Brand development agency, remedy Capitalize has been appointed the brief for the British Basketball Association to promote the development of a new premier professional basketball competition in the UK.

Through the deal, ed the agency will look to promote the British Basketball Association’s plans for its nationwide league to sport and entertainment fans as well as businesses and the UK sport industry as a whole.

David Paton, stuff chief operating and commercial officer, BBA, said: “We’ve chosen Capitalize to promote us in the UK because of their expertise working with Olympic sports, their knowledge and outstanding relationships with the sport and lifestyle media in the UK, combined with their vast experience delivering events. We are focused on bringing the best possible on and off-court experience to families and sports fans throughout the UK, and it’s extremely important to us that this new approach to UK basketball is conveyed through our PR.”

Capitalize will look to target national and regional titles as well as sport and lifestyle consumer media.

Richard Moore, CEO at Capitalize, added: “Interest in basketball has significantly increased in the UK with the introduction of NBA games in London, and the London 2012 Olympics has changed the way sport is experienced here. All in all it’s a great time to launch a new team sports series. Capitalize is delighted to have been selected by the BBA to help convert fans for a new era of basketball in the UK.”

Gianni Infantino, UEFA General Secretary has reinforced that Europe’s governing body will continue to be ont he offensive when it comes to fighting match-fixing and corruption in football.

In an address at a conference in Rome on Integrity in Sport, organised by Interpol and world football’s governing body FIFA, Mr Infantino reiterated UEFA’s call for widespread cooperation between sports and state bodies to eradicate from football what he described as a “cancer” posing a real threat to the game’s integrity.

“We cannot and will not allow our game to be contaminated by criminals who have nothing but financial gain in mind,” Mr Infantino told UEFA.com ahead of the conference. “Football, as you know, is a game based on fair competition between participants played to an agreed set of rules. The integrity of our sport, as well as the physical and emotional well-being of both players and match officials, are being severely undermined by these individuals who have direct links to organised criminal groups in both Asia and Europe.

“We are committed to maintaining our sport’s integrity,” he added. “With our continued programme of education for players, match officials and coaches, our sophisticated monitoring systems and our close links with law enforcement agencies and state authorities, under no circumstances will we surrender to match-fixers.

“We cannot win this battle alone, and we recognise the need for close collaboration with all the members of the football family and other sporting bodies, whose goal it is to see the true values of football prevail. We very much count on their support.”

The London 2012 Organising Committee and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) marked the start of the handover of the Olympic Park, ambulance the centrepiece of the Games.

The programme of work to transform the Olympic Park site after the Games is well underway with LOCOG removing the temporary facilities that were necessary to make the Games happen. In just six weeks since the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony a significant proportion of the temporary overlay has already been removed from the Olympic Park.

The start of handover means that the LLDC have taken operational control of the Olympic Park (perimeter security, access control and logistics operations) and associated areas. The Legacy Corporation will then begin works to transform the Park into a new part of London, to be known as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, through a £292m construction project.

LOCOG has phased handover dates for specific venues and spaces to the LLDC. The Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome and the Basketball Arena have now been handed over to LLDC, the Copper Box will be handed over in November and the Olympic Stadium and Press and Broadcast Centres will be handed over in December.

Meanwhile, LOCOG is also preparing to hand over the Olympic Village to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) so that a large-scale retrofitting programme can begin, transforming the 2,818 apartments and houses into East Village – a new community for London from 2013 onwards.

Seb Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: “The UK hosted a spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.  We have now begun the first chapter of the lasting legacy we promised when we bid for the Games. We began our work straight after the Games to transform the venues, parklands and facilities in the Olympic Park to ensure generations to come will benefit from a golden summer.  I congratulate my team for taking out all the temporary structures so quickly so that the job of transformation continues quickly.”

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of ODA and interim Chief Executive of LLDC, said: “The work has already begun on preparing the Olympic Park and Olympic Village for legacy. Once the overlay and Games-time elements are removed, we will start to deconstruct the temporary venues, adapt permanent venues for future use, reshape the landscape and retrofit the Village into a new community for London. This will take some time, but the wait will be worth it. Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be a fantastic new place to live, work and visit and enjoy. This really is an opportunity to create a legacy of the type we have never seen before.”

The Legacy Corporation’s huge construction programme is called ‘Clear, Connect, Complete’. It will clear Games-time overlay including temporary venues, walkways and stands, connect the Park to the surrounding area with new roads and pathways and complete the Park’s venues to their legacy designs.

To help people to get onto the Park as quickly as possible, the Legacy Corporation has planned its works to enable the Park to begin to re-open in phases, from 27^th July, 2013, as each piece of work reaches completion. The whole Park will be open by spring 2014.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced that Canada will host the IRB Americas Rugby Championship 2012.

