National Rugby League’s (NRL) Newcastle Knights have made another significant step in fulfilling the NRL’s desire to improve the off-field career opportunities for their players and staff by establishing a relationship with Pegasus.

In a comprehensive educational partnership agreement, Pegasus will provide multiple options for players and staff to enhance skills for life after football.

“We are delighted that Pegasus have decided to support us in our quest to invest in our player’s careers and increase their employability beyond football,” CEO Matt Gidley said.

“It is a great partnership that will benefit all players and staff.”

Pegasus will work with players and staff to ensure that they have flexible learning options around their playing and training commitments, as well as provide work experience opportunities and build their occupational competence levels.

Pegasus is a successful local Registered Training Organisation and holds contracts with many major corporations including Australian Rail Track Corporation, Woolworths and most major mining companies. Last year they won the prestigious NSW Minerals Council Supplier of the Year award for Professional Services and the 2011 Hunter Business Award for Business Achievement.

“Pegasus are looking forward to working with all Knights (from 16 to NRL) to increase their employability, develop their careers, improve their competency and enhance their living skills,” said Pegasus CEO Adam Boyle.

In the NRL’s new strategic plan “The Game Plan 2013 ? 2017” a major emphasis has been placed on education, training and career development.

“With the appointment of Anthony Quinn as our Apprenticeship Mentor, the partnership with Pegasus and the soon to be appointed Knights Career Coach, we are building a portfolio of resources to achieve the Knights and NRL milestones in this area,” Knights Chairman Paul Harragon added.

IMG has been appointed to provide golf course management services to Taiyuan Luxuriance International Golf Club, allergy a new 27 hole project currently under construction, allergist in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, Northern China.

Located in a spectacular setting very close to the city, the golf course will be the centerpiece of a world class golf development that will also include real estate, 5 star hotel and other high end facilities. Luxuriance International Golf Club will raise the benchmark for golf in the area when it opens for play in 2013.

IMG now provides management services to 12 golf clubs in China and has further established its presence as the market leader.

“We look forward to working closely with the owner of Luxuriance International Golf Club and other members of the project team to create a spectacular golf facility, and we are confident that our extensive experience in China will produce a successful golf club that we can all be proud of,” commented Paul Burley, Vice President, IMG Golf Course Services. “IMG’s global resources, iconic brand, customised solutions and experienced team of professionals will enable us to deliver services and add value to Luxuriance International Golf Club that are unique in our business”.

“The combination of IMG and Luxuriance International Golf Club is a perfect match,” stated Wang Yijun, General Manager of Shanxi Yiliang Longxi Sports and Culture Company “We have great expectations for Luxuriance International Golf Club and are excited to have IMG involved in our golf course, as we know they have an unparalleled track record in China of establishing and managing successful high end clubs.”

Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton has scored a deal to produce a men’s clothing collection with Charlotte-based Belk Inc.

The exclusive line will be called MADE Cam Newton, ambulance and is the athlete’s first foray into clothing. Belk will start selling clothing from the MADE line in 133 stores in February or March, cheap and will add accessories next fall.

The clothing line will join Belk’s 20 private brands. Department stores use exclusive deals with designers and celebrities, cialis such as Jennifer Lopez’s line at Kohl’s, to differentiate their offerings and lure consumers with merchandise their competitors can’t offer.

“One of the ways we’ll secure growth is through private brands,” said Belk President Kathryn Bufano. She said Belk anticipates exclusive private lines will soon make up more than 30 percent of the company’s sales, a number she said Belk is already close to reaching. And while the MADE line will be limited to men’s apparel and accessories at first, Bufano said the company will also consider adding areas such as children’s clothing and women’s watches under the “Cam Newton umbrella.”

Men’s goods made up 18 percent of Belk’s $868 million worth of sales in its most recent quarter, the retailer reported. That’s up from 17 percent in the same period a year ago. Women’s remained Belk’s top category, at 38 percent, followed by cosmetics, shoes and accessories, at 31 percent.

Belk started sponsoring the Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium in 2011, signing on for three years as the title sponsor. The annual NCAA football postseason game was known as the Meineke Car Care Bowl before that.

