In order to get much needed sponsorship interest, English League club Yeovil Town players posed for their annual team photo without a shirt in an attempt to secure a backer.

The League One outfit have failed to secure a shirt sponsor for this season after the previous backers DR Jones pulled out.

Boss Gary Johnson hopes the stunt will encourage one of the parties in discussion with the club to become shirt sponsor next season to do the deal.

Johnson added: “I couldn’t see the point of a team shot without a sponsor. So, somewhat tongue in cheek, we decided we should go topless.

“Being part of the main team picture is a major part of the sponsorship package and I didn’t think it was fair to whoever does agree a deal for the team to wear shirts.

“We don’t want to give away any part of the sponsorship package lightly.

“We are hoping when potential sponsors see the interest that this picture creates, that the companies that are vying to be on our shirts will realise what a great publicity opportunity being shirt sponsor to Yeovil Town represents.”

The Dakar Rally in 2013 will start in Peru for the first time and end in Chile after crossing the Andes into Argentina, organisers said.

It will be the fifth year in a row that the Dakar, a gruelling event that started out as a race from Paris across the Sahara desert to the Senegalese capital Dakar, has been held in South America.

The event, which has claimed numerous lives over the years and will be in its 35th edition next year, was switched from Africa to Argentina in 2009 for security reasons.

The 2013 rally will start in Lima – the finish of this year’s edition – on Jan. 5 and end in Santiago on Jan. 20, with a rest day in San Miguel de Tucuman in Argentina.

“Peru, Argentina and Chile, explored on a north to south journey, will offer the Dakar a different angle of attack on the Pacific Coast, the Atacama’s dunes and the Andes Mountains,” said Dakar director Etienne Lavigne in a statement.

by Ismail Uddin

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he would be interested in regaining ownership of Formula One, the world’s leading motorsport championship.

Ecclestone sold F1 to private equity firm CVC Partners for US$1.7bn in 2005, a deal whereby the 80-year-old retained the series’ commercial rights, negotiating contracts with circuits and broadcasters.

There has been takeover speculation linking Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and Italian investment firm Exor with a possible acquisition of F1 so far this year.

When asked whether he would be interested in buying back F1, Ecclestone said: “Yes, absolutely. I wouldn’t buy at the price that I think CVC would sell it. But I would certainly buy at the price they (News Corporation and Exor) want to pay.”

Ecclestone said that even if he does not end up acquiring F1, he is keen to ensure the championship is purchased by the right owner, saying, “I care that people that own the company want to own it and run it in the correct manner.

“(There is) a little bit of a problem with Murdoch because they (News Corp) are more or less on pay-TV…and we have to be, according to the European Union, on free-to-air television. Our agreement with them was that we are everywhere on free-to-air television.”“

He added: “The other people (Exor) own Fiat, and the teams don’t seem that excited about another team having big control over the regulations, or whatever. So there is a bit of a conflict there.”

Ecclestone also denied speculation that talks over a new Concorde Agreement – the commercial deal between the teams, rights-holders and the International Motorsport Federation – could be affected by takeover speculation.

The latest Concorde Agreement is due to come into force in 2013, but Ecclestone said: “It certainly won’t make any difference. The bottom line is simple. If there is no Concorde Agreement it doesn’t make that much difference.”

Derek Fisher, president of the National Basketball Association (NBA) players’ union, has claimed that the league owners latest offer of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is still unacceptable.

The former offer to the players was made last week by the NBA after its initial proposal sought a reduction of nearly US$800m in salaries for the 2011-12 season. NBA commissioner David Stern said last month that the league is projecting a $300 million loss for the campaign, meaning players wages from this season of $2.1bn would need to be reduced

In an interview with ESPN, Fisher stated: “Unfortunately, the proposal is very similar to the proposal the league submitted over a year ago. This last proposal doesn’t look close to what we were expecting.

“We are taking a close look at each piece of the proposal, and I along with my players and executive committee will be determining what next steps best move this process forward. I continue to work on this daily, take this very seriously, and have a responsibility to my players to try and get a deal done.”

The current agreement sees the players receive a 57 per cent cut of basketball-related income but is set to expire on June 30. If a new deal is not reached, the NBA is likely to follow in the footsteps of the National Football League (NFL) and become the second US major league this year to enter a lockout.

The NBA’s only work stoppage in its history came in 1998, and Fisher has pledged to work towards salvaging the situation, adding: “I will continue to urge our players to be prepared in the event of a lockout, but will remain steadfast in my efforts to drive this process forward.”

The Chennai Super Kings, cough reigning champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has announced two sponsorship agreements ahead of the fourth edition of the tournament, viagra which gets underway this week.

Gulf Oil Corporation will remain an official team partner, online extending their two-year association with the side and will continue on the front of the team’s playing shirt, with significant in-stadium presence on advertising boards, placards, the cheerleaders platform as the lubricant and industrial explosives manufacturer, and mining service providers looks to enhance its global recognition.

Though financial details have not been released, the deal is likely to be worth around a US$4m annual sum.

Ravi Chawla, president of Gulf Oil’s Lubes Business division commented: “Gulf Oil is an internationally recognised brand and is present in over 100 countries. IPL offers us an ideal platform for increasing visibility both within India and in markets like Middle East, Sri Lanka, UK, Australia and other cricket playing nations across the world .The key objective would be to connect with the cricket loving enthusiasts using this exciting and entertaining cricket platform.”

In addition, leading manufacturer of Indian-made alcoholic beverages including gin, rum and vodka, Tilaknagar Industries, has become the Super Kings’ official cheerleader sponsor for three years.

The Mumbai-based company will be entitled to branding on the costumes that the cheerleaders wear and the podiums on which they dance at every Chennai Super Kings match.