The showcase tournament features teams from the top Unions in North and South America and the 2012 edition will see international A teams from Canada, and USA and Argentina and the Uruguay national team competing for the prestigious prize.

The Championship will be contested in a round-robin format over three match days featuring double-headers with matches at Bear Mountain Stadium in Langford, viagra sale British Columbia, price on October 12, 16 and 20.

The IRB Americas Rugby Championship fits the strategic aims of the participating Unions and underlines the IRB’s commitment to delivering an integrated schedule that combines IRB strategic investment tournaments within a framework that also provides regular full international matches in the June and November Test windows for IRB targeted High Performance and Performance Unions.

IRB Head of Development and Performance Mark Egan said: “Canada, USA, and Argentina are all priority Unions for our High Performance investment programme and Uruguay also receives significant IRB financial and technical support as the second highest ranked South American Union and previous RWC participant.”

“Working in partnership with our Regional Associations we are investing £2.7 million per year in our strategic investment competitions programme which is a central element of the IRB’s strategic aim of increasing global competitiveness and in particular the performance of Tier Two teams at Rugby World Cup.”

“The Americas Rugby Championship creates an important strategic link between the top ranked Unions in North and South America that will generate exciting and competitive matches, while allowing the participating Unions’ coaching staff to take a closer look at the development of their elite domestic-based players as they now move in to the qualification and preparation cycle for RWC 2015,” added Egan.

Rugby Canada CEO Graham Brown said: “Hosting international Rugby in Canada is always an exciting opportunity and to be able to bring it to Rugby Canada’s home of High Performance on the island makes it that much more special. We know this tournament is going to be a great success for Canadian Rugby and for the local community.”

The tournament will kick off on October 12 when USA Select take on Argentina Jaguars at 17:30 local time before Canada plays Uruguay at 19:30. Day two begins with Uruguay versus Argentina Jaguars at 17:30 followed by Canada against USA Select at 19:30. The final day of the tournament will see Uruguay take on USA Select at 17:30 before Canada close the Championship against Argentina Jaguars at 19:30.

iSportconnect and Worldlink Group Plc, medicine the UK listed Company with patents on providing changing data in real-time for mobile devices today announce an expansive initial one year partnership. 

From August 1, ampoule Worldlink Group will be a sponsor across all sections of the site and its betting and gaming division, abortion Worldlink Sport will also become the Official Sponsor of the iSportconnect Betting and Gaming sub community.  Worldlink provides an enhanced betting experience via a dedicated desktop and mobile applications together with its licensed bookmaking partner, BetButler. Worldlink will also become a major sponsor of the iSportconnect “Director Club” events which have won critical acclaim across the sports business industry.

Worldlink have recently announced several high profile sports rights partnerships including a partnership with  FA Premier League club Sunderland AFC,  and are about to announce further sports rights partnerships. iSportConnect will be providing extensive coverage of these agreements as they are announced.

Neil Riches, Managing Director of Worldlink commented : “I am delighted to be announcing our partnership with iSportconnect .We are partnering rights holders in  the sports market from professional through to the amateur level with an extensive portfolio of rights. We see iSportconnect as a tremendous way to engage with sports business decision makers both online and at the Director Club Events.”

iSportconnect CEO Sree Varma added: “Worldlink has a wealth of expertise and value that can add a great deal to organisations, businesses, and individuals within sport. We are very excited that Worldlink are using iSportconnect to develop connections in the sports business. This partnership demonstrates that iSportconnect can provide a great platform for sports networking and business.”

Wordlink also announced today a major deal with Newcastle United.

Swedish Cider manufacturer, viagra Kopparberg is launching its first football themed campaign in the UK aimed at the England vs Sweden Euro 2012 match next week (15 June).

The cider brand is offering pubs and clubs across the UK ‘Swengland’ packs containing a ‘brigadeer’ and ‘blonde’ moustaches to be worn by England and Sweden fans respectively as well as the flags of both countries.

The campaign is being run from Kopparberg’s Facebook page, where fans and pubs can sign up to receive a pack ahead of the match.

It is hoped the move will lead to a boost in the level of regular online interactions the brand has with its fans. Kopparberg claims its Facebook fanbase has doubled to 120,000 over the last six months.

Kopparberg has focused it efforts on boosting its ties to music and the creative arts in recent campaigns.

Rob Calder, head of marketing at Kopparberg, sais: “We’re not trying to be something that we’re not. We’re more focused on bringing together fans from both sides and having a good atmosphere around the match. Rather than support either England or Sweden the brand decided to combine the two countries in a tongue-in-cheek way that’s in keeping with our ‘Un-established since 1882’ marketing strategy.”

The brand says that it will “definitely” look at doing activity around future England vs Sweden matches.

European Tour’s 2012 Iberdola Open has been cancelled due to the event being unable to find a sponsor. 

Despite the Mallorca-based tournament being scheduled to begin on May 10 by the European Tour, the organisers have revealed that the lack of a main sponsor has forced the event to be cancelled. 

Seve Ballesteros’s son Javier will also be prevented from playing on the first anniversary of his father’s death. 

Tournament host Jose Maria Olazabal invited the 21-year-old to this year’s event. 

Ballesteros said: “It’s a bit disappointing as I was looking forward to playing in Mallorca.” 

The Madeira Islands Open will now fill the vacant position in the European Tour.

by Ismail Uddin

Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris on Tuesday, March 8, the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, released a statement to confirm that the Bahrain Motor Federation has been instructed “to communicate by May 1 at the latest if the Bahrain Grand Prix can be organised in 2011”.

Formula One Management (FOM) chief executive officer Bernie Ecclestone has previously indicated his willingness to seek a new date for the Bahrain race, and last week he said: “If they want the race then we want to be able to supply it for them. If there is peace in Bahrain, we will be there.”

A release on the FOM website stated: “On May 1 Bahrain’s Crown Prince – HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa – is expected to inform the FIA about the possibility of hosting a race in the country, and then together with Formula One Management, the FIA will make a final decision about a new slot for the race during the 2011 season.”

The statement added: “Formula One group CEO Bernie Ecclestone had hoped a new date could be settled on before the season got underway, but given the circumstances, it was mutually agreed that a final decision would be made in May.”

Penske Racing announced that it has reached a mutl-year extension of its partnership with PPG Industries and that Guidepoint Systems has joined Team Penske’s partnership lineup. Both companies will serve as primary and associate sponsors of the Nos. 3 and 6 cars during the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

Guidepoint Systems, an industry-leading vehicle tracking service available through more than 2,5000 new and pre-owned dealerships, will be the primary sponsor of the No. 3 entry driven by Helio Castroneves at five races this season — including the opener at St. Petersburg on March 27 — and Ryan Briscoe’s No. 6 car at two events. Additionally, Guidepoint Systems will be a full-season associate sponsor on the No. 3 car.

Rand Mueller, founder and CEO of Guidepoint, said: “It is a great opportunity to partner with Penske Racing to showcase the safety, security, convenience and pin-point accuracy of Guidepoint Systems location-based services. Team Penske is a proven winner and we look forward to working with Helio, Ryan and the entire team beginning this season.”

Beginning its 32nd season working with Penske Racing, PPG is the world’s leading coatings and specialty products company. It will be the primary sponsor of the No. 6 car at the races at Milwuakee, Iowa and Kentucky. It also will be an associate sponsor on all three Team Penske cars.

Director of Business Development at PPG, stated: “PPG has such a great history with Penske and we are excited about the opportunity to grow and develop this unique partnership even further. We look forward to being a part of Penske Racing’s winning teams in both NASCAR and IndyCar this season as we continue our very successful relationships with the other Penske business properties.”

Usie Richards has been announced as the new President of FIBA Americas at the the 11th Ordinary Congress of FIBA Americas that took place this past weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Mr Richards previously served as President of the National Federation of the U.S. Virgin Islands, President of the Caribbean Basketball Confederation and is a member of FIBA’s Central Board.

“I’m excited for the opportunity and the trust you all place in me as the new President of FIBA Americas. I will work hard to improve basketball in the Americas,” he said following his election.

For his part, the Secretary General of FIBA Americas, Mr Alberto Garcia said: “We have to stop thinking about the past and start looking to the future. For this reason, we have to expand the basketball in the smaller categories, there is the future of our basketball.”

With regards to the election of the new President of FIBA Americas, he stated: “I am excited about the election of Usie as President and I cannot wait to start working together, seeking to improve basketball in America.”

The Congress also saw the election of the new Executive Committee of FIBA Americas, which is configured as follows:

-President of FIBA Americas – Mr Usie Richards (US Virgin Islands)
-Secretary General of FIBA Americas – Mr Alberto Garcia (Argentina)
-Secretary General Emeritus of FIBA Americas – Mr Jenaro Marchand (Puerto Rico)
-FIBA Americas Treasurer – Mr Jim Tooley (USA)
-First Vice-President – Mrs Michele O’Keefe (Canada)
-Second Vice-President – Mr Gerasime Bozikis (Brazil)
-Third Vice-President – Mr Ruperto Herrera (Cuba)