After the Gulf state of Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency on Tuesday, March 15, it appears that the nation’s hopes of staging Formula One action this year have all but diminished.

The Sakhir event was postponed after a political uprising in the country, though Formula One Management and the sport’s governing body have held out hope of returning to Bahrain later in the year with the season now set to start in Melbourne later this month.

Organisers of the Bahrain grand prix were given until May 1 to decide whether or not they will be able to stage the race later in the 2011 calendar, though fresh protests and the new state of emergency deems this highly unlikely, particularly as FIA president Jean Todt implied on Tuesday that the deadline for a decision would not be extended.

A statement from FIA president Jean Todt on Tuesday, read:“As you all know, on advice from the Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) we have had to skip the inaugural grand prix in that country due to severe social unrest.

“We have asked our Bahraini colleagues to inform us by May 1 on whether the race can take place. We wish them well in their ongoing attempts to resolve their issues.”

On Monday, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were called in to help restore order in Bahrain and guard key facilities after more political protests erupted.

Dorna Sports, hospital MotorLand Aragón and the Government of Aragón today signed a new agreement which will see the Spanish circuit feature as a main venue on the MotoGP calendar until at least 2016.

The extension comes after the race won the prestigious IRTA ‘Best Grand Prix’ award in recognition for being the best organised event on the calendar last year.

As part of the agreement MotorLand was confirmed as a permanent circuit on the MotoGP calendar for the next six years, pills having initially been introduced as a reserve circuit for 2010 in which it eventually hosted the 13th round of the season.

The agreement, health signed yesterday, March 1, was announced at the Headquarters of the Government of Aragón, where Dorna CEO Mr Carmelo Ezpeleta, Vice President of the Government of Aragón and President of MotorLand Mr José Angel Biel, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and Vice President of MotorLand Mr Arturo Aliaga and General Director of the Aragón Institute of Public Works and CEO of MotorLand Aragón Mr Antonio Gasión were all in attendance.

IMG and Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) have inked a deal to add two IMG produced events, pills the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open and the Atlantic City Beach Volleyball Tournament, generic as additional stops which brings the 2013 AVP season to seven events and $1M in prize money.

IMG has a long history of producing high profile and high quality events and the AVP Tour has long been known as the crown jewel of beach volleyball tournaments. This alliance is testimony to the commitment of both companies to produce the world’s best professional beach volleyball events and to increase the popularity of this ever-growing sport.

With this new contract, AVP adds two exciting new locations with the well- established and well-storied Manhattan Beach Open, and the debut of the Atlantic City Beach Volleyball Tournament, which will be a premium northeast event. Earlier this year, several of the world’s top beach volleyball pros signed exclusive deals with the AVP including Olympians Kerri Walsh Jennings, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers, April Ross, Jen Kessy, Jake Gibb, Sean Rosenthal and Nicole Branagh.

“We are pleased to announce the IMG-AVP deal for the Manhattan Beach Open and Atlantic City,” said James Leitz, SVP, IMG Worldwide and executive producer of IMG’s beach volleyball events. “We view this agreement as a positive step for the sport — that together with the AVP, we are pushing beach volleyball in the same direction. We can’t think of a better way to showcase the best beach volleyball players in the world than in Manhattan Beach – home of the longest running tournament in the sport, and in Atlantic City through our new partnership with the Atlantic City Alliance.”

“We are excited to announce an alliance with IMG that adds two stops to our tour and showcases the best of the beach on both coasts,” said Donald Sun, AVP owner. “We are equally as excited for what this partnership can mean for the fans, the athletes and the sponsors.”

MATCH Hospitality AG, malady the worldwide exclusive rights holder of the FIFA Hospitality Programme, viagra 40mg has appointed Cartan Global as an Exclusive Sales Agent in Cayman Islands, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, as well as an Authorised Sales Agent in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay for the sale of the Official Hospitality Programme of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013.

Cartan Global is also the authorised sub-agent of SportsMark, who is the Exclusive Sales Agent of MATCH Hospitality in the USA. Positioned to offer the Official FIFA Hospitality Programme in nine international territories, Cartan Global will provide corporate clients and resident fans of these countries with a range of exciting packages for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 also held in Brazil.

Jaime Byrom, Executive Chairman of MATCH Hospitality, commented: “After Cartan Global’s successful partnership with MATCH Services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, MATCH Hospitality is delighted to welcome them back as a partner in our global network of Sales Agents. Cartan’s considerable experience and leadership in the international sporting event world will provide corporate clients and soccer fans alike an experience of a lifetime during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.”

