The International Federation of PGA Tours, abortion an organization of the top professional golf tours in the world that sanctions the World Golf Championships and the World Cup, today announced that the Southern Africa PGA Tour (Sunshine Tour) will stage the Tournament of Hope as an International Federation of PGA Tours-sanctioned event beginning in 2013.

The Tournament of Hope will be the centerpiece of a worldwide awareness effort to be undertaken by the Sunshine Tour and partner promoter SAIL Rights Commercialisation (Pty) Ltd to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa and globally. In addition to the Tournament of Hope, the promoters will organize other awareness functions in South Africa and around the world during the week of the tournament.

The Tournament of Hope will be staged in South Africa for the first time in 2013, the week of November 25 and culminating on December 1, which is World AIDS Day. The tournament will be staged on similar dates in future years.

The US$8.5-million Tournament of Hope will be a major international competition for the world’s best professional golfers with eligibility similar to that of the four World Golf Championships, based primarily on the Official World Golf Ranking and supplemented by the individual money lists and Orders of Merit of the various Tours that make up the International Federation of PGA Tours.

The European Tour, one of the founding members of the International Federation of PGA Tours, has already confirmed that prize money won at the Tournament of Hope will count towards The 2014 Race to Dubai, further consolidating an already strong partnership with the Sunshine Tour that stretches back to 1995 and which, in 2012, will see The European Tour co-sanction four tournaments in South Africa.

The Tournament of Hope will be the sixth worldwide event sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours, joining the four World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship (Arizona, USA); Cadillac Championship (Florida, USA); Bridgestone Invitational (Ohio, USA); HSBC Champions (China) – and the World Cup (China).

Planning for the event and related activities is ongoing and further details concerning the Tournament of Hope, including specific player eligibility and venue for the event, will be announced at a later time.

by Ismail Uddin

Formula One team Red Bull Racing has received a financial boost in the region of £7m (US$11.36m) ahead of the 2011 season after their Renault engines were renamed Infiniti, improving the team’s budget. 

Infiniti is the premium brand of Nissan, part owned by Renault, and are using Formula One to boost its global profile. 

The engines will remain the same, aside from the branding, with the only other difference being that they will be supplied for free.

The renaming will therefore save the team approximately £6.8m ($11m) per annum, which is the cost of all customer engine supplies in the sport. 

The saving is estimated to be around 4-5 per cent of the team’s total budget which will now be used in other departments, though no statement has been made on whether there will be further financial support from the deal.

The Red Bull-Infiniti deal is expected to be officially announced at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday.

The International Cricket Council said it is impressed with the moves being made by the Pakistan Cricket Board to weed out corruption in its system.

The PCB has initiated a number of activities that are aimed at sorting out the mess in its ranks:
* The development of an Anti-Corruption Code by the PCB
* A proposed plan to regulate agents of Pakistani players
* An enhanced and countrywide education programme

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: “PCB has clearly recognized that it is imperative to protect the integrity of cricket and we are indeed impressed by the progress reported. Their willingness to play such an active role on the integrity issue is vital to the future of international cricket. They have shown a clear determination to tackle their challenges.

“The ICC task team is mindful of those challenges and is committed to supporting the PCB.”

Pakistan Task Team chairman Giles Clarke said: “The PCB chairman and his team must be congratulated for the speed with which they have adopted the recommendations of the ICC Board. Everyone is encouraged by the statements and actions of the PCB and we must hope that they continue.”

Bruce Allen has been promoted to president and general manager of the Washington Redskins.

Previously, recipe Allen held the GM title but was an executive vice president.

In a press release issued by the team on Monday, owner Dan Snyder says “I think the world of Bruce Allen and giving him both titles is appropriate.”

Allen was hired by the Redskins in December 2009, after spending time with the Buccaneers and Raiders in the NFL, as well as USFL clubs.

Rugby League World Cup 2013 has announced today thay have rebranded the tournament’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The new ‘International Rugby League’ pages, discount which already boasts almost 100, stuff 000 followers across Twitter and Facebook, cure will continue to provide supporters of RLWC2013 with the latest international rugby news.   

The rebrand coincides with the official launch of International Rugby League’s new social media hashtag: #IntlRL 

RLWC2013 Communications Manager, Martin Johnston said: “In the lead-up to RLWC2013 we succeeded in building a thriving community of Rugby League supporters from every corner of the globe through our social media activity. 

“The aim of this rebrand is to ensure that this unprecedented interest in international Rugby League is pro-actively nurtured, and not allowed to dwindle. 

“For the next few months, we will continue to engage with supporters as we did in 2013, and we hope that users embrace the new hashtag when discussing the international game. 