Amit Dahanukar, chairman and managing director of Tilaknagar Industries, stated: “It gives us immense pleasure to be associated with probably the best team in the IPL circuit. We see this engagement as the beginning of a new chapter in our corporate identity and are excited to leverage the association of a 75-year heritage of Tilaknagar Industries with the reigning superstars of the IPL circuit. I am confident that the engagement will add immense value to our businesses.”

Canada have announced they want to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) president Victor Montagliani publicly announced Thursday that he hopes hosting the “granddaddy of them all” can do for Canada what it did for the USA in the aftermath of the 1994 World Cup.

“We’ve already started our preliminary discussions with our FIFA partners and with CONCACAF, shop ” Montagliani told reporters at a press conference unveiling the CSA’s new five-year strategic plan.

“The bid would not be in until 2018-ish, generic but the process has to start now, arthritis and the first process is you have to put up your hand and say, ‘This is something that’s required, that we want to do.”

Montagliani first spoke of the CSA’s interest in hosting the World Cup back in October, but Thursday’s announcement indicated the beginning of a full-blown effort to bring the sport’s premier event to Canada for the first time.

Montagliani suggested the tournament would be due to return to the CONCACAF region by 2026, and that only three countries – Canada, the USA and Mexico – could handle hosting duties. The CSA president declined to comment on the specifics of the proposed bid, but mentioned that the USA seemed like an unlikely contender for the 1994 tournament, which ultimately proved to be a success.

“When they bid for the World Cup, I wouldn’t say the game was in a healthy state in the US, both professionally and domestically,” he said. “Their leadership group decided to put a bid together, and I think that was a bit of a lightning rod for people to come together.”

That idea of galvanizing nationwide support was a key theme for the CSA in introducing its five-year plan, entitled “Leading a Soccer Nation.” The document outlines four main priorities: investing in technical leadership, ensuring world-class performances by the national teams, encouraging the growth of the game and governing the game in a professional manner.

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) has announced that retired alpine skier Sean Rose has been chosen as an athlete ambassador for ParalympicsGB at Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Rose will be part of the British delegation that will travel to Russia in March to support the team. He will share his knowledge and experience of competing at the Paralympics with team-members as well as BPA partners and supporters on the ground in Sochi and will support the BPA’s programme of activities that will run in parallel to the competition schedule at Games-time, order such as the newly announced Nearest and Dearest programme for close relatives of competing athletes.

A former World Cup gold medallist who represented ParalympicsGB at the Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in the sport of Alpine Skiing, erectile Rose is one of GB’s highest achieving winter athletes of recent years.

Speaking of his appointment, search Rose said: “Winter sports are my passion and I was already counting down the days to Sochi 2014 when I was invited to join the team as an athlete ambassador.

“I hope that I can use my experience as a winter Paralympic athlete to benefit the wider team and, in doing so, help them to support the athletes as they go out there and achieve the personal best performances that they’ve been working so hard towards. Although I’m not competing this time round, I can’t wait to be part of the Games experience once more and I’m excited to see what ParalympicsGB can do in Sochi.”

Penny Briscoe MBE, Chef de Mission for ParalympicsGB at Sochi 2014, welcomed him onto the team: “Sean is well-known for his enthusiasm, passion and insight into Winter Paralympic sport and he has given us a lot in his time as a successful ski racer who has competed at the highest level. It’s great that we now have him on board in the capacity of athlete ambassador, and I know he’ll be a truly valuable asset to the team when ParalympicsGB compete in Sochi.”

The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games begin on March 7, 2014.

Dallas in Texas will host the 2014 ITU Pan American Triathlon Confederation (PATCO) Championships on May 31-June 1 it has been announced.

Athletes from 38 National Federation members of PATCO, order including top athletes from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Cuba and others will be represented at the event.

In making the announcement, Jaime Cadaval, PATCO Secretary General said: “We look forward to returning our Championships to the U.S. next year, especially to the internationally-recognized Dallas area that has been supporting triathlon events now for over 30 years.”

The elite race would kick-off the qualification period for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, allowing athletes to earn valuable points on behalf of their national federation that eventually help determine the number of Olympic spots allotted – a maximum of three men’s and three women’s spots in Rio for each nation.

“This is a great opportunity for us to welcome talented athletes from all of the PATCO countries to compete in an established venue here in the United States,” said Rob Urbach, USA Triathlon Chief Executive Officer. “We are honored to host this event as athletes begin the journey of qualifying for the 2016 Olympic team for their respective countries.”

The PATCO Triathlon Championships were first held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in 1997. This will the first PATCO Championships hosted by the United States since 2009 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has clarified a vote, which led to L Sivaramakrishnan replacing Tim May on the ICC Cricket Committee, resulting in the international players’ association asking for an investigation amid suspicions of vote fixing.

Cricket’s governing body says it has seen no evidence that test captains were put under pressure to vote for former India international Sivaramakrishnan as a player representative on the ICC’s Cricket Committee.

The ICC says a re-vote was taken in the election after “clarification of the process,” but it has no evidence of any pressure to back Sivaramakrishnan because of the influence of the powerful Indian cricket board.

ICC said in a statement: “In January this year, because of confusion in the voting process for such representatives (for example in respect of what should happen in the case of a tied vote and, where teams had different captains for different formats of the game, which captain should be entitled to vote), the ICC Board considered the matter carefully, and following clarification of the process to be followed, decided that another vote should be taken.

“Subsequent to the re-vote, the ICC is concerned to note a number of factual inaccuracies appearing in the media in respect of the results of the voting and the underlying basis for the board decision that a re-vote was necessary, as well as unsupported allegations of impropriety in the voting process.”