NBA Europe has appointed Darrell McLennan-Fordyce as its senior director of communications, it has been announced.

McLennan-Fordyce is a former member of the Madrid bidding team to host the 2018 Ryder Cup and a 2011 Volvo Ocean Race consultant and will oversee the growth and development of the NBA sports brand across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

He said: “The NBA is a fantastic global sports brand and I’m very excited to be working with a great team based in London  and across the region.

“Not only can we build on the future with the London Olympics just over the horizon but with the LA Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves coming to London in October for NBA Europe Live we have a number of the great platforms to work with that demonstrate what great sport and entertainment the NBA offers.”

 

Charlie Beljan, pills has signed with IMG, the world’s leading sports, fashion and media company, for worldwide management and marketing representation.

The 28-year old Beljan, who entered the final PGA TOUR event of the season needing a Top-10 finish to earn exempt status in 2013, won fans around the world for his brave performance, on top of his first PGA TOUR victory, as he fought through a health issue in the second round which required overnight hospitalization.  The win earned Beljan two years of exempt status on Tour as well as a spot in the field for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and the 2013 PGA Championship.

“Last year I think I experienced the full range of emotions that you can as a professional golfer,” said Beljan. “To be able to enter 2013 with my status secure, and the management experience of IMG in my corner, is very rewarding. I’m looking forward to working with IMG to take the next step in my career and make the most of the exciting opportunities I have in front of me.”

Beljan turned professional after graduating from the University of New Mexico in 2007 where he won three times and was an All-American in his senior year. As an amateur, the Mesa, Arizona native won the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur at the Atlanta Athletic Club and the 2006 Arizona Amateur.

After turning pro, Beljan won seven times on the Gateway Tour from 2008-2011, including topping the money list in 2009, before finishing in a tie for 13th at the 2011 PGA TOUR Qualifying School to earn his card for 2012.

“To win like Charlie did late last season, under some of the most intense pressure a golfer can face, says a lot about him as both a golfer and a person,” said Clarke Jones, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of the Americas, IMG Golf. “Charlie has a very bright future ahead of him and IMG looks forward to helping him achieve success on the PGA TOUR and around the world.”

Charlie Beljan will be managed by Andy Dawson at IMG.

Scottish Premier League team, viagra Aberdeen FC has been approached with offers to build its new stadium on other sites after a council planning decision “killed off” the original scheme.

Barr was lined-up to build the 21,000-seater stadium.

But a planning decision by Aberdeen City Council last month led to football chairman Stewart Milne claiming its plans had been “killed off”.

The club has now revealed approaches from other parties which could see the stadium built on another site.

Aberdeen Vice Chairman George Yule said: “Although I can confirm that the Club has received several expressions of interest for potential/alternative stadium sites, we are still at a very early stage of carrying out a full review of these options.

“There is a considerable amount of preliminary diligence to be undertaken before we decide on the best-suited outcome for AFC.

“We will take whatever time is required to complete this review in the very best interests of AFC and its supporters.”

The Rugby Football League (RFL) has rejected the bid from the ABC consortium for administration-hit Super League club Bradford Bulls putting the club in serious jeopardy.

Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle warned that if the bid, cialis which was submitted last week, ambulance was not accepted the club could “cease to exist”.

The RFL said in a statement: “The RFL has today informed the business consortium which has tabled an offer to the administrator of Bradford Bulls that the conditions attached to their proposal to acquire the club are unacceptable.

“The offer was submitted in writing on Tuesday but after careful consideration the RFL Board of Directors has deemed its conditional nature to be unreasonable and unrealistic.

“Details of a further offer for Bradford Bulls are currently being assessed by the RFL, ambulance which will continue to work with the administrator to help find new owners for the club.”

Any prospective buyer needs to satisfy the RFL of their intentions before the club is re-admitted to the league and, although the governing body have the final say on the Super League licence, they are obligated to consult with the other 13 clubs, who are known to be split on the subject.

Golf’s Asian Tour has added a new world-class tournament to its ranks with the announcement of The Thailand Golf Championship at Amata Spring Country Club in December.

Recent Major champions Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, along with world number two Lee Westwood, are set to play the event, headlining the US$1 million showpiece. 

The Thailand Golf Championship, a full-field Asian Tour event, will take up the prestigious position as the Tour’s season-ending tournament from 15-18 December, 2011 where the battle for the coveted Order of Merit crown will be determined.