“The pages will also allow us to communicate news directly, in a way which wasn’t previously possible.” 

‘International Rugby League’ will encompass the recognised governing bodies from every competing nation, and will be passed on as the official online presence of the Rugby League International Federation.”

BT, who will enter the world of sport broadcasting when it unveils it’s new channel, has revealed it has appointed Pitch PR to handle the launch.

The launch will see the telecoms brand compete against Sky in a bid for new subscribers, aftersecuring the rights to 38 Barclays Premier League matches from next season.

BT called a pitch process in November last year for an agency to help it promote BT Vision and its sports channels, which may be carried on other platforms, according to reports.

As well as the build-up and launch of the channels this summer, the London PR agency may also have the opportunity to put forward additional sponsorship and experiential ideas for the account, boosting the deal to a potential £3 million.

BT has already secured exclusive live broadcast rights to Aviva Premiership Rugby and earlier this week announced a package of rights to show live women’s tennis in a four-year deal.

BT has invested in sports content in an effort to boost its BT Vision television service, which it sells as a ‘triple-play’ bundle with its broadband and telephone services.

Sport England have revealed they will invest £2 million in the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) over the next two years to help make sport a practical lifestyle choice for disabled people.

Despite steady growth in the number of disabled people playing sport since 2005, asthma non-disabled people are still twice as likely to take part regularly. Sport England’s funding for EFDS means the charity will be able to provide expertise and insight to even more sports’ organisations to help them motivate disabled people to take part. The charity will prioritise its work with athletics, cycling, swimming, cricket, gymnastics and badminton and is also being funded to provide bespoke support for tennis, football, table tennis, equestrian, golf and volleyball.

Sport England’s Director or Sport, Lisa O’Keefe, said: “This summer’s remarkable Paralympic Games put sport for disabled people in the spotlight as never before. EFDS has a vital role to play in helping a wide range of sports to build on this by doing more to open up opportunities and inspire disabled people to get involved. We need everyone in sport to work together to challenge the uncomfortable truth that disabled people are still far less likely to be taking part.”

Barry Horne, Chief Executive of EFDS, said: “This is fantastic news. We have worked really hard in recent years to ensure that more disabled people have greater access, more opportunities and a more meaningful experience of sport. But we are well aware that there is still a significant amount of work to do, so we are looking forward to the new opportunities, challenges and partnerships ahead.

“The EFDS team is focused now on building on the momentum of 2012 and working with sports’ organisations to support all their programmes to be more inclusive. Sport England have been and remain crucial to delivering our vision: ‘disabled people are active for life.”

At a local level, EFDS will continue to support the county sports partnerships and sports governing bodies to involve more disabled people in sport as well as continuing to work closely with the National Disability Sport Organisations, to increase impairment specific knowledge and opportunities.

After both the 2012 Games, EFDS undertook a survey, which captured public perception on the wider legacy and impact on disabled people in sport, findings showed disabled people’s desire to play more sport. It suggested that watching the Paralympics inspired eight out of ten disabled people to consider taking part in more sport or exercise.

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), unhealthy who runs Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL), pharm has secured a US$1 billion, impotent five-year broadcasting deal with Channel Nine and Fox Sports.

The agreement comes after months of negotiating and is the largest in the history of the league.

The total worth of the deal is AU$1.025 billion (US$1.08 billion) and has been hailed by John Grant, ARLC chairman as “the greatest agreement in the history of the game.”

Grant added: “The whole package is a simply fantastic result for rugby league. The cash that comes from the agreement, used wisely, will provide the funding base for sustainably growing our game from the grass-roots to the elite levels.

“The agreement around scheduling answers the request from our clubs and corporate partners for certainty and the inclusion of national coverage will see our fans across Australia able to enjoy their rugby league.

“Of great importance, and a factor that played heavily into the commission’s final decision, is the release by News, Fox and Nine of their rights over future ‘first and last’ agreements. It reflects the positive spirit of the negotiation process and allows the game greater control in determining the value of its assets in the future.”

The new contract includes a cash and advertising components, with the cash worth AU$925 million (US$972 million) and the advertising packages worth AU$100 million (US$105 million).

Channel Nine will broadcast three weekly matches with Fox Sports airing five weekly games across Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Fox Sports chief executive Patrick Delany said: “This agreement secures a fabulous line-up of matches for Fox Sports subscribers. Super Saturday and Monday Night Football have become a way of life for rugby league fans and Fox Sports is determined to make that experience more exciting and more interactive than ever before.

“Rugby league is a part of Fox Sports and Foxtel’s DNA and we are delighted to be able to continue bringing the live action to households across Australia every week.”