The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) have announced a $2 million injection into the direct athlete support (DAS) scheme, with the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) kicking in an extra $1 million.

More than 600 athletes who have earned less than $60,000 per annum over the past four years are eligible for DAS funding.

ASC chairman John Wylie said the annual investment in DAS was now $11.4 million.

“It is vital support is delivered direct to athletes at the right time in their pathway to enable a commitment to pursue sporting excellence,” said Wylie.

“The DAS scheme is all about providing targeted and means-tested financial support for our most deserving elite athletes that are not accessing the strong financial returns that some sports can from commercial broadcast contracts.”

ACGA president Sam Coffa said under previous DAS criteria, many potential Commonwealth medallists fell through the funding net.

“Today’s announcement recognises that we need to invest in our best athletes if Australia is to top the medal table in Glasgow in 2014,” Coffa said.

The ASC will announce its 2013-14 funding allocations to individual sports on Monday.

Coventry City have been offered a ground-share with Hinckley United’s Greene King Stadium.

The Knitters have offered the League 1 side an opportunity to share their Greene King Stadium home after discovering the Sky Blues could soon be homeless.

Sky Blues chiefs have ramped up their threat to quit the stadium and find a more affordable home this week after its Ricoh Arena owners ACL issued a statutory demand for rent arrears giving the club until Boxing Day to pay.

ACL have offered to cut the £1.28 million annual rent by 67% to £400,000 and give City 10 years to repay the £1.1 million but the football club have now started to look at other grounds.

If they fail to meet the deadline the Sky Blues, bankrolled by Sisu for the last five years, would have to declare themselves insolvent.

The club has been looking at the former Rushden and Diamonds Stadium as a possible home but the distance is a turn off.

Hinckley’s interim chairman Mike Sutton today confirmed he had spoken with Coventry City chairman Tim Fisher this week to offer the 1987 FA Cup winners a lifeline and an opportunity to share the Greene King Stadium.

The Sky blues have 6,000 season ticket holders whereas Hinckley’s stadium only has a capacity of 4,200 but Mr Sutton said temporary seating would be installed to provide extra seating for fans.

He said: “After hearing about the plight of Coventry City I rang up the club and spoke to the chairman Tim Fisher. He was very grateful for the phone call and the offer of help and said our offer would be seriously considered. I also know they are looking at the Rushden and Diamonds Stadium as well so we will just have to see what happens. But the offer is there. We have a lot in common at the moment with our financial problems. It would help out the Sky Blues who are a football club with a fantastic history and it would also give us a massive financial boost.”

The two clubs have a lot in common as both teams have been issued statutory rent demands from their stadium owners.

The Knitters’ former chairman Kevin Downes recently issued the club a statutory rent demand totalling £73,833.

This sum is the outstanding demand for rent due on the main stand for the period of March 1 2010 until October 1 2012.

But Mr Sutton said the club has reduced the debt from £185,000 to £75,000 and said he hopes the club will be out of debt by the start of next season.

The Rugby Union of Russia (RUR) has announced the first wave of Official Travel Agencies (OTAs) appointed to cover Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 in Moscow.

The first official travel packages for the tournament, healing which takes place from June 28-30 will go on sale shortly with all promising fun-packed trips to the festival of Rugby planned for the Russian capital.

The agencies include two in South Africa, viagra four in the United Kingdom and one each in New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and Spain. More agencies will be appointed in due course.

The agent appointments follow a comprehensive tender evaluation and selection process. The appointed agents will ensure Rugby supporters from around the world are offered a choice of travel packages based on content and price.

Rugby World Cup Limited Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 will be a celebration of the Game and will offer spectators a unique opportunity to see the best Sevens players in the world competing at the highest level in one of the world’s most vibrant and interesting cities.”

“We are delighted that we now have on board the first of the OTAs for RWC Sevens 2013 and that we are continuing our excellent partnership with many of them that has been forged over several years. This is a key step in the ticketing programme and the announcement so far in advance of the tournament is another indication that we are on track to deliver a great Rugby World Cup Sevens.”