Belk operates 302 stores in 16 states, most of them in the Southeast. The company reported a $27.4 million profit in its most recent quarter, up nearly 10 percent from the same period last year.

Since his breakout AP Offensive Rookie of the Year season last year, Newton has landed endorsement deals with Under Armour and Gatorade, and is also a pitchman for Carolinas HealthCare System’s “Take the Ball” initiative to promote healthy living.

Organisers of Rally Australia have agreed a deal with the Federation Internationale del’Automobile (FIA) to hold a round of the FIA World Rally in 2013.

The date has not been set for the event, medicine which will be one of 13 in the 2013 World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule.

Rally Australia chairman Ben Rainsford said the contract had been forwarded to senior management at the FIA for presentation.

Further discussions with the FIA would focus on an annual event and the specific dates.

“We’re delighted to have a place on the 2013 calendar, but there is still plenty of work ahead before we can formally confirm the date and logistics for the event,” said Rally Australia chairman, Ben Rainsford.{jcomments on}

Formula One recent expansion is set to continue after Bernie Ecclestone, the president and CEO of Formula One Management revealed the sport will return to South Africa by 2013.

The last South African Grand Prix was held in 1993, when Alain Prost secured victory at Kyalami. It would mark another step in the sport’s global expansion, with venues such as China, Abu Dhabi, India and Singapore either returning to the calendar or appearing for the first time in recent years.

A Grand Prix in Sochi is also expected from 2014, the year that the Russian city hosts the Olympic Winter Games, while Bahrain is also expected to return to the schedule following the cancellation of the race this year.

The USA, though, is proving slightly more challenging for Ecclestone and his team, despite races planned for both Texas and New Jersey.

“Formula One will not be big in America. But Formula One will be in Russia for 2014, and in South Africa by 2013 even,” Ecclestone told Al Jazeera English.

“We’ve got a maximum of two races in America and when you consider the country is as big as Europe and we’ve got several races in Europe, it’s difficult. If we had a lot more races there and a lot more television it would be okay,”

“The USA has been slow to get F1 because they want to see a profit before they start,” he added.

Lancashire County Cricket Club have reported a loss of £2.114 million ($3.37m) for the financial year ending 31 December 2010.

The County Champions’ financial performance was influenced by the development of Old Trafford, the failure to be allocated a major Test match, as well as the impact of the global recession and the numerous challenges presented by the ongoing battle to secure the club’s legally granted planning permission for the remaining redevelopment of Old Trafford.

Despite the financial loss, phase one of the redevelopment of Old Trafford was successfully completed and included a new grandstand incorporating The Point, a state of the art conference and events facility, along with the successful turning of the cricket square.

Since the year end and following the final approval of the planning for phase two after the costly legal delays, the club has started further building work and has been allocated numerous international games through to 2016, which includes an Ashes Test in 2013.

Lee Morgan, the club’s finance and operations director, said: “The necessary redevelopment of Old Trafford was critical in securing the future of Old Trafford. The transitional period in building the new stadium was always going to create huge challenges, although the investment will result in the club being well placed for the long-term in ensuring international cricket remains at Old Trafford in a competitive and tough market.

“The majority of the club’s current debt has been raised to fund the building of The Point, which has already, and will continually prove to be, an important revenue generator for the business.

“It is important to note that the club will not take on any further debt to fund the rest of the redevelopment of Old Trafford which is scheduled for completion in early 2013.

“Although challenging times do remain for all county cricket clubs, with the certainty provided by our international match staging agreement and also the redevelopment of the stadium into one of the best in world cricket, we have every reason to be optimistic for a successful future of Lancashire County Cricket Club.”

NBA players and owners still have found no resolution on their last ditch attempts to secure a deal to start the season on time after a meeting on Sunday.

Negotiators for the sides agreed to meet Sunday and then talked for more than five hours before breaking for the night. They agreed to resume discussions Monday afternoon, but union president Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers believes that the sides are “not necessarily closer” to a deal than they were when talks stalled last week.