Daniel Gamba, Executive Vice President of Cartan Global, said: “With just under 500 days to go until the start of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, we are pleased to announce our continued relationship with MATCH Hospitality for this event. Our expertise in logistics and large group management promises groups interested in traveling to this unforgettable event an opportunity to do so with one of the most experienced and long running sports travel companies in the world. The exclusiveness of the Official FIFA Hospitality Programme cannot be understated, and Cartan’s event knowledge and management services are undoubtedly the perfect complement to such a unique offering.”

English Premier League side Aston Villa have become the first club in the top-flight to back a new campaign for trials of standing areas for fans in Premier League and Championship matches.

The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), with backing from Birmingham MP Roger Godsiff, hope to show that there is no need for all high-level football to be played at all-seater venues.

Villa have joined Peterborough in giving their support for calls to the Government to allow ‘small-scale trials of safe standing areas’ and have directly offered to host a trial.

Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner said: “We have had a number of good discussions and meetings with the FSF over the past 12 months and fully support their campaign to allow small-scale trials of safe standing areas at grounds.

“Whenever we have discussed the topic with our fans we’ve found almost unanimous support for such a trial, and the concept of giving fans the choice to decide to either sit or stand at a game.

“We believe Villa Park could be a potential venue for such a trial, and would like the opportunity to progress the plans further with the wider support of the football community in this country.”

Godsiff has submitted an early day motion to Parliament as the trials would need a change in the Football Spectators Act 1989, brought in after the Hillsborough disaster.

Peter Daykin, Safe Standing Coordinator at the FSF, said: “Standing was outlawed on grounds of safety, and yet successive governments have agreed that standing is safe – it’s hard not to when it is done perfectly safely every week at rugby grounds, lower league football grounds and in top football leagues all around the world.”

Michael Cunnah, former Aston Villa CEO told iSportconnect that Villa may be endorsing this plan to seek further ways to bring back the vans to Villa Park.

“As AVFC’s attendances have been on a consistent slide in recent years, I can only think that AVFC are trying to create something that they think will appeal to some of their missing fans. I don’t believe that, in these Hillsborough-conscious times, the English football authorities will agree  to a proposal which no longer requires clubs to have all-seater stadia,” he said.

Bradford Bulls are on course to return back to stability after it was announced Bradford restaurant owner Omar Khan had agreed a deal with the administrators to takeover the club.

Brendan Guilfoyle, partner at the Leeds-based P&A Partnership and joint administrator at Bradford since June 26, revealed in a statement that he had completed the sale of Bradford Bulls Holdings Limited to OK Bulls Limited for an undisclosed sum.

The sole director of OK Bulls Limited is Omar Khan, who owns the award-winning Bradford restaurants and catering business under his name. Gerry Sutcliffe, MP for Bradford South and a former Sports Minister, is also involved with the business.

Khan tweeted: “Omar Khan’s and Gerry Sutcliffe Save the Bradford Bulls and are the new owners of the club.”

However, former UK Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe – who is part of the consortium – has warned that it will take up to two years to revive the fortunes of the rugby league club.

Sutcliffe, who now serves as an MP for Bradford South, told Press Association Sport: “We believe that, if we are able to put our business plan in place with Super League membership, it will take two years to turn it around and that’s with goodwill and the support of all the partners we need to have on board.”

The new regime did not kick off with the best start on Saturday. The Bulls were on the wrong end of a record 70-6 defeat to Hull FC.

The Bulls entered administration on 26^th June, with the Rugby Football League having since attempted to secure new owners for the club.

In the lead up to Euro 2012 UEFA sponsors Adidas, no rx Orange and McDonald’s have introduced their marketing campaigns to take advantage of growing hype.

Adidas, bronchi is launching a new portal on the photo blogging site Tumblr that lets fans listen to podcasts as well as view pictures and videos that feature Adidas sponsored teams and players such as Leo Messi, online Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas and David Beckham.

The sports brand believes the social network will play a key part in its future social media strategy.

Tom Ramsden, global brand marketing director of football at Adidas, says the tie-up is a “significant” step for the brand’s efforts to appeal to 14-19 year olds using platforms “beyond typical football communications channels.”

After the Euros, the brand will continue to use the site house football content from Champions League and the US football league MLS features. The move comes as other sponsors such as Carlsberg and Castrol ramp up their social media activity around the tournament to avoid be overshadowed by their Olympic counterparts.

Meanwhile, Orange is launching two free apps to tap into the expected surge in dual-screen viewing around matches.

The UEFA Euro 2012 app lets users find their friends nearby as well as locate venues where they can watch the games across Europe. The Supporters Cup Shake & Shout app is a competition to see which fans can record the loudest cheer. The telecoms firm is using the tournament to launch its first pan-European sponsorship across markets including Spain, Poland, France, the UK, Slovakia.

McDonald’s is using the start of the tournament to launch its new football-themed Championship Menu, which includes the Cheese & Bacon Striker and the Chicken Maestro burgers.