RUR President Vyacheslav Kopiev said: “This announcement is the next step along the way towards what will be a wonderful occasion for all Rugby fans. Moscow is a great place to visit, full of history, culture and excitement. We are confident visitors from overseas will enjoy a memorable trip to a beautiful city while following their teams’ progress at RWC Sevens 2013. These official travel agents will certainly help them make the most of their time in Moscow.”

The agents appointed so far are: 

• Makro Travel Pty Ltd (South Africa)
• Experience Group (New Zealand)
• TUI Group, which includes Gullivers (UK), Sportsworld (UK), Sport Abroad (UK), Emirates Live (UAE) and Thomson Sport (UK)
• Viajes Diertis (Spain)
• Marabou (South Africa)

The Houston Golf Association (HGA) and Redstone Companies Hospitality, a division of The Redstone Companies, Wednesday announced a five-year contract extension for the Shell Houston Open PGA TOUR event to be played on the Redstone Golf Club — Tournament Course.

Steve Timms, president and CEO of Houston Golf Association, and Greg Nielson, Senior Vice President of Houston Golf for Redstone, jointly made the announcement at Redstone Golf Club, which has been the host venue for the Shell Houston Open since 2003.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Redstone Golf Club,” said Timms. “This announcement underscores the long-term commitment of our organization and The Redstone Companies to the PGA TOUR and the youth of our community who we serve through the Shell Houston Open.”

“We are thrilled to host the Shell Houston Open through 2017,” said Nielson. “Our goal is to continue providing an exceptionally manicured course and first-class venue for the PGA TOUR, the players and all the spectators who come out to support the event.”

HGA has been promoting professional golf to the area since 1946 and the local event is the 10th oldest among 40-plus events on the current schedule. The Shell Houston Open moved to Redstone Golf Club’s Member Course in 2003 and then to the current Tournament Course in 2006.

In conjunction with the contract extension the HGA announced it has underwritten a series of spectator enhancements for the Tournament Course, some of which have already been completed. Those enhancements will all be in place for the 2013 Shell Houston Open, set the week of March 26-31.

“We want to ensure that every patron who walks on the property has a world class viewing experience that matches the quality of the course that our friends at Redstone provide,” said Timms.

Leading Chinese solar energy company, Yingli Green Energy will leverage its sponsorship of Bayern Munich when  the team arrives in Beijing for its exhibition match next Tuesday.

Yingli is an official premium partner of the club and has arranged for the team to play Beijing Guoan in an exhibition match to be called the ‘Yingli Cup’.

Yingli has been  a sponsor of the FIFA World Cup since 2010 and  is also sponsor of US Soccer.

Yingli was the first Chinese company to sponsor football on the international stage and the first renewable energy company to promote its business through football.

Liangsheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy, said:”We are also honoured to be using our global marketing platforms not only to contribute to diplomatic relationships between China and Germany but also to give back to the community.” {jcomments on}

IndyCar continues to move forward with its investigation into the 15-car accident on Lap 11 of the Oct. 16 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in which two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon sustained fatal injuries.

As part of Phase 1 of the investigation, an internal team led by series safety and competition officials is evaluating data to make a factual determination of the circumstances surrounding the entire incident.

The investigation team will utilize outside, independent experts and consultants for analysis of various aspects of the data. The results of the investigation will be turned over to an independent, third-party group for validation.

Randy Bernard, CEO, IndyCar, said: “We must continue to move forward with a thorough investigation. Fortunately, that has already begun, and we have the protocols in place to get this done. This was a tragic accident, and IndyCar needs to understand everything possible about it.”

IndyCar anticipates Phase 1 will be complete in several weeks. Phase 2 of the investigation will utilize the information learned in Phase 1 to minimize risks in the future.

Guidelines emphasizing improved driver safety and quality car construction were the key specifications stressed to chassis manufacturers that produced the current generation car, which was introduced in 2003. Key safety mandates include energy-absorbing materials, side intrusion panels and increased distance between front and pedal bulkheads.

IndyCar and Dallara continue to work on developing its next generation chassis, which will debut in competition in 2012; a universal road/oval chassis with an enhanced driver safety cell and design, which reduces the risks of wheel-to-wheel contact and interlocking wheel.

While IndyCar are conducting their investigation more than dozen IndyCar drivers met with series officials for three hours on Monday to discuss ways to make the sport safer.

Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, two of Wheldon’s closest friends, say they talked about how to prevent another fatal crash. Neither discussed specific proposals. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard and Brian Barnhart, the series’ president of competition, both attended the meeting.

Kanaan says drivers must continue to push for better safety measures during the six-month offseason.

The scheduling of the Bahrain Grand Prix into the 2011 season Formula One schedule may still be in doubt after rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone raised fresh concerns about the safety situation in the troubled Middle Eastern country.

The race was initially postponed from its season opener slot on March 13 a month in advance due to civil unrest. The Grand Prix was reinstated to the calendar last week, with the event scheduled for October 30 after A vote by the International Motorsport Federation’s (FIA) World Motor Sport Council saw the Grand Prix reinstated last week, pushing the new Indian Grand Prix back to the end of the season on December 11 in turn.

However, Ecclestone stated in The Times newspaper that the race could be shifted to the end of the season, saying: “The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen. Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go. If they are not, then we don’t go and there are no problems.

“We listened to that report from the FIA and that was saying there were no problems at all in Bahrain. But that is not what I am hearing and I think we can see that we need to be careful.”

Former FIA president Max Mosley, who spoke out against the decision to restore Bahrain to the F1 calendar at the weekend, told the BBC on Tuesday: “I will be astonished if the event goes ahead. I don’t think it will happen.” Mosley said the FIA did not have the authority to make changes to the calendar without the written consent of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). You need the written agreement of every team and I don’t believe that is going to be forthcoming.”

Three English County Cricket Club’s announced annual losses yesterday, March 8, for 2010 with Kent posting the highest operating loss, despite making an overall profit due to the sale of land at their St Lawrence Ground home in Canterbury.

The club’s overall profits of £3,535,426 (US$5,727,895), overshadowed concerning operating losses of £595,000 ($964,000). This was majorly affected by a decrease of £243,000 ($393.715) on gate receipts in 2010, a drop of 36 per cent.

Club treasurer Simon Philip stated: “There is no doubt that the World Cup and the lack of a cricket narrative last summer, with the major Test series not starting until late July, had a huge impact.

“With cricket off the back pages throughout, the low profile of the game in the nation’s sporting consciousness in 2010 had a direct effect on the more casual cricket fan.”

The other two sides to have announced losses yesterday were Gloucestershire and Derbyshire who posted post-tax losses of £216,000 ($350,000) and £187,037 ($303,000) respectively.

Gloucestershire treasurer Tony Elgood said: “We clearly cannot continue to run the club at this level of loss.”

He added: “This is the second year running that the club has had a significant deficit.

“We have set a positive budget for the current year and we will be making every effort to ensure we deliver against this budget.”

While Derbyshire chairman Don Amott said: “With the World Cup swamping our FP t20 campaign and new fee payment regulations, 2010 has been a difficult year.”

The share price of sportswear manufacturer Nike has reached an all-time high of US$83.40 following the announcement of its five-year deal with the National Football League (NFL).

Nike has agreed a deal with the NFL giving them official endorsement of on-field and sideline personnel apparel as well as fan gear rights from 2012 onwards.

The company replaces Adidas-owned Reebok, mind which paid US$300 million for a ten-year deal that runs out next season.

President of Nike Brand Charlie Denson said of the deal: “We believe our agreement with the NFL enhances the Nike brand, viagra order and provides a significant opportunity to drive growth across the business -both in our performance products and sportswear.”

The NFL also made licensing rights deals with New Era, GIII, VF, Outerstuff and ’47 brand. Reports claim the six deals could be worth a combined US$1 billion.