Not many details of the meeting were revealed as the emerged Sunday night, though union officials confirmed that they have postponed a planned Monday meeting with membership in Los Angeles so they can remain in New York to talk with league officials again.

NBA commissioner David Stern said last week that the first two weeks of the regular season will be canceled Monday if the parties don’t have the framework of a new labor agreement in place. The entire exhibition schedule has already been canceled and training camps have been postponed indefinitely, but the Nov. 1 scheduled start to the regular season has not yet been ruled out.

That is expected to happen later Monday if talks scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (about 7pm GMT) don’t generate telling progress. Stern, though, offered little to reporters after Sunday’s hastily arranged meeting, saying only: “No comment other than we are going to reconvene tomorrow morning.”

Fisher said: “Another intense meeting, similar process. We’re going to come back at it tomorrow afternoon. We’re going to continue to try to put the time in to if we can get closer to getting a deal done.”

Talks dissolved last week when the players rejected the league’s offer to try to make a deal work by splitting annual revenues — known as Basketball Related Income (BRI) — at an even 50-50. In 2010-11, which was the final year of the NBA’s previous six-year labor agreement, players earned 57 percent of BRI.

Yet sources close to the talks indicated late Sunday that the BRI split was not a prime topic during Sunday night’s session, when the parties focused on system issues (such as the specific salary-cap and luxury-tax mechanisms) instead.

An attempt Friday to get the two sides together broke down when, according to union sources, NBA officials demanded consent to a 50-50 revenue split with players before the meeting. The league denies that such a demand was made.

Upon walking away from the negotiating table last Tuesday, union officials have insisted that they would not drop below a 53-percent share of BRI. Sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard on Sunday that NBA owners have no intention of going above the 50-50 split they broached with the players last week.

Players have proposed lowering their previous 57-percent share of BRI to 53 percent in a new deal, but that remaining 3 percent represents an unbridged gap of about $120 million.

Before the late cancellation of Monday’s meeting in Los Angeles, Fisher sent a letter to players Sunday night reiterating that every union member in the league was invited to attend. In the letter, obtained by ESPN.com, Fisher urged “each of you to attend if at all possible.”

Fisher also informed union members in the letter that he and New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul plan to take a leaf out of the NFL union’s lockout primer Monday by sending out a “LET US PLAY” message via their respective Twitter feeds.

“Chris Paul and I will also be utilizing our personal social networking channels to show the fans and you all that we are united and want to get back to work under a fair deal,” Fisher added.

“We invite you each to do the same. To show our unity and to remind the fans that this (is) not our choice and we would like to go back to work and play the game they love to support.”

Among those participating in Sunday’s session include Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt and Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor on the league side and Fisher, Players Association chief Billy Hunter, lawyers Jeffrey Kessler and Ron Klempner and union vice president Maurice Evans on the players’ side.

According to sources cited by ESPN.com, unless a last-minute agreement that no one around American Football expects, the National Football League Players’ Association (NFLPA) plans to decertify by Thursday in an effort to pre-empt an owners-generated lockout.

The National Football League’s (NFL) current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) states that the union “in effect must wait six months to decertify if it does it after” the CBA expires, which will occur at 11:59pm ET Thursday, March 3.

If the union decertified, it will no longer be a union, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) loses its hold over the NFLPA.

If the decision to decertify is carried through, the league’s owners are expected to claim that it is a sham and challenge it in the NLRB.

Organisers of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games have said they expect the opening ceremony to be a 60,000 sell-out, despite tickets costing up to US$1,000 each.

Chairman of the Games’ organising committee, Suresh Kalmadi, has said all tickets priced at 1,000 rupees (US$22) and 5,000 rupees (US$110) are sold-out, and he was predicting that all tickets costing 25,000 rupees (US$555) would be gone by the end of yesterday.

The opening ceremony will take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on 3 October and will showcase 5,000 years of Indian culture. It will include dance from across the country as well as a giant helium balloon which will float above the stadium.

Kalmadi also insisted the Games would be a success, despite widespread criticism its preparations. He said he believed the event would act as a springboard for an Indian Olympic Games bid on the not too distant future.