejected owners’ demands and say the teams should open their accounting books. The union is also seeking improved health care for retirees, some of whom suffer from nerve damage, joint deterioration and the effects of repeated head trauma.

While the NFL has offered to reveal some financial data, it has refused to show everything the union sought. The NFL said the data offered is more than has ever made available to the union, including some information that it doesn’t disclose to its own clubs.

Organisers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games are to hand out free tickets to tackle the problem of empty seats.

Many of the competitions have been poorly attended at the Games, asthma which began this week.

Now organisers are hoping to solve this problem with a ticket giveaway scheme to childen adn teh underprivileged.

Chairman of the Delhi organising committee Suresh Kalmadi said: “We are working on the children from schools – already steps have been taken in that direction.

“And also from the low level of society, ed we have been distributing a lot of tickets.”

Kalmadi also said that ticket booths have now been opened at all the venues to make it easier to purchase them.

He added: “There were problems – some of the ticket stalls were not put up, but all the stalls are up now at all the stadiums.”

Thomson Sport has been appointed as the Official Travel Partner to the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Supporters’ Club.

The four-year deal will see Thomson Sport become the preferred provider of Match Breaks for Scotland supporters, including matches in Scotland and overseas.

Managing director of Thomson Sport, Nathan Wilson, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this partnership with the Scottish Football Association and are excited at the opportunity to work with the Scottish national team.

“Scottish fans are some of the most passionate in the world of football and the Scotland Supporters’ Club has a record membership of 35,000 fans. We look forward to playing our part in ensuring they fully enjoy the football experience both at Hampden Park and internationally.”

Scottish FA acting chief executive, George Peat, added: “This partnership ensures the national team and its magnificent support enjoy the best possible travel experience for all our games during the Uefa Euro 2012 and 2014 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers.”

Thomson Sport will also be the preferred of travel and accommodation to the Scottish national teams, as well as for key executives linked to the Scottish FA travelling to matches.

Two former presidents of League 1 football side Paris Saint-Germain have been found guilty of illegal transfer dealings and handed suspended jail sentences.

Francis Graille and Laurent Perpere were convicted of forgery and using forged documents to boost salaries in a bid to attract big name players to the club with undeclared money.

Perpere was president of the club between 1998 and 2003 and was given a US$50,000 fine and a twelve-month suspended jail sentence. Graille replaced him as president and held the position until 2005. He was handed a US$25,000 fine and an eight month suspended prison sentence.

Several agents were also handed suspended jail terms for their parts in the scam, while Nike France was fined just under US$190,000 for its part in the operation.

Prosecutors had spent four years investigating the illegal employment practices at at PSG during Perpere and Graille’s reigns, which saw 24 players and two coaches allegedly benefit from the system to the sum of US$11 million.

Nike Golf has today announced two new appointments to its global senior management team, stuff with Simon Parkhill appointed to the role of General Manager of Nike Golf Japan, and Brian Karl to the position of Commercial Sales Director of Nike Golf EMEA.

Since arriving at Nike in 2001, Simon has played a number of key roles for both the Nike Brand and Nike Golf including assuming the position of Nike Golf Sales Director of UK and Ireland in 2006 where he was responsible for the sales and distribution execution in those strategic marketplaces for four years.

Following a two year stint as the Sales Director of the Football Category for the Nike brand in the UK and Ireland where he worked in partnership with key sports marketing assets such as Manchester United FC and Arsenal FC to maximize their commercial potential, Simon returned to the Nike Golf team in EMEA as the Senior Commercial Director of Nike Golf EMEA in 2012.  For the last two years in that role, he has been responsible for leading a team of 50, focused on accelerating the sales and profitability of this critical geography.

“I have mixed feelings, sad to leave Nike Golf EMEA at such an exciting time for the Brand and the Business. We are poised to accelerate our growth in this market and in Brian we have the right person to lead that charge.

“But I’m equally excited to be taking up the challenge with Nike Golf in Japan; our potential for growth in that marketplace is unlimited,” he added.

Parkhill’s 13-year tenure with the brand will continue in Tokyo, where he transitions with his wife, Louise and their three children.

As successor to Simon in Europe, Brian Karl has accepted the position of EMEA Commercial Sales Director. The 15-year Nike Golf veteran was most recently the Director of Sales for National Accounts in the USA geography, bringing a focused approach to account specific strategic planning and a discipline on account profitability. Prior to this role, Karl has held numerous sales positions at Nike Golf in the USA, ranging from Territory Sales Rep to National Account Manager to Multi-Course Business Director. He has a proven track record of success and will be bring a strong commercial expertise, high level of strategic thinking and brand management to his new role.

“There has never been a better time to be with Nike Golf and I am excited to join the EMEA Team. With our stable of athletes and innovative products coming to the market we are poised for tremendous growth,” added Karl.

In the coming weeks, he will be transitioning to Amsterdam with his wife Monica and their two children.

Commenting on the two appointments, Nike Golf EMEA General Manager Angus Moir said: “While we are disappointed to lose Simon from the EMEA business, I know that Brian will continue the great work that Simon has started as we reset our business model for 2015 and beyond. Our brand momentum is very strong after Rory McIlroy’s Open Championship victory and these changes will further fuel that success.”