Amata Spring Country Club, Thailand’s premier golf club, will become the host venue of the newest championship in the region where the event will be broadcast live over four days on the Asian Tour’s global television platform, which reaches 200 countries and over 800 million homes.

The winner of The Thailand Golf Championship will receive a winner’s cheque of US$158,500 and also a spot in the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational 2012.

The Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain is still set to go-ahead amid fears that violent human rights protests will target the opening race of the F1 season to attract attention to their cause.

The race is scheduled to take place next month on March 13 at the Sakhir circuit, with the 12 teams set to travel for final pre-season tests on March 3. The civil unrest in the nation has seen two people lose their lives to date.

A spokesman for motor sport’s governing body, the FIA, stated: “We are monitoring the situation with the promoters and the authorities. The plan is for the grand prix to go ahead but our main concern will always be the safety of the teams and the spectators.”

Nabeel Rajab, the vice‑president of the campaign group – Bahrain Center for Human Rights, told the Arabian Business publication: “For sure F1 is not going to be peaceful this time. There’ll be lots of journalists, a lot of people looking and [the government] will react in a stupid manner as they did today and yesterday. And that will be bloody but will be more publicised. This will not stop, especially now when people [have] died. I don’t think it’s going to stop easily.”

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One rights holder, has expressed his concern, saying in an Interview with the Daily Telegraph: “The danger is obvious, isn’t it? If these people wanted to make a fuss and get worldwide recognition, it would be bloody easy, wouldn’t it? You start making a problem on the start grid in Bahrain and it would get worldwide coverage. We’re watching events closely. We’ll rely on what they think the right thing to do is.”

The FIA added: “The FIA and Sheikh Abdulla Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Motor Federation, are actively monitoring the situation in the lead-up to the grand prix in March. The primary concern is the safety of Bahraini citizens, spectators, teams, drivers and all those involved in the F1 race. Sheikh Abdulla is confident everyone is working hard to ensure the situation will be amicably resolved.”

Brandt have secured the primary sponsorship of Turner Motorsports, No. 31 Chevrolet Impala driven by Justin Allgaier, for 17 NASCAR Nationwide Series races next season.

Brandt will also become an associate sponsor to all four of the Turner Motorsport entries in an agreement which is believed to be worth around US$4m in total.

“We are extremely excited to team up with Justin and Turner Motorsports for the 2011 racing season. Brandt is an exciting, aggressive and family values-based company. We feel we are teaming up with a driver who embodies these same qualities, and we are looking forward to seeing him exemplify that on the track.” said Rick C. Brandt, Brandt president and chief executive officer.

“Also, Nascar’s upcoming transition to ethanol fuel embodies Brandt’s leadership as a premier producer of environmentally sustainable products for agriculture. We look forward to representing American farmers on the track.”

Steve Turner, owner of Turner Motorsports, added: “I am very happy to welcome Brandt as a Turner Motorsports marketing partner. It is a company that I feel has the same core values and the same qualities that we do at Turner Motorsports. They have seen the value in Nascar and how it can help move the needle from both a marketing and sales perspective. We are confident we will win with them both on and off the track. I am honored they want to be a part of our organisation and are looking forward to a long-term successful relationship.”

 

The Indian cricket board Sunday rubbished a media report that it was told by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that Indian cricket player, Suresh Raina was with a woman allegedly linked to an illegal bookmaker during the Sri Lanka tour.

The Sunday Times reported that the Sri Lankans submitted a report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stating Raina accompanied the woman who was known to be an associate of a man linked to a bookmaker.

The discovery was made by CCTV cameras installed at the Indian team hotel in Sri Lanka.

According to the report, BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan’s reaction led to the International Cricket Council launching a probe investigation into the matter.

Srinivasan influenced the SLC to withdraw the report, the paper said.

“The ICC investigation … is believed to be looking into why the Sri Lankans shared the report with the BCCI first when under ICC anti-corruption rules it should have gone straight to the world governing body,” the newspaper quoted ICC sources as saying.

Srinivasan termed the report as “baseless and false”.

“The BCCI has just learnt that several media outlets are claiming that Sri Lanka Cricket submitted a report on Suresh Raina to it and that no action was taken by the Board.

“The BCCI would like to clarify that it has received no such report from SLC. The claims being made by a section of the media are totally baseless and false,” Srinivasan said.

Raina plays for Chennai Super Kings, an Indian Premier League franchise owned by India Cements. Srinivasan is a vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements.